Geelong Gaol is one of Australia's most intact 19th Century convict prisons. A 3 story behemoth, it housed a host of convicts, murderers and lunatics under extreme conditions.
Four men were executed and one buried within its walls. It is the site of scores of murders between prisoners. Begun in 1849, the prison was designed along the Pentonville plan to contain convicts being brought directly from England before being shipped across the colony. Tiny cells, lack of toilets and facilities and freezing cold temperatures made Geelong Gaol a virtual dungeon till the day it closed.
Life in the prison was excruciating. Prisoners were subjected to back-breaking labour, floggings and a system designed to completely break their spirits.
Closing in the 1990's this is the one prison Chopper Reid said he never wanted to go back to!
Tours run 7 nights a week at 8pm for a duration of 90 minutes & leave from 202 Myers Street, Geelong.
The cost for adults is $35, child U16-$25 and a family $120-please note the tours are not suitable for children under 8.