Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney
Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney
Location	Macquarie Street, Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Built	1811–1819
Architect	Francis Greenway
Owner	Sydney Living Museums
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Type	Historic building
Area	2.16 hectares (5.3 acres)
Status	Open daily 10.00 am – 5.00 pm (Closed Good Friday and Christmas Day)
Website	Hyde Park Barracks Website

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Type:	Cultural
Designated:	2010 (34th session)
Part of:	Australian Convict Sites
Reference #:	1306
Region:	Asia-Pacific
Australian National Heritage List
Official name: Hyde Park Barracks, Macquarie St, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Type:	Historic
Criteria:	a., b., h.
Designated:	1 August 2007
Reference #:	105935
Place File No.:	1/12/036/0105
New South Wales Heritage Register
Official name: Mint Building and Hyde Park Barracks Group; Rum Hospital; Royal Mint – Sydney Branch; Sydney Infirmary and Dispensary; Queen's Square Courts; Queen's Square
Type:	State heritage (complex / group)
Criteria:	a., c., d., e., f.
Designated:	2 April 1999
Part of:	Mint Building and Hyde Park Barracks Group
Reference #:	190
Type:	Other – Government & Administration
Category:	Government and Administration
Builders:	Francis Greenway

Convict Barracks, Sydney, Australia, c.1819

Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney, 1840s

Hyde Park Barracks in a 1914 drawing by William Hardy Wilson

The Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney is a very old building with a long history. It started as a home for male convicts and later became a hospital, a place to make coins (a mint), and a courthouse. Today, it's a museum and café.

This important building was designed by a convict architect named Francis Greenway between 1817 and 1819. It's located on Macquarie Street in the heart of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Museums of History New South Wales now looks after the site, offering a living history museum for everyone to visit.

The Hyde Park Barracks is so important that UNESCO has listed it as a World Heritage Site. It's one of 11 Australian Convict Sites that show how European powers expanded using convict labor. It's also listed on the Australian National Heritage List and the New South Wales State Heritage Register.

In 2019, the site closed for a big renovation project. It reopened in February 2020, offering a new way for visitors to experience its history. The museum shares the stories of the many people who lived or worked there, including convicts, immigrants, and the local Aboriginal communities.

A Look Back: The Barracks' Story
What the Barracks Looks Like
Visiting the Museum
Why the Barracks is Special
- World Heritage Site
- National and State Heritage
Other Museums to Explore
Images for kids
See also

A Look Back: The Barracks' Story

Building a Home for Convicts

When Lachlan Macquarie became Governor of Sydney, he was worried about male convicts causing trouble in the streets at night. They used to find their own places to live. Governor Macquarie believed that if they all lived together in barracks, they would behave better and work harder.

So, he asked Francis Greenway, a convict architect, to design a barracks for 600 men. Greenway was a talented architect who had been sent to Australia for forging signatures. Macquarie was so impressed with his design that he gave Greenway a full pardon.

Convicts built the barracks, and Governor Macquarie laid the first stone on 6 April 1817. The building was finished in 1819 and officially opened on 4 June 1819. On that day, 589 convicts moved in.

Life Inside the Barracks

Inside, the barracks had four rooms on each floor. Hammocks were hung in two rows, with a narrow path between them. Each man had a space about 2.1 by 0.6 meters (7 by 2 feet). The larger rooms could sleep 70 men, and the smaller ones held 35.

Governor Macquarie was happy because crime, like robberies, went down a lot after the convicts were kept in the barracks at night. However, some people, like Commissioner Bigge, worried that putting so many "troublemakers" together in one place might just make the problem worse. Stealing was common inside, with items often passed over the walls. To stop this, convicts were searched, and special marks were painted on their clothes and bedding.

The barracks quickly became too small, sometimes housing up to 1400 men. It's thought that about 30,000 men and boys lived there between 1819 and 1848. Some convicts who could afford to live outside didn't like being confined. But others were glad to have a roof over their heads.

Living in the barracks also became a form of punishment. Convicts who gambled or caused trouble in the streets lost their freedom to live outside and were sent to the barracks.

From Convicts to Immigrants

From 1830, convicts were also brought to the barracks for sentencing and punishment by the Court of General Sessions. Punishments included lashings (floggings) and forced labor on treadmills or in chain gangs.

When convict transportation stopped in 1840, fewer convicts needed housing. By 1848, there weren't enough convicts to fill the large building, so the remaining ones moved to Cockatoo Island.

The barracks then became the Female Immigration Depot. It offered temporary shelter to single women who had just arrived in Australia while they looked for jobs, usually as maids or servants. Many women from Ireland, who were suffering from the Great Famine, came here hoping for a better life. The barracks also housed the Orphan Institution until 1852, helping many Irish famine victims.

Between 1862 and 1886, the top floor was used as an Asylum for Infirm and Destitute Women. It cared for about 150 women who were very sick, elderly, or had no money. Overcrowding was a constant issue, and in 1886, the women moved to a new facility.

The Courts Take Over

Over time, the courts started using more and more of the barracks buildings. By the early 1900s, the site was almost entirely used for legal purposes. It became known as Queen's Square Courts. Many changes were made to the buildings to create courtrooms.

Important legal decisions were made here. In 1927, the basic living wage was approved. In 1921, a case for equal pay for women was rejected, but it was finally granted in 1973.

Becoming a Museum

In 1975, major work began to preserve the buildings. In 1984, a museum about Sydney opened there. Later, in 1990, the Historic Houses Trust of NSW (now Sydney Living Museums) took over. The museum was updated to tell the story of the site itself, showing how it changed over time and who lived there.

In 2019, the Hyde Park Barracks closed again for a new exhibition space. It reopened later that year, focusing on the many stories of the people who passed through its doors.

The Friends of the Historic Houses Trust have helped raise money to collect convict artifacts for the Hyde Park Barracks.

The Mint: Making Money

The southern wing of the original "Rum Hospital" later became The Mint. Governor Macquarie had agreed to build a new hospital in 1810. In return, the builders got a special deal to sell spirits for three years, which is why it was called the Rum Hospital.

The hospital was built with three wings. The northern wing is now part of Parliament House, the middle wing was pulled down, and the southern wing became The Mint.

In 1851, people in New South Wales asked the British Government to set up a mint. The gold rush meant there was a lot of raw gold, which was causing problems with the official money. The British Government agreed in 1853, sending equipment and staff.

The Mint started making coins on 14 May 1855. It was officially called the Royal Mint, Sydney Branch. For the first five years, it turned over a million pounds worth of gold into coins every year. By 1868, Sydney's coins were accepted in all British colonies, and in 1886, they were accepted in Britain too. The coins looked just like British ones, but they had a small mark to show they were made in Sydney.

After Australia became a nation, minting moved to other cities. The Sydney Mint closed in January 1927 because its equipment was old and it wasn't making enough money.

After The Mint closed, many government offices used the buildings. In the 1930s, the Mint's gates on Macquarie Street were removed to make way for more parking. These gates were later bought by Barker College in Hornsby.

In 1975, plans were made to restore the buildings, and The Mint opened as a museum in 1982. In 1998, the Historic Houses Trust took over, running a small museum and a café. In 2004, more restoration work was done, and the site became the Head Office for the Trust, with a library and research collection. In July 2016, The Mint celebrated its 200th anniversary.

What the Barracks Looks Like

The Hyde Park Barracks is in Queen's Square, at the corner of Macquarie Street and Prince Albert Road in Sydney. High walls surround the complex on the south and west sides. Other buildings form the northern and eastern boundaries. In the middle is the main building, called the Principal Barracks or Dormitory Block.

The Main Barracks Building

This main building is a three-storey brick building in the Georgian style. It has sandstone foundations and sills. The front of the building has a triangular shape (a pediment) with a stone panel holding an old clock. The clock has a crown above it and says "L.Macquarie Esq., Governor 1817."

The outside of the building is simple but elegant, with brick pillars and arched spaces on the ground floor. The central door has a semi-circular window above it. The other windows have many small glass panes.

In the late 1980s, efforts were made to make the barracks look like it did around 1820. Old doorways were filled in, and new doors and windows were built to match the original style. The roof was also replaced with shingles, like it would have been originally.

Inside, many walls that were added later have been removed to show Francis Greenway's original design. Each floor has four rooms opening off two corridors that form a cross shape. Two staircases connect the different levels.

One room has been set up with hammock frames, just like how the convicts would have slept. This helps visitors imagine what life was like for them.

Walls and Other Buildings

Along the northern side of the barracks site are six other buildings, some one-storey, some two-storey. In the northwest corner, you can still see the original cell block. The Superintendent's Apartment is also along this side. Parts of the cell block and nearby buildings have been turned into a café.

The southern boundary is a stone wall. This wall features the Australian Monument to the Great Irish Famine. This monument remembers the millions of people who died or had to leave Ireland because of the famine in the 18th century. It includes a metal table with a dinner plate, a potato-digging spade, and potatoes. There are also 420 names etched into glass panels. This location is important because many Irish convicts passed through the Hyde Park Barracks.

The eastern side has three buildings, with a large set of outdoor stairs leading to a balcony. Public toilets are in the southern part of this building, and the rest is used for museum offices.

The western side has a wall with a central gate and a small building (lodge) on each side. One of these lodges is open to visitors.

Digging Up the Past: Archaeology

Archaeologists started digging at the Hyde Park Barracks in the 1980s. They found many amazing things, especially hidden between the floorboards and ceilings. These discoveries included old paper and fabric, which usually don't survive well in the ground.

These hidden items, dating from 1848 to 1886, tell a unique story about the women who lived there when it was the Female Immigration Depot and the Asylum for Infirm and Destitute Women. They give us a special look into their daily lives.

Since the 1980s, any time the ground is disturbed for new work, archaeologists first carefully dig to see what else they can find.

Visiting the Museum

Today, the Hyde Park Barracks is a museum run by Museums of History New South Wales. It's a great place for tourists and locals to learn about Sydney's past. Visitors can explore exhibitions about the male convict labor force, Australia's convict system, and the lives of the many people who lived in the barracks. The museum uses sounds, excavated artifacts, and the actual rooms to bring history to life.

In 2015, a program called "Unlocking Heritage" was announced. This program lets children experience Sydney's living museums in a hands-on way. Students can wear convict clothes and even sleep in hammocks, imagining what life was like 200 years ago. This helps kids learn history by truly experiencing it.

Why the Barracks is Special

World Heritage Site

In July 2010, the Hyde Park Barracks and ten other Australian sites related to convict transportation were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. These sites are considered the best examples of how large-scale convict transportation helped European powers expand.

National and State Heritage

The site was added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2007. It was recognized for:

Being a key moment in how convicts were managed in the colony.
Its connection to Governor Macquarie and his work in building Sydney.
Showing the amazing skill of its architect, Francis Greenway.

The Hyde Park Barracks is also on the New South Wales State Heritage Register. It's important because it shows us how male convicts lived between 1819 and 1848, and how immigrant groups lived from 1848 to 1887. The site's archaeological findings are also very valuable. It's one of Francis Greenway's best surviving works and shows Governor Macquarie's plans for early Sydney.

The barracks is the oldest example of a walled prison in Australia. It provides rare information about building practices, architectural design, and city planning in early 19th-century Sydney.

Other Museums to Explore

The Hyde Park Barracks is part of Museums of History New South Wales. Other places you can visit that are part of this group include the Susannah Place Museum, the Museum of Sydney, and the Justice & Police Museum]. All these museums offer free entry for general visitors.