The Tolhouse Gaol
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The more you see, the more we do.
The National Art Pass lets you enjoy free entry to hundreds of museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, while raising money to support them.
Explore the history of crime and punishment in Great Yarmouth through the ages, on the site of one of the oldest prisons in the country.
Uncover the stories of convicted thieves, smugglers, witches, pirates and murderers whose fates were sealed inside the walls of this coastal gaol, from complete relocation to prisons elsewhere to execution.
The 800-year-old stone building was originally a medieval merchant’s house before it became associated with the law – since then it has been used as a courtroom, town gaol, police station, and since the 1880s, a museum. Alongside Great Yarmouth’s long history in law enforcement, the museum also explores the turbulent history of the building itself, which has been both attacked by rebels and gutted by bombs.
