Beaumaris Gaol

Museum

Explorer Tom

Beaumaris Gaol has the sort of front door that makes you want to check your pockets even when you have done absolutely nothing wrong. Behind it are bare cells, dim passages and a punishment wing designed to make a prisoner feel the full weight of Victorian justice. The cheerful seaside town outside suddenly seems a very long way away. Joseph Hansom and Edward Welch designed the prison, which opened in 1829. It held offenders until 1878, then served as a police station before becoming a museum in 1975. Its treadwheel was no harmless fitness machine: prisoners walked it to pump water, and it is the only prison treadwheel of its kind surviving in Britain. The separate cells and yards show how prison authorities tried to control every hour of a sentence. There is also a grim human story. Richard Rowlands was hanged here in 1862 after his conviction for murder; he protested his innocence. Local legend says he cursed the nearby church clock so it would never keep proper time. A clock with bad manners is a memorable tale, but the execution itself was real, and the condemned cell deserves a quieter moment than the legend usually gets. The gaol is a ticketed attraction in Beaumaris, a short walk from the castle and courthouse. Opening information has changed during refurbishment, so check directly before setting off. Look at the treadwheel, then return to the bright streets outside; that little change of light says more about the prison than any ghost story could.

What is recorded here

Map note: Beaumaris Gaol is a museum near Beaumaris, Ynys Môn / Isle of Anglesey, Wales. The name caught our eye; the map shows what else is nearby.

From OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) w30955907

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