Clunes: How Did a Gold Town Become a Booktown?

Clunes lies in central Victoria, about 36 kilometres north of Ballarat, on the traditional Country of the Dja Dja Wurrung people. Gold was found in the district in 1851, making it one of the early focal points of Victoria’s gold rush. Mining brought population, capital and institutions, while leaving wide streets and rows of brick and stone shops, banks and public buildings. When gold production declined, the town did not lose its entire past: the spatial form created by the mining economy remained after that economy receded.

What makes Clunes distinctive today is how it uses this inheritance. A Booktown event has been held there since 2007, and Clunes joined the international Booktown network in 2012. Old shopfronts can serve as bookshops, selling spaces and meeting places, while the preserved streetscape allows activity to gather within a walkable area. Books did not simply replace gold. They make use of the building density, public space and name recognition left by the gold era.

This change should not be romanticised as culture rescuing a declining town. Festivals and visitor economies are seasonal, and they do not automatically solve questions of housing, employment or service provision. Clunes nevertheless shows that local renewal need not erase the traces of an earlier industry. A more durable approach can begin by identifying which physical structures can still work and giving them new social uses. Gold once drew people here from afar; books now organise encounters at a slower pace. The two economies are different, but both depend on whether a town can turn brief visits into continuing relationships.

https://www.visitvictoria.com/regions/daylesford-and-the-macedon-ranges/destinations/clunes.aspx
https://www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/Places-activities/Events/Whats-on-in-the-region
https://www.heritage.vic.gov.au/about-us/news/news-stories/victorias-golden-histories-and-the-mother-lode-of-resources