Draft:Landsborough, Victoria, Australia
Landsborough, Victoria, Australia
Landsborough is a small country town in Western Victoria at the foothills of the Pyrenees Ranges. With exciting beginnings as a thriving Gold Field[1], the small town now is still rich with historical buildings and remnants of the golden time gone by[2]. The town serves as a respectable agricultural wine grape growing area and plays as a valuable hub for the tourism of the Pyrenees mountain range.[3]
The postcode for Landsborough is 3384[4] and the town has public transport links[5]. The commercial resource towns around Landsborough are Stawell, Ararat, St Arnaud, Avoca and Maryborough.
In the 2021 Australian census, Landsborough showed a population of 200 residents.[6]
Landsborough has a Memorial Recreation Reserve that contains a Gate of Remembrance[7], a Community Centre[8], Tennis Courts[9], Netball courts, and a Football oval (Once the home to the mighty Landsborough Hawks).[10] The Town has a Caravan park, resource centre[11], Swimming Pool[12], Playground, Cemetery[13], Golf Course[14], CFA Fire Station[15], Police Station[16], Hotel[17], General Store and Winery Cellar Doors[18].
Golden Beginnings- The Rise and fall
The year was 1856 and like much of The Central Victorian Goldfields of the time, the search was on by people from all over the world for gold. Gold was discovered in the area and a rush was made on the then named "Malakoff Lead". The name likely came from the battle of Malakoff that happened in Crimea in the previous year. As the years went on a significant discovery of gold was made once again in 1862 which cemented the formation of the town that at time had 8000-9000 residents. The name Landsborough comes in dedication to William Landsborough who was an explorer who travelled through the area in search for explorers Burke and Wills.[19]
The Landsborough primary school was opened in 1860 for the growing town and the Landsborough mounted police had a prisoner lockup, that is still on display, by 1862. A newspaper of the time, Bailliere’s Victorian gazetteer (1865), stated that Landsborough had several hotel establishments, a brewery, a quartz battery, an insurance office and a bank.[20]
A progress committee pushed for release of land for farm selections and soon after 1880 the ore was running low and agriculture was coming up as a secondary industry. The Catholic church was constructed in 1887. By 1901, the police added a Mounted Police Stables which is also still on public display.[21] According to Landsborough's description in the 1903 The Australian Handbook, the description of the town says that it is chiefly of agricultural and pastoral character with a population of 300 people.
The Anglican church was constructed in 1904 and then 1914 brought along the Landsborough train station that operated until 1954. A ornate Catholic presbytery was constructed in 1917. The grand Public Hall with 3 arches at its entrance was constructed in 1922. The general store that still operates today was opened in 1924. [22] Mixed agriculture, Timber Milling and vineyards operated until the Wool Boom of the 1940's that all but suppressed all operations outside of Sheep grazing and grain farming.[23]
The tourism pit-stop of the Pyrenees Ranges
Landsborough is located half way along the Pyrenees Ranges which is popular for many types of sports and interests. In 2003, a pop-up city was formed at the back of the towns memorial recreation reserve as the hub for the Tom Quilty Gold Cup.[24] There is also many other events like Motorbike trail riding[25], 4 wheel driving[26], Bird watching[27], Hiking[28], Mountain bike riding[29], and Bush Doof Rave events[30].
The Gold in the Glass- Wine
Landsborough's terroir is decomposed quartz loam soil with a dry, cooler climate – very good conditions to grow premium quality wine grapes.
With a history of some grape growing prior to 1940, the wine grape boom of the town truly kicked off in the 1990s. Business man Andriji and his wife Joyce Horvat came from Croatian heritage and moved to Landsborough in 1980 to develop a high quality winery. Farmers in the area did not agree with Andriji's vision but in 1994 when Southcorp rolled in to plant 400 acres of Syrah Vines, he knew it was time to bring his dream to light.[31] Since then many other wine grape vineyards have stepped into town including the famous Michel Chapoutier whom established his bio-dynamic 50 acre Tournon block in 2007. [32]
- ^ Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (2019-07-30). "History of gold mining in Victoria". Resources Victoria. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Directory". Royal Historical Society of Victoria. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Visit the Pyrenees Wine Region Victoria today! Only 2hrs from Melbourne". Visit Pyrenees. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Find a Post Office, street posting box, Parcel Locker or Parcel Collect location". auspost.com.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ Victoria, Public Transport. "King St/Landsborough-Elmhurst Rd". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "2021 Landsborough (Vic.), Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics". abs.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Landsborough Memorial Park Gates | Monument Australia". www.monumentaustralia.org.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Other Community Venues". www.pyrenees.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ TennisVenues.com.au. "Landsborough Tennis Club". www.tennisvenues.com.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Landsborough - Lexton Plains Football League". GameDay. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Landsborough Community Resource Centre and Caravan Park Playground". www.pyrenees.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Home". www.landsboroughswimmingpool.com.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Landsborough Cemetery in Landsborough, Victoria - Find a Grave Cemetery". www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Landsborough Golf Club". www.golf.org.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Contact". www.cfa.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Landsborough Police Station". www.police.vic.gov.auundefined. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Landsborough Hotel". Visit Pyrenees. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "About". horvatvino.com.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Directory". Royal Historical Society of Victoria. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Landsborough | Victorian Places". www.victorianplaces.com.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Landsborough & District Historical Group". Victorian Collections. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Landsborough | Victorian Places". www.victorianplaces.com.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "About". horvatvino.com.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ Admin, AERA (2021-11-09). "Tom Quilty Gold Cup". The Australian Endurance Riders Association Inc. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Frasers Trail Bike Visitor Area". https. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ Unsealed 4X4 (2018-11-12). "So you think Victoria's top tracks are in the High Country?". Unsealed 4X4. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Bird List - Pyrenees, Victoria, Australia - eBird". ebird.org. 2024-10-10. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ Outdoors, Explore (2022-03-16). "Pyrenees Endurance Walk". Explore Outdoors. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Tourism in the Pyrenees". www.pyrenees.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Royal Doof Outdoor Music Festival at Pyrenees Ranges (Victory Valley) on 6 Jun 2009". Last.fm. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "About". horvatvino.com.au. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ "Tournon Landsborough Vineyard Grenache – M Chapoutier Australia". Retrieved 2024-10-11.