Pugh brings Victorian prison to auction
Knowsley Council is bringing the former prison on Cheapside in Liverpool city centre to market with Pugh & Co at a guide price of £500,000.
A buyer of the 19,000 sq ft Grade II-listed building off Dale Street, next to the magistrate's courts, would find themselves with 47 cells to transform for modern use.
The building closed in 1999 as a prison but was used as an overflow for detaining drunk and disorderly revellers during the millennium celebrations at the end of that year.
Built in the 1850s for a cost of £533, the Main Bridewell was brought to market for £600,000 in 2004 but failed to sell. It had been hoped it could be turned into a boutique hotel.
The four-storey building and yard – total site area 0.36 acres – is being sold by Pugh with 'development potential' but demolition will not be permitted.
The Pugh & Co auction, with 130 lots in the catalogue to date, will take place at Old Trafford football ground on 3 September.
