Inverary - 30/07/2022
Inverary can be seen across the loch from our cottage in St Catherines, but it takes about 45 mins to drive around the loch to get there. We visited the castle and its gardens; had lunch in the village and then visited the jail.
Inverary Castle has been the family home of the (Campbells) Duke and Duchess of Argyll for nearly 300 years. Its history can be viewed here
Inverary Jail was opened in 1820 and served as a prison until 1889 when larger city prisons replaced the small county jails. It housed men, women and children including the criminally insane. Until 1843 prisoners were confined to their cell with no washing or bathroom facilities, no exercise and no change of clothes, for the duration of their sentence. After 1843 bathing facilities, and an exercise area were introduced and the prisoners were clothed in a prison uniform. Since they were clothed, and fed 3x daily and the cells had some heating, many prisoners then had a more secure life in prison than they had outside.