Trial Bay Gaol is a heritage-listed former public works prison and internment camp at Cardwell Street, Arakoon, Kempsey Shire, New South Wales, Australia.

[1] Before European settlement in Australia the land now known as Arakoon National Park where Trial Bay Gaol is located was associated with the Dunghutti people who lived and moved through the Macleay Valley following the seasonal supply of food resources.

This ship, owned by Simeon Lord, had been hijacked by a number of convicts in Port Jackson who, in a bid for their freedom, forced the crew to set sail north up the coast.

During the 1870s and 1880s moves were made to establish Reserves on which Aboriginal people should live and in the Macleay Valley such sites were located at Pelican, Shark, Kinchela and Fattorini Islands and at Euroka Creek.

By 1866 the plan was considered by the NSW Parliament and finally, in 1877, a sum of money amounting to 10,000 pounds was set aside for the construction of the breakwater and also a gaol to house the prisoner labour force that would be assigned to the project.

He was also a believer in the modern British penal model where long-term prisoners, reaching the last years of their sentence, were employed in the construction of public works projects.

Another period of construction of the gaol occurred between 1899 - 1900 when the final kitchen, scullery and bake house, cell block B, lavatories, shelter sheds, salt water storage, telephone communications and electric lighting system were installed.

Two prominent figures among the internees were two German Scientists attending the Congress of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at the request of the Australian Government.

[1] The structure of an internee's day while confined at Trial Bay Gaol and the other camps was defined initially by a royal warrant, a British code of instructions, in August 1914 and was later superseded by the Australian "Rules for the Custody of and Maintenance of Discipline among Prisoners of War in NSW".

Aside from the athletics, boxing, bowling and chess clubs there was a newspaper (at first published bi-weekly and then weekly) which contained editorial on world events, especially the progress of the war in Europe as well as information on the camp activities.

Fischer et al. note that the theatre and orchestra was particularly strong on the performance of German literary and musical works and this entertainment served to reinforce the internees perception of themselves as culturally superior to the Australian people.

Prior to their departure, the Germans requested that they be able to erect a memorial to five fellow internees who died while confined at the Trial Bay Gaol Internment Camp.

The steady increase in visitation led to the area being declared a Reserve for Public Recreation in 1946 and in 1965 the Trial Bay Gaol Trust was established to manage the ruins.

[1] Running between the Cell Blocks A and B, south from the rear of the mess hall stand the remains of a three-room structure which was the Kitchen scullery and bakehouse which was constructed in 1899 - 1900.

Other early structures that no longer stand but in some cases footing and other evidence remains include the first kitchen and ablution block, three hospital buildings, blacksmiths shop, carpenters shop, two lots of toilets, shelter sheds iron rail and dwarf wall fence, water tanks and salt water storage tanks.

Below are listed sites associated with the prison operation lying outside the gaol walls The gaol's moveable heritage collection contains a large number of historic photographs manuscripts, drawings and other artefacts relating to the site during its phase as a public works prison, the WWI German Internment camp and the later phase of recreational use.

[1] Trial Bay Gaol, breakwater and environs is of State heritage significance for its place in the development several aspects of the history and evolution of NSW.

[1] The gaol's State heritage significance is enhanced through its historic association two figures important to the historical development of NSW; Comptroller of Prisons Harold Maclean who was a noted penal reformer and also Edmund Orpen Moriarty, Engineer in Chief of the Harbours and Rivers proponent and designer of the breakwater and an important figure in the development of water and maritime infrastructure in the later 19th century.

The high perimeter walls, entry gates, pair of cell blocks is a unique demonstration of the principle tenets of "enlightened" nineteenth century prison design in NSW.

The gaol, sited as it is, high on the peninsular above Trial Bay is aesthetically distinctive and has significant landmark qualities as a ruin which are unique throughout the State.

[1] The significant potential archaeological resource at Trial Bay Gaol may provide a valuable insight into the construction, use and evolution of the goal and breakwater and later internment camp, the life of former inmates, internees and visitors.

Trial Bay Gaol, breakwater and environs is of State heritage significance for its place in the development of the penal service in NSW during the 19th century.

In the early years of the colony with transportation of goods and people up and down the coast of NSW dependent on wind power, the need for a safe haven on the trip between Port Stephens and Moreton Bay was widely recognised.

While Trial Bay, halfway between these two ports was an ideal location for such a haven it proved not to be sheltered in all weathers and so the need for a breakwater was seen as essential to providing refuge for shipping along the north coast.

Besides designing and promoting the construction of Trial Bay breakwater was associated with numerous strategic and significant maritime and other public works important to the development of the colony.

[1] In addition the gaol, sited as it is, high on the peninsular above Trial Bay is aesthetically distinctive and has significant landmark qualities as a ruin which are unique throughout the State.

These qualities are enhanced by the isolated setting and dramatic scale of the remnant stone structures which heighten the sense of theatre and romance associated with the place and its use as a prison, an internment camp for Germans during World War II and also the earlier wreck of the convict escape ship, the Trial.

[1] The significant potential archaeological resource at Trial Bay Gaol could provide a valuable insight into the construction, use and evolution of the goal and breakwater and later internment camp, the life of former inmates, internees and visitors,.

[1] The gaol complex is unusual in that its isolation allowed it and its outlying places of residence and storage to be relatively open, an uncommon feature in nineteenth century prisons in NSW.

[1] The rarity values of the gaol are enhanced by the fact that an extensive archival collection is associated with the site, providing unusually detailed information about the sit's history and operations.