What is Sovereign Hill?
Sovereign Hill is an outdoor museum in Ballarat, Victoria, that recreates life during the 1850s gold rush. It opened in 1970 on an old mining site.
Visitors walk through streets of shops, workshops and houses, where staff in costume show blacksmithing, candle making and gold pouring. The aim is to bring the gold rush to life.
Children and adults can pan for real gold in the creek. Underground mine tours explain how miners worked.
Ballarat's gold rush
Gold was found at Ballarat in 1851, bringing tens of thousands of people. The 1854 Eureka Stockade took place nearby, when miners protested licence fees.
The nearby Gold Museum displays nuggets and coins. Sovereign Hill also offers a night show about the Eureka story.
The museum covers about 25 hectares and includes a Chinese camp, a school and a theatre, giving a broad picture of life on the goldfields. Horse-drawn coaches carry visitors along the main street, and staff demonstrate how gold was smelted into bars. Educational programs bring thousands of school students each year.
Did You Know?
The Welcome Stranger, the largest alluvial gold nugget ever found, was discovered in Victoria in 1869.