Town or city Bristol Completed 1832 Architect Richard Shackleton Pope | Country England Opened 1832 | |
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Address Cumberland Rd, Bristol BS1 6UA, UK Similar Spike Island - Bristol, Bathurst Basin, Queen Square - Bristol, Coronation Chair, Bristol Harbour | ||
The New Gaol (also sometimes known as The Old City Gaol) is in Cumberland Road, Spike Island, Bristol England, which is close to the Bristol Harbour.
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History
The Gaol was completed in 1832 by Richard Shackleton Pope after the original, which was designed by H.H Seward in 1816, In 1831, it was destroyed during the Bristol Riots and was never properly completed until 1872. The gaol was closed in 1883 due to poor conditions and was largely demolished in 1898. In 1884, Horfield Prison was built to replace it.
In 1821, John Horwood was the first person to be hanged at the Gaol by murdering Eliza Balsum by hurling a pebble at her and hit her on the right temple and then tumbled into a brook, three days after his eighteenth birthday.
English Heritage designated The Gaol entrance wall and gateway and the south-east perimeter wall as a Grade II listed building. It is now the centre-piece of a redevelopment project in this area of the city.
Archives
Papers related to the New Gaol (Ref. 17128) (online catalogue), and plans including Ref. 17567/5 (online catalogue) and 4312/76 (online catalogue) are held at Bristol Archives.