Gaols of Victoria - HM Beechworth Beechworth, Victoria, Australia
By Throsbyonchurch on 10-Jul-20. Waypoint GA16539

Gaols of Victoria

HM Beechworth

Built: ~1864

Opened: 1864

Closed: 2004

Clasification: Medium Security

Located in the small town of Beechworth, Victoria, HM Beechworth Prison. Construction begun on the site of Beechworth's first stockade between 1859 and 1864 at a cost of £47,000. The old Beechworth Prison was designed and constructed by Victoria's Public Works Department between 1857 and 1864. The prison closed in 2004 and the site has been purchased by private developers.

A replacement facility, Beechworth Correctional Centre was opened in January 2005.

The prison initially housed male and female prisoners. Between 1918 and 1925 the prison closed from lack of numbers, then operated as a reformatory for habitual male offenders between 1925 and 1951 when it became a training prison for prisoners until its closure in 2004.

The prison is historically significant for its associations with the early development of Beechworth as the government administrative centre of north-eastern Victoria. It is part of a major precinct of public buildings, and has links to other buildings in Beechworth which used granite quarried and broken at the prison by male inmates. It is also significant for its association with bushranger, Ned Kelly and members of his family.

Kelly served six months in the prison in 1870-71 for assault and was held there during his committal trial for murder in 1880. Kelly's mother, Ellen and two associates of the Kelly family served sentences in the late 1870s for the attempted murder of Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick.

Bushranger Harry Power was also imprisoned here.

When logging this cache, please add a photo of yourself, your GPS, or your caching name, with this gaol.