Comprising the Courtroom, Old Prison, New Prison and Airing Yards, the old Inveraray Jail was completely restored and reopened to the public in May 1989; almost 100 years after the last prisoner left its confines. A visit ‘inside’ gives a real sense of the conditions experienced by those nineteenth century men, women and children unlucky enough to have been detained within its cells.
Between the building of the Old Prison in 1820 and the New Prison in 1848, many reforms took place and this is evident in the different conditions the prisoners faced.
Entrance to Inveraray Jail
Entrance to the Jail is by way of the imposing Courthouse built between 1816 and 1820. The spacious Courtroom was used for three different types of court sittings: the Circuit Court, Sheriff Court and Burgh Court, as well as meetings. It is a disquieting experience today, to walk into what appears to be the middle of a trial.
The Courtroom Trial
The Courtroom is set out exactly as it would have been during a Circuit Court Session around 1850. A fifteen man jury sits to one side, witnesses on the other, while the lawyers sit below the judge. The accused sit in the dock facing the lawyers and judge.
At the beginning of the trial, the members of the jury were called one by one by the Clerk of the Court to stand in the jury box while the following oath was administered:
“You fifteen swear by Almighty God and as you will answer to God on the Great Day of Judgment, that you will truth say and no truth conceal, so far as you are to pass at this assize.”
The Old Prison
The exit from the courtroom leads to the restored Old Prison, completed in 1820. This was the main county jail for the whole of Argyll.
Comprising eight small cells, this prison held men, women, children, sane and insane often crowded together. In the earliest years, there was little ventilation or heating, no hope of exercise or occupation and no washroom or water closet. Petty criminals might share space with murderers, the convicted with the yet to be convicted.
Reforms and the Prisons Acts
Although these conditions lasted for over ten years in Inveraray, and elsewhere in Scotland, prison reformers finally succeeded in making a difference. The Prisons Act of 1835 and the Prisons Scotland Act of 1839 led to much needed rules for the more humane care of prisoners and proper training for prison staff. Cells had to be bigger, with daylight, ventilation and heat, while prisoners were to be clothed, fed and exercised.
Prison Airing Yards
Many changes were put into effect at once, but it was eight years before a new prison was completed. Meanwhile, airing yards were constructed in 1843 to allow the prisoners to exercise for an hour each day in the fresh air. It was a step forward in allowing prisoners air and exercise. The airing yards remained until 1882, then for the next seven years all the prisoners were exercised together in the prison yards.
The New Prison
The New Prison, finally completed in 1848, was a model prison of its time. As opposed to the eight cells in the overcrowded Old Prison, the new one had twelve individual cells, a water closet on each floor, washroom, accommodation for warders and an exercise gallery. Lit by gas, it also had adequate heating and ventilation
Work for Prisoners
From 1839, physically fit prisoners were expected to work in their cells for up to ten hours a day which included making herring nets, picking oakum (fibre from old rope), shoemaking, tailoring, joinery, knitting and sewing. It wasn’t an option, for there was punishment for under achieving their quota. As well as providing some occupation, there was also the opportunity for hard workers to receive a small payment for any extra work. This was given to them on the day they left prison.
For all the reforms that made prison life more bearable, some authorities decided it had become too easy in the 1850s. Instead of the usual hammock, mattress, blankets, sheets and pillow, prisoners now had to endure a wooden guard bed and wooden pillows for the first thirty days of their sentence.
The Prison Governor and the Warder
The life of the prison governor and his wife was hard. Working seven days a week, the governor had to check on each male prisoner, and female prisoners once a week accompanied by his wife. He had to conduct periodic searches of the prison and keep records and a journal, while returning regular reports.
The warder had to sleep in the prison and work long hours for little payment. He had to be of exemplary character, and sober at all times, with no bad language.
Inveraray Jail closed to prisoners on 31st August 1889 and the county police took it over as a short term detention centre. Gradually, the Circuit Court moved away, causing the jail to fall into disrepair until the Scottish Office restored it and opened it to visitors in 1989.
Further details from Inveraray Jail.
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