New owner announces his plans for Reading Gaol including hotel and art gallery

  • ITV Meridian's Juliette Fletcher has been to meet the new owner of Reading Gaol

The businessman who bought Reading Gaol has said he hopes to build a hotel and art gallery on the site.

The prison has been standing empty for over a decade - the last inmates left in 2013 - and since then the cells have been left empty and decaying.

The Ministry of Justice put it up for sale in 2019 and it was finally sold to the Ziran Education Foundation in January this year for seven million pounds.

Channing Bi, the new owner, said he won't be putting any housing on the site and he understands the importance of the buildings to the town.

  • Channing Bi speaks to ITV News Meridian about his plans for the future of the gaol

The prison has been in the centre of town for almost 180 years, housing thousands of prisoners, most famously, Oscar Wilde, who immortalised his imprisonment in the poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol.

It was closed by the government as part of its jail modernisation programme.

Since its closure, campaigners from the local Rabble Theatre group have worked tirelessly to make sure the prison is turned into a space that benefits the local community.

Dame Judi Dench and Reading actress Kate Winslet backed the campaign, and street artist Banksy offered his support in the form of a painting on one of the prison walls.

Banksy's painting depicted a prisoner lowering himself over the prison wall

The Ministry of Justice has said: "The Ziran Education Foundation will now engage with Reading Borough Council on the use of the site as it will need to approve any development plans."

The Ziran Education Foundation will take on the historic venue and the new owner looks to financially support turning the site into a hotel and gallery.

It's located next door to the Abbey Ruins and former Reading Borough councillor, Tony Page, says any development must be sensitive to the area.

He said: "It's important to remember that Reading Gaol is the only jail in the country that sits on a schedule of ancient monuments, so there's as much below ground as there is above ground that needs to be protected and respected, and ideally highlighted in the future uses."Planning applications are expected to go in at the end of the year and its hoped the site can be commercially successful but also maintain some of the town's rich heritage.

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