The location is marked with a plaque in the pavement due to its connection with John Bunyan, being the probable place where he wrote The Pilgrim's Progress.

Wing's original building included "...a turnkey's lodge, cells for debtors, felons and house of correction prisoners, hot and cold baths and an oven to purify infected clothing.

It also praised levels of respect between staff and inmates at the jail, along with the prison's food provision and hygiene standards.

[6] In June 2010, Donna Stanton, aged 27, a female prison officer, was convicted after it emerged that she had a sexual relationship with an inmate.

Berry told staff he found it hard to ignore voices in his head telling him to kill himself but, despite this, no GP saw him and no anti psychotic medication was prescribed.

[15] Her Majesty's Prison inspection in May 2016 found poor physical conditions and stated, “Arrangements for managing violent and bullying behaviour and supporting victims were weak.”[16] The riot caused £1 million damage.

Personally I think that is partially why we've seen this incident happen, because if you are telling people they will spend 23 out of 24 hours of a day locked in basically a toilet, then you're breeding a lot of boredom and frustration.

In September 2018 Peter Clarke activated the urgent notification protocol because inspectors had found high levels of violence and inexperienced staff having difficulty maintaining control.

Clarke wrote, “The clear view of the inspectorate is that immediate and decisive intervention is needed at HMP Bedford to avert further decline and an even more dangerous lack of control than is currently the case.