Beechworth is steeped in history. As you come into town (or leave it) you will cross Newtown Bridge.
The first bridge to cross Spring Creek was a wooden one built in the early 1850's. It was decided that it would be replaced by a bridge which "would be in service for the next 200 years".
Quarry owners Donald Fiddes & Co. contracted Scottish stonemasons to build it, and work started on April 2, 1874. The bridge cost 2450 Pounds, and was built without mortar, using keystones to lock the granite blocks together. It was opened in 1875 and considered then to be the best bridge in the colonies.
They don't make them like this anymore.
Then on February 10, 2000 a walking/Bike bridge was built beside the original. Old meets new. Compare the two. Both have their appealing attributes… well, I'll let you decide which you like best.
Interestingly, the Newtown Bridge crosses over the gorge where miners, in 1856, cut a "Tail-Race" through solid granite to drain the Spring Creek Flats. This enabled miners to scour the area which was once a mass of small abandoned claims. The work took 18 months at a cost of 3500 Pounds.
The Tail-Race was further cut to a depth of 8 feet (2.4M) in 1863. It is 450 yards (411 Meters) long and was completed in July 1869. One contractor was killed during construction by a blasting mishap. The deeper tail-race allowed the continuation of mining from 1869 to 1876, during which time 6500oz (or 91 Million dollars at today's rates) of gold was reclaimed.
(Thanks to Coruze for the text that she used in the nearby archived cache)