Banksy's Reading Jail stunt could be his finest contribution to British culture
The scene of Oscar Wilde's incarceration should be turned into an arts centre worthy of him, not more flats. Can Banksy's latest work help?
The Bansky painting on the side of Reading Jail
So, Banksy has achieved what Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh and Stephen Fry could not: turned a huge spotlight on the threat of inappropriate development that hangs over the defunct HM Prison Reading, long and still colloquially known as Reading Gaol.
The three actors – Grade I-listed household-names – have each issued eloquent pleas on behalf of a local campaign to convert for lasting cultural use a building immortalised through its unhappy association with Oscar Wilde.