HMP/YOI Pentonville

You can book your visit online or by telephone.

Telephone booking line: 0300 060 6504 Find out about call charges

The booking line is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 3pm.

You will not be admitted if you are more than half an hour late.

Visits are provided on a wing basis within a 6 week cycle. The new cycles are published on the wings for prisoners attention and shared with the booking line.

To book an official visit you can email [email protected].

Find Pentonville on a map

Pentonville is a 5-minute walk from Caledonian Road underground station or Caledonian Road and Barnsbury overground station. The closest mainline railway station is London King’s Cross. Several local bus routes pass the prison such as Bus 17, 91, 259 and 274.

There is no visitor parking at the prison and local roads are restricted to permit holders.

All visitors, aged 16 or older must prove their identity before entering the prison. Read the list of acceptable forms of ID when visiting a prison.

All visitors will need to be given a pat-down search, including children. You may also be sniffed by security dogs.

The visits hall, foyer, and visits centre are monitored by CCTV, both live and recorded, for the purposes of safeguarding and crime prevention. All visits are subject to CCTV monitoring, and agreement to this is a condition of entry.

You will need to remove coats, hats, gloves, metal accessories, sunglasses, and smart watches before you go in.

It is up to prison staff to make decisions and judgements as to when clothing is inappropriate.

When making these decisions, staff will always consider decency and diversity.

You may be asked to adjust clothing or wear alternative clothing, if available.

As a last resort your visit may be cancelled if the dress code cannot be followed.

There will be refreshments available during your visit. You will have to pay for your choice at the visitors centre where you will be given a token to present at the tea bar.

You will be told the rules by an officer at the start of your visit. If you break the rules, your visit could be cancelled, and you could be banned from visiting again.

Trafficking in unauthorised items is prohibited. If there is any suspicion or you are caught, this will lead to a minimum ban of 3 months and the prisoner will be placed on closed visits for the same period.

There is a visitors centre run by the Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT) charity. Family and friends can relax and get advice and support from the staff.

It is open Monday to Saturday from 8:30am to 4:30pm and on Sunday from 12:30pm to 4:30pm.

Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 7700 0912 Find out about call charges

There are lockers in the visitors centre to store your belongings. These take tokens which you can get for £1 from the visitors centre staff.

Family days are now running, and it is only applicable to those prisoners on Enhance IEP levels. Family days are delivered on each wing’s Sunday enhanced visit day on a rota basis. Enhance IEP prisoners are given the opportunity to apply for it when it is their wing’s session.

How to book a secure video call

Secure video calls at this prison can be requested by prisoners only.

You will receive a notification if a prisoner has requested a video call with you.

Read more about how Prison Video works

Prisoners do have phones in their cells so they can always call at their own convenience. They need to buy phone credits to do this.

They can phone anyone named on their list of friends and family. This list is checked by security when they first arrive so it may take a few days before they are able to call.

You can also exchange voicemails using the Prison Voicemail service.

Officers may listen to phone calls as a way of preventing crime and helping keep people safe.

You can send emails to someone in Pentonville using the Email a Prisoner service.

You might also be able to attach photos and receive replies from the prisoner, depending on the rules at Pentonville.

You can write at any time.

Include the person’s name and prisoner number on the envelope.

If you do not know their prisoner number, contact Pentonville.

All post apart from legal letters will be opened and checked by officers.

HMP/YOI Pentonville Caledonian Road London N7 8TT

National Prison Radio broadcasts into prison cells across England and Wales 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Family and friends can stay connected with their loved ones in prison by sending song requests, written messages and voice recordings. They are then read and played out on weekly episodes.

You can send in a message, and hear the show, at nationalprisonradio.com