Adelaide Gaol

~ Adelaide Gaol is one of South Australia’s oldest and most intriguing public buildings. It operated from 1841 to 1988, housing approximately 300,000 prisoners over its 147 year working life.

A visit to the Gaol offers a unique glimpse of prison life, with original cellblocks, 19th century architecture, the hanging tower and gallows, exercise yards, and prisoner graves. You can explore the site in your own time, join a tour, or see the Gaol in a more eerie light on a night tour.

Night Tours
Night tours are conducted for groups of up to 25 people on the first and third Thursday of each month. The tours allow you to see the Gaol by lamp light, while you will experience the atmosphere of the Gaol at night as knowledgeable guides entertain you with tales of prison life. Private group bookings (minimum 15 people) can be arranged on request. Tours run from sunset for approximately 2 hours. Bookings are essential.

History
Built by the banks of the River Torrens in 1841, the construction put such a strain on the new Colony’s finances that Governor George Gawler was called back to England to explain his “extravagant” building programs. Of the four castle-like towers originally specified, only two were completed, and only one with ornate turrets.

Along with Government House, the Gaol is one of the oldest surviving buildings designed by the colony's first architect, George Strickland Kingston. The plans he drew up were based on similar designs used on some Gaols in Ireland and England’s Pentonville prison.

Free Settlement
There was so much optimism for Australia’s first free settled colony that no Gaol was included in Colonel Light’s 1837 plan. It was quickly apparent that not everyone in the new colony intended to be a law-abiding citizen, and so tenders were sought for a temporary Gaol.

Capital Punishment
The first public hanging at Adelaide Gaol occurred in November 1840 while the site was still under construction. Early hangings outside the Gaol attracted crowds of up to 2000 people who gathered to witness this most radical form of ‘justice.’

Michael Magee, becoming the first person to be hanged in South Australia. His execution was on 2 May 1838. The last of 66 executions took place on 24 November 1964. The victim, Glen Valance, was found guilty of killing his employer, Richard Strang, at his home near Bordertown.

Capital punishment was abolished in 1976.

Women and the Gaol
Adelaide Gaol has many stories to tell about women in South Australian prison life. One of the most dramatic events concerns Elizabeth Woolcock – the only woman to be executed in South Australia. She was found guilty of poisoning her violent husband, Thomas Woolcock, and despite a mercy plea from the jury, she was hanged on the portable gallows in the Gaol yards in 1873, aged 25. To this day flowers adorn the place where Elizabeth Woolcock is buried within the Gaol, while the debate as to whether Elizabeth Woolcock was guilty or innocent has continued for 131 years.

A New Role
The Adelaide Gaol operated for almost 150 years and has the longest history of continuous use of any Australian prison facility. Today Adelaide Gaol is an important heritage site and tourist destination, serving as a stark reminder of our not so distant past.

Since its closure in 1988, the site has been managed by the South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage. Thanks largely to the continued efforts of the Adelaide Gaol Preservation Society, the Gaol has developed a new identity as a museum and place of community interest, attracting visitors from all over the world.

Adelaide Gaol continues to fascinate those with interests in South Australian history, architecture, law and the many remarkable stories about the characters intrinsically linked with this intriguing site.

Information
Open Sunday to Friday, 11.00am to 5pm
(Closed Good Friday and Christmas Day)

Adult $8.50; Concession $7.50; Child $5.50;
Family $21.00; Night Tour $20.00
Ph: (08) 8231 4062

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