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 Charlotte County Gaol - St Andrews, NB Posted by:  T0SHEA
N 45° 04.524 W 067° 02.949
19T E 653554 N 4993177
Built in 1832 and used as a jail until the late 1970s, this building is a great advertisement for keeping folks on the straight and narrow.
Waymark Code: WMPTXQ
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Date Posted: 10/20/2015
Views: 2
We visited on a day early in the season when the courthouse and Gaol were not open to tourists, but the caretaker happened by as we were there and offered to show us around. A tour of the Gaol is a sobering experience, as conditions for prisoners in this building would have been pretty miserable, to say the very least. The cells are small, dark and poorly ventilated. Moreover, they are unheated. The caretaker told us that when the weather turned particularly cold the prisoners were allowed out of their cells and into another room in the jailer's quarters, which was heated, to keep from freezing to death.
The building, along with the 1840 courthouse (still in use as a courthouse), are now heritage properties and tourist attractions. As well, the Gaol now houses the Charlotte County Archives and a gift shop in the jailer's quarters. Incidentally, both the courthouse and the Gaol are reputed to be haunted by the ghosts of prisoners who have been executed here.
Visitors are invariably impressed by the ‘Old Gaol’ (1832-1979), its atmosphere and this harsh view of what life in prison would have been like.
The Old Gaol was built in 1832, and is intensely interesting both architecturally and historically. The setting is somber and grim; the solid square building is constructed of grey granite blocks 2 ½ feet thick. Each tiny claustrophobic cell is completely closed in by these blocks except for a very narrow iron door. The atmosphere in the cell area is quite evocative and never fails to make a marked impression on visitors.
Having operated as a gaol from 1832 to 1979 the Old Gaol abounds in fascinating stories ranging from tragic hangings to weddings as well as ghost inhabited cells.
From the Charlotte County ArchivesCharlotte County Gaol
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
The Charlotte County Gaol Provincial Historic Site consists of a two and a half storey split-faced granite building built in 1832 and situated on one of the original public town squares in the Town of St. Andrews.
HERITAGE VALUE
The Charlotte County Gaol is one of the province's oldest surviving gaols. Built in 1832 from massive granite blocks shipped by scow from a quarry in Deer Isle, Maine, it speaks to the heavy-handedness of 19th century justice. Found adjacent to the old Charlotte County Court House (1839-40), the functional Georgian style building is an imposing structure that has remained relatively unaltered over time.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
The imposing setting of the building, at the top of the sloped public square adjacent to the County Court House.
The exterior architectural elements including the functional Georgian style characterized by:
- simple rectangular massing with unadorned and ordered stonework;
- simple squared window openings on the long side with iron security bars;
- a low hip roof with small unadorned eave and cornice, and the pair of central chimneys;
- a slight asymmetry within the principal façade revealing the functional uses within.
The structural elements are represented through:
- un-coursed rubble stone foundation comprised of sandstone & shale;
- granite lintel above the main entry door, with the carved date "1832" inscribed;
- fenestration on the southern office facade, with a pair of 2 over 2 double-hung wood-frame windows on each floor (unlikely to be original windows), including cut granite sills and partial remnants of original shutter hardware;
- walls built of split-faced coursed granite ashlars in a running bond, with a continuous stone belt course at the exterior second floor level;
- cell wing corridor floors built of 2.46 meters long interlocking tapered granite slabs with a split-faced surface;
- floor structure of wood beam and planks in the office/entry section.
The interior characteristics throughout the building include:
- the interior first floor layout;
- with the gaol area comprised of 10 similar-sized stone walled cells on the main floor, with two rows of 5 cells on either side of the central 2.46 meters wide corridor;
- the detention area which is connected to a two-room office/entry area occupying one-quarter of the total floor area;
- original cell area hinged iron doors and hardware
- the ten exterior wall loopholes on the main floor which allow small amounts of ventilation and natural light in each cell;
- original cast iron prisoners’ bed frames in cells;
- Georgian style painted wood railing and stair connecting the two office floors;
- fireplaces and wood mantles supported by a large arched brick and stone structure in the basement;
- simple wooden door on the rear façade which once led to an adjoining wood-frame jailer’s quarters including a robust original lockset and hinge hardware;
- the second floor layout similar to the first, with the notable exception of the prison wing being a single large secured room rather than individual cells.
From Historic Places Canada
Address:
123 Frederick Street
St Andrews, NB Canada
E5B 1Z1
Open to the public: Yes
Hours:
April and May: Tuesday to Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
June: Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
July and August: Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
September: Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
October: Tuesday to Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
November to March: by appointment only
Fees?:
Free
Web link: Not listed
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