The potential archaeological remains associated with the original early settlement at Framlingham Aboriginal Mission. In addition to potential archaeological remains, remaining features such as the church, cemetery and trees are also significant.
How is it significant?
The site is of historical, scientific (archaeological) and social significance.
Why is it significant?
Framlingham Aboriginal Mission has a high historic and social value as it is associated with important, albeit tragic, events to Aboriginal people and a dark period of the establishment and development of Australia. The history and development of Framlingham Mission Station is also well documented. The location of Framlingham Mission Station was initially established in the early 1860s with the establishment of the Board for the Protection of Aborigines. Prominent citizens of the district petitioned the Board to establish a reserve where Aboriginal people could settle and receive food and medical care. In 1861, an area of 3,500 acres was established on the Hopkins River as a temporary reservation for the use of Aborigines (Barwick, 1979, p. 4). The reserve was reported to be heavily timbered with poor soil. However, the people of the station worked to cultivate the land and establish buildings (ibid). Over time, many of the original buildings and hut sites were demolished and/or altered and extended, and several more modern houses were constructed in more recent times.
Scientifically, the history and development of Framlingham Aboriginal Mission is well documented, such as by Barwick (1979), Critchett (1992), du Cros and Associates (1993) and du Cros and Associates (1994), within the historical record. Further excavation across the wider extent of the former mission could reveal more information relating to the past of residents of the mission, many of which still have family living at the mission site.
Framlingham Aboriginal Mission has strong cultural and historical associations for past and present people of the mission. The ongoing use of the land by Traditional Owners has resulted in traditional practices being passed down from generation to generation, including traditional food procurement practices are still be used in the form of eel traps on the Hopkins River and scarring of trees.
