Historic... MANSFIELD
The marble memorial in Mansfield’s main street is in the middle of a roundabout, and only if you cross to the neatly tended circular gardens does its place in Australia’s folklore become clear: the monument is dedicated to the three policemen shot in 1878 by the Kelly gang at Stringybark Creek.
Ned and Dan Kelly, and their partners in crime used the Wombat Hills just north of Mansfield as a main camp. For a time they were known as the Mansfield Gang.
The days of bushrangers are long past, but this town in the rolling foothills of the Great Dividing Range has retained its links with bygone days. Mansfield’s broad High Street is bisected by an avenue of verdant trees, and edged by old shops and hotels shaded by broad verandahs. The locals are just as likely to be one of the living legends of the high country - its skilled mountain horsemen and women. These days they drive instead of ride to town.
Explorers Hume and Hovell trudged through the region in 1834 during their long journey north, and by 1839 squatters Watson and Hunter named the district “Devil’s River.” A decade later the land was surveyed and housing blocks offered for sale in 1854. By 1860 gold had been discovered, Mansfield prospered and became a permanent name on the colony’s maps.
The backdrop to town is Mount Stirling, Mount Buller and the Clear Hills, where scenes for The Man From Snowy River were shot and Jim Craig’s hut overlooked one of Australia’s most enchanting mountain panoramas - until it burned down in the 2007 bushfires. The movie’s railway station scenes were taken at Mansfield’s neat timber station, but the last train rolled into town in 1978.
The station has been restored, and next door is an information centre - a worthwhile place to start any exploration of the High Country beyond Mansfield. If you have the energy, follow the discovery tour on foot - and, as you discover the various historical and heritage on the map, there are a couple of excellent bakeries and cafés for re-charging the batteries.
Near the town’s centre is the Mansfield Hotel built in the 1860s, the Court House (with National Trust listing) built from local bricks in 1879, the Delatite Hotel rebuilt in 1895, a sundial and millstones brought out from Scotland and used on the Wappan run from 1840, Botanic Park where Mansfield’s first horse race meeting was held in 1857.
Some of Victoria’s most popular ski areas, the Mount Buller and Stirling ski slopes, are about 50km away, and Mansfield is close to an arm of Lake Eildon which is currently pretty dry. The heritage of the High Country, where mountain folk learn to handle horses in rugged terrain almost from birth, is celebrated in November with the Mansfield Mountain Country Festival. Mansfield Harvest Festival and Anzac Day weekend in April is the hot-air balloon festival are worth putting on your calendar. There are scenic drives, trout fishing in mountain streams, horseback treks in the cool clear mountains, bushwalking and local wineries to visit.
Take good touring maps, a tent and an adventurous spirit, then head for the hills to explore incredibly scenic 4WD territory over summer.
Mansfield is about 200km from Melbourne via Yea on the Melba Hwy, 2 ½ hours drive. Alternative return is via Alexandra on the Maroondah Hwy.
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