YATALA LABOUR PRISON

Story

Yatala Labour Prison is a high-security men's prison located in the north-eastern part of the northern suburb Northfield in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. It was built in 1854 to enable prisoners to work at the creek, quarrying rock for roads and construction. Originally known as The Stockade it acquired its current name from a local Aboriginal word.The prison has been expanded many times but still has functioning buildings that date to the 1850s. It remains Adelaide's main male prison and although it was scheduled to be closed by 2011, it has remained open due to the Global Financial Crisis.Geography and namingYatala prison, originally called The Stockade, was named after the cadastral Hundred of Yatala. The word is presumed to refer to the flooded state of the plain either side of Dry Creek after heavy rain It is known as a labour prison by virtue of its vast industries complex and the use of convict labour in construction.It is sited in Adelaide's northern suburb of Northfield, 10km north of Adelaide's central business district and between Grand Junction Road and Dry Creek. The prison sits on an escarpment of the Para Fault Block overlooking the Adelaide plains. Dry Creek, a watercourse usually dry in summer, flows through a deep gully immediately north of the prison boundary. It features outcrops of exposed pre-Cambrian rocks that were once extensively quarried as part of prison activity.