Article: Some of Australia’s Most Chilling Locations.

25 Nov Article: Some of Australia’s Most Chilling Locations.

Australia is a country blanketed with history. Every road, every rock, every street name, every building; it all stems from something that once was before it became the country that we know today. Letting the history of our great and ever changing home go unnoticed is simply doing ourselves an injustice as well to those who endured the pain of the past. Follow along as we take a dark journey through the untold history of Australia.

 

Monte Cristo Homestead, Junee

The Monte Cristo Homestead was built in 1884 by local pioneer, Christopher William Crawley, who opened the hotel for the influx of tourists that crowded the town when the first Junee railway station was opened. Mr. & Mrs. Crawley both died in the Junee home, and the theories that lingered with their lives on earth, spoken of by the people of Junee, soon became historic stories.

Numerous vicious events that allegedly took place within the walls of the Monte Cristo lead to the deaths of some of the homesteads employees. Sightings of a woman in a period gown have been spoken of numerous times, expected to be a maid that threw herself off the top balcony of the hotel, plunging to her death. It is said that the maid was pregnant to Mr. Crawley, and that his wife pushed her from the top balcony. On the staircase below remains a bleach stain, the only remnants left that tell the story of the maids tragic ending.

Another story states that a caretaker was shot to her death in the hotel by a boy who was inspired by the movie Psycho. It is believed that this very woman chained a mentally disabled man to a wall for 40 years and to this day visitors can even see the worn out chains in the manor.

The most supernaturally active part of this homestead, however, is said to be the stables out the back of the property, where a boy burned to death after his mattress was lit on fire when he called in sick from work (apparently).

 

Z Ward of Glenside Hospital 

Construction of the Z Ward section of Glenside Hospital in Adelaide began in 1885, opening its doors not long after in 1887 to home its first patients. The facility was specifically built to hold South Australia’s most criminally insane, those who were too violent or mental for the typical prison life. It was run like a maximum-security prison, with the construction of the building focusing more so on preventing escapes. This section of Glenside Hospital was originally known as L Ward, but authorities were quick to change the name once it became known as ‘Hell Ward’.

Z Ward at Glenside Hospital is now opened for tours and ghost hunts, and being one of the most chilling locations in Australia, the energy and entities that stay residing in the facility are sure to give visitors a show.

According to an online blog written by ‘Amys Crypt’, who spent the night in Z Ward, a former resident of the facility was found dead in cell 14, which has always remained a mystery. The cause of death was a stab wound to the chest inflicted from a needle but authorities could never figure out whether it was a deliberate crime or if the patient took it upon himself. It is said that the patient shared the cell with six other men.

Within Z Ward, there is a specific room known as the ‘Mirror Room’, where apparitions are said to be seen standing behind visitors when they look into the mirrors. Reports state that people can feel breath blowing onto their faces when they are in the room, with others experiencing the sensation of something brushing against the back of their neck and through their hair.

Visitors are given the opportunity to be shut inside of a cell, on their own, in the dark for five minutes straight. People have been known to feel nauseous, dizzy, faint, and as if someone was sharing the cell with them during the five minutes. Dark apparitions are known to lurk within the abandoned cells, those of who may be the former criminal patients kept inside.

Upon exploring the building, muffled voices and laughter can be heard in various rooms throughout the facility, with footsteps coming from above, and the sound of people running loudly across the floor boards. There is also reported to be a female who is always eager to communicate with the living, believed to hate men due to poor mistreatment during her time at the facility. When ‘Amys Crypt’ and the other members of the ghost hunting group (only one male included) spent time trying to communicate with the woman the EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) captured the voice of the woman saying “Get up”. When asked if she was talking to the male, she responded with “Leave”.

 

Aradale Mental Hospital

Aradale Asylum (also knows as the Ararat Lunatic Asylum) was an Australian psychiatric hospital based in Victoria which was commissioned to accommodate the states criminally and mentally insane for over 126 years, with a reported 13,000 deaths during its time of service. Construction of the building is said to have began in 1860 and was opened for patients in 1865, holding up to 900 patients a year at one point. This is the most haunted location in all of Australia.

In the J-Ward sector of this hospital George Fiddimont, known to be the last governor, was taking a group of people around the building (which was originally a gaol) on a guided tour when he suffered a terrible heart attack and died at the foot of the stairs. It is said that George Fiddimont’s distinct hobnailed boots can be heard walking up and down the stairs where he passed.

George Leondieu was sent to Aradale in the 1950’s due to suffering from delusion and deep seated paranoia which made him believe everyone was out to get him. Although George was known for being a very dangerous man, other patients in the ward would make sexual advances upset him even more, resulting in George actually murdering one of the men that took part in the advances. It is said that his apparition can be seen in the building, and is known to launch at visitors if provoked. It is warned to only approach the soul with caution.

A man by the name of Henry Morgan was hanged at the site of the asylum for the cut throat murder of a 10-year-old girl along with another morbid act. It is said that his remains were buried on the grounds of what now is known to visitors as J-Ward.

 

St John’s Orphanage

St John’s Orphanage was opened up in 1905 by ‘The Sisters of Mercy‘ and the Catholic Church, and operated for around 71 years before is closure in 1976. For the first 7 years of the facilities service it housed both boys and girls before St Josephs House of Prayer was opened and the orphanage was split. The boys remained in the St Johns Orphanage, and the girls were then housed in the St Josephs House of Prayer.

St John’s Orphanage is known mostly for the prominent mistreatment and enslaving of the young boys that were housed in the facility. With grim stories circulating the orphanage long after its closure.

A report posted online via a paranormal investigation team states that upon entering the chapel of the orphanage the aura of what feels like a Priest can be felt along with fluctuation in the rooms temperature. Voices could be heard, with the words ‘smith’, ‘shell’, and ‘below’ picking up on the teams monitor, along with spikes on their electronic devices used to measure energy. An independent member of the team grew aggravated with the presence of the Priest through a growing understanding of what the man subjected the orphans to. It is said that the member had to be held down due to wanting to attack the entity.

A medium named Trina visited the orphanage with paranormal investigator Nic Hume and was greeted by a young boy by the name of ‘Mikey’, who was detailed as timid at first but eventually came forward after noticing the toys that the team had provided on a table in the building. Mikey lead the investigators outside to where the hospital is located, and when the investigators looked through a window they saw a ‘shell’ which resembles one of the words picked up in the Chapel. This is supposedly where Mikey passed away.

 

Wolston Park Hospital

Wolston Park Hospital is known to be the largest, longest, and oldest running mental hospital in all of Australia. The facility opened in in 1865 and was named the Woogaroo Luntaic Asylum up until 1880, where it was then changed to Goodna Mental Health Hospital before taking on its last and final title of Wolston Park in 1959. In 2001, the hospital was closed and underwent redevelopment construction before re-opening under the name ‘The Park Centre for Mental Health Treatment, Research & Education.’

It is believed that a lot of the patients who were homed at the Wolston Park Hospital did not suffer from any sort of mental issues, however still had to endure the torture that came with being trapped in the hospital. Harrowing stories still haunt the decaying building, both of the treatment of its patients and of the lingering spirits of those who didn’t survive.

Explorers who have visited the building speak of different experiences, with some reporting hearing footsteps running along the timber flooring above them … Though the floorboards do not remain. Others talk about the voices that they hear in different parts of the facility, and the sensation of being grabbed by the shoulders or by the air.

A review on the The Park Centre’s google profile mentions an eerie experience whilst visiting the abandoned site, saying that although they arrived as skeptics, they left believing that something quite evil was lurking through the walls of the building. “On separate accounts we both felt hands grab us by the shoulder,” they wrote.

“I don’t care weather you believe me or not but trust me, DO NOT GO IN THERE ALONE OR AT NIGHT!!! There is something extremely evil there [sic].”

 

If only walls could talk…

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

Staveley, J. (2019). 1,200 patients buried in a mass grave: Inside Sydney’s haunted Gladesville Mental Hospital.. [online] Mamamia. Available at: https://www.mamamia.com.au/gladesville-mental-hospital/ [Accessed 3 Nov. 2019].

Petrovski, N. (2017). Gladesville Mental Hospital – Where Thousands of Dead Were Thrown in Unmarked Graves – Abandoned Spaces. [online] Abandoned Spaces. Available at: https://www.abandonedspaces.com/hospital/gladesville-mental-hospital-where-thousands-of-dead-were-thrown-in-unmarked-graves.html [Accessed 3 Nov. 2019].

Sibthorpe, C. (2017). We tried… Staying a night in ‘Australia’s most haunted house,’ the Monte Cristo Homestead in Junee. [online] The Canberra Times. Available at: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6035138/we-tried-staying-a-night-in-australias-most-haunted-house-the-monte-cristo-homestead-in-junee/ [Accessed 3 Nov. 2019].

Aradale.com.au. (2017). Aradale, Lunatic Asylum. [online] Available at: https://www.aradale.com.au/ [Accessed 3 Nov. 2019].

En.wikipedia.org. (n.d.). Aradale Mental Hospital. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aradale_Mental_Hospital [Accessed 7 Nov. 2019].

Hume, N. (n.d.). ST JOHNS FOUNDLING ORPHANAGE. [online] Appighosthunts.com. Available at: https://www.appighosthunts.com/uploads/7/7/4/4/7744052/st_johns_foundling_orphanage_by_nic_hume.pdf [Accessed 7 Nov. 2019].

Wang, J. (2018). 13,000 deaths in 130 years: Ararat Lunatic Asylum is the most haunted place in Australia.. [online] Mamamia. Available at: https://www.mamamia.com.au/ararat-mental-asylum-australias-haunted-building/ [Accessed 9 Nov. 2019].

Centenary Today. (n.d.). As Urban Explorers Probe Rotting Wolston Park Hospital, Victims Continue to Cry for Justice – Centenary Today. [online] Available at: https://centenarytoday.com.au/victims-cry-justice-wolston-park-hospital/ [Accessed 10 Nov. 2019].

En.wikipedia.org. (n.d.). The Park Centre for Mental Health. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Park_Centre_for_Mental_Health [Accessed 10 Nov. 2019].

White, N. (2017). Notorious asylum Wolston Park Hospital is now a decaying shell. [online] Mail Online. Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4166178/Wolston-Park-Hospital-decaying-shell.html [Accessed 11 Nov. 2019].

Crypt, A. (2018). Z WARD, GLENSIDE – VISITING ADELAIDE’S HAUNTED INSANE ASYLUM. [online] Amyscrypt.com. Available at: https://amyscrypt.com/adelaide-z-ward/ [Accessed 25 Nov. 2019].

Crypt, A. (n.d.). Z Ward. [online] Atlas Obscura. Available at: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/z-ward [Accessed 25 Nov. 2019].