There was much local unrest as to the prison and in 1863 the Council began investigating a number of possible sites for a new "escape proof" prison.
Many sites were considered including the aptly named "Gallows Close" on Falsgrave which found much local support but in February of 1865 the
local authority made the decision to acquire a couple of fields on Dean Road.  With an alacrity not shared by modern bureaucracy the Prisons Inspector approved the site in March of the same year.

In 1865 the Disraeli Government introduced The Prisons Act, placing a responsibility on local authorities to make provision for solitary confinement and penal servitude. Scarborough was ahead of the game!