| Rosalind Park | |
|---|---|
 View of the conservatory and gardens | |
 | |
| Type | Public Park |
| Location | Bendigo, Victoria |
| Coordinates | 36°45′25″S 144°16′44″E / 36.757°S 144.279°E |
| Area | 59 acres (24 ha) |
| Opened | 1870 |
| Owned by | City of Greater Bendigo |
Rosalind Park is an Australian park in Bendigo, Victoria. Prior to white settlement, a grassy woodland surrounded what is now called Bendigo Creek. At that time the creek was little more than a chain of pools and billabongs. The area would have been an important source of food and water for the indigenous Dja Dja Wrung people living in dry central Victoria.[1]
In the 1850s gold was discovered in the area, radically transforming the area that is now Rosalind Park. Bendigo was one of the richest gold mining regions in the world, with more gold found in the region from 1850 to 1900 than anywhere else in the world. At present it remains the seventh richest goldfield in the world.[2] Puddling mills, shafts and piles of mine wastes and cast offs dominated the landscape.[3] In 1852 the area was officially designated a Government Camp precinct, the bounds of which still roughly designate the park today.[4] The Government Camp area comprised 66 acres and contained police barracks, gaol and lock-up, the former courthouse, a gold office and other government buildings, offices and quarters.[4]
In 1856 the local gold commissioner, Joseph Panton, first suggested that the camp should be turned into a park, but it was not until 1861 that 59 acres were formally reserved for the park and handed over to the Sandhurst Borough Council (now the City of Greater Bendigo).[4] The first park gardener was appointed in 1870 and established the basic layout of Rosalind Park which remains to this day.[5]
- ^ "Bendigo Tourism" (PDF). Bendigotourism.com. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ "Bendigo Gold Rush". Bendigo Tourism. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ "Rosalind Park Discovery Walk" (PDF). Bendigotourism.com. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ a b c "Victorian Heritage Database". Vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ "Bendigo Parks And Gardens - Rosalind Park". Bendigo.ws. 22 September 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2015.