The original buildings of Brixton prison date from 1819. In 1862 the prison was sold to the Government and converted into a prison for females. Twenty years later it was again converted, this time as a military prison, and in 1898, when it was returned to the Prison Commissioners, the buildings were enlarged and improved and made the trial and remand prison for the whole of the London area. Today the prison serves a number of courts in South London and houses a mixture of remand and sentenced prisoners.
On the 29th of June in 1967 Mick Jagger was sentenced for possession of drugs and sent to Brixton prison, where he became prisoner 7856. He has described his prison cell as "not much worse than a motel room in Minnesota", this cell also became the place where he wrote the lyrics for 2000 Light Years From Home.
