Young Gaol: prison profile
NSW | Decommissioned | Australian Prison Directory
Source-linked profile checked 11 November 2026. Dates and capacities below describe the stated source period, not necessarily today’s available beds or prisoner population.
About this facility
The purpose-built gaol that replaced Young’s small police lockup. Workshops taught trades and prisoners undertook manufacturing and repairs. After an interruption during the First World War, it reopened as a Parramatta Gaol branch before final closure. The gatehouse and gatekeeper’s residence survive.
Classification: Historical custodial institution; modern security classifications are not assigned retrospectively
The police gaol proclaimed in 1870 was the predecessor lockup, not this 1878 gaol. Its five separated and ten associated places are excluded.
Contact details
Address: 20 Caple Street, Young NSW 2594
Address note: Heritage-property address, not a verified public visitor entrance.
No current dedicated contact verified.
No current dedicated operator or public-access contact verified. Young Historical Museum preserves gaol objects at a separate location.
Opening, closure and history
Opening: 1878-03-22 — New gaol proclaimed; notification appeared in the Gazette on 26 March
Closing: 1923-08-01 — Ceased to be a prison under the proclamation dated 26 July 1923
1876: Construction of new buildings and gatehouse began
1914: Prison closed temporarily
1918: Reopened as a branch of Parramatta Gaol for people then classified as habitual offenders
Capacity
20 prisoners: Reported separated-prisoner accommodation in the new gaol. Reference date: 1878. Scope: Separated accommodation component; distinct from the 60 associated places in the same return. Historical accommodation, not current beds or the earlier police lockup’s capacity.
60 prisoners: Reported associated-prisoner accommodation in the new gaol. Reference date: 1878. Scope: Associated accommodation component; distinct from the 20 separated places in the same return. Historical accommodation, not observed population or a count of cells.
Deaths in custody: totals and limitations
No complete facility-level series is established here for suicide, medical or natural causes, homicide, other causes, Aboriginal deaths or combined Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths. Missing data does not mean zero deaths. Selected cases below, where available, are not lifetime or reporting-period totals. “Murder” is a legal conclusion and is not substituted for a source’s classification.
Photograph
No verified licensed photograph is installed in this profile. No stock or generated image is presented as a photograph of this prison.
Sources
Using this profile
Confirm visiting arrangements and current contacts with the corrections department or heritage operator. Heritage visitor contacts are not operational prison contacts. General information only, not legal advice.
This directory includes prison complexes and components and is not a complete Australian operational or historical census. Component capacities must not be added to their parent complex a second time.
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