Britannia Hotel - Carisbrook, Victoria

Britannia Hotel, Carisbrook, Victoria

Small, historic goldmining town Carisbrook is a very pleasant little town of several hundred people located 159 km north-west of Melbourne between Castlemaine and Maryborough (7 km to the west). A former goldmining town it possesses some fine old bluestone buildings.
Carisbrook derives from an early pastoral run which was named in honour of the squatter's daughter Caroline. The Simson brothers, who later took up runs in the area, made a great deal of money in the 1850s by collecting tolls from diggers travelling between Castlemaine and Maryborough. The township also arose on the backs of this through-traffic which was in need of facilities and supplies.
In 1854 the population was around 100. It became a borough in 1857. A goldrush attracted some 15 000 diggers to Majorca, just south of Carisbrook, in 1863.

Court House Hotel - Talbot, Victoria

Court House Hotel, Talbot..Victoria

Talbot is small historic town situated in central Victoria between Ballarat and Maryborough. Gold was discovered around Talbot around 1855 surging the population to 15,000 overnight. Many hotels sprung up in the town including the Court House Hotel built in 1861 being the only one still operating today.

 Many of the buildings still existing in the town were built during the 1860s and 1870s. During the late 1880s the mines began to close and the population slowly started to drift away. The return of soldiers from the First World War saw an acceleration of this drift. With no established industries left, the town today is only a shadow of the town born during those early days of 1860. However, Talbot still has an interesting story to tell to any visitors.