A research group led by Charles Sturt University is behind a new website to be unveiled on Thursday 10 March at 12.30pm that showcases the social history of the historic Mayday Hills Mental Hospital and Beechworth Cemetery.  

The Mayday Hills Project saw the creation of a website that offers drone footage, artifacts and stories from staff, patients, families, and Beechworth residents which records the significant sense of place the Mayday Hills Mental Hospital and Beechworth Cemetery played in the history of Victoria.

The project is a collaboration between Telematics Trust which provided seed funding support and Charles Sturt University which provided technology and web content from participants in the research.

A particular highlight for visitors will be the availability of virtual tours, accessible through the website, which creates an interactive experience as if the viewer was walking through the grounds of either site.

 Associate Professor Jennifer Munday in the Charles Sturt School of Education leads the research group behind the project. The team intends to continue adding to the site, enriching it with further outcomes from their research.

“This project will be particularly relevant to people interested in the historic town of Beechworth,” Professor Munday said.

“It will be of particular value to those with connections to Mayday Hills and Beechworth but live too far away to travel to the site.”

Professor Munday said that it was important to note that the former Mayday Hills Mental Hospital also received patients from all over Victoria and beyond.

This is a free event and participants can attend from 12.30pm on Thursday 10 March, via the following options:

• In person, at the Mayday Hills Art Society at Mayday Hills, Kurrajong Way in Beechworth
• Via a live Zoom webinar

Please email Associate Professor Jennifer Munday jmunday@csu.edu.au to indicate your interest in attending the webinar on Thursday 10 March from 12.30pm.

ENDS