Downview was converted from a former nurses' home of Banstead Hospital; it opened in 1989 as a Category C male prison.

[1] A year later, one of the prison's chaplains resigned after claims that he had demanded sexual favours from inmates in exchange for communion wine.

[2] In December 2004 a sixteen-bed juvenile unit opened at Downview for young female offenders (both remand and convicted) aged from 15-18, in partnership with the Youth Justice Board.

On 4 September 2013, the Ministry of Justice announced that it intended to convert Downview into a prison for adult males.

[5] In March 2019, the Ministry of Justice announced that a wing within the prison would be used solely to house transgender inmates, making it the first unit in the UK to serve this purpose.