at the old Ballarat Gaol The report of the Select Committee on Prison Discipline of September 1857 recommended jail buildings replace the Port Phillip Bay prison hulks. The inquiry recommended adopting London's
Pentonvillle design of 1842 to build the jails. This
prison design carried on a revolution begun in 1829 by
Eastern State Penitentiary in
Philadelphia. The complex was based on a central hall from which radiated wings of
cells. The principle of the design being that one guard would stand in the centre of the hall and at one glance survey all cells. The construction of the jail began in 1856 and the first cell blocks were completed by 1857. It was completed in 1862 with 58 cells designed to hold a mixture of 74 male and female
prisoners. In 1862 a tunnel was constructed to join the jail to the adjacent Ballarat Courthouse, allowing for the safe transfer of prisoners. In 1872
Captain Moonlite, a
bushranger and
Anglican clergyman, escaped from the jail. The prison was closed in 1965. ==Current use==