Ned Kelly swung from a beam and a noose in this gaol, as did 135 others, including four women. Built by a police station and the Melbourne Courts, the bluestone centre wing and courtyard are now a museum, displaying grim relics of 19th century gaol life, including the death masks of the hanged and the personal effects of some of Victoria’s most notorious criminals. They did display a skull, purported to be Kelly’s but thieves stole it in 1978, six years after the gaol was opened as a museum. Cells mocked up to look as they would have in Kelly’s day are another exhibit.

Ned Kelly hung in 1880, but his ghost, naturally, is thought to haunt these walls, along with Martha Needle who poisoned her husband and three children. Tours by candle light titillate those who like a good spooking.

Old Melbourne Gaol Website.

Written by  World Reviewer Staff.

Add comment

Comments, reviews and questions

There are no posts. Why not be the first to have your say?

Add a comment, review or question

Make a comment Ask a question Write a review

Review title

Your comment

Your rating

Choose rating... Don't go Go Must go

Your name

Your email address