View across the Medway Valley near Rochester Prison

Image: © Marathon Taken: 12 Mar 2013

Borstal Prison was founded in 1870 as a large convict prison and was named after the nearby place outside Rochester called Borstal. In 1902 it became an experimental juvenile prison of the reformatory type. Because it was the first detention centre of its kind in the UK, the word "Borstal" became synonymous with other detention centres for youths across the country, and elsewhere. The institution remained as a Borstal school until 1983, when it was converted into a Youth Custody Centre and renamed 'Rochester'. In January 2002, HMP Rochester became a prison solely for sentenced young men up to the age of 21. At the start of the 21st Century HMP Rochester was substantially extended. The new part of the prison is on the extreme left in this view. The picnic tables give fine views across the Medway Valley. However, this was not a day for sitting at picnic tables. The weather had been unseasonably cold for mid-March and earlier on this day travel had been extensively disrupted by snow and ice - see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2291971/UK-weather-Hundreds-drivers-left-stranded-overnight-snow-storm-causes-traffic-chaos-South-East.html

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