Shrewsbury's Dana Prison to feature on the silver screen as TV crew move in - with video
Shrewsbury residents were left scratching their heads after the appearance of signs outside the town’s prison re-naming it ‘Crownwood’.
A small amount of detective work would reveal that the site was being used as the location for a show focussing on its own investigations - ITV’s cold-case drama Bancroft.
Film crews pitched up at the former prison, which has become a firm favourite with production companies, on Thursday morning and started rebranding the site as part of the forthcoming show.
The staff remained tight-lipped about the role the prison will play in the show, which is understood to be screened as a four-part drama.
The show is expected to feature Sarah Parish, who has recently been entertaining audiences in Broadchurch. She is said to be taking on the role of a “tortured detective” for the ITV drama.
Joel Campbell of Jailhouse Tours, which has been running the prison as a tourist attraction for the past two years, said the prison had been used for filming on eight occasions in the past year.
He said: “I think it’s popular because we have got a good reputation in terms of what we do. People look to come back because they know we are reliable.”
On the back of the success of the Dana as a tourist attraction Mr Campbell has recently concluded a deal to run prisons at Shepton Mallet and Gloucester.
He said: “Now we have got the other two prisons as well we basically have all the prisons in the country that companies can film in.”
