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A MUSEUM featuring memorabilia of the Kelly Gang, including their guns, has opened at Beechworth.
The Ned Kelly Vault was unveiled at the former sub-treasury building in Ford Street by respected Kelly biographer Ian Jones on Saturday.
Matt Shore, who co-curated the collection, said a table from the siege at Glenrowan was a highlight of the display.
“The Kelly Gang were going to derail a train and the train was delayed,” he said.
“Ned decided that all the hostages at the Glenrowan Inn would have a dance and play games.
“The table was put out the front on the veranda and they waited for the train to arrive.”
The table was saved from the front of the pub, which burnt to the ground.
“It’s just amazing,” Mr Shore said.
“There are five or six photographs from the time where you can see the table.
“It can connect you to the siege and there’s nothing really from the story that has survived.”
The items on display will be rotated, which Mr Shore said would keep the vault “fresh and interesting”.
Several recreations of the iconic Kelly armour — including the suit worn by Mick Jagger in the 1970 film Ned Kelly — were on display.
The unveiling was part of the annual Ned Kelly Weekend, which ran from Friday to yesterday.
The event featured a re-enactment of the infamous bushranger’s arrival at the Beechworth Railway Station, bank robbery, and trials, street theatre and a walking tour.
Indigo Council mayor Bernard Gaffney said many of those attending had grown Kelly-style facial hair for the weekend as part of a competition.
“I saw more people with beards on Saturday than I’ve ever seen before,” he said.
“It’s got to be of large economic benefit to the town and the region.”
The weekend commemorates the committal hearing of Ned Kelly at the Beechworth Courthouse in August 1880.
Several thousand people attended the festivities.