Things to Do in Lancefield
Lancefield sits 70 kilometres north of Melbourne, a little over an hour up either the Calder or the Hume. It's traditionally an agricultural town with picturesque, tree-lined avenues and paddocks in every direction, and Hanging Rock about 10 minutes down the road.
The town grew quickly in the 1880s as a summer escape for Melburnians, and much of the streetscape from that period is still standing. Lancefield's stranger claim to fame is actually underground. In 1843 the bones of giant kangaroos and other megafauna were found in Lancefield Swamp, and the site is still rated the best of its kind in Victoria and among the top five in Australia.
Lancefield Farmers Market
Image source: Flophouse
The Lancefield and District Farmers' Market runs on the fourth Saturday of every month (the third in December) along the plantation strip on High Street, under the elms. It started in 2003, is run by the Lancefield Neighbourhood House and is accredited by the Victorian Farmers' Markets Association, which means everything sold is grown or made by the person behind the stall.
You'll find vegetables, organic meats, honey, olives, eggs, bread, preserves and local wine, with live music while you shop. It draws visitors from across the Macedon Ranges and beyond, so get down early and enjoy the incredible community atmosphere.
Great Local Wineries and Cellar Doors
Cleveland Estate
55 Shannons Road, Lancefield. Cellar door and Carriage House Restaurant, bookings essential.
Cleveland Estate is Lancemore's own winery, five minutes from the main street on more than 100 acres of vines, gardens and a small lake. The underground cellar door, the only one in the region, pours the estate's own Shiraz, Chardonnay and sparkling Pinot Noir alongside a selection of other Macedon Ranges labels.
Image source: Visit Macedon Ranges
Carriage House Restaurant sits above the vines with Mt William in the distance, doing wood-fired pizza lunches on weekends and dinner Thursday to Saturday. The estate is also the base for the Explore Macedon Ranges package, which bundles breakfast with a glass at Hanging Rock Winery, a Sisko Chocolate tasting and a credit at Gindu Distillery.
Lancefield Winery Alternatives
Other wineries around Lancefield are mostly small producers a few minutes from town. Curly Flat has a reputation for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and a cellar door in a restored heritage building, Lyons Will Estate is an 18 acre minimal-intervention vineyard with tasting platters, and Parkside Winery and Farm is a working farm as much as a winery, with a cellar door that opens for events and long weekends.
Two bigger names sit a short drive either side. Granite Hills in Baynton has been run by the Knight family since 1970 among the boulders of the Great Dividing Range, with free tastings and a wall of show awards. Hanging Rock Winery in Newham is the home of Macedon sparkling, with Art in the Vines sculptures across the grounds each summer.
The Federation Trail
The Federation Trail is an accessible 16 kilometre return ride between Lancefield and Romsey, mostly on a dedicated shared path for bikes and walkers, with shade along the way and farmland either side. It's flat enough to be enjoyed by children or any beginner cyclist, with scenic views across the paddocks and the livestock on them.
Pack a picnic or plan the turnaround in Romsey, and if you'd rather make an afternoon of it, Parkside Winery and Farm sits just off the route for a detour. Road cyclists after something harder have the popular 82 kilometre Lancefield to Kyneton loop through the Cobaw Ranges.
High Street
Lancefield's High Street keeps its 1880s shopfronts, its elms and its width, and it is the natural place to start a visit. Lancefield Bakery at 20c High Street bakes wood-fired bread daily, opens from 5.30am on weekdays and does the pies, pastries and coffee a country bakery should.
The Lancefield Community Art Gallery at 34a High Street shows and sells work by local artists and opens Friday to Sunday. Surrounding it are the gift shops, vintage and antique stores and cafes that give the town its reputation for browsing, with La Bibelot the pick for gifts.
Gin and chocolate
Two of the region's better small producers sit 20 to 25 minutes from Lancefield, and both are built into Cleveland Estate's Explore Macedon Ranges package. Gindu's distillery door is on High Street in Woodend, pouring a range of five gins each named for an Australian landscape, with tasting paddles, gin and tonics and cocktails at the bar.
Sisko Chocolate is at 177 Mollison Street in Kyneton, a handcrafted chocolate maker that doubles as a homewares and gift shop, open Thursday to Sunday. Both are small, locally owned businesses, so a bottle or a box bought here stays in the region. Put the two together with a cellar door or two and you have a day loop through the northern Macedon Ranges that ends back in Lancefield for dinner.
Golf and the Lancefield Show
Lancefield Golf Club is five minutes north of town up the Burke and Wills Track, an 18-hole, par 72 course with a licensed clubhouse open on weekends. It's a country course in the best sense, uncrowded and set among the paddocks, and visitors are welcome.
The Lancefield Show runs every October at the showgrounds, a proper agricultural show with wood chopping, tractor pulls, working dog trials, homecrafts and rides. Outside show season the showgrounds are a good picnic spot in their own right, under a canopy of old English elms.
Beyond Lancefield
Hanging Rock is 10 minutes south, a six-million-year-old volcanic formation that most Australians know from Picnic at Hanging Rock, and the summit walk on sealed paths is manageable for most fitness levels. Koalas, kangaroos and echidnas live in the reserve, and there's a discovery centre and picnic grounds at the base. An entry fee applies per car.
Mount Macedon is 25 minutes on, with the Memorial Cross lookout, the walk to Camel's Hump and the gardens the hill is known for, and Kyneton and Woodend round out a day in the wider region. For the full run of what the Macedon Ranges offers, see Things to Do in the Macedon Ranges.
Lancefield Tidbits
The megafauna of Lancefield Swamp
In 1843, a well being dug at Lancefield Swamp turned up bones that did not belong to anything living. They were the remains of Australia's megafauna, most of them giant kangaroos, and later digs added complete jawbones of Diprotodon, the rhinoceros-sized wombat that was the largest marsupial ever to walk the continent. Palaeontologists have been returning ever since, most recently in 2016, and the site is rated the best megafauna deposit in Victoria and among the top five in Australia.
There is nothing to see above ground, so this is a story to know rather than a stop to make. The swamp sits on the edge of town off Chauncey Street, and a plan for an interpretation centre has been studied but not built.
Planning a Trip to Lancefield?
Make Cleveland Estate your base. Part of the iconic Lancemore Group, the hotel sits in a central location five minutes from High Street and less than an hour from Melbourne, with 50 king-bed suites set among 100 acres of vines and gardens.
Breakfast is at Carriage House, the underground cellar door is a short walk from your room, and the Explore Macedon Ranges package adds a glass at Hanging Rock Winery, a Sisko Chocolate tasting and a credit at Gindu to your stay. Dogs are welcome through the Pawfect Package.
