The cemetery remains a rich source of remembrance and stories of old Braidwood families, thanks to Braidwood Historic Cemetery Volunteers, but the gaol is gone, demolished in 1936. At the time it was seen as the removal of an eyesore, well before Braidwood became state heritage listed in 2006.

The gaol was built on the northern end of Wallace Street in 1861-2 at a cost of £1,819. The main building was a solid two-storey brick structure designed to accommodate 12 prisoners and a residence for the gaoler. There were two yards at the rear. The larger, measuring 22 x 13 metres, served as an exercise area for the men; next to it was a smaller yard which could be closed off and used if there were no women in the prison. Within the yards there was a large underground tank, latrines, wash rooms, kitchens and store rooms. Originally the gaol buildings and yards were enclosed with a timber palisade, 3.2 metres high on the inside and rising to 3.7 metres on the outside. 

It was over the top of this timber palisade that the bushranger Tommy Clarke made his escape on October 3, 1865. His escape lead to the most troublesome gang in the annals of bushranging. Soon after the timber palisade was replaced with a brick wall.

Prisoners were mostly put to work outside the goal repairing roads and building footpaths. It was not normal practice for serious offenders to serve their time in Braidwood Gaol. They were usually transferred to Cockatoo Island, Darlinghurst, Berrima, Parramatta, Bathurst or Maitland. In 1866, gaoler Michael Wallace wrote to the Inspector of Prisons requesting the removal of Berriman, Bruce and Lawler, associates of the Clarke gang, he said, “Braidwood Gaol is not at all secure for such a class of prisoners as those……..”

Eventually the gaol just served as the local lock-up before falling into disuse. On September 6, 1935 the Braidwood Dispatch advertised, “Quotations Invited For Purchase and Removal of Bricks ex Walls of Old Exercise Yard, Braidwood Gaol……The successful purchaser shall be required to remove all brick bats and building debris from the site, clear and spread to the level of the surrounding land…..” Jack Bunn was the successful tenderer and many bits from the old gaol were re-used around the town. 

The Braidwood museum has an original cell door on display, donated by the Bunn family. The museum also has digital copies of the Gaol Entrance Book which gives names, descriptions and details of all who were lodged in the gaol for one reason or another, as well as the Surgeons Journal detailing ailments and treatment of inmates.