City of Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study (1991) Pt04 - Gold

City of Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study (Context Pty Ltd, Peterson R & Stafford B, 1991) 

Theme 4: Gold

Warrandyte was witness to the first gold rushes - the earliest goldfield in Victoria being proclaimed there (at the site marked by the cairn in Gold Memorial Road) in July 1851, by Louis Michel, a Melbourne publican. The discovery came in direct response to the offer, the previous month, of a substantial reward for the discovery of a workable deposit or mine within 200 miles of Melbourne. The Gold Reward Committee, which had been formed by the Lord Mayor and various businessmen in the city, had made the offer in order to stem the flow of migrants away from Melbourne to the recently-discovered goldfield at Bathurst in New South Wales.

The earliest rush of prospectors to the site lasted until the end of the year, when richer finds, such as those at Buninyong, Ballarat and Bendigo drew them away.

To begin with, alluvial gold had been obtained either directly from the ground or from the bed of Andersons Creek, by individual prospectors occupying makeshift accommodation (tents). In the mid 1850s however, when the initial frenzy had subsided, more organised gold mining enterprises (with investment into some of these) began in the district and a more settled community with slightly more substantial buildings started to evolve.

The innovative use of coffer dams in the area to extract gold deposited on the river bed was introduced. On a more ambitious scale the Yarra River was diverted through a tunnel at Pound Bend and through a new channel creating 'The Island', and mining tunnels were dug into the surrounding land (eg. at Fourth Hill, Pigtail Hill and Third Hill). It was difficult to extract gold from the quartz obtained from these mines, as it was very hard. The earliest quartz crushers were steam powered. However, in 1868, a new water-powered quartz crushing battery was opened beside the river (1). This was in tum superseded by a government-funded water-powered battery opened in 1898 (the site can still be seen and is included in this theme).

Like many gold-bearing areas, the gold rush had a profound and long-term influence on the locality, and evidence can still be discerned today of the gold mines (shafts, tunnel entrances etc.), coffer dams and gold mining sites. Several houses associated with mining also remain despite the many bushfires that have ravaged Warrandyte over the years. The rest of the municipality was less affected by gold, although some mining was carried out at a reef in Templestowe, near the junction of Thompsons Road and Feathertop Avenue (2). Little remains of this site.

(1) Tim Hart, “Warrandyte Place Study” Final Project, Landscape Architecture. RMIT, 1987.
(2) Graham Keogh, The history of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1975, p39.


Theme 4.01 Gold Mining

Andersons Creek Alluvial Workings

Andersons Creek was the location of first gold discovery in Victoria. The earliest mining in Warrandyte was panning for alluvial gold in the creek gullies; by 1856 the alluvial workings in Anderson's Creek gully, and other creeks (Specimen Gully, and Whipstick Gully) had been worked out (1). Today no evidence is known to remain from these early activities.

(1) Plan of the township of Warrandyte, County of Evelyn. Surveyor General's Office, October 30th, 1856.


Gold Memorial Cairn

Gold Memorial Road, Warrandyte (175.28)
Erected in 1935 to mark the site of the first payable goldfield, discovered in August 1851 by Louis Michel, and named the Victoria Field after the new Colony (2). The unveiling of the cairn by Mr. W. H. Everard was a gala event (3).
Of local interest as the site of gold discovery.

(2) Warrandyte State Park Management Plan, Dept Conservation, Forests and Lands, 1988, Site HI I. p.138; Warrandyte Historical Society, undated notes.
(3) Louis R.Cranfield The Golden history of Warrandyte, 1982, p. 188.


Black Flat Mining Area

Tills Drive Warrandyte (156.01)

Black Flat Mining Area

The Black Flat Mining Area contains a number of individual sites and remains; each is described below. The significance of the area however, has been assessed as a whole.

The evidence of gold mining visible today in the Black Flat area is quite diverse. Some features are easy to discern - such as the foundations of a cottage, while others (such as some earthen channels) are more subtle and it is difficult to determine their age or purpose.

The Black Flat area was worked for gold from the 1870s. There were a number of mining operations, most of which are now located within the Warrandyte State Park; a few sites are on private land in Tills Road.

The Black Flat Mining Area is of regional significance providing evidence of gold mining in Warrandyte from the 1870s to around 1910; the evidence includes the site of Warrandyte's last major mine. 

Each of the sites and features known to remain within the Warrandyte State Park are described briefly below:

The Dyke (156.03)

This extensive working followed a vein of decomposed rock. The Warrandyte Freehold Gold-mining Company was formed in 1876 to work the diorite dykes (a geological formation containing decomposed rock), on the Elliott Freehold Estate, (the area owned by Captain Selby after 1883). Nearly half the gold in Warrandyte was found in this property (4). The tunnel collapsed many years ago and can now be seen as a deep cleft in the ground (5)

Black Flat Mining Area: the collapsed 'dyke'

(4) Louis R.Cranfield The Golden history of Warrandyte, 1982, pp.60 & 62.
(5) Warrandyte State Park Management Plan. Site H25, p.140

Cottage (156.04)

The stone foundations of a small cottage remain within the Park, near the entry from Tills Drive. The cottage was destroyed in the 1962 fires (6).

(6) Shirley Rotherham, pers. comm.

Puddling Machine (156.05)

Driven by a horse walking in a circle, this equipment was used to 'puddle' or sluice the ore with water to separate the gold. This technique was often used where the workings were not next to a stream that could be diverted to wash the material through other forms of sluicing devices.

In 1859/60 there were two puddling machines on the Warrandyte goldfields, a horse operated machine (owned by McDonald & Cameron, location not known) and a steam driven machine (Dr. Owen, a member of state Parliament) (7). Dr. Owen's 'Patented Puddling Machine' was operated by the Yarra Yarra Steam Puddling Co. in Whipstick Gully around 1859/60, but insufficient gold combined with inadequate drainage lead to its quick closure (8). It is not known if any evidence remains of this works.

The circular puddling machine at Black Flat remains within the State Park.

(7) Louis R.Cranfield The Golden history of Warrandyte, 1982, p 37
(8) Graham Keogh, The history of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1975, p37


A number of mining features remain on private land, especially on properties that front Tills Drive; these are briefly described below:

Black Swan Mine (155.55)

The site of the Black Swan mine is marked by a group of trees.

Caledonia Mine (155.56)

The Caledonia Mine was operated from c1904/5 to 1910 by Mr Till employing up to 250 men at a time when Warrandyte mining was in decline (9). It was first worked under the name New Haven (c1903) (10).

After the closing of the mine, Till became an orchardist and built a house in what is now Tills Drive (see site no 155.48, in Theme 5.02).

The Caledonia Mine was the richest mine in Warrandyte. The main shaft was sunk to 620 feet, with drives on a number of levels (11). It produced $102,178 worth of gold and paid dividends of $25,166 on a capital of $12,500. In 1905 a crushing from the Caledonia Mine, in a bend of the river east of the 'Island', yielded 145 ounces of gold from 80 tons of quartz. The mine gave good returns until 1908, when it was hampered by too much water seepage (12).

Assistance from the government in 1909 was to no avail and the machinery and equipment was sold that April. Its closure meant the end of large scale gold mining in Warrandyte.

The evidence remaining from the Caledonia Mine includes a machine bed and mullock heaps, and a boiler (moved from site), each now on separate properties. It was the last of Warrandyte's major and highly successful mines.

(9) Louis R.Cranfield The Golden history of Warrandyte, 1982 p98
(10) Louis R.Cranfield The Golden history of Warrandyte, 1982 p99
(11) Louis R.Cranfield The Golden history of Warrandyte, 1982, p.100
(12) Graham Keogh, The history of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1975, p.39.

Yarra Tunnel (Grants) (155.57)

In 1869 Lewis Grant (who introduced a water powered stamping battery c1868), formed the Yarra Tunnelling Co. to work a claim just up¬stream from the 'Island'. Although the Tunnel was 70 feet beneath the river with shafts ex¬ tending to both banks, it did not suffer too much water seepage; and effective pumping kept the water down. He operated the mine until 1874 when he sold out to David Mitchell. It was reopened in 1884 and produced good returns, closing again in 1888 (13).

A mullock heap near the river bank within a Tills Drive property indicates the approximate location of the mine.

(13) Louis R.Cranfield The Golden history of Warrandyte, 1982pp 51,66

Black Flat Area

Fourth Hill & Whipstick Gully Mining Areas


Fourth Hill & Whipstick Gully Mining Areas

Warrandyte State Park (155.41 & 175.21)

Mining in Warrandyte concentrated along the reefs. During the 1850s the Fourth Hill yielded high amounts of gold (1). A series of reefs ran generally north-south from Sailors Gully Road, through the hills (Fifth, Fourth, Third, Second and First Hills) and crossing the river just west of The Island. Along these reefs were many mines - Sailors Reef and Great Southern south of Andersons Creek, Geraghty's (later Fourth Hill), Johnson's, Fifth Hill West, Victory Mine in Whipstick Gully, the North Victory, South Caledonia and many others further towards the river.

There are a number of features and sites that provide evidence of these mining activities within the areas now covered by the Warrandyte State Park. Known sites are listed be¬ low. The sites at Sailors Reef (c1872) and Great Southern have not been investigated in this study.

The Fourth Hill and Whipstick Gully Mining Areas are of regional significance for the extant evidence of the earliest substantial quartz mining operation in the district (Fourth Hill Tunnel) as well as evidence of subsequent mining up until the most recent Warrandyte mine (Manton's).

(1) Louis R.Cranfield The Golden history of Warrandyte, 1982. p. 27.

Fourth Hill Tunnel (175.29)

In 1856 Patrick Geraghty and William Moore commenced a mining venture on Fourth Hill, excavating a tunnel to intersect with the line of the reef. It was reported to be the first substantial quartz mining operation in the St Andrews district (2). A light tramway was built to help remove the ore. They had little success, and by 1858 had left to explore gold fields elsewhere.

These workings were taken over by other miners, including Messrs Sloan and Party, and Messrs Chatty and Smith in the 1880s, who worked the tunnel for some years. It is now known as the Fourth Hill Tunnel (3).

Geraghty was the owner of the Union Hotel (later known as the Warrandyte Hotel) located on the north side of Yarra Street, adjacent to Specimen Gully (4).

The tunnel extends for approximately 100 m into the hillside, and is accessible via Tunnel Street. It is Site H12 in the Management Plan.

(2) 'Gold Mining in Warrandyte in 1859-1860' Warrandyte Historical Society Newsletter. No. 75, Oct 1990, p3
(3) Louis R.Cranfield The Golden history of Warrandyte, 1982, p38; Graham Keogh, The history of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1975, p.38; Warrandyte State Park Management Plan. p135
(4) Plan of the township of Warrandyte County of Evelyn. Surveyor General's Office, October 30th 1856

Fifth Hill West Mine (175.30)

This 30 m tunnel, (also known as Jackson's Drive), remains on Fourth Hill (5).

(5) Warrandyte State Park Management Plan. Site HI3. p139

Johnson's Mine (175.31)

This is an 'L' shaped tunnel over 100m long (6).

(6) Warrandyte State Park Management Plan.Site H9, p138

Open Shaft (175.32)

An open shaft, probably the Fourth Hill Mine air shaft, also remains within this area (7).

(7) Warrandyte Historical Society. Map of Mining and Historic Sites, Warrandyte (n.d.).

Gardner's Shaft (155.58)

A shaft from Gardner's mine remains on Fourth Hill.

Victory Mine (155.59)

Victory Mine (previously known as Young Colonial, and Warrandyte Claim) re-opened about 1896 and produced a good return of 1,870 ounces of gold in three years.(8). It was one of Warrandyte's most successful mines, especially in the 1890s. The main shaft was sunk to 220 feet (9). Brick footings and several shafts remain today within the State Park off Whipstick Gully Road

Victory Mine: open shaft

(8) Warrandyte State Park Management Plan. Site Hl4, p. 139; Graham Keogh, The history of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1975 p39
(9) Louis R.Cranfield The Golden history of Warrandyte, 1982, pp98-99

Manton's Mine Site, On the north side of Andersons Creek, off Gold Memorial Rd, Warrandyte (175.33)

In 1951 a fifteen year lease was taken out by W.A.R. Manton, F W Birdsley and G Lane to establish the Monument Gold Mine in Fidlers Gully on the north side of Andersons Creek. The mine was worked until 1965 (10).

Two shafts and the remains of a corrugated iron clad hut mark the site of the workings.

(10) Information from Mines Dept 1988, Lease No.9118 obtained by Bruce Bence.

Pound Bend Mining Area (155.40)

Evelyn Tunnel Pound Bend Road Warrandyte (155.60)

Evelyn Tunnel, also known as Pound Bend Tunnel, was formed when a tunnel was driven nearly 200 metres through rock at the neck of the Pound Bend peninsula, to divert the river and expose the river bed to extract gold (11).

An initial survey in 1859 involving John Hutchinson (Warrandyte Pound Keeper) examined the feasibility of cutting a tunnel through the neck of the isthmus.

In 1870 the Evelyn Tunnel Gold Mining Co. started work on the tunnel, completing it within a few months. The venture failed to produce the financial reward anticipated, due to the costs of mining through the deep mud that covered the river-bed. The Company was wound up late in 1872 (12).

In 1884 the idea of using the tunnel to generate electricity was proposed, and by 1888 a company had been formed for the purpose. The Melbourne Water Power Company, aimed to supply power to all of Melbourne from the scheme (13). The venture did not proceed. Again in the 1920s the idea arose again, this time to supply the Warrandyte community which was not able to fund the provision of power through the SEC; this idea also never proceeded (14).

The Evelyn Tunnel is one of at least three such tunnels constructed on the Yarra River for the same purpose; the other tunnels are at Big Peninsula (McMahons Creek) probably constructed c.late 1860s-early 1870s, and the 'Pipeline' Tunnel (near Warburton -Woods Point Road) (15).

Of regional significance as probably the earliest and most successful attempt to apply an engineering solution to the desire to extract gold from the river-bed of the Yarra.

(11) Warrandyte State Park Management Plan. Site H1, p.138.
(12) Bruce Bence The Tunnel Pound Bend Warrandyte 1859 - 1988. Warrandyte Historical Society, n.d.
(13) Victorian Government Gazette 7 Dec. 1888.
(14) Warrandyte Historical Society, undated notes.
(15) Rod Elphinstone Upper Yarra River; Historic Sites Study. unpublished report, 1984, p.23.

Water Race (155.61)

The remains of a water race, said to have been constructed by Chinese miners (16), is believed to remain within the Park. Alternatively it may have been associated with the earlier mining works of the Evelyn Tunnel Mining Company.

Of local interest; further research required.

(16) Warrandyte State Park Management Plan. Site H4, p.138.

Battery & Crushing Sites

Lack of crushing machinery was a problem on the Warrandyte goldfields in the 1860s; at this time there were two machines, one a horse-driven machine and the other a Mr Wilkinson's quartz calcining furnace (which was mainly occupied crushing rock from its owner's mine) (17).

(17) 'Gold Mining in Warrandyte in 1859 -1860 ' Warrandyte Historical Society Newsletter No. 75, Oct. 1990, pp.4-6; Graham Keogh, The history of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1975, p.20.

Grant's Battery, Yarra River, Warrandyte (155.62)

Lewis Grant, operator of the Yarra Tunnel mine near 'The Island', also established the first crusher to be powered by water in 1868 (18). The battery was located in the Yarra River, to the north of the former post office. While not a complete success, as only two stampers could work if the river level was low, it did much to reduce the costs of crushing (19).

Due to its location in the river, no evidence is thought to remain. The site is of local interest.

(18) Tim Hart, Warrandyte 'Place' Study. Final Project, Landscape Architecture, RMIT, 1987, p18
(19) Warrandyte State Park Management Plan, Site H18, p139.

State Battery & Water Wheel, Yarra Street, Gust east of the bridge), Warrandyte (155.63)

A government battery was built close to the banks of the Yarra River in 1897. Driven by a water wheel the battery crushed the ore¬ bearing quartz from the surrounding gold fields (20). A cairn marks the site, and some remains of the timber foundations can apparently be seen on the river bank below the cairn (21).

Of local interest. Archaeological investigation may be desirable.

(20) Warrandyte State Park Management Plan. Site H 20,p.139.
(21) Warrandyte Historical Society. undated notes.

Ore crusher, Gold Memorial Road, Warrandyte (175.34)

The site of an ore crusher (22). No further information on its history is known to the consultants.

(22) Warrandyte State Park Management Plan. Site HS, p.138.

Yarra River Sites

Coffer Dam - site of

Yarra River, at rear of former Post Office, Yarra Street, Warrandyte (155.64)

Coffer dams were constructed as early as cl856. An 1857 report from a member of the government's Gold Complaints Committee, William Westgarth, reported on the use of coffer dams on the river,. a technique he noted as being unusual compared to other fields (23). Coffer dams or paddocks were made by damming off sections of the river bed by driving wooden piles into the bed to form fences then washing for gold (24). Today a line of wooden stakes can still be seen when the river level is low.

This process of mining severely damaged the river's banks (25). The practice was revived in the 1930s, and this example may date from the Depression.

Of regional significance as a rare and fragile remnant of the use of coffer dams to enable the mining of the river bed.

(23) Westgarth, quoted in Graham Keogh, The history of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1975, p.18.
(24) Warrandyte State Park Management Plan. Site H 17, p.I39.
(25) Photograph, Graham Keogh, The history of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1975, p.15

Other Mining Sites

South Caledonia Mine, 308 Yarra Street, Warrandyte (155.65)

Remains of concrete machine bed. The mine itself is covered by earth on the slopes below Yarra Street.

Of local interest.

Pigtail Mine, Timber Reserve, Warrandyte State Park (175.35)

Started by Henry Stiggants (Snr. and Jnr. with George Holloway and Lewis Grant) in 1874, this mine produced 1500 ounces of gold in two years (26). It was one of Warrandyte's most productive mines (27). The Pigtail Quartz Mining Co., with Lewis Grant as the general manager was formed to work the mine. A legal dispute suspended work, and the extended legal proceedings meant financial ruin for the company. Their opponent (a man named Lawler) formed a new company, recovering substantial amounts of gold before the mine was closed after a landslide. In 1906, another company, Caledonia Consuls worked the mine (28)

Henry Stiggants was still listed as a miner in 1899 (29), and his son (Henry Jnr.) later established an orchard at Pound Bend.

Of local significance as the site of Warrandyte's most successful mines.

26. Warrandyte State Park Management Plan. Site H26, p.140; Graham Keogh, The history of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1975 p.38; Louis R.Cranfield The Golden history of Warrandyte, 1982, p.57.
27 Louis R.Cranfield The Golden history of Warrandyte, 1982, p100
28. Graham Keogh, The history of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1975, p38
29. Voter's Roll for the Warrandyte Riding of the Shire of Templestowe, 1899

Theme 4.02 Gold Mining Houses

House, 8 Russell Road, Warrandyte (155.27)

Built in the 1860s, by James Gray Russell, this timber house has undergone major alterations.

Russell arrived in Melbourne in 1854, moving to the Andersons Creek goldfield soon after. With his wife and child he lived in a tent until he built a cottage outside the township survey, and on his pegged mining claim. In 1890 Russell applied for and was granted title to this land (1) He was still described as a miner in the Voters' Roll of 1899.

The cottage was originally a timber slab construction; as the dwelling was extended these slabs apparently became internal walls. Extra rooms were added and a new roof of yellow box shingles replaced the bark roof. These shingles are believed to remain underneath the corrugated iron roof.

Henry Stiggants, the original proprietor of the Pig Tail Mine, had a slab hut at the rear of this house; Stiggants was apparently Russell's partner.

Russell sold the house in 1922; in 1940 it was sold to a member of Russell's family. It is one of few Warrandyte buildings to have survived many bushfires, especially the 1939 fire which decimated the region and State.

If anything original remains, it has been subsumed in the current house. Detailed internal examination is required.

Of local significance for its historical associations with James Russell and his family; potentially of regional significance should substantial elements of the original building remain.

(1) Doncaster Templestowe Historical Society Newsletter, 9 (1) August 1975

"Yarra Gold" cottage, 70 Yarra St., Warrandyte (155.29)

A simple timber, symmetrical, double-fronted cottage, set on 0.1 hectares. It has a double gable roof across the site and a skillion verandah extending the main roof line. The building is clad with cement sheet.

The site of the cottage was purchased in 1856 by William Masterton (stonemason for the Warrandyte Primary School), and he built a cottage on the site. His widow continued to live there until the early 1900s when it was bought by Tom Logan, a gold miner; he took out his last miner's licence in 1925. Another house was built, and it burnt down in the 1939 fires. The current cottage was built to replace it by Tom Logan Jnr. as a four roomed cottage. It has been recently extended, and is in good condition.

Of local historical significance as a building that has adopted its form from and therefore provides a recent interpretation of the early miner's cottages that characterised Warrandyte; its significance and connection to the theme of gold mining is enhanced by the long association with the Logan family.

2. Warrandyte Historical Society, undated research notes.

"Yarra Gold” cottage, Warrandyte

Cottage, 322 Yarra St. Warrandyte (155.31a)

This is a timber cottage with a gable roof across the site, extending over the verandah.

The cottage is first recorded in 1893 when it became freehold, presumably being previously on a miner's right. The cottage was then in the name of C. Schult, executor of the estate of William Hastings, a gold miner. Hastings is known to have lived in Warrandyte with his wife and family since 1866. Hastings was described as a labourer when he died of consumption.

The cottage has remained in the family since, being occupied by Elizabeth Hastings (daughter of William and Mary Hastings), and her husband Joseph William Duter, then being left to their son William. After a few years rented outside the family, Ivy Mann's (nee Duter) son Peter and his wife Joan moved into the home in 1974.

The cottage is a substantially intact example of an early dwelling, retaining six-paned double hung sash windows, and lined throughout with Regency lining boards. Originally a three room cottage, an additional room was added added to the east end of the building, enclosing the external chimney; this room is also lined with Regency boards. A more recent change is the addition of a bathroom by creating a room on the rear verandah (1).

This cottage can be compared to 2 Russell Road, 29-31 Monckton Road and 185 Park Road.

Of regional historical significance as an early and largely intact dwelling in an area where few such buildings remain due to the impact of bushfires, and of local historical significance for its long and continuous association with the same family since 1866.

(1) Warrandyte Historical Society, undated research notes



Source: City of Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study (Context Pty Ltd, Peterson R & Stafford B, 1991)  Published online with permission of Manningham Council (May2020)

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