New Prison Will Be Called HMP Berwyn

Wrexham’s new Category B and C prison will be named HMP Berwyn.

MIDDAY UPDATE: There has been reaction on our Facebook Page as well as the Wrexham.com forums, plus a comment from Wrexham Council.

Cllr Hugh Jones, Lead Member for Communities and Partnerships, said: “I welcome the announcement on the name of the new prison, and I’m especially pleased that it has been officially given a Welsh name.

“This helps to set in stone the identity of the new prison, which is particularly important given that it will allow prisoners from North Wales to remain close to their families.”

Original story from just after midnight below…

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) previously said of the name: “We had a number of suggestions for Mynydd, which is Welsh for ‘mountain’ because of the landscape. The prison’s naming sub-committee felt this was an excellent choice but then wanted it to be more localised so suggested naming it after the nearby mountains – hence Y Berwyn.”

NOMS have given zero further detail on todays announcement, despite promises to keep the local community informed.

As we first reported the Queen has had the final say on the name, signing off on a suggestion put forward to her by various committees.

A previous FOI by Wrexham.com to get further details of the naming process took months to be answered, you can view the full list of suggested names from Wrexhamites here. Once the final ideas were revealed there were suggestions of a typographical cock up on one of the final names on the shortlist.

RELATED: Today we also look at the local health implications of the prison in a previously confidential document, you can read our article here.

Pic: HMP Berwyn being built.