7 Castle Place, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, BT78 5ER

An attached multi-bay two-storey stone former gaol gatehouse, built circa 1800. The building is located at the southeast corner of the former gaol complex at the north of Abbey Street and spanning Castle Place, on an elevated site. The complex itself was begun in the 1790s, opened in 1804, and closed in 1904. This gatehouse was the entrance to the complex and therefore the most visible element to the public.

The building is rectangular on plan, facing south, with a full-height extension to the north. The roof is hipped with natural slate, lead ridge and hip caps. A dressed sandstone chimneystack with ovolo-moulded cap and beaded terracotta chimneypots sits above. The walls are dressed and squared sandstone built to courses, rising from a chamfered rendered plinth with dressed granite quoins. Gutters are ogee uPVC on projecting eaves.

Windows are square-headed painted timber 6/6 sashes with replacement glazing and painted stone architraves with keyblocks and sills. The principal south elevation is asymmetrical, featuring a four-centred Tudor carriage arch on the left surmounted by a window, a central door with a window above, and two windows to the right. The door is square-headed painted timber with fifteen lights and a nine-light overlight, set within a painted stone architrave with keyblock.

The west elevation is abutted by a single-storey flat-roofed modern garage and shows a blank wall with cement render to the exposed section. The rear north elevation is entirely obscured by the extension, which is asymmetrical with an off-centre modern door flanked by single modern casement windows on both floors and blank cheeks. The east elevation is entirely abutted by an adjoining structure, except for a section beneath the carriage arch which is detailed as the south elevation, featuring a square-headed entrance blocked with cement render and lugged sandstone architraves.

Although various alterations have been carried out to the building, it is one of only a few surviving structures of the former gaol complex and is an important part of the group, being attached to 12 Castle Place.

Historical records show the building on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 as part of the Gaol. The 1905–6 Ordnance Survey map captions the Gaol site as 'disused'. Valuation Revisions record the property together with the County Gaol and yards, vacant by 1909 and leased from Tyrone County Council. The building was valued at £12 in 1912 with occupier William Porter; in 1913 the occupier was Joseph Ballantine.

Historical sources describe the gaol complex as originally consisting of old and new gaols. The former was built in 1796 and was used as the women's and debtors' prison. The new part was erected in 1823 of cut freestone in a semi-circular form with separate wards. Both sections were three storeys high, surrounded by a high stone wall, and could accommodate 300 prisoners with 14 keepers. The 1823 development included a Governor's House, an octagonal three-storey sandstone block with a gallery on the first floor and wings on either side, built by John Hargrave.