Old Melbourne Gaol
Crime & Justice Experience

Old Melbourne Gaol was established in 1841 and remains a fabulous insight into Melbourne's historical past. The jail was the setting for 135 hangings, most famously that of Ned Kelly in 1880.

Russell Street between Victoria & Latrobe Streets Melbourne.
Transport: Train to Museum Station & City Circle Tram
Open Daily 9:30am - 5pm - 7 days - Self Guided Tours
Night Tours (spookily good) Tel: (03) 9663 7228

The chilling environment of the Old Melbourne Gaol exhibits a unique collection of death masks, and exhibition on the 'Art of Hanging', a unique display not to be missed.

The Old Melbourne Gaol is operated by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria). The National Trust is Australia's largest community conservation organisation: its aim to conserve Australia's heritage for future generations.

Opening Hours
The Old Melbourne Gaol is open 7 days a week from 9.30am to 5.00pm, except Christmas Day and Good Friday. Visitors should allow between 45 minutes and one hour for their self-guided tour.

Old Melbourne Gaol Crime & Justice Experience

A dramatic tour where you will not want
to be left alone..

Hangman’s Night Tours
Michael Gateley was Melbourne’s most prolific and brutal hangman. Join him and experience Australia’s most haunted building by candlelight …if you dare! Generally held 4 times a week at 8.30pm (7.30pm in winter).
Bookings Essential – contact Ticketek on 13 28 49 or go to: www.ticketek.com.au

Ghostseekers Night Tours
Held monthly, the Ghostseekers team conduct paranormal investigations in the Old Melbourne Gaol.
Bookings Essential - contact Ticketek on 13 28 49 or go to: www.ticketek.com.au
For further information about these tours visit: www.ghostseekers.com.au

The Real Ned Kelly Story - Such a Life
Performances every Saturday 12.30 pm and 2 pm.

Entrance Fees

* Free Entry with Melbourne Smartvisit™ Card

A private performance can be arranged for school, social or corporate groups. Contact omg@nattrust.com.au for further details.

Transport - Yarra Trams
Tram - Catch any St Kilda Road and Swanston Walk tram on routes 01, 03, 05, 06, 08, 16, 22, 64, 67 and 72 and walk to Russell Street between Victoria and La Trobe or catch La Trobe Street services route 30 or the free City Circle tourist tram.

Location Map :: Picture Gallery :: Short History of Gaol
 

Web Resources

www.oldmelbournegaol.com.au

The Old Melbourne Gaol strives to support the vision of the National Trust of Australia through the preservation of the site for the community at large. We strive to position the OMG as an important historic site for all visitors to Melbourne. The Old Melbourne Gaol seeks to offer an imaginative blend of interpretive methods to present a unique, authentic, educational and entertaining interpretation of Victoria’s penal history and other areas of the Old Melbourne Gaol from 1842-1972.

Collection
Suit of Kelly Gang armour
Ned Kelly’s colt revolver
Ned Kelly’s death mask
Some death masks of executed criminals
Prison associated artifacts
 

Melbourne Gaol from Wikipedia

Melbourne Gaol (more commonly known as The Old Melbourne Gaol) is located in Russell Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It consists of a bluestone building and courtyard and is located next to the old City Police Station and City Courts buildings (both now occupied by the RMIT University).

Built in 1864 the gaol was the setting for 135 hangings, the most infamous being that of bushranger Ned Kelly in 1880. The jail was closed in 1926.

The building is currently a museum; it is rich in history and atmosphere, drawing thousands of tourists annually. The Gaol is open every day except Good Friday and Christmas, 9:30am-5:00pm. Special candlelight night tours can also be arranged and enhance the already spooky environment of the Gaol - reports of strange sights and sounds occur more often at night.

Melbourne Gaol is Victoria's oldest surviving penal establishment. It currently exhibits 19th century gaol life, including the death masks and memorabilia of some of Melbourne's most notorious criminals.

Thieves stole the head of Ned Kelly in 1978. It has never been recovered.
 

accessibility.com.au - the disability information resource

There is level access to reception. There are 3 levels, of which only the ground floor is accessible. Stairs access all levels. There is no wheelchair access to the cells.
 

Hang 'em high

Old Melbourne Gaol is a bleak setting but an interesting attraction nonetheless. It was the scene of 135 hangings, including that of Australia's most famous outlaw, Ned Kelly (Kelly's armour and death mask are on display.)
 

The Old Melbourne Gaol - White Hat guide

Built in 1864 this Gaol was the setting for over 130 hangings, the most infamous being that of bushranger Ned Kelly in 1880. Others include Francis Knorr the baby murderer.. Exhibiting a collection of death masks, replica of the Kelly armour, the Hangman's Box & an eclectic array of artifacts.
 

Old Melbourne Gaol - VisitVictoria

The Old Melbourne Gaol is Victoria’s oldest surviving prison and until it closed in 1929, housed Victoria’s most hardened criminals. It’s also where Victoria’s infamous bushranger Ned Kelly finally met his match.
 

City of Melbourne - The Old Melbourne Gaol

The Old Melbourne Gaol is a chilling environment for studies of 19th century prison life. As Victoria’s oldest surviving remand prison, the Gaol has links with some of Australia’s most significant historical moments, including the Gold Rush, the Eureka Stockade Rebellion and the Second World War.
 

Show & Tell : Old Melbourne Gaol

In the past five years as Public Programs Manager at the Old Melbourne Gaol, I have been conducting research and exhibitions into the unsavory history of the Gaol. Many people are fascinated by crime, murder and death - however, delving into the more explicit details of a crime can be quite confronting for a museum visitor. How to interpret these awful crimes to an incredibly diverse audience is most challenging.
 

Australian Heritage Database

The Old Melbourne Gaol, built in stages between 1852 and 1864 by the Public Works Department, is of outstanding national historical significance. The Old Melbourne Gaol complex is historically and architecturally significant as one of the early gaols in Australia built using up-to-date gaol principles, and is the oldest surviving penal establishment in Victoria.
 

The Age home > 150th > snapshot of the age

This Life.  Author: Shane Maloney.  Source: The Age. Date: 26 Feb 2001

One of Melbourne's best-concealed 19th century tunnels was dug by inmates of the Old Melbourne Gaol in the 1870s. Using only lead spoons and the handle from a cat-o'-nine-tails, a gang of convicts spent almost a decade excavating beneath the gaol walls, under Eastern Hill and down into Collingwood.
 

AUS-VIC-L Archives: RootsWeb: AUS-VIC-L Archives (January 2005)

Prisoners Old Melbourne Gaol 1 - 5 by Elaine Murphy.
 

Ned Kelly - Melbourne Gaol's most famous inmate.

Melbourne Gaol - ...a place in the Kelly Gang story

Importance of Melbourne Gaol Ned Kelly was hung in the Melbourne Gaol, his mother was a prisoner in the same gaol at the time.
 

Anniversary service to spotlight Ned's neglected gravesite

Today marks the 125th anniversary of the execution of Ned Kelly at the Old Melbourne Gaol, and former prison chaplain Fr Peter Norden has organised a commemorative service that is taking place at 9:00 am this morning in the Old Melbourne Gaol.
 

After 125 years, Ned Kelly’s gravesite remains unrecognized and neglected

“They need to ensure that the commercial property developers of the former Pentridge Prison site fulfill one of the conditions of sale and build a memorial recognizing the burial ground of those executed at Pentridge and those executed at the Melbourne Gaol, whose remains were moved to that site back in 1929”, said Father Peter Norden.
 

Ned Kelly Touring Route

Ned Kelly was executed at the Gaol on 11 November 1880, aged 25. Shortly before his death, Kelly reportedly uttered the famous words "Such is life".
 

Old Melbourne Gaol's most famous inmate - Ned Kelly

Ned was brought to the Melbourne Gaol on June 29 1880 from Benalla, where he had spent a night in the cells after capture at Glenrowan.
 

Ghosts at the Old Melbourne Gaol

Tuesday, 8 February 2005.  Reporter: Florenz Ronn
The old gaol would be an incredibly suggestive and evocative place, so that just by going through the door you'd feel as if surrounded by ghosts.
 

Castle of Spirits.com

One of Australia's Most Haunted Sites - OLD MELBOURNE GAOL.  Visited briefly by the Australian Ghost Hunters Society (AGHS) November 2001.  Ghost pics
 

Australian Sound Design Project

Gaol Piece: The Architecture of Silence (19 November 1994)
Location: Old Melbourne Gaol, Victoria, Australia
Performance devised and directed by Simon Crosbie.

A sound performance involving 104 participants (the same number as executed at the gaol) acting as "sound makers" who generate sounds on the metal stairs, cells and doors. These "mass" sounds combine with musical elements that explore the gaol's connection to the Irish prisoners it once housed, referencing keening (Irish ritual mourning) and Irish musical strains. Silence plays an important role as the Old Melbourne Gaol was based largely on the Pentonville system in England which recognized silence as a suitable means of rehabilitating the criminal mind.
 

Ghosts act up at the Old Melbourne Gaol

Presenter: Helena Webb Wednesday, 19 May 2004.  Not only Ned Kelly's ghost roams these corridors. Dead women crying for help and footsteps at the door are part of the atmosphere at the old goal where Ned Kelly was hanged.
 

Old Melbourne Gaol to house new RMIT Spiritual Centre

December 03, 2002 - The RMIT Spiritual Centre provides RMIT students and staff and the wider community with a dedicated area where they can explore their sense of spirituality through religion, art, music or self-reflection. The centre will also be the venue for a range of spiritual and cultural events.

The new centre is housed in the building that contained the Old Chapel of the Old Melbourne Gaol on Russell Street in the city.
 

The Haunted Melbourne Ghost

Old Melbourne Gaol. Ned Kelly The place where the famous bushranger Ned Kelly
was hanged in 1888, this place is one of sorrow and misery. ...
 

Paranormal Events

Old Melbourne Gaol Performances  Presented by National Trust Victoria Old Melbourne Gaol Performances. This is a unique opportunity to explore the imposing.
 

Why GAOL and not JAIL??

From Middle English jaiole (from Old French) and from Middle English gaiol, gaol (from Old North French gaiole), both from Vulgar Latin *gaviola, from Latin *caveola, diminutive of cavea, cage, hollow.

Free Entry with Melbourne Smartvisit™ Card

Top of Page :: Location Map :: Picture Gallery :: Short History of Gaol