Although, short stays were intended, some detainees would experience extended stays, with one detainee recording 42 nights etched into the walls of Cell D. Depending on the sentence handed down by the Magistrate at the local Court House, detainees would generally be released, but if charged with a crime, they would be moved to either Maitland, Cessnock or St Helliers gaol.

The Lock-Up’s cell block include rare examples of cell types from the mid 1800s. Measuring 2.3 x 1.26m Cell A, the first cell in the block, is the final remaining unchanged cell from the original 1861 building and is a significant example of Colonial penal design introduced by Governor Gipps as an economic measure. Although planned for widespread use by Colonial Architect A. Dawson in 1859, this type of cell was rejected due to its inhumane and cramped size. Originally, The Lock-Up contained six cells this size.

Graffiti remnants by detainees feature within all of the cell spaces. Markings etched into the walls using sharp objects feature heavily within the men’s cells, while in the female cells, much of the graffiti is painted onto the walls with red fingernail polish, as is the infamous line in Cell F, “DEAD MEN DON’T RAPE.”

Acknowledged as the best-preserved padded cell from the Colonial era in Australia, The Lock-Up’s padded cell was a later addition, added in 1893. Its leather walls are filled with horsehair to provide protection to prisoners who were believed to be uncontrollable or at risk of harming themselves.

Today, The Lock-Up’s cells are used as a platform to exhibit the works of leading Australian and international experimental artists. Contrasting to the ‘white cube’ purpose-built space of The Lock-Up’s Main Gallery, these dark, graffiti laden spaces provide architectural enclosures for multidisciplinary works to be presented within a space that directly references Australia’s Colonial past.

In 2023 the padded cell underwent a conservation process which was made possible by the generosity of the Copland Foundation who fund projects that fall under the umbrella of Alex Copland’s interests relating to the conservation of historic museums, fine art and decorative museums, science museums and libraries.

After two “great escapes” took place from this section of The Lock-Up in 1928 and 1946, a new indestructible structure was created, forged from Newcastle BHP steel ensuring that no prisoner would break free from this location again.

This rigid steel construction remains over The Yard today and is now a pivotal staging instrument for presenting the live component of The Lock-Up’s artistic program and is utilised for artist panel discussions, opening parties, events, and live performance activations, adding to The Lock-Up’s well-known technique of presenting contemporary arts within an intriguing historical space. Other original features of The Yard still remain today, such as the arch adorning the communal toilet facilities, and the public concrete bath.

Victorian Era incarceration:

Practice of policing: