Sovereign Hill is located near the town of Ballarat which lies North West of Melbourne and was one of the earliest area where gold was first discovered in Victoria. Ballarat is famous for the battle of the 'Eureka Stockade' where the miners rebelled against the harsh penalties and taxation forced on them by the government of the day, the cost of a license to mine gold called a 'Miners Right' making it almost impossible for the miners to make ends meet. The rebellion was quickly quelled but it did force the government to drop the price of a miners license to a level where they could make some sort of a profit.

The main street of Sovereign Hill as it stood in the heady days of the Gold Rushes. The whole town is still a working town, the mine still produces gold, there is a bakery, pottery, candle factory, bank and a chemist shop, all of which ply their trade week long for the tourists. The stage coach runs to a regular timetable every day and leaves from the front of the hotel.

Please go to Sovereign Hill 2...