Welsh women convicted of crimes are sent to prisons in England because there are currently no prisons in Wales that are able to accommodate women.
Dr Barry Morgan said the distance made it difficult and expensive for families to make the short visit times and put the women out of touch with Welsh news.
He was speaking following a pastoral visit to HMP Eastwood Park in Gloucestershire, where around 100 women – one third of the prison’s population – are Welsh. Most of the women stay at Eastwood Park, a remand prison, for around seven weeks before being sent to prisons further afield in Derby or Surrey to serve longer sentences.
“It seems very strange that I have to go across the border, and out of the province of Wales, in order to visit women prisoners from Wales. I met women from Dolgellau, Brecon, Llanelli, Porth, Pontypridd, Cardiff and Newport and they made the same plea – can we have a jail for women in Wales?”
The Archbishop warned that the distress of women at being in prison was far greater than that experienced by male Welsh prisoners “because in England they feel like strangers”.
“While conditions at Eastwood Park are impressive, with good support, caring staff and a very positive atmosphere, prison is still a frightening place for most women, particularly the younger ones who are still in their teens,” he said.
“Their biggest worry is that their families and friends won’t visit or can’t visit, because they are too far away.
“They also feel cut off from Wales because English prisons do not show Welsh television channels or have Welsh newspapers so they have no way of keeping up with things happening in Wales.
“They feel isolated and neglected.”
