Muckleford

Muckleford is a small regional area in central Victoria, Australia.

Muckleford is a small regional area in central Victoria, Australia. The area, also known as Wattle Flat, lies along the Muckleford Creek, a minor tributary of the Loddon River, approximately 127 kilometres north-west of the Melbourne city centre, and within the jurisdiction of the Mount Alexander Shire council. The nearest sizeable town is Castlemaine, approximately 7 km to the east. The original township is named after the English hamlet of thesame name in Dorset, UK.

The original inhabitants of the area were the Dja Dja Wurrung people, who followed a generally nomadic lifestyle. One of the first Europeans in the area was the explorer Major Thomas Mitchell, who travelled through in the spring of 1836 while undertaking the exploration of what he called "Australia Felix". Squatters arrived a few years later and established a handful of small "runs". Formal pastoral leases became available during the late 1840s.

The was no major development in the area until a series of small gold rushes occurred near Muckleford Creek and Wattle Flat in the early 1850s, and a small town quickly sprung up in the vicinity of the Maldon to Castlemaine Road and Muckleford Creek crossing. The town served the needs of the prospectors and speculators, and quickly rose to a population of over 2000 people. Within a year, there were hotels such as Monk's, Simson's and the Orrville to quench the thirst of the miners. A small Anglican school began to educate the children of the diggings. Located at North Muckleford, it remained open until 1877. in 1871, that school was replaced by a government primary school, South Muckleford State School (No 1124). Muckleford Post Office opened on 1 August 1857 and closed in 1966.In 1884, Muckleford railway station was opened to the north of the township, on the Castlemaine to Maldon branch line. The station, along with a large goods shed, has been restored, and forms part of the Victorian Goldfields Railway. In early 2017, the railway was used at least twice a week, with a steam-hauled train stopping at Muckleford station. The service has become a major tourist attraction for the area.For almost a decade before 2015, the area experienced severe drought conditions and some of the smaller creeks which fed the larger tributaries ran dry for several years.