Napier Prison is a visitor attraction and former prison in Napier, New Zealand. Built in 1862 and decommissioned as a prison in 1993, it is the country's oldest prison complex.
Napier Prison is a visitor attraction and former prison in Napier, New Zealand. Built in 1862 and decommissioned as a prison in 1993, it is the country's oldest prison complex.
Napier Prison was constructed on Napier Hill in 1862 and was used until the early 1990s, being officially decommissioned in 1993. In addition to being a prison, the location was also used as an orphanage and a psychiatric unit. During the 19th century, four hangings were conducted at the prison. [1] John Purcell was superintendent of the prison in its latter years. [2]
In 2002, it was opened as a historical tourist attraction [3] and has been open for entertainment and tours. [4] It offers guided day and night tours by appointment and self-guided audio tours all day. It is the only building where it is possible to see the original path of the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake. [5]
The prison was used as the venue for the filming of the 2006 television show Redemption Hill. [6] It is also featured in the "Off the Rails" TV series.
There have been many reports of ghostly occurrences at the site such as unexplained footsteps, disembodied faces, doors opening and closing on their own, and the ghost of a murderer on the anniversary of his execution. [1] The best-known former prisoner is Roland Edwards, a mass murderer whose spirit is said to haunt the area. He died on July 15 and paranormal activity is reputedly more prevalent around the anniversary of his death. [7] Prolific New Zealand-based paranormal research team Haunted Auckland have made a few visits to the prison, conducting detailed overnight investigations, in the hopes of documenting evidence to back up some of the reports.
In 2011, a team from the television series Ghost Hunters International spent four days filming at the prison, which was criticized as "the lowest common denominator of a reality TV show". [8]
Hawke's Bay is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural parts of the region are served by the towns of Waipukurau, Waipawa, and Wairoa.
Napier is a city on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Hawke's Bay region. It is a beachside city with a seaport, known for its sunny climate, esplanade lined with Norfolk pines, and extensive Art Deco architecture. For these attributes, Napier is sometimes romantically referred to as the "Nice of the Pacific".
Wairoa is the largest town in the Wairoa District and the northernmost town in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of Māhia Peninsula. It is 118 kilometres (73 mi) northeast of Napier, and 92 kilometres (57 mi) southwest of Gisborne, on State Highway 2. It is the nearest town to the Te Urewera protected area and former national park, which is accessible from Wairoa via State Highway 38. It is one of three towns in New Zealand where Māori outnumber other ethnicities, with 62.29% of the population identifying as Māori.
Larnach Castle is a mock castle on the ridge of the Otago Peninsula within the limits of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand, close to the small settlement of Pukehiki. It is one of a few houses of this scale in New Zealand. The house was built by the prominent entrepreneur and politician, William Larnach. Since 1967, the castle has been privately owned by the Barker family, and opened as a tourist attraction, as "New Zealand's only castle".
Jason Conrad Hawes is an American plumber and the co-founder of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), which is based in Warwick, Rhode Island. He is also one of the stars and co-producers of Syfy's Ghost Hunters, which ended its initial run after its eleventh season on October 26, 2016. Several years later, the show was renewed and revived for a 12th season at A&E, with new episodes premiering in August 2019 without Hawes's participation. TAPS co-founder and former lead investigator Grant Wilson returned to lead a brand new team, while Hawes moved on to lead his own show with Ghost Hunters alumni Dave Tango and Steve Gonsalves in Ghost Nation, which is no longer airing on the Travel Channel since October 2019. The series ended in 2021 when the trio returned to Ghost Hunters after it moved to Travel Channel.
The Ohio State Reformatory (OSR), also known as the Mansfield Reformatory, is a historic prison located in Mansfield, Ohio in the United States. It was built between 1886 and 1910 and remained in operation until 1990, when a United States Federal Court ruling ordered the facility to be closed. While this facility was seen in a number of films, TV shows and music videos, it was made famous by the film The Shawshank Redemption (1994) when it was used for most scenes of the movie. The Ohio State Reformatory is currently open to tourists.
The Napier-Hastings Urban Area was defined by Statistics New Zealand as a main urban area of New Zealand that was based around the twin cities of Napier and Hastings in the Hawke's Bay Region. It was defined under the New Zealand Standard Areas Classification 1992 (NZSAC92), which has since been superseded by the Statistical Standard for Geographic Areas 2018 (SSGA18).
Bodmin Jail is a historic former prison situated in Bodmin, on the edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. Built in 1779 and closed in 1927, a large range of buildings fell into ruin, but parts of the prison have been turned into a tourist attraction, and more recently another large part was converted into a hotel.
Pettigrew Green Arena is a multi-purpose indoor sports and entertainment centre in Taradale, a suburb of Napier in New Zealand, that opened in April 2003. It regularly hosts volleyball, basketball and netball matches for Hawke's Bay representative teams. The main court has a capacity of 2,500. It is owned by the Regional Indoor Sports and Events Centre Trust.
Ghost Adventures is an American paranormal and reality television series that premiered on October 17, 2008, on the Travel Channel before moving to Discovery+ in 2021. An independent film of the same name originally aired on the Sci-Fi Channel on July 25, 2007. The program follows ghost hunters Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin, Billy Tolley, and Jay Wasley as they investigate locations that are reported to be haunted.
The Esk River of Hawke's Bay, in the eastern North Island of New Zealand, one of two rivers of that name in the country, is one of Hawke's Bay's major rivers. It flows south from the slopes of Taraponui in the Maungaharuru Range before turning east to reach Hawke Bay 10 kilometres (6 mi) north of Napier. State Highway 5 follows the lower course of the river for several kilometres close to the settlement of Eskdale. The river is probably named after the Esk River in southern Scotland and north-west England.
Nelson Park is a cricket ground in Napier, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. It is situated in Napier South, about 600 metres south-west of the Napier CBD, and about 200 metres north-west of Napier's main sports stadium, McLean Park.
Park Island is the largest sports complex in Napier, New Zealand. It hosts clubs and facilities for association football (soccer), cricket, hockey, netball and rugby union. It includes Bluewater Stadium, a multi-purpose stadium that has a capacity of 5,000 people and opened in 1985. The stadium is used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Napier City Rovers and Hawke's Bay United. It also served as a training venue for teams in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Clifton is a coastal beach reserve motor camp in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. It is located eighteen kilometres southeast of the city centre of Napier and eight kilometres west of the tip of Cape Kidnappers. Clifton marks the start of the walk or ride around to the Cape Kidnappers gannet colony.
Kingseat Hospital was a psychiatric hospital that is considered to be one of New Zealand's notorious haunted locations with over one hundred claims of apparitions being reported, as of 2011. It is located in Karaka, New Zealand, south of Auckland. Since 2005 it has been used as a site for Spookers, a haunted theme park. According to stuff.co.nz, Kingseat Hospital is considered one of the most haunted locations in New Zealand.
MTG Hawke's Bay Tai Ahuriri is a museum, theatre and art gallery in Napier in New Zealand. MTG Hawke's Bay occupies three buildings that were redeveloped in 2013.
Te Awa is a suburb of the city of Napier, in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand's eastern North Island.
The Hawke's Bay District Health Board was a district health board with the focus on providing healthcare to Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. In July 2022, it was merged into the national health service Te Whatu Ora.