Wentworth Mausoleum walking tour
Putting W.C. Wentworth to rest
A tour to the Wentworth Mausoleum at Vaucluse House
Join us for a walking tour to the rarely opened Wentworth Mausoleum and learn about William Charles Wentworth’s extravagant 1873 state funeral.
Your tour will start in the grand drawing room at Vaucluse House and journey to the rarely opened Wentworth Mausoleum – the final resting place of William Charles Wentworth. Hear stories and listen to commentary from the colonial newspapers about the details of this great event.
William Charles Wentworth was a talented and outspoken lawyer and politician. Although himself ‘a man of immoral life and lowest origins’, he was part of a new generation of Australian-born colonists determined to break down the social and civil barriers that divided free settlers from the convict-stained. He campaigned strongly and relentlessly for civil rights, particularly representative government and the right to trial by jury. Led by an expert Visitor Interpretation Officer, find out more about his life in this fascinating tour.
Members get more: Enjoy presale and a 20% discount off all tickets.
This is an outdoor event and will proceed in wet weather, except in extreme conditions. Please dress appropriately. As this event is a walking tour, a reasonable level of fitness is required.
You are welcome to explore the house and gardens before or after the tour.
Vaucluse House
![Vaucluse Bay, Port Jackson, NSW](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/zl9du87e/production/28a09ddb156b0f9100831170e870f5caa2167a11-2000x1318.jpg?fit=max&auto=format)
Convict Sydney
Harbourside Gothic: The convict origins of Vaucluse House
Its architectural style is not all that is gothic about Vaucluse House. Discover the dark history of the house’s first owner, Henry Browne Hayes
![Dairy, Vaucluse House](https://images.slm.com.au/fotoweb/embed/2023/11/4d10ad09c42e4cdcb9d6d4961d0f3b31.jpg)
The coolest room in the house
What practical techniques can we learn from historical building design to minimise heat and energy consumption in our homes today?
![Horticulturalist Stephen Goldsworthy planting seedlings in the kitchen garden](https://images.slm.com.au/fotoweb/embed/2023/11/e58320510f5a4938bec69abcdd22b37a.jpg)
Conservation
Vaucluse House kitchen garden
The Vaucluse House kitchen garden recently underwent a significant rejuvenation project to preserve the site and allow it to continue to be used as a valuable educational resource
![Photo of the Wentworth mausoleum with tabled light coming through the trees](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/zl9du87e/production/107d26959d047bb11c2d96bc2a75176b8ae230e0-2048x1152.jpg?fit=max&auto=format)
Wentworth Mausoleum perimeter fence conservation
MHNSW is undertaking the first comprehensive conservation works to the fence surrounding the 1870s resting place of William Charles Wentworth