Carlisle United-Garden Gully Precinct

What is Significant?

The Carlisle United/Garden heritage precinct is associated with the Garden Gully line of reef mines, which were the richest mines in Bendigo. The area is particularly important in the historic development of deep lead mines of the central Victorian Bendigo goldfields. It represented the largest concentration of deep shafts anywhere in the world at the time and included the wealthiest mines, operated by the largest company mines and managed by some of the richest mining magnates of the time such as C. Ballerstedt, J.B. Watson, Joseph Bell and George Lansell. As technology and mine administration improved, so did the confidence of investors. Larger steam plants and winding engines were installed so the mines could be worked at greater depth and also control ground water inflow.

The Garden Gully line of reef crosses the Ironbark Gully area in a line stretching from Barnard Street and Eaglehawk Road to Havilah Street in the north. Within this area the former mines comprises Garden Gully United, the Victory & Pandora Shaft, Victory Shaft, Bells, Old Carlisle, North Garden Gully United, Passerby, Golden Fleece, Central Garden Gully/North/Kent, Watson's Kentish/Carlisle United Carlisle mines. The Carlisle site was continuously occupied from 1860s onwards through to 1927 and is now representative of the 1890s mining revival on the Garden Gully line. The company which operated this site was the most successful in Bendigo and became Bendigo's biggest gold producer. The mine is now known officially as the Carlisle North Garden Gully and Pass-by United, commonly known as the Carlisle. Its marvellous riches were owned by John Boyd Watson. The dividends paid by the Garden Gully United made it famous throughout the mining world. Garden Gully United site was continuously occupied between 1857 and 1921. Unity was continuously occupied between1870-1921. Victory and Pandora Amalgamated was continuously occupied between 1857 and 1914.

The goldfields became the engine room of the colony. It stimulated industry in the wider area and the economy of a nation. The quartz mining was reliant upon the manufacture, innovation and expansion of the metal trades, blacksmiths, metal foundries and engineering manufacturers producing steam machinery, rock borers and drills, air compressors, gears, sand and water pumping gear, cartage, winding wheels, crushing batteries, steal housing frames and the like. Long Gully and Ironbark areas were the location of some of the earliest blacksmiths and foundries and also the biggest in Bendigo and included, Gretex and Moffat in Long Gully, W. Kidd in Ironbark, and in 1872 Osborne & Co., and Taylor Horsfield foundry in Long Gully in 1883. During the early 20th century these industries were restructured and much of the skills base shifted to the large government North Bendigo Railway workshops that manufactured railway locomotives and carriages for the Victorian Railways.

Mineralisation within the Bendigo Goldfield is characterised by erratically distributed coarse gold. It meant that large crushing ore plants and works were sited close to the mines and resulted in an expansive mining landscape of large dusty mullock heaps and tailing dams, interspersed with the homes of the miners.

In addition, the spatial barriers created by large areas of mining and contaminated wastelands separated the small pockets of scattered mining settlements from the rest of Bendigo further stigmatising the area as a working class suburb for most of the twentieth century. After the major decline in mining in the early to mid 20th century, these large areas of mining wastelands of sand heaps, old sludge dams and cyanide tailing dams remained un-developed, 'a dry slum'. Attempts at dust mitigation by planting of peppercorn trees was minimal, the land remained a source of dust and contamination until the 1950s and 1960s when some parcels of land were cleaned up for low cost housing and state government commission housing.[1]

Much of the former mine land now remains reserved as open space and collectively forms one of the most comprehensive collections of mining artefacts which spans the entire period of mining in Bendigo from the earliest reef workings from 1853 through to the 1950s.

How is it Significant?

The Carlisle United/Garden heritage precinct, has historic, architectural, scientific and social significance at a local level to the City of Bendigo. (Criteria A, B, C, D and H)

Criterion A: Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria's cultural history.

1) The cultural landscape of Carlisle United/Garden heritage precinct has historic significance for its ability to illustrate the colourful mining history of Garden Gully line of reef mines in the Ironbark area. These mines were the some of the wealthiest and deepest quartz mines of Bendigo. Bendigo goldfields became one of the world's great 19th century goldfields, attracting people from all over the world. The Bendigo goldfields was Australia's second largest in terms of historical production after Western Australia's Golden Mile (Boulder, Kalgoorlie). It produced the largest amount of gold of any field in Eastern Australia and retains the largest evidence of its mining past within the inner city area.

2) The cultural landscape of Carlisle United/Garden heritage precinct has historic significance for its associated group of early mining cottages that housed the mine workers. The settlement was unregulated and developed along unsurveyed roads between the mining shafts, battery and engine houses, chimneys, tailing dams, holding dams, and other debris associated with deep quartz gold mining on leased Crown land. This factor, together with the nature of the reef area created large areas of mining and contaminated industrial lands across Long Gully/Ironbark areas that became physical barriers that separated early residential areas into small isolated pockets of scattered miners' cottages from the rest of the growing suburbs of Bendigo.

3) The cultural landscape of Carlisle United/Garden heritage precinct has historic significance as it demonstrates the impact of the declining mining industry in the early to mid 20th century, which left large tracks of wastelands of sand heaps, deteriorating equipment, disused shafts, old sludge dams and cyanide tailing dams that impacted on the surrounding residential area with dust and pollutants.

4) The cultural landscape of Carlisle United/Garden heritage precinct has historic significance as it illustrates changing attitudes towards reclamation of mining wastelands. Attempts at dust mitigation by planting of peppercorn trees was minimal, the land remained a source of dust and contamination until the 1950s and 1960s when some parcels of land were cleaned up for low cost housing and state government commission housing, which were built on vacant land between groups of historic miners cottages.

Criterion B: Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria's cultural history.

5) The cultural landscape of Carlisle United/Garden heritage precinct is rare as it provides a visual corridor of some of the richest former mines land near the centre of Bendigo.

Criterion C: Potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Victoria's cultural history.

6) The cultural landscape of Carlisle United/Garden heritage precinct has significance for its ability to contribute to an understanding of the gold mining history of Bendigo. There are extensive archival materials, including but not restricted to the Quarterly Reports of the Mining Surveyors and Registrars, 1863-91, detailed social demographic information since 1861 particularly in Bendigo and Ballarat goldfields, scholarly research and publications as well as contemporary journals and diaries.

Criterion D: Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural places or environments.

7) The cultural landscape of Carlisle United/Garden heritage precinct has heritage significance for the wide range of historic elements including scattered timber miners' cottages, which have collectively retained a high degree of integrity and authenticity.

Criterion H: Special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in Victoria's history.

8) The Carlisle United/Garden Gully heritage precinct is particularly associated with John Boyd Watson, a mining magnate and investor, who with other mining speculators such as George Lansell Ernest Mueller, John Watson, Edward Isaac Dyason, Barnett Lazarus, Carl Roeder and the Hunter brothers had a profound impact on the development of deep quartz mining in Bendigo. They reaped substantial rewards from the Ironbark quartz reefs and mines located along the Garden Gully line of reef but also contributed to the development of Bendigo by funding the establishment of hospitals, mining research, Sustentation Funds for mine workers, the development of the Bendigo Land and Building Societies, They funded scientific exploration into the hinterland of Australia. The individuals commissioned elaborate displays of Bendigo's mining achievements and collections of local Dja Dja Wurrung Indigenous cultural artefacts which were not necessarily found within the Ironbark locality but found within the areas that the Dja Dja Wurrang people live. Displays of the mining activity and Indigenous cultural artefacts were sent to the Great Exhibitions of the world such the 1855, 1865 and 1878 Paris and London International Exhibition. They built ornate late baroque colonial style buildings of great elegance that compare well with the legacy of other colonial cities of the world.

[1] Dingle, Tony, The Victorians, Setting, Farifax, Syme & Weldon & Ass, 1984, p 99.

Group

Urban Area

Category

Mixed Use Precinct