Oscar Wilde prison 'won't be turned into flats'

Reading Prison has been empty for more than a decade

A prison where celebrated Irish writer Oscar Wilde was once an inmate will not be developed into flats, the company that bought it has said.

Ziran Education Foundation bought Reading Prison from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for £7m in January.

Media relations manager, Eric Sun, said the firm had "no intention" of turning the building into flats, and that instead the two main focuses were a boutique hotel and an art gallery.

Toby Davies, who has been campaigning for the prison to be turned into a performing arts venue, said Mr Sun's comments were "positive" but added the details of the plans were still "hard to grasp".

The prison was opened to the public as part of an ArtAngel project in 2016

Mr Sun said the firm had discussed "not only traditional art and art galleries, but also other forms".

He said he was "100% on board" with making the prison "a cultural destination", and that the foundation was in discussions with both Reading Borough Council and the University of Reading.

Mr Davies said Mr Sun's comments provided "more questions than answers", but added it was "good" the foundation was discussing the plans.

He also welcomed plans for the hotel, as long as it was an "enabling development" that could support a cultural venue.

"There's no reason that Reading can't become another Oxford, another Windsor," he said.

"It has it all, it's just not being utilised... if [foundation founder] Channing Bi has the amount of money he's saying, he could be the opportunity that Reading needs."

The last inmates moved out in 2013

Oscar Wilde spent two years at the jail after being convicted in 1895 of gross indecency - effectively for being gay.

He spent the last three years of his life in exile in France, where he composed his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, describing an execution at the prison.

In 2021, a portrait by the celebrated street artist Banksy appeared on a prison wall.

The image showed a prisoner escaping on a rope made of bedsheets tied to a typewriter.

The artist later offered to support the campaign to create an arts hub at the site by selling the stencil he had used in order to match the jail's £10m asking price.

A campaign to turn the Grade II listed building into an arts and community centre has also been supported by celebrities including Stephen Fry, Kate Winslet and Dame Judi Dench.