Darlinghurst Gaol Sydney

Darlinghurst Gaol Sydney

In the 1820′s, colonial architect Francis Greenway was commissioned to design a gaol that would overlook Sydney as a constant reminder that Sydney was a convict town. The walls of the jail were built by convicts from 1822-1824, and their marks are still visible.

Greenway’s plans were used for the walls, but because he was an ex-convict, he was taken off the job and his plans for the buildings were not used. Instead, the jail was built using the plans of a jail in Philadelphia. The Plan of the Gaol was like the spokes of a wheel, with wings radiating from a central point leaving narrow segments of space between. Work began on the jail in 1835 and it took 50 years to finish.

During its long life, Darlinghurst Gaol hosted public executions on a makeshift gallows outside the main gate in Forbes Street, as well as regular “private” executions on the permanent gallows just inside the main walls near the intersection of Darlinghurst Road and Burton Street. Over 70 people were executed here including the bushranger “Captain Moonlight” (aka Andrew George Scott), Jimmy Governor (known as Jimmy Blacksmith in more recent times), and the last woman to hang in NSW, Louisa Collins.

In 1912 a new “model prison” at Long Bay was complete and the Darlinghurst establishment was transferred to this site. The old gaol buildings were used as an internment camp during WWI. After consideration the site was transferred in 1921, to the department of Education which has adapted the building for the use of the East Sydney Technical College.

According to interviews and records, Darlinghurst Gaol’s ghostly activities began with the restoration of the TAFE. There are three known haunted rooms in the old Gaol buildings; one of them is a classroom, the place where prisoners were kept prior to hanging. TAFE security guards claim they often experience ghostly activity when doing their rounds of the buildings.

According to one security guard, the lights would come one and the doors would close by themselves. He claimed that at such times, there was a smell so bad it was hard to stay in the room. He said that in that area there is a ghost of an Asian lady who is looking for her husband who was a prisoner.

Near the staircase outside it is claimed there are about five spirits, which can be heard in the blue room knocking on the blackboard. Teachers have also reported ghostly encounters. One teacher who studied Tai Chi claims he saw a ghost in a men’s toilet. Another reported a spirit followed him home all the way to Glebe Island Bridge.

Darlinghurst Gaol, Taylor Square, Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, NSW