NGI

Beaumaris Gaol is an disused jail located in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales. Although no longer in use it remains largely unaltered and is now a museum open to visitors, with around 30,000 visiting each year.

The History of Beaumaris Gaol

The jail was designed by Joseph Hansom, designer of the Hansom cab, and was built in 1829. It was expanded in 1867 to accomodate approximately 30 inmates but was closed just 11 years later. The building then became a police station until the 1950s when it became, oddly, a children`s clinic and lastly a museum in 1974. The gaols chapel is still in it`s original condition, seemingly untouched.

The prison is most well known however for it`s brutal methods of keeping criminals in check including stretching racks, chains and whippings. A number of hangings took place over the years.

The Haunted History of Beaumaris Gaol

The most famous of these hangings was one of the last. The man being executed claimed that if he were innocent the four faces of the nearby church clock would never show the same time. Indeed for a while they did not, although this has been attributed to the wind buffeting the southern face. Nevertheless the gibbet still remains in the courtyard and the TV series Most Haunted visited the gaol for a show aired 17th January 2007 to investigate supposed hauntings. Unfortunately, very little recorded information on the acutual ghosts of Beaumaris Gaol exists.