The Old Gaol – Knysna

The Old Gaol – Knysna

The Old Gaol – used as a prison from 1859 till the 1980s – now houses our maritime and angling collections, old maps and ships models, and the Green Chefs Café. It’s also an art centre – and it loves getting visitors.

The Old Gaol was the first building erected by the Colonial Government in Knysna. It was built in 1859. Amongst others, it was used to hold convicts en route to work on the the construction of Prince Alfred’s Pass (between Knysna and Uniondale). It was declared a National Monument in 1992. Today the Old Gaol, on the corner of Main Road and Queen Street, houses the following displays and collections:

• Maritime collection: artefacts from ships of the Thesen Line which operated out of Knysna; stories of some of the best-known ships that visited the Port of Knysna.
• Maps & models room: Maps of the Knysna Lagoon (Knysna Estuary); ships models, including a model of the first ship built here – the brig, ‘Knysna.’
• Angling collection: rods, reels, lines, lures, and other accessories – some from the earliest days of fishing.
• Coelacanth display: the story of how Knysna’s Prof. JLB Smith identified a fish that was thought to have disappeared with the dinosaurs.
• Knysna Elephants: information about the elephants that still roam free in the Knysna forests.
• The Infirmary: restored prison hospital cell with an exhibition about prison life, prison gangs, etc.
• Portraits of past Mayors of Knysna from 1882 to the present day.