Newcastle City Morgue Echo Spot – Newcastle, Australia - Atlas Obscura
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Newcastle City Morgue Echo Spot

Newcastle, Australia

By standing on a particular paving stone in the courtyard, you'll hear an echo that shouldn't be. 

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Founder of Newcastle’s “This is Not Art” festival Marcus Westbury wrote the spot up for festival goers in a long-lost program of weird and wonderful places to see and experience in Newcastle.

It’s a bit hard to access now; the courtyard has since been fenced in. But sneaking in after dark is a possibility, and if you stand on the right spot on the bricks, the result is a strange sensation that your head is enveloped inside some kind of invisible box. The creepy effect this has on your nerves can be intensified for the squeamish with the knowledge that this used to be the city morgue.

Architectural plans to upgrade the building show that the courtyard will be re-opened upon completion.

The Herald writes: “While the building’s curvy external ’80s aesthetic will remain, the external areas will be upgraded to include a plaza-style entry, landscaping and a repolishing of the stainless steel facade on Watt Street.”

And presumably no sound-sucking weirdness.

Know Before You Go

Courtyard access via Watt Street.

architectural oddities architecture
Community Contributors
ajscully
Added by
ajscully
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Rachel
Edited by
Martin, Cognosis, Rachel
Published
April 11, 2013
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