Richmond Gaol

Australia's oldest surviving colonial gaol from 1825

Australia's oldest existing colonial gaol, built between 1825 and 1840. The gaol held both convicted men and women, and is remarkably well preserved — the solitary confinement cells, the flogging yard, the original cookhouse oven, and the iron shackle rings embedded in the walls are all intact. The scale is small and the conditions were appalling: cells barely large enough to stand up in, dark and cold, with prisoners chained to the walls.

The site is run as a heritage museum and is self-guided. Walking through the spaces gives a concrete sense of what convict punishment involved. Open daily 9am to 5pm; admission charged. The gaol is a short walk from the main street and can be combined with the bridge and church in a couple of hours.

things to do sight
A story
Richmond Gaol predates Port Arthur by five years — it was built in 1825 when Port Arthur was still forest. When Port Arthur opened in 1830 as a purpose-built convict penal station, the colonial authorities wanted a more deterrent-focused regime than Richmond offered. The contrast between the two sites tells you something about how quickly attitudes to convict punishment hardened in early colonial Australia. Richmond remained in use for its district but never became the centrepiece of the system.