Town by town snapshot - Maldon

Maldon is approximately 45 square kilometres and has 28 parks covering nearly 16 per cent of total area.

The population of Maldon in 2016 was 1513 people and by the 2021 Census it had increased to 1665 showing growth of 10.04 per cent in the area during that time.

Maldon is a rural town 120 kilometres north-west of Melbourne and 25 west of Castlemaine.

It is a former gold town, situated away from major arterial roads and railways.

It was declared Australia’s first notable town in 1966 by the National Trust, and an interim development order was placed on Maldon in 1970 to prevent the demolition of buildings.

Maldon is situated on the former Cairn Curran pastoral run (1840), which was owned by the Simson family who also had the Tarrangower run immediately to the south.

Mount Tarrangower overlooks Maldon from the west, and it was near the foot of the mount that gold was found by a Pole, John Mechosk, in December 1853.

A rush occurred in 1854 and a township was surveyed and it is thought that the name Maldon was proposed by a member of the survey party, perhaps inspired by the hilly country resembling Maldon in Essex, England.

A municipality was created in 1858, in turn becoming a district in 1863 and a shire on 12 January 1864.

A brewery and several hotels were built in 1854 and a Wesleyan church was opened in 1855.

A particularly rich gold field was found in 1855 in the hills north of Maldon.

Named Nuggetty, it was a source of easily won wealth, and the Mines Department calculated that over 300,000 ounces of gold were taken.

Another notable area, immediately east of Maldon’s commercial centre, was the Beehive Company.

In 1865 Bailliere’s Victorian gazetteer recorded Maldon as having the Tarrangower Times newspaper established in 1858 and still published today, numerous hotels and banks, two schools, a hospital that was opened in 1859 and an athenaeum.

Profitable mining continued until the turn of the century, but the years of peak population were the 1870s.

CoreLogic data indicates that the predominant age group in Maldon is 60-69 years with households in being primarily childless couples and are likely to be repaying $1000 – $1399 per month on mortgages.

In general, people in Maldon work in a professional occupation.

In 2011, 80.4 per cent of the homes in Maldon were owner-occupied compared with 80.9 per cent in 2016.

TITBIT:

A gold rush occurred in 1854 and a township was surveyed and it is thought that the name Maldon was proposed by a member of the survey party.