Talking Point: So much needs fixing at Hobart penitentiary site

ADRIAN JACK: Hobart has one of the finest historical sites in Australia

UNIQUE: The clock in the tower is older than London’s Big Ben.

HOBART has one of the finest historical sites in Australia.

Unfortunately it is being administered by the National Trust Tasmania.

With the amount of name changes it has had over the past four or five years one could be excused for not knowing what I’m talking about.

The site in question is in Campbell St and used to be known as the Penitentiary Chapel Historic Site. It is currently known as the Hobart Convict Penitentiary.

The site has been in use since 1832 in one form or another and was part of the Hobart Convict Penitentiary.

It was a unique building because it was a chapel built in the shape of a T with a clock tower. The clock in the tower is older than London’s Big Ben.

When convict transportation ceased in the mid 1850s the chapel site was altered or recycled into two courtrooms and a prison chapel.

New prison cells were constructed and the prisoners had to attend services each Sunday.

The site was used as courtrooms for well over 100 years, with 32 people sentenced to death by hanging at the on-site gallows.

When the courts became redundant the site fell into disrepair.

Fortunately there was a group of people who got together and started making the site presentable, turning it into one of the best and different tourist encounters available in Hobart.

In order to keep the site working, it was passed into the hands of the National Trust Tasmania.

The past few years have been interesting for volunteers at the site, with some going and few coming.

National Trust management has praised the efforts of volunteers but unfortunately the decision to let go volunteers has made their praise seem empty.

It is a shame that prior to 2016 the National Trust Tasmania decided to participate in the making of the film Pandemonium, which is shown to visitors.

Unfortunately it hasn’t any real relevance to what went on at the site.

The cost of this endeavour was more than $270,000 and the large amount of money was obtained through a grant given by Tasmanian Community Fund.

If only this money had been used on maintenance of the site it wouldn’t be in the condition that it is in now.

The list of things that need to be fixed are numerous. Over the years there has been a strict small amount of money that the site managers have had to spend.

There have been five managers appointed over the past five years.

One can only hope that those who are responsible for National Trust management get their act together and do the right thing for both the site and the dedicated volunteers who were ungraciously told their services were no longer required.

What baffles the volunteers is that the National Trust has lost the combined historical facts — the knowledge of so many experienced volunteers — that they had collected.

Some, if not all, have intimated that this act has put them off future volunteering with any organisation.

Adrian Jack, a clockmaker and former beef farmer, was a volunteer at the penitentiary for about five years. He started his volunteering there by winding the penitentiary clock, then moved into guiding and maintenance.