Street in Castlemaine. The Burke and Wills memorial can just be seen at the top of the hill
Castlemaine's 19th_century post office
Typical 19th_century commercial building in Castlemaine
Castlemaine is a town in Victoria, Australia, in the "Midlands" region about 120 kilometres northwest by road from Melbourne, and about 40 kilometres from the major provincial centre of Bendigo. It has a population of 6,835 (2001 census data), of whom about 8% were born overseas (mostly in the United Kingdom) and 2% of whom speak a language other than English, a pattern typical of much of rural Australia.
It was established during the gold rush of 1851 and was originally named Forest Creek. The name was later changed to Mount Alexander, but the chief goldfield commissioner, Captain W. Wright, renamed the settlement to honour his uncle, Viscount Castlemaine. The old name is still present in the name of a major Melbourne thoroughfare, Mount Alexander Road, which before the establishment of the Calder Freeway was the route to Castlemaine.
After gold mining gradually ceased a number of other secondary industries sprang up. The largest was established in 1905 as the Castlemaine Bacon Company, producing smallgoods. The company is still the area's largest single employer with around 750 employees there. Tourism exploring the gold-rush era buildings, and other attractions including an art gallery featuring a number of fine Heidelberg School works, is also a major source of income for the town.
Castlemaine is a name which is probably familiar to most Australians even though relatively few may have visited the former goldmining settlement.
Castlemaine is located amidst low red hills at the confluence of Barkers, Campbells and Forest Creeks, 119 km north-west of Melbourne via the Calder Highway and 39 km south of
Castlemaine Woollen Company (one of the first large-scale woollen mills in the state) and Thompson's iron and brass foundry and engineering workshops were established in 1875.
Castlemaine, a former market-town, is situated on the harbour of Castlemaine, on the south-west coast of Ireland.
Castlemaine is situated on the north side of the river Maine and lies south-east of the Slieve Mish range of mountains.
The Maine flows into the harbour of Castlemaine, the castle stood over it and projected considerably on the east side; and buttresses of the arch by which it was supported are still remaining, and the stone socket on which the pivot of the castle gate turned is still to be seen.
Feeds |
Contact