The Holding Pen is in a clearing off Bridgewood's
Middle Ride. It provides a secure holding space
for captives, and is just over 3m by 3m in size. The steel mesh panels are
topped and threaded with barbed wire, and there is a lockable gate. Deer
fencing mesh covers the bottom two foot of the panels and extends across the
ground to prevent digging. The floor is then covered with sand.
The Holding Pen was inspired by some features of POW camps; and by
"This is
Camp X-Ray", an art installation in Manchester in 2003 that
highlighted the holding of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay without trial and was
itself constructed using steel mesh fencing panels.
