Hepburn Springs - Culture and History

Prior to European settlement the area is thought to have been occupied by the Djadja Wurrung Aborigines. The town is named after Captain Hepburn who passed through the area during an overland trip from Sydney to Port Phillip in 1836-37. Impressed with what he saw he took up land here in 1838.

Alluvial gold was found on the townsite in December 1851. Thousands arrived the following year at the 'Jim Crow Diggings' and a town began to accrete. As the alluvial gold ran out, a new camp, with many Chinese diggers, was established at Breakneck Gorge in 1859.

At the peak of the goldrush there were many Italians and Swiss living here and their influence on the gardens and architecture has been profound; bestowing upon the town a European feel. Moreover, the prosperity of the gold days has left a legacy of substantial buildings (and abandoned mineshafts), including some guesthouses which display paraphernalia associated with the town's early days.

However, the town is best-known for the odourless, effervescent mineral water which emanates from its many springs (hand pumps are scattered around town, dispensing the water free of charge). This natural resource was discovered during the goldmining of the 1850s, although the mullock heaps which emerged from the goldmining activity curtailed the flow of some springs. This led to the formation of a committee in 1868 which cleared up the site. The dual attraction of the waters and the picturesque setting saw the town became a fashionable spa resort, particularly when the railway arrived in 1881. Local residents offered visitor accommodation while guesthouses, bungalows, luxury hotels with orchestras and formal dinners, ballrooms, theatres, pavilions and baths emerged to service the clientele.

The resort fell out of favour in the Great Depression. However, since the early 1980s interest in the town and the local waters have revived. Consequently, the spa complex has been restored and extended and it is now visited each year by thousands of people from a great range of social backgrounds.

In conjunction with the adjacent town of Daylesford, with which it is closely interconnected by urban sprawl (combined population: 5500), Hepburn Springs is known as the 'Spa Centre of Australia' with 50 % of the country's known and active mineral water outlets and another 30 % located nearby.

There are a number of annual events associated with Hepburn Springs-Daylesford. The main festival is the Swiss-Italian Festa; a celebration of the town's Swiss-Italian heritage which is held on the last weekend in May. The Opera By The Lake Festival is held in February while Chill Out, a gay-lesbian event, is held on the weekend after the long weekend in March. There is an arts-and-crafts festival on the weekend after Easter, the Begonia Festival is held at Daylesford in March, the Midwinter Festival throughout July, the Agricultural Show on the last Saturday in November and the Daylesford Highland Gathering takes place on the first weekend of December. The New Year's Eve Gala is also a major local event.