Images of Trial Bay Gaol
Trial Bay Gaol and its collection
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Trial Bay Gaol, also known as Trial Bay Prison, is a former prison and internment camp located at Trial Bay near the town of South West Rocks in New South Wales. The prison was used to house convicts from 1866 to 1903 and during World War I from August 1915 to 1918 as an internment camp for German naval soldiers, German Australians, and Austrians. Today, it stands as a ruin in Arakoon National Park and is used as a museum.
Architecture of Trial Bay Gaol
The prison building was constructed by convicts and was completed in 1866 after a thirteen-year construction period. The building was made of yellow sandstone and was surrounded by a stone wall made of sandstone blocks. The prison complex includes four elongated cell blocks, a communal dining room, a prison kitchen, a hospital, a bathhouse, a kitchen, and other small buildings on the prison grounds. Today, the gatehouse serves as a museum.
Trial Bay Gaol Today
Today, the prison building is a ruin in Arakoon National Park. About 50 meters of the breakwater are still present. The historic prison is now a museum, with sculptures placed on its outer walls. This offers a unique opportunity for visitors to explore the history of the prison and the lives of the people who were once held there.
History & Anthropology Historic house War