Details:
The Gaol was constructed in 1816 - 1818 on a site overlooking the ocean above Newcastle beach and divided from the inhabited portion of the town by a tract of sand. The vegetation was said to have been removed from these sand hills to prevent escaping convicts concealing themselves. The Gaol was built in the Georgian style with grid windows and pilasters topped by a pediment. At ground level on each side there was an attached room, perhaps used as a guard house. The building was two-storied and (later) surrounded by a stone wall twelve feet high with foundations of stone and walls of brick. In the interior of the structure, wide corridors ran the entire extent of the building on either side of which were strong barred cells. The upper story was similar.
