Old Alice Springs Gaol

Alice Springs Old Gaol Visited on 10/7/2019 The compound housed the Alice Springs Old Gaol and the Women's Museum of Australia. The entry fee is for both the "attractions". Since Australia was a former British colony, the word "gaol" was used instead of jail, or prison. Upon entry to the converted residential building is the souvenir shop and sales counter staffed by volunteers. There are some interesting items on sale including local­ly made and designed jew­ellery, acces­sories, home­wares, chil­dren’s gifts, sou­venirs and a range of books on extra­or­di­nary women. The shop also offers unique, most­ly hand made prod­ucts made by prisoners at the Alice Springs Cor­rec­tion­al Centre, such as metal decorative artwork, aboriginal boomerang, etc. The gaol was opened in 1938 and oper­at­ed until 1996. It was gen­der segre­gat­ed until the mid-1980’s before becom­ing male only due to over­crowd­ing. In 1998, the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry Gov­ern­ment demol­ished all the non-heritage list­ed build­ings on the site. That explains why there are not many cells around to accommodate all the gaolers. The Women's Cell Block is a long building made of cement bricks. The women doing time here could not be that aggressive or violent, becuse there were beds in the verandah where they slept during very hot days. It is interesting to read the information posters on the wall outside some cells. Talka Willian was the matron between 1956 and 1984. She was well liked, and treated the women kindly. From my research, Telka Williams was the Angel of Redemption at the women’s gaol, the saviour of special needs people in Central Australia. The women cooked on benches tiled themselves, in colourful uniforms they designed and sewed, in cells they painted, as they slept on beds adorned with their own hand made quilts. The men's block is quite different. Many of the inscription, collages and paintings are by inmates can still be seen. Some of the cell doors are locked, but visitors can peep through a small glass-plate opening on the door to view the interior.

2 for 1 with the women's museum! Amazing thought provoking stories. Well worth a few hours immersing yourself

Very interesting, well worth visiting

Such amazing history recorded to hear and see.

Very interesting building and historical displays