Tour of the Castlemaine Government Camp Precinct
A unique opportunity to explore the original buildings and landscape of the Castlemaine Government Camp, where the official government in the district began in 1851. Be guided through the history and changing roles of the military, police and volunteers in goldfields administration and protection and explore the 1851-60 buildings and history of the goldfields government precinct.
Buildings remaining in the Government Camp precinct from the gold rush era include the Court House, Military Quarters, the Powder Magazine, and houses then occupied by Sheriff Colles, Gold Commissioner John Bull, Police Superintendent Robert O’Hara Burke, Chinese interpreter Ah Coy and the Powder Magazine Keeper.
Original River Red Gums and Grey Box are scattered throughout the precinct and the original Military Parade Ground, subsequently gazetted as a public recreation reserve in 1895, is ringed by formal plantings of English oaks and elms.
Visitors will have the unique opportunity to see inside some of the original buildings, to be guided through the precinct and to nearby mid-19th century buildings and structures including the old Castlemaine Gaol, the Railway Station, the Drill Hall, Agitation Hill, Sheriff’s Bridge, Howe’s Survey Tree and the Camp Reserve, and to be educated on the police and military history by historians from the Victoria Police Historical Society.
Celebrating 50 years of the Victorian Heritage Register