Hyde Park barracks

The Hyde Park barracks were built in 1819 by Francis Greenway. The builders and, ironically, the first residents of the barracks were prisoners who were exiled en masse to Australia. Before the appearance of these rather spacious and “well-ventilated” buildings, according to the then governor, convicts were forced to find a place for themselves to spend the night. After the building ceased to be a prison, it was turned into a shelter for orphaned Irish children and immigrant women. A few years later, the barracks became home to the judiciary.

In 1990, when the reconstruction of the building was completed, the Museum of Local History was opened here. The exposition of the museum includes restored prison cells of the sample of the 1820s, as well as numerous paintings, models and household items. Some of the exhibits were discovered by archaeologists during excavations - once rats dragged them down burrows. By the way, many old things are well preserved due to the fact that for many years lay underground.

The building of the barracks, becoming a museum, finds a new life. Now visitors stroll through the patio, and nothing recalls the eerie past, when there were devices for torture of prisoners.