Nelson City Council

About

At the base of the steps on the wall of a townhouse complex, a plaque records that this was once the site of Nelson Gaol, or jail.

History

Nelson Gaol was located here for most of the latter half of the nineteenth century. The Gaol opened in 1850 and was constructed of timber because of possible earthquake risk. It had six cells for adults and one for juveniles.

Complaints about the conditions in the gaol lead to a Provincial Government Select Committee being set up to investigate the problems in 1854. The report considered that the building was dangerous, as its wooden materials were a fire hazard, and it was observed that felons, debtors, lunatics and women were all massed together in crowded and unsatisfactory conditions. As a result, tenders were let in 1855 for alterations to a house to provide a separate lunatic asylum.

The most notorious prisoners to be held in the gaol were the 1866 Maungatapu Murderers; two were hanged in the prison-yard and their bodies buried in the grounds of the gaol.

In 1906 the Nelson Education Board secured the site for a girls' school. The replacement building opened on 28 January 1908. In January 1927 all area schools began admitting both boys and girls and the building became the Nelson Education Board Office.

Location

The plaque marking where the Nelson Gaol once stood is in Shelbourne Street (now a tan-coloured townhouse complex marks the spot).

For more information

For more information on heritage walks and heritage sites please contact Arts and Heritage Team Leader.