| General Details | Inspections |
| IRP May 2019 | Regimes |
| Visits and getting there | Work and Education |
| Local News | |
General Information
| Name or Prison | HMP The Mount |
| Address: | Molyneaux Avenue Bovingdon Hemel Hempstead Herts HP3 0NZ |
| Other contact details: | |
| Web Site: | |
| Email: | |
| Main switchboard: | 01442 836300 |
| At Risk hotline: | |
| Fax: | 01442 836301 |
| Visits booking number: | 01442 836352 |
| Visits booking email: | socialvisits.themount@hmps.gsi.gov.uk |
| Visits booking web site: | www.gov.uk/prison-visits |
| Type of Prison: | Male Cat C |
The prison is part of the East of England region and is run by HMPS. The #1 Governor is Katie Price in post since June 2019 and the prison has a capacity of 1028.
HMP The Mount opened in 1987 on the site of the former RAF Bovingdon airfield in Hertfordshire, originally as a young offenders’ institution before becoming the Category C training and resettlement prison for adult men that it is today. It has an operational capacity of around 1,032, and has had a difficult history at times, including a violent escape in 1994 and disturbances in 2017 that required specially trained staff to bring back under control.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons visited in November 2024 and rated safety, respect, and preparation for release “reasonably good”, with purposeful activity rated “poor”. The most serious concern raised was the prison’s difficulty preventing drugs and weapons being flown in by drone, which inspectors said posed a serious ongoing security challenge. Other issues included poor use of data across several areas of the prison, inadequate support for foreign national prisoners, and gaps in supervision at medicine distribution points. The Chief Inspector noted genuinely improved leadership and staff-prisoner relationships, but said the contraband problem risked undermining that progress.
For families staying in touch with someone at The Mount, the contact details above remain the best way to arrange a visit.