Inglewood is a small country town in rural Victoria, 185 km North West of Melbourne and only 45 kms North West of Bendigo.
Inglewood is the main service town for the Loddon Shire, providing services for the surrounding agricultural district.
The Inglewood district made up of the Loddon and Glenalbyn pastoral runs. The Reverend William Hall obtained the Glenalbyn run in 1853, and it was on this property that the first gold in the area was found.
In 1856 the two Thompson brothers, who were the nephews of the Rev Hall were prospecting on the property with their cousin and a friend.
They found some gold but the lack of water forced them to leave.
They tried again in 1858 , but once again lack of water forced them to leave.
Finally in July 1859 they found gold in several different places.
In October 1859, they discovered a gully that became known as Thompsons Gully.
Then on November they found an even richer gully just over 3kms away.
They announced their find, which created a rush. An estimated three to five thousand diggers converged on the field, with the main street quickly springing up to service the needs of the miners.
The area was first called Halls Diggings after Rev Hall the owner of Glenalbyn Station, but he suggested that the name be changed to Inglewood, after the Inglewood forest near his hometown in Cumberland, England.
For a few months this settlement was called Inglewood. The gully where the Thompsons had their rich prospecting claim, they named Old Joes Gully.
The Thompson brothers were very religious men and loved singing psalms, so miners in the area renamed the gully Psalm Singing Gully.
In January 1860 Thomas Potter, Henry Irvine and Samuel McKean found a very rich area known as Potters Hill. This created a major rush and became a second township.
Most of the shopkeepers moved to this area and it became New Inglewood, and the original town was called Old Inglewood. The township that we know today as Inglewood, was the new one. Very few traces of Old Inglewood remain.
In 1860 the population on the field was estimated to be as high as 40,000, which puts it as one of the biggest rushes in Victoria’s history.
Like so many Victorian gold fields, the shortage of water was a problem, which forced some miners to live in Bridgewater during dry spells. Despite this the township grew.
Thankfully a reservoir was constructed by 1864 to service the population.
But the construction of this reservoir was too late to help save the town, when on Wednesday 3rd December 1862, a fire burnt down half of the thriving town of Inglewood. It was one of the most destructive fires recorded in the colony to that time.
The area around Inglewood has many gullies, with the major alluvial rush lasting for a couple of years, before the miners were tempted by other nearby rushes.
Another enduring industry in Inglewood is that of Eucalyptus oil production. This began at the turn of the century, when gold production was lessening. It was discovered that the leaves of the Blue Mallee, which grows abundantly around Inglewood but in few other places, produced some of the best quality eucalyptus oil in the world.
With this great resource, by the early 1900s, Inglewood became the centre for eucalyptus oil production. This provided employment for harvesters, distillery-plant operators and bottlers.
Inglewood has also established itself as a centre for treasure hunters, those of the golden kind, as well as those who enjoy visiting one of the many antique stores that line the main street.
Inglewood is situated close to Kooyoora State Park, which is only a short distance west of the town.
This is a popular camping and recreation location. You can also visit Melville’s Caves where the bushranger Captain Melville is rumoured to have based himself during the 1850s.
Inglewood is a great place to visit, and in recent times there have been reports of some very rich patches being found.
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