Newcastle Gaol: its history and its inmates

Newcastle Lit & Phil present an engaging virtual talk about the City’s Historic Gaol. Located in Carliol Square and first opened in 1828, the building was designed by the leading local architect John Dobson and once described more like a “palace than a prison”. Dr Shane McCorristine will lead a fascinating talk with stories of the Gaol and its eventual closure and demolishment in 1925. Indeed, few markers of the Gaol even remain in Newcastle today, and it is truly a piece of remarkable hidden history.

The site joins a long history of correctional institutions within Newcastle, which was first made responsible for the custody of its own prisoners in 1399 when it was made a county. At that time, they were held in the town's castle. At a cost of £35,000, the new building comprised a series of radiating wings surrounded by a 25-foot wall and central tower, giving warders a view on to the enclosed courtyard below. The gaol housed both men and women and there were sick rooms, work rooms, a chapel and even a treadmill.

In 1925, overcrowded since the 1850s, the Gaol was effectively replaced by Durham Prison when some of its inmates – those who had not had their sentences commuted or spent – were sent there. The building demolished it was replaced by the Telephone Centre as part of a massive redevelopment of Newcastle City Centre.

2019 marked the hundredth anniversary of the last execution to take place in the Gaol, that of Ambrose Quinn who was hanged for the murder of his wife. Tyne and Wear Archives has rich holdings relating to the Gaol, including Dobson’s original plans and a haunting catalogue of mugshots of prisoners detained there in the 1870s. The Gaol evolved and aged with the city, incarcerating a range of offenders behind its walls, from debtors and petty thieves to suffragettes, German internees, and murderers.

The talk will take place at 6pm on Tue May 11th and is Free, though a suggested donation to the Lit & Phil of £3 is encouraged.

Please register your interest by emailing [email protected].  You will then be sent a Zoom invitation. Note that you don't have to have Zoom installed on your device to take part.