What Is HMP Erlestoke Like?

Quick answer: HMP Erlestoke is a Category C training and resettlement prison in rural Wiltshire, near Devizes. It holds over 500 adult men, most of them serving long sentences, across eight units where the majority have single cells. Inspectors criticised safety and activity levels in June 2024, but a 2025 follow-up found violence had fallen below the level of similar prisons.

Key facts about HMP Erlestoke

What kind of prison is Erlestoke?

Erlestoke sits in countryside on the edge of Salisbury Plain, a few miles from Devizes. The site was taken over by the Prison Commissioners in 1960, spent years as a detention centre and young prisoners’ establishment, and has been an adult Category C trainer since 1988. Today it mainly holds men serving longer sentences — many of ten years or more — who are working their way through the system towards lower security and eventual release. Because of that, the population is more settled than at a local prison, and most men have their own cell.

What did the latest inspection find?

HM Inspectorate of Prisons carried out an unannounced inspection in June 2024. Safety and respect were rated “not sufficiently good” and purposeful activity was “poor”, with key workshops closed and too many men locked up during the working day. More than 60% of prisoners said drugs were easy to get. The one bright spot was preparation for release, rated “reasonably good”. A follow-up Independent Review of Progress in June 2025 found a mixed picture — good progress on one concern and reasonable progress on five — and noted that violence was now lower than at comparable prisons. The reports are on the HMIP website.

Daily life, work and education

Men at Erlestoke can work in the kitchens, and on the farms and gardens that come with such a rural site, earning qualifications as they go. The prison also runs accredited offending behaviour programmes, which matter to men who need to evidence progress for parole or recategorisation. Education covers functional maths and English upwards. Inspectors have pressed the prison to reopen more of its vocational workshops so that a jail full of long-sentence men has enough purposeful activity to go around — worth knowing if your loved one is transferring in expecting a full working week.

Visiting HMP Erlestoke

Book online through the GOV.UK prison visits service or by phone on 0300 303 0634. Social visits run Thursday to Sunday, 2pm to 4pm; arrive about 30 minutes early for security checks. The visitors’ centre is run by PACT (01380 816 828), and the Friends of Erlestoke Prison charity runs free transport from Westbury station and Devizes — a real help, because the prison is genuinely remote and has no direct bus. The prison also holds around six family days a year. Our guide to contacting someone in prison covers phones, mail and money transfers.

Prison Guide’s founder Daniel Hockey served a sentence himself, from HMP Wandsworth through to open conditions at HMP Ford, and wrote The Secret Prisoner (2021). His advice for anyone moving to a rural trainer like Erlestoke: plan visits well ahead and use the family-run transport schemes, because keeping visits going is the single best thing for morale on a long sentence. Read more about Daniel here.

Frequently asked questions

What category is HMP Erlestoke?

Category C. It is a closed training and resettlement prison for adult men, one step above open conditions.

Who is held at Erlestoke?

Mostly men serving longer sentences, including many serving ten years or more, who are progressing towards release or open conditions.

What are the visiting times?

Thursday to Sunday, 2pm to 4pm. Book ahead online or on 0300 303 0634 and arrive 30 minutes early.

How do prisoners progress from Erlestoke?

Through sentence-plan work, programmes and recategorisation reviews — typically to Category D open conditions. See our full list of UK prisons and our guide to release dates.

Official sources: GOV.UK – Erlestoke Prison · HM Inspectorate of Prisons · Prison Reform Trust