DOOKIE QUARRY CRUSHING PLANT SITE

The Dookie crushing plant was established in 1915 as a joint iniative of two adjoining local Shires to service the need for road base material as the regional road network area expanded with the advent of the motor car. The crushing plant was built at the railway siding, where raw material was crushed on site and loaded directly into rail carriages for transportation via rail, prior to the existence of truck transportation. The surviving foundations allow for interpretation of the former location and operation of the crushing plant within the Dookie township.

The surviving physical fabric of the Dookie crushing plant is of historical and scientific (archaeological) significance to regional Victoria and the local community, addressing Criterion C & D for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Inventory (Heritage Council of Victoria).

Criterion C – Potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Victoria’s regional cultural history.

Criterion D – Importance in demonstrating the principle characteristics of a class of cultural places or objects.

The Dookie Crushing plant is significant as it is a largely undocumented and unknown remant of an early 20th Century industry developed to meet the need for an expanding road network in regional Victoria, in response to the advent of motor vehicles, effectively connecting communities by roads in the 20th Century. It also highlights the importance of the stone resources and the processing of these raw materials within the Dookie district, and the role this played in development of the region, being the only suitable resource of this kind within the Shepparton and Rodney Shires. The crushing plant was also responsible for employing many people over the years of its operation so contributed significantly to the regional economy and the local township of Dookie. 

 

Whilst remnant crushing plants in association with railways do exist in other areas of the State, this is the only crushing plant foundation within the entire Rodney and Shepparton Shire due to the rarity of suitable stone in this region. The crushing plant existed at this location because of the proximity to these stone resources and the existing railway system. The technological development represented at this industrial site is of significance as it demonstrates the principle characteristics of this class of cultural place. The largely intact and buried foundations have historical (archaeological) significance due to the high likelihood they have to contribute more information to the understanding of this early technology and the operation of this crushing plant, which played such an important role in the development of this regional area.