Yatala Labour Prison
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| Yatala Labour Prison | |
|---|---|
| Location | Northfield, South Australia |
| Status | Operational |
| Security Level | Maximum security |
| Capacity | 405[1] |
| Opened | 1854 |
| Closed | Still in Use |
| Managed by | South Australian, Department for Correctional Services |
Yatala Labour Prison is a male-only Australian prison located at 1 Peter Brown Drive, Northfield, South Australia. Prisoners were formerly held in the Adelaide Gaol.
The prison was named after the Hundred of Yatala (Yatala being a word from the Weira group of the Kaurnas Aboriginal people meaning water running by the side of a river[2]) and called a labour prison by virtue of its vast industries complex and the use of convict labour in construction.
The prison is planned to be closed by 2011 and will be replaced with residential housing. [3]
Latitude: 34°50'38.14"S Longitude: 138°37'41.94"E
The prison is divided into units.
- B-Division - high and medium security, and prisoners requiring protection
- E-Division - low security for assessment, prisioner induction and fine defaulters.
- F-Division - working division
- G-Division - highest security section of the prison.
[edit] History
Construction of the prison was begun by 14 convicts using locally quarried bluestone, and was completed in 1854. The first batch of 24 convicts was sent to the prison from the Adelaide gaol on February 9, 1855 wearing the characteristic broad arrow prison clothes of the time[4], and the first escape from the prison was one of 12 convicts in September of the same year. In its early years rock-cracking , hard labour and and separate confinement where the notable features of life at the prison.[5]
Some of the original buildings and parts of old equipment can still be seen from a creek level walking trail, between the prison and new suburb of Walkley Heights including guard towers, quarries, blacksmith's shop and a powder magazine[6]
[edit] Notable prisoners
[edit] References
- ^ Correctional facilities in South Australia. Australian Institute of Criminology. Retrieved on 2006-10-02.
- ^ State library of South Australia
- ^ "State Budget 2006 Jailbreak that sets free our suburbs", The Advertiser, 2006-09-23, p. 22.
- ^ The Observer, February 10, 1855, Adelaide, South Australia, pp.5
- ^ Romantic Beginnings. Offenders Aid & Rehabilitation Services of S.A. inc (1991). Retrieved on 2006-08-13.
- ^ Department for correctional services, South Australia
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