Adelaide Gaol Open Day

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Sun 27 May 2012

As part of SA's History Festival 2012 , Adelaide Gaol is offering a one-off special discounted rate of $3 entry on Sunday May 27. The normal rate is $13 for adults.

Included in the price will be History Talks and Ghost Talks, the museum and interactive displays, and a mock execution. Activities for children will include face painting, finger printing and mug shots.

When the colony was first founded, prisoners were initially held on HMS Buffalo, then from 1837, chained to a tree in the Botanic Gardens. A temporary wooden lockup was established soon after, near Government House, until severe overcrowding became a problem.

After Adelaide Gaol was built in 1841, it was progressively expanded and it remained open continuously until 1988, making it the longest continuously operating prison in Australia. Some 45 prisoners were executed by hanging there in that period, while a further 21 died elsewhere in the State.

It's estimated that more than 300,000 inmates passed through the Gaol, with an average age of 22 years old, until the 70's when the average age dropped to 19.

After you have seen the Gaol, you may be moved to feel compassion for the prisoners.

It was a very different world then.

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!date 27/05/2012 -- 27/05/2012
%wnadelaide