Parramatta Gaol

Correctional facilities were first established in Parramatta in 1798, being "a strong logged gaol of 100 feet in length, with separate cells for the prisoners ... and paled around with very high fence", housing eight prisoners. The current Parramatta Correctional Centre was the third gaol to be built in Parramatta and was completed in 1842. The original design was submitted by Mortimer Lewis for Governor Bourke in 1835, however the buildings were commenced to a design by Captain George Barney, the Commanding Royal Engineer. When the first building was completed in 1842 by (James) Houison and Payten, Thomas Duke Allen was installed as the gaoler, with his wife Martha acting as matron for the female prisoners. In 2004, there were calls for the centre to be closed after two inmates escaped by scaling the prison wall using ladders without being seen by guards. In July 2011, Corrective Services NSW announced that the Parramatta Correctional Centre would close, which took effect on 9 October 2011. State Property Management Authority administered the site until 2015, Timeline • 1865 – Perimeter wall extended. Cookhouse and additional cells added to existing wings. Underground water tanks installed. • 1883–1889 – The perimeter is further extended and three new wings are built in the resulting area. • 1899 – 32 unit radial exercise area built. Cells are converted from associated to single. • 1906–1908 – Chapel built and sewerage upgraded. • 1927 – Internal refit. Single cells are converted back to associated cells. • 1970s – Parramatta Linen Service, an auditorium and gatehouse extensions are built. • 1985 – 32 unit radial exercise area demolished. • 1993 – A new entrance and areas for administration and reception are built. • 1997 – being disestablished. • 2011 – The jail was closed at the end of 2011. ==Current use==

During 2012 the centre was used for the setting of a film, The Convict, and has been used in filming for Home and Away, Underbelly, Packed to the Rafters, Rake, Redfern Now, and Housos television series. On 24 February 2012 the NSW Aboriginal Land Council lodged a land claim on the former jail site (as decommissioned Crown Land); The Gaol also runs "Ghost Hunts" and tours fortnightly. == Description ==

Parramatta Gaol is a tooled sandstone structure of several wings, enclosed by high sandstone walls topped with observation towers. Designed in Old Grecian style, it consists of six cell blocks, three storeys in height. To the rear are three radiating semi-circular or rectangular two storey prison blocks. A number of cells have been enlarged to house two prisoners. Uniformity of materials used during times of addition contribute to the cohesion of this group of sandstone buildings. Talls are generally hand dressed, with slate clad timber roof structure. It was reported to be in good condition as at 28 July 1997. Much of the original precinct remains intact although many of the internal fittings have been removed. ==Heritage listing==

Parramatta Correctional Centre was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales. Up until its closure in 2011, the Parramatta Correctional Centre was the oldest gaol in original use in Australia. It is the most intact of the pre-1850s gaols of Australia. It has strong, documented, century and a half associations with people who have shaped its fabric and regimes and with those who have been shaped by it. The complex is also of value to Parramatta as an element in a group of early institutions linked by a parkland setting along the left bank of the Parramatta River, including the Cumberland Hospital (former Female Factory 1822) and the Norma Parker Centre. (former Roman Catholic Orphan School of 1841–43). The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales. The constructional character and quality of the early buildings, in particular the stone slab floors, ashlar walls and timber roof trusses, are exceptional. It is significant in its physical and spatial quality as an enclosed complex: in particular the character established by its coherent architectural form and predominant sandstone and slate materials. The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. The fabric reflects the shifts in penal philosophy and changes in use from the 1830s to the construction of Long Bay in the early twentieth century. The fabric is an educational and archaeological resource, as a continuing document of Australian social history and a potential source of information about the cultural past of the colony since 1788. ==In popular culture==

The song "Tomorrow", recorded by Australian rock band Cold Chisel on their 1980 album East, apparently portrays the desperation of a Parramatta Gaol inmate on a life sentence who, having escaped three days earlier, faces imminent recapture. The Parramatta Correctional Centre has been the filming location of various Australian productions, including Wake in Fright, Home and Away, Rake, Redfern Now, Packed to the Rafters and Underbelly. ==Notable prisoners==

The following individuals have served all or part of their sentence at the Parramatta Correctional Centre: One of the killers of Dr Victor Chang, Choon Tee Philip Lim, a Malaysian citizen, was in Parramatta jail. He was released into the custody of waiting immigration officials and was deported to Malaysia soon after this. ==See also==