Talk:HM Prison Shepton Mallet/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: WPCW (talk · contribs) 22:32, 29 May 2018 (UTC)

Initial Review

The review of the article was at the time and date displayed at the end of the review.

The review followed the Wikipedia Good Article Criteria,

Well written

Verifiable with no original research

Broad in coverage

Neutral

Stable

Illustration

Well Written

The article is well written, in a style that is accessible to readers, and keeps their interest in the topic. The article meets the Wikipedia style guide. Basic plagiarism software was used to check the contents, and it showed identical text on https://www.wikiplanet.click/enciclopedia/en/HM_Prison_Shepton_Mallet Although noted for completeness of the report this is not of concern as Wikiplanet is a mirror site of Wikipedia with the intention of plagiarising Wikipedia articles.

A minor issue is a few uses of qualifiers at the start of sentences, such as ‘However,….’.
 * I believe I have removed all occurrences of however.&mdash; Rod talk 15:21, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

These sentences need altering before completion of the review.

A potential future improvement to the writing style is trying to use an active voice rather than a passive voice when writing an article, as the majority of reader prefer text written in that style. It is unnecessary to consider these improvements at this time as they are minor issues falling outside the remit of this review.

Verifiable with no original research

The article's sources are credible, and verifiable, except the physical sources cited. In some instances, clarification is needed to identify the source supporting a fact or statement. The sentences that need clarifying are,

(1) ‘there was another house of correction at Ilchester; and one at Taunton.’
 * Ref added.&mdash; Rod talk 15:21, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

(2) ‘In 1842 inspectors appointed by the government reported that Shepton Mallet prison was:, in greatest want of new cells for the purpose of dividing the prisoners from each other ... In number 11 of Ward 8, no less than eight men have slept in the same room in company from January to September, 1841, although in this very room there are only six bedsteads. Boards are brought in and placed on the floor when the bedsteads are not sufficiently numerous.— Report of Her Majesty's Inspectorate, 1842’
 * This is referenced to the inspectors report - not sure what you are asking for here?&mdash; Rod talk 15:21, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

(3)‘The alarm was raised by the ringing of the prison bell and the prisoners were evacuated to the prison chapel. Within ten minutes the town fire brigade, which was provided by the Anglo-Bavarian Brewery, was in attendance. They were joined at about midnight by the Wells brigade and at about 3:00 am by the Frome and Glastonbury brigades. The fire had spread quickly within C block and was fought by prisoners, warders and firemen working together; prisoners helped to man the hoses and worked the fire engine pumps in shifts’
 * Ref added.&mdash; Rod talk 15:21, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

(4) ‘Under the provisions of the United States of America (Visiting Forces) Act 1942, eighteen American servicemen were executed at the prison: sixteen were hanged in the execution block and two were shot by a firing squad in the prison yard. Three of the hangings were double executions, i.e. two condemned prisoners stood together on the gallows and were executed simultaneously when the trap-door opened.’
 * Ref added.&mdash; Rod talk 15:21, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

(5)‘The precise location of the execution block within the prison is 51°11′25.87″N 2°32′34.59″W.’
 * I have removed this as, although the coords could be checked with a map, it was a simngle sentence paragraph and probably over precise.&mdash; Rod talk 15:21, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

(6)‘Executions by hanging took place after midnight, at around 1:00 am. Albert Pierrepoint is known to have disapproved of the Americans' practice of reading out to the condemned man as he stood on the trap-door the details of his offence and sentence, then allowing him to make a final statement. He said: The part of the routine which I found it hardest to acclimatise myself to was the, to me, sickening interval between my introduction to the prisoner and his death. Under British custom I was working to the sort of timing where the drop fell between eight and twenty seconds after I had entered the condemned's cell. Under the American system, after I had pinioned the prisoner, he had to stand on the drop for perhaps six minutes while his charge sheet was read out, sentence spelt out, and he was asked if he had anything to say, and after that I was instructed to get on with the job. — Albert Pierrepoint, Home Office Executioner’
 * Ref added.&mdash; Rod talk 15:21, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

(7) ‘However, in 1949 all eighteen bodies were exhumed; in what appears to have been an administrative error, the remains of David Cobb were repatriated to his home of Dothan, Alabama.’
 * I will go and look for a source for this.&mdash; Rod talk 15:21, 30 May 2018 (UTC)
 * This seems to have come from Brookwood Cemetery and Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial. A reference is given (Clarke, John M. (2006). The Brookwood Necropolis Railway (4th ed.). Usk, Monmouthshire: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-655-9. Locomotion Papers no. 143.) but I can't personally verify this as I don't have as copy.&mdash; Rod talk 15:30, 30 May 2018 (UTC)
 * I have found another book which deals with the exhumations & added the ref.&mdash; Rod talk 15:48, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

(8)‘and five were sentenced to three years' imprisonment; the remainder were acquitted.’
 * Ref added. &mdash; Rod talk 15:21, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

(9) ‘12 January 1878 – Samuel Glover Fudge, age 27, escaped. He was recaptured and, at the assize held in Taunton on 28 March 1878, was sentenced to an additional three weeks of hard labour.’
 * Ref added.&mdash; Rod talk 15:21, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

Before completion of the review, the sources supporting the facts and statements requires clarification by including appropriate citations in the text.

Broad in Coverage

The article has depth covering both the history of the prison and its more extensive role, such as its use by the military and the storage of Public Office Documents during the war. All the content in the article is relevant to the topic. Although not an expert on the subject, it includes everything a reader needs to know about the prison.

Neutral

The article is a balanced examination of the prison. The article history records that Grindtxx made a point of view objection at 21.05 4th May 2018., but now irrelevant due to the removal of the phrase.

The sentence, ‘The Kray Twins, notorious London Gangsters, held in Shepton Mallet in the early 1950s after deserting the British Army’ may be subject to a similar objection, so 'notorious' should be removed.
 * 'notorious' removed.&mdash; Rod talk 15:21, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

Stable

Between 173.63.174.158 on the 13th May 2016 and HLE on the 28th May 2016, a short exchange of viewpoint was made about the relevance of a person’s race when discussing the execution of American military personnel. The text stayed the same after being argued to be relevant and remains unchallenged since 2016. Due to the time since this discussion, it does not affect the articles stability.

Illustration

The photographs in the article are relevant with suitable captions. A check revealed no apparent problems with the photographs copyrights.

Summary

The article is well written, closely following Wikipedia article guidelines and an interesting and valuable addition to the encyclopaedia. The article, with minor amendments, is nearly at the point of meeting of fulfilling the Good Article Criteria.

Recommendation

As the article is so close to fulling the Good Article Criteria it should put on hold the until completion of the minor corrections, identified in italics. Initially, the hold is for 7 days, although the time-period is negotiable. After completion of the minor corrections, the article should be marked as a ‘Good Article’, with the proviso that in the meantime no other significant edits are made to it.

Please feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss any of the contents of this report. Regards, WPCW (talk) 14:23, 30 May 2018 (UTC)