Glenrowan 3675 Glenrowan 3675

Glenrowan is a rural locality and township on the route between Melbourne and Albury located 236 km north-east from Melbourne just off the Hume Freeway.

Glenrowan is best known as the scene of the battle between Ned Kelly's Gang and the Victorian police.

Motorists on the old Hume Highway and train travellers pass through the township, but the Hume Freeway bypasses it (1988). Glenrowan was named after pioneer pastoralists James and George Rowan who occupied pastoral stations between 1846 and 1858 in the area between Winton and Glenrowan.

North of the township are the Warby Ranges, which provide run-off for some agricultural pursuits and for the filling of Lake Mokoan east of Glenrowan. The lake, artificially formed in 1970, was formerly a swamp.

The railway line through Glenrowan was opened in 1873, two years before town allotments were put up for sale and three years before the primary school was opened. In 1880 Glenrowan was the site of the siege of the Kelly gang at Jones Hotel. The gang's leader, Ned Kelly, had calculated that police would be sent to the area by train, because of a recent murder, but the school teacher escaped from Jones Hotel and signalled the train to stop before it came to the part of the railway line which had been torn up so as to wreck the train. In the siege which followed, three of the four gang members were killed and Ned Kelly was captured and brought to trial. Glenrowan thus acquired the reputation of being part of the Kelly Country, and has since opened two museums devoted to that subject along with a tourist centre.

At the foot of the Warby Ranges at Taminick, Bailey's and Booth's vineyards were established before the turn of the century, along with some fruit orchards. Bailey's became renowned for fortified wines, particularly muscat, and Booths for high-baume red table wines.

Glenrowan is situated between forested ranges - Warby Ranges and Mt. Glenrowan to the north and a forested range to the south. The road and railway line curve northwards between the ranges, and the town's new settlement has followed the northwards curve. The new settlement is Hamilton Park, and contains several water storages. The original township near the railway station has the school, two churches, a recreation reserve and shops with the tourist attractions.

Glenrowan's census populations have been 12 (1861), 125 (1891), 320 (1911) 200 (1981) 1,049 (2021)

Things to See and Do

Historic Sites
Such was the indifference to the Kelly myth that the buildings which were an integral part of the Kelly siege have all been destroyed. If he were alive today Ned Kelly would not recognise the town. However, because of the boom in tourism, there are a number of plaques and markers (wooden statues depicting the various characters involved in the siege), which allow the visitor to trace the events of 28 June, 1880. They include the railway station, the site where the Glenrowan Inn stood before it was burned down and the gully where the troopers took cover.

Ned Kelly's Last Stand at the Glenrowan Theme Park
The main attraction and highlight at Kellyland Glenrowan is the immersive re-enactment of Ned Kelly's last stand.

Using the brilliance of animatronics and special effects you are magically transported back to June 28 1880 where you travel with the Police towards Beechworth. You'll then be held captive in the Glenrowan Inn by the Kelly Gang, before bearing witness to Australia's most famous gunfight. You'll experience the heat and smoke in the burning Inn, and end up in the Old Melbourne Gaol where you'll share Ned's final moments.

Tickets also include admission to Kellyland's museum. On display are many original artefacts including the bar from the McDonalls Railway Tavern (The Kelly Gang's local), original photographs, wanted posters, Victoria Police artefacts, antique firearms, Ned's death mask and much more. A large collection of John Dollery's spectacular paintings are also housed here.

Now also featuring the replica of Ellen Kelly's Homestead and blacksmith shop.

Kellyland Glenrowan stocks a large range of gifts and souvenirs. Handmade Kelly armours and helmets of all sizes, Jacaru leather hats, mugs and snowglobes. The list goes on.

The show commences every half-hour from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm. every day. For more details, tel: (03) 5766 2367 or check out

Kelly Statue - The Big Ned
This is the third Big Ned Kelly to appear in Glenrowan. The first was stolen and dumped in the river. The second could only be seen for a fee at Kellyland (now the Glenrowan Theme Park) and this, the third, was commissioned from Kevin Thomas, a Sydney-based special effects technician. It stands 6-metres tall, weighs 1.5 tonnes, is made out of fibreglass and was transported down the Hume Highway from Sydney in April, 1992. At the time it cost $12,000. It depicts Kelly at the time of his capture at Glenrowan - clad in armour, rifle in hand.

Kate's Cottage and Kelly Museum
Kate's Cottage combines Kelly memorabilia, a museum and a replica of the Kelly homestead. It is named after Ned's sister. Visitors walk through the shop and enter Ned Kelly Memorial Museum. Out the back is a stringybark replica of the Kelly homestead made with a broadaxe and adze and decorated with 19th century furnishings. It is claimed that Ned built the original around 1877. There are other pieces of 19th century memorabilia including a coach and a blacksmith's shed. It is open daily from 9.00 am to 5.30 pm, tel: (03) 5766 2448.

Glenrowan Cobb & Co Souvenir Gift Shop and Museum
The old Cobb & Co ticket office is a combination of museum and gift shop. The centrepiece is an authentic reconstruction of the town's original Cobb & Co changing station and the shop includes such tourist wonders as Ned bells, Ned belt buckles, Ned caps, Ned letter openers, Ned place mats and even Ned socks tel: (03) 5766 2409. It is open from 9.00 am to 5.30 pm daily.

Warby-Ovens National Park
The Warby-Ovens National Park (14,655 ha), located 26 km north of Glenrowan and 10 km west of Wangaratta, "is characterised by three distinct vegetation communities - the granitic hills and woodlands of the Warby Range, the Box-Ironbark of the Killawarra Forest and the Redgum forest and wetlands of the unregulated Ovens Heritage River."

In 1844 Ben Warby (after whom the park is named) settled in the area. By the 1870s the locals believed that Ned Kelly was hiding in the Warby Ranges and using Mount Glenrowan as a lookout point.

The park was established in 1978 and been growing in size with a number of acquisitions over the years. It is an area of exceptional bushland incorporating waterfalls (notably Briens Gorge Falls), springtime wildflowers, lookouts (notably Ryans Lookout) across to the Victorian Alps and wildlife including black wallabies, echidnas, wedge-tailed eagles, lorikeets, barking owls and sugar gliders. The park is popular for walking, mountain bike riding, prospecting and fishing.

The park has a number of walks. There is a track to the summit of Mount Glenrowan (9.4 km return from Taminick Gap), and the short walks to Briens Gorge Falls and Salisbury Falls (4.5 km). For more information check out http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/warby-ovens-national-park

❊ Address ❊

 ⊜  Glenrowan Tourist Centre, 41 Gladstone Street,  Glenrowan 3675 View Map
 ✆ Telephone: (03) 5766 2367 or 1300 NED KELLY

➼ www.glenrowantouristcentre.com.au

➼ www.glenrowantouristcentre.com.au

➼ wikipedia.org

❊ Also See... ❊

➼ BIG Things in Melbourne Victoria

➼ Glenrowan 1880 - Ned Kelly's Last Stand




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