For tens of thousands of years the Dja Dja Wurrung Aboriginal Clans have lived in this area and across a broad part of country now called Central Victoria.
In 1836 Major Mitchell, the Surveyor-General of the Colony of New South Wales, crossed the Murray River and explored the country south of it. In September Mitchell journeyed through the places that later became Castlemaine and Chewton. He wrote in glowing detail of all he saw, creating an overland trail for land squatters to follow with their sheep and cattle.
In September 1851, just two months after gold was first unearthed in Victoria at Clunes, it was announced that gold had been discovered near Mount Alexander by sheep-herders on Dr. Barker's pastoral run. More gold was found in nearby creeks and gullies. The gold rush was on! Men and women made the journey, often on foot, from great distances to these rich alluvial goldfields.
One month later the Colony of Victoria sent a Commissioner for Goldfields to establish a government office and camp at Forest Creek. As the diggings grew, in January 1852 the Commissioner's Camp moved to near the junction of Barker and Forest Creeks, in the area that became Castlemaine. It's the place where the football oval is now, called Camp Reserve, opposite Christ Church, with Barkers Creek flowing between.
The Commissioner's Camp issued the licenses to dig, and its soldiers policed the diggings, fining or imprisoning in harsh overcrowded conditions those without a license. On the paper license, in the fine print, was: “It is enjoined that all Persons on the Gold Fields maintain and assist in maintaining a due and proper observance of Sundays.”
Ministry to the diggers
On 2 November 1851, the Church of England minister at Kyneton, the Rev. Sullivan, came to the goldfields to preach in the open air to the ‘diggers’. He preached on “For what profiteth a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul …” (Matt. 16:26). A Church of England bush missionary, Rev. J.H. Gregory, arrived several weeks later to minister on the goldfield.
News of the gold rush spread across the world, with ships full of people hoping to find their fortune arriving at Port Phillip from late 1851 onwards. An estimated 14,000 gold-seekers in December 1851 increased by March 1852 to 25,000 living in canvas tents and digging along the creeks for gold in the 20 mile stretch of goldfields known as the Mount Alexander Goldfield.
First church building
March 1852 saw Bishop Perry of Melbourne visit the goldfield, preaching from a stump at Forest Creek (now Chewton) and later in an old wooden storeroom at the Commissioner's Camp in Castlemaine. This room was the first Church of England 'church' in Castlemaine, shared with other denominations. In 1852 Church of England minister, Rev. John Cheyne was travelling fortnightly from Geelong to lead Sunday worship there in the Camp.
Agitation Hill
The hill opposite the Camp was known as Agitation Hill because diggers and store-keepers gathered there to protest against the injustices of expensive mining licenses and the corruption and brutality of the officials and soldiers of the Commissioner's Camp.
The township of Castlemaine was proclaimed in January 1853, and streets were laid out. The new Colony of Victoria mandated that town planning include space for churches of the major Christian denominations: Church of England, Catholic, Presbyterian, and Wesleyan (Methodist). Land between Forest and Mostyn Streets, on Agitation Hill opposite the Camp, was granted to the Church of England (much later re-named Anglican).
Christ Church Castlemaine
In 1853, Rev. Cheyne took up full time ministry in Castlemaine. He and his family lived in a tent set up by the congregation where the Church Hall now stands. In their tent-home his wife Anne gave birth to their daughter Cecilia the following year. By 1855 a parsonage, a school room and a temporary building used as church were completed. On 27 February 1854, Bishop Perry laid the foundation stone for the new Church. It took four years to build as the ground was unstable and foundations subsided. Eventually finished and named Christ Church, it was consecrated on the 21 February 1858. The visually striking sanctuary and fine organ were added in 1892.
St John's Chewton
St John’s Church was built around 1858 in Chewton, the small town that emerged in the early 1850s amidst the tent-dwelling gold diggers at Forest Creek and Golden Point. Many years later (1970) St John's Chewton joined with Castlemaine Parish.
In 1859 the Mount Alexander Mail reported that “nearly two hundred persons sat down to a handsome repast provided by the ladies of the congregation” of St John’s Chewton. This “soiree” was held in the Masonic Hall to enable all to fit in comfortably. Bishop Perry was both guest and chair of the meeting. Rev. Gilbertson, the vicar of St John’s Parish, “was glad to say that the attendance at the church had latterly increased, and that the people were growing in earnestness and spirituality.”
The gathering heard that St John's was running two schools: 62 children attending the Sabbath School and 56 at the Day School. The Mail reporter noted, "Bishop Perry said the scene before him afforded a remarkable contrast to that exhibited on his previous visit seven years ago. Then there was no place of worship near Castlemaine, and he had held service on the mining camp ground. In the afternoon he preached on the hill on which the church now stood, from the stump of a tree. He congratulated them on their improved moral, social, and religious condition."
With thanks to:Trove and Mount Alexander Mail; Robyn Annear, Nothing but Gold;
Esma L. Carr, The Anglicans on Agitation Hill; Geoff Hocking, Castlemaine: From Camp to City;
Marjorie Theobald, The Accidental Town; and Castlemaine Library.
In 1836 Major Mitchell, the Surveyor-General of the Colony of New South Wales, crossed the Murray River and explored the country south of it. In September Mitchell journeyed through the places that later became Castlemaine and Chewton. He wrote in glowing detail of all he saw, creating an overland trail for land squatters to follow with their sheep and cattle.
In September 1851, just two months after gold was first unearthed in Victoria at Clunes, it was announced that gold had been discovered near Mount Alexander by sheep-herders on Dr. Barker's pastoral run. More gold was found in nearby creeks and gullies. The gold rush was on! Men and women made the journey, often on foot, from great distances to these rich alluvial goldfields.
One month later the Colony of Victoria sent a Commissioner for Goldfields to establish a government office and camp at Forest Creek. As the diggings grew, in January 1852 the Commissioner's Camp moved to near the junction of Barker and Forest Creeks, in the area that became Castlemaine. It's the place where the football oval is now, called Camp Reserve, opposite Christ Church, with Barkers Creek flowing between.
The Commissioner's Camp issued the licenses to dig, and its soldiers policed the diggings, fining or imprisoning in harsh overcrowded conditions those without a license. On the paper license, in the fine print, was: “It is enjoined that all Persons on the Gold Fields maintain and assist in maintaining a due and proper observance of Sundays.”
Ministry to the diggers
On 2 November 1851, the Church of England minister at Kyneton, the Rev. Sullivan, came to the goldfields to preach in the open air to the ‘diggers’. He preached on “For what profiteth a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul …” (Matt. 16:26). A Church of England bush missionary, Rev. J.H. Gregory, arrived several weeks later to minister on the goldfield.
News of the gold rush spread across the world, with ships full of people hoping to find their fortune arriving at Port Phillip from late 1851 onwards. An estimated 14,000 gold-seekers in December 1851 increased by March 1852 to 25,000 living in canvas tents and digging along the creeks for gold in the 20 mile stretch of goldfields known as the Mount Alexander Goldfield.
First church building
March 1852 saw Bishop Perry of Melbourne visit the goldfield, preaching from a stump at Forest Creek (now Chewton) and later in an old wooden storeroom at the Commissioner's Camp in Castlemaine. This room was the first Church of England 'church' in Castlemaine, shared with other denominations. In 1852 Church of England minister, Rev. John Cheyne was travelling fortnightly from Geelong to lead Sunday worship there in the Camp.
Agitation Hill
The hill opposite the Camp was known as Agitation Hill because diggers and store-keepers gathered there to protest against the injustices of expensive mining licenses and the corruption and brutality of the officials and soldiers of the Commissioner's Camp.
The township of Castlemaine was proclaimed in January 1853, and streets were laid out. The new Colony of Victoria mandated that town planning include space for churches of the major Christian denominations: Church of England, Catholic, Presbyterian, and Wesleyan (Methodist). Land between Forest and Mostyn Streets, on Agitation Hill opposite the Camp, was granted to the Church of England (much later re-named Anglican).
Christ Church Castlemaine
In 1853, Rev. Cheyne took up full time ministry in Castlemaine. He and his family lived in a tent set up by the congregation where the Church Hall now stands. In their tent-home his wife Anne gave birth to their daughter Cecilia the following year. By 1855 a parsonage, a school room and a temporary building used as church were completed. On 27 February 1854, Bishop Perry laid the foundation stone for the new Church. It took four years to build as the ground was unstable and foundations subsided. Eventually finished and named Christ Church, it was consecrated on the 21 February 1858. The visually striking sanctuary and fine organ were added in 1892.
St John's Chewton
St John’s Church was built around 1858 in Chewton, the small town that emerged in the early 1850s amidst the tent-dwelling gold diggers at Forest Creek and Golden Point. Many years later (1970) St John's Chewton joined with Castlemaine Parish.
In 1859 the Mount Alexander Mail reported that “nearly two hundred persons sat down to a handsome repast provided by the ladies of the congregation” of St John’s Chewton. This “soiree” was held in the Masonic Hall to enable all to fit in comfortably. Bishop Perry was both guest and chair of the meeting. Rev. Gilbertson, the vicar of St John’s Parish, “was glad to say that the attendance at the church had latterly increased, and that the people were growing in earnestness and spirituality.”
The gathering heard that St John's was running two schools: 62 children attending the Sabbath School and 56 at the Day School. The Mail reporter noted, "Bishop Perry said the scene before him afforded a remarkable contrast to that exhibited on his previous visit seven years ago. Then there was no place of worship near Castlemaine, and he had held service on the mining camp ground. In the afternoon he preached on the hill on which the church now stood, from the stump of a tree. He congratulated them on their improved moral, social, and religious condition."
With thanks to:Trove and Mount Alexander Mail; Robyn Annear, Nothing but Gold;
Esma L. Carr, The Anglicans on Agitation Hill; Geoff Hocking, Castlemaine: From Camp to City;
Marjorie Theobald, The Accidental Town; and Castlemaine Library.
Sabbath at Forest Creek -Bishop Perry Preaching
Artist: J.A.Gilfillan.
Engraved & printed, Illustrated London News, 1853
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St John's Chewton - as it was in 1858 and still continuing. Photograph, 2019
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