Richmond Gaol, as we see it today, was built over a period of 15 years, between 1825 and 1840. The oldest part of the complex is the 1825 building which not only provided
night and day quarters for the prisoners, but also housed the Gaoler.
From all accounts, it was invariably overcrowded. The building was constructed of local sandstone from a
nearby quarry and built by convict labour.
Over the years more buildings were added;
the Gaoler’s house in 1834, the cookhouse, solitary confinement cells and women’s quarters in 1835 and the surrounding wall in 1840.
From 1877 until 1928 Richmond Gaol was utilised as the local lock-up and was then closed down. It opened again in the 1940s as an historic site and visitor attraction.