Amherst - VIC

Amherst is a former municipality and gold rush town situated within the Shire of Central Goldfields in Victoria, Australia. Much of the original township has been destroyed by fire, and little remains other than Amherst Cemetery at 235 Avoca Road, Talbot.

In its heyday, Amherst was situated in the middle of a gold belt 11 kilometres long and 1.5 kilometres wide.

Nowadays, the size of Amherst is approximately 33.7 square kilometres. The town mostly resembles an uneven paddock with little to show of its colourful and significant history.

Nevertheless, Amherst is surrounded by old gold workings, and there is State forest to the north. The Amherst vineyard was planted in 1989 on land 20 kilometres south east of Avoca, producing both red and white wines. Evidence of the gold diggings can be seen around the vineyard in the quartz-rich soil.

Decline of the town.
In 1859, gold was discovered at nearby Talbot. The town of Talbot increased in size and replaced Amherst in 1875 as the borough/municipality. Since then the population declined with the post office closing in 1963. The scattered buildings left in Amherst were affected by fire in 1985, although the school building (1874) has been reconstructed. Otherwise, much of the original township has been destroyed. Little remains other than Amherst Cemetery and a small museum with a collection of documents and photographs as well as school, cemetery and Amherst hospital records and artefacts that present the history of the pioneers and early settlers of the district.