Hillgrove, New South Wales

Hillgrove, is a Northern Tablelands (New South Wales) village with population of about 95. The village is located approximately 30 km east of Armidale and is 5 kilometres south of the Waterfall Way. Hillgrove is part of the Armidale Regional Council local government area and is in Sandon County. This historic goldmining town is situated at elevation of 1,000 metres on a granite plateau above Bakers Creek and near the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park.HistoryThe town was first known as Eleanora Township, named after the antimony mine that for nearly a decade after 1876 was the sole reason for its existence. The name Hillgrove was given to the town in 1888. Hillgrove was one of the major gold fields in New South Wales, with a recorded production of over 15,000 kg of gold. It has also been a significant producer of antimony (14,700 tons) and tungsten (at least 2,000 tons of scheelite).Although some alluvial gold was discovered in Bakers Creek gorge as early as 1857, it was not until antimony was discovered that important mining was undertaken in the late 1870s. The main shaft in Bakers Creek was sunk 610 metres below the surface. Tramways operated by a steam-powered winding engine pulled the trams up and down the precipitous incline to the Bakers Creek mines.