Brisbane Gaol opened in 1883. It became known as Boggo Road gaol due to the boggy quagmire of the road leading up to the Gaol. It has a colourful history and wasn't closed until 1992 after riots and hunger strikes to demand better conditions. Much of the old gaol has been demolished but the original red brick cell blocks have now become a historic site and tourist attraction. Bill and I went on a guided tour. The stories and conditions made you gasp. We also heard stories about famous prisoners like Halladay who managed to escape twice.
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| The entrance |
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| The visitor area |
One of the cell blocks and a high security cell with a cat flap in the barred door.
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The toilet bucket with a rim so as a head couldn't fit inside.
Sometimes there were three men to a cell to share one bed and one bucket. |
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| The exercise yard and through the door is where they cleaned the toilet buckets. |
Hello, neat tour of the jail. I like the photo of you and your hubby at the jail's visitor area.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your day, wishing you a good week ahead!
I like the photo of the two of you 'visiting'. to cute. these places always make me feel sad.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post, glad that it was only a visit 👍 Hope all is well t'other Diane
ReplyDeleteYou two are so funny. What an interesting building!
ReplyDeleteThat's fascinating. I think many of our prisons really lag behind, with poor conditions more associated with the Victorian era than the 21st century. I think in the UK some still resemble this.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures. Looks like the conditions were quite deplorable.
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't have been nice to be a prison in those days Diane but unfortunately they were imprisoned for the most minor offences.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to see that prisons, so many stories to tell have those walls.
ReplyDeleteBesides Alcatraz I have not visited any other prison, I think those in the former East Germany prisons were like yours even until the wall fell !
ReplyDeleteIt would be awful to be in jail back then with those awful conditions...or anytime at all for that matter!
ReplyDeleteLock 'em up at Boggo Road. I worked with someone who was once a warder/guard at Boggo Road. He was a big tough bloke and was sacked from my workplace for stealing handed in by staff lost property. Sounds like it was a good tour.
ReplyDeleteYikes! Very kind of you to visit Bill in Gaol. Or is that you on the inside, I couldn’t tell for sure. A good tour and but not exactly a model of good prison management. I’m sure the same thing happened here.
ReplyDeleteIt was an attractive building — from the outside. Not so nice inside though. Hopefully those conditions would make someone think twice about behaving and not risking a return visit.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh it's pretty grim inside there Diane, the architecture outside is deceivingly attractive. Definitely an incentive to stay on the straight and narrow 😊
ReplyDeleteGosh, were those riots that long ago? Thanks for your post, I didn't know they did tours of the old prison and now I've looked it up, I see you can even get married there. Really? I'll make sure I do a tour next time I'm there.
ReplyDeleteThe conditions don't look good at all!
ReplyDeleteYou did get some great photographs though!
All the best Jan
Really makes you stop and think. Interesting that the entrance looks very nice, with beautiful brickwork. No reflection at all of what was really going on inside.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating, and sad, history. It's so beautiful on the outside.
ReplyDeleteMy Corner of the World
I've only been to the Freemantle Jail/Goal in Australia. It was strangely moving.
ReplyDeleteTough conditions.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh yes, its always a bit confronting visiting a Jail... I love how you and Bill handled it ;D)
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