Hobart, TAS • 2.7 miles (55 min walking, 4 hours total) • Autumn & Winter (April – September) • Easy

Hobart Penitentiary Chapel Gallows & Port Arthur Shadows Trail

A 2.7-mile journey through 1830s convict subterranean tunnels, execution drop gallows, and UNESCO World Heritage penal ruins.

Trail Highlights & Verified Encounters

Hobart Historic Penitentiary (The Tench)—built in 1831, processing over 50,000 convicts with an execution scaffold and court tunnels
The Tench Execution Scaffold—site of 32 hangings beneath the convict chapel, including bushrangers and maritime convicts
Battery Point Whalers Cottages & Arthur Circus—1840s stone settlement where whalers and sea captains reported phantom sightings
Port Arthur UNESCO Penal Settlement—Australia’s most infamous penal colony, Separate Prison silent treatment cells, and Isle of the Dead

🧭 Topological Walking Route & Spooky GPS Waypoints

4 Historical Waypoints • 2.7 miles (55 min walking, 4 hours total)

Easy Walking 📈 30m (Derwent River hills and convict sandstone stairs)

📥 Download GPX 📥 Download KML 📥 Download GeoJSON 🗺️ Open Google Maps Walking Directions 🍎 Open Apple Maps Walking Directions

Curated Ghost Walk Waypoints & Historical Depositions

Hobart Historic Penitentiary (The Tench)

📍 34 Campbell St, Hobart TAS 7000, Australia

Commenced in 1831 by civil architect John Lee Archer. Over 50,000 convicts passed through its iron gates. Solitary cells beneath the floorboards retain intense cold spots and auditory phenomena.

						GPS: -42.8795, 147.3312
					

The Tench Execution Scaffold Chamber

📍 Campbell St & Brisbane St, Hobart TAS 7000, Australia

Leg: 0.05 miles inside chapel wing

Constructed beneath the chapel in 1857 after public executions were abolished. Thirty-two people were executed on this working timber gallows, including bushrangers and mutineers.

						GPS: -42.8792, 147.3315
					

Battery Point Arthur Circus Cottages

📍 Arthur Circus, Battery Point TAS 7004, Australia

Leg: 1.2 miles south across Sullivans Cove

A circular green surrounded by 1840s Georgian cottages built for mariners and harbour artisans. Local lore recounts the phantom sea captain who gazes out toward the Derwent estuary at midnight.

						GPS: -42.8912, 147.3345
					

Port Arthur Historic Site & Separate Prison

📍 Historic Site, Port Arthur TAS 7182, Australia

Leg: 60 miles southeast (peninsula connection)

The UNESCO World Heritage site known as Van Diemen’s Land secondary punishment station. The Separate Prison enforced total silence; over 1,000 paranormal logs document apparitions in Cell 4 and the morgue.

						GPS: -43.1465, 147.8512
					

Evening Schedule & Recommended Timeline

afternoon • 1 hr penal-survey

The Tench Convict Chapel & Under-Floor Solitary Study

Explore John Lee Archer’s unique cruciform chapel and claustrophobic punishment cells.

evening • 1.25 hr maritime-history

Battery Point Maritime Whalers Walk

Stroll through Arthur Circus and Kelly’s Steps examining Hobart’s colonial whaling fortunes and dark maritime legends.

night • 1.25 hr gallows-investigation

Tench Underground Tunnels & Execution Scaffold Vigil

Descend into the damp prisoner tunnels connecting the cells to the Supreme Court dock and stand beneath the 1857 gallows trapdoor.

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