Sovereign Hill gold mining town
Sovereign Hill township recreates life on the Ballarat goldfields in
the 1850s – 60s. There are more than 60 buildings including a blacksmith,
milliners, confectionery store, Victoria Theatre, Hope Bakery, United
States Hotel (saloon), a potter, furniture makers, a wheelwright, tinsmith,
cottages, a church, a Chinese temple and a school. A creek winds through
the diggings, with miners tents, sluicing equipment and horse-drawn
machinery on its banks.
Many of the buildings house working businesses, with shopkeepers, tradespeople and strolling players dressed in 1850s costumes. Special activities take place in the streets each day, including musket firing, protests over miners’ licences and musical entertainment. Uniformed troopers patrol the streets and visitors can pan for gold in the creek, ride in a horse drawn coach, sample lots of home-baked goodies and explore a large multi-media presentation that portrays the journeys taken by many who flocked to the goldfields, and the life they found there.
Groups of students come from schools around Australia to spend a day or two at the diggings, attending the schoolhouse for lessons and experiencing the daily routines of the 1850s.
'Blood on the Southern Cross'
'Blood on the Southern Cross' is a thrilling sound and light spectacular that recreates events on the night of the Eureka uprising. This multi-million-dollar live performance is staged nightly at Sovereign Hill during Summer.
You can spend the day exploring the Sovereign Hill township, then enjoy dinner there in an historic restaurant or hotel before the show. As the sun sets and the show begins, you witness the events that took place around the diggings. Then a tram takes you into the surrounding countryside to follow the tragic battle and its consequences.
Case Notes - The story of the miners at the Eureka Stockade
