Castlemaine, Victoria
Castlemaine (/ˈkæsəlmeɪn/ KASS-əl-mayn,[1] non-locally also /ˈkɑːs-/ KAHSS-) is a town in west central Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region about 120 kilometres (75 miles) northwest by road from Melbourne and about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the major provincial centre of Bendigo. It is the administrative and economic centre of the Shire of Mount Alexander. The population at the 2021 Census was 7,506.[2] Castlemaine was named by the chief goldfield commissioner, Captain W. Wright, in honour of his Irish uncle, Viscount Castlemaine.
Castlemaine
Victoria
Built on the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung, Castlemaine began as a gold rush boomtown in 1851 and developed into a major regional centre, being officially proclaimed a City on 4 December 1965, although since declining in population.[3]
It is home to many cultural institutions including the Theatre Royal, the oldest continuously operating theatre in mainland Australia.
History[edit]
First Nations[edit]
Castlemaine colonised the traditional lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung people, also known as the Jaara people. They were regarded by other tribes as being a superior people, not only because of their rich hunting grounds but because from their area came tachylite, a hard glassy volcanic stone valued for weapons and tools[4][5] Early Europeans described the Dja Dja Wurrung as a strong, physically well-developed people and not belligerent. The Jaara people have a rich culture and reverence for the land.[6]
The environmental devastation caused by gold mining from the 1850s was widespread and permanent in the entire district. It extinguished many native plant and animal species in the area, and decimated and displaced the Dja Dja Wurrung,[7] for whom quartz was of value but not the soft gold it contained, and who regarded the resulting destruction as having turned their land into 'upside-down country.'[8][9]
Their vital water sources included non-perennial creeks and associated underground springs. Mining spread contaminants and destroyed the infrastructure the indigenous people created over generations to maximise seasonal drainage patterns; channels and weirs they built out of timber stakes, to slow receding summer flows, were wrecked; water holes where the people gathered in smaller groups during periods of scarce rainfall and from which they transported water in skin bags when moving, were muddied, polluted and drained; the soaks they had dug between banks into sandy sediment to tap into the water table were likewise obliterated. Some of their waterholes in rock platforms of the Creek that they found or enlarged, then covered with slabs to protect them from animals, may still remain, unidentified.[10][7][11]
Europeans[edit]
The first European settlers named it Forest Creek and as the population grew it became known as Mount Alexander. The old name is still present in some place names in Victoria including the Shire of Mount Alexander and the former main road leading to it from Melbourne – Mount Alexander Road. Major Mitchell passed through the region in 1836. Following his discovery, the first squatters arrived in 1837 to establish vast sheep runs.
In 1854, Chief goldfields commissioner, Captain W. Wright, renamed the settlement 'Castlemaine' in honour of his Irish uncle, Viscount Castlemaine.
Discovery of gold[edit]
On 20 July 1851 gold was discovered near present-day Castlemaine (Mt Alexander Goldfields) at Specimen Gully on Barkers Creek. The gold was discovered by Christopher Thomas Peters, a shepherd and hut-keeper on the Barker's Creek, in the service of Dr William Barker on his Mount Alexander run. When the gold was shown in the men's quarters, Peters was ridiculed for finding fool's gold, and the gold was thrown away. Barker did not want his workmen to abandon his sheep, but in August they did just that. John Worley, George Robinson and Robert Keen, also in the employ of Barker as shepherds and a bullock driver, immediately teamed with Peters in working the deposits by panning in Specimen Gully where the gold had been found, which they did in relative privacy during the next month. When Barker sacked them and ran them off his land for trespass, Worley, on behalf of the party "to prevent them getting in trouble", mailed a letter to The Argus (Melbourne) dated 1 September 1851 announcing this new goldfield with the precise location of their workings. This letter was published on 8 September 1851.[12] "With this obscure notice, rendered still more so by the journalist as 'Western Port', were ushered to the world the inexhaustible treasures of Mount Alexander"[13] also to become known as the Forest Creek diggings. Within a month there were about 8,000 diggers working the alluvial beds of the creeks near the present day town of Castlemaine, and particularly Forest Creek which runs through Chewton where the first small village was established. By the end of the year there were about 25,000 on the field.[14][15]
Parks and open space[edit]
Castlemaine has its own botanical gardens, established in 1860, which are on the Victorian Heritage Register.[37] The gardens feature Lake Joanna (an artificial lake), many exotic tree species and structures dating to the Victorian era. The Castlemaine public swimming pool is 50m in length and is located next to the botanical gardens.
The Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park is the first of its kind in Australia. It embraces gold rush relics and bushland. Home to rare and threatened species of both flora and fauna it offers opportunities for bush walking, bird watching, wildlife monitoring and study while providing a bush setting for the township.[38]
Culture[edit]
Library[edit]
Housed in an historic building, the Mechanics Institute at 212 Barker Street in which it was established in 1857, the Castlemaine Library held 4,781 volumes in 1877,[22] and since 1996 has expanded its services and offerings and access to 222,931 items (in 2021–22) as part of the North Central Goldfields Regional Library Corporation which services also the City of Greater Bendigo, Loddon Shire and Macedon Ranges Shire; an area of 12,979 square kilometres.[39] The shire contributes a budget of around $500,000. The Castlemaine branch is the most subscribed of all the NCGRL branches with 53% (10,687) of the Mount Alexander Shire population holding a library card and having used the library over any two-year period.[39] The building, administered and maintained by the shire, also houses the 231-seat Phee Broadway Theatre and a foyer exhibition space.
Castlemaine State Festival[edit]
Since 1976, Castlemaine has biennially been the home of the Castlemaine State Festival. Running for ten days, the festival is one of Victoria's most notable regional arts events. It was originally held over the Melbourne Cup period in November before it lost $130,000 in a clash in 1996 with the October Melbourne Festival instituted by then state premier Jeff Kennett. He compensated in part for its consequent losses with a grant of $41,800.[40] Subsequently, it is now usually held in late March. It offers visual and performing arts and attracts internationally and nationally renowned performers, including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Community[edit]
Wesley Hill Community Market[edit]
The Wesley Hill Community Market operates every Saturday from 9a.m. to 2 p.m. It is located at 149 Pyrenees Highway, Castlemaine, and has over 70 stalls selling a range of merchandise, local products and farmers' products.
The Mill[edit]
The old wooden mill beside Barkers Creek opposite the Botanical Gardens was at one stage a carpet factory
Churches[edit]
As a gold rush town, Castlemaine attracted migrants from all over the world. So in addition to 'established' churches such as the Anglicans, Presbyterians and Roman Catholics, arrivals in the district included Methodists, Baptists and Congregationalists from mining areas in provincial Britain where nonconformist churches were more popular, as well as Lutherans from continental Europe. Initially the churches in Victoria were unable to cope with huge numbers of migrants settling in areas which had been sparsely populated.[44] However a few proactive clergymen set out for the diggings where they were assisted by lay preachers amongst the diggers. Initially they preached in tents and from tree stumps but by 1853 the first rough churches had been built.
There was also a sizeable Chinese population with concomitant joss houses and temples; besides a few artifacts, no structures remain.
Churches to have operated in Castlemaine in order of establishment are:
The Uniting Church was created in 1977 and the local Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational congregations chose to join. Since the Presbyterians had the largest church building, the best hall and largest grounds, the merged denominations met there. The Methodist and Congregational buildings were sold, with the Adventists taking over the former Methodist church and a conservative group that wished to re-establish a distinct Presbyterian service moving into the former Congregational church building over the road from their original church.
Media[edit]
The weekly Castlemaine Mail, which began as the Mount Alexander Mail in 1854, became part of The Midland Express group in 1984 and is still produced.[54]
Community radio station MainFM broadcasts from the old Castlemaine Hospital and broadcasts on 94.9FM.
In popular culture[edit]
The Australian version[56] of the Irish ballad "The Wild Colonial Boy" refers to 1860s' Australian convict John Doolan,[57] who was born in Castlemaine,[58] and who turned to bushranging.[59]
Castlemaine XXXX beer and HMAS Castlemaine were named after the city.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV series Glitch was partially filmed in Castlemaine. The fictional town of Yoorana in which the series is set is located on the western side of (and effectively replaces) Castlemaine, per an onscreen map.