{{Short description|Heritage listed museum in South Australia}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} thumb|Redruth Gaol
'''Redruth Gaol''' (later the '''Redruth Reformatory''') is a historic former prison in Burra, South Australia, now operating as a museum. It was the first prison in South Australia to be built outside of the state capital, Adelaide.<ref name=nt />
The gaol was built in 1856.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207094752 |title=Local Intelligence |newspaper=Adelaide Times |volume=XI |issue=1783 |location=South Australia |date=16 August 1856 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> It was reported in January 1866 that it contained no prisoners, despite being an active prison.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article94743098 |title=Kooringa and Redruth |newspaper=South Australian Weekly Chronicle |volume=VIII |issue=390 |date=27 January 1866 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In 1871, it was gazetted as the place of confinement for persons arrested on warrants from the Local Courts of Redruth, Clare, Riverton and Auburn, with Georgetown added in 1874.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92266429 |title=Government Gazette |newspaper=South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail |volume=XIV |issue=681 |date=2 September 1871 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93305201 |title=Government Gazette |newspaper=South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail |volume=XVI |issue=807 |date=31 January 1874 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=9 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In 1876, it had problems with overcrowding, with 22 prisoners in a total of only eight cells.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43004497 |title=An Over-Crowded Gaol |newspaper=South Australian Register |volume=XLI |issue=9367 |date=22 November 1876 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=1 (SUPPLEMENT TO THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN REGISTER) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> It was reported in 1879, at the time of the construction of the Gladstone Gaol, that Redruth was too small and in a poor state of repair.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160125348 |title=The Gladstone Gaol |newspaper=Adelaide Observer |volume=XXXVI |issue=1985 |date=18 October 1879 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=23 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> By 1894, Redruth Gaol had again received little use for some time, and was costing £370 per annum despite holding only three prisoners; as such, the decision was made to close the prison in that year. Prisoners north of Burra were sent to Gladstone, while prisoners south of Burra were sent to Adelaide.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article208291792 |title=The Redruth Gaol |newspaper=The Express and Telegraph |volume=XXXI |issue=9,087 |location=South Australia |date=1 March 1894 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=2 (SECOND EDITION) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
It was reopened as a girls reformatory in 1897.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197605453 |title=The Redruth Gaol |newspaper=The Port Augusta Dispatch, Newcastle and Flinders Chronicle |volume=XIX |issue=1408 |location=South Australia |date=22 October 1897 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The reformatory was closed in 1922, when Acting Premier John George Bice declared that it was "entirely inadequate for its purpose."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article200920051 |title=To be Closed |newspaper=The Journal |volume=LVII |issue=15867 |location=Adelaide |date=3 July 1922 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The residents were moved to a Salvation Army home in the Adelaide suburb of Enfield.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63926226 |title=Redruth Reformatory |newspaper=The Register |volume=LXXXVII |issue=25,437 |location=Adelaide |date=7 July 1922 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49117298 |title=Redruth Reformatory abolished |newspaper=The Advertiser |location=Adelaide |date=15 September 1922 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The reformatory had seen a number of problems prior to its closure, with the matron reprimanded in 1920 following complaints about its management, and an inmate riot in February 1921; by July 1921, it only held 13 inmates.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106553513 |title=Redruth Reformatory |newspaper=Daily Herald |volume=XI |issue=3257 |location=Adelaide |date=27 August 1920 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article77694273 |title=Revolt in Redruth Reformatory |newspaper=The Border Watch |volume=LIX |issue=5930 |location=South Australia |date=11 February 1921 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article73362444 |title=Redruth Reformatory |newspaper=The Advertiser |location=Adelaide |date=30 July 1921 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=18 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
It was used for the filming of the 1979 movie ''Breaker Morant''.<ref name="nt">{{cite web | url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/redruth-gaol/ | title=Redruth Gaol | publisher=National Trust of Australia | accessdate=14 January 2017}}</ref> The building was restored in the late 1980s, with the National Trust of Australia and the Commonwealth Bank funding the renovations as an Australian Bicentenary project. It was subsequently opened as a museum containing various historical displays.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article190089355 |title=Are you guilty? |newspaper=The Times |volume=75 |issue=3,622 |location=South Australia |date=1 June 1988 |accessdate=14 January 2017 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> It is open to the public as part of the Burra Heritage Passport tour, with the site operated by the National Trust.<ref name=nt />
It was listed on the South Australian Heritage Register on 24 July 1980 and on the former Register of the National Estate on 21 March 1978.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://maps.sa.gov.au/heritagesearch/HeritageItem.aspx?p_heritageno=17650 | title=Former Redruth Gaol (sometime Girls Reformatory) | publisher=Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources | work=South Australian Heritage Register | accessdate=14 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahdb/search.pl?mode=place_detail;search=place_name%3Dredruth%3Bkeyword_PD%3Don%3Bkeyword_SS%3Don%3Bkeyword_PH%3Don%3Blatitude_1dir%3DS%3Blongitude_1dir%3DE%3Blongitude_2dir%3DE%3Blatitude_2dir%3DS%3Bin_region%3Dpart;place_id=7387 | title=Redruth Gaol, Tregony St, Burra, SA, Australia | publisher=Department of the Environment | work=Australian Heritage Database | accessdate=14 January 2017}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{SouthAustralianPrisons}} {{coords|-33.6645|138.9330|display=title}}
Category:1856 establishments in Australia Category:1894 disestablishments in Australia Category:Defunct prisons in South Australia Category:South Australian Heritage Register Category:Museums in South Australia Category:South Australian places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate Category:Prison museums in Australia