City of Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study:
Theme 2: Taking Over The Land
(Context Pty Ltd, Peterson R & Stafford B, 1991)Very little evidence remains of the early Aboriginal inhabitants of the area (the Wurundjeri). Such tangible remains as do exist comprise a few scarred trees, including one in the grounds of Heide II, and two at Currawong Bush Park, (both of these places are included in this study). Scarring is evidence of the removal of bark from a tree with an axe for a variety of reasons, including the making of canoes.
The Aboriginal history of the area is also reflected in some of the place names. The township of Warrandyte itself takes its name from the Aboriginal words 'Warran’ meaning 'to throw', and 'dyte', the 'object aimed at'. It is believed that the Aborigines used to hold spear-throwing or boomerang competitions in the locality.
A study of the Aboriginal heritage of the municipality was completed in 1990 and should be consulted for more information about the history of the Wurundjeri people and the heritage sites known to remain today (1). An informative leaflet is also available from the Council.
With European colonisation in the late 1830s, the Aboriginal occupants were quickly driven away from the area, as it was taken over for grazing, tree felling and cultivation. In the 1841 survey of Warrandyte parish by T. R. Nutt, 1103 acres of land at Pound Bend was designated as an Aboriginal Reserve. However, by 1854 even this had lost its status as such, when it was put to use as a cattle pound.
Early European colonisation was swift, the settlers often arriving before the surveyors. The first government survey of the area was carried out in 1839 by T. R. Nutt. At this time three groups of settlers had already established themselves in the vicinity as squatters (for this privilege a 'squatting licence' was usually bought from the government). These were Major Charles Newman, who had started a sheep run on Deep Creek in Templestowe; James Anderson with his cattle run at Andersons Creek (to which he gave his name) at Warrandyte; and the brothers John and William Wood who had settled on the Bulleen flats.
Once the land had been surveyed however, it could be officially sold, a process which took place in Doncaster, Templestowe and Warrandyte during the 1840s and 50s. It was no doubt speeded up by the 1840 government declaration that any approved person could buy 8 square miles of Crown Land for one pound an acre, provided that the block was at least five miles from a surveyed township.
Under this arrangement 5,120 acres of land between Koonung Creek and Templestowe was bought in 1841 by F. W. Unwin, a Sydney solicitor. Sections of the boundary of the area, known as Unwins Special Survey was marked by blazed trees our study notes remain today. The Special Survey was transferred back to the Crown in 1844 and a fresh grant made to James Atkinson in 1845. It was later sold to R. Campbell and subsequently subdivided for farms (2).
With European colonisation in the late 1830s, the Aboriginal occupants were quickly driven away from the area, as it was taken over for grazing, tree felling and cultivation. In the 1841 survey of Warrandyte parish by T. R. Nutt, 1103 acres of land at Pound Bend was designated as an Aboriginal Reserve. However, by 1854 even this had lost its status as such, when it was put to use as a cattle pound.
Early European colonisation was swift, the settlers often arriving before the surveyors. The first government survey of the area was carried out in 1839 by T. R. Nutt. At this time three groups of settlers had already established themselves in the vicinity as squatters (for this privilege a 'squatting licence' was usually bought from the government). These were Major Charles Newman, who had started a sheep run on Deep Creek in Templestowe; James Anderson with his cattle run at Andersons Creek (to which he gave his name) at Warrandyte; and the brothers John and William Wood who had settled on the Bulleen flats.
Once the land had been surveyed however, it could be officially sold, a process which took place in Doncaster, Templestowe and Warrandyte during the 1840s and 50s. It was no doubt speeded up by the 1840 government declaration that any approved person could buy 8 square miles of Crown Land for one pound an acre, provided that the block was at least five miles from a surveyed township.
Under this arrangement 5,120 acres of land between Koonung Creek and Templestowe was bought in 1841 by F. W. Unwin, a Sydney solicitor. Sections of the boundary of the area, known as Unwins Special Survey was marked by blazed trees our study notes remain today. The Special Survey was transferred back to the Crown in 1844 and a fresh grant made to James Atkinson in 1845. It was later sold to R. Campbell and subsequently subdivided for farms (2).
As more settlers arrived and the land occupied by the first grazing runs was subdivided and sold off, patterns of settlement began to develop. The focal points of settlement were the new villages at Warrandyte and Templestowe. These were developed in the 1850s on land that had been set aside for this purpose in the earliest government surveys of the area.
All that remains of the earliest government surveys are the Crown Reserves declared by T. R. Nutt in his first Warrandyte Parish Land Survey, 1841; The Common, Black Flat. Jumping Creek and Pound Bend.
(1) Isabel Ellender, “The Archaeological Survey of Aboriginal Sites” report prepared for the City of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1990.
(2) Correspondence from Surveyor, Survey Branch, Office of Titles, 28.10.193l.
One is a failure of planning while the other is a success despite its physically inappropriate site.
Doncaster was laid out as a private township in 1853 by W. B. Burnley. It was a nucleated settlement with a grid plan centred on the junction of Doncaster and Blackburn Roads. The early character of the settlement has since been destroyed by successive suburban development.
The eastern section of what is now Ruffey Creek Municipal Gardens, and the area along Victoria Street, formed the focal point for a settlement established by a group of Germans in the 1850s. They called the area Waldau' meaning 'a clearing in the forest'. The home¬ stead of the original family of settlers, the Thieles', is still standing on the south side of the park. To the east of Victoria Street is the site of the Lutheran Church that was built by the German community in 1858.
Of local interest as the site of the early Lutheran settlement of the area.
Templestowe is a planned settlement, a colonising village in the bush situated along an east-west ridge with a north facing slope to the Yarra and its river flats.
The township of Templestowe was laid out in 1852 by the surveyor Henry Foote. In November of that year grazing leases were cancelled, and the land designated for the new village, sold off in small lots.
The site was well chosen for its elevation above the river valley, its sunny aspect and its access to water.
However, the settlement did not thrive as an urban centre. Instead it continues as a residential suburb distinguished by its grid street pattern; its topography with gently undulating east-west streets and steeply sloping north-south streets; its street formation with gravel edges and wide grassed verges; its mature plantings of exotic tree species including Monterey Pines and Cypresses; and its contact with the river valley.
Several older buildings remain, notably the Templestowe Hotel and Sheahan's house. These places are listed separately in this report.
The street layout is of local interest as an element of the early survey remaining visible in a suburban landscape.
However, its site was not a propitious one. The town centre is linear and almost single sided, following the course of the Yarra along its southern bank and immediately backed by a steeply sloping hillside. Its outlook is north and northwestwards to the steep and wooded bank of the river opposite.
Because of its lack of level sites for easy development and its constrained outlook, the combination of enclosing wooded valley, accessible river and a few old buildings is still powerful enough to attract visitors and sustain residents.
The townscape quality of the settlement is very important, with its main street, Yarra Street, still incorporating various historical community focal points. These include the bakery and the butchers shop, the former post office (still serving a community function as premises for the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Historical Society), and the Grand Hotel, a substantial two-storey building which constitutes a dominant feature in the street.
Warrandyte township is of local significance as an 1850s township retaining the form but not the structures of this period, and for its townscape qualities created by its setting and built features
All that remains of the earliest government surveys are the Crown Reserves declared by T. R. Nutt in his first Warrandyte Parish Land Survey, 1841; The Common, Black Flat. Jumping Creek and Pound Bend.
(1) Isabel Ellender, “The Archaeological Survey of Aboriginal Sites” report prepared for the City of Doncaster and Templestowe, 1990.
(2) Correspondence from Surveyor, Survey Branch, Office of Titles, 28.10.193l.
Theme 2.01 Towns and Settlements
The government-surveyed towns of Templestowe and Warrandyte are important because they are two of the three points of contact of the urban area of the municipality with the Yarra River, and because they illustrate completely different stimuli to urbanisation.One is a failure of planning while the other is a success despite its physically inappropriate site.
Doncaster was laid out as a private township in 1853 by W. B. Burnley. It was a nucleated settlement with a grid plan centred on the junction of Doncaster and Blackburn Roads. The early character of the settlement has since been destroyed by successive suburban development.
Waldau settlement
Ruffey Creek Municipal Gardens, George St, Doncaster (193.l0)The eastern section of what is now Ruffey Creek Municipal Gardens, and the area along Victoria Street, formed the focal point for a settlement established by a group of Germans in the 1850s. They called the area Waldau' meaning 'a clearing in the forest'. The home¬ stead of the original family of settlers, the Thieles', is still standing on the south side of the park. To the east of Victoria Street is the site of the Lutheran Church that was built by the German community in 1858.
Of local interest as the site of the early Lutheran settlement of the area.
Templestowe township
Templestowe (173.50)Templestowe is a planned settlement, a colonising village in the bush situated along an east-west ridge with a north facing slope to the Yarra and its river flats.
The township of Templestowe was laid out in 1852 by the surveyor Henry Foote. In November of that year grazing leases were cancelled, and the land designated for the new village, sold off in small lots.
The site was well chosen for its elevation above the river valley, its sunny aspect and its access to water.
However, the settlement did not thrive as an urban centre. Instead it continues as a residential suburb distinguished by its grid street pattern; its topography with gently undulating east-west streets and steeply sloping north-south streets; its street formation with gravel edges and wide grassed verges; its mature plantings of exotic tree species including Monterey Pines and Cypresses; and its contact with the river valley.
Several older buildings remain, notably the Templestowe Hotel and Sheahan's house. These places are listed separately in this report.
The street layout is of local interest as an element of the early survey remaining visible in a suburban landscape.
Warrandyte township
Yarra St, Warrandyte (155.39)
The settlement of Warrandyte was prompted by a gold rush, (it was not surveyed as a township until July 1856, after the gold rush had begun), and continues as a local urban centre because of its remoteness from competing centres, its location at a river crossing, and its physical identity as a picturesque village within a wooded river valley.However, its site was not a propitious one. The town centre is linear and almost single sided, following the course of the Yarra along its southern bank and immediately backed by a steeply sloping hillside. Its outlook is north and northwestwards to the steep and wooded bank of the river opposite.
Because of its lack of level sites for easy development and its constrained outlook, the combination of enclosing wooded valley, accessible river and a few old buildings is still powerful enough to attract visitors and sustain residents.
The townscape quality of the settlement is very important, with its main street, Yarra Street, still incorporating various historical community focal points. These include the bakery and the butchers shop, the former post office (still serving a community function as premises for the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Historical Society), and the Grand Hotel, a substantial two-storey building which constitutes a dominant feature in the street.
Warrandyte township is of local significance as an 1850s township retaining the form but not the structures of this period, and for its townscape qualities created by its setting and built features
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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