Kelly's Steps

Kelly's Steps is a historic flight of stone steps in Battery Point, Hobart, Tasmania, linking Kelly Street on the Battery Point ridge to Salamanca Place at the waterfront. Constructed in 1839-1840 by whaler, harbour pilot and early settler James Kelly, the steps are cut into sandstone and heritage-listed. Notable for their well-preserved colonial stonework, they provide a direct pedestrian link between the historic residential suburb and the former warehouse district and remain a popular heritage walk.

Visitors can expect a short, steep flight of historic sandstone steps cut into the hillside between Battery Point and Salamanca Place. The steps connect the quiet, heritage residential streets of Kelly Street and Arthur Circus above with the bustling Salamanca waterfront below. The setting is urban and historic, with stone retaining walls, heritage houses nearby, and views over Salamanca Place rooftops and the waterfront. Visitors can walk up or down the steps, photograph the stonework, and continue exploring Battery Point or Salamanca on foot.

Constructed in 1839-1840 by James Kelly (1791-1859), whaler, harbour pilot, explorer and early settler of Hobart, to provide direct access between his residence in Battery Point and his warehouses on the waterfront at Salamanca Place. The steps were cut through solid sandstone and remain a rare intact example of early colonial pedestrian infrastructure in Hobart, heritage-listed for their association with Kelly and early maritime development of the port.

Represents early colonial urban planning and maritime heritage of Hobart, illustrating the historic connection between the residential Battery Point community and the working waterfront. Valued as a landmark of Battery Point's historic townscape and as part of the Salamanca-Battery Point heritage precinct visited for its colonial character.