Towns in Australia

Exploring Australia, town by town

Mount Britton QLD

Mount Britton

Postcode: 4742

Mount Britton is a historical township in Nebo Shire, Queensland, Australia. The township began in 1881 with the discovery of a gold field, and at its height had a population of 1500 inhabitants. When alluvial and shallow reef gold diminished by the late 1880s, the town experienced a decline and was eventually abandoned. It currently exists as a historical site maintained by Nebo Shire.

Mount Britton was founded in 1880 when a tent city for gold mining sprung up on the banks of Oxley Creek and the township became known as Mount Britton. Within a few weeks the area was turned into a bustling township. Within a few months there were many pubs, stores, butchers and bakers in the township. There was even a tobacconist, a book seller and a photographic studio.

Today Mount Britton still holds evidence of this once prosperous mining town, with many old mining equipment and materials still on site. Some say the main reef has not been struck and that if found it could yield some excellent specimens that would pay considerably, prospectors are today still lured to Mount Britton by the thought of undiscovered gold. On-site at Mount Britton are information boards that detail the areas history. Gold mining tours and an interpretative centre are available at Mount Briton.