General News
30 January, 2023
Mural showcases Carisbrook history
A new mural showcasing Carisbrook’s gold mining heritage has been unveiled in Bucknall Street, with a depiction of the township from the 1800s now visible to the public. Painted by local artist John Moir, the mural at 28 Bucknall Street...
A new mural showcasing Carisbrook’s gold mining heritage has been unveiled in Bucknall Street, with a depiction of the township from the 1800s now visible to the public.
Painted by local artist John Moir, the mural at 28 Bucknall Street, Carisbrook took around three months to be made and was painted across four panels.
Commissioned by Carisbrook resident Steve Tennyson to create the mural, which now resides at his property, Mr Moir said he spent a month researching Carisbrook’s gold mining history for the piece.
“It took me a good month to research as much as I could and the whole project has probably been the best part of three months,” he said.
“I have used some artistic licence with the mural just to show as much as I could, the cemetery on Bald Hill is actually on the other side, but if it was on the other side you wouldn’t be able to see it in the mural.”
The mural highlights a number of buildings, locations and streetscapes in Carisbrook including Bucknall Street, the old police station and log jail and various other buildings and digging sites.
Mr Moir said he wanted to create something similar to the paintings of S. T. Gill’s depictions of historic mining works, with the mural a first for him.
“The criteria Steve gave me was something to depict the mining days of Carisbrook and back in those days, Carisbrook was basically a service town for all the mining activity in Majorca,” he said.
“I’ve done a mural at the Dunolly bowls club which is about the same size, but this is the first time I’ve painted a historic mural like this.”
Now with the mural mounted to his fence, Mr Tennyson said he was thrilled to be able to reflect on the community and township’s history from his own front yard.
“This area has a lot of history and we don’t really know a lot about it unless you go to the historical society and dig for the information you’re after,” he said.
“I see a lot of towns have murals, they’re starting to pop up everywhere but in Carisbrook, we don’t really have any.
“The mural isn’t just here for me to look at, it’s for others to look at and wonder about how things used to be so while it is on private property, people are welcome to come and look.
“This is part of our history and I’m very proud of it, it’s something we should show off a bit and be reminded I think of how hard life used to be.”