Showing posts with label convict sites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label convict sites. Show all posts

Friday, September 17, 2010

The voices of Convict Sydney


Convict Sydney. Photo: Ben Mercer

Historic Houses Trust NSW has opened their latest exhibition at Hyde Park Barracks: Convict Sydney. Irish Wattle visited this impressive show earlier this week, and loved it!

Hyde Park Barracks - checking for stolen goods. Photo: Ben Mercer

Just some of the features include wonderful murals depicting life before transportation, and after arrival; a giant map that guides you through the streets of early Sydney; and touch screens allowing you to scroll extracts of the Barracks Benchbook, where crimes and sentences were recorded.

Interactive touch screen map of early colonial Sydney. Photo: Ben Mercer

Interactive touch screen mural. Photo: Ben Mercer

Details for the exhibition are below. To find out more, go to the Historic Houses Trust or follow on Facebook for updates on all their brilliant work!

Location: Queens Square, Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
Contact:   02 8239 2311
Admission: Adult $10 I Child /Concession $5 | Family $20 | Members free
Hours:  Daily 9.30am — 5.00pm

Its a great way to spend a morning and to get to know Sydney's convict past!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Convict sites awarded World Heritage status



Old Government House, Parramatta. Source: Flickr

Eleven of Australia's historical sites were given World Heritage status this week. Together, they illustrate the key aspects of the convicts' experience in the penal colony. Established by the British empire across the 18th and 19th centuries, many of the sites housed or employed tens of thousands of men, women and children condemned to transportation. The sites now protected are: