Oatlands Gaol

Owned by Southern Midlands Council, and the largest building remaining of the Oatlands Military Precinct, is the 1837 Oatlands Gaol complex.  Comprising of the two-storey Georgian Gaoler’s Residence, as well as a c2000 square metre former gaol yard and the lower portion of the formerly 6-metre high sandstone perimeter wall, these are the remains of the largest regional colonial gaol in Tasmania.  Most of the gaol buildings were demolished in 1937, and in 1954 the yard was filled to accommodate the municipal in-ground swimming pool.  A historical report and archaeological survey of the site was commissioned by Council in 2003 (Williams 2003), and determined that the site has a very high potential to yield significant archaeological remains relating to Tasmania’s early penal system.

The Gaoler’s Residence was in a severe state of deterioration, with an Engineer’s report (Spratt 2005) detailing a range of urgent rectification works required for the stabilisation of the building.  A remedial works report (Bjorksten 2004) detailed works required throughout the building.  A conservation management plan was developed for the site (Williams 2006), which consolidated the Engineer’s report and remedial works report, and developed conservation policies to guide the implementation strategy detailed in that plan.  An $800,000 works program was  completed, which has fully restored the Gaoler’s Residence. A fit out of the building was undertaken, as was landscaping of the part of the yard that was not part of the original gaol complex previously occupied by the old Swimming Pool.  Works to the original gaol complex grounds which previously housed the swimming pool will undergo redevelopment in the near future which will include interpretations and information about the whole gaol complex.

Conservation planning documents which have been commissioned by SMC for the Oatlands Gaol site include:

 

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