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Media Release
Australian Minister for the Environment and Heritage
Senator the Hon. Ian Campbell

3 July 2005

National listing for site of Ned Kelly's last stand

The site of Ned Kelly's last stand, at Glenrowan in northern Victoria, has been added to the Australian Government's National Heritage List, the Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell, announced today.

"Ned Kelly has become a part of the Australian story -both as one of our best-known historical figures and also as a mythological character - to some a bushranger, some see him as a larrikin and some a hero," Senator Campbell said.

"The 8ha Glenrowan siege site being listed today played a defining role in both the story and the myth of Ned Kelly.

"This is where the Kelly Gang, after being hunted by the law for almost two years, laid siege to this small rural town and finally confronted the Victorian police on 28 June 1880. The ensuing battle between gang members in heavy armour made from ploughshares, and the Victorian police, led to the ultimate deaths of all four gang members.

"Three were killed that day and Ned Kelly was wounded, captured and hanged five months later (on 11 November 1880) in the old Melbourne Gaol for the murder of three policemen at Stringybark Creek, north of Mansfield, two years earlier. More than 125 years later, we are all familiar with the figure of a faceless bushranger in heavy blackened armour. This is an image that has haunted and inspired many of the nation's greatest talents to express his story through art, literature, film, music and other forms of popular culture.

"That is why the Glenrowan site is of outstanding national significance.

"One of Australia's great artists, Sidney Nolan, created his celebrated Ned Kelly series of paintings with square-headed bushranger figures in a stark Australian landscape. Nolan described the truly Australian essence of the Kelly tale when he said that it was 'a story arising out of the bush and ending in the bush'.

"What is believed to be the world's first feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, which was made in 1906, was one of many which have been centred on the bushranger. Numerous actors have played Ned Kelly including Heath Ledger, Mick Jagger, Yahoo Serious and John Jarrett.

"Fiction writers immortalising the bushranger include Robert Drewe, Jean Bedford, and Peter Carey who won a Booker Prize for his novel, The True History of the Kelly Gang. Kelly has also been celebrated in song by musicians such as John English, John Williamson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Midnight Oil and Redgum.

"In trying to project the essence of what it means to be Australian, the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympics featured a myriad of Ned Kellys.

"The National Heritage listing of the Glenrowan Heritage Precinct, which includes the key sites of the final Kelly conflict, will ensure that this symbolic place in Australian folklore is protected for the future."

For more information visit: http://www.deh.gov.au/heritage/national/index.html

Media Contact:
Renae Stoikos 02 6277 7640 or 0418 568 434

The site of Ned Kelly's Last Stand has been protected by Heritage Victoria.

According to 'inherit', Heritage Victoria's magazine issue 16 March 2003, The site of Ned Kelly's Last Stand became the 2,000th item on it's register.

The Council Chair, Ms Gallagher said, "The historical and cultural significance of the siege at Glenrowan in 1880 is extremely high, not just to Victorians but to all Australians,'. "It is important that the site is listed on the register, which means that it is now protected under the Heritage Act 1995". "Any major development to the site will require a permit".

I think it is lucky for us that nothing has been developed on the site of the original Inn.

HERITAGE PRECINCT GLENROWAN.

According to the Council, late in 2002 an area was registered which included, 'Church St to the north, Burns Street and Ned Street to the east, Hill Street to the south and Beaconsfield Parade to the west, thus creating a heritage precinct.

It has enormous historical, social and archaeological significance according to the Council because this is where the last stand was and where the gang tried to derail a train.

According to the Victorian Heritage Register:

(it) is the place most intimately connected with the legend that surrounds Ned Kelly, amongst the most well known of Australian historical figures. In a similar way the Eureka Historical Precinct invokes the history of another rebellion against authority.(The population of the Glenrowan district) were generally sympathetic to the outlaws.

The cultural significance of Ned Kelly and his gang, Dan Kelly, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart, is intrinsically captured in our Australian vernacular, and the protected precinct in Glenrowan reflects the collective desire to remember them.

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The following is directly from the Australian Government's Heritage site:

Australian Heritage Database

Place Details

Glenrowan Heritage Precinct, Old Hume Hwy, Glenrowan, VIC

The Glenrowan Heritage Precinct is the area of central Glenrowan which played host to the infamous "Kelly Siege" on 28 June 1880. The siege led to the capture and the subsequent hanging of Ned Kelly and the deaths of his other gang members Joe Byrne, Dan Kelly and Steve Hart.

The events surrounding the siege at Glenrowan brought to a dramatic climax the Kelly Uprising in North East Victoria which remains so indelibly etched in Australian folklore.

The precinct is divided by the railway line and the railway station which played a pivotal part in the drama. North of the railway line in what is now known as Siege Street is the site of Jones's Glenrowan Inn where the bushrangers held out. Further north and east is the place where Ned was finally captured. To the south of the railway line is the site of the former McDonnell's hotel where the Kelly sympathisers gathered.

After two years of outlawry in the north east of Victoria, Kelly and his gang planned to ambush and derail a police train. This action is said to have been planned as a precursor to a general uprising in the north east. In the event the police took longer than anticipated to arrive, resulting in the gang taking many captives in the town. Eventually, in the early hours of 28 June 1880, the police were warned of the gang's presence and surrounded the Glenrowan Inn. After a fierce night time gun battle which resulted in the wounding and capture of Ned Kelly early after daybreak, the police set fire to the inn in the afternoon and burnt it to the ground sealing the fate of the other outlaws inside. Ned Kelly was later tried in Melbourne and hanged on 11 November 1880 for the murder of police at Stringybark Creek in 1878.

The Glenrowan Heritage Precinct is historically significant as the place most intimately connected with the legend that surrounds Ned Kelly, among the most well known of Australian historical figures. The small town of Glenrowan was central to the history of the Kelly gang. The members lived in the district and spent much time there among a population generally sympathetic to the outlaws. The plan for a final showdown with police by derailing a train was a feasible if reckless plan that suited itself to the topography of the town where the railway line between Benalla and Wangaratta makes a sweeping curve on a steep embankment. The siege, the police cordon, the capture of Ned and the burning of the Glenrowan Inn are firmly implanted in Australian folklore and are directly related to this physical place. Significant fabrics remaining from the event are the Stationmaster's house (relocated to 16 Siege Street from its original site) and the railway platform (the current station building is a recent remodelling). Many of the mature trees existed at the time of the siege and one group, the "Kelly copse" where Ned tethered his horse, is of particular note. The stump and log where he was captured are no longer visible but remnants of the stump may exist below ground.

1. Original railway platform and the reconstructed railway station building.
2. Former Stationmasters House site, Beaconsfield Parade/Siege Street.
3. Site of Platelayer’s tents (between Anne Jone’s Inn and the railway station).
4. Site of Anne Jone’s Inn and its various outbuildings (stables, kitchen etc).
5. Remnant of the creek/trench where police, trackers and volunteers took cover along the 
   trench/drain line, and to the east of Anne Jone’s Inn site.
6. Site of Ned Kelly’s fall and capture (“Kelly Log” site, between Church and Siege Streets).
7. Site of “Kelly Copse” between Church and Siege Streets.
8. McDonnells Railway Tavern (50 Gladstone Street) where the burnt bodies of Steve Hart and 
   Dan Kelly were taken following the Siege.  Also where the gang had left their horses and 
   blasting powder intended for Benalla.
9. Railway Goods Shed.
10. Granite markers noting the sites associated with the Siege.
11. Timber bollards representing location of key players during the Siege.

History:

The bullets continued to fly. Sergeant Steele closed in and at close range fired two barrels of buckshot into Ned's legs and hips, causing him to collapse against the fallen tree. Captured, disarmed and unmasked, Ned was taken to the stationmaster's office at the railway station. Here he was attended to by Doctor Nicholson who believed the bushranger was dying. Later that day Father Gibney arrived at the scene and prepared to administer the Last Rites to the wounded Ned. Dan Kelly and Steve Hart meanwhile had remained inside the Inn. A ceasefire was called at ten o'clock that morning to allow the remaining captives to vacate the building. Numerous suggestions were put forward to flush out the two remaining gang members. Finally at around three o'clock in the afternoon, Senior Constable Johnson set fire to the building. A huge crowd of spectators had gathered by this time, including the three Kelly sisters and a considerable number of other sympathisers. They all watched as the flames engulfed the small hotel. Father Gibney entered the burning building and discovered the bodies. of two young men, assumed to be Dan and Steve.   After the burnt-out building collapsed, police recovered the charred remains, and they were taken to McDonnell's Hotel. Realising that the police were well and truly outnumbered by Kelly sympathisers, Superintendent Sadleir defused a potentially flammable situation by handing over the bodies of Dan and Steve to the families of the gang members, rather than attempting to remove them for an official inquiry. The corpse of Joe Byrne was taken to Benalla. Ned Kelly, seriously wounded but still alive, was taken to Melbourne for trial.   The curious public was quick to descend upon the Siege Site. Visitors and locals sifted through the ashes of Jones' Inn, searching for souvenirs and coming across cutlery, bullets, and even human remains. The gang's horses were robbed of their saddles, bridles and horseshoes - in some cases even having their hooves cut off. At the tree near where Ned was captured, people collected leaves and soil splattered with his blood. Some posed for photographs alongside the ruins of the Inn, and at other key sites such as the clump of trees where Ned had rested, and the huge fallen tree log where he was ultimately captured.   The Siege Site soon became something of a tourist destination. In September 1881, just over one year after the event, the Australasian Sketcher reported a Sunday school picnic at Glenrowan. Several siege-related landmarks were illustrated including Thomas Curnow's schoolhouse, the derailment site, Jones' Inn and the "Kelly Tree". It was duly noted that `the children seemed quite alive to the historical associations of the place, and all spent the day very agreeably'. The Siege Site remained largely recognisable for the next six decades. Photographs taken in the late 1940s show the site as a grassed expanse with mature Eucalyptus trees, timber post and rail fences, unsealed roads, and the original railway level crossing still intact. More dramatic changes in the post-War era have considerably altered the appearance of the site, including the demolition of McDonnell's Hotel, the removal of timber fences, the sealing of dirt roads and the construction of the railway overpass in place of the original level crossing.

Condition and Integrity:

The historic Kelly Siege site within the Glenrowan Heritage Precinct remains relatively intact and still affords the opportunity for the public to relate to the events of the infamous siege with largely unfettered access to the actual location where the pivotal elements of the siege unfolded.  Significant research and consultation has been undertaken with the development of the Glenrowan Master Plan which articulates the opportunities for refurbishment and sensitive development.

Location:

About 17ha, at Glenrowan, being an area bounded by a line commencing at the intersection of the centerlines of the Old Hume Highway and Beaconsfield Parade, then easterly via the centerline of the Old Hume Highway to Burns Street, then southerly via the centerline of Burns Street to Siege Street, then easterly via the centerline of Siege Street to its intersection with the alignment of the eastern boundary of Allotment 9A, then southerly via the alignment and eastern boundary of Allotment 9A to its intersection with the centerline of Gladstone Street, then westerly via the centerline of Gladstone Street to its intersection with the alignment of the eastern boundary of 56 Gladstone Street, then southerly via the alignment and eastern boundary of 56 Gladstone Street to its intersection with centerline of Hill Street, then westerly via the centerline of Hill Street to its intersection with the centerline of Beaconsfield Parade, then northerly via the centerline of Beaconsfield Parade to the commencement point.

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The Age Newspaper.

Kelly's sites off limits

November 22 2002
By Larissa Dubecki

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