Guys Marsh inspection report 2025
Report for Guys Marsh Prison
Summary
Guys Marsh is a category C training and resettlement prison near Shaftesbury in Dorset. Built mainly in the 1970s and 1980s, the prison is a campus-style institution, currently with eight operational accommodation facilities. At the time of our inspection up to 487 adult men could be held. Just under a third of the prisoners were serving sentences of over four years, with a further 60 serving indeterminate sentences. We have had concerns that outcomes in our healthy prison tests were reasonably good in respect but not sufficiently good in safety, purposeful activity and preparation for release. It was particularly concerning at this inspection to find that the prison had deteriorated further; outcomes in safety and respect were now poor, while in purposeful activity and preparation for release they remained not sufficiently good.