HM Prison Chelmsford is a Category B men's prison and Young Offenders Institution, located in Chelmsford, Essex, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History Chelmsford Prison began as a county jail in 1825 before transforming into a Category B prison, a young person's prison, and a local prison. It was expanded in 1996. The prison's main entrance was originally through an austere stone-built porter's lodge in the middle of the Springfield Road frontage. The lodge's flat roof was designed to support the gallows scaffold and drop, while the forecourt could easily accommodate the hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of spectators that would congregate for an execution. Originally called Springfield Prison, from 1825 to the end of 1914 43 people were hanged. The first 'private' execution at Springfield was that of Michael Campbell on 24th April 1871. The 28 year old Berwick born tailor and former soldier was convicted of murder of Samuel Galloway (49), a retired dock worker in Stratford. The oldest man to be hanged in the 20th century in Britain was 71 year old German born grocer Charles Fremd who was executed on 4th November 1914 for murdering his wife at Leytonstone. She was found dead from a cut throat. Her husband was beside her with only a minor self-inflicted wound. As Fremd was dropped he caught and bruised his head on the trap door. Shortly after Fremd's death the prison was taken over by the army for use as a military gaol, and after it reverted to civilian use in 1931 there were no further executions Thus, the oldest man was also the last man to feel the noose around his neck at Springfield Prison. In 1999 the management at Chelmsford Prison were severely criticised by the Chief Inspector of Prisons, after findings that staff were failing to respond to cell alarms five years after a prisoner was beaten to death by his cell-mate. The prison was also criticised for unacceptably bad conditions of cleanliness. A further inspection a year later confirmed these failings at the prison. In 2002, "conditions at Chelmsford...[were] condemned as 'poor and cramped' by the gaol's board of visitors." However, in 2005, Chelmsford was praised in its inspection for improving standards and procedures for inmates at the prison. This was confirmed a year later by the Independent Monitoring Board which praised the new management at the prison. On 25 December