Backing
onto Main Street is Brown's Confectionery
Manufactory where guests can see 1850s
style lollies being made. At the Southern
end of Main Street is the Empire Bowling
Salloon, where guests can play a free
game of nine-pin bowling. In the back
streets of Sovereign Hill there are lots
of miner's cottages, which visitors are
able to walk through. A recent addition
to Sovereign Hill is the $50,000 gold
pouring session where you can see pure
liquid gold melted and poured into a three
kilogram bullion bar. Sovereign Hill has
two schools where children in school-groups
can dress up in period costume and attend
as a child of the 1850’s. The children
would be taught how to write in calligraphy,
girls would learn to sew and boys learn
to work in a small factory. Discipline,
food and even games are appropriate to
the era.
Quality
practical crafts on display include the
Coachbuilders & Wheelwrights workshops,
which feature beautiful 1850s era coaches
being constructed using traditional methods.
There is also a Blacksmith and Farrier
complex, currently ran by prominent local
artist and blacksmith, Tim Bignell. The
second largest gold nugget in the world
was found at Sovereign Hill. Dubbed the
Welcome Nugget as it was a welcome return
from the lack of gold, it was displayed
for a time for a price, with proceeds
going to charity. Eventually it was minted
in London. It was 69 Kg in weight and
contained 99% pure gold. That's nearly
2,300 ounces of gold, worth about 10,500
pounds then, and worth nearly $700,000
US now. The nugget was found by a cornish
miner in 1858.
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