Ercildoune, Victoria

Town in Victoria, Australia

37°23′54″S 143°38′10″E / 37.3982°S 143.6361°E / -37.3982; 143.6361Population90 (2021 census)^[1]Postcode(s)3352LGA(s)City of BallaratState electorate(s)Ripon Federal division(s)Ballarat, Wannon

Localities around Ercildoune:
	Waubra
Glenbrae	Ercildoune	Learmonth
	Burrumbeet

Ercildoune is a locality in western Victoria, Australia. The locality is noted for the significant and unusual historic buildings and gardens found at the Ercildoune Homestead. At the 2021 census, Ercildoune and the surrounding area had a population of 90.^[1]

History

Ercildoune Homestead is a large Victorian homestead built in 1838–1839 by Scottish-born Thomas Learmonth and his brother Somerville, and was named after an old keep on the Scottish border, associated with an ancestor of the Learmonth family.

The property was purchased by Sir Samuel Wilson in about 1873, for a rumoured £250,000.^[2] He was responsible for adding to the existing building, which is a large stone mansion in the Scottish Baronial style, with crow-stepped gabled wings and castellated parapets. Ercildoune is one of the most important historic homesteads in Victoria, and one of the earliest surviving buildings.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Ercildoune (State Suburb)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
^ "Ercildoune". The Leader (Melbourne). Victoria, Australia. 17 April 1875. p. 7. Retrieved 14 March 2020 – via Trove.
^ "Ercildoune Homestead & Garden". Heritage Council Victoria. Heritage Council Victoria. Retrieved 15 November 2018.