The Old Gaol Doors

The whole area behind these used to be the Bristol Men and Women's Gaol. Now it has flats and shops and cafés and things being built on it.  The workman has installed a new metal panel which he is painting with an oxydant to match the others.

The Gaol was completed in 1832 by Richard Shackleton Pope after the original, which was designed by H.H. Seward in 1816. That had been destroyed in 1831during the Bristol riots and the replacement was never properly completed until 1872. The gaol was closed in 1883 due to poor conditions and was largely demolished in 1898. In 1884 Horfield Prison was built to replace it.
In 1821, John Horwood ( aged 18) was the first person to be hanged at the Gaol for murdering Eliza Balsum by hurling a pebble at her which hit her on the right temple after which she tumbled into a brook,
The gaol, entrance wall and gateway and the south-east perimeter wall are Grade 11 listed.
For some more gruesome information click here