Hay Gaol

Item details


Name of item:	Hay Gaol
Other name/s:	Hay Jail, Hay Institution for Girls, Dunera boys internment camp
Type of item:	Complex / Group
Group/Collection:	Law Enforcement
Category:	Gaol/Lock-up
Location:	Lat: -34.5030982472 Long: 144.8510264100
Primary address:	355 Church Street, Hay, NSW 2711
Parish:	Hay
County:	Waradgery
Local govt. area:	Hay
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Hay

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
LOT	215		DP	756755

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
355 Church Street	Hay	Hay	Hay	Waradgery	Primary Address

Statement of significance:


	The Hay Gaol is of State significance for its aesthetic, rarity and representative values as an example of James Barnet's Hay-type gaol design, and as an example of a Victorian-era country prison that combines foreboding design features (such as its entranceway, perimeter walls, cell block and isolation cell) with vernacular materials. It is furthermore of State significance for its variety of historical functions, associations and social values as a small-scale prison and detention centre. Built as a colonial gaol in 1880 it was later used as a detention and hospitalisation facility servicing Hay's World War II internment and prisoner of war camps (1940 - 1946) and then as a girls' institution run by the NSW Department of Child Welfare (1961 - 1974). Although official records remain unavailable, it is believed that a significant proportion of girls sent to Hay were indigenous 'Stolen Generation' children and many survivors from this era have begun visiting the site from all over Australia. It is probably the only building in Australia directly associated with the internment of the Dunera Boys and with the imprisonment of the Japanese prisoners of war (POWs) following the Cowra Breakout in 1944. The Hay Gaol is also of State significance for its research, archaeological and interpretive potential as a site or landscape of segregation, which capitalised on the already isolated geographic position of Hay to provide different forms of incarceration in different periods of history. The Hay Gaol is of local historical and social significance as one of several grand buildings that represent Hay's unfulfilled promise of becoming the capital of the Riverina, for its temporary roles as a maternity hospital (1920 to 1930) and as a site of emergency accommodation during the 1952 and 1956 floods and more recently for its museum collections relating to the social and pastoral history of Hay. As a substantial building complex sited near the centre of the township it is an iconic building in Hay. As one of a network of five vibrant and collaboratively managed museums supported by the Hay Shire Council, the Gaol along with Hay's other museums underpin cultural tourism development in the town and as such are important to supporting and diversifying the local economy.
	Date significance updated: 03 May 07
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Designer/Maker:	James Barnet, Colonial Architect
Builder/Maker:	Witcombe Brothers
Construction years:	1879-1880
Physical description:	The Hay Gaol is an example of James Barnet's Hay-type gaol, a classification defined by JS Kerr in his 1988 book ''Out of Sight, Out of Mind' in which Kerr differentiates Barnet's Hay-type gaol from the more common Braidwood-type gaol design of the previous colonial architect. The main difference between the two designs is that the Hay-type gaol is single-storey and the cells larger than the two-storey Braidwood-type gaol. Other gaols built to the Hay-type pattern were at Young (1876-78), Tamworth (1879-81) and Wentworth (1879-81). Of these buildings; Young was destroyed in a fire, with only the gate house remaining and Tamworth is still in use by the Department of Corrective Services. The Wentworth and Hay sites are open to the public, both are currently museums. Braidwood-type gaols were built at: Braidwood, Albury, Armidale, Mudgee, Grafton, Wagga Wagga, Yass and Deniliquin. [Hay Council SHR nomination, 2006] Gaol Building: The Hay Gaol is constructed of English bond red brick, made locally by the Headon Brothers at a kiln in North Hay. [Hay Council SHR nomination, 2006] Perimeter walls and watchtowers: A perimeter wall 5 meters (15 feet) high and 23 centimetres (nine inches) thick surrounds the complex. There are two watchtowers on diagonally opposite corners of the wall. A catwalk originally ran above the wall with supports on either side. [Hay Council SHR nomination, 2006] Entranceway: The imposing entrance gateway (in contrast to the utilitarian nature of the rest of the design) bears various forms of decoration including; rusticated quoins, moulding over the entrance arch with keystone emphasis, a dentil course, and a parapet with the royal cypher in the centre. Solid double wooden doors, with an inset smaller door, complete the imposing appearance of the front of the gaol. Inside the front gate is a small barred entrance court, with two small rooms marked 'office' and 'guard' in the original plans for the gaol. [Hay Council SHR nomination, 2006] Cell block: Today the cell block contains 14 cells. Its brick walls are 46 centimetres (18 inches) thick and the building has a hipped corrugated iron roof and a gabled entrance. Cells have small barred windows and thick iron doors with peep holes. One cell has additional colonial-style prison bars; it is unclear as to whether all cells were equipped with such bars, but this is doubtful. A closed in verandah at the back of the cell block leads into a large metal shed. [Hay Council SHR nomination, 2006] Services block: Within the compound an L-shaped block with a hipped iron roof and a verandah houses the kitchen, hospital, dispensary, bathroom, store and large workshop. Rainwater from the roofs was collected in a large underground tank. [Hay Council SHR nomination, 2006] Solitary confinement cell: A free standing solitary confinement cell stands in the centre of the compound. Evidence of a second solitary confinement cell attached to the west of this structure is evident. A tin shed housing male toilets and used for storage now abuts the western wall of this structure. [Hay Council SHR nomination, 2006] Gaoler's residence: A gaoler's residence is located outside the compound on the western side of the entranceway. The structure has a hipped iron roof, verandah, the tall chimneys have cornices and windows have flat arches. The structure abuts the perimeter wall. A small free standing carport was added to the south of the complex at some stage. [Hay Council SHR nomination, 2006] Officer's residence: A second, three bedroom residence, is located outside the compound on the eastern side of the entranceway. This building was added in 1935 when the Public Works Department called tenders. Local builders Butterworth and Co constructed the cottage. This structure does not abut the perimeter wall. A free standing residential sized shed and carport has been added to the back of this residence at some stage. [Hay Council SHR nomination, 2006]
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	The Hay Goal is in a deteriorating physical condition. It has many modifications from its original use as a colonial prison but a study of the physical fabric of the site would yield information about the Gaols history of use. Paint scrapings in the cell block to determine the various paint and surfaces of the different eras is considered important to the possible future interpretation of the site. [Hay Council SHR nomination, 2006] Whilst the Gaol currently functions as a community museum, the Hay Gaol Management Committee has started work on projects interpreting the history of the site. Concrete paths laid by girls at the girls' institution remain in the building fabric as does the girls' laundry box. Objects related to the history of the site, particularly when the Gaol was a girls' institution remain in the Hay Gaol Museum collection as significant objects. The Hay Gaol Museum also holds historical images of the site. [Hay Council SHR nomination, 2006]
	Date condition updated:16 Jan 07
Modifications and dates:	Perimeter walls and watchtowers: 1961: Catwalk is removed from perimeter walls 1961: Stays are installed to the exterior of the eastern wall Entranceway - office: Possibly 1961: Interior of office subdivided to house two small offices and washroom for admitting newly admitted girls. 2004: Interior subdivisions are removed due to white ant attack and space is established as exhibition space interpreting the history of the site Cell block: 1896: Two additional cells for female prisoners were added to the cell block Date unknown: Two original larger cells were halved in size to become the same size as the other cells Date unknown: Back verandah closed in 1961: Cells are modified to include simple seat and bench for girls' institution and electricity added to cell block 1961: Cells are painted and scrubbed by girls for girls' institution Post 1974: Large shed for housing museum collections was added to the northern end of the cell block Post 1974: Cells modified to include housing and security for museum exhibits 2003: Small room used by night staff when the gaol was a girls' institution is dismantled due to white ant attack Services block: Date unknown: verandah added probably after 1974 Solitary confinement cell: 1899: Two solitary confinement cells were constructed in the courtyard Date unknown: The western solitary confinement cell is removed Pre 1973: A tin structure, including male toilets, is added to the western side of the remaining solitary confinement cell. Gaoler's residence: 1897: Wash house added to the gaoler's residence Other modifications: Date unknown: At some stage the underground water tanks in the compound may have been removed. 1898: Acetylene gas is connected to the kitchen and hospital. 1899: Gas lighting is installed in all the cells in 1899 1930: Gaol connected to town gas and sewerage [Hay Council SHR nomination, 2006]
Further information:	Information about the block on which the Hay Gaol is sited: The Hay Gaol is located on a block of land set aside for a gaol in original town plans. As well as the Gaol there are some other structures sited on the block, most importantly these are: Apex Park: a children's park is located in the south-eastern corner of the block / its enclosure measures: 42m (along Church St) x 33.5m (along Piper St). Large storage sheds: run north-south parallel to the eastern perimeter wall / they are 40m L x 8.5m W / are 7m from the eastern perimeter wall / constructed post 1974 to house museum exhibits. [Hay Council SHR nomination, 2006]


Current use:	Museum and cultural centre
Former use:	Colonial prison, hospital, POW camp, emergency flood housing, girls institution.

History

Historical notes:

Aboriginal land
Aboriginal communities in the western Riverina were traditionally concentrated in the more habitable river corridors and amongst the reedbeds of the region. The district surrounding Hay was occupied by at least three separate Aboriginal groups at the time of European occupation of their lands. The area around the present township appears to have been a site of interaction between the Nari-Nari people of the Lower Murrumbidgee and the Wiradjuri who inhabited a vast region in the central-western inland of New South Wales (Wikipedia entry on Hay, 17/1/07). The groups in the western plains and Riverina were dislocated as the equipoise of their hunting, fishing and collecting was disrupted by increasing British occupation of their lands in the 1830s and 1840s. Aboriginal missions were created in NSW the 1890s and displacement continued under the Aborigines Protection Act of 1909. (DUAP et al, Regional Histories, pp192-193) [Comment on Stolen Generation].

British occupation of the area
In 1829 Charles Sturt and his men passed along the Murrumbidgee River on horses and drays. During the late-1830s stock was regularly overlanded to South Australia via the Lower Murrumbidgee. At the same time stockholders were edging westward along the Lachlan, Murrumbidgee, Billabong and Murray systems. By 1839 all of the river frontages in the vicinity of present-day Hay were occupied by squatters. By the mid-1850s pastoral runs in the western Riverina were well-established and prosperous. The nearby Victorian gold-rushes provided an expanding market for stock. The prime fattening country of the Riverina became a sort of holding centre, from where the Victorian market could be supplied as required. (Wikipedia entry on Hay, 17/1/07)

The locality where Hay township developed was originally known as Lang's Crossing-place (named after three brothers named Lang who were leaseholders of runs on the southern side of the river). It was the crossing on the Murrumbidgee River of a well-travelled stock-route (known as 'the Great North Road') leading to the markets of Victoria. In 1856-7 Captain Francis Cadell, pioneer of steam-navigation on the Murray River, placed a manager at Lang's Crossing-place with the task of establishing a store (initially in a tent). In August 1858 steamers owned by rival owners, Francis Cadell and William Randell, successfully travelled up the Murrumbidgee as far as Lang's Crossing-place (with Cadell's steamer Albury continuing up-river to Gundagai). By October 1859 "Hay" had been chosen as the name for the township [after John Hay (later Sir John), a wealthy squatter from the Upper Murray, member of the NSW Legislative Assembly and former Secretary of Lands and Works] (Wikipedia, 17/1/07). Hay, situated on the Murrumbidgee, was gazetted as a town in 1859. (DUAP et al, Regional Histories, pp194). In the late nineteenth century, several grand buildings representing Hay's aspirations to become the capital of the Riverina were built. However inter-colonial disputes over trade thwarted these aspirations and instead of booming Hay remained small and isolated, but importantly connected to Sydney via a rail line (Hay Council SHI nomination 2006).

The Gaol's beginnings, 1870 to 1915
Hay's original gaol was a brick lockup at the rear of the Hay Courthouse. In 1878 it was decided to erect a large new gaol on a reserve especially set aside for that purpose. The Hay Gaol's grand scale reflected the view that Hay, as the transport hub of a wealthy wool-growing area, would become the major regional centre in the Riverina. Local builders John and James Witcombe built the Gaol to a design by NSW colonial architect James Barnet.

[Comment on Hay-type gaol design]. The Hay Gaol opened on 21 December 1880 under police control. It was used mainly for offenders with short sentences, as those imprisoned for long terms were sent to Goulburn Gaol.

James Johnstone Barnet (1827-1904) was made acting Colonial Architect in 1862 and appointed Colonial Architect from 1865-90. He was born in Scotland and studied in London under Charles Richardson, RIBA and William Dyce, Professor of Fine Arts at King's College, London. He was strongly influenced by Charles Robert Cockerell, leading classical theorist at the time and by the fine arts, particularly works of painters Claude Lorrain and JRM Turner. He arrived in Sydney in 1854 and worked as a self-employed builder. He served as Edmund Blacket's clerk of works on the foundations of the Randwick (Destitute Childrens') Asylum. Blacket then appointed Barnet as clerk-of-works on the Great Hall at Sydney University. By 1859 he was appointed second clerk of works at the Colonial Architect's Office and in 1861 was Acting Colonial Architect. Thus began a long career. He dominated public architecture in NSW, as the longest-serving Colonial Architect in Australian history. Until he resigned in 1890 his office undertook some 12,000 works, Barnet himself designing almost 1000. They included those edifices so vital to promoting communication, the law and safe sea arrivals in colonial Australia. Altogether there were 169 post and telegraph offices, 130 courthouses, 155 police buildings, 110 lockups and 20 lighthouses, including the present Macquarie Lighthouse on South Head, which replaced the earlier one designed by Francis Greenway. Barnet's vision for Sydney is most clearly seen in the Customs House at Circular Quay, the General Post Office in Martin Place and the Lands Department and Colonial Secretary's Office in Bridge Street. There he applied the classicism he had absorbed in London, with a theatricality which came from his knowledge of art (Le Sueur, 2016, 6).

As the years went on Hay Gaol struggled to remain open, due to a lack of prisoners. By 1915 it was closed; at this stage it reportedly had one prisoner guarded by four wardens. The local newspaper, The Riverine Grazier, reported the escape of a Robert Chapman, alias Murray from the gaol in 1893. Closed as a regular prison in 1915 due to a lack of numbers, Hay Gaol's reputation as one of the most secure in the state, coupled with Hay's isolation and easy access to Sydney ensured the Hay Gaol reopen as an incarceration facility in later years (Hay Council SHI nomination 2006).

Hospitals: 1918 to 1940
Between the two World Wars, the Gaol buildings met Hay's medical needs. In 1919, during a local outbreak of the worldwide Spanish Flu epidemic, the Gaol was briefly used as an emergency hospital to isolate patients who couldn't be treated at the Hay Hospital. In 1921 Hay's Red Cross Society turned the Gaol into a maternity home. The two rooms at the front entrance became wards, as did the old hospital area. Many older Hay locals enjoy telling the tale that they were 'born in the Hay Gaol.' In 1930 the maternity home moved to a new site in Hay. That year, the state's gaols were congested, a result of the new Consorting Act which gave police more powers to convict well-known criminals. It was decided to reopen the Hay Gaol and connect the building to town gas and sewerage. The Gaol operated for ten years, in that time one escape was recorded; Reginald Arthur Dawson, a prisoner employed as a cook, scaled the wall of the Gaol using a rope made from towels and a poker. He was captured in a paddock five days later (Hay Council SHI nomination 2006).

Internment and POW camp facility:1940 to 1946
During World War II Hay was used as a prisoner-of-war and internment centre, due in no small measure to its isolated location. Three high-security camps were constructed there in 1940. The use of the Gaol as a detention and hospitalisation facility that serviced the POW camps from 1940 to 1946 brought aspects of the camps into the town's heart. The first internees were over two thousand refugees from Nazi Germany and Austria, many of them Jewish; they had been interned in Britain when fears of invasion were at their peak and transported to Australia in 1940 aboard the HMT Dunera. Interned under the guard of the 16th Garrison Battalion of the Australian Army they became known as the 'Dunera Boys'. Later that year began the arrival of Italian civilian internees. In February 1941, in the wake of the Cowra POW break-out, a large number of Japanese POWs were transferred to Hay and placed in the three high-security compounds. During 1946 the POWs who remained at Hay were progressively released or transferred to other camps, and the Hay camps were dismantled and building materials and fittings sold off by June the following year. The internment at Hay of the Dunera refugees from Nazi oppression in Europe was an important milestone in Australia's cultural history. About half of those interned at Hay eventually chose to remain in Australia. The influence of this group of men on subsequent cultural, scientific and business developments in Australia is difficult to over-state; they became an integral and celebrated part of the nation's cultural and intellectual life. The 'Dunera Boys' are still fondly remembered in Hay; every year the town holds a 'Dunera Day' in which many surviving internees return to the site of their former imprisonment (Wikipedia, 17/1/07). Today the Gaol is one of only a few buildings remaining in Hay associated with the camps.

Emergency housing 1952 and 1956 floods
After the Hay camps were broken up in 1946-7, the Gaol was used intermittently for emergency housing during the 1952 and 1956 floods, and as accommodation for Italian workers in town to build the new sewerage system (Hay Council SHI nomination 2006).

The Institution for Girls in Hay: 1961 to 1974
From 1961 to 1974 the Hay Gaol was managed by the New South Wales Child Welfare Department as a particularly coercive maximum security institution for girls between the ages of thirteen and eighteen. The Institution for Girls in Hay, as it was officially known, was established in response to wide scale rioting at Parramatta Girls' Home in 1961. The aim of Hay was to separate the girls involved in the riots and those whose behaviours generally were considered too difficult to be managed at Parramatta. Girls were sent to Hay for three month sentences. Many of the girls detained at Hay in the Institution were Aboriginal. In its conception, as a facility for maximum security segregation; in its governing according to strict discipline and routine; and in its housing in an old colonial prison, Hay mirrored The Institution for Boys in Tamworth previously established in 1947 (Hay Council SHI nomination 2006).

The girls sent to Hay were drugged and removed from Parramatta at night. From Sydney, they were transferred to Narrandera on the overnight train and there moved to the back of a van for the final leg of the journey onto Hay. The Hay Gaol Museum has this van in its collection; significantly it has etchings 'girls' initials and the acronym 'ILWA' (I Love Worship and Adore) carved into its paintwork. Once in Hay the girls encountered a system of strict dehumanizing discipline and routine, often cited as being harsher than what they would have experienced in a women's prison. The girls were only allowed ten minutes, twice a day to talk between themselves; they had to have their eyes downcast at all times; they were only allowed to talk to a staff member by raising their arm and awaiting a response and at all times they had to be at least six feet apart from each other. The girls were worked hard; scrubbing, painting, cleaning, cooking, washing, laying concrete paths, tending vegetable plots and gardens and doing handicraft. The Hay Gaol Museum has handicrafts prepared by the girls in its collection and 'patchwork' concrete paths made by the girls still remain in the gaol courtyard. The girls received no schooling whilst institutionalised (Hay Council SHI nomination 2006).

When the first girls arrived at Hay in 1961 the cell block was unprepared and it was the work of the girls to scrub and paint the walls and floors of the cells, shabby from years of disuse. In later years, new arrivals were detained in the 'isolation cell' of the cell block; here they spent their first ten days in Hay, mostly confined to this cell, scrubbing its walls and floors with a scrubbing brush and alternately a brick. Girls who misbehaved were confined to the isolation block in the gaol courtyard for 24 hour periods, fed on nothing but bread and either water or milk. Subordinate staff members came from the local community and were for the most part untrained. Senior male staff were transferred to Hay from similar institutions such as Tamworth and Gosford boys' institutions. In their cells at night the girls were required to sleep on their side, facing the door so that when they were checked by guards, every twenty minutes to half an hour, their faces could be seen. One of the cells in the cell block is fitted out as it was when the gaol was a girls' institution. The objects furnishing the cell include; bed, bedding, toilet can and standard issue red cardigan (Hay Council SHI nomination 2006).

In the 1960s and 1970s governments started to move towards the closure the large institutions. Even before this time, two reports on Parramatta had questioned the appropriateness of the institution and public opinion generally, was decrying institutions for children as anachronisms. In mid 1974 Dick Healey, the new Minister for the Department of Youth and Community Services closed Hay and Parramatta and started to overhaul the outdated 1939 Child Welfare Act, under which the institutions had been created and administered. By the time Hay was closed, many people had already expressed concern about it; in August 1962 Hay locals reported screams from within its walls in the local newspaper; also in 1962, Anne Press, a member of NSW Parliament, visited and then raised concerns about Hay in Parliament; staff working at the institution were also writing letters to the Child Welfare Department and in 1973 child welfare activist Bessie Guthrie convinced ABC journalist Peter Manning, to investigate Hay and Parramatta for an episode of This Day Tonight. The program screened on the ABC in August 1973 (Hay Council SHI nomination 2006).

Despite the closure of Hay, Parramatta, and other institutions for children the after effects of these places continue to impact society and survivors of these childhood institutions still carry emotional, mental and physical scars. In August 2004 the Senate Inquiry: Forgotten Australians; A report on Australians who experienced institutional or out-of-home care as children was released. The Committee received 614 submissions and estimated that 'upwards of, and possibly more than 500 000 Australians experienced care in an orphanage, Home or other form of out-of-home care during the last century. As many of these people have family it is likely that every Australian either was, is related to, works with or knows someone who experienced childhood in an institution or out of home care environment.' (Senate Committee Report, 2004, p.xv) The memories of some Hay survivors are recorded in submissions to the committee. One woman recalls: 'Hay was the most inhumane place that anyone could be in and it was in Australia. We had to scrub freshly painted cells with bricks and wire brushes when we went into Hay, listening to the drill with the girls running on the spot. We were told that it would make you or break you, and for many it did: it broke a lot of spirits. We [have] to reclaim those spirits.' (Wilma Robb speaking to Senate Committee on 3 February 2004) The Committee made 34 recommendations as a result of the inquiry and recommendation 34 states that heritage centers be constructed on the site of former institutions (Hay Council SHI nomination 2006).

In addition to speaking up at the Senate Inquiry, many Hay survivors are starting to return to Hay and the gaol to tell their stories to the local community. A common feeling in the Hay community is one of dismay at the suffering of the girls matched by concern at never really knowing what went on behind the walls of the gaol. A reunion of Hay and Parramatta girls is planned at the Hay Gaol on the weekend of 3-4 March 2007. The weekend includes a professionally developed museum theatre production performed by locals and a haunting sound and light display in the cell block (Hay Council SHI nomination 2006).

A community place: today
Today, the Hay Gaol Museum is a treasured community place, dedicated to the preservation, understanding, expression and celebration of Hay's identity and community spirit. A team of dedicated volunteers cares for the museum, its exhibits, archives and grounds. Local craft groups meet here to patch, quilt and spin and visitors come to discover our town's story. The Gaol Museum is the focal point of Hay's Australia Day celebrations; a tradition that goes back to the 1970s. The Hay Gaol Museum is one of Hay's five vibrant museums. The museum program in Hay is supported by the Hay Shire Council, who in addition to providing direct financial assistance to the museums also supports the program by employing a Community Curator to work with museum custodians. Hay's five museums are central to the development of cultural tourism in Hay and as such are important to diversifying the local economy. The Hay Gaol, as both an iconic building and museum housing significant collections related to Hay's social and pastoral history is an important feature of this program (Hay Council SHI nomination 2006).

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Other open space-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Changing the environment-
2. Peopling-Peopling the continent	Aboriginal cultures and interactions with other cultures-Activities associated with maintaining, developing, experiencing and remembering Aboriginal cultural identities and practices, past and present.	All nations - imprisoning and detaining Aboriginal peoples-
2. Peopling-Peopling the continent	Ethnic influences-Activities associated with common cultural traditions and peoples of shared descent, and with exchanges between such traditions and peoples.	Controlling ethnicity through detention and imprisonment-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Developing local, regional and national economies-National Theme 3
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Landscapes of segregation-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Events-Activities and processes that mark the consequences of natural and cultural occurences	Developing local landmarks-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Health-Activities associated with preparing and providing medical assistance and/or promoting or maintaining the well being of humans	Operating quarantine facilities-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Health-Activities associated with preparing and providing medical assistance and/or promoting or maintaining the well being of humans	Caring for the sick in hospitals-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Health-Activities associated with preparing and providing medical assistance and/or promoting or maintaining the well being of humans	Caring for mothers and babies-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Building settlements, towns and cities-National Theme 4
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Temporary emergency housing-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Adapted heritage building or structure-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Accommodating prisoners and internees-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal	Administering and alienating Crown lands-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal	Townships-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	20th Century infrastructure-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	19th Century Infrastructure-
7. Governing-Governing	Defence-Activities associated with defending places from hostile takeover and occupation	Prisoner of War camp-
7. Governing-Governing	Defence-Activities associated with defending places from hostile takeover and occupation	Involvement with the Second World War-
7. Governing-Governing	Defence-Activities associated with defending places from hostile takeover and occupation	Involvement with the Second World War-
7. Governing-Governing	Defence-Activities associated with defending places from hostile takeover and occupation	Military settlement-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	Developing roles for government - administering a public health system-
7. Governing-Governing	Law and order-Activities associated with maintaining, promoting and implementing criminal and civil law and legal processes	Incarcerating prisoners-
7. Governing-Governing	Law and order-Activities associated with maintaining, promoting and implementing criminal and civil law and legal processes	Detaining POWs-
7. Governing-Governing	Welfare-Activities and process associated with the provision of social services by the state or philanthropic organisations	Hospital/nursing home phase-
7. Governing-Governing	Welfare-Activities and process associated with the provision of social services by the state or philanthropic organisations	Rehabilitation of juvenile offenders-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Social institutions-Activities and organisational arrangements for the provision of social activities	Developing and maintaining a local museum-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	Associations with James Hebbard, mine manager and innovator-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	Associations with James Barnet, Colonial (Government) Architect 1862-90-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	(none)-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	The Hay Gaol is of State significance for its variety of historical functions as a prison and detention centre. It was built as a colonial prison in 1880 but more significantly was used as a detention and hospitalisation facility servicing Hay's World War II internment and prisoner of war camps (1940 - 1946) and then as a girls' institution run by the NSW Department of Child Welfare (1961 - 1974). The Hay Gaol is of local historical significance as one of several grand buildings that represent Hay's unfulfilled promise of becoming the capital of the Riverina, and for its temporary roles as a maternity hospital (1920 to 1930) and as a site of emergency accommodation during the 1952 and 1956 floods. For its museum collections relating to the social and pastoral history of Hay, the gaol also has local significance.
SHR Criteria b) [Associative significance]	The Hay Gaol is of State significance for its historical associations. Designed by the prominent NSW Colonial Architect James Barnet, it is probably the only building in Australia directly associated with the internment of the Dunera Boys and with the imprisonment of the Japanese prisoners of war (POWs) following the Cowra Breakout in 1944. The closure of the girls' institution at Hay and associated institution at Parramatta is associated with the lobbying of child welfare activist Bessie Guthrie. The site has local associative significance as one of many buildings constructed by prolific local builders, the Witcombe Brothers.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	The Hay Gaol is of State significance for its aesthetic values as an example of James Barnet's Hay-type gaol, a classification defined by JS Kerr in his 1988 book, Out of Sight Out of Mind, in which Kerr differentiates Barnet's Hay-type gaol design from the more common Braidwood-type gaol design of the previous colonial architect. It is a relatively intact example of a Victorian country prison that combines foreboding design features - including its entranceway, perimeter walls, cell block and isolation cell - with vernacular materials. Hay Gaol Museum is a substantial building complex sited near the centre of the township that is an iconic building in Hay.
SHR Criteria d) [Social significance]	The Hay Gaol is of State social significance arising from its use as a girls' institution. Although official records remain unavailable, it is believed that a significant proportion of girls sent to Hay were indigenous 'stolen generation' children, who constituted many of NSW's most vulnerable of wards of state. Many survivors from this era have begun returning to the site from all over Australia as part of their healing. The Hay Gaol is also of local significance to the many Hay residents who were born there when it was a maternity hospital and to others who lived there when it was emergency flood housing. The Gaol is also of local significance for its use by the community as a museum and cultural facility. The site is used frequently by school groups as part of the Hay Museum Learning Program. As one of a network of five vibrant and collaboratively managed museums supported by the Hay Shire Council the Gaol and Hay's other museums underpin cultural tourism development in the town and as such are important to supporting and diversifying the local economy.
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	The Hay Gaol is of State significance for its research, archaeological and interpretive potential as a site or landscape of segregation, which capitalised on the already isolated geographic position of Hay to provide different forms of incarceration in different periods of history. For example, the design of the Gaol combines details reflecting Victorian attitudes towards punishment and detention with vernacular construction features such as locally made bricks. It also displays more recent details remaining from when the site was a girls' institution, including concrete patchwork paths laid by the girls and the laundry box used by the girls. The local history of the site to date has been well documented by the Hay Gaol Management Committee and the Hay Historical Society. Additional information about the site's past as a girls' institution is coming to light as survivors start to speak out and return to Hay. It is understood that an examination of government records relating to the site as a girls' institution, when they come available, will yield important information. Likewise a detailed examination of government records relating to the use of the site as an internment camp during World War II will also present new information. Future studies may chronicle the changes to the complex over time and the different ways in which the physical isolation of the town, surrounded by the Hay Plains, added to the segregation effects of the gaol..
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	The Hay Gaol is of State significance for its rarity as one of only three surviving Hay-type gaols designed by Barnet (of these, Wentworth Gaol has also been converted to a local museum while Tamworth Gaol is still in use by the Department of Corrective Services). The Braidwood-type design of the previous colonial architect was a much more common country gaol design. The Hay Gaol Museum may be found to be of State significance as it is possibly one of only a few substantial buildings remaining state-wide relating to the network of World War II Internment and prisoner of war camps in NSW.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	The Hay Gaol is of State significance as a relatively intact example of James Barnet's 'Hay-type' gaol. This classification, defined by JS Kerr in his 1988 book Out of Sight Out of Mind, is differentiated from the more common Braidwood-type gaol design of the previous colonial architect. It is additionally representative of a particularly harsh response by the NSW Child Welfare Department to the incarceration of young girls.
Integrity/Intactness:	The Hay Gaol is in fair condition. The paintwork in the cell block is generally poor and the site has problems with rising damp and white ants. The eastern perimeter wall is considered to be in an unstable condition. At some early stage, part of the isolation block was demolished. After 1974 a large steel shed was added to the rear of the cell block and two large sheds built outside the eastern perimeter wall. These elements are intrusive rather than of heritage significance.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Recommended management:

Recommendations

Management Category	Description	Date Updated
Recommended Management	Produce a Conservation Management Plan (CMP)
Recommended Management	Prepare a maintenance schedule or guidelines
Recommended Management	Carry out interpretation, promotion and/or education

Procedures /Exemptions

Section of act	Description	Title	Comments	Action date
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Heritage Act - Site Specific Exemptions	SCHEDULE C Installation and alterations for interpretative signage, internally and externally, to provide information on the heritage significance of the item, where such signage is sympathetic with the materials and spaces of the heritage item, is free-standing or is fixed into mortar joints with a minimum number of fixtures, and is in accordance with the conservation policies of a Conservation Management Plan. Activities associated with the ongoing use of the land and buildings for leisure and tourism purposes provided they are in accord with the policies in a Conservation Management Plan for the site and do not materially affect the heritage significance of the place. Activities associated with the maintenance, rehabilitation and revegetation of the landscape provided they are in accord with the policies in a Conservation Management Plan for the site and do not materially affect the heritage significance of the place. Maintenance and repair of play equipment in the areas outside the perimeter walls of the gaol which do not materially affect the heritage significance of the place. All curatorial activities within the item identified in any Collections Management Policy.	Mar 13 2009
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Standard Exemptions	HERITAGE ACT 1977 ORDER UNDER SECTION 57(2) TO GRANT STANDARD EXEMPTIONS FROM APPROVAL I, Penny Sharpe, the Minister for Heritage, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales and under section 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977: revoke the order made on 2 June 2022 and published in the Government Gazette Number 262 of 17 June 2022; and grant an exemption from section 57(1) of the Act in respect of the engaging in or carrying out the class of activities described in clause 2 Schedule A in such circumstances specified by the relevant standards in clause 2 Schedule A and General Conditions in clause 3 Schedule A. This Order takes effect on the date it is published in the NSW Government Gazette. Dated this 29th day of October 2025 The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC Minister for Heritage For more information on standard exemptions click on the link below.	Nov 7 2025

Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - State Heritage Register		01782	13 Mar 09	51	1388 & 138
Local Environmental Plan	Hay Local Environmental Plan 2011	I6	09 Dec 11
Register of the National Estate	Place File No: 1/06/331/006	768	21 Mar 78

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written	ABC Stateline story on Hay Girls Reunion 3-4 March - transcript	2007	"Eyes to the ground and welcome to Hay"	View detail
Written	Donnison, W.R. Hay Gaol Management Committee and Hay Historical Society	1976	Hay Gaol Museum and Cultural Centre
Written	Gordon, Harry	1980	Die like the carp!
Written	Hay Council		Hay Gaol Museum website	View detail
Written	Hay Historical Society	2006	Haywire - The Wartime Camps at Hay
Written	Hay Historical Society	1993	Proceedings No. 8 - The Witcombe Heritage; A History of the Buildings of Hay
Tourism	Hay Shire Council		Hay Gaol Museum	View detail
Written	Kerr, James Semple	1988	Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Written	Le Sueur, Angela	2016	Colonial Architects - part 2
Tourism	Museums and Gallies of NSW	2009	Hay Gaol Museum	View detail
Written	Peter Freeman P/L	1999	Hay Gaol Precinct Conservation Management Plan	View detail
Written	Quinn, P.	2004	Unenlightened Efficiency’: The Administration of the Juvenile Correction System in New South Wales 1905 – 1988, Thesis for a doctorate of Philosophy, University of Sydney
Written	Sear, Martha	2004	Unpublished research for Hay Gaol Museum Committee
Written	Senate Committee Report - Community Affairs References Committee	2004	Forgotten Australians; A report on Australians who experienced institutional or out-of-home care as children	View detail

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Heritage NSW
Database number:	5054657
File number:	s91/06290

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