The prison was originally built in 1820 and opened as the Surrey House of Correction, Brixton Prison was intended to house 175 prisoners.
However, regularly exceeding its capacity supporting over 200 prisoners, overcrowding was an early problem and with its small cells and poor living conditions contributed to its reputation as one of the worst prisons in London (worsened when Brixton became one of the first prisons to introduce treadwheels in 1821).
There is an illustration of prisoners on the 1821 treadmill used to mill corn in Surrey House of Correction.

Conditions for women were especially harsh as newly arrived female inmates were made to spend four months in solitary confinement and, following their introduction into the general prison population, would be required to maintain a condition of silent association.
Female inmates were allowed over time to earn privileges, which included limited conversation, payment for labor, the right to receive letters and visitation rights.

Eventually the problem of overcrowding was addressed with the prison expanding to house over 800 prisoners and, in 1852, the British government converted Brixton into a women's correctional facility after Van Diemen's Land (modern day Tasmania) became the final colony to refuse to accept women prisoners from England, under the penal transportation process.

Conditions in the prison gradually improved during the mid-19th century as a nursery was opened in the prison for children under the age of four and, by 1860, inmates were allowed to keep their children until the end of their prison sentence.
Brixton eventually became a military prison from 1882 until 1898 and remained a trial-and-remand prison for London and the Home Counties until 2012.
The footings for the treadmill remain and are visible and the former 'hanging i.e. execution suite' is now an enlarged cell with six beds.

On 7 July 1991 two Provisional IRA prisoners, Pearse McAuley and Nessan Quinlivan, escaped from the prison by subduing a guard.
They managed to scale the walls, hijack the car of a passing member of the public before reaching the Baker Street Underground station.
They managed to flee to the Republic of Ireland.
The prison was originally built in 1820 and opened as the Surrey House of Correction, Brixton Prison was intended to house 175 prisoners. However, regularly exceeding its capacity supporting over 200 prisoners, overcrowding was an early problem and with its small cells and poor living conditions contributed to its reputation as one of the worst prisons in London (worsened when Brixton became one of the first prisons to introduce treadwheels in 1821). There is an illustration of prisoners on the 1821 treadmill used to mill corn in Surrey House of Correction.
Conditions for women were especially harsh as newly arrived female inmates were made to spend four months in solitary confinement and, following their introduction into the general prison population, would be required to maintain a condition of silent association. Female inmates were allowed over time to earn privileges, which included limited conversation, payment for labor, the right to receive letters and visitation rights.
Eventually the problem of overcrowding was addressed with the prison expanding to house over 800 prisoners and, in 1852, the British government converted Brixton into a women's correctional facility after Van Diemen's Land (modern day Tasmania) became the final colony to refuse to accept women prisoners from England, under the penal transportation process.
Conditions in the prison gradually improved during the mid-19th century as a nursery was opened in the prison for children under the age of four and, by 1860, inmates were allowed to keep their children until the end of their prison sentence. Brixton eventually became a military prison from 1882 until 1898 and remained a trial-and-remand prison for London and the Home Counties until 2012. The footings for the treadmill remain and are visible and the former 'hanging i.e. execution suite' is now an enlarged cell with six beds.
On 7 July 1991 two Provisional IRA prisoners, Pearse McAuley and Nessan Quinlivan, escaped from the prison by subduing a guard. They managed to scale the walls, hijack the car of a passing member of the public before reaching the Baker Street Underground station. They managed to flee to the Republic of Ireland.
HM Prison Brixton