CENTIPEDE GULLY MINING LANDSCAPE

The site is an alluvial mining landscape. Gold was first discovered in the Ararat Region in 1854, with the first workings consisting of alluvial gold sites (including Mysterious Gully). After the initial Ararat Rush, shallow alluvial mining in the area slowed and the majority of gold resources were coming from reworked gullies and creek beds by sluicing or puddling parties, or alternatively by shallow shafts.  

 

Centipede Gully was sluiced, and in some areas, gold-bearing sediments were excavated for treatment by puddling machines. The very weathered remains of one puddling machine were found on site. A number of shafts, filled and open, extend along both sides of the gully and these are associated with working cement beds. Some of the shafts have been used as rubbish dumps and contain exposed bottles and ceramics dating from the 1940s. Based on this, the site has moderate archaeological potential to provide an understanding of the Ararat Goldfields during the Victorian Gold Rush era. 

The site is historically significant as of the shallow alluvial mining landscape in the Ararat Goldfields, presenting good examples of three phases of gold mining including, ground sluicing, puddling, and shaft mining.