 Conditions in the prison gradually improved during the mid-19th century as a nursery was opened in the prison for children under the age of four and, by 1860, inmates were allowed to keep their children until the end of their prison sentence.Brixton eventually became a military prison from 1882 until 1898 and remained a trial-and-remand prison for London and the Home Counties until 2012.The footings for the treadmill remain and are visible and the former 'hanging i.e.