The Beaumaris Gaol and House of Correction was built between 1828 and 1829 by Hansom & Welch and incorporates many of the -innovations of the Millbank Penitentiary in London. It is a remarkable initiative for a provincial centre and is notable as an early survival of a prison on a radial-wing plan, with instructive mid-Victorian improvements. The sheer outer curtain walls is broken only by buttresses and the entrance range, of huge blocks, is screened by bare and massive ironwork.

The plan was originally a T set in a square, with daunting stonework to the yards so formed. Three unchanged corridors meet at the lower level, divided by arches and iron barriers. Upstairs, under an octagonal glass cupola, the governor's office projects as a canted bay with three glazed windows at the meeting of the corridors, to allow a clear view of the upper floor. The chapel furnishings are later nineteenth century.

At the end of the entry axis is the New Wing of 1867?8, by Robert Griffiths. The architecture here is less severe - the cell doorways have rounded frames, the iron gates are a bit more generous and the iron stairs and balcony even have decorative elements. In one yard a treadwheel for six men, installed in 1867, is now the only surviving example in a British prison. It served to raise water to roof tanks whence it ran to every cell. The infirmary on the upper level, with a fireplace. The prison closed in 1878 and is now a museum.

Source: Haslam, Orbach and Voelcker (2009), The Buildings of Wales: Gwynedd. Pevsner Architectural Guide, page 107.

RCAHMW, October 2009