Beaconsfield Miners MemorialPrint Page

Beaconsfield Miners Memorial commemorates those who worked in the mines from 1887 to 1914. The memorial is a relic of a pumping plant. 

Gold was first discovered in Beaconsfield in 1847. When the gold rush hit Victoria and New South Wales in 1851 and the Tasmanian Government offered a reward for the discovery of a payable goldfield. In 1877 the cap of a payable gold reef was discovered on the eastern slope of Cabbage Tree Hill by brothers William and David Dally. This became known as the fabulous Tasmanian Reef. In October 1877 the Dally brothers sold their claim on the Tasmania Reef to William D Grubb & William Hart for 15,000 pounds, and 1/10 share in any company formed. At  the peak of the gold rush 700 men were employed in the gold mine and 26 tonne of gold was recovered.

In 1903 an English company bought the Tasmanian Gold Mining and Quartz Crushing company and formed the Tasmanian Gold Mining Company Ltd. As water had become such a huge problem at Beaconsfield, a substantial injection of capital was required to purchase and operate suitable dewatering equipment. The Company extracted gold from two shafts adjacent to each other, Grubb and Hart Shafts. In 1904 engine houses were built at these shafts and a central boiler house. These buildings now house the Beaconsfield Mine & Heritage Centre.

Underground mining began in 1879 with the sinking and development of three main shafts to access the reef: the Hart Shaft, the Main Shaft and the Grubb Shaft. Beaconsfield became the richest gold town in Tasmania. In 1881 there were 53 companies working the field. These were all absorbed by the owners of the Tasmania mine.

The gold mine closed in 1914 due to regular flooding of the shafts but re-opened in 1999 with mixed success.

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Dedication