Details

Latitude

-34.4874

Longitude

150.336

Start Date

1839

End Date

2011

Established in 1839, this site has continued to be used as a criminal detention centre on and off right though to today. The gaol was initially constructed using convict labour to house locally-convicted prisoners from the surrounding areas. In 1866 it was renovated to act as a 'model prison' in line with current penal reform ideas, which included the provision of separate cells for each prisoner. All prisoners sent to the gaol spent at least one year in solitary before gradually being given opportunities to interact with other prisoners during work and exercise periods. The gaol closed in 1909, and during World War One was used as a German internment camp. During the interwar era it acted as a police station, with the gaol open for public inspection as a place of historic interest. From 1944 it was rebuilt using prison labour, and reopened as the Berrima Training Centre in 1948, functioning as a minimum security prison for men. In 2001 it became an all-female prison instead, before being closed in 2011. In 2016 it was reopened to cope with New South Wales' growing prison population.

Sources