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Dight's Water Mill

Location Trenerry Crescent, ABBOTSFORD VIC 3067 - Property No B3139 File Number B3139 Level State

[1/1] B3139 Dight's Water Mill

Statement of Significance

The site of Dight's flour mill is of State significance as a relic of one of Victoria's earliest industrial sites, as probably Melbourne's first mill to be commenced, the third to begin operating and as the site of one of Melbourne's largest flour mills during the late nineteenth century. It is also significant as a rare example, in Victoria, of the application of water-power to industry and the only water-powered mill of any sort, ever to have operated in the Melbourne Metropolitan area. The surviving evidence on the site includes the sluice gates, which may relate directly to the original water mill; the bluestone lined race which is on the alignment of the original head race but has been relined with bluestone from the demolished mill; and the brick turbine house ruins from the Melbourne Flour Milling Co. period. Together these relics reflect the progression of development of the site and demonstrate certain technological innovations such as the use of vertical axis water turbines.
The site is also indirectly associated with several prominent milling firms and families including, Aitkin & Scott, Gillespie, Darling, and Minnifie, each of whom played significant roles in Victorian flour milling.
See also Yarra River (L41)
Classified: 16/06/1993