Building began on the Mt Eden Prison in 1883 using mainly prison labour. However, the prison which replaced earlier inadequate penal buildings on the site was not completed until the next century.

Built in rough-faced bluestone ashlar, these forbidding buildings are the impressive design of architect, P F M Burrows. After Clayton's death, Burrows, who had worked under Clayton, assumed the responsibilities of Colonial Architect without receiving the title. Burrows designed a number of important public buildings including the Christchurch Post Office, the Wellington Supreme Court House and the Waimate Court House.

The Mt Eden Prison has considerable architectural merit. Enclosed behind a massive wall the prison has a medieval character incorporating square castellated towers and Gothic windows. Some towers were later removed and the excellent chapel was destroyed during a prison riot.

Burrows had been supplied with plans of a gaol in Malta as a guide. However, he appears to have used an amalgam of ideas from pattern books for public buildings Clayton had received from England.

The prison is an impressive, albeit forbidding, landmark in the Mt Eden district and it is an important record of penal building in the 19th century.