Mount Gambier Gaol

Not to be confused with Mount Gambier Prison.

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]

  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.