Description of the attraction
Hyde Park Barracks is an impressive brick building built by exiled architect Francis Greenaway in 1818-1819 to contain convicted men and boys. Today, the barracks building is a museum of international importance and listed as a National Treasure of Australia and New South Wales. It is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of Australia's 11 Outstanding Prisoner Places - "an excellent example of the large-scale transport of exiles and the colonial expansion of European powers."
Constructed by prisoners at the behest of Governor Lachlan Macwire, the barracks are one of the most famous creations of the English-born Australian architect Francis Greenaway. Until its closure in 1848, these main barracks in New South Wales were inhabited by convicts working on construction sites in and around Sydney. From 1848 to 1886, the building housed the Immigration Station for single women who immigrated to Australia in search of work. And for almost the entire 20th century - until 1979 - the judiciary and government offices were located here.
In 1981, major renovations were carried out in the Hyde Park barracks, after which the building was turned into a museum. Today, here you can see with your own eyes how the prisoners of the 19th century and other inhabitants of the barracks lived. The museum has several permanent exhibitions that tell about the labor exploits of exiled convicts and about the Australian system of sending criminals to colonies.
