My Haunted Jail

Built by Prisoners. Haunted by the Past.

Raised from granite in 1779 by prisoners of war, Bodmin Jail served as Cornwall’s County prison for over 150 years - a place of justice, punishment, and unending sorrow.

Behind its towering walls, echoes of suffering still linger. Inmates once endured relentless toil: unpicking old ship ropes, treading the punishment wheel for eight hours a day, six days a week - their despair etched into the very stones.

Among its most infamous inmates was Matthew Weeks, hanged in 1844 for the murder of Charlotte Dymond. His tragic story of love, jealousy, and betrayal remains one of Cornwall’s most haunting tales, and some say their spirits still roam the moors together.

Between these walls, 55 public executions took place. Crowds gathered to watch as justice was carried out… and perhaps, as some believe, to witness the restless spirits it left behind.

And then there was Henry - the only inmate ever to escape Bodmin Jail in 1897. He vanished without a trace, his fate unknown. Some say he found freedom. Others whisper that his spirit still walks the corridors, forever trying to find his way out.