Wormwood Scrubs (HM Prison)

Her Majesty's Prison Wormwood Scrubs

Entrance to Wormwood Scrubs Prison
Location	Wormwood Scrubs, London
Security class	Adult Male/Category B
Population	1279 (as of 22 December 2015)
Opened	1874–75
Managed by	HM Prison Services
Governor	Steve Bradford
Website	Wormwood Scrubs at justice.gov.uk

Coordinates: 51°31′0″N 0°14′25″W / 51.51667°N 0.24028°W / 51.51667; -0.24028

HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs (informally "The Scrubs") is a Category B men's prison, located in the Wormwood Scrubs area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, in inner west London, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.

The initial steps in the winter of 1874 involved the construction of a small prison made of corrugated iron and a temporary shed to serve as a barracks for the warders. Nine specially picked prisoners, all within a year of release, completed the buildings after which 50 more prisoners were brought in who in turn erected a second temporary prison wing. Building then began on the permanent prison, with bricks being manufactured on site. By the summer of 1875 enough bricks had been prepared to build the prison's first block, whose ground floor was finished as winter began. Construction was completed in 1891.

During World War II the prison was taken over by the War Department and the prisoners evacuated. It was used as secure office space for the duration of hostilities and housed MI5 and MI8.