Visiting Beaumaris Gaol and Court

When we were in Wales at Easter we spent a morning at Beaumaris Castle, having parked easily easily right next to the castle it made sense to see as much of Beaumaris as possible so walked through the town to Beaumaris Gaol and Court after we’d finished at the castle.

What is Beaumaris Gaol?

Beaumaris Goal is a disused jail that is now a popular museum on the Isle of Anglesey. The jail was built in 1829, expanded in 1867 but closed in 1878, when it became a police station until the 1950s. It was then a children’s clinic before being turned into a museum in 1974.

Visiting Beaumaris Gaol

Beaumaris Gaol is like stepping back in time. It’s a really well preserved example of a Victorian prison and gives a really fascinating insight into what prison life would have been like and the sort of things that people ended up in prison for – and what their punishments were.

You work your way through the jail on a vague one way system, seeing different types of cells, the punishment cell, the sick room, school room, chapel, workhouse, nursery and the staff quarters. The children were given a trail to follow that really helped them stay engaged.

Throughout the jail there are boards to read and pictures showing the sort of activities that would have gone on inside the jail walls and you’re also taught about the two executions that took place at Beaumaris Jail and the one solitary escapee too.

We were all shocked to discover that female prisoners had babies in the nursery and would work in a room below, pulling a cord whilst they worked which would rock their child’s cradle in the room above.

The jail has a nice outside space where you also get to see one of the last working penal treadmills in Britain. The treadmill pumped water to the top of the building for use in the cells, so the prisoners were not forced to work for no reason.

We were only at Beaumaris Jail for an hour or so but it was great to see, interesting and educational! Just our sort of day out. If you’re planning a visit to north Wales then Beaumaris is well worth a visit.

You can find out more about Beaumaris Jail over on their website and for reference the address is: Steeple Ln, Beaumaris LL58 8EP