Bodmin Jail Attraction — Attraction in Bodmin

I have to say, I try not to worry about bad reviews nor leave them but this was an incredibly disappointing and unprofessional experience. Should have listened to the other bad reviews.

The accessibility is extremely poor, with no warning that the entry is on ten minute timers and then you're forced into a slow tour through darkness, videos, and locked areas. Meanwhile there's no signposting for any subtitled showings so anyone who may have hearing issues (like me) gets to stand around bored to tears for what felt like half an hour. It's both too loud and too unclear, so it's just not a good time. I booked self guided which tells you that it's at your own pace, but at no stage could you escape the video style tour. The accessibility guide for this section mentions that it has level access, but doesn't advise around the lighting, locked areas, or forced navigation. As someone with sensory issues (and wearing a hidden disabilities lanyard), it was an unpleasant surprise and soured the visit.

The blue lighting throughout that section and almost the entire place is an odd choice as it's extremely harsh on your eyes, so anyone prone to headaches or migraines would be best to steer clear, and the addition of the blue lights above the VE display signs made the text extremely uncomfortable to try to read. Meanwhile the other signs were red text on black backgrounds and almost unreadable in the murky lighting, though not as bad as the grey ones upstairs. Even worse though, are the unprofessional errors in multiple signs. Typos ('or' instead of 'of'), incorrect or lack of punctuation (apostrophes for ownership eg, Marias instead of Maria's, and a gap in 'female s' where no gap is needed). You also have multiple areas with such poor contrast that even taking photos to try and change the brightness doesn't help (such as in the pie chart key).

Meanwhile, safety is generally a bit iffy with signs telling attendees how you MUST use the chain to secure the edge of the hanging section, yet when you arrive, there are no chains. Then adding to the general darkness, the signs on where to go next continue to be in poor contrast and led to two people stumbling that I witnessed, and one person being unable to find the access lift. Also, although it's public land and not the fault of the site, the access between the car park and the entrance is awful. I was almost hit by a van making a delivery to the site who mounted the kerb and obstructed the entrance, while there were multiple areas of poor tarmac joins creating tripping and falling hazards, particularly if already fatigued from the steep hill. The hill is noted on the website, but you do have to look for it.

And then on the subject of parking, I don't begrudge paying whatsoever, but I can understand why they force you to pay on entry. I paid for three hours based on the Google average, but was done in half that time, and would have been even faster if I hadn't been determined to read absolutely everything possible to make the most of the cost, nor delayed ten minutes on entry, or waiting in the gift shop. Can't say I found that very sporting when the attraction was so unimpressive, and would really recommend that this is changed to a pay on entry.

For the good points, the exterior of the building is gorgeous. I should have just taken photos of the hotel and left but hey ho. The video dark tour was really not my cup of tea but the section with the sea breeze was at least nice and cooling, and I can imagine that would be good for kids, especially as the visuals made the lack of intelligible audio a bit more interesting. The lad in the gift shop was also very polite - though it was a bit awkward waiting while he was cleaning considering that it was still open. Pulling out displays makes further accessibility issues, but I imagine he was doing that under instruction.

Will not be back, and would advise visitors who've been to other prisons to heed the reviews about it being a kids' attraction. I'd heard of Bodmin Jail while at Lincoln Jail, but they're...

If I could rate it higher, I would!

I was looking forward to visiting based on reviews I had reason here, and booked on for a Heritage Tour. Because it was October, this tour had been swapped for a Go Darker Tour (still the Heritage Tour, but with a lot more added gruesome information etc.). I'm so glad we picked this tour because it was amazing!

Our guide, Gemma, was fantastic. Her knowledge of, and clear interest toward the history of Bodmin and the Jail was so clear to see, and I was amazed at how many facts she reeled off. Every single bit of information Gemma gave was so interesting and it was amazing to hear where so many sayings we still use today actually came from. If you have Gemma as your guide, you've got yourself a real good tour.

As for the actual tour, there's things I can say, and things I can't, otherwise surprises will be ruined. The first part of the tour comprised of a fantastic experience, with some real surprising moments. I had read various comments about tech at the site, but was impressed by what you see here and how it's all done. No more to be said for this first part - enjoy it in person!

The second part of the tour was the walk around the Jail etc. The history was fascinating and it was really interesting to see how things changed over the years. My tour group was 5 people big, which was a perfect size, and it made it really easy to walk around the Jail and stand around the individual cells that Gemma was talking about. We could all see and nobody got in the way. Other visitors were freely walking around the Jail whilst we were on our tour, but they didn't have a Gemma! I highly recommend having a guided tour.

There's a really fun end of tour element. You're warned that there is a surprise, but it wasn't what I thought at all, and it was funny and a good laugh. Again, no spoilers! You are given the opportunity to skip this bit though, so don't worry. Also, this is not a jump-scare or even scary attraction. You won't find people jumping out at you etc. It's spooky, dark, and interesting, so for those of a nervous disposition, you'll be perfectly fine.

There's a bistro attached the back of the hotel that opens on the courtyard inside the Jail grounds, which is lovely and worth a visit.

All in all, I'm very impressed and I cannot recommend this attraction enough. Get yourself booked on a tour and...

We visited Bodmin Jail on a rainy Sunday afternoon, the experience/ tour of the jail takes around 2 hours and it was the perfect Sunday afternoon activity. Weather inclusive.

We were slightly dissatisfied that you had to pay extra for parking at the attraction, this seems to be a common concurrence the more places / activities you visit nowadays. Luckily we found parking on the road outside, so did not pay. Although the parking was not extortionately expensive, it’s always an added extra.

The experience was more of an ‘attraction’ and the ‘self guided tour’ is not self guided as you are ‘ferried’ where they want you to go. We wished you could’ve had more opportunity to freely wander around the buildings etc. When we did eventually reach the ‘open’ areas the group size we were in was too large we felt, and so you felt ‘on top’ of one another and clambering to read the signs/ information. Kids running around also.

The immersive experience was impressive and we all enjoyed it thoroughly, but not what we expected at the jail and it does not give you much information/ details about the jail itself, and more about stories of previous prisoners.

We felt some of the signage could’ve been lit better as it was difficult to read at times or we missed out as could not see properly.

We wanted to see more of the jail itself/ architecture and more history regarding the jail/ cells, but this is limited and the main ‘attraction’ seemed to be the immersive experience, which is very much like being at Disney but not. There is a short ‘warning’ at the beginning regarding the immersive experience but we noticed lots of children in our group were unsure / scared as the themes are of course ‘dark’ and a few loud noises / movements which can jump / scare some.

Not quite sure what age the attraction is aimed at.

The cafe at the end was very busy but we managed to find a seat, all staff were really lovely and friendly, although we felt the prices of cakes and drinks were a tad expensive. We paid £20.50 for 3 drinks and 2 biscuits, slightly on the expensive we felt.

Overall we did enjoy the experience and would recommend to others. We did not feel ripped off for our money either, it was good value and we came away and all stated we enjoyed it 👍🏻

We would like to come back to the Hotel, as this looked...