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In regional Victoria, a former goldfields gaol turned ward for the criminally insane held some of the state's most dangerous men behind its bluestone walls. J Ward and the vast Aradale asylum on the hill above it are long closed to patients, and today they draw visitors for their history and for the stories told about them after dark.
The Real History
Construction of the Ararat gaol began in 1859 to serve the gold-rush population around Ararat, and it received its first prisoners on October 10, 1861. Three men were executed there: Andrew Vere in 1870, Robert Francis Burns in 1883, and Henry Morgan in 1884. As was the custom, they were buried within the prison grounds. As the gold rush faded, the Lunacy Department took over the building, and in the winter of 1886–87 it was proclaimed “J Ward” of the Ararat Lunatic Asylum, a secure division for men judged criminally insane.
The main asylum, later known informally as Aradale, was built from 1864 and opened to patients in 1867. It was one of three large asylums Victoria built in the 1860s, alongside Kew and Beechworth, and its plan drew on English models such as Colney Hatch. It went through several official names: Ararat Asylum, Ararat Hospital for the Insane from 1905, and Ararat Mental Hospital from 1934. “Aradale” was adopted informally in the late 1950s. Over the twentieth century the complex grew to more than 60 buildings and employed more than 500 staff at its height.
Conditions in J Ward were harsh even by the standards of the day. In 1908 Victoria's Inspector General of the Insane publicly condemned its continued use as part of a mental hospital. Its best-known inmate was Mark “Chopper” Read, transferred from Pentridge Prison in late 1978 after he had a fellow prisoner cut off his ears; he stayed only a few months. J Ward closed in January 1991 and reopened as a museum run by the volunteer Friends of J Ward in 1993. Aradale was wound down through the 1990s, with its last patients moved out by 1997–98, and part of the site is now used by Melbourne Polytechnic for wine and hospitality training.
The Haunting
J Ward and Aradale are both widely described as among Victoria's most haunted places. Commonly repeated claims include the ticking of a clock where no clock exists, rhythmic banging on cell walls that some liken to a head striking stone, and cameras or other electronics failing inside the buildings.
Particular figures turn up again and again in tour retellings: a young kitchen aide said to take visitors' hands in the basement kitchen, and an unpleasant presence in the former governor's bathroom. The most grounded legend concerns the three hanged men buried on the grounds, whose graves were never marked; local lore says three scratches on a prison wall mark the spot and that the men remain restless. The executions and burials are documented history; the haunting is not. Like most claims of this kind, these accounts come from visitors and guides on tours, not from any controlled investigation.
Can You Visit?
Yes. J Ward is a museum in Ararat, about two and a half hours west of Melbourne near the Grampians, and draws more than 10,000 visitors a year. Volunteers run guided history tours daily, with extra sessions on weekends and Victorian holidays. Aradale runs its own separate tours, and night ghost tours are offered at the sites from time to time; check current listings before you travel.
Related: More legends and haunted places of Australia and the Pacific Islands.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between J Ward and Aradale?
Aradale is the informal name for the main Ararat Lunatic Asylum complex, which opened in 1867. J Ward was a separate, high-security division housed in the old goldfields gaol, begun in 1859, and used from 1887 to 1991 for men judged criminally insane.
Were people really executed at J Ward?
Yes. Three men were hanged at the Ararat gaol between 1870 and 1884 and buried in the grounds. The ghost stories linked to them are legend.
Can visitors tour J Ward today?
Yes. J Ward runs daily guided tours and is one of Ararat's main attractions.
Sources
- J Ward: Ararat's Old Gaol and Lunatic Asylum – Friends of J Ward
- J Ward – Wikipedia
- Aradale Mental Hospital – Wikipedia
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