Albany Convict Gaol, Restored colonial prison in Albany, Australia

Albany Convict Gaol is a restored jail of stone and brick buildings around a central courtyard, with a hiring depot at its centre, the Great Hall, warders' quarters and cells. Its perimeter is a 12-foot (4 m) stone wall studded with broken-bottle glass.

Established in 1852 for imperial convicts transported to Albany as skilled labourers, the jail held convicted men and a warden's quarters, and served as a hiring depot. Convicts with tickets of leave were hired by free settlers and worked on the town jetty, the pilot boat and the road to Perth. Extended in 1873, it became a public prison; the Great Hall, women's cells and extra quarters followed in 1875. It was last used in the 1930s as a police lock-up and restored between 1989 and 1996.

The gaol's name survives in its everyday use as the Old Gaol museum, open since restoration work finished in 1996. Since 2007 late-night ghost tours have run through the cells and Great Hall, drawing on stories attached to the site. The central courtyard's hiring depot recalls how ticket-of-leave men were hired out from here to free settlers.

The site is located on Stirling Terrace and is easily accessible on foot, with sufficient space for visitors to explore the grounds at their own pace. Plan to spend a couple of hours to thoroughly see all the areas and read the information provided.

The walls deliberately contain glass fragments embedded directly into the stone, a creative security measure from the 1800s. This harsh method reveals how much the fear of escape shaped the design of such places.