Behind These Walls

BEHIND THESE WALLS

Photographs of Decommissioned Australian Prisons and Gaols

by Brett Leigh Dicks

MAITLAND GAOL, E A S T M A I T L A N D, N S W, 2 0 1 7.

Wall & Shadow, Visits Centre

MAITLAND GAOL, E A S T M A I T L A N D, N S W, 2 0 1 7. [above] Cells, Kitchen [front cover] Bunk Beds, B Wing

BEHIND THESE WALLS

Photographs of Decommissioned Australian Prisons and Gaols

by Brett Leigh Dicks

LIMITED EDITION â„–

CONTENTS

Adelaide Gaol

Old Dubbo Gaol

Fremantle Prison

Geelong Gaol

J Ward Ararat

Maitland Gaol

Parramatta Gaol

Port Arthur

Fremantle Prison

Adelaide Gaol

Old Dubbo Gaol J Ward Ararat

Maitland Gaol Parramatta Gaol

Geelong Gaol Port Arthur

FOREWORD

by Gordon Sauber Coordinator Maitland Gaol

Maitland Gaol took its first prisoners on Saturday, 30th December 1848, heralding the start of what would become Australia’s longest continuously operating correctional facility. From its earliest times, Maitland

community interest, had negotiated temporary arrangements to give visitors ‘a look at life on the inside’ by offering tours through the site. So started the development of a more permanent arrangement for Gaol has had an immeasurable impact on ‘the Gaol’ which has seen a regional heritage the local community. Indeed, the local and cultural tourism precinct emerge, community petitioned the Government of maintaining and developing that original the day on several occasions to establish and local community benefit of the site. then complete a prison in this area.

Late in 2016, Brett Dicks, an Australian artist who had particular

We the undersigned proprietors of interest in the photographic Land and other free inhabitants of the town of recording of decommissioned Maitland, and its vicinity, … beg leave to press prisons, contacted Maitland Gaol. upon your Excellency, to whose fostering hand we He was investigating whether there look for the establishment of Public Institutions would be any interest in holding for the morality and the protection of our lives an exhibition at Maitland Gaol, and properties … the necessity of having a similar to one he had presented Church; a Gaol, with cells; and a Hospital… in Fremantle Prison. Significant (as reported in the Sydney Herald, Monday, consideration was then occurring 24 November 1834, page 2) on what could be a new and unusual presentation at Maitland Gaol

Likewise, when it finally closed its to commemorate the 20th anniversary of doors and the last prisoner left Maitland its decommissioning. Brett subsequently Gaol at noon on Thursday, 29th January indicated his keen interest in returning to 1998, the local community still saw the his home country to undertake an exercise immense benefit to it from an economic of documenting decommissioned prisons viewpoint. Within a matter of weeks, and gaols within Australia as he had done Maitland City Council, responding to in the United States. The concept developed

into a new project, to be exhibited within the largest of the cell blocks at Maitland Gaol (B Wing), presenting a new collection of images of decommissioned Australian gaols and prisons. The exhibition would be presented as the major activity associated with the 20th anniversary of decommissioning and, coincidentally, the celebration of 150 years of the construction of B Wing.

The result of that chance contact has now been realised as another new use for this historic community based facility. May it be another successful development in the life of ‘the Gaol’.

MAITLAND GAOL, EAST MAITLAND, N S W, 2 0 1 7.

Cell Block, B Wing

BRETT LEIGH DICKS Artist Statement

Empty prisons are eerie places where the walls do actually speak. While each prison has its own history, character, and story to tell, so too does every cell. Etched into their stone edifices is the passing of successive generations of inmates, all of whom have made an imprint with their passing. Old prisons are not just a reminder of the past, they can also help guide us through the future.

Prisons have been a longtime fascination for me. When I first visited the US several decades ago I took the ferry out to Alcatraz Island and was moved by its unnerving aura, like every other visitor to the site. I’ve visited Tasmania’s Port Arthur, Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary and The Clink in London. But it was an old penitentiary in mid-western America that really opened my eyes to the afterlife of decommissioned prisons.

While photographing along the Ohio River I came across the West Virginia State Penitentiary. When the prison closed its doors in 1995, Moundsville, which at its peak housed more than two thousand prisons and sustained the facility, entered a downward spiral. Not only did the town lose its biggest employer, it also lost a major contributor to its economy. So began my fascination with the

fate of former prisons and the communities that surrounded them.

Having photographed two-dozen closed down prisons in the United States, which has the highest level of incarceration in the world, a visit to Fremantle Prison several years ago turned my attention to their equivalents in Australia where incarceration rates have recently skyrocketed to record levels.

Across the last decade the number and rate of Australians imprisoned across the nation has risen from just under 26,000 ten years ago to over 40,000 in 2017. Even more disturbing is that the largest increases have been in the indigenous and women prisoner populations. While indigenous Australians comprise 2.8 percent of the Australian population, they make up 28 percent of the nation’s prison population while the rate of female incarceration has increased 77 percent over the last ten years.

Decommissioned prisons and gaols and their legacies have a role to play in the conversation about contemporary incarceration. The approach to punishment and incarceration adopted by any society should be something constantly assessed and reevaluated. As society changes so too does its values. Prisons used to be a place of

punishment and repentance, but in the lifespan of some of these facilities they were transformed into places of reform and rehabilitation.

Justice and the form it takes should be an ongoing conversation in every community and I think there is a place for photography to illuminate that.

PA R R A M AT TA G AO L , PA R R A M AT TA , N S W, 2 0 1 7.

Common Area, Two Wing

ADELAIDE GAOL

South Australia was the first colony in Australia established by free settlers, therefore it was at first decided that a gaol would not be necessary. Within a few years it was realised that a proper gaol was required, as scores of criminals were being held in the HMS Buffalo moored off Glenelg. Adelaide Gaol started construction in 1840 but ran out of money in 1841, so prisoners moved into an incomplete gaol in March. The design was influenced by the semicircular design of the Pentonville Prison in England.

Adelaide Gaol housed men, women and children throughout its operation and all prisoners were required to work. Industries included gardening, working in the olive groves, assisting with public works projects, hammock manufacturing, cutting firewood for Government buildings, boot making, whitewashing and painting. Women’s work wasn’t as diverse and was made up exclusively of sewing and picking oakum.

Throughout its working life additions were made to the Gaol, the earliest in 1849 when the women’s section ‘Yard 2’ was completed. Building work continued with the only building constructed by prison labour built in 1879, dubbed ‘The New Building’.

Major renovation work was carried out in the

mid-1950s after public outcry regarding the living conditions for prisoners.

Despite initially believing a gaol wouldn’t be required for Adelaide, Adelaide Gaol would go on to carry out 45 executions.

All 45 were buried in and around the grounds, marked only by their initials and execution date. The last person to be hanged in Adelaide Gaol was Glen Sabre Valance, for the murder of his boss, executed on 24th November 1964.

Capital punishment was abolished in South Australia in 1976.

Female prisoners were transferred out of the Gaol in 1969 to a new facility in Northfield; the Gaol had stopped housing children long before. The decision to close the facility came early in the 1980s and a number of facilities were opened in anticipation.

Prisoners began to leave the Gaol in 1987 and the site was formally decommissioned on 4th February 1988.

ADELAIDE GAOL, A D E L A I D E , S A , 2 0 1 7. [page 008] Mural [top left] Vistor Centre [lower left] Inner Gate [top right] Shower Block [lower right] Cell Block, B Wing

OLD DUBBO GAOL

One of the first government buildings in the new town along the Macquarie River, Dubbo Gaol was proclaimed in 1859.

Originally a courthouse lockup, very little was done to the site until 1871 when a ‘new’ gaol was built complete with 4 cells and a bedroom for the gaoler.

The first execution took place in 1877 and the site would go on to conduct 8 in total, including a notorious bushranger. Three of these men were buried inside the Gaol grounds.

The Gaol was again upgraded, to a Minor Gaol, in 1887 to include 13 regular cells, a large padded cell and dark cells.

It was during this stage of construction that an independent female division was erected with separate exercise yard and bathroom facilities. The Gaol was enclosed behind a 12ft high brick wall and a gate entrance from the main street of Dubbo was installed.

In 1920 it was suggested that the Gaol should be moved outside of Dubbo central and down towards the river where the prisoners could be put to work on irrigation projects. The reforms never occurred and in 1928 considerable additions to the Gaol were constructed

including a Gaolers Residence. Dubbo Gaol remained in the centre of town until its closure on 31st August 1966. It had operated for 95 years as one of the major administrators of justice for the region.

The site was saved by a group of local citizens in 1974 and opened as a tourist attraction the same year. Originally run by volunteers it is now managed by Dubbo Regional Council. It was included on the State Heritage Register in March 2004 and has since undergone significant heritage work to maintain the integrity of the buildings and entry.

OLD DUBBO GAOL, D U B B O, N S W, 2 0 1 7. [page 012] Remand Yard [top left] Cell Block [lower left] Wall & Window [top right] Cell Block from Alley [lower right] Wall

FREMANTLE PRISON

Built as a convict barracks using limestone quarried from the site, prisoners moved into the main cell block in 1855. It was first known as ‘The Convict Establishment’ and the site was renamed ‘Fremantle Prison’ in 1867. It was originally built to hold over 1000 convicts but by 1886 only 60 remained. So with the closure of Perth Gaol in 1888 Fremantle Prison became the primary place of incarceration for men, women and children in Western Australia

A Royal Commission and population boom in the 1890s meant that

by Federation the site had been turned into a modern place of incarceration. In 1907 ‘New Division’ was opened as a result of the closure of the Aboriginal prison on Rottnest Island and the increase in crime following the population explosion caused by the gold rushes.

During both world wars part of the site was operated by the Australian Army and used as an internment camp for alien enemies and prisoners of war.

Additional educational and recreation facilities were added throughout the following years. Despite this it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain 20th century security expectations.

Throughout its working life Fremantle Prison was the only place of legal execution in Western Australia. It conducted 44 executions, the last in 1964.

All but one of the executed prisoners were male, the only female execution took place in 1909. All female prisoners were transferred out of the prison by 1970.

In 1983 a Royal Commission recommended the prisons closure over growing concerns for security and prison conditions. The site was engulfed in riot in 1988 when a group of prisoners set fire to parts of the site as a diversion to a planned mass escape. Fifteen prison officers were taken hostage and injured during the riot.

The site was officially decommissioned in 1991 and a series of heritage management strategies were put in place. In 2005 Fremantle Prison was included on the Australian National Heritage List and in 2010 the site was formally recognised on the World Heritage Register, along with 10 other convict sites from around Australia, under the theme Convictism – Forced Migration’.

FREMANTLE PRISON, FREMANTLE, WA, 2015. [page 016] Stick Officer’s Hut [top left] Cell Doors [lower left] Protective Exercise Yard [top right] Gallows [lower right] Kitchen Office Door Sign

GEELONG GAOL

Located on the corner of Myers and Swanston St is the former Geelong Gaol which commenced construction in 1849.

It was designed on the Pentonville Prison model, however it is cruciform rather than radial. A key feature of this design was that the majority of the cells were designed to accommodate only one prisoner, increasing their isolation.

Between 1849 and 1865 construction of the site was carried out by convicts who slept in hulks moored in Corio Bay. The Gaol was built to replace the log walled prison in South Geelong, which had prisoners living in appalling conditions. The main building is built of basalt, or bluestone, and could house 150 prisoners.

Geelong Gaol was the site of 6 executions, almost all of them public, including the 1863 execution of James Murphy. Murphy was executed after beating a constable to death with a hammer in Geelong courthouse. The last execution took place in October 1863, however capital punishment was legal in Victoria up until 1975.

Throughout its working life the Gaol was used for many purposes.

Between 1865 and 1872 the site became an industrial girl’s school for orphaned girls aged between 6 and 14. These girls were often orphaned by their parents who deserted them to head to the lucrative goldfields in Bendigo and Ballarat.

In 1877 the site was repurposed to a hospital gaol, caring for sick, disabled and aged prisoners from around the state.

Geelong was the first gaol in Victoria to receive electric lighting and this was very useful when the site was turned into an Army Detention Barracks for the Australian Army during World War 2.

After the armed forces left in 1947 the site was returned to a hospital gaol up until 1958.

It remained a high security gaol of ill repute and despite significant advances in technology the site continued much the same up until its closure in 1991. At its closure many prisoners were still using toilet buckets and had no access to the sewer or running water in their cells.

The Gaol is a prominent landmark that symbolises the status of the township of Geelong prior to the discovery of gold in 1851.

GEELONG GAOL, G E E LO N G , V I C , 2 0 1 7. [page 020] Rotunda, Main Cell Block [top left] Cell Block Wall [lower left] Prisoner Art Above Cell Door [right] Stairs, Main Cell Block

J WARD ARARAT

Ararat started its life as a gold field’s prison in 1859 and underwent significant additions in terms of infrastructure between 1860 and 1863. Gold ran out during the 1880s and as the hive of activity came to a grinding halt so did the requirements for a gaol. Three executions were carried out whilst operating as a gaol but by 1886 it had ceased operation and was transferred to the Victorian Lunacy Department.

The site underwent considerable modification and reopened, in 1887, as J Ward a special site devoted to the care of the criminally insane. The entire site would eventually consist of over 63 buildings and each ‘ward’ was reserved for different types of lunatics. J Ward housed ‘criminal and dangerous’ male patients during the coming years.

Located 200km west of Melbourne, it became the perfect place to keep the mentally ill out of sight and out of mind. The walls of the facility were designed to look low from a by passers perspective, giving the illusion that the detainees had some sort of freedom.

However the large trench on the inside of the walls created a more sinister looking

enclosure, also meaning that escape was virtually impossible.

During its operation the entire site, including the Aradale Lunatic Asylum, saw over 13 000 deaths causing a black stain on Victoria’s record regarding the treatment of patients with mental illness and intellectual disability.

J Ward Ararat was decommissioned as an asylum in 1989 after operating for 102 years. Overall the site was in use for 130 years, taking into account its previous history as a gaol. The site is now used as a tourist facility that has over 10 000 visitors per year.

J WA R D, A R A R AT, V I C , 2 0 1 7. [page 024] Window & Shadows [left] Cell Block [top right] Roof, Cell Block [lower right] Cell Door

MAITLAND GAOL

Maitland was officially settled in 1820 and the people would begin petitioning almost immediately for a gaol to be built.

The lock up being used in Newcastle was in serious disrepair meaning the prisoners were living in cramped, squalid conditions.

Maitland Gaol was officially opened in 1848 and the first prisoners were transported from Newcastle, arriving on 30th December, ready to bring in the New Year. The first phase of construction had completed the exterior walls and A Wing. Other temporary buildings dotted the site including a kitchen, gaolers living quarters and storage facility.

Men, women and children would continue to be housed in A Wing for almost the first 50 years of the gaols operation.

Phase two of construction saw the largest additions to the gaol including B wing, chapel and workshops which were completed in the late 1860s. It was during this era that Maitland Gaol saw the introduction of the separate system.

B Wing was specifically designed for this system and kept prisoners in extreme isolation. After modification many years later, B Wing would go on to house some of the state’s most dangerous prisoners.

Further construction was completed in 1897 with a women’s wing, dedicated workshops and shed and a matrons quarters completed. This was also the year in which the last execution took place at Maitland Gaol; in total 16 executions were conducted on the site.

This era brought significant change to Maitland Gaol and by 1905 the separate system and draconian punishments had been abolished.

Maitland Gaol would go on to be a successful and productive gaol, producing large quantities of fruit and vegetables and other products through the many industries which employed the prisoners.

The decision to close the site was tabled during the 1990s with rapidly rising maintenance costs and restrictions of the site in terms of modern policies regarding rehabilitation cited as reasons.

Maitland Gaol officially closed in 1998, to public outcry. The site had operated continually for almost 150 years making it Australia’s longest continually operating correctional facility.

MAITLAND GAOL, E A S T M A I T L A N D, N S W, 2 0 1 7. [page 028] Watch Tower & Workshop [top left] 5 Wing Yards Access way, C Wing & Yards [lower left] Watch Room, 5 Wing [right] Fence & Watch Tower Run

PARRAMATTA GAOL

Parramatta Gaol was originally constructed on a different site in 1796. The Gaol as it is today, on the corner of Dunlop and New Streets Parramatta, began construction in the late 1830s based on alterations made to the original plans by the Royal Engineer George Barney. Parramatta Gaol was proclaimed on 3rd January 1842, although it was incomplete.

At the time the perimeter wall, governor’s house, chapel and three double story radiating wings had been completed.

In the late 1850s the physical space allocated to the Gaol was doubled and workshops and a cookhouse were built. Two of the original wings were converted into male and female hospital wings and a new stone wall was erected to include the larger parcel of land.

Between 1883 and 1889 three additional cell wings were completed, by prison labour. By 1894 Parramatta Gaol was the largest in the colony. During the early 1900s Captain Neitenstein, the comptroller of prisons, made considerable changes to the site including reducing the cell size to single cells, introducing electricity and completing a sixth wing. During World War 1 the prison population dropped considerably so in 1918 the Gaol was closed and converted into a mental health facility known as the Parramatta Lunatic Asylum.

By 1922 the Gaol was recommissioned and by 1929 it had become the principal manufacturing gaol in the state producing boots, brushes, tinware, clothes, joinery and foodstuffs. During this period the cells were converted back to their larger size and regulations on prisoners eased due to additional and exceptional quality of the products they were producing.

20th century additions to the Gaol were made in the 1940s and in the 1970s the Parramatta Linen Service, auditorium and gatehouse extension were built. In the 1990s a reception, administration and visiting building were constructed. Parramatta Gaol was briefly closed in 1997 before re-opening and finally being decommissioned in 2011. The site was handed to the Deerubbin Aboriginal Land Council in 2016.

PA R R A M AT TA G AO L , PA R R A M AT TA , N S W, 2 0 1 7. [page 032] Cell Door, 3 Wing [top left] Cell Block, 5 Wing [lower left] Fence & 6 Wing Cell Block [top right] Cell, 6 Wing [lower right] Balcony Supports, 2 Wing

PORT ARTHUR

Port Arthur began its life as a small timber station in 1830, as a replacement for the recently closed timber camp at Birches Bay. The first decade saw a settlement hacked from the bush and the first industries including, ship building, shoe making, smithing, timber cutting and brick making, were established.

In 1842 the granary and flour mill were built, which would later be converted into the Penitentiary. By the mid-1840s the population of convicts had reached over 1100. Already a harsh place it was during this decade that a shift occurred in punishment for convicts changing from physical to mental control. With the end of transportation in 1853 the number of convicts was expected to drop, however Port Arthur began accepting large proportions of colonially sentenced men.

This meant that the following decade was one of the most productive in Port Arthur’s history.

From the mid-1860s the convicts were getting older and sicker so productivity began to slow. It was now that the site entered ‘The Welfare Phase’ and undertook the construction of a pauper’s depot and Asylum to care for the aging population. By 1877 Port Arthur had closed as a penal settlement and during the 1880s was renamed Carnarvon. It was at this time that the land was portioned up and auctioned off.

People took up residence on the site and despite terrible bushfires in 1895 and 1897, which bought with it considerable destruction of original buildings, forged a thriving community. Tourism to the site became popular and was a key feature of the community’s survival. In 1916 the site was removed from private ownership and in 1927 the name Port Arthur was reinstated.

During the 1970s and 80s whilst under the management of National Parks and Wildlife items from its time as a thriving community were removed and in 1987 the site was taken over by the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority. In 2010 Port Arthur, along with other convict sites around Australia, was recognised on the World Heritage List.

P O RT A RT H U R , TA S , 2 0 1 7. [page 036] Guard Tower [top left] Rotunda, Separate Prison [lower left] Wall & Windows, Penitentiary [right] Spy Hole, Separate Prison

First published in 2017 Maitland Gaol (A Business Unit of Maitland City Council) 6-18 John St, East Maitland NSW 2323 www.maitlandgaol.com.au Published to accompany the exhibition Behind These Walls | Photographs of Decommissioned Australian Prisons and Gaols by Brett Leigh Dicks Exhibition dates: 16 December 2017 - 23 February 2018 All images copyright of the artist © Maitland City Council Proudly printed in Australia

FOREWORD Gordon Sauber TEXT Zoe Whiting CURATORS Gordon Sauber Zoe Whiting DESIGN Clare Hodgins ISBN 9 780980 677133

MAITLAND GAOL, E A S T M A I T L A N D, N S W, 2 0 1 7. [left] Cell Block, 5 Wing [above] Fence & B Wing [overleaf (detail)] Yard, A Wing [back cover] Mural, Kitchen