Conditions were so bad that a new prison was built in Castle Road. At Castle Road prison conditions were little improved and hard labour was still very much the order of the day.

In 1849 an official report described the ease with which prisoners might breakout. The report clearly fell on deaf ears as escapes continued for the next 17 years; on the 8th October 1866, Mr. Edgar became the last recorded escapee from the Castle Road prison, only a week before its final closure.