Chewton is a town in central Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

in the

Shire of Mount Alexander The Mount Alexander Shire (officially Shire of Mount Alexander) is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central part of the state. It covers an area of and, in June 2018, had a population of 19,514. It includes the tow ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

, 116 kilometres north west of the state capital,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

. At the 2016 census, Chewton had a population of 1313.

History

Prior to European settlement, the Chewton area was inhabited by the

Dja Dja Wurrung Dja Dja Wurrung (Pronounced Ja-Ja-war-rung), also known as the Djaara or Jajowrong people and Loddon River tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people who are the Traditional owners of lands including the watersheds of the Loddon and Avoca riv ...

Aboriginal people, part of the Kulin nation. The first European in the area was the

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

Major Thomas Mitchell on his way to discovering what he termed "

Australia Felix Australia Felix (Latin for "fortunate Australia" or "happy Australia") was an early name given by Thomas Mitchell to lush pasture in parts of western Victoria he explored in 1836 on his third expedition. On this expedition Mitchell was instruct ...

" in 1836–37. Not long after, a sheep station was established by William Campbell, which incorporated the current townsite. Gold was discovered by shepherds on Dr Barker's sheep run at nearby Barkers Creek in 1851, spawning a large

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

. Over 30,000 diggers arrived at Chewton within three months, soon followed by prospectors from around the world, including many Chinese. The town was surveyed in 1854 with land lots being sold the following year (1855). Chewton Post Office opened on 8 September 1857. A Forrest Creek Post Office had opened in 1852, which was replaced by

Castlemaine Castlemaine may mean: * Castlemaine, Victoria, a town in Victoria, Australia ** Castlemaine Football Club, an Australian rules football club ** Castlemaine railway station * Castlemaine, County Kerry, a town in Ireland * Castlemaine Brewery, Western ...

in 1854. The Red Hill Hotel, constructed in 1854 is still standing today. In 1862 a branch of the Oriental Bank opened in Chewton with

Alexander Kerr Alexander John Henry Kerr (2 December 1892 – 4 December 1964) was an English marine engineer and wholesale newsagent. He is best known for his service in the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1916, for which he was awarded the Si ...

as the first manager. By the 1860s the alluvial gold had been exhausted and efforts turned to underground shafts in search of gold bearing

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical f ...

reefs. Underground mining saw the immigration of

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

and Cornish miners and some mines were very successful. The Wattle Gully mine founded in 1876 is still operating today. As gold mining wound down, the population declined to 1,212 in 1891 and 454 in 1933. The stonework supports of the

Garfield water wheel The Garfield water wheel, sometimes referred to as the Forrest Creek Mine water wheel, was a large water wheel used to power a stamper battery at a gold mine near Chewton, Victoria, Australia. Constructed in 1887, the water wheel was used until ...

lie near Chewton. While close to Castlemaine the town still maintains a distinct identity, but is slowly becoming a suburb of greater Castlemaine. Several historical buildings and sites, including the Chewton Town Hall (constructed in 1858) and the Post office (constructed in 1879) are now owned by the Chewton Domain Society, a community group established to manage the properties. The society also produces a monthly community newsletter. For several years, Chewton was host to a

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

festival over the

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

long weekend. In 2007, the festival relocated to nearby Newstead. The former railway station at Chewton closed to all traffic on 16 June 1976.

References

External links

Chewton.net - Community website

Gallery

File:Group of diggers.jpg, Richard Daintree and Antoine Fauchery (circa 1858) A gang of diggers at Forrest Creek, Chewton File:Old Post Office Hill, Forest Creek.jpg, Richard Daintree, Castlemaine gold diggings on 15 January 1858, Forrest Creek File:Chewton_Post_Office_002.JPG File:Chewton_Post_Office_001.JPG File:Chewton_Post_Office_003.JPG File:Chewton_Building_002.JPG File:Chewton_Church_001.JPG File:Chewton_Manchester_House.JPG File:Chewton_Primitive_Methodist_Church.JPG File:Chewton_Anglican_Church.JPG File:Chewton_Red_Hill_Hotel_001.JPG File:Chewton_Terraces.JPG File:Chewton_Town_Hall_2011.JPG File:Chewton_War_Memorial.JPG {{authority control Towns in Victoria (Australia) Mining towns in Victoria (Australia) North Central Victoria Populated places established in 1851 1851 establishments in Australia