The Dark Walk
An immersive 4D show of filmed actors, fog and loud sound that tells Cornwall's crime-and-punishment stories from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Chris j wood — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada — CC BY 2.0 · Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada — CC BY 2.0 · Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada — CC BY 2.0
During the First World War, when London feared bombing, the Domesday Book and other British state papers were moved for safekeeping into the cells of this granite prison in the middle of Cornwall, where they sat through 1918 and 1919; the jail's own tradition adds the Crown Jewels to the list. Either way, it is an odd address for a nation's treasures. The jail went up in 1779 on the reformist ideas of John Howard (single cells, running water), was enlarged in the 1850s, and hanged more than fifty people. The hangings were public, and the crowds treated them as a day out — the Lightfoot brothers in 1840 are said to have drawn some 20,000 onlookers — until public execution was abolished in Britain in 1868 and the gallows moved behind the walls. The last man hanged here was William Hampton, in 1909. The prison closed for good in 1927 and rotted for the better part of a century. What you see now is the product of a huge redevelopment that reopened the site in 2020. Your visit opens with the Dark Walk, an immersive 4D show of filmed actors, loud sound and artificial fog that tells Cornwall's stories of crime and punishment: smugglers, sheep thieves and women convicted of crimes whose brutality still shocks. After that you wander at your own pace through the restored cell wings, past waxwork figures and display boards, to the execution shed and its drop pit, said to be the only one of its kind still standing in Britain. Nothing is prettified; the grimness is the point. A word for families: the jail states plainly that it is not a scare attraction and that nobody will jump out at you, but it does advise parental guidance — there are low-lit and enclosed stretches, moments of loud sound, and a subject that is entirely crime, punishment and the gallows. From about ten upwards it lands well; below that, use your judgement, and bring ear protection if anyone in the party is sensitive to noise. The building is listed, so access is imperfect: a platform lift stands in for the stairs in several places, some original doorways are only 75 cm wide, and the café is up steps. The hotel that opened in the old wings in 2021 lets you sleep in a converted cell, which some people love and others cannot face. Getting there: Bodmin sits in the centre of Cornwall just off the A30, so it slots naturally into a driving day between Padstow and Newquay (about half an hour from either) or from Truro (roughly forty minutes). There is no parking at the jail itself; use the pay-and-display Berrycoombe car park five minutes' walk away. By train, Bodmin Parkway on the main line is about 6 km from town — on days the Bodmin & Wenford steam railway is running it will carry you from Parkway up to Bodmin General in the town, and otherwise it is a taxi or an infrequent bus. The standard adult ticket is £25 on the door and £22 booked online, children £16.50 and £13.50; entry is by timed slot, and booking ahead matters in July and August even though you can pay at the gate the rest of the year. Open daily from 09:30 to 18:00 with last entry at 16:00, hours shifting a little with the season, it is an excellent wet-day refuge that works just as well in sunshine.
An immersive 4D show of filmed actors, fog and loud sound that tells Cornwall's crime-and-punishment stories from the 18th and 19th centuries.
A drop pit said to be the only one of its kind left in Britain, in a jail that hanged more than fifty people — publicly until 1868, and William Hampton last of all in 1909.
The cells that held the Domesday Book and Britain's state papers in 1918-19, and where the Crown Jewels are said to have been hidden too.
Berrycoombe Road, Bodmin PL31 2NR
The jail says it is not a scare attraction and that nobody jumps out at you, but it does advise parental guidance: low lighting in places, loud sound in others, and a subject that is entirely crime, punishment and the gallows. For children over about ten, yes, and they will remember it longer than any museum. Below that, use your judgement; with under-sevens, either take turns as parents or leave the jail for another trip. Bring ear protection for anyone sensitive to noise.
Doable, but plan it. The main line reaches Bodmin Parkway, not the town, about 6 km short of the jail. On the days the Bodmin & Wenford steam railway is running you can finish the journey on it to Bodmin General, close to the jail, and the ride is a pleasure in itself. Outside its operating days you need a taxi each way, since the bus is scarce — and then a castle or a coastal site the train reaches directly may be the better call.