The Gate of the Former Ballarat Gaol – Lydiard Street, Ballarat

            The former Ballarat Gaol was one of the earliest constructions as part of the great gaol building programme which was a result of the report of the Select Committee on Prison Discipline of September 1857. All prisons built in Victoria after 1851 adopted London's Pentonville Prison design of 1842, which created a revolution in prison design. The complex was based on a central hall from which radiated wings of cells. The principle of the design being that one guard would stand in the centre of the hall and at one glance survey all cells.

The entrance front comprises the two storey quarters blocks about a central entrance, with side walls and entrances and a corner lookout tower. Construction is in brick and basalt dressings. 

The main gate is a monumental work. The arch keystone facing Lydiard St is beautifully executed. The gates themselves and the iron lacework over the top are quite distinctive. The arch under the flyover is also distinctive; the basalt keystone appears to have been cut from one single block of stone.
The materials used in the construction of the gaol were locally quarried basalt in combination with local bricks. The foundations to all the walls consisted of coursed basalt laid directly onto sand which would have been places on a natural rock base.  The nature of the clay in the bricks, the system of burning the lime mortar into the joints and the general shape of the wall would be contributing factors to the high degree of stability of the wall.

Building of the new gaol commenced in 1856.  A wooden structure erected in 1854 was in existence at this time. In 1857 the Public Works Department of Victoria by built the first cell blocks, and in 1859 additions to the original structures commenced.  In 1860 gaolers and warders quarters, the towers and walls were built.  In 1862 the building was completed, including a tunnel connecting the prison to the Ballarat Courthouse. It cost £42,000 pounds.

Ballarat prison was designed to hold both male and female prisoners. It had 58 cells and could hold 74 prisoners. The gaol housed prisoners until 1965, a shuddering thought when you think of its mid Victorian design. One of the most famous offenders to spend time there was bushranger Andrew Scott 'Captain Moonlight', who escaped by scaling the lofty walls you see today. Born in Ireland, Scott was found guilty of theft in 1869 near Gordon, where he worked as a lay preacher. He was sentenced to 10 years' behind bars by Sir Redmond Barry, but soon escaped. Sir Redmond Barry later sentenced Australian bush ranger and outlaw Ned Kelly to death. Scott was recaptured two months later and re-secured in the gaol before earning an early release for good behaviour.

During its 105-year history, at least a dozen men were executed at the old gaol, the first in 1864 and the last in 1908. Today, the remaining buildings are used by the University of Ballarat's SMB campus.

Taken in: Australia / Victoria / Ballarat / Bakery Hill (show map)

Taken on: April 4, 2010

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Sets appears in: • Victoriana • The Former Ballarat Gaol

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Camera: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS, f/4.5, 1/500 sec, 14.3mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS
Aperture:	f/4.5
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/500)
Focal Length:	14.3mm
ISO:	80
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Auto, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
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