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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Esther Addley

From prison to refuge: fight to turn Oscar Wilde’s Reading gaol into arts hub

Oscar Wilde Prison Reading MoJ
The main Victorian building of Reading prison viewed from the newly restored ruins of Reading Abbey
The main Victorian building of Reading prison viewed from the newly restored ruins of Reading Abbey. Photograph: Harry Harrison/Alamy

The site of Reading’s former prison has a highly desirable location in the town’s centre and a celebrated history, not least as the setting of Oscar Wilde’s most famous poem, the Ballad of Reading Gaol.

But almost a decade after HMP Reading was closed, the historic building where Wilde was incarcerated for homosexual acts remains locked and inaccessible, while its owners, the Ministry of Justice, have been unable to find a commercial buyer for the site.

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