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Old Castlemaine Gaol

1857 establishments in Australia1990 disestablishments in AustraliaDefunct prisons in Victoria (state)Use Australian English from January 2012

The Old Castlemaine Gaol is a former prison, located in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia. The building was modelled on Pentonville prison in London, replacing the original, designed by Inspector General John Price, which was never occupied. Built in 1861 to house offenders from the goldfields and nearby towns, it served various functions in the penal system before it was closed in 1990 and its prisoners transferred to HM Prison Loddon. From 1861 to 1908, the gaol housed all manner of criminals, including lunatics and debtors, and ten men were hanged within the walls. In the later of these years however, the gaol housed mostly short-term prisoners and first-time offenders. Between 1909 and 1951, the gaol was converted into a reformatory school for boys aged between 16 and 25. Most were under 21. The gaol then closed for a number of years, before reopening in 1954 to accommodate medium-security prisoners from across the state. It remained open until August 1990. After it ceased prison operations, it was used as a hotel and tourist attraction. It served as the studio for local community radio station WMA FM/Main FM 94.9 as well as various small businesses. In 2018, the old gaol was sold to artist David Bromley. The grounds were originally landscaped by renowned landscape gardener Hugh Linaker.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Old Castlemaine Gaol (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Old Castlemaine Gaol
Edward Street, Shire of Mount Alexander

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N -37.061944444444 ° E 144.21138888889 °
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Old Castlemaine Gaol

Edward Street
3450 Shire of Mount Alexander
Victoria, Australia
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oldcastlemainegaol.com.au

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Castlemaine railway station
Castlemaine railway station

Castlemaine railway station is located on the Deniliquin line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Castlemaine, and it opened on 21 October 1862.The station is also the termini of the Maldon and Moolort lines, but no passenger revenue services currently operates on the latter line, with the Victorian Goldfields Railway operating heritage services on the Maldon line. In 1973, a turntable at the station was abolished. On 9 July 1977, the passenger service to Maryborough was withdrawn, and in 1978, a number of points were abolished, as was a crossover and the former carriage dock.Rationalisation of the former yard occurred during the late 1980s. In 1989, signal boxes "A" and "B" were abolished, and replaced with a signal panel within the station office. Mechanical points were also abolished, and all signals were replaced with two and three position signals. Also in that year, boom barriers replaced interlocked gates at the Parker Street level crossing, located nearby in the down direction of the station.On 17 December 2004, the Victorian Goldfields Railway was extended from Muckleford to Castlemaine. On 17 January 2005, the signal panel was abolished.Disused stations Elphinstone and Taradale are located between Castlemaine and Malmsbury, while disused stations Harcourt and Ravenswood are located between Castlemaine and Kangaroo Flat. Demolished station Chewton was also located between Castlemaine and Malmsbury.