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Coal Creek Heritage Park

Other Names

- ,  Coal Creek Community Park & Museum

Location

12 SILKSTONE ROAD, KORUMBURRA, SOUTH GIPPSLAND SHIRE

Level

Included in Heritage Overlay

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
Select original buildings within the Coal Creek Heritage Park, at 12 Silkstone Road, Korumburra, opened in 1972, are of significance.  The tourist park was opened on 2 March 1974 after a public campaign for a place to store and celebrate South Gippsland’s coal mining heritage. Not all of the buildings within the park, including the main entry building, are of heritage significance or in their original form. The original buildings that are of significance include:
Constructed in 1899-1900, this was the first building to be moved to Coal Creek in 1970 with the small timber lock-up at the rear was moved in 1990. This is Queen Anne Victorian weatherboard clad gabled hall with hip and gable elements at the rear and projecting gable to the East. To the North, there is a straight verandah with reconstructed ladder frame valance, over a segmentally arched board, with square stop chamfered posts and neck moulds. The building also has elaborate gable end frames, tri-grouped windows and small dormer vents. Inside there is an internal wind lobby from double front doors, varnished beaded tongue and groove lining boards, vertically laid as a dado, and horizontally above the dado. There are collar tie trusses, a side fireplace with bracketed mantel, and original courtroom features such as the prisoner’s dock, witness box, bench and jury box. 
Constructed in 1902 and moved to Coal Creek in the 1970s, this single classroom school is of timber construction with a half-hipped iron roof. There is a bracketed extension of the roof pane with three side windows with fixed multi-pane sashes and hoppers. The gable ends with triangular louvred vents with brackets, horizontal frame and finial.
This Federation weatherboard, one-room school, with a half-hipped corrugated iron gabled roof, with a projecting porch with an entrance, a bank of multi-paned windows with hoppers at one end, highlight windows and tall multi-paned windows adjacent to the entrance. This building was constructed in 1917 and moved to Coal Creek in 1975.
This Carpenter Gothic weatherboard church is simple in design and typical of the early 20th Century churches found throughout the Shire. There is a projecting gabled porch to the front and three lancet windows on each side elevation. A new vestry was added to the rear after it was moved to Coal Creek. This building was constructed in 1901 and moved to Coal Creek in 1972.
Constructed c.1915 and moved to Coal Creek in 1972, this is small weatherboard cottage with gable roof and front verandah, supported by timber posts and simple brackets. On either side of the entry is a six-pane double hung sash window and there is a reconstructed chimney at the side. 
Constructed c.1910 and moved c.1980, this gabled weatherboard cottage has a return verandah supported by timber posts. There are no bracket on the verandah and it is unclear this they verandah is original. There is also a tin chimney with brick insert.
A weatherboard railway station with gabled iron roof and reconstructed verandah. The windows are single hung windows with three smaller upper windows. There is a small verandah supported by wooden posts, a single brick chimney and a pair of metal vents on the roof. The roof is made of corrugated iron with decorative wooden brackets under the eaves. This railway station is comparable to the stations in Mirboo North and Nyora. The station opened in 1910 and closed in 1970, before being moved to Coal Creek in 1972.
This weatherboard cottage was originally located at ‘Devonscot’, Arawata (see AR-ON-180). It is constructed of hand split timber walls and lined with hessian and newspaper. There were originally only two rooms in the building with later additions not reconstructed after the move to Coal Creek in 1986. This building was constructed c.1880.
This building was constructed c.1842 prior to being moved to Coal Creek. It is a small two roomed building with hip roof and tapered chimney, made of an earthen floor, timber shingles on the roof supported by bush poles, split hardwood plates, with a large timber pole in the centre. The infill of the walls is made of wattles rendered with cement-based daub material. The rafters are made of bush poles with collar ties and there is an open cooking fireplace with concave brick hearth and pick-faced large sandstone blocks. 
Constructed in 1908 and moved to Coal Creek in 1975, this building is a small weatherboard building with a gabled roof. There are gablets to the side over the entrance and small four-pane windows. The double doors at one end are alterations since arriving in Coal Creek.
Constructed in c.1900 and moved to Coal Creek in 1972, this is a gabled weatherboard cottage with rear skillion area and central front door flanked by double hung sash windows. There is a front verandah and reconstructed side brick chimney. This building is not far from where it originally sat.
A gabled weatherboard cottage with projecting central gable of standard railway department design. The windows are double hung six pane windows with sashes and corrugated iron roof.  This building was constructed c.1900 and moved to Coal Creek in 1972.
A vernacular gabled roof building with split timber walls that are set horizontally up to eave level and vertical at the gable ends. There are central doors at either end of the building, flanked by pairs of small, four-paned windows. The construction date for this building is unknown, however it was moved to Coal Creek in 1992.
The original buildings that are of contributory value to the park precinct include:
Constructed c.1900 and moved c.1980, this is a weatherboard building with iron hip roof and a central doorway, flanked by two large double hung sash windows. The verandah was a latter addition and the chimney was reconstructed. It is similar in construction to the former banks in Stony Creek, Fish Creek, Mirboo North and Toora.
A weatherboard gabled hall with a gabled porch at one end and entrance verandah that is not original. There is a skillion extension that includes a supper room and a number of tall, multi-paned windows in the side elevations. The building is of simple design that is typical of other halls in the Shire. The hall was built in 1926 and moved to Coal Creek in 1986. 
A gabled weatherboard school with gabled porch and six-pane, double hung sash windows, including one at each end elevation and three on the side elevations (originally). The building has retained the early health department vents along the ridgeline. Major alterations have taken place on one side elevation to include a new verandah, entrance and kitchen. This school was constructed in c.1890 and donated to Coal Creek in 1977
The portable building was originally a single gabled structure that has since been extended with two extra gabled sections. These buildings were built c.1910 and 1900 respectively, and were moved to Coal Creek in 1974.
A weatherboard Victorian shop with original shopfront and reconstructed verandah that may not be original. The front parapet has been reconstructed and a stored sign reading ‘Mitchell’s Farm Machiner’ has been linked to this building. This building was constructed c.1895 and moved to Coal Creek before 1974.
The other buildings within the Coal Creek Heritage Park are not significant.
How is it significant?
The select original buildings at Coal Creek Heritage Park, in Korumburra, is of local historic, aesthetic and technological significance.
Why is it significant?
The Coal Creek Heritage Park is unique to the South Gippsland Shire as the only site with a collection of significant heritage buildings. Coal Creek as a whole celebrates and demonstrates the importance of the coal mining industry to the development of the South Gippsland Shire. The contributory buildings within this park enhance this significance. (Criterion B)
The original buildings each have their own individual significance including:
Historically, this is the first building to be relocated to Coal Creek Heritage Park after it stopped being used in May 1969. The Court House was designed by the Public Works Department’s chief architect JB Cohen, who built a number of the government institutions within the South Gippsland Shire, demonstrating the importance of early government buildings within the Shire. (Criterion A)
This building is an architecturally rare and early example of a basic building form with complex Federation timber details. This building is only one of two known examples of a Queen Anne Court House in Victoria. (Criterion B)
Historically, this building is thought to be the only surviving building from the Kilcunda Road district, demonstrating the history of the area and early community facilities within the South Gippsland Shire. (Criteria A, B)
Aesthetically, this early school has a number of unusual design elements that are not seen in other school buildings in the Shire. (Criterion E)
This school is a representative example of a one-room school within the South Gippsland Shire. The significance of this building is enhanced by the early school furniture it houses that were taken from the former Jumbunna State School. (Criterion D)
This church is a representative example of an early church within the South Gippsland Shire, and is
one of the few early 20th Century buildings in Krowera to survive over 100 years. Not only was this
used as a church but as a social space for community gatherings during the development of South
Gippsland. (Criteria A, D)
This building is a representation of an early public building, and one of only two known examples of a Lands Office in the South Gippsland Shire (the other is now used the Bush Tramway Office, also in Coal Creek). These Lands Offices played an important role in the settlement and development of Korumburra. (Criteria A, D)
This building is a representation of an early public building in the Shire, and one of only two known examples of a Lands Office in South Gippsland (the other is the former Korumburra Lands Office, also in Coal Creek). This building was important to the settlement and development of Leongatha. (Criteria A, D)
The Woodleigh Vale Railway Station is a representative example of a simple weatherboard railway station that were common throughout the South Gippsland Shire. The additional goods shed and portable buildings assist to demonstrate the layout of a functioning early train station in the region. (Criterion D)
Western’s Cottage is a rare and representative example of an early harm house, built by one of the original selection families. This cottage demonstrates the early settlement and development of the South Gippsland Shire. (Criteria B, D)
Originally located at Tarwin Meadows Run, parts of this cottage are believed to be the oldest building in South Gippsland after been constructed in c.1842, and is one of a small number of pre-1850 buildings in Victoria. It demonstrates the first phase of European occupation in South Gippsland. (Criterion A)
This pavilion is a representative example of an early sporting building and was important in the development of sport and recreational groups. This may be the oldest extant sporting building in the South Gippsland Shire after being constructed in 1908. (Criteria A, D)
This building is a representative example of an early miner’s cottage which would have been common throughout the South Gippsland Shire during the height of the mining industry in the region. Mining is one of the main industries that helped to settle and develop the Shire. (Criterion D)
This is a representative example of an early 20th Century railway employee’s house that was once common throughout the Shire. The level of intactness and the close proximity to an unrelated railway station, assists with the understanding of building and its purpose. Only one other T-designed stationmaster’s cottage is still intact in Bena, though it has been altered. (Criterion D)
This building is a rare example of an early working farm building with notable construction techniques and materials. Many of these buildings have since been demolished to make way for modern alternatives. (Criterion B)

Group

Recreation and Entertainment

Category

Tourist Attractions