Explore St Arnaud

St Arnaud ~ Victoria

St Arnaud is a historic gold mining town in the Northern Grampians region of Victoria. It’s located around 240 kilometres north-west of Melbourne and about 100 kilometres west of Bendigo.

This charming town is known for its stunning heritage buildings, lovely gardens and fascinating street art.

During our visit to St Arnaud, we wandered around town, explored the Queen Mary Gardens and enjoyed a delicious morning tea. We also admired the street art and silo murals, visited Pioneer Park, saw stunning heritage buildings, and discovered Melville Caves.

St Arnaud and Queen Mary Gardens

St Arnaud was a gold rush settlement in the 1850s, and was first known as New Bendigo. It was named to attract miners by linking it to the successful Bendigo goldfields.

As the town grew, it was renamed St. Arnaud in honour of Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud, the Marshal of France.

The Queen Mary Botanic Gardens, located in the centre of St Arnaud, are beautiful landscaped gardens featuring shady trees, grassy lawn areas, and lovely flower beds.

They were built in the late 19th century, and also feature a pond with an ornamental fountain and lots of ducks. There are walking paths, a small playground, tables and seats and toilets. We enjoyed wandering around and watching the ducks by the pond.

The Streets of St Arnaud have many beautiful 19th-century buildings that reflect its prosperous past. 

St Arnaud’s fire station was built in 1883 and is the oldest fire station in Victoria. The historic post box at the front of the building dates back to the 1860s, and there are only about 200 of these post boxes left in Victoria.

The St Arnaud Court House was built in 1866 in the Victorian Free Classical Style. The veranda and double entry were added in 1882-1883, and it still used today.

The Kara Kara Shire Hall is a charming Federation-era building that was constructed in 1902. It operated as the shire's administrative headquarters until 1996. Today it is a lovely cafe and we popped in for some morning tea.

The Shire Cafe is open daily and has great coffee and a large selection of sweets. It also does breakfast and lunch.

Kyle Torney Street Art

Kyle Torney is a St Arnaud local and street artist, and as we wandered around St Arnaud, we were fascinated by his monochrome Renaissance-inspired murals.

Torney has painted local identities and characters on buildings, sheds and down laneways. These emotionally stirring murals are artistic landmarks and a heartfelt tribute to community spirit

In 2020, Kyle Torney completed the mural he called ‘Hope’ on the town's silos. It took him more than 800 hours, and the image portrays a prospector panning for gold, a hopeful wife and a young child, envisioning a better future.

Pioneer Park

Pioneer Park is located on Chrysolite Hill and was originally the site of the Lord Nelson Gold Mine. 

The Lord Nelson Gold Mine was the richest mine in St Arnaud and operated from the 1860s to 1915. 

Now there is information about the Gold Rush, the Lord Nelson mine and some interesting artefacts to look at.

St Arnaud Heritage Trail

St Arnaud also has a self-guided Heritage Trail around town, and you can pick up a brochure at the Visitor Information Centre. The Visitor Centre is located in the Old Crown Lands Office, which was built in 1876.

Town Hall 

The St Arnaud Town Hall was originally constructed in 1869. In 1898, major alterations and the addition of a second storey transformed the building into its present form and character.

Old Post Office

The Old Post Office was built in 1866 with living quarters for the postmaster and his family and a clock tower on the second floor. The building is now used as apartments.

Botanical Hotel 

The Botanical Hotel is a significant local landmark in town. It was built in 1906 in Federation Filigree style with a balcony and veranda on two sides and lovely iron lacework.

Scots Church

The lovely Scots Church with an impressive bell tower and spire was built in 1876. It is now the Uniting Chuch.

Royal Hotel

The Royal Hotel is a prominent hotel on Napier Street that was built in 1874, it is still used as a hotel today.

Crones Building

The Crones Building was built in 1910 for James Crone, who made his fortune as a Butcher. It is a lovely symmetrical two-storey Federation Filigree design.

Old Victorian Inn

The lovely Old Victoria Inn was built in 1876, and it still has the old horse and carriage entrance with cast iron gates. 

Railway Station

The St Arnaud Railway Station was completed in 1879 and is now the Raillery Hub, a local arts and crafts gallery.

Melville Caves

Approximately 40 kilometres north of St Arnaud is Melville Caves, in the Kooyoora State Park. 

This unique spot is known for its large granite outcrops and impressive rock formations.

The caves are named after bushranger Captain Melville, who is believed to have used them as a hideout in the 1850s. 

We took a short walk from the carpark up to the lookout for sweeping views across the surrounding farmland. Then we wandered through the huge granite rocks that form caves.