Grim Faces

Date posted: 16 January 2011

George Strickland Kingston's design for Adelaide Gaol was unique to Australia. The architecture combines radial planning with internal relationships. This means that the cellblocks and exercise yards opened into one central point. Adelaide Gaol's central point is the circle.

The front administration building was part of the original gaol in 1841, the design was a Georgian Palladian Composition. Both the Governor and Keeper had their living quarters in this building. Other purposes for which this building was used, were offices, a visitor centre and the chapel.

The walls were constructed in two stages, the first in 1840-41, and the second in 1847. The walls were constructed with dry creek stone and topped with honeycomb brickwork for extra security measures. Only two openings exist in the outer perimeter wall, one at the main entrance, which is situated in the Governor's House and the second out through the western wall to allow access to the wood-yard for deliveries.

The towers are incorporated in the outer wall structure and contain the most detailed stonework in the Gaol. The castellated design on top of the tower was one of the most criticised parts of construction. This is due to the high expense taken to complete the towers. An expense, which was unnecessary, was the grotesques. These figures (of which there are eight on each tower) cost 300 pounds each and provided no practical use. The original design called for three watchtowers, however due to high costs only two were built and only one completed.

Check out the Dark Art film clip to have a taste of the grotesques. Grotesques are gargoyles that don't spurt water.