Former inmates barber shop the latest attraction at Peterhead Prison Museum
It's the latest section of the former jail to open to the public
Last updated 23rd Mar 2018
One of the newest visitor attractions in the North-east, Peterhead Prison Museum has announced that they’re soon to open their latest exhibit, the prisons former barber shop.
The latest section of the visitor attraction will open from April 1st in line with then beginning of their summer season opening hours.
Inmates left the prison, the first convict prison to open in Scotland, in 2013 and it reopened to the public in 2016 as the museum.
Looking through the bars to one of the cells
The history of Peterhead Prison stretches back to 1888, built as the first of its kind with additional buildings added across the decades including the 1960s.
Home to some of the most dangerous and violent prisoners across the years, Peterhead hit the headlines in 1987 when the inmates broke out of their cells and took control of a prison wing, a riot that lasted five days and needed the SAS to intervene with smoke bombs and stun guns to restore order.
Jackie Stuart, one of two guards taken hostage by the prisoners is now a volunteer guide at the museum. If you’re visiting, be sure to stop and speak, Jackie will recite his experiences and stories from working the halls first hand and they’re fascinating to hear.
Walking around the cells and corridors of a jail once home to over 150 inmates is eye-opening - Jackie’s stories bring those corridors to life with riveting detail.