Leyhill originally opened as hutted accommodation (formerly a wartime hospital) in 1946. Leyhill is in South Gloucestershire and is the only minimum-security prison in the South West Area.
Leyhill was rebuilt in the late 1970s to early 1980s and in 1986 prisoners were re-housed in new living accommodation. In 2002 new accommodation units were added enabling the prison to cater for 532 prisoners.
