Historical Walking Tour of Beechworth
Looking for things to do in Beechworth? Start with its history. Gold was found here in 1852 and about 8,000 diggers had arrived by November that year. The town grew around the Gold Commissioner's Camp on the granite hill north of Spring Creek, was first called Mayday Hills, and was named Beechworth when surveyed in 1853. The main Melbourne-Sydney road ran through it until the 1870s, making it one of the richest towns in Victoria and the financial and administrative centre of the north-east. That wealth left honey-coloured granite banks, a justice precinct, churches and hotels, and the gaol that held Ned Kelly. This self-guided walk links 12 historic places, from the Post Office to the Beechworth Cemetery, each with a short audio story in the Sitesy app.
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What is Beechworth known for?
Beechworth is known for gold-rush wealth, Ned Kelly and a remarkably intact granite town centre. Gold was found in 1852 and the town became the financial and administrative centre of north-east Victoria, with banks, a justice precinct and churches built in the late 1850s and 1860s. Ned Kelly was held in the Beechworth Gaol and committed for trial through its courthouse. Visitors come for the Burke Museum, the Bank of Victoria and Bank of New South Wales buildings, the Post Office clock tower and the twin Chinese burning towers at the cemetery.
The route: 12 historic places in Beechworth
Start at Beechworth Post Office. Tap a stop to see it on the map.
Pins are numbered in walking order; lines join them directly, not along streets. Walking directions in Google Maps
- 1
Beechworth Post Office
Also known as Beechworth Post Office
Built in 1870 to a design by government architect Peter Kerr, this two-storey Italianate post office incorporates an 1865 granite bell and clock tower that survived the Great Beechworth Fire of 1867 along Camp Street. Combining a telegraph office and postmaster's residence, it relayed news of the Kelly gang across the goldfields town.
Source: Victorian Heritage Database
- 2
Bank of Victoria building
Built in 1867 by architects Smith and Watts, this Renaissance Revival bank replaced an earlier 1857 building destroyed by fire. Designed for maximum security with thick stone walls and barred windows, it reflects Beechworth's gold-rush wealth and role as north-east Victoria's commercial centre. Victorian Heritage Register listed.
Source: Victorian Heritage Database
- 3
Bank of New South Wales building, Beechworth
Designed by architects Robertson and Hale and completed in 1856-57, this bank opened on 2 January 1857, as Beechworth's gold rush peaked. Later a Westpac then Bank of Melbourne branch, it was acquired by Beechworth Honey in 2014 as a visitor centre. Listed on the Victorian Heritage Register since 1974.
Source: Victorian Heritage Database
- 4
Burke Museum
Also known as Beechworth Burke Museum
Begun in 1857 as a hall for the Young Men's Association, this building became the Beechworth Athenaeum and, from 1860, a council-run public library. Robert O'Hara Burke was police superintendent here from 1854 to 1858; after he died on the Burke and Wills expedition in 1861, residents extended the library in 1863 as a memorial museum. A memorial stained-glass window followed in 1874, and by the 1890s the collection was rated among the best outside Melbourne.
Operates as a museum; check opening hours before you go.
Source: Victorian Heritage Database
- 5
Beechworth Justice Precinct
Also known as Beechworth Courthouse
Gazetted as a police reserve by 1856, when Beechworth was the administrative centre of north-eastern Victoria's richest goldfields, this precinct saw its early weatherboard government offices replaced between 1857 and 1860 by a complex of public buildings in local honey-coloured granite. Its granite courthouse later committed bushranger Ned Kelly for trial. Victorian Heritage Register H1464.
Source: Victorian Heritage Database
- 6
Tanswells Commercial Hotel
A hotel has stood on this Ford Street site since 1853, when J D Fisher opened the first Commercial Hotel, the town's first two-storey building. The present brick and stone hotel was erected in 1873 by T Tanswell to a design by Rogers of Carlton, with a two-storey cast-iron and timber verandah. The old bar sign on the bar window and the stables and coach house at the rear survive.
Source: Victorian Heritage Database
- 7
Methodist church, Beechworth
Built in 1857 of stone, this former Wesleyan Methodist church was the first permanent church on the Ovens goldfield. Its construction was driven by Rev John Christian Symons, minister from 1856. The plain design reflects Methodist ideals of simplicity, and services here ended in 1966.
Source: Victorian Heritage Database
- 8
Christ Church Anglican church, Beechworth
Built of local granite, Christ Church dates from the goldrush boom that followed the 1852 Beechworth diggings. Its nave, designed by local architect James Dobbyn, opened in 1859; the commanding tower and polygonal apse followed in 1864 to designs by Melbourne diocesan architect Leonard Terry. It's on the Victorian Heritage Register.
Source: Victorian Heritage Database
- 9
London Tavern
Also known as Beechworth London Tavern
William Soulby, who reached Beechworth in 1856, built this hotel in stages between 1859 and 1866, and it was the town's first brick hotel. Three single-storey brick wings enclose a courtyard, with a bathhouse added in 1862. The last licence was issued in 1912, after which it was a family home until 1970, when a group of Melbourne academics and friends linked to the National Trust bought the run-down buildings to conserve them.
Source: Victorian Heritage Database
- 10
St Andrew's Uniting church, Beechworth
One of the first permanent churches on the Ovens goldfields, this Gothic Revival building was designed by architect Thomas Turnbull for the district's Scottish and Ulster Presbyterians. Its foundation stone was laid in July 1857 and it opened in February 1858. Now Uniting, it is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
Source: Victorian Heritage Database
- 11
HM Prison Beechworth
Also known as Beechworth Gaol
Prisoners quarried the granite for this panopticon-style gaol on the site itself. It opened in 1860 while still unfinished, and the walls and staff quarters were complete by 1864. Ned Kelly was held here for about two years in total between 1870 and 1880, and eight prisoners were executed here between 1865 and 1881, buried in unmarked graves in the grounds. The gaol closed in 1918, reopened in 1926 as a reformatory prison, and now operates as a museum.
Source: Victorian Heritage Database
- 12
Beechworth Cemetery
Also known as Beechworth Cemetery Chinese burning towers
Established in 1856, this goldfields cemetery is regarded as the best surviving example of a Victorian gold-era cemetery still in use. Its twin Chinese burning towers, built in 1857, were used to burn paper prayers and offerings for the dead rather than for cremation, with an altar added in 1883-84. Around 2,000 Chinese are buried here.
Source: beechworthcemetery.com.au
Ned Kelly in Beechworth
Beechworth Gaol has a close link with the Kelly gang. Ned Kelly was imprisoned here for a total of about two years between 1870 and 1880, and his brothers Dan and James, other members of the gang and his mother Ellen, with her newborn baby, also spent time inside. Twenty-five Kelly sympathisers were held here awaiting trial, and Crown witnesses were kept here during the committal hearings. The gaol was built in stages from 1859 using granite quarried on site by prisoners, and it opened in 1860 while still incomplete. Between 1865 and 1881 eight prisoners were executed at Beechworth and buried in unmarked graves inside the grounds.
Source: Victorian Heritage Database
Beechworth's Chinese heritage
Beechworth Cemetery was established in 1856 and is regarded as the best surviving example of a Victorian gold-era cemetery still in use. Its twin Chinese burning towers, built in 1857, were used to burn paper prayers and offerings for the dead rather than for cremation, and an altar was added in 1883-84. Around 2,000 Chinese are buried here, a reminder of the large Chinese presence on the north-east goldfields.
Source: beechworthcemetery.com.au
How the walk works
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Each stop's story plays as you arrive, with directions to the next one. Pause for a coffee whenever you like.
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Questions
What is Beechworth known for?
Beechworth is known for gold-rush wealth, Ned Kelly and a remarkably intact granite town centre. Gold was found in 1852 and the town became the financial and administrative centre of north-east Victoria, with banks, a justice precinct and churches built in the late 1850s and 1860s. Ned Kelly was held in the Beechworth Gaol and committed for trial through its courthouse. Visitors come for the Burke Museum, the Bank of Victoria and Bank of New South Wales buildings, the Post Office clock tower and the twin Chinese burning towers at the cemetery.
What are the best things to do in Beechworth's town centre?
Walk the heritage core around Camp and Ford streets: this tour links 12 historic places, including the Post Office, the Bank of Victoria and Bank of New South Wales buildings, the Burke Museum, the Justice Precinct, the London Tavern and Beechworth Gaol.
How long does the Beechworth walking tour take?
About 104 minutes over roughly 3.7 km, including time to stop and listen at each place.
What is the history of Beechworth in brief?
Gold was found in 1852 and about 8,000 diggers had arrived by November. Surveyed and named Beechworth in 1853, the town was the financial and administrative centre of north-east Victoria and sat on the main Melbourne-Sydney route until the 1870s.
Where was Ned Kelly held in Beechworth?
In Beechworth Gaol, where he was imprisoned for about two years in total between 1870 and 1880. It is stop 11 on this walk.
Do I need mobile data?
No. Load the tour in the Sitesy app before you go and it's saved for offline use.
Is the Beechworth walking tour free?
Yes. Open it in the Sitesy app and every stop on this walk is free to hear, with no account needed. Free listeners also get 5 stories a day about wherever they are and 1 custom walk a week. The Trip pass (A$7.99 for 7 days) and Sitesy Plus (A$8.99 a month) unlock unlimited stories and walks.
Page last updated 12 October 2026.