SOVEREIGN HILL
I love history. You can probably already tell from the way that I write, and the things that I like about certain games and book series - a well-thought out, well-explained interesting (fantasy) history can make all the difference to a series for me. So it should come as little surprise that I am a big fan of 'open air' museums such as Sovereign Hill! Located just out of Ballarat (about an hour and a half drive from Melbourne), it is a kind of live-reenactment of 1800s Victoria around the time of Sovereign Hill's prosperity - the gold rush! My favourite areas of history are Japanese and Russian, so local Australian history is far from being my favourite area of study - however this 'open-air' museum sparked an interest in the period for me! A few dozen buildings from the era (either refurbished originals or newer copies of what buildings of that era would have looked like) are staffed by people (or perhaps 'actors' would be a better word to describe them) who are dressed in 1800s garb and who provide informative demonstrations and entertainment about or from the period.
Bringing history to life in this way is a really engaging, informative way to teach people! I think it is such a great idea and I wish we had more of these! Traditional museums, whilst also great, are not as effective as they only cater to one type of person - those who are bookish and patient. Children typically do not enjoy museums as they involve a lot of waiting, reading and not much (physical) doing. By providing opportunities for people to engage with knowledge first hand and physically you are sharing information in a format that is not reminiscent of a class room - making it much easier for people to have fun learning (as they will not associate this place with potentially negative memories of classrooms). My favourite three parts of the Sovereign Hill experience were all demonstrations. What was common to all of these was the passion of the people presenting! Actors they may have been, but they all seemed so genuinely excited about what they were sharing with us. It was great! The management had done a fantastic job of finding people who were truly interested in their various fields.
The first demonstration was the pouring of a gold ingot - a real gold ingot worth hundreds of thousands of dollars! The woman presenting gave a captivating talk on the history of gold being found in Sovereign Hill and a little about forgery and blacksmiths. It was a truly unique experience - something you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. As the ingot is so valuable, they use the same one repeatedly (and I believe have done for a few decades!). It was gifted to the museum and it only set to become more and more valuable with time, as will the experience of seeing it poured!! The apothecary was really interesting too - at first it just seemed like a decorative shop, but a short conversation with the proprietor revealed some interested facts about old-fashioned medicine making and how innovative it was. The chandlery was probably my favourite out of all three. A young lady (around my age) talked us through the technicalities of running a chandlery, their purpose in society, what life would have been like for an employee in the chandlery and just why they were so profitable. This talk was peppered with interesting facts about chandleries and candles, and by including a variety of demonstrations and questions throughout the presentation remained interesting throughout. Sovereign Hill is a great adventure! Highly recommended. Open-air museums are something society could do with more of.
Bringing history to life in this way is a really engaging, informative way to teach people! I think it is such a great idea and I wish we had more of these! Traditional museums, whilst also great, are not as effective as they only cater to one type of person - those who are bookish and patient. Children typically do not enjoy museums as they involve a lot of waiting, reading and not much (physical) doing. By providing opportunities for people to engage with knowledge first hand and physically you are sharing information in a format that is not reminiscent of a class room - making it much easier for people to have fun learning (as they will not associate this place with potentially negative memories of classrooms). My favourite three parts of the Sovereign Hill experience were all demonstrations. What was common to all of these was the passion of the people presenting! Actors they may have been, but they all seemed so genuinely excited about what they were sharing with us. It was great! The management had done a fantastic job of finding people who were truly interested in their various fields.
The first demonstration was the pouring of a gold ingot - a real gold ingot worth hundreds of thousands of dollars! The woman presenting gave a captivating talk on the history of gold being found in Sovereign Hill and a little about forgery and blacksmiths. It was a truly unique experience - something you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. As the ingot is so valuable, they use the same one repeatedly (and I believe have done for a few decades!). It was gifted to the museum and it only set to become more and more valuable with time, as will the experience of seeing it poured!! The apothecary was really interesting too - at first it just seemed like a decorative shop, but a short conversation with the proprietor revealed some interested facts about old-fashioned medicine making and how innovative it was. The chandlery was probably my favourite out of all three. A young lady (around my age) talked us through the technicalities of running a chandlery, their purpose in society, what life would have been like for an employee in the chandlery and just why they were so profitable. This talk was peppered with interesting facts about chandleries and candles, and by including a variety of demonstrations and questions throughout the presentation remained interesting throughout. Sovereign Hill is a great adventure! Highly recommended. Open-air museums are something society could do with more of.
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| The Chandlery at Sovereign Hill |
