Situated in a backyard beside the present course of the Canadian Creek, the site of the Blacksmith's Hole is commemorated by an ornate iron signpost on the roadside where Main Road becomes Geelong Road in Canadian, not far down from Sovereign Hill.
The iron sign displays the following text:
About 5 chains due east was situated the blacksmith's hole known as the Jeweller's Shop 1853
Just over five chains (100 metres) to the east of the signpost you will find a walking/cycling track (accessed from Elsworth Street East) where you can take a stroll alongside the Canadian Creek, right past the area where the Blacksmith's Hole was.
"Jeweller's-shop - a claim in which occur patches of extraordinary richness" - A Glossary of Mining Terms, The Gold Fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria, R. Brough Smyth.
Gold, Gem and Treasure has a great page discussing all things "Canadian" in Ballarat, including the Blacksmith's Hole on the junction of the Canadian and Prince Regent Leads. Their page includes a sketch map of the leads, roads, Canadian Creek, and the location of the Blacksmith's Hole.
You can check it out here.
Robert Brough Smyth included a description of the Blacksmith's Hole and the incredibly rich Canadian and Prince Regent Leads in his 1869 book, The Gold Fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria. His chapter, 'Notes on the Ballaarat Goldfield' provides lengthy and detailed accounts of the area's diggings, mining companies, leads and gullies.
In his section about the Canadian Lead, he wrote the following:
In the claim at the junction of the Canadian and Prince Regent Leads (known as the Blacksmith's Hole), the washdirt was very rich, and there was a great thickness of it. The blacksmith's party obtained over £3,000 per man (eight men); but large quantities of gold were taken by the holders of adjoining claims, who drove upon them (one party drove right onto the blacksmith's shaft). The average yield from this claim was about 1 oz. to the American bucket, but as much as 50 lbs. weight of gold was washed from one tub. This claim was afterwards worked a second and third time, and handsome yields obtained on each occasion ; it has since been worked by Chinese. The quantity of gold taken from this claim has been estimated by reliable men at a ton weight.
In his section about the Prince Regent Lead, he wrote the following:
This lead towards the junction was so rich that the claims were styled jewellers' shops, the average yields obtained by the first parties being from £1,600 to £2,000 per man, the usual number of men in each claim being eight. The depth of sinking at the junction of the Canadian and Prince Regent Leads was 110 feet.
"Lead - a deep alluvial auriferous deposit or gutter. A lead, correctly defined, is an auriferous gully or creek, or river, the course of which cannot be determined by the trend of the surface, in consequence of the drainage having been altered either by the eruption of basalt or lava, or the deposition of newer layers of sand and gravel." - A Glossary of Mining Terms, The Gold Fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria, R. Brough Smyth.
The following remarkable report was published in the
Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer on October 11th 1853:
BBQ
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