Beechworth

Beechworth is a really lovely town – one of our favourite places from our big trip around Australia. It is full of history and wonderful old buildings. We loved the historic precinct where the lovely old court room and other old stone buildings are well preserved today. We spent hours wandering around the town, enjoying it all.

We went to Beechworth on 30 April. We were staying in Wangaratta.

Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia

History

The region is home to a number of First Nation clans. Beechworth was occupied by the Min-jan-buttu people for many thousand years – records indicate there are no remaining descendants of the original clan.

The First Nations people of the region led a semi-nomadic life and followed the seasons, moving in early spring onto the river flats, then onto the open plains where water and food were abundant. From summer onwards they shifted back to the river flats to gather with other local tribes along the river near Albury, to then move into the Alps for the Bogong Moth Feast on the high plains, and then spending summer in the cooler climate of the mountains.

In February-March it was time to return to the warmer lowlands, and the clans would set fire to areas of the high plains to burn dry grasses and ensure regeneration in the following years. Winter was spent in the foothills, where there were natural shelters amongst rocky outcrops and good tree cover.

In terms of British colonialisation, early settler David Reid grazed his stock on what was first named Mayday Hills until the discovery of gold in February 1852. From then, thousands of hopefuls rushed to the alluvial gold fields in search of their fortunes and an exploding population escalated to 8,000.

Miners came from around the world including Europe, UK, USA and Asia. Chinese miners were predominant during the 1860s and continued to form a large part of the population until the gold ran out around the turn of the century. In 1853 the town was renamed Beechworth. By 1867 more than four million ounces of gold had been discovered!

Gold mining camps were also established further afield, as gold was discovered along the nearby rivers and creeks. The primary technique for sourcing the gold was hydraulic sluicing, requiring large quantities of water and impressive structures. Later, this method was replaced by dredging, which was pioneered at Woolshed Creek in the early 1890s. In the following 60 years, sand and gravel pumps and bucket dredges worked the area extensively.

The wealth from the Gold Rush built Beechworth and the nationally significant buildings that still stand. By 1857 more than 20,000 people lived in the area, and with this influx the town developed with the building of numerous churches, banks, schools, shops and hotels along with a prison and hospital.

During the first election campaign in 1855, one candidate, Daniel Cameron, rode a horse shod with solid gold horseshoes. The extravagance of this event is still commemorated today with the annual Golden Horseshoe Festival.

Beechworth is Victoria’s best-preserved gold mining town, with 32 of its buildings listed by the National Trust. We loved it.

To Beechworth

It is a lovely drive south east into the Ovens River Vally. We saw very similar landscapes as we had seen driving the King Valley – thriving agriculture, grapes, lots of trees many in their autumn cloak, and villages. All so pretty.

Close to the road we saw the historic Black Springs, which has been converted to a B&B. The red creeper is amazing.

We spent ages walking around Beechworth – it is a town seeped in history. We are fascinated by it all and Beechworth was quickly becoming oue of our favourite towns. I think it’s quite unusual that so very many buildings have been preserved and maintained. Probably the best we have seen outside the cities of Bendigo and Ballarat. They must have had a sensible council who weren’t as pro-development as some!

Behind the tourist information office we came across Harry Power’s cell at the back of the Town Hall (1859). Between 1863-1870 Power made 7 appearances in the Beechworth Courthouse and spend a lot of time in these holding cells. Power carried out hundreds of armed hold-ups, horse stealing and coach robberies. He is also credited with tutoring a young Ned Kelly – we had read about this a few times. Power spent a long time in prison and was released in 1885. He was quite sick but operated as a tour guide for a while. He died in 1891, ending the era of the bushranger.

We went to the old courthouse built in 1858, which was fascinating. The building served all the judiciary purposes in the Beechworth area until the 1970s (police, mining, general sessions, petty sessions, county court, supreme court and insolvency). It was finally closed in 1989.

It was amazing to see book after book of court records and Government Gazette going back to the mid 1800s.

The holding cells (male and female) were interesting. Ned Kelly was in the cells over 6 days during his Committal Hearing in August 1880. He was 25 years old and suffering from 28 gunshot wounds.

Ned’s mother Ellen also spent time in the holding cells in 1878. She was accused of assaulting a policeman who had come to arrest Dan Kelly. Ellen claimed that the policeman was drunk and made improper advances to her daughter Kate, so she hit him over the head with a shovel. Despite only just having given birth, she got 3 years hard labour. She never saw Dan again (he died when the police set fire to Annie Jones’ hotel to capture the Kelly gang), but was allowed to see Ned before his hanging in 1880. She died in 1923.

There were also a number of framed newspaper reports on matters before the court. Interesting times.

Around the Courthouse are other government buildings – lovely old stone buildings standing the test of time – including the Telegraph Station, The Wardens Office, The Forestry Office and The Chinese Protector’s Office (responsible for the collection of miners rights and business licences). Beechworth is so lucky to have this precinct preserved. Not all were open to the public.

We went up to the prison but could not look inside unless we were on a tour. There were no tours available for another hour or so, so we left it at that. It was interesting to note the solid iron gates which had replaced the original timber gates. The officials feared that when Ned Kelly was held there the locals, many of whom supported the gang, would simply burn the gates down to free him.

After that we walked the town some more.

Near the post office we noticed an old Morris Minor in perfect condition parked in the street. Great to see.

Later we saw an old Holder that had served as an RACV vehicle.

Then, of all things, a Morgan sports – that was my favourite! In beautiful condition. Someone’s been looking after it really well.

We kept walking through its lovely town. We had a nice lunch at the Beechworth Bakery – their fresh bread rolls are delightful. As are their cakes – we had some in Bendigo. I think this was the original shop / bakery but they are now a chain.

We also discovered the chocolate / lolly shop and couldn’t resist some of our favourites.

On the way into town we had seen an amazing gorge just next to the road. So we headed back to see that. We found the Gorge Scenic Drive (4kms) and took that – a narrow road, mostly bitumen and followed the gorge around before crossing the gorge via a bridge. Good views on the drive.

We stopped to look at Spring Creek falls – the Creek drops 150m from the plateau around Beechworth to the old Reds Creek goldfield. We walked down the path, which went down a fair way, until we got to an area where we could clamber over some rocks and look at the falls. There were no signs, but we realised this was the viewing area. It is a very long falls, and the colours of the rocks were fascinating.

Kerry also spied a few little native orchids.

The road took us back up to the plateau where there was a smaller waterfall just near the old Newton Bridge on the main road to the town. It was opened on 1875. The video gives a better appreciation of this – click here.

We left Beechworth passing through streets lined with glorious trees, heading for Yackandandah. It is a lovely 15k or so through some great farmlands.

Yackandandah is another very interesting town. We had spent so much time in Beechworth we were running out of time. So we took a slow drive around town, rather than our usual slow walk.