Adelaide Gaol

I’ve visited the gaol twice now and find it a really fascinating place. The gaol closed some 40 years ago, but wasn’t used in recent years for serious criminals. Love anything history related and incredible that this is super close to the centre. If you’re a walker, it’s a nice and easy trip. $17.50 for tickets. Both times have been pretty quiet which makes it an eerie experience. If you can, recommend doing the crime walking tour, some of the names are familiar and a good way to connect the 2.

A very interesting piece of Adelaide history to visit ...long serving prison and very interesting variety of inmates ..both male and female including only woman hanged in Adelaide...The Adelaide Gaol is one of the oldest remaining colonial public buildings in Adelaide and is the site of some of the State's more interesting, grisly past. In 1840, George Strickland Kingston was commissioned to design Adelaide's new gaol. The architectural plans for Adelaide Gaol were based on the latest in European gaol designs and were said to be radical for the time. The original cost estimate for Adelaide Gaol was £17,000, but by 1841 costs had already reached £16,000 with only half the planned works complete. The final bill was more than double the original quote and the expense of construction sent the fledgling colony of South Australia bankrupt....

Went to see a show at the Gaol for the fringe festival and was initially impressed by the gardens outside. I thought I was going to an outdoor film but it turns out it was inside so didn’t get enjoy the evening on set. It was pretty stuffy inside and we had a very real experience to the suffering of the temperature in those walls as well as the other daily torments prisoners may have endured. I had fun looking around though (what we had access to). Seems like I’m the only one who hasn’t been there on a school visit.

I went on a day when the tickets were half price. They drop their prices every now and then. They had a brass band playing music out the front. It was really interesting and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.