The Police Paddocks

An aerial view on a slight angle of the Beechworth Historic Precinct. Several granite buildings are in the foreground, with a large grassed paddock in the background.

The Beechworth Police Paddocks is a significant site within the Historic Precinct.

Background

In the age of horse drawn transport, Crown allotments throughout Victoria were set aside for the purpose of holding and grazing police troop horses between periods of use. Originally the camp gardens, the  Beechworth Police Paddocks were reserved for police purposes in 1856.

In 1857, tenders were called for the construction of Police quarters at Beechworth, including an office, Police Superintendent’s quarters, officers’ barracks, a wooden lock-up and a Kitchen(mess), as well as latrines. Robert O’Hara Burke was the Police Superintendent at Beechworth from 1854 to 1858, and would have been the first to command the new police camp. He transferred to Castlemaine in November 1858 so his association with the place was brief.

Various service buildings were added to the Superintendent’s quarters and a new officers' barracks was erected in about 1865. Many of the buildings on the site were short-lived. The office and kitchen were gone by the early 1860s, and the last of the earlier barracks buildings by 1863, replaced with a new barracks building. There were no buildings left at the police paddock by 1947 other than the stone lock-up, which had been partly demolished.

A black and white photograph from 1858 depicting then newly-constructed buildings in the Police Paddock at Beechworth.

Newly-constructed buildings in the Police Paddock, 1858 (photo by Algernon Hall, sourced from the Burke Museum, © V&A Museum)

Can I stage an event at the Police Paddocks?

The Police Paddocks is available to hire for events and festivals. The area is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register (H1464) and has archaeological potential to yield artefacts that would provide more information on government activities from the mid-late 1850s onwards.

Because of this, there are a number of conditions for hire to protect this important historical space.

To book the Police Paddocks, please contact the Beechworth Historic Precinct at 02 3728 8000 or download the hire form linked below and return to info@explorebeechworth.com.au

Police-Paddock-Hire-Request-Conditions-Form-2024_1.pdf(PDF, 325KB)

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