Two centuries since HMP Durham took in its first inmate, thousands are still locked up there every year.
August last year marked the 200th anniversary of the Georgian prison which has housed some of the country's most notorious prisoners over the decades.
And as it entered its third century, ChronicleLive went inside to learn about the reality of life behind bars and to find out about some of the problems prisons face in the 21st century.
This visit was carried out before the coronavirus pandemic, which has of course brought new challenges to the country's prisons.
There are around 960 prisoners at HMP Durham, with close to as many people working there to keep it safe and effective.
The compact jail has seven wings, plus separate areas for medical care and segregation, across a large site just a minute's walk from the city centre.
Notorious figures like Rose West, Ian Brady and Ronnie Kray have all walked its wings over the decades.
Much of its interior is just as you would expect: long, bare corridors; tight security and watchful guards; cramped, bare cells.
But once you're in, there's something more unexpected which strikes you straight away: how quiet it is.
The prison's head of residence and safety, Chris Carson, said: "The reality is that, a lot of the time, prison is quite a quiet, boring place.
"It's not the type of boisterous environment you see in the media where there is constantly violence and drugs going on.
"Generally, people are just trying to get on with their lives and sort their problems out."
No longer a high security facility, Durham now operates as the country's first and only "reception prison", a sort of holding place for prisoners serving short terms, waiting for court appearances or bound for other jails elsewhere in the country.
There's a huge churn of prisoners, with more than half coming and going every month and individuals ranging from cooperative and remorseful to violent and disruptive.
It's a melting pot of people, spanning people serving a few weeks for a relatively minor offence to killers waiting to find out where they'll spend the rest of their lives.
For the prison officers who spend their working life locked up with them, the relationships with the men they guard can run much deeper than you might think.
"There are definitely prisoners you see a lot of and you like and want the best for", Mr Carson said.
He added: "Prison officers develop good relationships and rapports with the men.
"Many of the people here don't have the chance to have conversations on a certain level when they are outside.
"This is a safe space to talk about problems that it might be hard to talk about because of machismo, they might not want to show weakness.
"We can break down those barriers in prison."
Drugs being smuggled into jails is one of the biggest problems facing the service and Durham is no different.
Following an inspection in 2018, a HM Chief Inspector of Prisons report laid bare the scale of the problem, with a third of prisoners said they had developed a drug problem while at the prison which were "easy" to access.
Tackling it takes up a huge amount of the prison's time and resources, the staff member added: "We spend a lot of time working with the police and search team to cut it out.
"New technological equipment is being used to clamp down on it too.
"We are more aware of the problems than we used to be and that means we're better at dealing with them."
The report also found an alarmingly high level of violence, self-inflicted deaths and self-harm at HMP Durham.
The security chief said a big part of making sure the prison remains safe is keeping its inmates calm.
To reduce frustration, there are opportunities for prisoners to work, take classes, spend up to an hour outside every day, go the gym or attend religious services in the chapel.
He added: "We offer a regime to try and reduce frustration within the prison, that's the best way of tackling violence.
"We do things to intervene to try and help people who come in with that sort of mental state.
"A large part of that is just talking to the men - that's what prisoners officers do every day.
"They sometimes get a bad reputation but they're very skilled individuals."
A lot has changed in the last 200 years - and a lot has not.
Still visible are marks left by the gallows where, watched by crowds of paying punters, public hangings used to take place on the steps of the crown court. It's a stark reminder of how differently we treat criminals in modern Britain today.
But much of the day-to-day running of the prison is still much as it ever was, although the global pandemic has changed regimes and introduced new restrictions as it has for all of society.
The head of residence and safety added: "I think this place will still be here in 60 or 70 years but who knows about 200 years from now.
"Technology will eventually allow us to do more than we are now, we will see new opportunities to help people.
"Some of what we do is still very old-fashioned because if it's not broke, don't fix it.
"A lot of the things we do have remained the same because we know they're safe and effective.
"Things will definitely change but it's still big keys in big locks for now."
