Newcastle Gaol

Newcastle Gaol was commissioned to replace the New Gate Gaol which dated from the 14th century. By 1820, that prison was described by the grand jury at Newcastle assizes "as being out of repair and inconvenient, insufficient, and insecure." The site they chose for the new prison was Carliol Croft, a piece of open land in the east part of central Newcastle. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the mayor, Robert Bell, on 4 June 1823. It was designed by John Dobson in the Fortress Gothic Revival Style, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £35,000 and was completed in February 1828. The design involved a tall entrance tower with a gateway, behind which there was an elliptical…