Windsor Gaol

Reference: 9 March 1936

DEMOLITION OF WINDSOR GAOL - ORIGINALLY ESTABLISHED IN 1829.

The work of demolishing the historic gaol at Windsor has began, and many valuable relics have been taken to Parramatta gaol. Old cedar doors, steel doors, and a quantity of ironwork was removed to Parramatta, and will be used in the gaol there. The prison, a quaint old brick building with high walls covered at the top with broken glass, was originally established in 1820, and added to in the fifties. Although still in good repair, the building has not been used for some years. In the prison yard tho old-fashioned well covered by the original large, flat, round stone is still to be seen. The Resumed Properties Department proposes to demolish tho entire building, and submit the land for sale in building blocks.

Many residents deplore the demolition because the building has always been looked upon as one of Windsor’s most important historical landmarks. In the Court House opposite, which was established in 1829, when the first circuit court was held there by Mr Justice Stephen, stands an old-fashioned iron dock, another relic of the early days of the colony. This dock is shortly to be removed. The reason for its removal is that many complaints have been received about the ignominy an offender suffers while standing in an open iron structure before the gaze of the public, in the gallery.