Mount Gambier Gaol
The prison yard
Mount Gambier Gaol is located in South Australia
Mount Gambier Gaol
LocationMount Gambier, South Australia
Coordinates37°49′59″S 140°46′23″E / 37.833°S 140.773°E / -37.833; 140.773
StatusClosed
Opened1866; 158 years ago (1866)
Closed1995; 29 years ago (1995)
CityMount Gambier
State/provinceSouth Australia
Postal code5290
CountryAustralia
Websitetheoldmountgambiergaol.com.au

Mount Gambier Gaol is a heritage-listed former prison and now converted accommodation and events venue in Mount Gambier, South Australia. It is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.[1][2]

It was first planned in 1862, but saw extended delays in construction, and was finally completed on 8 January 1866, four years after initially planned, opening on 4 April 1866. An extension for a women's section was added in 1873.[3] The gaol closed in 1995, when the new Mount Gambier Prison opened on a different site.[4] It later operated as a backpackers hostel for several years.[5]

In 2010, it was taken over and thoroughly restored as a hotel and a wedding and events venue, transforming former cells into rooms for guests to stay in.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ "Former Mount Gambier Gaol". Heritage Places. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  2. ^ "What We Do". The Old Mount Gambier Gaol. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Gaol, 45 Wehl South St, Mount Gambier, SA, Australia". Australian Heritage Database. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  4. ^ O'Connor, Pam; Mount Gambier (S.A.). Corporation; Old Mount Gambier Gaol History Project Group (1999), H.M. Gaol Mount Gambier, 1866–1995, South East Book Promotions for the City of Mount Gambier, ISBN 978-0-646-37585-4
  5. ^ "From depths to dizzy heights". The Advertiser. 31 March 2000.
  6. ^ "What We Do". The Old Mount Gambier Gaol. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  7. ^ "It was always going to take something". Stock Journal. 7 July 2011.


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