Old Relics and Ruins Central Victorian Goldfields

Another touring trip looking for old relics and ruins to photograph through the Central Victorian Goldfields. A wonderful legacy of the gold mining era has been left behind in beautiful Architecture of the old public buildings, churches in town such as Castlemaine, Maldon, Creswick, Kyneton, Malmsbury. Clunes, Ballarat, Smeaton, Newstead.

Sadly there is not a lot left of some of the old ruins but each had it's own character, in it's own setting so we made the effort to photograph each one we found. Some were old homesteads, mills, mine buildings, wells, bridges.

Long forgotten Cemetery

Chewton

Jubilee Primitive Methodist Church c1816

 Chewton is another of the old gold mining towns in central Victoria an hour drive north of Melbourne on the Pyrenees Highway. Chewton is a very charming old gold mining village with many of the old historic building of that era remain today. One being Red Hill Hotel built in c1854 a hotel with a lot of history including a cellar which served as a local jail and morgue.

Old building long since loved

The smallest Town Hall in Australia c1860

Red Hill Hotel c1854

Old shops

Old Portable Police Lock-up c1860's

Cottage

Old Independent Chapel c1857

In dis-repair

No one's home

Malmsbury Central Victoria

Old St Mary's Church at sunrise

  I loved our trip through Malmsbury, it was a return trip for me although it was a very long tome ago I used to visit there. The Malmsbury area was originally settled in 1837 as a sheep station but the area soon developed  as a travelers stop on the banks of the Coliban river. Where it is said that travelers would set up camp to await a safe crossing of the river on their way to the goldfields of the north around the 1850's. Malmsbury area is know for it's deposits of blue stone and was used in the construction of many buildings and bridges locally and throughout Victoria. One local construction was the Coliban River viaduct, built in 1859 for the Melbourne to Bendigo railway. Being 149 metres long with five arches, it is one of the most substantial engineering structures built in the 1800's. The Bridge today has been classified by the National Trust.

Malmsbury Viaduct, early morning

The stone Mansions' at Malmsbury built as a hotel and adjoining shops C1872, replaced the original building that burnt down in 1872.  It closed as a hotel in 1914 and was later used for accommodation amongst other things.  

The Mansions now sits idle

Blue stone station buildings

 Malsmbury Railway station was built in c1862, it is historically significant  as it is one of the earliest stations built in Victoria it is a heritage listed site.

Blue stone cottage

Old road house