Cambrian Hill

Cambrian Hill is a former mining village 8 km south of Ballarat on the road to Colac. It is close to the Yarrowee River, which ultimately becomes the Leigh River before entering the Barwon.

Cambrian Hill was named by the Welsh miners who settled there. Cambria is a latinised derivation of Cymry, the Welsh name for Wales.

In the mid-1860s Cambrian Hill was described as a postal hamlet with agriculture, grazing, alluvial mining and three hotels. A school was opened in 1867. The predominantly Welsh community encouraged singing, with eisteddfods at the local school-house. In 1903 the village was described in the Australian handbook:

After 1890 the population fell to fewer than 200 people, but enough to support more than one store. By the 1940s the surviving hotel had closed and one store remained. The school closed in 1966. The former village is now identified by a few buildings and the remains of mining deposits.

Cambrian Hill’s census populations were:

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