Foundations of Old Wall
The existing six metre high walls once encircled the entire Gaol site, which used to extend as far as Bowen Street (to the west) and towards La Trobe Street (to the south).Look down on the ground. The bluestone strip by the footpath shows the original wall alignment, and the foundations of one of the many circular guard towers. These towers were reached from outside the walls, and were manned by guards with firearms to prevent escapes.
Russell Street – Former Justice Precinct
Looking down Russell Street you can see the remaining buildings of what was once the justice precinct of Melbourne. On the corner of Russell and La Trobe Streets is where the original Supreme Courthouse once stood; where Ned Kelly was condemned to death by Judge Redmond Barry. That Courthouse was replaced by the former Magistrates’ Court of Melbourne, which ceased being used as an active court in 1994.The building closer to you on Russell Street is the old City Watch House. Its main function was to hold prisoners overnight for crimes like drunk and disorderly behaviour and those awaiting a court appearance or on remand. This building operated from 1909-1994. Previous to this, there was a cell block here from 1842.Look across the road. The orange art deco building is the site of the old police headquarters ‘D24’, made famous in the TV show Homicide. It was called ‘D24’ because the radio communications room was behind door number 24.
Old Gallows Site
In this courtyard, near the stone wall, is the site where some executions were conducted from 1851. However private this site might seem, the public could still view executions from over the walls. Later in the Gaol’s history the gallows was moved inside the existing cell block, to further isolate the act of capital punishment. This is where it remained until the Gaol was closed in 1924, at which point the gallows was moved to Pentridge Prison (the original beam still remains in place today inside the Old Melbourne Gaol – following its return from Pentridge when that prison was closed). This gallows was used to hang prisoners until capital punishment was abolished by law in Victoria in 1975. The last man hanged in Victoria (and Australia) was Ronald Ryan in 1967.
Drain to the Cesspit
When the Gaol was in operation, prisoners used buckets for toilets. Each day, buckets were emptied into a drain directly in front of you. From there the sewage collected in a cesspit beyond the wall. The smell of human waste was a constant feature of the Gaol and its surrounds. The area around here was putrid and the smell nauseatingly constant.
Male Hospital
Directly in front of you - in the middle of the green lawn area - used to be the hospital for male prisoners. Ned Kelly spent seven weeks in the prison hospital, before a trial found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to death. After Kelly’s execution in 1880 his body was removed to the hospital yard where the ‘Dead House’ was located – this was where death masks were made (plaster casts of prisoners’ heads made after they were hanged – so as to study the shape of their head for the pseudo ‘science’ of Phrenology). Many casts of Ned Kelly’s head were made; the Old Melbourne Gaol has one on display inside the cell block. Newspaper reports from the 1900s tell of up to 60 male prisoners crammed into this reasonably small prison hospital at any one time and of one escape attempt from the roof.
Kelly Gate/Final Walk
This is the gate through which Ned Kelly passed during his final steps to be executed. On 11 November 1880, Ned Kelly passed from the original cell block of the Gaol (now the site of the old City Watch House), through the arched gate you see now in the garden, past the hospital and the Gaol laundry, before crossing the threshold of the gallows door.Look across to the grey door in the wall of the existing cell block and you will see the door where Ned Kelly was led inside the cell block, to the gallows, to meet his fate.
Burial Yard
The area where the basketball court is today extended down to Bowen Street, and was once the site of the prison graveyard. 133 prisoners were hanged at this Gaol. From 1865, many were buried here in wooden boxes and some had their initials carved in the wall above their graves. Their bodies were covered in quicklime to hasten deterioration. In 1929 the yard was excavated, and the remains of all executed prisoners that could be found were relocated to Pentridge Prison in Coburg. Those remains were once again exhumed in 2008. Amongst them were Ned Kelly’s. His bones were identified and given back to his family to be later buried at Greta in Northern Victoria in January 2013.
Shattered Glass on Wall
The top of the Gaol walls of the original cell block formed the perimeter for the hospital yard. Broken glass bottles were cemented into the top of the wall to stop prisoners climbing over to escape. The first known location of a gallows in and around the Old Melbourne Gaol was in 1842 on a site in Bowen Street. Newspaper reports tell of the public using the Gaol walls, which were under construction, to get a better look at executions.
Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner Memorial
A memorial to mark a period in Victoria’s history when Koorie peoples were forcefully expelled from their lands was built here in 2016. Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner are two Palawa men who were executed for the killing of two whalers. They were executed at a time when frontier wars between Koorie and colonist’s were raging across the mainland and systematic genocide had been undertaken across Tasmania. They are mourned and their deaths marked as a testament to the growing displacement of their peoples. This memorial is also an acknowledgment that this land was first the land of the peoples of the Kulin nation.
Old Front Gate of Melbourne Gaol
This was the main entrance to the Gaol and the place where prisoners were received and processed before entering the cell blocks. Can you find the old boot scraper where prisoners and guards would clean their boots prior to entering the prison grounds? Beyond this gate is a courtyard, a bathhouse and the prison chapel.Look up. On the top of this building was the provision for a bell, which was integral to daily prison life.
Residence of Governor of the Gaol
The building on the right was the residence of the prison Governor. The Governor and his family lived on site, which was common in prisons of this time. The close proximity allowed the Governor to overlook prison routines and be ready if an emergency occurred.
Foundation of Exercise Yard
The foundations of the male prisoners’ exercise yard were uncovered in this garden during site renovations in 2002. This was a panopticon shaped building used by prisoners for their one hour of solitary, daily exercise. Under guard, male prisoners would emerge from the cell block behind you, heading for their assigned wedged-shaped compartment. Despite being watched by guards in the central tower overlooking the grounds, some escapes took place from the exercise yards.
