Built to address the evils of the jail that had preceded it, and which stood directly across the way, the Old Jail appears to be a small fortress, its blackened stone and high walls staring out ominously at the street. It was built at a time of reform when government studies began to question the wisdom of housing as many as 25 men, women and children in the same small cell. Also coming to the fore was an interest in the causes of crime and whether or not the criminal could be brought back into the general population as a useful citizen.
The 2005 price was 5.75 pounds for an adult admission and the tours are timed. Your tour group will be met at the door by an early 19th century hangman, and a vile creature he is too. He actually scared my wife, as she was chosen to be the example of the low, forlorn creature, the scum of the streets, who often ended up scourged and hanged on the town gallows before an appreciative crowd. After a clever change of dress, he became the reformer and I’ll tell you no more. It was worth the price of admission as we, the public, became inmates.
He would explain that the reform movement didn’t last long. The jail had been built in 1842 and it wasn’t that many years before the idea of teaching a man or woman how to practice a trade disappeared. In came the crank machine… an instrument of torture designed to destroy a man’s spirit, not to uplift it. Following the guided portion of the tour through some of the ground floor area, you are left on your own to go to the roof. The jail is a tall building, and from its tower, you have a good view of Stirling.
On the top floor there is a further display… a demonstration of how a present day prison works through the eyes of an inmate. It was also quite interesting. Unfortunately, the only view that you have of the ranges is through the glass walls of the elevator as you you ascend to the roof. Your descent will be on the stairs with no view of the interior of the second to fourth floors.
The building served as the town jail until 1888 when it became a military prison. On your way out, you will pass a display on the subject of military justice (An oxymoron at the time). It fell out of service in 1935 and served a variety of purposes and finally lapsed into complete disuse and ruin. Well restored today, it is a site worth visiting.