The Ghost Town of Davyhurst
The Cornish Abroad

The Ghost Town of Davyhurst

Around 125 km north of Kalgoorlie is the scant remains of yet another abandoned Goldfields town. Davyhurst was founded in 1902 following the discovery of gold three years prior by prospector Davy and his crew. 

Davyhurst

The town was named by Menzies Warden Owen after Walter ‘Watty’ Davys, although it was first called Davyston before being officially gazetted as Davyhurst in 1901. The area was often better known as Mace’s Find. Born in Somerset, England in 1855, Davys had spent much of his life travelling the world in search of gold. Prior to leaving England he’d lived on a farm called Hurstone (where the second half of the Davyhurst name originates). He travelled to Davyhurst from Broad Arrow in 1899 with friends Charles Mace, Patrick Glenny and Miller Mace; well-known prospectors in the area, they headed back to Menzies in November 1899 to apply for two twenty-four acre leases, one named Waihi and the other Melrose. 

Davyhurst
The area produced several successful mines, resulting in the rapid growth of the town and soon it had at least three hotels. The Grand Hotel, whose remains litter the field in which Davyhurst stood, was the biggest and brightest. In 1906 the town had its own Ambulance car to take sick residents to hospital. It cost £140 ($280 today), with the town raising money by hosting a fancy dress football match, with costumes including a clown, washerwoman, barmaid, two sunflowers and one fellow with a kerosene can on his head as Ned Kelly. However despite it’s initial success, the town was shortlived, even by Goldfield’s standards. Most people had started to leave by the 1920’s as gold began to run out. There is still mining in the area today, with the majority of the larger leases being worked by Ora Banda Mining.
Davyhurst

The first mines at Davyhurst were Waihi and Melrose. Others include Homeward, Eileen, Golden Pole and North Pole. 

Davyhurst