Old Bendigo Gaol Tunnel

“Workers building the new theatre in the old Bendigo gaol have uncovered a historic staircase and tunnel under the main wing”.

The first sentence of this article in the Bendigo Weekly really took my attention….history…gaols….tunnels underground. Just about everything that gets me excited is right there in that sentence.  It seems the tunnel was used to transport food and prisoners in the 1860s

The gaol is currently undergoing a 25million dollar redevelopment which will turn the gaol into a theatre. Workers came across the tunnel during these works. According to the weekly there have been rumours for years that there was an underground passage, so workers went in search of it. I can just imagine what a lovely surprise it would have been for them, when they found it.

I was very pleased to read that on completion of the upgrade, it will be possible to view the tunnel from a glass platform at the top of the staircase.