FORMER MORWELL TO MIRBOO NORTH RAILWAY ARTEFACT SCATTER
Location
ZONE 55E: 443958; N: 5762766
Level
Heritage Inventory Site
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
Surface features identified within this area, including timber and concrete railway sleepers, metal railway infrastructure such as fencing attached to former timber railway sleepers and infrastructure consistent with water columns used along Victorian railways are significant aspects of this site, in addition to the small railway bridge to the southern extent of the site.
How is it significant?
This site provides a good example of the nature and characteristics of rail infrastructure used in country Victoria in the late 1800s and early-mid 1900s, and has potential to provide more information on the type and nature of buildings present, and the type and nature of buildings materials, timber resources and other rail infrastructure used along the alignment of the former Morwell to Mirboo North Railway between 1885 and the mid 1900s.
Why is it significant?
This site contains archaeological features, artefacts and deposits, the visible site fabric indicates that the site contains archaeological remains, and the archaeological remains are likely to be in a condition that will allow information to be obtained that will contribute to an understanding of the site. Additionally, under Threshold B of the Policy for Determining Low Archaeological Value the site evidences an association with an historical phase, period, function, and way of life, that being rail travel in country Victoria in the late 1800s and early to mid 1900s; and the site history is relevant within a local and regional framework.
This site is significant for its association with Theme 3 of Victorias Framework of Historical Themes, Connecting Victorians by Transport and Communications, specifically, sub-theme 3.3, Linking Victorians by rail. This site has the potential to provide an understanding of the expansion of the railway network with the light lines of the 1870s and 1880s, the equipment, infrastructure and technology used in country Victoria and how this infrastructure and technology was used and adapted. It is documented in the literature that the Morwell to Mirboo North Railway was constructed with the landscape in mind and rather than avoiding or adapting to the contours of the landscape, many significant cuttings, embankments and bridges were constructed to reduce the gradient of the landscape to workable levels (Grand Ridge Rail Trail, 2008). One such bridge is present within the site and as such, this site also exhibits potential to provide an understanding of how environmental factors influenced chosen routes of rail travel.