Ballarat's Gold History and Culture

Ballarat is a city with a direct link with one of the most exciting periods in the history of Australia – the Gold Rush Era.

In August 1851, gold was discovered at Poverty Point. Soon, what had been a peaceful green valley echoed to the discordant sounds of a gold rush. Trees were felled, the area was stripped and clear streams ran yellow with mud as thousands of fortune-hunters flocked to Ballarat from across the world.

Lured by the promise of prosperity, Ballarat’s diggers carved out a rough-and-ready community. Then as mining became established, men brought their families to Ballarat. Tents were traded for weatherboard cottages and the community became more settled. Advanced technologies of steam, transport and industry were imported and before long a truly ‘modern’ city emerged.

Ballarat has a powerful legacy of artistic and cultural endeavour. The great prosperity brought by the gold rush obviously helped and today you see it in the bold streetscapes lined with classic architecture and the statues donated by the city’s founders.

Art, culture and heritage seem to weave together seamlessly. The mythology and history of the Eureka flag are as captivating today as they were 150 years ago. You can learn about its making at the Eureka Centre and see the original in the lovely Fine Art Gallery.

Sovereign Hill is something else. This wonderful open-air museum recreates aspects of Ballarat as it was in the heydays of the 1850s and 1860s. Part of its charm is the attention to detail everywhere. You can search for gold in Red Hill Gully Creek. Take a tour of the Gold Mine and a train ride to the surface or adventure into the dark and dangerous world of deep lead mining.

The highlight is the evening performance of Blood on the Southern Cross. This spectacular sound and light show presents the drama of the 1854 Eureka Rebellion. You won’t forget it.

Chill out next day at Lake Wendouree and the Botanical Gardens. This invaluable heritage and recreational resource can be enjoyed by everyone. There are enough attractions here to keep you occupied for many hours.

Quick Tips:

Sovereign Hill represents conditions on Ballarat’s early goldfields. The terrain can be uneven and slippery. When visiting, wear practical walking shoes, keep to paths and observe warning signs.

Smoking is not permitted within Sovereign Hill. You may smoke in the car parks.

Photography is not permitted in the mines at Sovereign Hill, during performances in the Victoria Theatre or at Blood on the Southern Cross.

If you have the time, buy a Ballarat Eureka Pass. You get two days of unlimited entry to explore Sovereign Hill, the Gold Museum, the Eureka Centre and the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery. Passes can be purchased at any of the attractions.

There is a walking/cycling track around Lake Wendouree which is worth taking. At six kilometers in length it is not for the fainthearted.

Don’t miss the Prime Minister’s Avenue in the Botanical Gardens. Here you will find a bust of every Australian prime minister since federation.

You can see a replica of the second largest gold nugget ever found in the world (69kg) at the Gold Museum. It was found in 1858 and was sold to the Ballarat Treasury for 10,500 pounds.

Best Way To Get Around:

The central city is laid out in a grid pattern making it easy to negotiate on foot on by car. To explore this area you need to walk and admire the great architecture, sculptures and history on show.

To reach Sovereign Hill, the Eureka Centre and Lake Wendouree, you need a vehicle. Each attraction is about two kilometers from the central city but they are in different directions. There are taxis, rental cars or sightseeing tours. Driving in Ballarat is relatively easy even for those used to driving on the right as roads are wide and traffic is disciplined.

Sovereign Hill is a living museum representing Ballarat’s first golden decade following the discovery of gold in 1851. It is great. The museum is set outdoors on 25 hectares at the site of one of the world’s richest gold rushes, which proved to be a turning point in Australia’s development.

The attraction is set on a hillside overlooking Ballarat’s earliest gold diggings. Great attention to detail ensures that Sovereign Hill really does provide a glimpse of the vigour and excitement of life on the goldfields.

I found that there was plenty for me to do and looking around I saw families, singles, couples, and groups all enjoying themselves in various ways. It really seems to be a place for all ages and interests.

I recommend you first head for Main Street. Here there are working shops, a hotel, and a theatre, all based on original Ballarat businesses. You can see goldfields tradespeople in action and take a ride around the township in a coach or open carriage. Check out the blacksmith forging unique ironware, the confectioner making boiled sweets, and the tinsmith producing scone cutters and lanterns.

You can dress in period costume for a fun souvenir poster, have your own poster printed at the Ballarat Times, or dip your own candle at the candle works.

Now head to Red Hill Gully Creek where you can pick up a gold pan and search for gold. I found a few traces but decided that it was better to see the real thing at the smelting works where you can watch $50,000 worth of molten gold poured into a gleaming bar.

Next it was on to the Red Hill Mine where I did the 12-minute self-guided tour. This inspired me to book on the fully-guided Gold Mine Tour (extra cost). It was quite an experience to journey deep underground and see the conditions that the miners worked under. The tour concludes with a train ride to the surface.

After all this it was time to eat so I headed back to Main Street. It was a difficult choice deciding between the Hope Bakery, the Universal Transit Office, the United States Hotel Bar, or the New York Bakery. The latter with its café-style menu and table service won out.

We watched the Redcoat soldiers at 1.30pm, the musket firing at 3pm, and in between spent some time fascinated by the steam-powered machinery. Finally we went across the street to the Gold Museum where we took a journey beginning with a gold coin struck in 350BC for Philip of Macedon and ending in Ballarat. There is an ‘Inspired by Gold’ exhibition, a Gold Pavilion and a gift shop.

Sovereign Hill opens daily from 10am to 5pm except Christmas Day. Admission prices are A$35 adult, A$16 children, and A$90 for a family of two adults and up to four children.

There is no doubt in my mind that Blood on the Southern Cross is one of the best sound and light shows in the world. As you are transported back 150 years and physically move around the site, the events dramatically come to life and you feel part of the action in a way I have felt at no other production around the world.

The Eureka Stockade of 1854 was a defining moment in the development of democracy in Australia. Blood on the Southern Cross tells the dramatic story of the Eureka Uprising by Ballarat's miners against unjust and corrupt colonial rulers. It is an explosive multi-million dollar show that is like nothing you have seen before.

The show is set across Sovereign Hill's 64-acre site. Under the stars, on moonlit diggings, audiences are surrounded by the action and, ultimately, caught in the crossfire as the battle rages. It involves no actors – just voices, dazzling sound and light effects, and a stunning open-air set.

You can experience the miners’ disgust at unfair gold taxes and witness the dramatic burning of the Eureka Hotel. Then, listen to Governor Hotham’s reasoning for a dawn attack on a band of men who were the first to swear an oath of loyalty on Australian soil to a flag that was not British – the flag of the Southern Cross.

The production features state-of-the-art lighting and amazing special effects. Rebellion leader, Peter Lalor, is larger than life on an aqua screen. Images of trapeze artists and acrobats fly across a huge circus tent. The Eureka Hotel bursts into flame, a runaway wagon causes chaos in the camp and rain falls in a blinding storm.

The experience starts in a small theatre, moves on to the campsite then ultimately you are transported to a comfortable seated area overlooking all the action. You are finally taken back to the Main Street where the only live actor in the whole production addresses the crowd from the upper balcony of the hotel.

Blood on the Southern Cross runs for 90 minutes, seven nights a week. Special packages are available that include entry to Sovereign Hill, dinner and accommodation at the Sovereign Hill Lodge. The show costs A$43 adults and A$23 children, Sovereign Hill day entry and show is A$73.50 adults, A$35.50 children.

Try to pick a night when there is no rain because a significant part of the experience is outdoors. Warm, casual clothing with flat comfortable shoes is the way to go.

Over a million visitors have experienced this dramatic show and I’m sure most go away thrilled and invigorated. My reaction was I wanted to know more, so first on my list next day was the Eureka Centre.

The Eureka Centre occupies pride of place at the Eureka Stockade site in suburban Ballarat. It is home to the Ballarat Visitor Information Centre. The state of the art center, under its gigantic Eureka Flag, employs a range of multi-media technology to bring the Eureka rebellion story vividly to life. It is very successful.

The rebellion came about because the goldfield workers (known as 'diggers') opposed the government miners' licences. Licence fees had to be paid regardless of whether a digger's claim resulted in any gold.

In 1854 there were about 25,000 diggers on the Ballarat goldfields. Law and order on the goldfields was enforced by the Gold Commission's police force which was later reinforced by a garrison of soldiers.

Official corruption was another concern for the diggers. This issue came to a head after a group of men beat to death a drunken Scottish digger. The group included local publican James Bentley. Bentley was a friend of the local magistrate and he escaped prosecution, as did three other men from the group.

This led to the diggers meeting to try to bring the men to justice. After the meeting a crowd of diggers burnt Bentley’s Hotel to the ground. Soon after three diggers were arrested and charged with arson for their part in setting fire to the hotel.

Later, 10,000 diggers met to demand the release of the three diggers, the abolition of the licence and the vote for all males. This was followed by an even larger meeting where the diggers decided to publicly burn their mining licences. At this meeting the famous Southern Cross flag, which was to become known as the Eureka Flag, was displayed

A day later another mass burning of licences took place at a meeting on Bakery Hill. Under the leadership of Peter Lalor, the diggers then marched to the Eureka diggings where they constructed the famous stockade - a makeshift wooden barricade enclosing about an acre of the goldfields.

The Government was forced to act and troops and police stormed and ransacked the Stockade on the morning of December 3rd 1854. Twenty-two diggers and five troops were killed.

At the Eureka Centre there are five exhibition galleries, a theatrette and a contemplation space. Outside there are the 1880s monument, the 2004 Eureka Circle and an adventure playground. The exhibition is well worth seeing and a highlight is a court room set up as it was during the trial of the miners. Incidentally, they were all found not guilty at their trial.

The Centre has a gift shop (with several sizes of Eureka flags) and a coffee shop as well as the tourist information centre.

I was really impressed by this place. Clearly this, the first regional gallery in Australia, has moved with the times. The building, collection, and attitude of staff is great. This would have to be one of the most enticing introductions to the visual arts that you could get.

The gallery is exciting. The building shows the opulence of Ballarat’s marvellous 1880s. The collection is one of Australia’s most significant collections of national art. There is an excellent holding of the famous Heidelberg school paintings. This was the first significant art movement in Australia. An evolving nationalism led painters like Tom Roberts, Fredrick McCubbin and Arthur Streeton to unashamedly paint the Australian landscape in an effort to capture something of the essence of their land.

The gallery has a stunning collection of 20th century modernists. I don’t particularly like this style of painting but works by Nora Simpson, Grace Cossington Smith, and Margaret Preston are acknowledged as progressing this movement. Margaret Preston, who is represented here, studied art in Melbourne and Adelaide before travelling to Europe prior to the First World War. She was not only a leading proponent of Modern Art in Sydney but was also one of the first to advocate the incorporation of aboriginal designs and motifs into mainstream art practice.

A Gallery highlight is the Lindsay Collection. This captures the essence of one of Australia’s most eccentric and accomplished artistic families. Norman Lindsay presented the Gallery with a painting and the comment, “I would have to confess ingratitude to the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery if I did not return something tangible from the great stimulus it was to me as a boy. It is hardly possible to estimate the cost of such a stimulus of such an institution to any community”. There is a remarkable recreation of the entire Lindsay family’s lounge room from their home in nearby Creswick. I found this fascinating.

Undoubtedly, the Gallery’s crowd-puller is the original Eureka Flag. Anyone who has seen Blood on the Southern Cross or visited the Eureka Centre will want to see this. It is housed in its own gallery under special subdued lighting and it certainly has a magic about it.

The Gallery opens 9am to 5pm daily except Good Friday and Christmas Day. Admission is adults - A$5, concession and seniors card holders - A$2.50 and children under 16. There is a gift shop and restaurant within the complex.

Lake Wendouree is an artificially created and maintained shallow urban lake near the center of the city. Since 1864, when a rowing course was first cut through the reedy swamp, it has been carefully nurtured by council and public spirited citizens. Unfortunately, due to drought, the water level has fallen considerably so boating use is currently restricted.

Nevertheless, the Lake still has much appeal. As an urban oasis for passive recreation it can provide solitude to refresh the soul with its tranquility and ever-changing light on the water. The mature trees provide shade and a magnificent treeline across the water. It is a healthy and biodiverse ecosystem which provides habitat and island sanctuaries for wildlife. The rowers, sailors, canoeists, sail boarders, and those just messing about in boats all enhance the visual richness of this lovely area. Vintage tram rides are available on weekends.

Located on the western shore of the lake, the Ballarat Botanical Gardens is an invaluable heritage and recreational resource to be enjoyed by residents and visitors. This is one of Australia's most significant cool climate gardens. It contains a remarkable collection of mature trees and marble statues set among colourful bedding displays.

Don’t miss The Statuary Pavilion which houses a fine collection of marble statuary, the result of the Thompson Bequest. Charles Summer's Flight from Pompeii is an elegant reminder of Ballarat's wealth of the 1880s. Then move on to the striking glass Robert Clark Centre which was made possible by an A$2million bequest from the grandson of Mr Robert Clark, the co-founder and proprietor of the Ballarat Courier newspaper. The two components are The Conservatory and the Resource Centre. Ballarat's world famous tuberous begonia collection is displayed here to coincide with the annual Begonia Festival held in March.

The nearby Prisoner of War monument was undoubtedly a highlight for me. It has been designed by well-known sculptor Peter Blizzard with the intention to provide ex-prisoners of war, their descendants, visitors, and future generations with a reflective experience where they can pay homage to those who endured so much in past wars.

The POW monuments' design uses the basic idea of a journey through and an experience of time and place. The start of the pathway is long and straight heading off into the shape of railway sleepers, a reference to the Burma Railway. Running parallel to the pathway is a polished black granite wall, 130m long etched with the names of all the Australian POW's. Standing in a reflective pool are huge basalt obelisks up to 4.5m high with the names of the many POW camps. I found visiting here a very moving experience.

Then we came to the Olympic area. When Melbourne hosted the 1956 Olympic Games, Lake Wendouree was the rowing venue. It is a good thing that it is not being held at the moment.