Today there's little trace of the brutal gaol in Newcastle's Carliol Square which cast its grim shadow over the city between 1828 and 1925.
But a new exhibition at City Library, Newcastle, reveals the grisly details of the conditions inmates were kept in, the crimes they were being punished for, and what everyday life was like inside the prison. It also contains archive photos of many of those who were detained, alongside a whip used to punish offenders. and a book containing the skin of a man executed in Newcastle in 1850.
The Life and Death of Newcastle Gaol, 1822-2022 is based on the research of a team of academics headed by Dr Shane McCorristine of Newcastle University. The exhibition is the latest phase in a long-term project to gather research, ideas, memories, images and other content that can help tell stories about the gaol and, more broadly, the East Pilgrim Street area and its history.
