Report - Lisnevin Training School/ borstal Northern Ireland - March 2018

[PrognarNipper]

Jail is now inaccessible spent hours here today, got around everything but the jail. Gutted.

 

[Kenopsia NI]

Jail is now inaccessible spent hours here today, got around everything but the jail. Gutted.

Take it they've put a new padlock on the front door or something?

 

[PrognarNipper]

Take it they've put a new padlock on the front door or something?

Gate is welded shut in 3 places, gate house door has a few tonnes of dirt/construction waste dumped in front of it. Hopefully get in once the work starts

 

[Kenopsia NI]

Gate is welded shut in 3 places, gate house door has a few tonnes of dirt/construction waste dumped in front of it. Hopefully get in once the work starts

Will have to take another visit soon but might not be for a week of two. Will update as to whether another entrance somehow appears when I'm there...

 

[PrognarNipper]

Will have to take another visit soon but might not be for a week of two. Will update as to whether another entrance somehow appears when I'm there...

That would be awesome! If it wasn't for us getting into the training building, it would have been a wasted drive from coleraine lol

 

[Angusdope]

Woburn house itself contains very little. It was very non descript classrooms and offices, some storage, the prison service museum and a decent canteen and kitchen. Out the back was the dog yard, a few sheds for storage, and a small cell block used for officer training. I doubt anything was left behind there as the doors and locks were current prison issue and Home Office understandably don't want them falling into the wrong hands. The memorial garden was moved from Millisle to Hydebank Wood, and the house next door previously housed the NI branch of the POA. The gym was remarkably well equipped, full weights, stationary bikes, rowing machines etc. The 27 houses on site are in various states of disrepair and were all locked with padlocks and hasps when I was there.

 

[Kenopsia NI]

Went for a look today, front door covered in rubble but didn't have to look particularly hard to find another way in. There were construction workers at the front of the site at the houses but didn't run into any thankfully in the prison itself.

 

[Alibaba]

H

Woburn house itself contains very little. It was very non descript classrooms and offices, some storage, the prison service museum and a decent canteen and kitchen. Out the back was the dog yard, a few sheds for storage, and a small cell block used for officer training. I doubt anything was left behind there as the doors and locks were current prison issue and Home Office understandably don't want them falling into the wrong hands. The memorial garden was moved from Millisle to Hydebank Wood, and the house next door previously housed the NI branch of the POA. The gym was remarkably well equipped, full weights, stationary bikes, rowing machines etc. The 27 houses on site are in various states of disrepair and were all locked with padlocks and hasps when I was there.

Hi would you be interested in meeting up with me for an explore of the jail? Or woburn house. Please let me know thanks

 

[Angusdope]

H

Hi would you be interested in meeting up with me for an explore of the jail? Or woburn house. Please let me know thanks

I definitely would! It's been a while since I was last there

 

[Alibaba]

I definitely would! It's been a while since I was last there

Cool please call me [redacted by mod - not a good idea to post your phone number on the internet!]

 

[Alibaba]

Cool please call me [redacted by mod - not a good idea to post your phone number on the internet!]

Please contact me

 

[Johnnyjbelfastboy]

This is a reasonably large site (43 acres) with numerous buildings (27 residential, a school building, outbuildings and Woburn House). Woburn House was once a private summer mansion to John Gilmore Dunbar, a wealthy Belfast mill owner. The 1800 Italianate, B2 listed property, remained in the family until it was sold by Arthur Pack-Beresford to the ministry of finance. As per any abandoned building there's the usual paranormal b that it's hunted; the story being something about a butler murdering a servant girl and throwing her in the Irish sea after dragging her body through a now sealed underground tunnel. The site was most recently used as a prison officer training college complete with a dog section and gymnasium. In 2013 NIPS announced that it would close the site as a training facility in 2016 due to financial pressures.

In the 1950s a borstal/ juvenile centre was established which ran until 1976. It then became a training school until its closure in 2003. There have been allegations of sectarian abuse from staff and other residents with fights being described as a daily occourance between Protestants and Catholics (who would've guessed in Northern Ireland ). The building held up to 55 'violent and disturbed boys' between the ages of 10 and 17 at a time. An independent inspection by Queen's University Belfast came to the conclusion that the children that stayed there 'came in as criminals with low self-esteem and went out as criminals with high self-esteem'. It also had a very impressive re-offending rate of 89%! The workers at Lisnevin however tried to defend the institution and its residents by stating '1/3 of inmates had been physically or sexually abused while many more were severely disturbed'. It would be interesting to find out how many familiar infamous faces had passed through its doors.

I visited the old borstal building in March but gave the other buildings a miss as I've heard reports of dog patrols and alarms. I do plan a return visit some day to tackle the rest of the buildings.

Must have had a lot of time to reflect behind bars...

Main gate to borstal facing outside

Main gate facing inside

Personal alarms for guards?

what appears to be a bullet hole above the sign

I assume they used this place for tactical/ hostage situation training after it shut

Dental practice inside

Shotgun holes on door?

Stalactites had started to form from roof

Inside the laundry

Inside the laundry

Not honestly sure why the police tape was there probably from training

Roll, roll, roll a joint...

Can only imagine the amount of foul play..

Workshop

Workshop

Workshop

Workshop

Green cell wing

Think i'd feel uncomfortable having batman watch me sleep

If Micky is a mouse, Pluto is a dog, Donald is a duck, then what tf is Goofy?

Blue cell wing

Holes left from tactical training?

Holes left from tactical training?

Thanks for looking!
Amy

Amazing pics. I served time here the end of the 80s and left in 1990. I spent time downstairs which was for remand and also upstairs for sentenced prisoners. I can honestly say i never seen any sexual abuse while in here although did see some pysical abuse and yes it was mixed protestants and catholics and i never seen any riots between sides. In fact some of my best friends in here were catholic...great lads and i even escaped from lisnevin with 4 catholic lads. Ive a hell of a lot of memories from lisnevin so anyone would like to know more just let me know

 

[Belfastexplorer88]

Anyone up for a trip down here I see they’ve sold some of the old prison officers houses now

 

[Paddymac73]

Amazing pics. I served time here the end of the 80s and left in 1990. I spent time downstairs which was for remand and also upstairs for sentenced prisoners. I can honestly say i never seen any sexual abuse while in here although did see some pysical abuse and yes it was mixed protestants and catholics and i never seen any riots between sides. In fact some of my best friends in here were catholic...great lads and i even escaped from lisnevin with 4 catholic lads. Ive a hell of a lot of memories from lisnevin so anyone would like to know more just let me know

Johhny I was in here from February 85-may 89 and I was upstairs when there was a riot in 1986 happened and 6 boys escaped and they set fire to the remand wing facing the wee chapel my bedroom was right above the wing they set on fire and if you were in there around that time did you remember the deaf boy and what he’s name was

 

[Paddymac73]

Jail is now inaccessible spent hours here today, got around everything but the jail. Gutted.

It’s not a jail and never has been it was a borstal/training school