Gold had been found in recoverable quantities at Fairfield, Bywong, Brooks Creek, Woodbury and Jerrabiggery. Other deposits were found at Brindabella, Michelago and Queanbeyan. All within a stones throw of Canberra itself.
Bywong Town is about a half-hour drive northeast from Canberra. It is easy to miss the signpost into this little enclave. The town is being carefully restored and the private owners are reconstructing the golden era of yesteryear. To get to Bywong town, take the main road from Canberra to Sydney. Turn right at the Bungendore Road, and only a few miles down this road there is a small signpost at Millyn Road, indicating Bywong Town. A short distance up this road there is a sign indicating the town is to the right. The road looks like a private track, but only a short distance up this track you will find the town.
Gold was first discovered here in September 1894. It was reef gold and was some 40 feet deep. The returns were exceptional, with 51 ounces of gold recovered from the first four tons of ore. Word of the find spread quickly and within days forty men were at the diggings. Within 6 months there were about 300 men working the field.
In December 1895 a surveyor laid out the village of Bywong into four streets. Burbong, Bungendore, Burra and Gundaroo Streets were the selected names. Conditions were harsh. Times were tough and most of the diggers occupied mean dwellings constructed of hessian or canvas. Some dwellings were constructed of rough-cut timber from the local forests. Water was scarce, and there was always a constant battle to keep the town supplied with sufficient water.
A school opened in 1895 with about 20 students. It closed in 1906. A general store and post office existed until 1904. By 1906 the gold was scarce and the gold field was almost totally abandoned. In March 1896 the government responded to the permanent need for water and commissioned three Chinese well diggers to construct a deep seepage well. This well is still in place and is in the same condition as it was when originally constructed. Unfortunately the well was not a success as there was a prolonged drought from 1895 until 1908, and the water table was well below the depth of the well during these years.
The old timers had difficulty in locating the reefs because of their inability to relocate the reefs once they had been lost, which was often the case. The first gold strike at Bywong was returning up to 22 ounces to the ton of ore. This original reef was lost and has never been relocated, despite the area being bulldozed in 1942 in an attempt to find it. Today only hand tools can be used by the privateer to locate gold in New South Wales.
In an attempt to re-locate the reef, the government financed an exploration shaft down to an estimated 160 feet without success. It is unlikely that the shaft ever reached that depth as the supervising warden was afraid to enter the shaft and the diggers apparently failed to dig as deeply as they should have, disguising the true depth from the warden.
In 1900 a family named Cronk, (later they changed their name to Shepherd), moved into the area. There were 10 children and their mother had recently died in Sydney and with their father, the two oldest boys aged 16 and 11 re-timbered the main government shaft when they discovered the header or dolly veins still contained considerable gold. The father fashioned a small hand operated stamping mill that effectively recovered quite substantial amounts of gold. Cronk eventually left leaving the oldest boy to support the family. When the law investigated the neglected children they found they were well looked after, fed and clothed, all from the proceeds of the gold. Their futures were secure.
The last known resident at the site was an old miner called Arthur (Pop) Shepherd. He had returned to Bywong after raising his family nearby. He lived like a hermit for over twenty years, eking a living from prospecting and supplementing his income by keeping bees. In 1961 he became ill with cancer and died in 1964, the last of the old miners had been laid to rest.
Today the area is a tourist facility concentrating on school children. Over 10,000 students, mainly Year 5 and 6, visit the site each year as part of their Australian history and gold studies and this number is expected to increase as the site is further promoted.
The village itself consists of a main street, a picnic area with toilets, which ironically, still displays the lack of water at the site. A blacksmith's shop, panning area, the well, and a number of buildings have been reconstructed. The Mining Compound displays a large open cut area with the Aid Shaft, a hand operated battery and the stamp mill.
It is indeed an interesting place, and one that is well worth the entry fee to visit what is still a primitive place, and one that closely resembles a gold mining town as it was over 100 years ago in the Australian bush.
Records indicating just how much gold was taken from Bywong are fragmented, but it was not a significant amount. It certainly provided a living for the majority of diggers who worked the field for a few years. Perhaps one day the reef will again be located. Now that's a challenging thought.