March to save Reading Gaol

Reading East MP Matt Rodda is urging people to join a march to save Reading Gaol.

It’s happening on Saturday 25th March at 12 noon.

Organisers have called for people to make signs and banners for the protest walk from the Hexagon to the site of Reading Gaol.

The Save Reading Gaol team say they don’t want the former prison, which was once home to Oscar Wilde, to be turned into flats.

The site has been empty since 2014 and is currently owned by the Ministry of Justice.

Campaigners want it to be turned into a community arts hub.

In March 2021, Banksy added a piece of artwork to a prison wall showing a prisoner escaping with a typewriter.

MP Matt Rodda’s told us: “We’ve argued it would be much better if the Ministry sold it to Reading Borough Council and the council would then plan to work with the arts community to redevelop the site in a much more sympathetic way so that it could be used for arts purposes.”

The Ministry of Justice have sent us a statement saying: "We are currently considering the potential uses of this site and no decisions have been made."

The statement goes on to say: “Any sale of reading prison will seek the best value for taxpayers, the proceeds will be reinvested into the justice system, while ensuring planning requirements for the historic site are met, the costs of maintaining the prison are associated with ensuring that it is kept safe and secure.”

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