Sunday, 9 February 2014

Parramatta Gaol


TIME LINE



Pew – 1788: The Burramattagal people inhabit the area
1788:  Governor Phillip names the district Rose Hill due to its proximity to thriver and lush landscape

1796:  First gaol in Parramatta was built “on the north bank of the river near the south boundary of the     present Prince Alfred Park” and was constructed of timber and thatch


1799:  Parramatta Gaol was damaged in a fire. Several convicts were badly burned and at least one died later of his injuries
1804: Parramatta Gaol building work was completed early 1804 at the cost of £1500
1807: Gaol was badly damaged by fire on the 21st December, 1807
1835: Planning began for the construction of a new gaol
1836:   Work commenced on a 250 feet square perimeter wall at its present location on the corner of Clifford and Dunlop Sts a short distance from the Female Factory.

1836 – 1842:  Building progressed through and resulted in a perimeter wall, governor's house cum chapel and three of the intended five wings costing £34,168

1842:  Prisoners were transferred to the site on 15 January 1842

Late 1850s: With better economic times, the gaol area was doubled, workshops and a cookhouse were built, two of the original cell wings were converted to male and female hospital wings

1883 – 1889: Three additional cell wings were built, largely by prison labor. One of these wings was reserved for prisoners certified insane

1897:  Parramatta was the second largest gaol in the colony, with 364 men and eight women inmates

1899:  all double cells were converted to single cells, electricity was installed, the prisoners'
circumambulatory walks were replaced by physical drill, and a sixth wing was completed

1929:  Parramatta Gaol had become the State's principal manufacturing gaol, producing boots, brushes, tinware, clothes, joinery and foodstuffs

1940: Various unsympathetic architectural additions were made to the nineteenth century structure

1970:  Parramatta Linen Service, a large auditorium, and an extension to the 1846 gatehouse were built

1990:  Reception, administration and visitors' buildings were designed to better match the original sandstone structure

2008: The Parramatta Correctional Centre 

2012: Parramatta Gaol Closed

Neera Sahni

 

 

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