Soldiers Hill, Victoria

Soldiers Hill Ballarat, Victoria
Macarthur Street, main commercial area of Soldiers Hill looking east; North Britain Hotel is on the left, Macarthur St. Primary is on the right
Soldiers Hill Location in City of Ballarat
Coordinates	37°33′00″S 143°51′29″E / 37.550°S 143.858°E / -37.550; 143.858Coordinates: 37°33′00″S 143°51′29″E / 37.550°S 143.858°E / -37.550; 143.858
Population	2,803 (2016 census)
• Density	1,844/km2 (4,776/sq mi)
Established	1859
Postcode(s)	3350
Elevation	472 m (1,549 ft)
Area	1.52 km2 (0.6 sq mi)
Location	1.5 km (1 mi) from Ballarat Central
LGA(s)	City of Ballarat
County	Grenville
State electorate(s)	Wendouree
Federal Division(s)	Ballarat
Suburbs around Soldiers Hill: Wendouree Ballarat North Black Hill Ballarat Central Soldiers Hill Ballarat East Ballarat Central Ballarat Central Ballarat Central

Soldiers Hill is a suburb of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia located directly north of the Central Business District. At the 2016 census, Soldiers Hill had a population of 2,803.

Named Soldiers Hill during the first residential land sales in 1859 in honour of the Colonial forces of Australia 40th Regiment who were stationed there prior to the battle of the Eureka Rebellion and the riot, it is the earliest planned suburb of Ballarat.

Soldiers Hill is an important heritage area in Ballarat and the entire suburb is covered by a City of Ballarat Heritage Overlay. It has a substantially intact Victorian era architectural character, with many of its buildings featuring an abundance of period detail including distinctive decorative cast iron ornament.

Soldiers Hill covers a relatively small area bounded by the Mildura Railway Line to the west, the Serviceton Railway Line to the south, Havelock Street and the Yarrowee River to the east and Howitt Street to the north and is primarily residential.

The "hill" is a schist composed of hard granites and quartz, part of a granite ridge which extends south and west from Lydiard Street and forms a plateau to the south and west. In stark contrast to neighbouring Black Hill and Golden Point Hill across the Yarrowee valley scarred by extensive gold mining, Soldiers Hill, this plateau was found to bear little gold. Though it did not escape deformation and the historic peak between Macarthur and Clarendon Street was progressively levelled from around the turn of the century creating a new peak further to the north on Ligar Street between Marcarthur and Chisolm Street. A natural escarpment forms its southern edge which has been accentuated by the flattening of land to the south for the construction of the railway reserve. The hill slopes to valleys in the east and west of the suburb's borders through which small seasonal creeks flow. The Gnarr Creek for most of its length little more than an urban stormwater drain, winds its way through the suburb's north, crossing the railway reserve at Little Clyde Street to the west. The eastern border slopes to the valley of a small unnamed natural watercourse that flowing into the Yarrowee from the north.