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National Trust of Australia (Victoria) - Property Map

Step back in time to Melbourne’s most feared destination since 1845, Old Melbourne Gaol. Shrouded in secrets, wander the same cells and halls as some of history’s most notorious criminals, from Ned Kelly to Squizzy Taylor, and discover the stories that never left.

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Day and night tours, kids activities throughout school holidays and a chance to explore to the infamous City Watch House, the Gaol remains Melbourne’s most spell-binding journey into its past.

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Old Melbourne Gaol is open 7 days a week, 10am to 5pm. Closed on Christmas Day and Good Friday. Book tickets via the website [oldmelbournegaol.com.au](https://www.oldmelbournegaol.com.au/)

Old Melbourne Gaol

Shop a curated and ever-evolving collection of quality pre-loved and designer garments at VAULT, our wonderful vintage boutique located within Melbourne’s iconic Block Arcade. 

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Discover clothing, shoes, jewellery, hats, accessories, and collectables from a range of brands and labels, including European designers, Yves Saint Laurent, Pucci, and Oscar De la Renta, along with well-known Australian labels such as Zanko and Le Louvre.

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VAULT showcases extraordinary couture, designer clothing, and accessories carefully selected from amongst the generous donations to the annual Vintage Clothing Sale, providing fashion lovers with an everchanging retail experience that will work to complement Melbourne’s seasons and events.

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**All proceeds from VAULT go towards supporting the National Trust in conserving and protecting Victoria’s natural, cultural, and built heritage.**

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VAULT is open 7 days (closed on Public Holidays)

VAULT Vintage Clothing Boutique

Built in 1847, Como House and Garden is an intriguing mix of Australian Regency and classic Italianate architecture.

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Como offers a glimpse into the privileged lifestyle of former owners, the Armytage family, who lived there for nearly a century.

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The Armytages became famous amongst Melbourne high society and equally famous for their many elegant dances, dinners and receptions. Those elegant dining and reception rooms are still furnished with Armytage family heirlooms and even the servants’ areas, kitchen and laundry have been preserved.

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House runs on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Pre-booking essential

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Como House Gardens are open 7 days a week. Entry is free

Como House & Gardens

Built in Belfast in 1885, the three-masted cargo vessel carried coal and wheat between England and South America. You can join the crew, come aboard for a tour of the ship and discover what life was like on a tall ship sailing the seven seas.

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Polly Woodside is open on the First Sunday (Open Day) and Third Sunday (Pirate Day) of each month. Tickets can be purchased via the National Trust website.

Polly Woodside

The house was completed in 1868. It was built for Frederick Sargood. Sargood made his money selling soft-goods on the goldfields. The house is named after his mother’s maiden-name, Rippon. Lea is an English word for meadow. The property was a large, self-sufficient farm, about twice the size it is now. The mansion was originally 15 rooms; it currently has 33 rooms. Sargood moved in with his first wife, Marian, and their 9 surviving children. There were 7 maids, a butler, 7 gardeners, a coachman and a groom.

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Sargood was a typical man of the Victorian Age – visionary and practical. This resulted in an elaborate underground watering system and the house having its own electricity supply. Unusually for its time, the house had internal toilets. Sargood was a keen gardener who was particularly interested in orchids and ferns. A large number of plants were imported.

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The garden is complex and covers almost 14 acres, which includes a large lake, extensive shrubberies and flower gardens, an orchard of historically significant fruit varieties, a fernery, rose gardens and many other features of historical, landscape and architectural interest, all forming the setting for the polychrome brick mansion completed in 1868.

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Rippon Lea Estate is open 7 days. \n

Rippon Lea Estate

The complex of buildings, which remain on site, demonstrate a number of phases in the development of the penal system, including the ‘separate system’, which dominated penology in Victoria in the 19th century.

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Until its closure in 1996, Pentridge was Victoria’s central prison and the most well-known and used gaol in the State’s history. Most of Victoria’s convicted and notorious criminals were gaoled there between 1900 and the 1990s. In 1967, Ronald Ryan, who was convicted of the murder of a prison officer during an escape from Pentridge, became the last person in Victoria to be hanged at Pentridge.

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The aesthetic significance of the 19th century prison buildings at Pentridge derives from their monumental scale and austere Classical style, expressive of the requirements of containment and order and typical of prison buildings constructed in Victoria in the 1850’s and 1860’s. It also derives from the almost ubiquitous use of ashlar bluestone, much of it quarried on site.

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**Now open for tours**, visitors are able to explore the former prison’s B Division and the notorious H Division. Nights tours and family-friendly tours are also offered.

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This is a place that challenges and confronts, deeply connected to the social and cultural fabric of Australia. The stories within this journey are deep, unique, and expose the intricacies of prison punishment.

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Pentridge Prison Tours runs tours from Thursday to Monday and daily during Victorian School Holidays. Tickets can be purchased online via [www.pentridgeprisontours.com.au](https://pentridgeprisontours.com.au/tours-and-ticketing)