Sofala is a village in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia, north-west of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, within

Bathurst Regional Council Bathurst Regional Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Central West, New South Wales, Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is located adjacent to the Great Western Highway, Mid-Western ...

. It is located beside the

Turon River Turon River, a perennial stream that is part of the Macquarie catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the central western district of New South Wales, Australia. Partly situated in the Turon National Park, the river is host ...

. Sofala is just off the Bathurst-Ilford Road, with only local traffic through the town itself. At the , Sofala had a population of 208.

History

Sofala came about as a direct result of the

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, ...

which had been triggered when

Edward Hargraves Edward Hammond Hargraves (7 October 1816 – 29 October 1891) was an Australian gold prospector who led an expedition in the Macquarie River region of New South Wales in 1851, and publicised the resulting finds, starting the New South Wales ...

discovered gold at Summerhill Creek on 12 February 1851. By June of that year, thousands of people had set up mining operations in the valley, and both the Royal Hotel and a

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

were built in 1851 to handle the increased demand. Initially, gold was found in the area known as Gold Point on the

. When the

alluvial gold Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit mining or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment. Placer mining is frequently used for precious metal deposits (particularly ...

ran out, activity switched to

quartz reef mining Quartz reef mining is a type of gold mining in "reefs" ( veins) of quartz. Quartz is one of the most common minerals in the Earth's crust, and most quartz veins do not carry gold, but those that have gold are avidly hunted by prospectors. In the ...

. The town was a centre of opposition to the gold licensing system in New South Wales at the time. A considerable number of the miners were Chinese. Sofala Public School was established in 1878. There was an Anglican church and a Catholic convent. The Convent opened in 1872 and closed in 1909, although it was a church until 1970. The Gas Hotel was one of the first two hotels licensed, in 1851. The Royal Hotel was established in 1862. There were two other hotels in 1866, the Sofala Inn and the Barley Mow. The Barley Mow had a

Cobb & Co Cobb & Co was the name used by several independent Australian coach businesses. The first company to use 'Cobb & Co' was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name grew to great prominence in the late 19th century, ...

booking office. Now a private residence, the Post and Telegraph Office, built in 1879, operated until 1989. Attractions today include the gold-rush-era Sofala Royal Hotel and the old

gaol A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cri ...

. Sofala is reportedly the oldest surviving gold-rush town in Australia. Small-scale gold workings are still active in the area, with prospectors using

metal detectors A metal detector is an Electronic instrumentation, instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. A metal detector consists of a control bo ...

gold pan Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

s, and

sluice box Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit mining or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment. Placer mining is frequently used for precious metal deposits (particularly ...

es to recover small quantities of gold.

Popular culture

Russell Drysdale Sir George Russell Drysdale (7 February 1912 – 29 June 1981), also known as Tass Drysdale, was an Australian artist. He won the prestigious Wynne Prize for ''Sofala (Drysdale), Sofala'' in 1947, and represented Australia at the Venice Biennal ...

's painting ''

Sofala Sofala , at present known as Nova Sofala , used to be the chief seaport of the Mwenemutapa Kingdom, whose capital was at Mount Fura. It is located on the Sofala Bank in Sofala Province of Mozambique. The first recorded use of this port town w ...

'', a depiction of the main street of the town, won the

Wynne Prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...

for 1947. The 1974

Peter Weir Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born 21 August 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He is known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), '' Gallipoli'' (1981), '' The Y ...

film ''

The Cars That Ate Paris ''The Cars That Ate Paris'' is a 1974 Australian horror comedy film, produced by twin brothers Hal and Jim McElroy and directed by Peter Weir. It was his first feature film, and was also based on an original story he had written. Shot mostly in ...

'' was filmed in the town. Village scenes in the 1994

John Duigan John Duigan (born 19 June 1949) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. He is mostly known for his two autobiographical fiction, autobiographical films ''The Year My Voice Broke'' and ''Flirting (film), Flirting'', and the 1994 film ' ...

film ''

Sirens Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology that lured sailors to their deaths. Places * Si ...

'' were also filmed in Sofala. A noted business is Finglinna Studios, which supplies stained glass to churches and other public buildings.

Access

* From Bathurst, Sofala is around 50 km north along the sealed Bathurst-Ilford Road; from Sydney, around 30 km from Ilford.

Heritage listings

Sofala has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Brucedale, 1361 Sofala Road: Grave of Windradyne * 216 Main Road, west of Sofala: Bridge over Turon River at Wallaby Rocks * The Gold Commissioner's Residence, 11 Denison Street Sofala:

Attractions

* Prospecting * Authentic Gold Rush era establishments e.g The Sofala Royal Hotel (est.1862) * Walk along the Turon River * Cycle * Historical walks and tours * Riverside campsites * Old Gaol museum/café/accommodation * Turon Technology Museum * Tanwarra Lodge luxury accommodationTanwarra Lodge
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References

External links

{{authority control Towns in the Central West (New South Wales) Central Tablelands Australian gold rushes Mining towns in New South Wales