Things to do in Glenrowan, Victoria: Ned Kelly and Siege Street

Siege Street in Glenrowan, Victoria, was where Ned Kelly’s last stand took place in 1880. Australia’s most notorious bushranger was arrested after a hotel fire and shoot-out.

Glenrowan in Victoria’s high country was the scene of Australia’s most notorious shoot out. On June 28th, 1880, this was where infamous bushranger Ned Kelly was finally captured.

The former Ann Jones Hotel in Glenrowan, Victoria

On Siege Street in the Victorian town of Glenrowan, a sign stands on the former site of the Ann Jones Hotel. The hotel burned down in 1880 during the siege that led to Kelly’s capture. It was set on fire by the police, and two members of the Kelly gang – Steve Hart and Dan Kelly – burned to death inside.

Ned Kelly himself managed to get out of the burning hotel alive. But his days as a horse thief, bank robber and police killer were done. He was arrested in Glenrowan and eventually hanged to death in Melbourne Gaol.

Visitors to Glenrowan get a potted history of the Kelly Gang’s last stand, although the most obvious attraction is the Big Ned Kelly outside the Glenrowan post office. This is one of Australia’s lovably tacky Big Things, such as the Giant Murray Cod in Swan Hill, the Golden Gumboot in Tully and Giant Kangaroo in Border Village.

The Kelly Gang on Siege Street in Glenrowan, Victoria

But the story is best told on Siege Street in Glenrowan. Around the hotel sign are some wooden totem pole-esque figures, designed to represent the police and the members of the Kelly Gang. The latter are dressed in the makeshift iron armour that would later become iconic in all representations of Kelly.

What happened at Glenrowan was essentially a dastardly plan gone wrong. Then gang wanted to lure as many police as possible into the same place, then either capture or massacre them. We will never really know which, as the plan didn’t succeed.

The gang had been outlawed for months, and had embarked on a series of increasingly brazen bank robberies across the Victorian high country and over the Murray River in neighbouring New South Wales.

The police trap for the Kelly Gang

To lure the police into a trap, they killed a collaborator who had been passing on information about the gang to the police. It may have been sly double agent work – he was largely passing on false information to keep the gang safe – but he was no longer trusted.

After the murder, they took over Ann Jones’ hotel in Glenrowan, essentially taking everyone in there a hostage. Many were sympathisers and by all accounts there was something of a party atmosphere in there.

They waited for hordes of police, summoned from all over the state, to come by train. The gang had torn up the track just outside Glenrowan, and waited for the train to derail.

The ultimate aim was to take control and declare a new independent republic of North-Eastern Victoria. But an escapee from the hotel managed to tip off the approaching police cohorts, and the ambush became a siege.

Kelly was shot several times, but his armour protected him. Innocent bystanders died in the crossfire. And the eventual decision to burn down the hotel put an end to any resistance. The gang was over – but the legend wasn’t. That people still come flocking to the historic site on Siege Street in Glenrowan is testament to this.

How to visit Glenrowan, Victoria

Glenrowan can be visited as part of a road trip from Sydney to Melbourne. Relatively nearby attractions include the Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk or kayaking tours in Albury. There’s also the Italian wineries of the King Valley, Ned Kelly tours in Beechworth and the Ned Kelly Tree at Stringybark Creek.

For a gripping read on Ned Kelly, try the True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey.

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