Diggers Rest, Victoria

Diggers Rest (formerly Diggers' Rest) is a suburb in Victoria, Australia. It is 28 km (17 mi) and 29 minutes north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Hume and Melton local government areas. Diggers Rest recorded a population of 5,669 at the 2021 census.^[1]

Diggers Rest Victoria
View from south east
Diggers Rest
Coordinates	37°37′41″S 144°43′16″E
Population	5,669 (2021 census)[1]
Established	1874
Postcode(s)	3427
Elevation	153 m (502 ft)
Location	33 km (21 mi) from Melbourne 5 km (3 mi) from Sunbury
LGA(s)	City of Hume City of Melton
State electorate(s)	Sunbury
Federal division(s)	Hawke
Suburbs around Diggers Rest: Gisborne South Sunbury Bulla Sunbury Toolern Vale Diggers Rest Bulla Plumpton Bonnie Brook Fraser Rise Calder Park Keilor North

Diggers Rest lies on the Old Calder Highway, near the Calder Freeway.

History

Diggers Rest Hotel Ruins

Diggers Rest began life as a stopping place on the road to the Bendigo goldfields, with the Post Office opening on 18 June 1860.^[2] Caroline Chisholm started a women's shelter in the area. The town grew in the 1870s and 1880s and became a postal village with a general store, post office, weighbridge, mechanics' institute and a chaff mill. The Diggers Rest Hotel was built by 1854, and later enlarged, and became an important stopping place on the route to the goldfields. It was severely damaged by fire.^[3][4]

Diggers Rest is referred to as being famous for the first controlled powered flight of an aeroplane undertaken in Australia. The flight was performed by Harry Houdini on the 18th of March, 1910.^[5][6] The only café in town is named in his honour.^[7]

To the north of Diggers Rest township within the locality is the former township known as Aitken's Gap, The Gap or Buttlejorrk.

Sunbury Rock Festival

The four Sunbury Pop Festivals were held on the same 620-acre (2.5 km²) private farm along Jacksons Creek, on the southern outskirts of Sunbury, between Sunbury and Diggers Rest. The property was owned by farmer and local identity George Duncan, and the property has become known in the district over the years simply as "Duncan's farm". The entrance gates to the Sunbury Pop Festivals were off Watsons Road. Also because of its proximity (2 km; 1.2 mi) to the smaller township of Diggers Rest, many of the attendees who traveled to Sunbury by train, actually alighted at Diggers Rest railway station, and not Sunbury.

Present day

Aerial Distance from Diggers Rest to Melbourne is 23.32 km (14.5 mi)

Diggers Rest contains a general store, a primary school and a CFA fire station, along with three large recreation reserves.^[8] Sporting groups in Diggers Rest include Diggers Rest Football Club, which play in the Riddell District Football League.

Diggers Rest Primary School was first opened in 1882 and moved to its present site in 1990. Diggers Rest Primary School features excellent facilities including air conditioned and heated classrooms, computer and Internet access to all grades, modern sports and playground equipment and landscaped grounds. Diggers Rest Primary School is an integral part of the wider community and hosts annual events such as the Community Carols, Billy Cart Derby and Grandparents' Day.

Other facilities in the Diggers Rest area include the Holden Flora and Fauna Reserve, Animal Land Children's Farm and SPSK Jadran, and a Slovenian social club which services nearby St Albans and Keilor.

Diggers Rest also has a Scout Group containing Cub Scouts and Scouts. They meet at the Diggers Rest Reserve behind the tennis club rooms.

Transport

Diggers Rest has a railway station on the Sunbury line, connecting the town with Melbourne's CBD.

A bus route connects Diggers Rest with Moonee Ponds and nearby Sunbury, at the former Victoria University campus.^[9]

See also

• Shire of Bulla – Parts of Diggers Rest were previously within this former local government area.
• Harry Houdini: The Aviator — Houdini's flight at Diggers Rest, Friday, 18 March 1910.