History:
Prison H15 is an abandoned prison in France. Built using sandstone and brick, the prison could house almost 1500 inmates. The site has an interesting and varied history.
Huge expansion of the site was planned for 1812, to convert the monastery into a workhouse for the poor and infirm. There were many delays and work did not begin until 1817, designed to accommodate 400 individuals of both sexes, and divided into four separate sections. At the time there was a lack of prisons in the area and sentences were being cut short due to overcrowding.
The plans were amended and construction of the central house resumed until 1822 when the first prisoners were received. The building could house up to 500 prisoners, one half reserved for corrections and the other half for criminals.
Refurbishment works took place alongside the construction of further dormitories, increasing the prisons population to 965 men and 532 women. A further prison was built on adjoining land to house female prisons and the original was used as a male-only prison from then onwards.
Facing a change in penitentiary systems the prison closed in 2011. The site has since seen a rapid demise as decay starts to set in and the buildings have been raided for scrap.
Explore:
This was another location amongst a few on a rather impromptu day trip to france with the aim to visit sucsession, but this is one i've been wanting to see for aaaages. Didn't spend too long here - in and out within an hour but was nice to grab a few pictures before moving on to the real gem of the day! Had no trouble from the other 'residents', just a shame it's so trashed now 
As always, thanks for looking!
