Ghosts in Toodyay
Toodyay is known across the Avon Valley for its ghost stories. Founded as Newcastle in 1860 after floods forced the town onto higher ground, it grew up around convicts, bushrangers, busy country pubs and a flour mill that later powered the town.
Generations of people have passed through those same buildings, and locals say a few have never quite left. A crowd of ghostly guests is said to gather on one hotel staircase, a murdered nun is said to haunt a cellar well, and a shopkeeper is still said to be doing her morning rounds with a cup of tea.
These stories are local folklore handed down by residents and visitors, not proven fact, so read them with an open mind, then go and see the buildings for yourself.
Newcastle Gaol: Where Toodyay's Darker Spirits Are Said to Linger
Newcastle Gaol is where Toodyay's ghost stories turn darker. Convict labour built it in the 1860s and it held prisoners until the early 1900s, so its walls have seen plenty of hard times. Locals call it ground zero for the town's more malevolent spirits, and unlike the pubs there is no single famous ghost here, just a reputation that has followed the building for decades. The gaol is also tied to the legend of Moondyne Joe, the convict-turned-bushranger who broke out of Toodyay's lock-up in 1861, kept escaping for years and died in the Fremantle asylum in 1900. His ghost is said to haunt the Mahogany Inn near Mundaring, where he supposedly hid in the attic from police. Inside the museum, the Native Cell, where Aboriginal prisoners were once held in chains, is described by the Shire itself as "a genuinely haunting and memorable experience".
Victoria Hotel: The Spirit Who Objects to Renovations
The Victoria Hotel has been serving Toodyay since 1888, though the building began in 1864 as a store. Over the years it has been a ballroom, a billiard saloon, a meeting place for the local Light Horse Regiment, and the scene of at least one runaway licensee who fled to Tasmania with the safe's money in 1937. With that many comings and goings it is no surprise the stories have stuck. Locals say its resident spirit is Ted Leighton, who is said to appear in winter and to stir up disturbances whenever parts of the hotel are renovated or changed. The building is being restored by its current owners, so if Ted has opinions, now is the time to listen.
The Rec: The Ghostly Ball on the Staircase
The Rec has had many names. It opened in 1861 as the Newcastle Hotel, became the Freemasons' Hotel a year later (nothing to do with the Freemasons, it simply avoided confusion with another Newcastle Hotel in town), then the Toodyay Hotel, and today is The Rec. In more than 160 years it opened its private well to the whole town when the town well ran dry in 1869, hosted a luncheon for the Governor in 1908, and welcomed countless publicans and patrons, which means a lot of people have come and gone and a lot of stories have been left unfinished. Several ghosts are reported in and around the building, but the most famous gather on the main staircase: up to 17 figures on the landing, "all dressed in their evening ball finery". Nobody knows why they gather there. Visitors on the stairs sometimes notice the scent of lavender and rosemary, linked to a woman seen holding the herbs. Upstairs, outside one room, there is said to be an occasional smell of burning feathers. The story goes that a man died in a fire there after smoking in bed on a feather mattress.
Toodyay Manor: The Nun in the Well
Toodyay Manor was built in 1862 as the Newcastle Hotel and has since been the Newcastle Tavern, the Lavender Cafe and the Toodyay Tavern before becoming the boutique hotel it is today. Its most chilling story belongs to the well beneath the dining room. Legend says a businessman was having an affair with a local nun and promised to take her away, until she discovered he was already married. He killed her, the story goes, and threw her body down the well. Reports point to Rooms 8 and 10 as the hot spots, with Room 10 called the most haunted, and an old woman is said to roam the corridors. Nobody can say whether she is the nun.
Connor's Mill: Voices from the Upper Floors
Connor's Mill was built in 1870 for storekeeper Dan Connor as a steam-driven flour mill. From 1917 it became the town's power station, and it kept Toodyay's lights on until 1955. Over the years many families made their homes on the upper floor, and the stories say not all of them have moved out. Noises and voices are reported from upstairs, sometimes loud enough to carry out to the main road. There is no named ghost here, only sounds with no one to account for them.
Constance Ellory: The Shopkeeper Still Doing Her Rounds
Toodyay's friendliest ghost is said to be Constance Ellory. In the early 1900s she worked in the old shoemaker's shop on the main street, arriving by horse and buggy. She would make tea, then call at every shop with a cup and saucer in hand to wish its owner "Good morning". She never married and always dressed in a long black skirt, white blouse and lace-collared top. Constance died in the 1950s, but she is said to be seen "both day and night", still making her rounds. If a woman in old-fashioned dress wishes you good morning, you may have met her.
Toodyay’s Graveyards: Where the Early Stories Are Buried
Every ghost story starts somewhere, and in Toodyay a lot of them start in the cemeteries. Toodyay doesn’t have a famous haunted graveyard, and we won’t pretend it does. But the early settlers, convicts, soldiers and children buried around the valley left stories that are just as haunting, and some visitors say the quiet in these places feels different.
Nardie Cemetery sits beside the Avon River on land once leased by the Reverend Charles Harper. In 1840 his infant daughter Isabella died, and he held a simple service and buried her on the property. That small grave became Nardie Cemetery, one of the district’s earliest burial grounds. Many of the headstones are now worn smooth, and some of the earliest graves are said to be those of very young children.
Further along, Culham’s St Philip’s church, the second-oldest active Anglican church in Western Australia, is still surrounded by an active churchyard. It was built on land donated by the Phillips family in the 1850s, and it is a peaceful place to stop for a quiet walk. Toodyay’s public cemetery holds many of the town’s oldest families and the people whose names still appear on local streets and buildings.
If you walk these places, go slowly and read the stones. The stories here are not told by spirits, but they may be the best ghost stories in town.
Toodyay’s ghost stories are really stories about the people who lived, worked and passed through these buildings, and that is part of why they have lasted. Whether you believe them or not, the best way to enjoy them is to see the buildings for yourself.
Take a slow walk along Stirling Terrace, step inside the old gaol, listen for voices at Connor’s Mill, and perhaps stay the night in town. If you have a ghost story of your own from Toodyay, please get in touch through the Contact page.