Bendigo, Victoria

Location of Bendigo in Victoria (red)

Bendigo is a regional city in central Victoria, Australia, located in the City of Greater Bendigo. It has a steadily growing urban population of about 86,000 people which places it as the fourth largest urban centre in Victoria after Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat. The municipality covers an area of 3000 square kilometres and includes Bendigo, Marong, Lockwood, Lockwood South, Ravenswood, Sebastian, Elmore, Heathcote, Maiden Gully, Lake Eppalock, Axedale, Goornong, Raywood and Huntly, which encompasses a total population of almost 100,000.

History

The area was originally known as Bendigo's Creek, named for an employee on a local property who was nicknamed "Bendigo" after the famous English prize fighter William "Bendigo" Thompson. The area was settled in 1851, proclaimed a municipality in 1855, a borough in 1863 and a city in 1871. The town was officially known as Sandhurst, after a town by the same name in England, but the name Bendigo was restored in 1891.

Bendigo grew as a result of gold mining in the mid to late 19th century. Bendigo actually produced much more gold than rival town Ballarat but there were fewer small miners. The mines were deeper and the culture was more corporate than Ballarat.

Features

Rosalind Park featuring statuary and flanked by ornate Second Empire style buildings.

Architectural Heritage

As a legacy of the Gold boom Bendigo has many magnificent ornate buildings built in a late Victorian colonial style, contributing to a picturesque "French" cityscape.Many buildings are on the Victorian Heritage Register and registered by the National Trust of Australia.Prominent buildings include the Bendigo Town Hall (1859, 1883-85), Post Office, Law Courts (1892-96), Shamrock Hotel (1897), Institute of Technology and Memorial Military Museum (1921) all in the Second Empire style.

Bendigo's Sacred Heart Cathedral (1896-1908; 1954-1977) is one of the largest in Australia.

Fortuna is a large surviving Victorian mansion.

Many other examples of Bendigo's classical architecture rank amongst the finest classical commercial buildings in Australia and include the Colonial Bank building (1887) and former Masonic Hall (now performing arts centre) (1873-74).

Bendigo's Joss house, a historic temple was built in the 1860s by Chinese miners and is the only surviving building of its kind in regional Victoria which continues to be used as a place of worship.

The historic Bendigo Tram Sheds and Power Station (1903) now house Bendio's tramway museum.

The Queen Elizabeth Oval still retains its ornate 1901 grandstand, built by Peter Hunt Building Incorporated.

Bendigo Courts behind a garden taken on 9 October 2005.

Parks and Gardens

The central city is skirted by Rosalind Park, a Victorian style garden featuring statuary and a large blue stone viaduct.

The main entrance corner of the park is on the intersection known as the Charing Cross, formerly the intersection of two main tram lines (now only one). It features a large staue of Queen Victoria. The Charing Cross road junction features the large ornate Alexandria fountain (1881) and is built on top of a wide bridge which spans the viaduct. The park elevates toward Camp Hill, which features a historic school and former mine poppet head.

Further from the city is Lake Weroona, a large ornamental lake, adjacent to the Bendigo Botanical Gardens.

Industry

Bendigo is growing rapidly, whilst small surrounding rural towns (such as Elmore, Rochester, Inglewood, Dunolly) are in steep decline. The 2005 Bendigo Council Annual Report indicated about 13% of the workforce are employed in manufacturing.

Tourism

Bendigo "talking tram". It is a tourist tram rather than regular public transport

Tourism, based on the old gold industry, is important and includes prominent attractions such as the Central Deborah Goldmine , Discovery Science and Technology Centre and the Bendigo tramways (all three of which make up the Bendigo Trust, a council-intertwined organisation dedicated to preserving Bendigo's heritage).There have been several plans to enhance tourism in the area, including a themepark and extensions of the tourist tram around Lake Weerona.

Commerce

Bendigo Bank is Bendigo-based (perhaps based on the wealth accumulated in the early 20th century) and is now a large "second-tier" bank with branches throughout Australia.Telecommunications provider AAPT has its call-centre based here, as is the home of Bendigo Community Telco (founding subsidiary of Community Telco Australia).

Manufacturing

After the gold rush Bendigo developed a manufacturing industry. Little of that now remains but there is a large foundry which makes train and vehicle parts and there is also a rubber factory. The ADI or Australian Defence Industries is an important heavy engineering company. Its current status is uncertain, being previously state owned and now going through a process of privatisation. Internvet (formerly Ausvac) is an important biotechnology company, producing vaccines for animals.

Human Services

The major industry in Bendigo is now health with a Base Hospital, a very large old people's and rehabilitation home (The Anne Caudle centre) with about 600 beds. Psychiatric services are notably inadequate. There is a medium security gaol which closed in mid January of 2006.

Education

A diverse range of pre-war building styles at Charing Cross

Bendigo Senior Secondary College is the largest VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education) provider in the State. BRIT (Bendigo Regional Institute of Tertiary and Further Education) and the Bendigo campus of La Trobe University are large and growing educational institutions.

Farming & Agriculture

The surrounding area, or "gold country", is quite harsh rocky land with scrubby regrowth vegetation. This "box-ironbark forest" is used for timber (mainly sleepers and firewood) and beekeeping. It is proposed to divert it to ecotourism, but there is considerable scepticism about its potential in this respect.

Sheep and cattle are grazed in the cleared areas. There are some large poultry and pig farms. Some relatively fertile areas are present along the rivers and creeks, where wheat and other crops such as canola are grown. The area produces premium wines, including shiraz, from a growing viticulture industry. Salinity is a problem in many valleys. There is a relatively small eucalyptus oil industry.

Mining

Until overtaken in the 1890s by the Western Australia goldfields, Bendigo was the most productive Australian gold area, with a total production of over 20 million ounces (622 t). There is a large amount of gold still in the Bendigo goldfields, estimated to be at least as much again as what has been removed. The decline in mining was partly due to the depth of mines and the presence of water in the deep mines. With modern technology, Bendigo Mining NL has resumed mining and will likely be a large producer within 10 years.

Transport

Bendigo is about 150 km (93 miles) or less than two hours drive by car from Melbourne on the Calder Freeway. The residual dual carriageway roads (currently about 60 km) are slowly but steadily being replaced by freeway. There is a rail service to Melbourne on the Bendigo line with several services being operated all week. There is also a daily train service to and from Swan Hill.

As a regional city Bendigo also include the following suburbs and localities: California Gully, Eaglehawk, Epsom, Flora Hill, Golden Square, Junortoun, Kangaroo Flat, Kennington, Huntly, Maiden Gully, Mandurang, Quarry Hill, Spring Gully, Strathdale, Strathfieldsaye and White Hills.The main retail centres are in the central business district, Eaglehawk, Kangaroo Flat and Strathdale.

Buses service these suburbs.

Culture and Events

The Bendigo Art Gallery was founded in 1887 and is one of Australia's largest regional art galleries, many of the 19th century paintings depicting life in the goldfields. The Bendigo Art Gallery hosts Australia's richest painting prize, the Arthur Guy Memorial Prize, worth $50,000, which was launched in 2003.

The Capital Theatre is located next to the art gallery in View Street and hosts performing arts and live music.

The Bendigo Easter Festival is held each year and attracts tens of thousands of tourists to the city over the Easter long weekend. Attractions include parades, exhibitions, and a street carnival.

Sport

Cricket and Australian rules football are the most popular sports in Bendigo.The Queen Elizabeth Oval hosts both sports.

The Bendigo Bombers compete in the Victorian Football League.

The Bendigo region is also home to the historic Bendigo Football League, a strong local Australian rules football competition.

The Bendigo Cup is a famous horse racing event.

Basketball is popular in Bendigo, the city is home to the Bendigo Stadium, home of the Bendigo Braves. The stadiums hosted basketball during the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The city is also home to the Bendigo Basketball Association.

Bendigo was the host to the second Commonwealth Youth Games, held from 30th November to 3rd December 2004.

Bendigo, Victoria: Encyclopedia BETA

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