Invarary Jail is located in Invarary, Argyll and Bute in Scotland.
The jail was originally designed in 1807 by Robert Reid. Robert’s design consisted of a courthouse, 2 separate prisons (one for women and one for men), and also an area to imprison debtors. Although the grounds were big enough for this design to work, there was an insufficient amount of finance available.
In 1813 the jail was redesigned by James Gillespie Graham. by 1820 the construction was complete and the prison was opened.
The first floor housed the court room, the second were the cells. The walls were three foot thick and made of rough red stone.
After the Prison Act 1839 (Scotland) a second prison was built, designed by Thomas Brown, within the grounds on land that was not being used. This second prison opened in 1848. The prison had three floors containing twelve cells and an exorcising room. Along with the second prison, two outdoor exorcising areas were also built.
After the Prison Act 1877 (Scotland) Changes were made again by the Government taking control of the running and financing of the prisons rather than the local authorities.
It was published in the Argyllshire Herald newspaper in July of 1889 that Invarary Jail was to be closed on the 31st August. Despite this the court was still being used until 1954.
In the 1980′s the Scottish Office carried out restoration work on the buildings but they still ended up being left abandoned when the plans for them fell through.
Invarary Jail was reopened in 1989 as a privately owned tourist attraction which shows re-enactments of the trails and daily life of the inmates.
Today the jail is still being used as a tourist attraction.
Reported Paranormal Activity
Visitors of the jail have reported feelings of uneasiness, and hearing strange, unexplainable noises. Some people also believe that the kitchen is haunted by a ghost who cowers behind the door.
The jail has received letters from visitors claiming that they had caught “misty figures” on their photographs in and around Invarary Jail during their visit.
