Millbank Prison that served as the National Penitentiary was constructed in 1816 by William Williams and architect Robert Smirke who replaced Thomas Hardwick and John Harvey. It was one of the most famous and significant buildings at Millbank. The building had the shape of a six-pointed star with an octagonal wall around and was “the largest prison in the country that became infamous for its harsh regime, although its founding principles were relatively enlightened by the standards of the time”. The first prisoners appeared in the prison on June 26, 1816, and included only women, while the first male prisoners appeared only in January 1817. Millbank Prison was located on the marshy site, which led to the appearing of several problems related to subsidence from the outset, explained the constant change of architects, and also resulted in the development of diseases. According to Lemon and Daniel, about 4,000 people from all over the world were transported to Millbank Prison every year. At the same time, the conditions in prison were extremely poor “with minimal rations of bread and water, a mere five minutes of exercise per day and the formation of “jealous cabals” amongst the wardens”. It was one of the primary factors of the fast spread of diseases and epidemics that took place among the prisoners from time to time.

 

In 1822-1823, the prison experienced the epidemics of diseases that represented the mix of cholera, scurvy, malaria, and dysentery. As the result, female prisoners were released, and male prisoners were transported to Woolwich, where they got an opportunity to improve their health. Furthermore, the design of the prison was too complicated even for the warders; the system of prison cells and corridors was a real labyrinth. Taking into account the mentioned problems and high annual running costs, the decision to replace the Millbank Prison with the new prison at Pentonville constructed in 1842 appeared. In 1843, the status of the Millbank Prison was lowered; in 1853, it became an ordinary prison, and in 1870, played a role of a military prison. The building was closed for use as a prison in 1890.

 

In 1892, the Millbank Prison was destroyed, and the Tate Gallery and the Royal Army College appeared on its site. It significantly influenced the state of Millbank as a place of arts-and-crafts and the Millbank estate at the beginning of the 20th century. Millbank became attractive for municipal housing estates.

​

Later Development of the Site

As the prison was progressively demolished its site was redeveloped. The principal new buildings erected were the National Gallery of British Art (now Tate Britain), which opened in 1897; the Royal Army Medical School, the buildings of which were adapted in 2005 to become the Chelsea College of Art & Design; and – using the original bricks of the prison – the Millbank Estate, a housing estate built by the London County Council between 1897 and 1902. The estate comprises 17 buildings, each named after a distinguished painter.

​

Archaeological investigations in the late 1990s and early 2000s on the sites of Chelsea College of Art and Design and Tate Britain recorded significant remains of the foundations of the external pentagon walls of the prison, of parts of the inner hexagon, of two of the courtyard watchtowers, of drainage culverts, and of Smirke's concrete raft.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​