Hobart Penitentiary Chapel
The Hobart Penitentiary Chapel is located in Tasmania, Australia, and was built in 1831 as a house of worship for convicts and settlers. In 1845, the chapel was closed to free settler worship, and became a fully operational penitentiary in 1857. The additions to the penitentiary included cells and an execution yard. The convicts that had the unfortunate luck of staying there described it as hell on earth. In the 1960s, parts of the complex were demolished, but most of the original site still stands to this day.
Recently, the demolished part of the chapel has been re-built to its original design. This entire site is known to be haunted, with the constant feel of an unusually cold temperature, and a feeling of hopelessness to the visitors who walk around. People who experience this feeling begin to have serious headaches and problems breathing. Each section of the chapel is believed to be haunted by at least one spirit, although there are other sections that have a number of spirits, and have many other paranormal events.
The chapel is haunted especially by those convicts who were killed by execution there. The first execution took place in 1857, and the last hanging was in 1946. Within this time frame, there were 32 convicted felons killed. People who visit this area feel a sense of fear, experience feelings of being smothered, even if its winter, the sensation of grabbing on their shirts by unseen forces, and the smell of blood from the trapdoor. There are also a plethora of solitary cells underneath the floor of the chapel.
This area is nicknamed the “Dust Hole.” These cells were created without proper ventilation and no light. The cells were closed in 1847 due to these inhumane conditions. This area is believed to be one of the most haunted in the area because of the circumstances for which these convicts lived before their death. People who go and visit this area experience temperature fluctuations, the sounds of footsteps and voices, and the sight of apparitions believed to be that of prisoners who once stayed down there.
(Source: Belanger, Jeff. Encyclopedia if Haunted Places. 2005.)
