A visit to Snake Valley Victoria . Idyllic 1850's Sleepy Australian country Gold-rush town.

We took a drive on a delightful sunny autumn day to the rural town of Snake Valley. For such a small town there was much to see. My verdict. Very quaint and pretty. Well worth the drive. As with most of the settlements in this part of Victoria Snake Valley township was founded ( 1857) as part of the 1850's gold rush. The region was known as Nimbuck or Nimlock by the local indigenous people. The Carringum balug people of the Wathaurong nation are the traditional owners of the land surrounding Snake Valley/Carngham district A main street that exemplifies a typical Aussie Country town. A great pub (1921) , school( 1854) , community hall (1926) and general store. Heaps of gorgeous cosey cottages and country homes. One of the most spectacular country churches I've seen in a long time (The Uniting Church 1886). And one of the churches ( The Anglican church and hall) goes up for auction on the day I am uploading this video (estimated price AUD$320- $390,000). A very ornate and poignant War memorial. A look at the local recreation ground and sports facilities. And a visit to the site of Preston's Hill. Previously a bustling town of 1500 but now only dusty country roads and open fields remain. The sort of place one visits and wonders what it would be like to live there. Finished off with a look at some vintage caravans, trucks, some grazing horses and the ubiquitous magpie. ( I think I might try and include a magpie in all my videos). Snake Valley is a town in central Western Victoria, Australia, on Linton-Carngham Road, 27 kilometres (17 mi) west of Ballarat and 153 kilometres (95 mi) west of Melbourne, in the Shire of Pyrenees. A post office was opened on 1 March 1859.[1] At the 2016 Census, Snake Valley had a population of 743, up from 329 in 2006. =================================== 0:00 INTRODUCTION 01:15 ENTRANCE TO THE TOWN 02:46 SNAKE VALEY GENERAL STORE 03:55 ST BRIGIDS CATHOLIC CHURCH 05:53 SNAKE VALLEY COMMUNITY HALL 07:50 ROYAL HOTEL 09:27 CARNGHAM UNITING CHURCH 11:45 SNAKE VALLEY WAR MEMORIAL & HONOR RESERVE 15:15 HOLY TRINITY CHURCH FOR SALE History The Indigenous Australians inhabited Snake Valley for tens of thousands of years before Europeans arrived. The Carringum balug people of the Wathaurong nation are the traditional owners of the land surrounding Snake Valley/Carngham district. The nearby town of Carngham therefore appears to be the name of the Aboriginal people that originally lived in the area. They called Snake Valley itself nimbuck or nimlock. In 1857, a gold rush occurred in the area of Snake Valley and Carngham. The town reputedly got its name when a miner found snakes in a sinking shaft. However, settlement preceded this as a primary school was established in 1854. The town was exclusively a gold mining area for at least ten years. In 1865, Bailliere’s Victorian gazetteer recorded Snake Valley as having five hotels, a mechanics' institute and a Court of Petty Sessions. In the 1880s, the Victorian municipal directory described Snake Valley as "a straggling mining township with outlying farming districts" and recorded five churches.