Boggo Road Gaol

Boggo Road Gaol

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Posted 2017-02-18 by Di Hillfollow
When I posted on FB that I was going to gaol, my friends were worried about me. What had I done? Nothing sinister. I was going to visit the famous . It was not the first time I had been in a gaol – as I enjoy history and have visited several on my round Australia trips. Never have I been there because of anything that I did wrong!



I had always wanted to go to – as this old historic place was still a working prison in the days when we first lived in Brisbane. We had driven past many times – and would look at it with a little fear, with its imposing prison walls overlooking Annerley Road. We also knew that some pretty bad things had been done by some of the folk behind the walls.



It was opened way back in 1883, and was in operation until 1989. What remains are rather sinister looking old buildings, and a fascinating place to explore history.



There are so many stories about the buildings, the prisoners, and on tour one gets to go inside the cells and to hear the stories of the lives of the prisoners, both men and women, and the prison officers and their lives within the walls.



There are a number of different tours of the Gaol – The History of Tour, was the one I went on. It is a 90 minute child friendly tour with a Tour Guide who shares the history of the Gaol, while taking you into places that once upon a time only prisoners and prison guards would enter.


The Guide details the famous riot of 1988, and leads you on a tour into the cells, the gatehouse, yards and more.



If you love history, you'll probably want to go on the other tours too. There's a 60 minute tour by an ex-inmate or former prison officer, an Escapes Tour which explains the successful and unsuccessful attempts to escape the prison walls.



There's a tour of the graffiti on the cell walls (not a good one for the children!), and again one that would not be good for children, the Ghost Tours, which of course are held at night and are bound to be very spooky. For more details click here.



It was after riots in 1988 where a number of prisoners spent time on the gaol roof, protesting about the conditions of , that the prison was closed. There has been development around the Gaol, but enough has been left for us to explore and learn the history of this infamous place.



The History Tour takes visitors into the gaol buildings, into the cells as they learn of this notorious prison, knowing that they will be let out!

The Gaol has quite a few tours, and is available for functions as well. Check out the website , and book online for one of the tours.

At the end of the tour visit the Gaol Shop and explore the many publications about the gaol, including some by Jack Sim, who may well be in the shop to sign your book.

#brisbane_city
#day_trips
#dutton_park
#history
#tourist_attractions
#tours
%wnbrisbane
185723 - 2023-06-16 02:39:36

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