Bodmin Jail

Bodmin Gaol was designed by Sir John Call and built in 1779 by prisoners of war, and was operational for 150 years, in which it saw over 50 public hangings. It was the first British prison to hold prisoners in individual cells.[1]

The Debtors Act of 1869 abolished imprisonment for debt so the prison had spare space that was taken over by the Admiralty for naval prisoners. Eventually, the naval prison occupied an entire wing of the building, before it was closed in 1922.

The first hanging was apparently in 1785, but the finishing date of the jail was in 1788. Executioners were paid about £10 a hanging. The last person to be hanged was in 1909, subsequent executions took place in Exeter Prison.

The jail closed in 1927. Since that date, there has been no prison within the county of Cornwall.[2]

During World War I the prison was used for holding some of Britain's national treasures including the Domesday Book and the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.

Bodmin Jail Attraction is now closed until Summer 2020 to allow for construction to finish on the on-going £40million re-development and preservation project that is set to restore this important heritage asset to its former glory.

The brand new £8.5million immersive visitor experience, which is due to re-open Summer 2020, has been developed by international visitor attraction experts Sarner and sees the introduction of the new 'Dark Walk' experience and a complete re-design of the existing attraction spaces. Four linked experiences will take guests on a journey through an interactive, educational, fun and punishing depiction of life in the 18th and 19th century and provide them with entertaining and informative history of the region, the jail and its former inmates. Ghostly voices from Cornwall?s murky past will appear alongside highway robbers, smugglers, miners and tales of the Bodmin Beast, using the latest technology and theatrical effects to allow visitors to experience the life and death within the prison walls and Cornwall as a whole.

Bodmin Jail has attracted many ghost stories and paranormal researchers, and there is a ghost walk/night available for tourists.

Series 6, Episode 1 of Most Haunted, a British made reality TV show, saw the crew attempt their paranormal activities at the jail with presenter Yvette Fielding and medium, Derek Acorah. Unsuccessful with many attempts, the team supposedly made contact with many light and sound entities, whilst Acorah claimed to have been possessed by a bothered spirit named Kreed Kafer, a South African. It has since come to light that "Kreed Kafer" was a fictional character, who was created purely by parapsychologist and crew member Ciarán O'Keeffe, to test Derek Acorah and his abilities.[3] The name was created because it was an anagram of the phrase 'Derek Faker'.[4]

The naval prison

• F. Digby Hardy, inmate of the naval prison

Bodmin Jail has featured in the 2015 BBC television series Poldark as one of the locations where filming took place.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bodmin Jail.

• Bodmin Jail Official Webpage