Beaumaris Gaol: Wales’ Victorian House of Correction

Beaumaris Gaol in Anglesey, Wales, was built in 1829 as a “modern” Victorian prison incorporating the latest penal thinking. The prison featured individual cells, hard labor on treadmills, and execution facilities. Though it only operated until 1878, the prison is remarkably well-preserved, complete with original treadmill, punishment cells, and gallows. Now open as a museum, Beaumaris Gaol is one of Wales’ most haunted locations, with spectral prisoners still trapped within its walls.

The History

Victorian Innovation

Beaumaris Gaol was built to replace the old town gaol:

• Designed for 60 prisoners
• Individual cells to prevent “moral contamination”
• Punishment and hard labor regime
• Considered progressive for its time

The Treadmill

The prison’s most notorious feature:

• Prisoners forced to walk for hours
• Originally powered grain mills
• Later used purely for punishment
• Exhausting and mind-numbing labor
• Many prisoners collapsed
• The treadmill survives and can be demonstrated

Executions

The prison had a working gallows:

• Several executions took place
• The condemned cell still exists
• Bodies were buried within the prison walls
• The execution chamber and trap door survive intact

Women and Children

The prison held all types of prisoners:

• Men, women, and children
• Entire families sometimes imprisoned for debt
• Children as young as 9 held in separate cells
• Women prisoners subject to harsh conditions

Closure

The prison closed in 1878 when a new county gaol opened. It was preserved as a museum and remains remarkably intact.

The Hauntings

The Treadmill Room

Where prisoners walked for hours:

• The sound of the treadmill turning
• Heavy breathing and groaning
• Figures on the treadmill mechanism
• Visitors feel exhausted when entering
• Some report seeing prisoners in Victorian dress

The Condemned Cell

Where prisoners spent their last night:

• Intense feelings of dread
• The sound of praying
• A figure sitting on the bed, head in hands
• Scratching on the walls
• Those awaiting execution still wait

The Women’s Wing

Female prisoners and children:

• The sound of crying
• A woman in Victorian dress
• Children’s voices and laughter
• The ghost of a young girl has been seen
• Staff report toys being moved

The Punishment Cells

Solitary confinement cells:

• Overwhelming claustrophobia
• Scratching sounds on walls
• Mumbling and gibberish
• Prisoners driven mad by isolation
• Some visitors cannot remain inside

The Chapel

Where prisoners attended mandatory services:

• Singing and prayers heard
• The smell of old hymn books
• A preacher figure at the pulpit
• Victorian-era prisoners in the pews

The Exercise Yard

Where prisoners had brief outdoor time:

• Phantom figures walking in circles
• Always alone, enforced separation
• The sound of chains
• Guards patrolling the perimeter

Richard Rowlands

A prisoner who died in the gaol:

• His ghost is the most frequently reported
• Seen throughout the prison
• A sad, confused figure
• Some believe he’s still searching for a way out

The Spectral Jailer

A Victorian-era prison officer:

• Walking the corridors
• Checking cell doors
• Keys jangling on his belt
• Still performing his duties in death

Documented Activity

Beaumaris Gaol has extensive paranormal documentation:

• Staff have decades of experiences
• Regular visitor reports
• Paranormal investigation teams have recorded evidence
• EVP recordings of Welsh and English voices
• Photographs of apparitions
• Temperature anomalies
• Objects moving

The Preserved Prison

Beaumaris offers an unusually complete picture:

• Original cells intact
• Working treadmill (demonstrated to visitors)
• Execution chamber preserved
• Punishment cells accessible
• One of the best-preserved Victorian prisons

Public Access

The gaol is open as a museum:

• Daily tours during season
• Ghost tours available
• Paranormal investigation nights
• Educational programs
• Popular tourist attraction in Anglesey

Cultural Significance

Beaumaris Gaol represents:

• Victorian penal philosophy
• The “improvement” of prison conditions (which was still harsh)
• Welsh judicial history
• The evolution of incarceration
• A preserved snapshot of 19th-century punishment

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Beaumaris Gaol held prisoners for only 49 years, but those decades left an indelible mark. Victorian prisoners still walk the treadmill, still pace their cells, still await executions that will never come. The prison closed in 1878, but for some of its inmates, the sentence continues indefinitely.