The Seperate Prison

March 30, 2009 by Greg
Filed under: Port Arthur

(c)hobartdaily.com - The Seperate Prison at Port Arthur

Today’s photo is from inside the Seperate Prison. When it was built new ideas were being considered in reforming prisoners. It was considered that physical punishment only hardened a man but in an atmosphere of quiet and order the man could consider his sin and change his life. To achieve this a new type of prison was needed. The architecture and practices of the Seperate Prison were based on those of Pentonville Prison in Britain. But at Port Arthur the cells were smaller and for any misdemeanour there were special punishment cells where the man would be locked in total darkness and silence for times ranging between several hours and 30 days on bread and water. Not much of a comfort but after three days they were allowed out for an hour every day for exercise.

Each new arrival when they entered the prison was allocated a number and their name was no longer used. He was allowed to communicate only with staff and spent 23 hours a day in his cell with his time out of his cell spent on cleaning duty or at services in the chapel. The corridors were laid with mats and guards worse slippers so they could hear his every sound and they checked on each prisoner constantly through a peep hole in his cell door. Even in the chapel he had no contact with other prisoners as they were each held in an individual booth and watched over by armed guards.