The ED Miles Mining Exchange (former) is located at the northern end of the main commercial district on Mosman Street in Charters Towers, a street dominated by late nineteenth century buildings. Bounded by commercial properties to the north and south, this single storey timber building with rendered masonry façade embellished with classical detailing, is built to the front and side alignments. With dual street access, the allotment extends through to Bow Street where a large steel framed, metal clad skillion-roofed structure covers the rear of the site and a detached strong room.
\nThe former mining exchange is clearly discernible as two volumes (1887, 1901) marked by dual pediments on the parapet and separate gabled roofs clad in corrugated metal sheeting, with the larger 1887 portion lit by a generous roof lantern. A curved awning roof clad in corrugated metal sheeting and supported on slim decorative cast iron posts extends over the footpath along the width of this building and the adjoining premises to the north. Four of six cast iron columns and a large proportion of a delicate cast iron valance with brackets and pendants survive to the mining exchange building section of awning. A continuous moulded string course also extends across the length of the mining exchange building façade and the adjacent premises.
\nOn the main façade, pilasters, a plinth and semi-circular fanlights over openings mark the extent of the 1887 building and distinguish it from the square headed openings of the 1901 addition. A continuous sill extends across the front of both sections and all openings are framed with rendered mouldings. The 1887 portion comprises a double-leafed timber entrance door with a well-worn concrete threshold flanked by windows either side containing pairs of large timber casement (replacement) windows. The 1901 addition has double-hung timber windows with frosted glazing.
\nThe remainder of the building is timber framed and lined. Exterior walls are single skin with externally exposed stud framing lined internally with boards detailed with double beading. Internal partitions are also single skin with stop-chamfered studs and these, together with the ceiling, are lined with single-beaded tongue and groove boards. The rooms are generally without cornices except the 1901 addition which has a timber cove. Some joinery is painted, including four-panelled doors, French doors to the exterior and double hung windows. That which is clear finished includes cedar windows in the north-west (front) and south-east (rear) walls of the 1901 addition and the architraves, reveals and fanlights of the large bi-folding door opening.
\nThe 1887 portion of the building comprises a large public area (11 m wide) with a substantial painted cedar counter on the left hand side. A central hallway (1.8 x 11.3 m) separated from the public area by a pair of timber doors leads to the rear of the building and provides access to four rooms, two on each side which are interconnected with doorways. In the hallway wall, a slot exists into the area behind the counter, most likely for the quick transmission of documents. The front left-hand side office (former chief clerk's office) behind the public space has timber shelving with labels indicating it was used to store wine and spirits. Bathroom and laundry facilities have been fitted within the rear right-hand side room (former Millican's office) and there is a sink and cabinet located in the adjacent room (former board room), none of which are of cultural heritage significance.
\nWith a 150 mm higher floor level, the 1901 extension comprises two large rooms (7 x 4.2 m each) connected by a large opening with fanlights above. Cedar bi-fold doors which originally graced this opening have been removed to the World Theatre - the Former Australian Bank of Commerce (QHR 600407) in Mosman Street. Access to the front room is from the public space of the 1887 structure, and to the rear room from the rear yard and through a short transverse corridor within the former board room.
\nA notable feature of the 1887 building is its provision of natural light and ventilation. The large, tapered-wall roof lantern (8 m high) with operable windows straddles the hallway and front two offices, bathing them in natural light. Fanlights are located above all doorways and there is a variety of high level windows in external timber walls throughout as well as timber fretwork ceiling roses in each of the rooms. An unusual ventilation device is located in the rooms along the windowless north-eastern built-to-boundary wall. In the corners of each room, triangular ventilation ducts (1.2 m high) draw air from beneath the building as well as from the hallway through holes in the partition walls into the rooms.
\nThe strong room (11 x 3 m) is located on the north-eastern boundary. It has a concrete floor, thick masonry walls and a heavy steel entrance door facing the main building. Divided into two rooms by a concrete partition wall and second heavy metal door, the western end is constructed of externally rendered brickwork and the remainder is of concrete with a vaulted ceiling (2.5 m high) throughout, laterally braced with metal tie rods. Wall vents provide air circulation to the larger western room and the eastern room contains evidence of timber shelving for storage, a timber cupboard and an early ceiling mounted metal light shade.
\nThe rear yard is surfaced with concrete and is sheltered by steel awnings. These elements are not of cultural heritage significance.
\n","history":"
The former ED Miles Mining Exchange in Charters Towers was built in 1887 and extended in 1889, 1891 and 1901, to house the business established by ED Miles in 1883, and managed in partnership with Joe Millican from 1887. This was the first of a number of long standing mining exchange businesses established during the 1880s in Charters Towers, and thought to be the most successful business of this type in Queensland, operating from 1883 until it was liquidated shortly after the death of Miles in 1922.
The Charters Towers gold deposits were first discovered in December 1871, by an Aboriginal boy named Jupiter who accompanied prospectors Hugh and Adam Mosman [1] and John Fraser, who were later joined by George Clarke. Jupiter found a rich vein of gold laden quartz. [2] Mosman travelled to Ravenswood in early January 1872 to register the claim which he named Charters Towers, honouring the Gold Commissioner, William Charters. By March 1872 Commissioner Charters had issued 25 prospecting area permits in the vicinity of Mosman's claim [3] and the rush began.
Two settlements were established, one which became Charters Towers and another four miles (6.4 km) distant which became Millchester. Charters Towers began with a number of stores, hotels and a butcher shop along a track that was to become Mosman Street, with the population reputedly 3000 by August 1872. [4] There was rivalry between the two settlements, particularly after the courthouse was established at Millchester in 1873. [5] However Charters Towers soon dominated. Its town survey was undertaken in November 1874 marking out allotments in a ‘T' formation, [6] with the mines and the provision stores of Mosman Street on one axis, and the road to Millchester marked by Gill Street on the other. Charters Towers was declared a municipality in 1877 encompassing one square mile centred on Mosman Street. [7] It included new churches, the Oddfellows and Good Templar Lodges, 21 hotels and 57 shops.
In the meantime, it had become evident the procurement of gold from the deep seams of Charter Towers required substantial machinery to crush quartz and sink shafts. This required working capital to find the gold, finance machinery and to pay the wages of workers employed on these time consuming processes. The Queensland Gold Fields Act 1874 and Gold Mining Companies Act 1875 allowed for combinations of leases, claims and syndicates in order to work their leases at great depths. The legislation also underpinned the establishment of permanent settlement which would attract capital investment to the field. [8] Early ‘no liability' companies were floated but were short-lived, known as ‘no reliability companies' by the banks which refused to finance them. Most mines were run by syndicates with financial backing by the town's businessmen. [9] A number of share-brokers operated around town in the late 1870s, regularly advertising in the Northern Miner newspaper. Company shares were available to the general public, and this initiated the role of mining agent whose sole purpose was acting as secretary of these companies and dealing in their shares. From 1881 the Charters Towers Town Clerk Edward David Miles also filled the role of secretary for a number of these companies and by 1882 company mining became the norm in Charters Towers.
ED Miles, having first advertised his services in February 1882 [10] became a full-time mining agent in February 1883 and established an office adjacent to the Miner's Arms Hotel in Mosman Street. [11] A native of Wales, he came to Australia in 1862 attracted by the Victorian gold rush. He initially worked in Castlemaine and then moved to Ballarat. In 1875 he moved to Charters Towers and was employed as an engine driver, a miner and worked in the store of John McDonald. He was appointed town clerk in 1880. The first mining company he represented was the Day Dawn Prospecting Claim (QHR 602200), one of the most successful in Charters Towers. [12] Established in 1875 and floated as a limited liability company in October 1881 it later realised a record production of £1,000,000 worth of gold in 1898. [13] In May 1883 ED Miles was reporting to the Queenslander newspaper on 15 companies in Charters Towers, listing himself as secretary to five of these. [14]
Mining secretaries ensured the companies complied with the relevant legislation and regulation and kept board members informed of their legal responsibilities. They were the company's named representative on legal documents and it was their responsibility to ensure company directors operated within the law. It was also their responsibility to register and communicate with the shareholders to ensure dividends were paid and company records maintained, such as lists of directors and shareholders and annual accounts. [15] In mining towns, mining exchanges dealt in mine shares, whereas stock exchanges dealt in a variety of enterprises. Nevertheless, to deal in a stock exchange one had to be a member and Miles, as well as operating his own mining exchange, was later a member of the Charters Towers Stock Exchange. [16]
The growth of both Gympie's and Charters Towers' gold fields led to the establishment of brokerages in both towns and in Brisbane, dealing in mining shares. Mining exchanges had operated in Ballarat, Victoria since 1857. [17] Like Charters Towers, Ballarat's success came through the formation of mining companies to finance the deep sinking of mines. [18] The establishment of the first dedicated mining exchange building in Ballarat was initiated by the local Borough Council in 1864 in a renovated building. [19 & 20] Even when a more substantial building was constructed in 1888 (VHR HO65), it was still located on land owned by the local council. [21]
There were a number of early mining exchanges in Queensland, none of which were established by local councils. Former Ballarat businessman and publican, Henry Farley had a mining exchange and hotel in Gympie in 1868. [22] He then established the Mining Exchange Hotel in Stanthorpe in 1872. [23] Another exchange was reported in Gympie in 1872. [24] By 1881 there were 112 mining companies operating in Gympie, [25] and Crawford and Rohde operated an exchange here from 1882 to 1885. [26] Crawford then built his own building in 1885 from which he operated as mining secretary and commission agent. [27] Another building in Gympie, Smithfield Chambers (QHR 602777) housed mining secretaries from 1895 and later the Gympie Stock Exchange Club. Other mining exchanges were established elsewhere in Queensland including; Thorp in Ravenswood, Clifton & Cohen Croydon and Barker & Frew also in Croydon, all established in 1887. [28] Thorp also operated in Charters Towers. His Ravenswood exchange burnt down in 1901 and he replaced the building in 1903, although he appears to have not operated a mining exchange from the new building (QHR 600452). Miles's 1883 business was initiated prior to more substantial operations, such as the Brisbane Evening Mining Exchange (March 1884); the Stock Exchange in Gympie (10 July 1884); and the Brisbane Stock Exchange (23 July 1884). [29] An early attempt to establish a stock exchange in Charters Towers began operating in the billiard room of the Crown Hotel in July 1885, but was a relatively short lived operation. [30] Business was booming in Charters Towers by 1886, when British speculative investment in mining shares increased following the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London where gold and ore samples were exhibited.
Miles' mining exchange business is thought to be the first of this type outside of Gympie, operating until shortly after his death in 1922. In 1884, Miles employed Joe Millican as assistant secretary, [31] who became a partner in 1887. [32] The Northern Miner newspaper described Miles's business character as ‘honest...exhibiting perfect sobriety...patient and unwearied industry and attention to business down to the minutest details.' [33]
In February 1887 ED Miles released plans for his new office designed by local architect WG Smith Jnr. The report in The Northern Miner included the following description for the building to be located on a vacant allotment between the Imperial and Empire Hotels in Mosman Street:
The building will be 52 x 36 feet wide [15.8 m x 11 m], clear on the inside, and will be divided into six separate offices with a hallway six feet [1.8 m] wide hall running through; the verandahs at the back and front will be 10 feet [3 m] wide with a bedroom on the back verandah for one of the clerks. At the left-hand side of the main entrance will be the public room 21 feet [6.4 m] long whilst at the rear of this are two offices each 15 x 15 feet [4.6 m x 4.6 m]. On the right hand side is another office 15 x15 feet [4.6 m x 4.6 m], and next to this is the board room 25 x 15 feet [7.6 x 4.6 m], and there is another 15 feet [4.6 m] square room at the back of the board room. The walls will be 16 feet [4.9 m] high and the front and the wall near the Imperial will be of brick, whilst the other two will be composed of wood. The front of the building will be something like Mr Hunter's Exchange, but a little higher, and the verandah roof, which has a nice ornamental edging, will come lower in order to protect the front of the building form the afternoons' sun. The offices can be entered either from Mosman or Bow streets.
The contractor was Ben Toll, and Smith supervised its construction. [34] By mid July 1887 the company had relocated to its new premises. [35]
A feature of the interior is the use of a ventilation system, likely to be a variation of the Tobin tube, developed in England in the 1870s and patented by Martin Tobin in 1873. Ventilation is achieved through the installation of horizontal tubes under the floor, connected to vertical tubes attached to the internal walls to a height of just over one metre, drawing fresh air into the room and circulating it. [36] At the ED Miles Mining Exchange, the system was probably installed at construction. It complements the more traditional ventilation methods including ventilated ceiling roses, fanlights, operable high-level windows, and a large roof lantern with operable glazing that were included within the building.
The architectural firm WG Smith & Sons was established in Townsville in 1886 by William George Smith Jnr and Snr. Smith junior designed a number of buildings in Townsville and Charters Towers. These include the Band Pavilion in Lissner Park (QHR 600397) and the Masonic Lodge (QHR 600411) in Charters Towers, and Osler House (QHR 600931) and the Choral Society Buildings (QHR 600933) in Townsville. He also designed St Mary's Convent in Charters Towers for the Sisters of Mercy. [37]
An economic downturn occurred in 1888 because of a decrease in overseas investment and a continuing drought which led to the closure of crushing machines due to lack of water. The slump was short lived because of the development of the Brilliant Reef. It had been financed by Richard Craven and GM Ievers who had profited from the British investors of 1886 and they were able to manage the mine for themselves. In 1889 Brilliant Reef, mined to a depth of 3000 feet (914 m), became the biggest producer in the field.
Charters Towers was at its economic peak in the late 19th century, and according to Government Geologist Robert Logan Jack, was the third largest gold producing area in Australia, after Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo). [38] Many new buildings were completed and other mining agencies established. The T-junction of Mosman and Gill Streets became the financial district of Charters Towers. For one block to the east, north, and south were eight banks, the post and telegraph office, two assayers' offices, and four solicitor's offices. Share-brokers occupied the Royal Arcade, and other offices were located in Mosman and Bow Streets. The Royal Arcade (QHR 600406) was built in 1888 and by 1890 the Stock Exchange operated from the building.
During the late 1880s to early 1890s three other mining agencies and exchanges built offices in town. Ernest Hunter bailed out the early stock exchange and established a mining exchange in Mosman Street in March 1886, [39] before occupying his own purpose built office by December. [40] In 1887 Hunter and Albert Harte formed a partnership while Harte then formed another with his former secretary Alan Bright. Both agencies were in Mosman Street. [41] The Hunter and Harte partnership was dissolved early in 1891. Hunter relocated to Croydon and Harte to Brisbane. McCallum and Ineson began business as a general draper and milliner in 1885, turning to share-broking for mining companies in 1890. The company built offices in Bow Street in 1892, designed by WG Smith. [42] The building was later occupied by the Commonwealth Bank. Alan B Bright built a new mining exchange in Mosman Street in 1896, designed by CW Smith. [43] Bright died in 1903 but his business continued to operate into the mid-1950s. [44]
ED Miles and Company were agents for the Brilliant Reef and the neighbouring shafts by 1891, including the St George, Brilliant Block, Brilliant Freeholds, Brilliant Central, Brilliant St Patrick and Queen. Of the 58 mining companies listed in the Northern Mining Register newspaper share list in March 1891, ED Miles and Co. managed 24. Alan Bright managed only nine companies and there were other small operators in town. [45] By September 1891, Miles was secretary to 31 mining companies as well as being the office for three London based companies and local organisations such as the Charters Towers District Hospital and Cemetery Trust, with Miles secretary to both organisations. His partner Joe Millican was mayor at this time. [46] ED Miles became mayor in 1897. At that time the Queenslander newspaper suggested that ED Miles and Co had, for some time, held the leading place among mining agents and brokers in the state. [47]
The growth in business necessitated an expansion of ED Miles's premises. With responsibility for so many secretarial roles and agencies a strong room for the books and securities was necessary. In 1889, a detached fire-proof strong room was built designed by Tunbridge and Tunbridge. [48] It was constructed with walls 2 ft (600 mm) thick with an arched roof of brick and a massive iron door. [49] The strong room was later extended in reinforced concrete, although a date for this is yet to be found.
By 1891 the company had two partners and 17 employees, and was reputedly the largest business of its type in Queensland at the time. [50] Extensions to accommodate its expansion were reported in the Northern Mining Register:
The offices which are of brick, lined with wood, and lofty to provide ventilation have a frontage of 40ft (sic) to Mosman-street by a depth of 80ft and recent additions include a room for the corresponding clerks, a room for the share-broking department and a private apartment for members of the staff. The front office is 15ft by 40ft [12.1m x 4.6 m]. On the right hand side on entering, the end of the office is cut off by a counter over which all transactions took place. On the left hand side cash and calls are received. Though there is no very great attempt at ornamentation the office is fitted with very handsome cedar polished counters, and is at the same time commodious and comfortable. In this part of the building four clerks are engaged...A pair of polished cedar spring doors cut off the private offices from the one devoted to the public and open on a hall way, running the length of the building. On the left hand-side, after entering the hall, is the office of the chief clerk, Mr J Mortimer Hastings in which directors' meetings are held. Mr Hastings takes the directors' meetings and attends to the correspondence; on the right of the hall is the large board-room in which meetings of shareholders takes place and where in the daytime six clerks are engaged under the supervision of Mr JD Macfarlane, who attends to the Warden's Court business, advertising, the despatch of call and dividend notices, and the transaction of insurance and general business. Mr Miles and Mr Millican occupy comfortable offices at the rear of the chief clerk's and board-room respectively. Attached to the main building is the room occupied by the three correspondence clerks, two of whom are shorthand writers. [51]
No architect has been identified in relation to this extension. A number of architects were practicing in Charters Towers at the time including Tunbridge and Tunbridge, WG Smith and WH Munro.
In 1899 Charters Towers was the second most economically important city in Queensland with a population of over 26,000 and an internationally noted goldfield. The gold yield for the state had risen dramatically following the development of the Brilliant Reef and in 1891 it rose from 123,000 ounces (3487 kg) to 218,000 ounces (6181 kg). It reached its all time peak during 1899 of 319,572 ounces (9059.7 kg) yielding over £2,000,000 by the end of the year. [52] This boom also led to the establishment of the School of Mines which opened in March 1899. ED Miles, in his role as president of the Mining Institute, laid the foundation stone. [53] The School of Mines (QHR 600402) was based on the model of the Mechanics Institutes in Ballarat and Otago in New Zealand, which taught the necessary skills to existing and potential mine employees.
By September 1901 yet another extension to the ED Miles & Company building was underway, designed by Walter Hunt. [54] The building then extended the entire length (18 m) of its street frontage on Mosman Street, abutting the Empire Hotel. Hunt had relocated to Queensland from Kiama in New South Wales in mid 1899, [55] working in Charters Towers, and later established a practice in Townsville with CD Lynch [56] and undertaking work throughout North Queensland.
Further impact on the processing of ore in Charters Towers came with the Federation drought (1895-1902). The Burdekin River dried up, leading townspeople to build a weir, completed by the end of 1902. Miles was chairman of the water board. [57] Despite these problems, the mining warden reported an increase in gold production at the end of 1902, largely due to the development of the Queen Cross Mine, for which [58] ED Miles and Co. was secretary.
Miles was appointed to the Queensland Legislative Council in July 1902. [59] From 1905 Miles's parliamentary work necessitated his relocation to Brisbane, initially living in Kinellan House in New Farm, then at Nyrambla in Ascot. Joe Millican carried on the business.
Despite Charters Towers being declared a city in 1909, the downturn in mining from 1914 and its cessation in 1917 contributed to a steady decrease in population during this time. [60] A town that had boasted a population of 25,000 in 1900, when it was the second largest in Queensland, was reduced to just 13,000 by the end of World War I. Between 1914 and 1918 more than 900 homes and business premises were removed from Charters Towers. Many were dismantled and transported by train to Townsville or Ayr where they were re-erected. Others were relocated to various places in Western Queensland. [61]
Gold production had been the mainstay of the Queensland mining sector in the 1890s amounting to 85 per cent to 92.8 per cent of mining production during the decade. Apart from a brief spike in production at Mount Morgan in 1888-9, Charters Towers consistently out-produced the other major gold mining areas of Ravenswood, Gympie and Mount Morgan between 1880 and 1913, [62] but figures for all centres declined in the early 20th century. Charters Towers' production of 96,046 oz (2723 kg) in 1912, fell to 42,777 oz (1213 kg) in 1916 and reduced further to 8095 oz (22.9 kg) by 1919. [63]
Mining companies began folding: the Mills Day Dawn United, the New Queen Central, Moonstone and Telegraph in 1916. [64] The New Brilliant Freehold Company went into liquidation in 1918. ED Miles and Thomas Mills were appointed liquidators. Miles died in 1922 during the winding up of the company, which dragged on to 1926. Joe Millican replaced Miles as liquidator [65] and having retired to Sydney had liquidated the partnership of Miles and Millican sometime in 1922. [66]
Miles's obituary declared that ‘there were few offices of dignity, importance or influence in Charters Towers with which Mr Miles was not at one time or another associated'. He had been an alderman and mayor, chairman of the Charters Towers Water Board, member of the Townsville Harbour Board, president of the Charters Towers Chamber of Commerce, the Mining Institute, and the Mine Owners Association and secretary of the Charters Towers Hospital Board for over 20 years, and District Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge and member of the Manchester Unity International Order of Oddfellows. [67] He was also the chairman of the association which established the School of Mines (QHR 600402) in Charters Towers in 1900. [68] He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Council until his death on 10 March 1922, shortly before the abolition of the upper house on 23 March.
His partner Joe Millican was also a significant asset to the community being an alderman from 1888, the year after he became Miles' partner, and then becoming mayor in 1890. He was vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and the Charters Towers Stock Exchange, member of the executive of the Charters Towers Pastoral Agricultural and Mining Association, a member of the Manchester Unity International Order of Oddfellows, and either chairman or director of numerous mining companies and a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly briefly between 1907 and 1908. [69]
The ED Miles and Co. building was purchased in 1928 by the North Queensland Racing Association (NQRA) [70] which had formed in Charters Towers in 1886. [71] The NQRA reported it paid £400 and the offices were described as comprising a strong room, large board room and roomy offices, some of which would be made available for letting. [72] The NQRA relocated its headquarters to Townsville in the 1960s. By 1965 the 1891 addition at the rear of the building had been demolished and an L-shaped structure (later demolished) was built behind the strong room. [73]
The property was then sold to Bartlams Limited in 1966. Bartlams was involved in the sale of livestock and real estate, as well as being wine and spirit merchants, generally servicing western Queensland grazing properties. Bartlams had previously operated from part of the former Burns Philp building (QHR 600409) in Mosman Street from 1944 until 1966. [74] Transferred again in 1974 to Albert Claude Oates, the former ED Miles building was then used for the operation of ‘Independent Tyre Dealers'. The property was sold again in 1988 and the new owners lived in the building for a period. During this time, a large steel-framed structure on a concrete slab was constructed behind the building, facilitating tyre fitting and wheel balancing/alignments etc. The building was later leased to ‘Beaurepaires' who vacated the building in 2011.
There remain four known mining exchange buildings in Charters Towers: Hunter's (later Hunter and Harte) in Mosman Street, built in November 1886; [75] the ED Miles and Company's in Mosman Street, (1887); Ineson and MaCallum's in Bow Street, (1892); and Alan Bright's in Mosman Street (1896). The former ED Miles building retains a significant proportion of its original fabric and configuration, whereas the interiors of the other buildings have been altered.
Throughout Australia, there are only three mining exchanges on state heritage registers: The Beehive building in Bendigo (1872, Victorian Heritage Register H0686); The Ballarat Mining Exchange (former) (1887, Victorian Heritage Register H0391) and the former Brown's Mart in Smith Street Darwin, which housed a mining exchange between 1887 and 1910 (Northern Territory Heritage Register, File H96/0014). Within the larger category of stock exchanges, the former ED Miles and Company building remains rare, with only the former Melbourne Stock Exchange in Collins Street listed on the Victorian Heritage Register (H0034) and the former Adelaide Stock Exchange (ID11580) on the South Australian Register. Identified extant Queensland Stock Exchanges include those at Charter Towers (QHR 600406), Toowoomba (QHR 601319) and the Gympie Stock Exchange Offices and Club [QHR 602772, Australian Joint Stock Bank (former)/Gympie Stock Exchange Offices and Club (former)].
","criteria":"The former mining exchange building of ED Miles and Company, reputedly the largest share-broking company in Queensland for almost 40 years during the deep reef mining operations in Charters Towers, is significant in demonstrating the importance of mining exchanges in the evolution of Queensland's gold mining industry, a major contributor to Queensland's wealth. Established by Edward David Miles in 1883, the company provided management and share-broking services for mining companies in the Charters Towers goldfields, which was the highest producing gold field in Queensland, and the third largest in Australia. ED Miles and Company was reputedly the largest of its type in Queensland. The building, constructed in 1887, is a rare surviving and representative example of a highly intact purpose-built building, designed, constructed (1887) and thrice extended (1889, 1891 and 1901) for the purpose of operating a mining exchange.
|The ED Miles Mining Exchange (former) is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a mining exchange - a key activity in a prosperous gold mining town - including a public reception space with counters near the entry, interconnecting offices, board room, and large strong room. The highly intact and rare building is located within the financial district of Charters Towers.
|The ED Miles Mining Exchange (former) has the potential to contribute significantly to our understanding of the development of 19th century passive ventilation features used in the construction and design of buildings in Queensland's hot dry areas. This building features a variation of Tobin Tube ventilation incorporated with high ceilings, part-height interior partitions, ventilated ceiling roses, operable fanlights, high-level windows and a large roof lantern with operable glazing.
|The ED Miles Mining Exchange is an important component of the commercial precinct of Mosman and Gill Streets, Charters Towers, comprising a collection of 19th century gold era buildings of significance to Queensland. Situated at the northern end of this precinct, the building is an intact example of a small-scale commercial structure with modestly decorated façade and street awning, contributing to the variety and character of this townscape.
|The ED Miles and Company mining exchange is rare as one of four known buildings of this type in Queensland, all located in Charters Towers; it being the most intact of these.
|The ED Miles Mining Exchange (former) has a strong association with its founder Edward David Miles and his partner Joe Millican. Miles established his mining exchange business serving the Charters Towers deep reef gold mining in 1883, with Millican made partner in 1887, after completion of the building. Both men underpinned the success of ED Miles and Company, which provided services to 31 mining companies during the 1890s, outperforming others in town and reputedly the largest company of its type in Queensland, operating for 35 years from this building. While both men were active in many community organisations, both served local government and were Members of Parliament, the significance of the ED Miles Mining Exchange rests with their involvement with and importance to the Queensland gold mining industry.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion C | Criterion E | Criterion B | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":3235,"place_ref":602627,"name":"Signals, Crane and Subway, Charters Towers Railway Station","alternate_name":"Signals, Crane and Subway | Charters Towers Railway Station","street_address":"Enterprise Road","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2008-10-30","description":"The railway station is located near the intersection of Enterprise Road and Gill Street (the main street of Charters Towers) and a pedestrian underpass runs under the railway line where it crosses Gill Street. The Charters Towers railway station now consists of a flat-roofed 1980s office building and bitumen paved concrete platform, located north-east of the east end of Gill Street. There are other modern structures around the railway yards, but these and the 1980s office building are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance. However, located with the office building is the signal cabin, and located within the signal cabin is a mechanical signal frame of cultural heritage significance.
The fully interlocking McKenzie and Holland 20-lever mechanical signal frame in the signal cabin at the Charters Towers Railway Station is a rare surviving example of an operational mechanical safety system for managing railway traffic. The levers on the signal frame work an underfloor interlocking mechanism which is linked to points (tapering rails, used to transfer the train from one set of tracks to another), points indicators, crossing lights and signals around the railway station. The signalling equipment is located both sides of the Gill Street crossing, and a 10 ton crane south-west of the crossing also remains as a reminder that Charters Towers was once a thriving gold-mining town.
Although most of Queensland's railway signalling is controlled by computers, the interlocking system at Charters Towers is still controlled from a McKenzie and Holland low-level duplex tappet signal frame, numbered 21, which was manufactured in Melbourne. Its underfloor mechanism uses the duplex tappet system, with 5 inches between levers, similar to the frame at Ascot Railway Station [QHR 602195], whereas the frame at the Kuranda Railway Station [QHR 600755] uses t-bar interlocking. The current 20-lever signal frame manipulates the points and signals of the station. Warning bells sound as a train approaches the station, and staff set the required levers to guide a train through the station or into a siding. The levers operate the points either manually, by long metal pull rods, or by activating an electric motor to change the points, while the semaphore signals are controlled by wires connected to the signal frame. Electric light signals and crossing lights are also operated from the signal frame.
A metal key, in the shape of a small metal rod, can be removed from a lock attached to the signal frame. This immobilises the signal frame levers, and the key can be used to unlock a smaller mechanical ground frame to the north-east of the station. This key lockout system is rare. The ground frame at Charters Towers, north-east of the station, has two levers on a small metal platform, and is used to control access to a siding.
The significant elements within the heritage boundary are as follows:
Signal frame, interlocking mechanism, and connecting rods and cables:
Located in the signal cabin of the station, the McKenzie and Holland mechanical signal frame consists of 20 large red, blue and black levers, each tagged with a metal plate listing its number and function. The levers pivot between forward and back positions in a curved metal frame, with slots for each lever. Each segment of the frame between the levers is embossed with the words 'McKenzie & Holland Melbourne'. The interlocking mechanism is concealed under the floor of the cabin. Long metal rods with metal guides run north-east alongside the platform from the signal cabin to a set of points near the end of the platform. These rods mechanically link the signal cabin to the points, and to the nearby semaphore and points indicator. Cables also run to two semaphore towers south-west of Gill Street.
Points, points indicators, and semaphore towers:
At the north-east end of the platform is a metal semaphore tower with a lantern, a set of points, and a points indicator. The points indicator is a lamp contained in a red and white painted metal box, and wire cables and a chain connected to the points activate the semaphore arm. Further along the track to the north-east are two sets of points, both controlled by electrical motors activated by lever 11 of the signal frame in the signal cabin. To the south-west of Gill Street are three sets of semi-trailable points - which either can be manually operated or can allow trains through before resetting themselves; three points indicators (black box with white chevrons); and two cable-operated semaphore towers.
Electric light signals:
There are two signal poles north-east of the platform. These originally carried signal arms and kerosene lanterns, but they now display electrical lights. The lights at the level crossing are also controlled from the signal frame.
Ground frames:
North-east of the platform, beyond the two electric light signals and the first set of electrically operated points, is a mechanical ground frame with two large levers. This activates two points for a dead-end siding south of the main lines. The most southern of these points, activated by a metal rod running from the ground frame, is attached to a points indicator consisting of a revolving red disk and a lantern.
Pedestrian underpass:
Just to the south-west of the station building, but north of Gill Street, is a concrete pedestrian underpass (1890). Stairs descend at each end to an ovoid tunnel, which is truncated along its base by a pathway. Concrete walls with capping mark either entrance.
Crane:
The large metal crane (c1900), on a concrete base, stands south-west of Gill Street, south of the main railway lines. It is surrounded by a small timber platform. A metal plate on the bottom of the crane reads 'To Lift 10 tons'.
","history":"The Charters Towers Railway Station was established in 1882 as the terminus of the railway from the port of Townsville to the high-yielding Charters Towers Gold Field (proclaimed in 1871). Although the early buildings on the site have been replaced by late twentieth century structures, the railway yards retain three elements important in illustrating the functioning of this place as the transportation hub of what was Queensland's largest and wealthiest gold-mining town at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: a rare surviving operational mechanical safety system for managing railway traffic; an uncommon 1890 pedestrian underpass; and a large 10-ton crane (c1900) also now considered to be rare.
Surveying for a railway inland from Townsville to Charters Towers began in 1875; construction commenced in 1879; and the line to Charters Towers was opened on 4 December 1882. Subsequently extended as the Great Northern Railway, the line reached Hughenden in 1887, Cloncurry in 1907, and Mt Isa in 1929. A south-west extension from Hughenden reached Winton in 1899.
The railway to Charters Towers boosted the town's prosperity by lowering the cost of supplies and building materials. Branch lines and sidings radiated out from the railway station to the various gold mines around the municipality, which boomed during the 1880s. Charters Towers continued to prosper throughout the depressed economic conditions of the 1890s with a peak production of 319,572 ounces of gold in 1899, and a population of around 26,500 the same year. After 1899 there was a steady decline in gold production. In 1912 the Warden reported that the extreme depth for profitable mining had been reached, and most mines had been abandoned by 1916. The last of the big mines, the Brilliant Extended, closed in 1917, but small mining operations continued to be serviced by the Venus battery, which was owned by the Queensland government from 1919. By 1921 Charters Towers¿ population had decreased to 5,682.
The history of the Charters Towers Railway Station reflects the rise and fall of the city, and the station was once a substantial complex. In 1901, the railway yards north of Gill Street included an office and refreshment room with a carriage shade over the tracks; a carriage shed and two engine sheds; a coal stage, workshops, kerosene store, sheep yards, several residences and a number of sidings. There were two sets of railway gates across Gill Street. South of Gill Street by 1905 there was a goods shed, another engine shed, a 2-ton crane, a pedestrian overbridge, and more sidings. By 1985 there were also two signal cabins, located at each end of the old station building, plus a signalling hut near the pedestrian underpass. The signal frame once operated in two parts, and was relocated from elsewhere in the yard when the new station building was constructed in the mid 1980s, and the new signal cabin was commissioned in 1987. All of the early buildings and the sidings to various gold mines have been removed.
Although the railway station complex is much smaller than in its heyday, evidence of its former importance survives in the form of a multitude of short sidings in the yards, and the mechanical interlocking system. In addition, an 1890 concrete subway for pedestrian traffic, constructed adjacent to the south-west end of the station building at what was then known as the Queenton Crossing, still exists. The station has also operated a 10-ton crane at various times. The existing 10-ton crane, with a small timber platform, stands south-west of the Gill Street crossing and is similar to a smaller Ransomes and Rapier 5-ton crane supplied to Yuleba in 1902 (not extant). The Charters Towers crane may date from the same period. Hand operated, it was one of heaviest cranes used by Queensland Railways, and it is a rare example of its type and capacity, comparable to other large cranes at Jandowae, Trinity Wharf in Cairns [QHR 601790], and Cloncurry.
Before railway 'safeworking' systems were computerised and centralised in Queensland, mechanical signals were controlled from signal cabins, which dealt with the traffic on a particular block of railway line. Signal cabins coordinated signals that indicated whether or not a section of track was clear of other traffic. Early signals were mechanical, while later signals were operated electrically. The most common form of mechanical signal was the semaphore signal. These consisted of a metal framed tower with one or more arms that could be inclined at different angles, with the arm at the horizontal signalling "danger", or do not proceed. Mechanical signals were usually worked by a wire cable running from the signal box, although electrical or hydraulic operation could be used for more distant signals. At night, lights were necessary, and kerosene lamps with movable coloured spectacles displayed different colours, including green (proceed), yellow (prepare to find next signal red), and red (stop). Later, electrical coloured lights were used. Smaller points indicator signals, which confirmed whether or not points had been switched, could be used for shunting within a railway yard, and the most common form was the rotating disk signal. These could also contain a kerosene lamp for night operation.
To coordinate signals so that is impossible to give a 'clear' signal to a train unless the route is actually clear, the signals could be interlocked. An interlocked yard is a railway yard where semaphore or coloured light signals are controlled in such a way that the signals will not allow a train to proceed unless the points that operate in conjunction with the signals are correctly set. A mechanical interlocking device, located under a mechanical signal frame, is a system of rods, sliding bars and levers that are configured so that points cannot be changed in conflict, thus preventing movements that may cause a collision or other accident. For example, unless two levers for a section of main line running past a loop siding are set to 'stop' (clearing that section of main line), then a third lever controlling the points for the loop siding cannot be moved, and any train on the siding cannot enter the main line.
Large levers on the signal frame enabled operators to manually move points, signals or crossing gates. The earliest designs used various ingenious and patented methods to interlock the levers. In later electro-mechanical interlocking, where the points and signals were moved by electricity or electro-pneumatically, the signal frames had much smaller levers. Every interlocking installation is individual and unique to the location controlled, and the location and configuration of signal frames at a particular train station may vary over time, as needs change.
McKenzie and Holland (originally McKenzie, Clunes & Holland) were one of the earliest signalling contractors in Britain and supplied many railway companies. In 1873 they introduced a new design of lever frame that would set the style of all frames to come. A dogleg on the shape of the levers allowed them to stand upright in the frame when in the normal position, which made them easier for a signalman to reach. The style of locking mechanism used by McKenzie and Holland from 1873 was known as cam and soldier locking, but cam and t-bar locking was introduced in 1886, and in the early 1890s McKenzie and Holland adopted tappet locking.
At the International Exhibition in Sydney in 1880, Arthur Orpen Herbert, the Commissioner for Queensland Railway, was impressed by a display of McKenzie and Holland interlocking machines. Queensland ordered equipment for Roma Street and Ipswich stations and this arrived in October 1881. Charters Towers initially needed a complex interlocking system because of its gradient, and the system of tram tracks that used to run to the station from various mine sites. A number of dead-end lines or 'traps' were necessary as 'roll away' protection for loose wagons. Although 169 Queensland railway stations had interlocking by 1918, mechanical interlocking technology eventually became obsolete, as electrical interlocking or electro-pneumatic systems replaced it. Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) signalling systems now control most of the network. This is an electronic version of interlocking where the signals and points controlling movement, and the allocation of a block of track to a particular train, are operated from a remote location by computer.
","criteria":"The fully interlocking McKenzie and Holland 20-lever mechanical signal frame (established circa 1890s and now located in a modern signal cabin) at the Charters Towers Railway Station, along with its associated underfloor mechanism, linkages, points, points indicators, and signals, both mechanically and electrically operated, is evidence of the evolution of signals technology and railway safety systems in Queensland. The manually operated two-lever ground frame, signals and points are also significant as examples of mechanical signalling technology.
The system of interlocked signals is surviving evidence of the former size and complexity of the Charters Towers Railway Station and yards. The multitude of sidings, which required interlocked signals, was a product of the extensive mining and commercial activity in Charters Towers during the late nineteenth century. The presence of a pedestrian underpass (1890), usually a feature of large metropolitan railway stations, also is evidence of the extent of activity at the Charters Towers Railway Station when Charters Towers was Queensland's largest and wealthiest gold-mining town.
|The interlocking and signalling equipment at the Charters Towers Railway Station is a rare surviving example of a mechanically operated railway safety system. The 10-ton crane (c1900) is a rare example of a large crane formerly used by Queensland Railways, and the concrete pedestrian tunnel is also an uncommon nineteenth century example of its type.
|The interlocked signalling system is a good surviving example of how train safety was managed prior to the advent of computerised systems. Each aspect of the system, from the signal frame's levers and its key lock-out system, through its linkages to the various points, points indicators and signals, demonstrates the functioning of early signals technology and its safety mechanisms. The interlocking system enabled humans to mechanically manipulate the signals, while precluding the possibility of collisions caused by human error.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15172,"place_ref":600397,"name":"Boer War Veterans Memorial Kiosk and Lissner Park","alternate_name":"Boer War Veteran's Memorial Kiosk","street_address":"Bridge Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Lissner Park
Lissner Park is a recreational reserve of some 7 hectares. It is bounded by Anne, Church, Plummer, Deane and Bridge Streets, and is located three blocks to the north of Gill Street, the main street of Charters Towers. It is well grassed with a scattering of perimeter trees and remnant avenues, and a collection of structures and enclosures. The structures include the Band Rotunda and the Boer War Veterans Memorial Kiosk. The park is relatively flat, rising gently towards Anne Street to the south.
Mosman Creek separates the northern end of the park from the remainder. The central part of the park includes many of the park's structures and several mature trees including large figs. The southern end of the park is grassed, gently sloping and bound by perimeter trees. There is some remnants of a central axis formed by structures and planting. The trees within the park include figs, jacarandas, eucalypts, tamarinds, palms and silky oaks.
The Band Rotunda is located on the central axis of the park towards Mosman Creek. It is octagonal in plan with a corrugated iron pyramid roof and cast iron finial. Constructed in timber, it has posts paired at each corner and a cast iron fringe between. The chamferboard base is largely hidden by a small hedge. The structure is encircled by palm trees, and nearby are several large fig trees.
At the boundary to the west of the bandstand, are wrought iron gates with gate posts and some cast iron fence posts.
Further to the south of the bandstand, and also on the central axis is the remnant of the fountain. It is encircled by a ring of trees and a small bougainvillea hedge. The fountain is raised on a small platform, bound by a low concrete retaining wall with a moulded top. The fountain has a crucifix form in plan, is constructed from folded 'tin' sheets, and exhibits evidence of removed decorative elements.
Other elements of the park include a playground, the 1959 memorial to William Hann, the 1988 fernery, the 1988 animal enclosure and the 1972 Rotary centenary pond.
Traversing the park, Mosman Creek is now lined with stone and concrete, and is crossed by two timber and steel footbridges. Across the creek two animal enclosures with some emus and a kangaroo. In the north-eastern corner is the Kennedy Regiment Memorial Swimming Pool which is not part of the park.
Boer War Veterans Memorial Kiosk
Standing to the west of the fountain is the Boer War Veterans Memorial Kiosk. It lies on an east-west axis, with both ends semicircular in plan, and is constructed in cast iron and steel.
The kiosk is an open structure, with an inner and outer ring of cast iron columns with Corinthian capitals. These support the red bellcast corrugated iron roof and encircling concave verandah. The roof is punctuated with three small louvred dormers to each side, and has ridge ventilators, cast iron cresting and flagstaffs at each end..
The outer ring of columns have cast iron brackets. To the south-western corner are panels of timber louvres between the columns.
Raised one step on a concrete plinth is the inner ring of columns. Running between these is a cast iron balustrade. Above is a series of steel struts providing the bracing.
At the western end of the kiosk, behind the louvres is a servery with marble benches. Above the benches are three marble plaques facing east, with gilded lettering naming some eighty local soldiers who served in the Boer War. Facing the kiosk at the eastern end are two canon.
","history":"A Temporary Reserve for Public Recreation of 18 acres 3 roods 34 perches, bounded by Anne, Deane, Bridge and Church Streets, Charters Towers, was proclaimed on 15 May, 1883. In 1888 the reserve was named Lissner Park after Isidor Lissner, a Charters Towers businessman and politician and later a minister in the 1893 Griffith Ministry.
Discovered in late 1871, Charters Towers became the richest of the North Queensland mining fields. The field was proclaimed a town in 1877, and by the early 1880s was a prosperous settlement which made a major contribution to the social, political and economic development of North Queensland.
The predominant vegetation of the Charters Towers district was Eucalyptus woodland and open Eucalyptus woodland, which was quickly destroyed as timber was felled and used as shoring for the mines, for building purposes, and as fuel for the Cornish boilers. Concern that the environment was being destroyed led to protests about the loss of vegetation from leading citizens, including Anglican Bishop Gilbert White and Isidore Lissner MLA. As a result of the devastation and in keeping with the prevailing belief that the development of gardens improved the moral character and social well being of the community, Lissner encouraged the Charters Towers Municipal Council to request that a reserve be set aside for recreation and botanical purposes.
A Temporary Reserve for Public Recreation, proclaimed on 15 May, 1885, was placed under "the control of the Municipal Council" and on 17 August, 1891 the park became a permeant reserve with the Municipal Council appointed as trustees.
The park was named after Isidor Siegfried Lissner who arrived in Charters Towers in 1873 after living for some time on mining fields in southern Australia. During his time in Charters Towers Lissner developed a financial empire based on mining and commercial interests. He took a keen interest in community affairs and pushed for the establishment of sporting facilities and public amenities such as Lissner Park. At the urging of his friend Robert Philp he stood for the seat of Charters Towers in 1883. After his election he became a strong advocate for better community services for the municipality and he won the approval of the community when he opposed the introduction of cheap Asian, Kanaka and German labour into the mining and sugar industries. Lissner was also a supporter of the North Queensland Separation Movement and he became Minister for Mines and Public Works in 1893.
Development of the park was funded by government grants of £350 in 1885 and £175 in 1889. Early work included clearing stumps and rubbish, leveling the ground and tree planting. Tenders were called for a gardener in June 1889 after the first plantings died. The new gardener replanted the park with trees supplied by Ben Gulliver of Acacia Vale Nursery in Townsville. While Ben Gulliver was actively involved in supplying plants to several botanical gardens in North Queensland there is no evidence that Lissner Park was developed as a botanical gardens. Some of the Gulliver trees which still survive include tamarinds, figs, various palms and pine trees.
The public quickly saw the value of an area reserved for recreation and took advantage of the cleared ground to build a cricket pitch. Attending concerts in the park became a favourite evening pastime as well. As the popularity of attending social and musical events in the park grew, the Lissner Park Committee, set up to raise funds to oversee the development of the reserve, suggested that a Band Pavilion Fund be established to pay for the construction of a pavilion. In 1889, Charters Towers architect WG Smith jnr, designed a structure which cost £250 to build. The design was octagonal with a 48ft diameter platform in the centre for the band. Around this stage there was space for dancing or for seating. The corrugated iron roof was supported by ornamental iron pillars and provision was made in the design for curtains to be let down to protect the band if rain fell.
Other celebrations held in the park included Queen Victoria's Jubilee, the birth of Federation, memorial events at the death of Queen Victoria and events to honour people who went to the Boer War and World War 1.
During the Boer War a South African Patriotic Fund was established in Charters Towers to assist families and soldiers affected by the war in Africa. £1200 was left in the fund after the war and the Municipal Council suggested that a kiosk be built in Lissner Park as a memorial to Charters Towers people who served in the war. In 1909 the Council offered a prize for the best design for a Memorial Kiosk. Mr F Jorgensen, Director of the Technical College, won the competition, however, during construction his design was slightly altered when the floor design of the Australian Flag and the Union Jack, to be created in tiles, was removed because it was seen as inappropriate that people would walk on the flags. It is not know who built the kiosk but the iron work was supplied by local foundry Walton & Millgate. A honour board, erected at the western end of the kiosk, contains the names of those soldiers from the district who lost their lives during the Boer War. Over 7000 people attended the opening ceremony and enjoyed the promenade concert after the opening by Mayor SH Thorp. The celebrations lasted all day and during the evening the band rotunda, fountain and kiosk were brightly lit for the concert.
Because the park had become a recognised central gathering place it became the obvious location for protest meetings in the late 1880s and early 1890s. On 24 March 1889 a vocal group from the Charters Towers Mining Union met in the park to pass a resolution asking the government to amend the 1884 Land Act to give miners the right to mine lease hold land. In another meeting in the park in July 1889 2500 miners and local people assembled to discuss and give support to the strikers at the Day Dawn PC Mine who were out on strike over measures taken by the owners to prevent gold being stolen. A gathering in August 1889 gave support to the government's proposal to introduce an eight hour day and a meeting, called by the Charters Towers Branch of the Australian Labor Federation, met in the park on 1 March 1891. The issue under discussion was the need for a resolution of the dispute between shearers and pastoralists over working conditions and wages. The Lissner Park meeting requested that the government bring both parties together to resolve the issue and that conciliation boards be established by the government to settle such disputes in future.
Photographic evidence indicates that a bush house, which no longer exists, was constructed in April, 1891. A 'tin' fountain , installed prior to 1910, was removed from the park in 1964 or 65 when the Lions Club built a ceramic tiled fountain. The original tin fountain, which no longer works, has recently been returned to the park. A small lake was constructed in 1911 and the toilets and lighting were extended in 1912.
A small zoo, which was constructed at the northern end of the park along Plummer St, is now being slowly removed because the care of animals is costly and time consuming. A new, smaller, animal enclosure was developed in 1988 on the site of the 1911 lake.
A memorial to Joseph and William Hann, early explores and pastoralists in the Kennedy District, was erected in 1959 to celebrate the centenary of pastoral settlement. Extensive concrete paths were constructed under the Red Scheme in the 1970s. These walkways follow the line of some earlier 'cinder' paths which cris crossed the park.
The recreation reserve was reduced in size in 1971 when a swimming pool was constructed at the northern end of the park on land bounded by Plummer and Church Streets. It was probably at this time that Mosman Creek, which now forms the boundary between the park and the pool, was lined with concrete and stone along the section bordering the park.
Some renovations to the kiosk were carried out in mid 1970. The Boer War Veterans Memorial Kiosk was entered on the Register of the National Estate in 1978 and in 1989 a National Estate Grant of $31,300 was awarded for conservation work on the kiosk.
The bandstand has recently been repaired and painted and the installation of an irrigation system to water the whole park has created a pleasant, cool environment which is being utilised by the local community and travellers.
","criteria":"The Boer War Veterans Memorial Kiosk, constructed in 1909, is significant because it exemplifies a widespread social movement expressing Australian patriotism and nationalism during the early twentieth century and belongs to a class of commemorative memorials which record local community response to events such as war.
|The Boer War Veterans Memorial Kiosk, constructed in 1909, is significant because it exemplifies a widespread social movement expressing Australian patriotism and nationalism during the early twentieth century and belongs to a class of commemorative memorials which record local community response to events such as war.
|Lissner Park has retained it's fine Victorian character as a result of the survival of many of the trees supplied by Ben Gulliver, Townsville nurseryman and botanist.
|The park has been a focus for community cultural and social activities since its inception and was the venue for commemorative events and for political gatherings during the turbulent years of the rise of the Labor Party during the last decade of the nineteenth century.
|Lissner Park , named after Queensland MLA and local businessman Isidor Lissner, is important as the earliest recreation venue in Charters Towers. The park, developed as a response to the prevailing belief that gardens improved the moral character and enhanced the social well being of the community, was established with the support of Lissner.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15173,"place_ref":600398,"name":"Civic Club","alternate_name":"Londoners' Club","street_address":"36 Ryan Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Civic Club is located in Ryan Street, Charters Towers in what is essentially a residential streetscape.
The clubhouse is a single storey building, largely of timber, with a rendered brick wall on the eastern side and fibrous cement cladding on the front. It is set on low stumps and is L shaped in form with a projecting gable to the front. There is a verandah extending across the front from the gabled section and along the side, which has a cast iron balustrade and valance linked by panels of timber latticework. The roof is clad with corrugated iron and has 3 prominent clerestories that light and ventilate each of the main rooms.
Inside, the somewhat residential appearance of the exterior is contradicted by a layout specially designed for club use and consists of 3 major rooms with a skillion roofed kitchen extension to the rear. The main rooms are timber lined with pressed metal ceilings and cornices and have pressed metal lining to the clerestories. The largest room holds billiard tables and the former card room is subdivided by decorative timber partitions. Arches link the rooms and at the rear of the card room is the bar. Toilets have been constructed on a section of the verandah adjoining it.
Most of the interior structural features are intact although the bar is not in its original form. Many of the original furnishings remain and these form an important part of the fabric of the building along with photographs, trophies, light fittings, shelving, cue racks and floor coverings.
The building is located on a reduced block of land and is now hemmed in on two sides by buildings. A high, galvanised pipe and wire fence encloses the area at the front. Some evidence of early pathways and garden edging and the front entrance remain. To the rear, in the angle of the L formed by the building, are a pergola and barbecue area and a concrete air raid shelter.
","history":"The Civic Club was constructed in 1900 as clubrooms providing recreational facilities for members of the Londoners' Club, which had its origins in informal meetings at the North Australian Hotel, Charters Towers, in 1877.
Discovered in late 1871, Charters Towers became the richest of the North Queensland mining fields. It developed rapidly and was proclaimed a municipality in 1877. The construction of the railway in 1882 created easy access to the port at Townsville, solving the problem of high freight costs experienced by many other mining fields. The gold at Charters Towers was in deep reefs and the equipment needed to extract and process it was financed by substantial southern and overseas investment in mining companies. The town became a prosperous centre providing employment for a considerable number of people.
In the year when the mushrooming goldfield became officially a town, a group of mining men began meeting informally at the North Australian Hotel. Later, they were to call themselves the Londoners' Association. Hotels have always been meeting places and it was common at the time for larger hotels to provide rooms for hire to clubs and associations, usually on an upper storey. However, the convenience of meeting in a place which could readily provide food and drink was somewhat offset by noise from other patrons, the limitations placed on club members activities and a general lack of privacy. Typically, clubs that held regular meetings eventually acquired their own premises.
In 1885, Thomas Craven, a Trustee for the association purchased the land on which the Londoners' Association built their clubhouse. In the late 1880s and 90s, Charters Towers boomed and handsome public buildings replaced the modest structures of the early township. In 1900 the association applied for a club liquor licence for their new clubhouse and were registered as the Londoners' Club. The premises were opened in May 1900 and provided a bar plus comfortable and well-lit rooms for billiards and card playing. Card games were subject to severe restrictions in hotels and the club is said to have offered all night gaming facilities. Card tables were installed with drawers to hold money, chips and, it was rumoured, gold dust and even pistols. Monthly smoke concerts were held, informal affairs where the members themselves provided the entertainment.
The membership of the club was exclusively male and comprised many of the city's most influential men. Belonging to a club, particularly one that had socially and professionally prominent members, was an important aspect of business as well as social life for many men in this era. Membership was sought after and the club visitor's book shows that overseas investors were often entertained at the club by local businessmen during the boom years. Visitors included mining men from London, South Africa, Czechoslovakia, America and New Guinea. The convivial setting provided by the club was no doubt conducive to promoting professional as well as personal contacts amongst members generally. From 1907, it was renamed the Civic Club.
The clubhouse was built in the year that the population of the city reached its peak of 27,000. Although gold production on the field had peaked in 1899 at an impressive 337,000 ounces, it soon became clear that these grades did not continue at depth. Gold prices also fell and by 1920 only one mine in Charters Towers was still operational. People, businesses and even the more portable buildings moved away from the town and by the end of the First World War the population had more than halved. This in turn led to a decline in membership of the Civic Club.
The availability of large redundant buildings in a town with a well-developed infrastructure and a rail connection suggested the possibility of establishing boarding schools to several Churches. Charters Towers soon found a new role as an educational centre and is still a major regional centre in the north. The Civic Club continued to operate and, maintaining its original billiard tables set on concrete blocks, has often organised snooker tournaments.
The Civic Club was established as a men's club and remained a male preserve until 1980, when women were admitted during a period of rejuvenation when its membership base was broadened. The Club is now one of the few surviving examples of its type in a country town.
","criteria":"Charters Towers, as an extraordinarily rich goldfield, made a major contribution to the economy of Queensland and to the development of the North in the late 19th century. The Civic Club, built in 1900 as premises for an elite men's club established in 1877, reflects the interests and leisure activities of the many influential men involved in mining, commerce and the professions who were its members and patrons. The establishment of such a club in Charters Towers demonstrates the importance of this city at the turn of the century.
|The Civic Club is rare as a gentlemen's club, few of which were built outside the capital cities in Australia, and which is still owned and operated by this club.
|It is very intact in form and detail and is an excellent example of a recreational club with rooms specially designed to provide good conditions for playing cards and billiards.
|As a prominent and well-designed building from Charter's Towers most prosperous period, the Civic Club makes an important contribution to the built character of the town in form, scale, and material.
|As a purpose designed clubhouse, the building has over a century's continuous association with members of the Londoners' Club/Civic Club, which continues to operate.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15174,"place_ref":600399,"name":"Bell Tower, St Columba's Church","alternate_name":"Bell Tower, St Columbas Catholic Church; St Columbas Bell Tower","street_address":"134 Gill Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Bell Tower is constructed of heavy dressed and painted timbers and consists of four structural members forming legs which are strengthened by cross-bracing. It has a steeply pitched pagoda roof topped by a cross. Small acroteria decorate the corners of the roof, which is clad with corrugated iron. The tower is hung with a Burns & Oats bell. There is a bellringer's platform finished with cross braced balustrading, however, there is no stair to permit access and the legs of the tower are now exposed. The tower is visible from some streets away and is a local landmark
","history":"The bell tower at St Columba's Church is a timber framework set on a concrete base and supports a Burns & Oats bell. It was constructed in 1897 and was probably designed by Charles William Smith, architect for the now demolished church.
Soon after the establishment of the gold field in early 1872 and a visit to the field by Bishop Quinn, the Catholic Church erected temporary church buildings at Charters Towers, Queenton and Millchester. A Father Dunham was initially appointed to serve these churches but left within a year. St Columbakill's church was erected on the Just in Time mining lease at Queenton, but for some years it was served only intermittently by visiting priests. The first incumbent was Father Denis Houhy who arrived on 6 January 1876. Mining activity on the Just in Time lease increased and in November 1878 several blocks of land were purchased for the church on the corner of Gill Street and what was to be Church Street. The church from the Just In Time lease was moved to the Gill Street site but was destroyed in a storm in September 1879. A new church was built in 1880 and the remains of the old one recycled to provide a school building.
In November, 1890 a new and most energetic Irish pastor arrived, Reverend Father Comerford. Finding the church buildings inadequate and decaying, he set a major building program in motion. The school and church were enlarged and a fine new convent built for the Sisters of Mercy, who had been enduring primitive accommodation. In 1893, he began collecting for a new bell tower and bell, which was ordered from the London foundry of Burns and Oats at a cost of £210/-/-.
A tower to house the bell was constructed in 1897-8 at a cost of £325/17/3. At this time major extensions and alterations were being carried out to the church to the design of Charles William Smith, Charters Towers partner of the firm of W.G. Smith & Sons. The account for the belltower includes architect's fees and it is probable that the tower was also designed by C.W. Smith. Both were completed in 1898, the new church being capable of seating 1000.
The work carried out on site in the 1890s, including minor items like offices and stabling, amounted to £9,900 worth of work. and provided facilities at the time 'far surpassing anything in North Queensland'. The majority of the cost and an outstanding parish debt was paid by the end of the decade, a remarkable feat in an era marked generally by financial depression, and is a testament to the support of the congregation and the prosperity of Charters Towers. In 1902 bracing was carried out to the frame work of the belltower and the concrete foundations were reinforced in 1923.
St Columba's church was listed by the National Trust of Queensland in 1973 along with the presbytery and bell tower. The tower is now the only building left from the nineteenth century complex of buildings on site. It was repaired and painted when the new church was built in 1974 and this may have been when the weatherboards that originally enclosed the base of the tower as a small shed were removed. The stair that allowed access to the bellringer's platform has also been removed and the platform now has cross braced balustrading instead of the original dowels.
","criteria":"The bell tower is the last surviving structure from a major church precinct in Charters Towers and is evidence for the development of the Catholic Church in North Queensland and the prosperity and importance of the Charters Towers goldfield in the nineteenth century.
|The belltower has been a landmark in the city since 1897, its massive timber frame suggesting an era when the Charters Towers landscape was dotted with other timber towers which supported the winding machinery for mines.
|St Columba's belltower is important for its association with the history of the Parish as the only nineteenth century structure remaining on a site occupied by Roman Catholic Church buildings since the 1870s.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15176,"place_ref":600401,"name":"Charters Towers Police Station","alternate_name":"Police Barracks","street_address":"49 Gill Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Charters Towers Police Station is a two-storeyed brick building fronted with a timber verandah. The building's principal facade faces south addressing Gill Street, the main street of Charters Towers. Charters Towers, and Gill Street in particular retains many of its early commercial and public buildings, and the Police Station is located near the centre of this historical business district. Extending from the rear of the main building is the single-storey wing of the watch-house.
Sitting between single-storey shops built to the street alignment, the Police Station punctuates the streetscape with a two-storey facade and a small garden filling the setback from the alignment. The front of the site is marked by a white timber picket fence. This fence has openings at both entrances to the verandah, and an earlier gate at the western end.
Rectangular in plan, the main block is built of brick with a corrugated steel hipped roof. The roof has a timber fleche centred on its ridge, and extends to cover the front verandah. The symmetrical composition of the Gill Street facade features the two-storeyed timber verandah.
The external walls of the front and side elevations are mostly face brickwork, which is now painted. Outside the verandah, the walls above the upper sill are rendered in roughcast. The front verandah finishes short of each end, leaving a small bay for a double-hung window on each level.
The verandah has projecting bays at each end over the entries, with double posts at the corners. There is a slatted balustrade to both levels with fretted feature panels. The lower level has an arched timber valance. Several steps lead up to lower timber verandah, and a timber disabled ramp provides access at the western end.
French doors with fan-lights provide access to the front verandah at both levels. The end elevations feature double-hung windows with slatted window hoods. The rear verandah area has been enclosed in timber framing, and clad in weatherboards, then connected to the concrete block watch-house wing.
The interior of the front block has been fitted out as offices and work areas. It is lined with plasterboard ceilings and partition walls.
The property extends through to Ryan Street at the rear. Behind the watch-house are driveways and parking areas.
","history":"Charters Towers Police Station was the product of the Queensland Government Architects Office of AB Brady. The drawings are signed by the Deputy Government Architect Thomas Pye, and the design is possibly his work. The building was constructed in 1910 by builder T Johnson.
The discovery of gold at Charters Towers in December 1871 and the expansion of the pastoral industry in the region created a need for a resident police force. By 1872 Charters Towers had become the second most important police station in Queensland, after Brisbane, with a staff of 24 police. In 1878, there was a population of 3,760 people on the Charters Towers gold field and there were 256 issues dealt with by staff. These figures are more meaningful when contrasted with the Gympie gold field which had a population of 4,760 but only 79 cases were dealt with.
Nothing is known about the early accommodation for police staff on the gold field however, a wooden police barracks appears to have been built on the Gill Street site prior to 1891. This barracks was extended in 1891 and again in 1894. By 1907 plans were being drawn up to replace the timber building with new brick premises at an estimated cost of £3000. The existing wooden structure was to be moved to the rear of the block and would be sold for removal after the new building was opened.
£3500 was set aside in the 1908 State Government budget towards the cost of the new barracks and in February, 1909 sketch plans were drawn up. Tenders were called twice, once on 15 April, 1909 and again on 3 June, 1909. A memo from the Secretary of Public Works, which the Government Architect AP Brady signed on 7 February, 1910, recommended that the tender for £3335, from Charters Towers contractor T Johnson, be accepted. The work was to take eight months and included the construction of fences and gates.
In June 1910 the bricks being used in the construction of the building were found to be faulty, and the contractor was told to use them only in interior walls and to supply better quality bricks for the exterior of the building.
The building, when completed, was a two storey structure of red bricks relieved with rough cast. On the ground floor there was provision for an inspector's, sergeant's and clerk's offices. There was a large day room for constables, a kitchen and a semi detached verandah dining area and on the first floor there were large dormitories and three bathrooms.
There is little evidence of alterations to the building for some time, other than the installation of the septic in 1960 at a cost of £3088, and the conversion in 1975 of the station to a district headquarters which involved some internal modifications.
On 'Black Friday' 13 May 1988 the Police Station was substantially damaged by fire. The roof collapsed, and the interiors were largely gutted. The external brick shell and the internal brick dividing wall survived, along with the timber front verandah, parts of the rear verandah and most of the timber floor. The roof of the brick Kitchen Block to the rear also collapsed, and its brick shell survived, but this building was subsequently demolished.
Initially it appeared that the building would be demolished and the site sold for development. However, strong community feeling favoured rebuilding. Letters to the editor pointed out the streetscape significance of the former building, the importance of retaining all the remaining buildings in Gill Street, and the important role of the police, working from this site since the late 1880s, in the economic and social development of the city. After strong lobbying from the Queensland National Trust and the signing of a petition by 2000 of the town's 8000 residents the State Government provided funds for the repair of the building.
The interior of the building was consequently rebuilt, having only some reflection of its former layout. An additional wing including the new watch-house was also added to the rear. On completion of this work, the building was again in use as the police station by late 1990, and was officially reopened on 19 March 1991.
","criteria":"The Charters Towers Police Station is important in demonstrating the role of the police force in the development of Queensland regional towns, particularly gold mining towns such as Charters Towers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Their use of this central city site for over a century has established a prominent role for the police service in the city's business district.
|The Charters Towers Police Station is an example of quality public building work of the Government Architect's Office. It is a surviving example of a type of early 20th century police barracks, which once included several examples in North Queensland such as Townsville and Cairns, now both demolished.
|Located in Gill Street, the main street of Charters Towers, the Police Station makes a substantial contribution to the historical commercial streetscape of the city. Its two-storey height and setback make it a feature amongst its surroundings. Apart from Fossey's Store (601259), it is one of the few unrendered masonry historical buildings of this central commercial district.
|Following substantial damage to the building by fire in 1988, the importance of the building to the city was demonstrated by the strong community response through petitions and letters, arguing against the demolition of the building, and supporting the retention of what had survived and the rebuilding of what had been lost.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15177,"place_ref":600402,"name":"School of Mines, Charters Towers","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"24 - 26 Hodgkinson Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The School of Mines stands next to the Court House on a government reserve. It is a single story building, timber framed and clad on concrete stumps with a corrugated iron roof. One of the stumps at the front of the building is the memorial stone laid by E.D. Miles. Its current position helps to demonstrate that the building has been considerably extended during its life. Much of the School of Mines is of single skin construction. The front portion is approximately 30 x 20 metres with two small projections remaining from the wings, one of which contains toilets and a tea room.
The rear block is 30 x 10 metres with part of one wing still attached. Most rooms in both blocks have high ceilings and good natural light from windows and roof lights. They are plainly but robustly detailed.
Although many of the partitions have been moved around during the life of the building, it is fairly intact and incorporates much of the original linings and joinery. The floors are timber except for the concrete floor in the former furnace room. The former school is used as offices and training rooms. Unsympathetic metal security grilles and an obtrusive air-conditioning system have been added but are reversible.
","history":"The School of Mines was established in 1899 by the local Mining Institute, through public subscription, on one of the most important mineral fields in Australia. A timber structure on a government reserve, it was taken over and expanded by the Queensland Government in 1900 into a highly regarded technical institution.
Charters Towers was established as a gold field in 1872. The gold was not alluvial, but in the form of downward sloping reefs of gold bearing ore. As time went on it became necessary to dig deeper and deeper shafts to extract the gold which required the formation of companies to provide sufficient capital. The mid 1880s saw a major boom in speculation on mining shares following the display of Charters Towers gold at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London and the finding of the Brilliant Reef in 1889. By drawing people and capital into north Queensland and by developing into an important centre, Charters Towers was to play an important role in the opening up of north Queensland as a whole. It was, at its peak, the second town in Queensland.
Possibly because of the richness of the ore at Charters Towers, some of the mines were run without much regard for the most efficient and modern methods. As geologist J.M. McLaren noted in his Queensland Mining and Milling Practice in 1901, many had been established before metallurgy became an exact science. Towards the end of the century, there was considerable interest in improving methods in what had become a very important industry in Queensland.
Agitation for technical education in mining methods in Charters Towers began in the 1880s. A Government Mineralogical Officer, Mr A.W. Clarke, was appointed in 1887, and in the following year a School of Mines Committee was set up to meet the government's offer of a pound for pound subsidy to establish a school. They were unable to collect sufficient funds and the scheme was temporarily abandoned with Clarke being recalled in 1892.
In 1896 a Mine and Mill Manager's Association was formed. Meetings were held monthly at the old Town Hall where papers on subjects connected with mining were presented and discussed. It soon became apparent that few members of the association, most of whom had practical rather than theoretical knowledge, could understand the more technical papers. This gave impetus to a renewed interest in establishing a technical school to teach subjects related to mining along the lines of the noted School of Mines in Ballarat and Otago.
It was decided to erect a building to be used as a Mining Institute, and a public subscription was taken up to finance the project, raising 1,500 pounds for the building and equipment. A memorial stone was laid E.D. Miles in March 1899 and was used as one of the stumps supporting the timber building. The school opened in the same year, teaching mathematics, surveying, assaying, chemistry and mineralogy and was governed by the Council of the Institute. Although there was an enrolment of between sixty and seventy students, attendance fell away as the year progressed and by the end of the year only two students remained. Although the experiment had failed, the need for technical instruction remained and the Institute approached the government who agreed to take over the school. The 1,500 pounds expended was refunded and used to refurbish the Institute's headquarters in Bow Street.
A director for the School of Mines was appointed in October 1900 and immediately travelled to Charters Towers to inspect the Mining Institute buildings and to assess what alterations were needed. He made sketch plans used by the Government Architect to design additions and alterations which cost 700 pounds and were carried out by local builder, B.Toll. The Director also appointed staff and purchased the necessary equipment to create an up to date technical school.
Classes began in 1901, although work on the building was not quite complete. The school had lecture rooms for geology and chemistry, assaying and chemistry laboratories, a balance room, mechanical drawing and survey department, an office, two private rooms for lecturers, a storeroom and outbuildings. The first director was W.A. McLeod, a graduate of the New Zealand University and the Otago School of Mines. He was responsible only to the Minister and was given considerable freedom to formulate policy. A firm believer in giving working men an opportunity to advance in their industry, he had lectures repeated in the evening which allowed working miners to attend the School. At the time, this was considered a 'novel' scheme and is believed to have been unique in Australia.
Response to the new school was good and in 1903 the building was extended eastwards to include a reading room and office. The new section incorporated rectilinear sash windows instead of the round-headed sash windows of the original building and a new hip roof form.
In 1904, McLeod, having set the curriculum, left to become manager of the Brilliant Extended Mine. W.Poole was the second director and made the school into a highly regarded educational institution. His success is demonstrated in the substantial new additions made to the western section of the school in January 1907. These included a drawing office, lecture preparation room and new laboratory. The existing assay laboratory was also extended with balance rooms.
Although the School of Mines was flourishing, the Charters Towers field was in decline, having reached its peak in 1899. By 1912 many people were leaving the town and in 1916 the field closed. The school continued to produce a small, but highly regarded, stream of graduates who were to distinguish themselves in many branches of the mining industry, both in Queensland and further afield.
The School of Mines eventually closed in 1925 after it was taken over by the Department of Education. By this time the building had more than doubled its original size and formed a complex around a courtyard. In 1964, the connection between the front half of the building and the rear were severed.
In 1977 the State Works Department planned to remove the main portion of the building retaining only the rear portion as a manual training section for the High School. After strong reaction by the residents of Charters Towers, the department leased the building to the National Trust of Queensland which undertook works to permit occupancy. It is currently sub-leased to the Department of Environment and Skillshare.
","criteria":"The School of Mines is located on what was one of Australia's most productive gold fields and reflects the importance of the mining industry to the development of north Queensland.
It demonstrates the role of the Government in mining education at the turn of the century by its location on a government reserve and its adaptation by the Department of Works. Its success in the early years of the twentieth century is shown by the series of extensions to the building and its facilities.
|(Criterion under review)
|It has aesthetic qualities which are well regarded by the community and which make a contribution to the streetscape.
|It has special association with the ideas of W.A. McLeod, the first Director and with the many important figures in mining who were graduates of this school.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15178,"place_ref":600403,"name":"Charters Towers Court House","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"28 Hodgkinson Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The court House consists of 2 brick buildings parallel to each other and connected at the rear. They are situated on a large government reserve at the corner of Hodgkinson and Church Streets, Charters Towers, along with the former School of Mines.
The original court house is a classical revival building of rendered brick with a corrugated iron roof and is set well back facing Hodgkinson Street. The core of the building is the court room which rises to 2 storeys and is approached through a slightly lower portico with a Tuscan order arcade of 3 bays separated by square pilasters rising through 2 stories to the triangular pediment, which has a circular louvred vent in its centre. This entrance is flanked by single storey attached pavilions with pyramid roofs. These have pairs of sash windows shaded by a sun hood on brackets cast iron. The rear of the building has similar pavilion style wings linked by a verandah, and a verandah links the front and rear pavilions on the western side. The eastern verandah area is now used for disabled parking. The rear pavilion on the eastern side is linked to the newer building and now houses a tea room. It retains a chimney and corner fireplace. Other rooms to the rear include offices and a strong room. The court room is still in use for this purpose and has plastered walls and a rather austere coffered ceiling. There is a public gallery at the northern end. It retains cedar furniture and fittings.
The 1890s extension building is set back from the older building and only joins it towards the rear. It is constructed of brick with a gambrel roof clad in corrugated iron and is basically rectangular in form. For much of its length it is free standing, having a ground floor verandah and awning which encircles the front and sides. This is supported on posts with decorative brackets. The building is symmetrical and has its own central entrance consisting of double doors flanked by windows and approached from across the verandah by low steps.
It houses the offices of the Department of Justice and Attorney General and other government department tenancies.
","history":"The Charters Towers Court House was designed in 1885 by the Colonial Architect, John James Clark, as one of a series of substantial court houses in major regional centres. It was completed in 1887 and extended by the addition of a wing in 1890.
Discovered in late 1871, Charters Towers became the richest of the North Queensland mining fields. The field was proclaimed a municipality in 1877 and had become a prosperous settlement by the time a rail link to the coast opened in 1882. Charters Towers gold was in deep reefs and the equipment needed to extract and process it was financed by substantial southern and overseas investment. The town became a major regional centre providing employment for a considerable number of people.
The 1880s was a period of expansion in Queensland generally as the economy enjoyed a boom and people poured into the colony. This necessitated an increase in police numbers and court facilities. In fact, police and judiciary facilities were constructed at such a pace in this period that it became difficult to obtain suitably qualified contractors. Charters Towers was amongst a number of regional centres where substantial new court houses were erected, probably in response to the increase in its importance and population and in keeping with the handsome new buildings then rapidly replacing the modest structures of the early township.
The new court house was designed by noted architect J.J. Clark, who was at the time Colonial Architect. John James Clark was born and trained in Liverpool, England. He arrived in Melbourne in 1853 and won a number of architectural competitions; his success in such competitions being a feature of his career. Clark designed some major public buildings in Melbourne, including the Treasury, then moved to Sydney in 1881 and in 1883 became Queensland Colonial Architect. Although he left the position in 1885, he was responsible for some important public buildings during this time, including courthouses at Mackay, Rockhampton and Warwick. They and the Charters Towers court house were designed in the classical revival style thought appropriate for public buildings intended to convey a sense of stability and dignity, particularly a court house which represented the power of the law.
The Charters Towers court house was constructed by contractor Charles Miller at a cost of £4650 and opened on 9 February 1887. The local newspaper, the Northern Miner, indulged in some critical remarks about the appearance of the building, describing it as 'unpretentious', but admitted that it was commodious and well ventilated. In general style and layout it resembled that of the court house at Mackay, built about the same time. Apart from the court, rooms were provided for the judge, police magistrate, Clerk of Petty Sessions, jury, witnesses and gold warden, plus a number of other offices. Even so, by 1890 the building had become inadequate, reflecting the rapid growth of the city. Local building contractor, Benjamin Toll, was employed to construct a large brick extension with verandahs on three sides alongside the court and connected to it.
The court house has changed little since and has served the Charters Towers and district community in this capacity for over a hundred years, with the 1890s wing now providing office space for the Department of Mines and Energy and the Department of Natural Resources.
","criteria":"Charters Towers, as an extraordinarily rich goldfield, made a major contribution to the economy of Queensland and to the development of the North. The Charters Towers Court House, constructed in 1886 and extended in the 1890s, demonstrates the growth of Charters Towers as a major goldfield and reflects its importance as a regional centre in the late 19th century.
|The court room remains substantially unchanged since completion and retains the major components of its original furniture, which is now rare.
|The court house is characteristic of major regional court houses, influenced by classical revival styles imbuing tradition and authority and providing a lofty courtroom with attendant offices. It is a fine example of a public building of its era and demonstrates the high quality work produced by the Colonial Architect's office in the late nineteenth century.
|As a substantial and prominently sited public building, of architectural merit, it makes an important visual contribution to the character of Charters Towers.
|The court house has had a long connection with the people of Charters Towers and the surrounding district as the focus for the administration of justice in the area.
|As a major public building designed during his tenure as Colonial architect, the court house has important associations with the life and work of JJ Clark who made an important contribution to the development of architecture in Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15179,"place_ref":600404,"name":"Ay Ot Lookout","alternate_name":"Ayot Lookout; Ay Ot; Ayot","street_address":"63 Hodgkinson Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Ay Ot Lookout is located on the corner of Hodgkinson and High Streets, one block away from the business centre along Gill Street.
\nThe two storey house is constructed of timber with an exposed stud frame which has been used to decorative effect and has a complex gabled roof clad in corrugated iron. The wide verandahs on both levels have ornate cast iron balustrading and timber handrails. The supporting posts are timber with timber capitals and brackets. There is a deep valancing between the floors. The front of the house has a bay in the verandah at both levels next to the main entrance. This is marked by a square porch which extends beyond the verandah and rises through the upper storey, so that it resembles a tower. The front door, surmounted by a large semicircular fanlight, opens into an entrance foyer; a large area with a chequerboard black and white Italian marble floor, a turned timber staircase and panelled ceiling.
\nThe workmanship in the house is of high quality and the internal joinery is cedar. The ground floor rooms have high ceilings and there are fireplaces to the drawing and dining rooms. The kitchens have been remodelled and modernised. The house has a small cellar. To the rear of the house there is an attached single storey structure with a chimney which was probably a kitchen annexe.
","history":"Ay Ot Lookout (originally spelt Ayot), was erected in the 1890s, when Charters Towers was experiencing an economic boom, and is one of a number of substantial residences constructed during that period, including Thornburgh House [QHR600405] and the former Pfeiffer House [QHR600410].
\nDiscovered in late 1871, Charters Towers became the richest of the North Queensland mining fields. The field was proclaimed a municipality in 1877. The construction of the railway created easy access to the port at Townsville, solving the problem of high freight costs experienced by many other mining fields. Charters Towers' gold was in deep reefs and the equipment needed to extract and process it was financed by substantial southern and overseas investment. The town became a prosperous centre providing employment for a considerable number of people. About 2,500 children were being educated in several schools, there were eight churches, three newspapers, two iron foundries, a hospital, fire brigade, jockey club and gasworks. In the late 1880s and 90s, handsome public buildings rose to replace the modest structures of the early township. Gold output peaked in 1899, as did a population of 26,500.
\nSeveral wealthy citizens built substantial homes in the town. Frederick Pfeiffer, owner of the Day Dawn mine, erected his house some time after 1882 and mining magnate E. H. T. Plant had built the opulent villa, Thornburgh, by 1890.
\nThe Deed of Grant for the land on which Ay Ot Lookout stands was issued to John Brown in 1880, but he sold it soon afterwards to Felix McElroy, who in turn sold to Henry Collins in 1885. The date of construction of Ay Ot Lookout is uncertain, but it is believed to have been built for Thomas Smith who purchased the property in September 1895. Smith, a mill manager, took out a mortgage of £2000 in August 1897 which may have been connected with the construction of the house.
\nIn April 1896, local architect, Henry Hubbard, invited Tenders for the ‘erection of Two-Storey Villa Residence in Hodginson Street, for Thos. Smith, Esq’. Hubbard established himself as an architect and builder in Charters Towers in 1896 and is attributed to designing many buildings in the Charters Towers district in the late nineteenth century. The house has previously been attributed to William White, who practised as an architect and land surveyor in Charters Towers in the 1890s.
\nAy Ot Lookout was sold in February 1904 to Herbert Foxlee, a prosperous merchant who owned shops conveniently close to the house. Foxlee is thought to have named his new home after his childhood home Manor Farm, Ayot Little Green, in Hertfordshire, England. The Foxlee family referred to the property as ‘Ayot Lookout’. The Foxlee family were the longest occupants of the house, owning it until it was sold to Charles Brownson in 1952.
\nBy the time the property was purchased by John and Dorothy Scott in May 1968 the house had become run down. The Scott’s put the house into good repair during the nine years that they owned the property and also amassed a large collection of antique furniture from the Charters Towers district. This was auctioned off before the house was sold in 1977, in spite of community appeals to all levels of government to purchase the house and the collection. By the 1970s, the house was referred to locally as ‘Ay Ot’ or ‘Ay-ot Lookout’.
\nAy Ot Lookout was sold to Mount Leyshon Gold Mines Limited in the 1980s and was used for a period as a club for their employees and as a museum. In 2020 the property is privately owned.
","criteria":"Charters Towers, as an extraordinarily rich goldfield, made a major contribution to the economy of Queensland and to the development of the North in the late 19th century. Ay Ot lookout, as a large and elegant villa, demonstrates the wealth and confidence of Charters Towers at the height of its prosperity, when many high quality buildings were constructed in the town.
|Ay Ot Lookout is important as a good example of a fashionable villa of its era.
|It has aesthetic value as a competent architectural design in a late Victorian style which is generally well liked by the community. That this is so is evidenced by the public concern for its preservation voiced in the Charters Towers media in the 1970s and beyond.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15180,"place_ref":600405,"name":"Thornburgh House","alternate_name":"Thornburgh College | Thornburgh","street_address":"57 - 59 King Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Thornburgh House faces east and is located within the grounds of Blackheath and Thornburgh College close to the main entrance gates on King Street. The house stands on a rise overlooking the school ovals and across the city to the central business district of Charters Towers.
It is a two storey building of rendered masonry with a roof clad in corrugated iron and deep verandahs to three sides. The verandahs are supported by timber posts, linked by cast iron friezes and cast iron panels in a simple geometric design topped by timber handrails. Between the two storeys are valances of timber lattice within broad timber frames. The ground floor is reached by two sets of concrete steps, that to the main entrance leading into the hall. On the ground floor there are two large rooms with deep bay windows accessed from this hallway and from the verandahs. These were the former dining and drawing rooms and have high plaster ceilings, ornate cornices and imported carved mantelpieces. The main staircase leading from the entrance hall is graceful in form with cast metal balustrades supporting a sinuously curved timber handrail which is constructed of cedar, as is the majority of joinery in the house. French doors lead from almost all rooms onto the wide verandahs and most rooms have fireplaces. There is a second, simple staircase towards the rear of the house which originally linked the former children's school room to bedrooms at the rear of the upper floor.
The house also has a basement, which originally housed a children's play room, skating rink and store room.
Former Servants Quarters:
This is a single storey brick building located on slightly more elevated land to the rear of the house. It is divided into six rooms with an awning along the front elevation, creating a shaded verandah.
","history":"Thornburgh House is a two storey brick villa constructed in 1890 for Charters Towers mining magnate E.H.T. Plant. It became a boarding school in 1919, a function which continues to the present day.
Edmund Harris Thornburgh Plant arrived in Australia, aged 17, in 1862 after living briefly in America. He initially worked on a rural property before turning to prospecting in the southern and central mining fields then moving to the newly discovered Ravenswood field in 1869. He took out a mining lease on the productive Black Jack Reef and erected the first ore-crushing battery, the Vulcan Mill, in 1870. Soon after, Plant was amongst the first on the newly discovered Charters Towers field and erected the Venus Mill in 1873. In addition to his successes in Charters Towers and Ravenswood, he also had interests in the Hodgkinson and Palmer fields and in copper, tin and wolfram production in other northern mining areas.
Plant made a major contribution to the development of mining in north Queensland. Charters Towers was a field of astonishing richness and at its peak accounted for more than a third of Queensland's entire gold production as new technologies requiring corporate capital took over from the hand methods of individual miners and small syndicates. Plant not only owned crushing mills, but entered into public affairs in a wide range of areas; as a Member of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, as Chairman of the Dalrymple Shire Divisional Board for nine consecutive years, and on a variety of boards ranging from the Townsville Harbour Board to those responsible for the local water supply and hospital.
In the year before construction on Thornburgh began, Plant and his family spent 12 months visiting England; a practice not uncommon for wealthy Australians who wished to collect ideas and furnishings for a projected residence. It is not surprising that when it was finished, Thornburgh was described by the Northern Miner as the "the handsomest and most convenient dwelling house in the North". The paper also noted with approval that apart from two mantelpieces brought from England, most of the materials used in the building itself were made in north Queensland. The two storeyed home, located on Plant's Ridge, was not only large, handsome and tastefully decorated, but incorporated some innovative ideas. These included an inner roof of Willesden paper intended to allow air drawn through mesh under the roof to circulate between it and the roof proper thus cooling the building. An unlimited supply of water piped through the house was provided by means of an elevated tank supplied by steam pump from the dam of the Bonnie Dundee Mine which Plant owned and which the house overlooked. Electricity was also supplied.
The basement to the house contained, besides storage space, wine cellar and larder, a children's playroom with a concreted area for them to use as a skating rink.
To the rear was a separate servants' section which contained a kitchen, servant's hall, three bedrooms and a bathroom. Plant also employed a large grounds staff and by 1919 when the house was sold, the extensive gardens and mature trees formed an oasis of greenery in the parched environment of Charters Towers and were an important part of the town landscape.
Although gold production on the field peaked in 1899 at an impressive 337,000 ounces, it soon became clear that these grades did not continue at depth and by 1920 only one mine was still operational. People, businesses and even the more portable buildings, moved away from the town. Property prices fell and the availability of large redundant buildings in a town servicing a wide area and connected to major centres by rail suggested the possibility of schools to several Churches. In 1918, as Plant approached retirement and was increasingly involved in his pastoral property near Ingham, he put Thornburgh up for sale.
Representatives of the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches had already met to consider establishing a college for North Queensland students under the auspices of the two churches. They approached Plant about the purchase of Thornburgh, but the Anglican Sisters in Townsville were also interested in the property and so an option was quickly secured by the Reverend Robert Bacon to purchase the house for three thousand pounds in November 1918. The newly-formed school committee placed £50 as a holding deposit.
Thornburgh College, a school for boys, began classes on 16 June 1919 with J F Ward, MA, of Prince Alfred College, Adelaide, as Principal. The school was officially opened by Rev Dr H Youngman, President General of the Methodist Church of Australia, on 23 April 1920. By the Golden Jubilee Year in 1969, more than 2,500 boys had been educated at the college.
A gift of £1000 from a Mr W.R. Black and generous contributions from the public made it possible for Rev. Bacon to establish a girls' school in 'Yelvertoft', the former home of Mr J Mitchell. The college was opened in 1920 and given the name of 'Blackheath' as a tribute to Mr Black. Senior girls attended Thornburgh College until January 1921 when Blackheath Principal, Miss J. E. Bullow, began her illustrious eighteen year career with the College. Blackheath was officially opened on 16 June 1921 by Rev J Cosh, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Queensland. The two schools were run by a single College Council although they appear to have had separate administration and financial structures.
Because Thornburgh was locally run, all funds had to be raised through the school and the community. A fundraising campaign was begun on 2 December 1918 by the College Council and secured £50,000 over the next twelve years. In 1919 the College Council was able to purchase the abandoned dam and tailings area below the house, which had been part of Plant's Bonnie Dundee Mill, and by 1922 had developed it into a sports field. In 1920, in order to provide additional dormitories and a new bathroom upstairs and a larger dining room downstairs, some modifications were made. These included extending the verandahs and enclosing the western verandah. In 1923 a new building containing a dining room and dormitory was constructed and the former Thornburgh dining room was converted to classrooms.
Ownership of the School passed to the Presbyterian Assembly and Methodist Conference in 1932 during the Depression when the local College Council found it difficult to keep the school running as student numbers fell. Matters began to improve with the appointment in 1939 of a new Principal, T.R. McKenzie. To boost morale and raise the profile of the school in the community, he, his wife and the school staff carried out cleaning, repainting and minor improvements to the college during the 1939/40 Christmas break. The school building itself was not requisitioned during the War for military use, though an American anti-aircraft battery, machine gun emplacements and communications systems were installed around the margins of the school ovals.
The College experienced another slump during the 1960s and 70s. and the PSMA relinquished financial management of Thornburgh College to a Provisional Board of Governors. On the 5 September 1978 the Board of Governors of Blackheath and Thornburgh College was elected and final control of the College was passed to them on 31 December 1978. The school had become run down and a group of parents and friends undertook to repaint the house in this year. The grounds established by Plant continued to be cared for and enhanced by the College and during the 1940s emphasis was placed on developing the garden. Unfortunately, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, as the College expanded and new buildings were constructed, much of the original gardens were lost.
As part of a rationalisation process, the campuses of Blackheath and Thornburgh were combined on the Thornburgh site between 1979 and 1982. A decision was made to demolish Thornburgh House, but was not implemented as it was found that the cost of new buildings would be greater than that of restoring the old. In 1985-87 classrooms in Thornburgh House were repaired and by 1987 plans were in place to restore the house. During restoration, rooms were provided for past students, for archives and for the school governors. Areas were also set aside for teaching, displays and for the presentation of the performing arts. Work on the building was completed in 1995.
","criteria":"Thornburgh, constructed in 1890 as a home for mining magnate E.H.T. Plant, demonstrates the fluctuations in fortune attendant upon goldfields and the ways in which some depleted fields were able to create new economic lives through different ventures. Charters Towers was an extraordinarily rich goldfield and Thornburgh, as a large and opulent villa, was a product of the towns richest era when many high quality buildings were constructed. As an important boarding school in the north it demonstrates the way in which redundant buildings and the well developed infrastructure of Charters Towers allowed the town to find a new role as an educational centre.
|Although Thornburgh has undergone some modifications for use as a school, it is still a good example of a high quality, well detailed and fashionable villa of its era and was designed by one of North Queensland 's leading architectural firms.
|It's aesthetic qualities were much admired when it was new and it is still well liked in both form and detail by the community.
|Since its inception the College has set high standards and has become one of the leading boarding schools in North Queensland. It has strong connections with the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches, the community of Charters Towers and the very many people who taught or who were educated there.
|Thornburgh House as a home is associated with the life and work of Edmund Plant, an important figure in mining in Charters Towers. As an educational institution, it is particularly associated with the life and works of the Reverend Robert Bacon, who established the school, and the first two principals, Mr J.F. Ward and Miss J.E. Bullow, both endowed with the rare combination of scholastic gifts and organisational ability and to whom the subsequent high reputation of the school owed much.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15181,"place_ref":600406,"name":"Stock Exchange Arcade","alternate_name":"Royal Arcade; Stock Exchange Charters Towers","street_address":"76 Mosman Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Stock Exchange Arcade is a masonry arcade of small offices on both sides of a central court covered with a glazed vault which is supported by steel trusses with decorative inset webs. It is now glazed with modern wired glass. The arcade floor is tessellated tiles. It is entered through a two storey structure which has offices on the upper floor and shops at street level. The central entrance is protected by a barrel-vaulted portico which projects out from the second storey over the pavement and is supported on timber posts.
The vault is clad with galvanised iron and glazed in at the front with a variety of coloured glass incorporating cast iron panels. It is flanked on the upper storey by pairs of windows and by a metal awning supported by posts to the street on the lower floor. The facade is topped by a stepped, balustraded parapet.
The shop fronts facing the street and within the arcade incorporate large timber framed windows with coloured glass above and cast iron vents above and below. Most of the joinery to the shop fronts is reconstructed. The original timber stairs lead up to the rooms at first floor level which are linked by a bridge with a cast iron balustrade. The wrought iron fence thought to have originally been at the rear of the arcade is now located at the front.
A large, single storey brick assay house with a galvanised iron roof which contains a small collection of mining artefacts is attached to the rear on one side and a modern toilet block to the other.
The back of the property is grassed with a chain wire fence to the land behind. The lamp standard is not original.
","history":"The Stock Exchange Arcade was built in 1888 to the design of Sydney architect, Mark Cooper Day for Alexander Malcolm as a shop and office arcade and named the Royal Arcade. In 1890 the Stock Exchange took up its offices in the arcade which became the focus of gold-mining investment during the peak period of Queensland's most important goldfield.
Gold was discovered at the site of Charters Towers in late 1871 by a prospecting party composed of Hugh Mosman, George Clark, James Fraser and an Aboriginal boy called Jupiter who worked for Mosman. By early 1872 a rush was in progress with an estimated 4,500 on the field by the end of the year.
In 1874, following goldfield regulations, a business area was marked out in an area believed to be non-auriferous. In 1877 when Charters Towers petitioned for incorporation as a municipality, this business area was defined as covering one square mile, measured as a half mile in each compass direction from the intersection of Gill and Mosman Streets. This area was the key business and social centre of the town.
The economics of Charters Towers were closely bound up with the geology of the field. The gold was not alluvial, but in the form of reefs of gold-bearing ore. This meant that equipment to extract it and to dig shafts was needed from the start. There were several major reefs and they sloped downwards with loops and branches. The ore near the surface was extracted first. Later, deeper and deeper shafts were necessary to find and extract the gold. At first, small syndicates of miners, crushing mills and local business men financed the mines. As the lodes ran deeper, more capital was needed to exploit them than was available locally.
In 1885 several Mining Agents formed themselves into a Mining Exchange. This made speculation through the buying and selling of mine shares possible. In 1886, a display featuring ore samples from the Charters Towers mines was set up at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London. At the time, some mines were producing extraordinary quantities of gold. The response from British investors resulted in a speculation boom. This did not hold, collapsing in 1888, but as the fabled Brilliant Reef was discovered in the following year, the fortunes of the field were not depressed for long.
The boom had encouraged a number of local businessmen to replace their timber buildings with more substantial brick structures. Alexander Malcolm, who had been on the field since the early 1870s was one of these, replacing his 'Malcolm's Buildings' in Mosman Streets with an elegant arcade of shops and offices. The arcade was designed for him by Sydney architect Mark Cooper Day and was named the Royal Arcade.
In 1890 the Stock Exchange reformed along better organised lines and looked for new premises. The Royal Arcade was a wise choice, being centrally placed in the main business area and close to agents and banks. The Exchange signed an initial three year lease for the use of an office and the courtyard for their evening call at a rent of ten pounds a month. To begin with, two calls a day were made, one at noon and another, open to the public, in the evening. Public interest was such that this evening call was attended by crowds.
In 1892 the introduction of the McArthur-Forrest cyanide process boosted gold production for the field which peaked in 1899 at 319,572 ounces. The population also peaked in this year at around 26,500. Charters Towers was now the second most important city in Queensland and an internationally noted goldfield.
After 1899, the yield of Charters Towers mines gradually diminished and increasing costs, due to the great depths at which gold was being mined, saw the return to investors falling. In 1912 the Warden reported that the extreme depth for profitable mining had been reached. The population fell sharply, as many people moved to coastal towns. In 1916, with little interest in new ventures from investors, the stock exchange closed.
Falling real estates values and vacant buildings allowed a number of private schools to establish themselves, providing a new economic life for Charters Towers as an educational centre. Lack of pressure for expansion and development in Charters Towers meant that many of the buildings dating from the period when it was a world famous goldfield survived remarkably intact. However, the arcade was too large and grand for the reduced population and the type of business that they supported. The cost of maintenance eventually exceeded income from the building and it fell into disrepair.
In 1971 it was acquired by the Charters Towers City Council as trustee for the Charters Towers and Dalrymple Historical Society. It was restored in conjunction with the National Trust of Queensland and when a National Trust Branch was formed in Charters Towers, ownership of the arcade was transferred to the National Trust. Stage One of the conservation which repaired the section facing the street was completed in 1972 and Stage Two which conserved the rest of the building in 1975.
The building is now used for offices and shops. The art gallery which occupies the upper floor is named for Don Roderick. This architect, who has strong associations with Charters Towers, worked on a voluntary basis with the builder, Bob Aitken, to carry out the urgent work which saved the building and made it usable again.
","criteria":"The Stock Exchange Arcade is emblematic of the importance of the discovery of gold to the development of north Queensland. It was one of only two stock exchanges outside the capital, both of which were on goldfields.
Its grand architecture illustrates the wealth and confidence of Charters Towers in the nineteenth century. The abrupt finish to the arcade, which appears to be uncompleted, evokes the rise and fall of fortunes typically connected with goldfield towns.
|It is a rare, early example of an arcade in Queensland and has aesthetic value as a work of architecture that is well liked by the community for its scale, landmark barrel vault entrance, traditional shop fronts, material and detail.
|(Criterion under review)
|Its construction demonstrates the adaptation of the architectural forms of its period to the north Queensland climate by improved ventilation.
|It is a rare, early example of an arcade in Queensland and has aesthetic value as a work of architecture that is well liked by the community for its scale, landmark barrel vault entrance, traditional shop fronts, material and detail.
|It is a rare, early example of an arcade in Queensland and has aesthetic value as a work of architecture that is well liked by the community for its scale, landmark barrel vault entrance, traditional shop fronts, material and detail.
It is associated with the establishment of the Charter's Tower's branch of the National Trust of Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15182,"place_ref":600407,"name":"Australian Bank of Commerce (former)","alternate_name":"The World Theatre | The Australian Joint Stock Bank","street_address":"86 Mosman Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former bank building now forms an entry foyer, gallery and offices for 'The World' Theatre complex. This is a large, modern theatre and cinema complex which has been built to the rear of the building and is linked to it by a roof and courtyard area, though remaining essentially separate from it. From Mosman Street, the bank has maintained its appearance as a freestanding building, separated by narrow alleyways from the buildings on either side, which are the National Trust owned Lyall's jewellery shop and former Bright's mining exchange, both from the same era as the bank.
The former Australian Bank of Commerce is a two storey classical revival building constructed of rendered brick with a corrugated iron roof concealed by a balustraded parapet. The street elevation is symmetrical and has a colonnade of banded Doric columns at ground level and one of Corinthian order above, surmounted by a triangular pediment with an ornate tympanum. The central entrance has a small pediment and is approached by low steps. Directly across the colonnade from the entrance are double doors to a draft lobby which takes the form of a timber aedicule leading into the large banking chamber, which is now an entrance foyer. The form of the building is essentially unchanged and the flanking offices are still used as such. The main room is lit by lantern and ventilator towards the rear. This is set with panels of etched and coloured glass in red, blue and green. Beyond this, there are doors leading into the courtyard of the new complex. The upper floor is accessed by a large cedar staircase with carved and turned balusters. It is U shaped in form around the lantern and is now a gallery. A high quality of detail is evident in the building in such features as plaster mouldings, cedar joinery and encaustic tiles to the banking chamber, stair lobby and entrance.
","history":"The former Australian Bank of Commerce is a substantial masonry building in classical revival style located in the business centre of Charters Towers. It was built in 1891 as the premises of the Australian Joint Stock Bank to the design of Queensland architect FDG Stanley during the boom years of the gold field.
The Charters Towers field was discovered in late 1871 by a prospecting party composed of Hugh Mosman, George Clark, James Fraser and an Aboriginal boy called Jupiter who worked for Mosman. By early 1872 a rush was in progress with an estimated 4,500 people on the field by the end of the year. During this time Charters Towers yielded 91,265 ounces of gold; more than half the total Queensland production.
The Australian Joint Stock Bank was established with the discovery of gold in southern states and opened branches on Queensland goldfields as they were discovered. It opened a branch on the Broughton goldfield on 23 April 1872, but soon moved to Charters Towers and then to nearby Millchester, where crushing plants, banks and businesses had begun to cluster. In 1874, following goldfield regulations, a business area was marked out in Charters Towers over an area believed to be non-auriferous. A sub branch of the bank was opened there on 12 October 1874 and became a full branch in 1876. In 1877, when Charters Towers petitioned for incorporation as a municipality, the business area was defined as covering half a mile in each compass direction from the intersection of Gill and Mosman Streets. This area became the key business and social centre of the town.
The economics of Charters Towers were closely bound up with the geology of the field. The gold was in the form of reefs of gold-bearing ore which sloped downwards with loops and branches. This meant that equipment to sink shafts and extract and crush ore was needed. At first, small syndicates of miners, crushing mills and local business men financed the mines. As the lodes ran deeper, more capital was needed to exploit them than was available locally. In 1886, a display featuring ore samples from the Charters Towers mines was set up at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London. At the time, some mines were producing extraordinary quantities of gold. The response from British investors resulted in a speculation boom. This did not hold, collapsing in 1888, but as the famous Brilliant Reef was discovered in the following year, the fortunes of the field were not depressed for long. The excellent long-term prospects of the field and the input of capital made the community affluent and encouraged local businesses to replace their timber buildings with more substantial brick structures in the 1880s and 90s.
The Australian Joint Stock Bank purchased land for a new building in 1884 and in 1889 approved the plans for a handsome new bank, but decided that their allotment was inadequate for the structure. They purchased another block from Burns, Philp & Co. in May 1890 for £3610. Tenders were called for the new building and that of J James for £4693 was accepted, though he defaulted and the building was completed by Messrs Wyatt & Gates.
The new bank building was designed by architect Francis Drummond Greville Stanley. He was a gifted and prolific Scotsman who had been the Queensland Colonial Architect between 1873 and 1881, and in 1888 became the inaugural president of the Queensland Institute of Architects. He had designed many large and prestigious public and commercial buildings, including a number of banks. The new premises opened in early 1892 with banking facilities including a gold room on the lower floor and accommodation for the manager above, a standard arrangement in regional banks
By the end of 1892, the Australian Joint Stock Bank had become the largest bank in Queensland having 19 branches. It was the biggest gold buyer on the Charters Towers field and carried many accounts, but it began overcapitalising. In April 1893, the AJS Bank closed during the national banking crisis which saw 8 banks shut their doors. After restructuring, the bank opened for business again on 16 June 1893 as the Australian Joint Stock Bank Limited.
Charters Towers continued to prosper with gold production on the field peaking in 1899 at 319,572 ounces. The population also peaked in this year at around 26,500. Charters Towers was then the second most important city in Queensland and an internationally noted goldfield.
In 1909 a new banking company, the Australian Bank of Commerce, was formed incorporating the Australian Joint Stock Bank Limited and commenced business in this building on 1 January 1910. By this time, the gold yield in Charters Towers had fallen while costs had increased due to the great depths at which gold was being mined. In 1912 the Warden reported that the extreme depth for profitable mining had been reached. The population quickly fell as many people moved to coastal towns. Falling real estate values and large vacant buildings provided an opportunity for a number of private schools to establish themselves, which eventually gave new economic life to Charters Towers as an educational centre.
Following the merger of the Australian Bank of Commerce and the Bank of New South Wales in 1931, the amalgamated business was carried on in the Bank of New South Wales premises in Gill Street. The former Bank of Commerce building ceased to be a bank and was used as accommodation for bank officers. It was sold to Dr W Stevens for £450 on 9 March 1937, the low price in comparison to the original cost being a reflection of the times. Dr Stevens initially lived on the upper floor and used the ground floor for his medical practice. Later he moved downstairs and rented the upper level to Mr and Mrs Walker who lived there until 1958. Dr Stevens moved out in 1947 and Norman Dungavell rented the ground floor as an office and family home, purchasing the property in July 1957 and continuing to rent out the upper floor flat. Norman Dungavell died in 1989 and his wife in 1991. In 1992 the building was purchased by the Shire of Dalrymple with a view to developing the site as a cultural centre. The new theatre complex was designed by Theatre Technics and GTG Partnership. The World Theatre complex was opened in September 1996.
","criteria":"Charters Towers, as an extraordinarily rich goldfield, made a major contribution to the economy of Queensland and to the development of the North in the late 19th century. The former Bank of Commerce, built as the Australian Joint Stock Bank, demonstrates the wealth and confidence of Charters Towers at the height of its prosperity, when many high quality buildings were constructed in the town.
|Although the building has undergone some modifications, it is still a good example of a high quality bank building of its era and was designed by one of Queensland 's most influential architects.
|It has aesthetic value as a well designed and finely detailed building which forms an important part of a group of substantial 19th century commercial buildings in Mosman Street. These include the Royal Hotel, the Stock Exchange Arcade and the former Queensland National Bank, also designed by Stanley, and are key components of the character of the city centre.
|The former Australian Bank of Commerce is important as a major commercial building by F.D.G. Stanley, who made a significant contribution to the development of the built environment in Queensland, both as the Colonial Architect and in private practice. It is also associated with the Australian Joint Stock Bank, at one time the largest bank in Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15183,"place_ref":600408,"name":"Lyall's Jewellery Shop","alternate_name":"Charters Towers and Dalrymple Historical Society Folk Museum | Lyalls Jewellery Shop","street_address":"90 Mosman Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Lyall's is a small, single story shop constructed of rendered brick. It has an unusually fine shop front with a recessed entrance between two large display windows of curved plate glass, above ornate timber ventilation grilles. Panels of small, coloured glass panes are above the windows. Another large display window glazed with flat glass is to the side of the shop. There is a gas light over the doorway. The original cedar panelled doors survive, as do sash windows in the side and rear walls.
The hipped roof is not visible from the street and is now clad in zincalume. The convex awning to the street is clad with corrugated iron and supported by slender cast iron posts. The cast iron lace valance between the posts does not survive. The balustraded parapet is flanked with pedestals topped with moulded anthemions.
At the rear of the store, which has a central door between two large plain windows, there is a new toilet block erected by the neighbouring theatre development which has replaced the original back verandah.
The interior is intact and is divided into three parts; the largest section towards the street being retail space, a section to the rear which was probably used as workshop or office space and a strong room for precious metals, gems and stock. The strongroom has a brick floor, instead of the timber floors used elsewhere in the store. Its door, which was possibly metal, is now missing. No display counters remain, but the cedar framed display cases, made to fit the windows, do survive.
","history":"Lyall's is a small masonry shop built in 1897 for David Lyall to replace his previous jewellery shop on the same site. Constructed at the height of Charters Towers' prosperity, it is notable for its elaborate frontage featuring large display windows of curved plate glass.
The Charters Towers gold field was discovered in late 1871 and by 1872 there was a major rush on the field. In 1874, according to goldfield regulations, the business area of the town was set out on an area thought to be non-auriferous. This area occupied one square mile centred on the intersection of Gill and Mosman Streets and became the commercial and social heart of the city.
When it became clear that the Towers was more than a transient gold field, permanent buildings began to be erected and the area was surveyed. As was common with gold fields, the survey clarified and confirmed what already existed with regard to property and this can be seen in the variety of lot sizes within the grid superimposed on the settlement. It is well demonstrated by the block on which Lyall's is built which has a frontage of only 4.22 metres and was purchased freehold by Richard Binder in 1876. Binder was an assayer and jeweller and probably already had an office on the site as the fee paid was nominal and probably simply covered the survey costs.
In July 1889, Binder sold the property to David Lyall, who had been working in Charters Towers as a jeweller and watchmaker since at least 1886. His advertisements in the Northern Miner from the Mosman Street address stated that any article of jewellery could be made on the premises to a standard of workmanship equal to be best in London or Edinburgh.
Lyall was developing his business at the height of Charters Towers importance as a gold field. In the 1880s mining shares in the field were subject to a major boom in speculation as foreign capital was poured into mining the deep reefs that characterised the field. For a time, Charters Towers was the second town in Queensland, known to its inhabitants as 'The World' and was internationally famous. Its peak production was reached in 1899 followed by a decline. By 1912 many people were leaving the town and in 1916, production officially ceased.
In 1897, however, this peak had not yet been reached and Mosman Street was now lined with substantial buildings. On December 4, Lyall opened a new shop on his small site which was intended to completely eclipse his competitors. It was brilliantly lit with electric light, had expensive and fashionable fittings and two striking semicircular display windows made of curved plate glass. Extravagant claims for the new shop as a 'palace of wonders', made by Lyall in his opening day advertisement in the Northern Miner, are supported by photographs of the exterior and interior of the shop featured in the 1897 Christmas Edition of the North Queensland Register. A few days after the opening, when the magazine of the Mills United mine blew up, Lyall's was one of the very few buildings in town whose windows were not blown out. This was noted locally and was possibly due to the curved glass.
Lyall's was a well-known and prestigious shop where one purchased special gifts. Lyall was financially successful and eventually owned a second premises in Gill Street in 1903 and a house called 'Towervilla' on Richmond Hill. He died in 1910 and the shop passed to Rebecca Lyall. It was then run by a succession of managers and was advertised as Lyall's until 1915. Under the management of first Wilson, then Boner and then Miller the shop functioned as both an optometrists and a jewellery shop. In 1939 the shop was sold to Michael Hegarty and passed to Mary Hegarty in 1954. It changed hands only once more, in 1957, when it was sold to Stanley Shong, before being purchased by the Charters Towers and Dalrymple Historical Society in 1970.
The Historical Society was formed in 1968 in response to strong public interest in the history of the city. Between 1968 and 1970 the society held several public exhibitions of items donated to its collection in order to gain funds to purchase a building that could be used as a community museum. Much of the work needed to repair Lyall's was carried out by local volunteers and the materials donated, so that the museum was able to open in the building on 1 November 1970.
In 1975, Lyall's was gifted to the National Trust of Queensland. The collection had grown too large to be displayed at Lyall's and was removed to the Zara Clark Museum in the former Bartlam's Store.
","criteria":"The store is situated on an extremely narrow block which demonstrates the manner in which many goldfield towns were surveyed.
Lyall's Jewellery Store contributes to an understanding of the development of north Queensland because its demonstrates, as a fashionable jeweller's shop of high quality, the wealth and importance of Charters Towers in the late nineteenth century.
|The curved plate glass display windows which are the most distinctive feature of the Lyall's shop front are the only known example in Queensland.
|The shop is intact and by its display space, working area and strongroom has the potential to demonstrate the way in which the business of a small manufacturing jeweller of the period was run.
|The shop is intact and by its display space, working area and strongroom has the potential to demonstrate the way in which the business of a small manufacturing jeweller of the period was run.
The large timber ventilation grilles beneath the windows also show adaptation to the needs of a tropical climate.
|It has aesthetic value as a competent architectural design in a late Victorian style which is generally well liked by the community.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15184,"place_ref":600409,"name":"Bartlam's Store (former)","alternate_name":"Zara Clark Museum | Wright Heaton & Company | Burns Philp & Company Limited | Bartlams Store","street_address":"Mosman Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Bartlams store in Charters Towers comprises two single-storeyed brick and stucco buildings of similar scale and design at the corner of Mosman and Mary Streets.
The buildings are similar in size, shape and design. Each has a decorative parapet concealing a gable roof clad with corrugated iron. A street awning supported by cast iron posts extends along the Mosman Street facade and around the corner of Mary Street, although part of the Mary Street elevation is plain and has no awning. Both buildings have a high level storage area inside with delivery doors to the rear which opens into a yard with a loading platform.
The former Wright Heaton office on the corner of Mosman and Mary Streets has a corner entrance and sash windows along both streets, suggesting that it was originally designed as offices rather than a store. The former Burns Philp building facing Mosman Street comprises two sections: a shop adjoining the corner building, and an adjacent office - each with its own entrance. The portion of the second building that appears to have been offices contains partitions and doors which are of the same period as the building and are probably original.
The exterior is largely intact, although the frame and glass of the shop front window has been replaced and the entrance to the 'shop' is now through a glass door. The parapet above the shop front is supported by free-standing columns with the shop window set in behind. The base of the shop front below the window is in cast iron in an unusual fretwork pattern.
","history":"The former Bartlams store consists of 2 single storey brick buildings which have been converted for a single occupancy. They formed part of an important commercial and retail area in Charters Towers in the late 19th century
Discovered in late 1871, Charters Towers became the richest of the North Queensland mining fields. It was proclaimed a municipality in 1877 and the construction of the railway created easy access to the port at Townsville, solving the problem of high freight costs experienced by many other mining fields. Charters Towers gold was in deep reefs and the equipment needed to extract and process it was financed by substantial southern and overseas investment. The town became a prosperous centre providing employment for a considerable number of people. It had several schools, 8 churches, 3 newspapers, 2 iron foundries, a hospital, fire brigade, jockey club and gasworks. In the late 1880s and 90s, handsome public buildings rose to replace the modest structures of the early township. Gold output peaked in 1899, as did a population of 26,500.
The land on which both buildings stand was sold at auction in 1882 as 3 allotments. The corner block, allotment 1, was purchased by William Jackson, who died in 1886 and left the property to be administered by Trustees. In 1898 it was sold to Wright Heaton and Company Limited. They were a large firm of carriers, forwarding agents and produce merchants, formed in NSW, who had arrived in Charters Towers in 1882 following the opening of the rail link with Townsville. They initially had premises at the railway station and in 1884 opened a forage store on the corner of Gill and Deane Streets. They are believed to have operated from this site for some years before actually purchasing the property. This building was constructed for them in 1901. In 1907 they leased it to Cummins and Campbell, who initially conducted a similar business, but branched out and by 1916 were describing themselves as wine, spirit and general merchants. After being sold in 1912 to Horace Brown it was purchased in 1916 by William White who opened there the following year as William White & Co. Ltd., also a merchant. In 1925 it was purchased by Bartlam's Limited, general merchants, who supplied stations in Western Queensland.
The adjoining building was built as a branch of the important trading company of Burns, Philp and Company Limited. James Burns had arrived in Brisbane in 1862 with his brother John, who set up a store there, while James worked on a pastoral run. In 1867, James set up a store in Gympie, beginning a long association with mining fields. In 1872 he moved to Townsville and set up his own business there. He was joined in 1874 by Robert Philp who had previously worked for shipping agents in Brisbane. Burns moved to Sydney in 1877 and established himself as an importer and shipping agent, while Philp continued business in the north. In 1883 they formed a company, Burns Philp and Company Limited, registered in Sydney. Within a decade of Burns arrival in Townsville, the company dominated trade in North Queensland, supplying a huge range of goods. They also became a major player in Pacific and New Guinea trading.
In Charters Towers, Philp entered into a business arrangement with Isidor Lissner, who was elected to the Queensland Parliament in 1883. Lissner was not considered a good business man by Burns and the Charters Towers branch actually made a substantial loss in the years 1883-6, apparently due to previous injudicious purchasing. Philp continued to represented the northern interests of the company even after he himself was elected to Parliament in 1886. Lissner owned Allotment 3 of section 27 in Mosman Street and subdivided it in 1887. Philp acquired subdivision B and purchased Allotment 2 from Martin Thomsen, the original grantee. At the time, the premises of Burns Philp & Co were further along Mosman Street. The company developed rapidly during the boom of the 1880s, although 1888-89 was a difficult time for Charters Towers as drought affected the running of crushing mills which used considerable quantities of water.
In 1891 the property was transferred into the name of Burns Philp and Company Limited and a new building, designed by architects Eyre and Munro, was constructed for the company at a cost of £3500. Part of the building was offices and part a store. It was a substantial building with an elaborate facade in keeping with other commercial buildings being erected in Charters Towers and with its neighbour, Wright Heaton and Company.
Although gold production on the field peaked in 1899 at an impressive 337,000 ounces, it soon became clear that these grades did not continue at depth and by 1920 only one mine was still operational. People, businesses and even the more portable buildings, moved away from the town. The store was sold to Selina Vicks in 1921. Her husband, Thomas Vicks, conducted a grocery store from the premises. From 1926 Burns Philp also had an agency there, eventually moving from the site around 1940 when they obtained premises in Stubley Street. Vicks grocery store closed about the same time and the property was sold in 1944 to Bartlams, who may have been occupying the building before this, thought there is no formal lease.
Bartlams modified the buildings into a single occupancy. They went into liquidation in 1976 and in 1978 the building was offered for sale. There was concern about the possibility of demolition and in order to prevent this, the building was purchased by the National Trust of Queensland with a bequest from Miss Zara Clark of 'Mirtna' Station. The 'Zara Clark Museum' began as a transport museum and houses a large local history collection which includes horse-drawn vehicles, agricultural machinery, domestic, mining, and medical artefacts, records and photographs.
When the Bartlams store buildings were erected, Mosman Street was dominated by commercial and retail buildings extending from Mary Street at the north to Towers Street at the south. Many of these buildings have since been demolished, and houses now occupy some of the sites on which larger buildings once stood. Bartlam's store forms the edge of this once continuous row of buildings, and is now important in maintaining some sense of the scale of Mosman Street as a former commercial district.
","criteria":"Charters Towers, as an extraordinarily rich goldfield, made a major contribution to the economy of Queensland and to the development of the North. The former Bartlams store has housed several companies supplying essential goods and services to the pastoral and mining industries and who therefore contributed to this development. The elaborate facades reflect the importance of their Charters Towers branch to such companies and the affluence and confidence of the goldfield in the late 19th century.
|The former Bartlams store is a good example of late Victorian commercial buildings which combine office and retail functions with practical loading facilities, thereby demonstrating the way in which their business was carried out.
|The building makes an important visual contribution to Mosman Street and indicates the extent and significance of this business area when Charters Towers was at its most prosperous.
|The building is associated with the important mercantile entity of Burns Philp and Company Limited as a purpose built branch in an important regional centre, and with the firms of Wright Heaton, Bartlams and others who were an essential component in the development of Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15185,"place_ref":600410,"name":"Pfeiffer House (former)","alternate_name":"Day Dawn House | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints","street_address":"2-6 Paull Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Pfeiffer house stands on Day Dawn Ridge on gently sloping land and is a single storey timber building, L shaped in plan, with an exposed stud frame. It is encircled by verandahs and is on low stumps, being raised slightly on the northern side. The roof is of an unusual form, having 3 parallel gables with a barrel vaulted hall placed between them, all roofed in corrugated iron. The verandahs have a convex corrugated iron awning supported by timber posts with fretwork brackets and square section timber balustrades. The south west verandah has been built in and has a brick chimney.
The entrance is reached by concrete steps and a cedar door with sidelights gives on to a hallway with a barrel vaulted ceiling with end panels of coloured glass. The re-use of the building for church purposes has caused very little change to the layout of the rooms. The former dining room to the right of the hall is a classroom area and a kitchen with a chimney. To the left of the entrance hall are two large linked rooms, formerly a drawing room and now used as a chapel. Towards the rear is a meeting room. At the rear, the verandah and a toilet block frame a courtyard area which contains a baptismal font.
","history":"The building currently the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was constructed as a private residence by Charters Towers mining magnate Frederick Pfeiffer in c1881 close to his gold mine.
Discovered in late 1871, Charters Towers became the richest of the North Queensland mining fields. It was proclaimed a municipality in 1877 and the construction of the railway created easy access to the port at Townsville, solving the problem of high freight costs experienced by many other mining fields. Charters Towers gold was in deep reefs and the equipment needed to extract and process it was financed by substantial southern and overseas investment. The town became a prosperous centre providing employment for a considerable number of people. In the late 1880s and 90s, handsome public buildings rose to replace the modest structures of the early township.
Friedrich (Frederick) Pfeiffer, a German immigrant, first visited Australian in 1851 as an apprentice on a cargo ship. In 1856 he abandoned seafaring at Melbourne and set out for the Victorian gold fields. After eighteen years of mining in Victoria, New South Wales and New Zealand, Pfeiffer moved to Charters Towers in 1874. In 1878, Pfeiffer and other members of the Day Dawn mining syndicate struck a reef of high grade ore. It was the first consistently large gold producer on the Charters Towers field. By 1903, when Pfeiffer died, the Day Dawn had produced £1,200,000 worth of gold. Becoming a limited company in 1887, it was sold to English interests, making Pfeiffer a very rich man who was to continue major interests in other mines.
When Pfeiffer first arrived in Charters Towers he set up a tent on what was to become known as the Day Dawn Ridge, close to the entrance to his mine. He built his house on the same site and it was probably completed in time for this marriage to Mary Donovan on 1 February 1882. This possibility is supported by the fact that a manager's house was built for his company to a design by J Longden in October 1881 and Pfeiffer's house appears on a survey plan of 12 December 1882. Longden worked as a mining engineer and architect in Charters Towers between and 1879 and 1882 and designed the first St Columba's Church. It is possible that he also designed Pfeiffer's house.
The house, built using an exposed frame timber construction technique, is thought to be the oldest house of this type in Charters Towers and one of the oldest in North Queensland. The house has been both reduced and added to during its life, although it may have been built a single row of rooms surrounded by verandahs. Despite the simplicity of it's early design, the house was the grandest private residence in Charters Towers when built, something easily forgotten when far more ostentatious houses were built during the boom years of the 1890s and which, at the time of Pfeiffer's death was considered 'unpretending' for a man of his position. It's placement near the mine suggests that ready access to it was considered more important than any inconvenience caused by noise or dust.
Pfeiffer, as was the case with other major mine owners or investors, became a prominent figure in Charters Towers Society. He served as chairman of the hospital board for fifteen years, was a founder and benefactor of the Lutheran church, honorary Major of the Kennedy Regiment and was well known for his generosity towards community organisations and those in need. When he died in 1903 flags flew at half mast in the town. The Stock Exchange suspended it's mid day call as a mark of respect on the day of the funeral, which many of the leading mining and business figures in Charters Towers attended.
In order for his executors to wind up his affairs, a miner's homestead lease covering the site of the house was applied for and granted in 1915 as MHL 8206. At the time improvements to this site consisted of a 'large house, store room, stables, coach house, mens' quarters, office etc.' valued at £8000.
The gold output of the field peaked in 1899, however, it soon became clear that these grades did not continue at depth and by 1920 only one mine was still operational. People, businesses and even the more portable buildings, moved away from the town. In 1923 the house was sold at auction for only £950, a reflection of sharply reduced property values following the decline of the field. Over the years it changed hands a number of times and was also leased. The lease granted to John Ratten in 1937 details the extent of the house which had 4 bedrooms, sitting, dining and breakfast rooms, a kitchen, back and front verandahs and a wash house.
The house was purchased by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1981. By this time it was in poor condition and demolition was proposed to make way for a new church building. However considerable community support for the retention of the house was raised by newspaper articles on its history and the Church decided to retain and repair the building, adapting it for church use. There was considerable local input during this project which won a National Trust award. The building was dedicated as a church on 24 April 1983. In 1994 the Church received a Deed of Grant which replaced the Miner's Homestead Lease for the property.
","criteria":"Charters Towers, as an extraordinarily rich goldfield, made a major contribution to the economy of Queensland and to the development of the North in the late 19th century. The former Pfeiffer house, a substantial residence built for a wealthy mine owner within a decade of the proclamation of the field, demonstrates this success. It is also an illustration of the wealth of Charters Towers that this house was thought of as comparatively modest by the time of Pfeiffer's death in 1903. It marks the site of the Day Dawn mine, a very important one in the city's history.
|The former Pfeiffer house is unusual in form and is a rare early example of exposed stud construction in North Queensland.
|It has aesthetic value as a residence of competent design and detail which is generally well liked by the community. That this is so is evidenced by the public concern for its preservation voiced when it demolition was proposed in the 1980s.
|It has a close association with the life and work of Frederick Pfeiffer, not only a major figure in the mining industry in Charters Towers, but a public spirited man who was highly regarded in the community. The house was near the entrance to his mine, an illustration of Pfeiffer's practical attitude to his life as a working miner, as well as mine owner.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15186,"place_ref":600411,"name":"Charters Towers Masonic Lodge","alternate_name":"Masonic Lodge Charters Towers","street_address":"20 Ryan Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Masonic Temple, Charters Towers is a two-storeyed masonry and timber building with a hipped corrugated iron roof. Facing north, it addresses Ryan Street which runs parallel to, and one block from Gill Street, the main commercial street of Charters Towers.
The building is located centrally within the flat, grassed property of two allotments. Fronting the building is a garden of shrubs and hedges.
With the height, and long side facing the street, the building is prominent amongst its mainly single-storey residential neighbours. From the upper level, the commanding view extends over the nearby houses.
The building is rectangular in plan, on an east-west axis, with a rendered brick core and timber verandahs on three sides. The two end verandahs are enclosed. The open front verandah has timber posts, boarded valance and cast iron balustrade, frieze and brackets. Centred is a two-storeyed rendered masonry entry portico, with archways pediment and balustrade.
The exterior of the core is render scored as ashlar coursing. The end verandahs are timber framed, externally clad in chamferboard, which have been further clad in fibro sheet and metal siding. The gutters have acroteria, decorative rainwater heads and moulded soffit brackets.
The core of the ground floor is a single room meeting hall. It has a high (about 4.5m) boarded ceiling, and awning windows with sills at eye height. The pair of entry doors are six-panelled with an arched fanlight. The eastern end is enclosed as a kitchen. The western end has the timber stair. It features turned balusters and newels and moulded string. Added to the rear is a small single-storey toilet block clad in fibro sheet.
The upper level has a similar layout to the ground floor, and a similar high boarded ceiling with three fretted roses, panelled doors and double hung windows. At the western end, the panelled entry doors have a ceremonial knocker and peep-hole. The hall contains furniture specific to its use as a Masonic lodge, including black and white lino centrepiece, floor, pews, thrones, podium, certificates and decrees. The layout is in accordance with Masonic practice with the Grand Master to the east.
Between the western end of the temple and the boundary is a small single-storey caretaker's cottage clad in fibro sheet.
","history":"The Charters Towers Masonic Lodge was constructed in two stages in 1887 and 1896-97. The building is a prominent structure within the city, and is illustrative of the prosperity of Charters Towers in the late nineteenth century, and the importance of the Masons within the local community.
Queensland was the last Australian state to have a Freemason's Grand Lodge. The first lodges were established in Brisbane by 1859 and the first lodge in Charters Towers was established on 23 March 1875. Fourteen people were present at the first meeting held at Hishon's Hotel. Installing Master, Mr Brodziack of Townsville, installed Gold Warden, WSEM Charters, as the first Worshipful Master. Charters served two terms as Worshipful Master of this first lodge which was known as the Charters Towers Lodge No.1546EC.
The first Masonic hall, a small wooden building, was constructed on land in Gill Street which was donated by Mr Brodziack of Townsville. The building soon became too small as more lodges were formed. The St John's Davenport Lodge No.655SC approached the Charters Towers Lodge to discuss the erection of a new hall. Both lodges pooled resources, formed a company, sold shares to members and purchased the Ryan Street property on 18 September 1876.
In 1887 a new single storey hall was constructed on Ryan Street directly behind the Gill Street building. The foundation stone was laid on 30 April 1887 and the new building was dedicated on 16 September 1887 by Worshipful Master Maurice Bennett WM.
Two "commodious" shops were constructed on the former lodge site in Gill Street in 1889. Rent from these shops was used to support the work of the Masons in the town, including a yearly bursary of £25 for the education of a child of a member. Funds were also directed to the further development of the Lodge in Ryan Street.
In April, 1896 the Northern Miner stated that work had begun on the construction of a second floor to the Masonic Lodge. An article in the North Queensland Register on 18 June, 1897 reported that construction of the second storey was completed.
Several grand lodges were established in Charters Towers during the early days of settlement. These lodges, reflecting the code of Freemasonry to promote the brotherhood of man, render practical aid to the less fortunate in your community, to encourage the practice of every moral and social virtue and to develop behaviour in everyday life which would reflect the teachings of the Freemasons organisation, were established by various national groups. Scottish, Irish and English Freemasons had all established lodges by 1896. These lodges, which were established mainly to offer support to miners and towns people during times of crises, also became centres of social activity.
The tradition of Freemasonry, begun in 1872, continues in the city today with five lodges operating from the Ryan Street building.
","criteria":"The Charters Towers Masonic Lodge demonstrates the spread of Freemasonry in regional Queensland.
|The two-storeyed building, comprising a large meeting hall on each level, is typical of the planform chosen for Masonic Lodges.
|The Masonic Lodge exhibits aesthetic qualities valued by the community, in particular, it contributes to the streetscape as a prominent monumental building and is a symbol of the prosperity and importance of Charters Towers in the late nineteenth century.
|It has a long association with the Charters Towers community and reflects the important civic role of Masonic Lodges in the city.
|It is significant as a place which has been in continuous use as a Masonic Centre since 1887 and the configuration of furniture and fittings has a strong association with Masonic ceremonies and the Masonic Lodge.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15188,"place_ref":600413,"name":"Venus State Battery","alternate_name":"Venus Mill | Venus Gold Battery","street_address":"MacDonald Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"A group of timber frame, corrugated iron clad buildings comprising an almost intact crushing and treatment plant. The battery shed contains four ore bins, a rockbreaker, four 5 head stamp batteries including three with timber blankets draining to three wilfley tables, and six berdan pans. The battery shed also houses a forge, workshop and office. Brick flues connect with the base of a square brick chimney, the boiler having been removed in favour of electric mains power in 1946.
Cyanide plant sheds immediately north of the battery shed house seven agitator vats, clarifier vats, solution tanks a Forward Down grinding pan, two motor sheds and a gold room. The place also contains three groups of concrete and brick rendered
tailings tanks, a fibro clad assay office, corrugated iron toilet, and a weighbridge and corrugated iron office. A Cornish boiler has been adapted upside down as an elevated water tank. A concrete weir is located on Gladstone Creek. An abandoned house on Lot 1\\MPH1536 New Street is adjacent to and associated with the battery.
Plant:
Forward Down grinding pan.
Five-head battery & frame, mortar box - Walkers Limited No 156.
Five-head battery & frame, mortar box - Walkers Limited No 168.
2 Five-head batteries and frames - no brands.
6 Berdan pans.
7 Cyanide vats.
Rock breaker.
3 Wilfley tables.
Weighbridge.
Cornish boiler (converted to an elevated water tank).
","history":"The Venus was one of the earliest stamp batteries to be erected on the Charters Towers gold field as it was operating by July 1872. The first owners were Mr E.H.T. Plant and Mr G. Jackson. Bricks were made on site for its construction. Initially the mill processed ore from a deep lead to the south-east of Millchester. When first erected the battery had only five head of stamps, but a second five was quickly added, then a third five in August 1872 and a fourth five in September 1873 making 20 head of stamps.
By 1897 the battery was described in the North Queensland Register as having 20 head of stamps, 80 berdans, one wheeler, four settlers, three buddles, all driven by a 30h.p. engine. By this period the mill was owned by Messrs Whitehead, D. Rolleston and J. Tilley and managed by Mr J. Barrett. It was one of seventeen then operating on the Charters Towers gold field. (The term "mill" was commonly used on the Charters Towers gold field in the nineteenth century to refer to a stamper or crushing battery, and later the term included all the concentrating and processing works at the place.)
Although the Charters Towers reefs were exhausted by 1917, the town remained the centre for small mining operations which were serviced by the Venus Battery, which became a State owned battery from 1919. Ore came from as far away as Chillagoe, Woolgar River and Iron Range on Cape York.
There is reasonable evidence to indicate that the Venus battery changed quite dramatically some time before the State Government assumed ownership in November 1919; local residents date this at 1907. The number of stamps increased from 20 to 35 and the building was altered to accommodate the increase. The Inspector of Mines on 10 July 1919 stated that: "...the mill is very well laid out for public crushing, each of the seven batteries being a complete unit in themselves from the feed hoppers to the sand pits." (By 1982, this could be said of only two batteries of five head of stamps).
In 1935 only three batteries of stamps were working and No.2 boilers' brick foundation was crumbling. The Inspector of Mines stated that "a State Mill must be kept here even if it only averages 100 tons per month...the Venus has never yielded the Department any profit, in fact a steady loss on working expenses and no return on capital account". He proposed relocating the plant to the old Brilliant Extended Mill site alongside the railway station, which had advantages of a railway connection and cheaper power. However this did not happen.
In January 1941 a major flood damaged the weir and the Venus State Battery was to receive large scale repairs when crushing operations were suspended in 1942, presumably because of World War 2 disruptions. Electricity was installed in 1946 and the battery was updated and kept under repair. In May 1951 the cyanide plant was increased in size to its current configuration, although a new agitator was added in April 1954 to enable treatment of different quality ores from the Carrington mines at Liontown.
In December 1952 the roof above the old crusher had to be replaced because of white ant damage. In late 1958, five new stamps were ordered from the original suppliers, Walkers Brothers of Maryborough.
In 1971 the battery operated for only thirteen weeks. The Mines Department was concerned to preserve the historic value of the site and offered it to the Charters Towers City Council, who refused it. The National Trust of Queensland took over responsibility for the battery on 5 April 1975.
","criteria":"The Venus State Battery is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's mining history.
It is the earliest surviving battery in Queensland having been first constructed in 1872 although the machinery and power plant has been reconstructed at least four times.
|The Venus State Battery is unique as the only intact battery and cyanide plant in the Charters Towers Mining District. The grouping of battery, cyanide plant, assay office, weighbridge, weir and cottage is a unique grouping in Queensland. The place contains rare brick chimneys and the largest number of stamps (20) of all surviving batteries in Queensland.
Its intactness of machinery and plant layout is rare in Queensland and Australian mining heritage and its history of continuing use, as an example of State Enterprise in the 1920s maintained for the benefit of small miners in North Queensland, has potential to yield information that will further contribute to an understanding of the Queenslands's social and economic history.
|Its intactness of machinery and plant layout is rare in Queensland and Australian mining heritage and its history of continuing use, as an example of State Enterprise in the 1920s maintained for the benefit of small miners in North Queensland, has potential to yield information that will further contribute to an understanding of the Queenslands's social and economic history.
|The Venus State Battery is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a crushing, concentrating and cyaniding mill and its setting on the banks of Gladstone Creek in the once flourishing suburb of Millchester exhibits aesthetic characteristics that are valued by sections of the community.
|The Venus State Battery is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a crushing, concentrating and cyaniding mill and its setting on the banks of Gladstone Creek in the once flourishing suburb of Millchester exhibits aesthetic characteristics that are valued by sections of the community.
|The survival and conservation of the Venus State Battery is due to its social and economic value for and strong association with the local mining community and the National Trust of Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15217,"place_ref":600442,"name":"Burdekin River Rail Bridge (former)","alternate_name":"Macrossan Bridge","street_address":"Stuart - Hughenden Line","suburb":"MACROSSAN","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"This bridge spans the Burdekin River at Macrossan and is no longer in use. It consists of six 250 foot (76.2) riveted through Pratt truss spans flanked on either side by four 50 foot plate girder spans supported on cast iron piers, concrete piers and one abutment.
It consists of the following components:
7 x 1 x 2 x 20 (6.1 metre) timber longitudinals, decking, concrete abutments, common braced timber trestles
3 x 2 x 2 x 26 foot (7.9 metre) timber longitudinals, decking, common braced timber trestles
6 x 2 x 2 x 36 foot (11.0 metre) timber longitudinals with understrutting, decking, common braced timber trestles, common concrete pier
4 x 2 x 50 foot (15.2 metre) rivetted half-through plate girders, decking, common concrete pier, common cast iron cylinder piers, common concrete arch
1 x 40 foot (12.2 metre) concrete arch, decking
6 x 250 foot (76.2 metre) riveted 14-panel double intersection through Pratt trusses, decking, common concrete arch, common concrete piers, common concrete arch
1 x 40 foot (12.2 metre) arch span, decking
4 x 2 x 50 foot (15.2 metre) rivetted half through plate girders, decking, common concrete arch, common cast iron cylinder piers, concrete abutment and embankment
","history":"The former Burdekin River Bridge is a metal truss bridge running parallel to the current bridge and was designed to carry the Great Northern Railway over the Burdekin River at Macrossan in 1899.
The Northern or Townsville Railway was intended principally to connect the important goldfield at Charters Towers to the port of Townsville, although it was also of great value to the pastoral industry and the general development of the north. In August 1877 the Queensland Government approved the first stretch of line to the top of the Haughton Range. The line to Mingela (formerly Ravenswood Junction) was opened on 9 November 1881, to Macrossan on 24 July 1882 and to Charters Towers on 14 December 1882.
In order to cross the Burdekin River, the line was carried over a road bridge at Macrossan which had been opened for traffic in mid 1879 and was converted for railway use in 1881. A temporary line was laid on the upstream side to enable the passage of freight from November 1882 even before work was completed. However, this bridge was low level and was frequently under water during the wet season, disrupting traffic. On 22 March 1890 a major flood covered the bridge to a depth of 55 feet. It was clearly necessary to construct a higher bridge and a decision was made to do so, though not implemented for some years after this.
The new bridge was designed while H.C. Stanley was Chief Engineer for Railways. Henry Charles Stanley was an important early engineer in Queensland. He was born and trained in Scotland and was appointed to Queensland Railways in 1863. After working as chief engineer on several lines, he became responsible for the whole colony in 1892. During the 1890s a number of large metal truss rail bridges were constructed and crossed major streams making the connection of important towns and resources possible. In this way they were vital to the operation of the transport system and the development of the state as a whole. Many of these early bridges have since been replaced.
A contract for the Macrossan bridge (at a projected cost of £52,143) and a three mile deviation was let to Swanson Brothers on 26 May 1896. Although completion was planned for 1897, the bridge was not finished until 17 January 1899 and, after tests, it was passed for use by the Government Inspector for Bridges in March 1899. At the time of its construction, it was one of the largest bridges in Queensland and was the last of the series of its type built.
The completed bridge was 3 metres above the highest known flood level. Its six 250 foot steel spans were supported on piers and basalt cutwater quoins based on rock . There were four 50 foot continuous plate girders on each side and 434 feet of timber trestle. The track was supported on the lower chord, the floor completely decked and a substantial handrail provided. However, despite its size, the bridge was limited to carrying an 8 ton axle load. It was thought that the problem lay not with the bridge itself but rather with the timber approaches. These were strengthened by 1937 and the bridge was then used by all classes of steam locomotives.
Although diesel locomotives used the bridge from 1953, the bridge could not be economically strengthened to take two coupled diesel locomotives. In 1961 work began on a new bridge upstream. This new bridge was opened on 16 May 1964. It was similar in construction to the old bridge and because it is located close to the alignment of the old bridge it was not economically feasible to remove the old bridge without risk of damage to the new. The old bridge was decommissioned and the timber approach spans totalling 434 feet on the eastern side have been removed.
","criteria":"This bridge, which allowed the railway to cross a major river, demonstrates the way in which Queensland was developed by linking important inland resources with ports.
|It is a good example of a metal truss bridge of its era and was the first of a number of this type built during this period, many of which have since been replaced.
|It was one of the largest bridges in Queensland at the time of its construction and it demonstrates the skill with which the technology of the era was used to solve the problems of severe climatic conditions and terrain encountered by railway engineers.
|It is an important example of the work of Henry Stanley, Chief Engineer for Railways and a major figure in the early history of engineering in Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion F | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15218,"place_ref":600443,"name":"Railway Hotel, Ravenswood","alternate_name":"Ravenswood Railway Hotel","street_address":"Barton Street","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Railway Hotel, on Barton Street opposite the Court House and the site of the railway station, is one of a handful of buildings left from the town of Ravenswood and is set in a mining landscape which consists of disturbed ground with scattered ruins and mullock heaps, set amongst distinctive chinkee apples and rubber vines.
The Railway Hotel is set on a sloping site which falls away towards Elphinstone Creek at the rear. It has three storeys, only two of which can be seen from street level. The 'basement' storey, visible from the side and rear, is set on brick piers. The roof is clad with corrugated iron and is concealed by a rendered brick parapet. The building is constructed of exposed red bricks laid in English bond and is U-shaped in plan with accommodation on the top floor and the bar, kitchens and dining room at street level. On the 'basement' level are large rooms used for storage and accommodation for the manager's family.
The street elevation has a two storey verandah which continues around the right side of the building. It is supported by paired posts with fretted timber brackets and dowel balustrades on the first floor and wrought iron valances with arched openings at street level. At the side the verandah has dowel balustrading to both levels. French doors open from the rooms onto the verandahs at the side and there are sash windows at the front..
Internally, the building retains substantial amounts of original fabric including pressed metal ceilings, and some of the original furniture and fittings.
","history":"The Railway Hotel, a large brick hotel placed opposite the site of the railway station in Ravenswood, is one of a handful of buildings which survive from this once important mining town. It was built about 1901 for John Moran and is the second hotel of this name he operated on this site.
\nThe discovery of several important goldfields in Queensland in the nineteenth century formed a major component in the development of the North. The need to access and exploit gold finds determined the path of railways, the establishment of related industries and commerce and the location of settlements. Some of these were short lived 'rushes', where tent and shanty townships disappeared almost as quickly as they rose. Other settlements based on goldfields became established towns with government and civic buildings, shops and family homes and survived as such. A few became important centres, only to fade away as gold yields fell. Ravenswood was one of these.
\nThe area was first settled by Europeans following the establishment of Bowen in 1861. Pastoral runs were soon set up in the hinterland, including the area on which the Ravenswood field was to develop. The first gold in north Queensland had been found at Star River in 1865 and there were other brief rushes before a substantial find was made at the Cape Diggings in 1867. This triggered further exploration and gold was found at Merri Merriwa, the run on which the town of Ravenswood stands, in 1867, although it was reported as being on the adjoining property of Ravenswood, the name by which the field was always known.
\nMuch of the gold initially found was in a triangle in and around three dry creeks which soon formed the focus for a tent and shanty settlement. Ravenswood gold was in reefs and a small battery was first set up in 1869, followed by the Lady Marian Mill in 1870. The settlement was also surveyed at this time, but by then the goldfield itself, and the buildings and streets already established had shaped the town and the survey merely formalised what was already in place. This can still be seen clearly in the irregularity of the major streets. Ravenswood was gazetted as a town in 1871. At this time it had 30 hotels and a population of about 1000.
\nIt was also beginning to have problems as gold a deeper levels proved to be finely distributed in ore containing other minerals and was difficult to separate either by mechanical or chemical means. This meant that greater capital was required to fund various technologies for extracting the gold. Many miners left for other fields, such as Charters Towers, discovered in 1871 and which quickly overtook Ravenswood as a gold producer and as the most important inland North Queensland town. Despite this, Ravenswood continued to prosper due to a steady, though reduced, production of gold, the discovery of silver at nearby Totley in 1878 and as a commercial centre. By 1874, the town had a courthouse and police station, a post and telegraph office, and a school. Shanties were replaced by sawn timber buildings and as single miners left, more families moved in. The stability of the town was assisted in the 1880s by the arrival of the railway which passed close to the town in 1881 on its way from Townsville to Charters Towers, thus reducing the cost of freight, and which was linked to Ravenswood by branch line in 1884. In this year Hugh Barton acquired several key mines as the Ravenswood Gold Company and experimented with better means to process Ravenswood ore. His modest success helped to provide employment and stability in the town. A new generation of public buildings replaced those of the early days of the field. It was during this period, in 1886, that the original Railway Hotel was built on this site for A.E. Hawkins, though the hotel was to have several publicans before the license was transferred to John Moran in 1893. Moran was a part owner in the London Mine across the street from the hotel and situated conveniently close to the railway.
\nIn 1899, a new era began for the field when the New Ravenswood Company was formed by A.L. Wilson who raised overseas capital and took over the Barton mines. Old mines were opened and tailings reworked with more efficiency. The shareholders recouped their investment in the first two years and this drew world-wide interest. It was the beginning of Ravenswood's most prosperous period. In early 1901, a lavish new hotel, the Imperial, was opened only to be burned down and replaced with one even more stylish. Moran may have built the Railway Hotel at about this time.
\nThe original timber hotel was moved to the opposite side of the road to make way for the construction of the new hotel and burned down shortly afterwards. 1901 was a year of fires and whole blocks on both sides of Macrossan Street were destroyed. A number of buildings, including the Imperial Hotel, were replaced in brick. Bricks had been made locally in Ravenswood since the early days and production capacity increased to meet the demand of the early 1900s. However, it is said that the bricks for the Railway Hotel were constructed at Moran's property at Connolly Creek by an Italian brickmaker. It is possible that this was the first major brick building in Ravenswood as his advertisements for the hotel stress the number of bricks used in the construction, which suggests a certain novelty value. The new hotel offered budget accommodation in a basement level and better quality rooms on the top floor. Moran is thought to have installed a water supply system from the London Mine, situated opposite the hotel, with the water being pumped by a hand pump on the balcony, for which the drain can still be seen. The Moran family ran the hotel until the 1950s, when it was taken over by the current family of publicans.
\nThe population of Ravenswood peaked in 1903 at 4700, but after 1908 the town began to decline. As time went by the cost of extraction grew as returns lessened and Wilson lost money searching for 'mother' lodes at deep levels and began to lay miners off. A strike in 1912 dragged out for eight months causing hardship and although judgement eventually favoured the miners, Wilson could no longer afford to employ many of them. The decline of the Ravenswood mines continued with the outbreak of war in 1914 increasing costs and disruptions to the labour supply. Buildings began to be sold for removal and in 1916 rail services were cut. In 1917 the New Ravenswood Company closed.
\nIn the 1920s most of the timber buildings in Ravenswood were moved away. The Railway Hotel, being a brick building, could not be moved and continued to trade. Ravenswood Shire ceased to exist in 1929 and was absorbed into Dalrymple Shire. In 1930 Ravenswood became the first Queensland town to lose its railway connection. A small revival occurred during the 1930s by applying more modern extraction processes to known sites. This did not make much difference to the life of the town and by the 1960s it had reached its lowest ebb with a population of about 70. At this point, tourists began to take a growing interest in the town, studies were made of the buildings and work began to conserve them. In the 1980s the whole town was listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the National Trust of Queensland. In 1987 Carpentaria Gold Ltd opened a new open cut mine using modern heap leaching processes. The hotels have helped to maintain an economic life in the town and the Railway Hotel now offers accommodation and recreational facilities for the new miners.
\nThe Railway Hotel underwent extensive renovation in 1988. The verandahs were repaired, the building was painted, a hydraulic lift was installed to bring supplies from an old cellar below the footpath, the cold room was removed from a former saloon, the saloon was restored, the front of the old bar was incorporated into a new bar. Furniture throughout the building was restored and the bedrooms were furnished. Further work was done on the building when a grant was made by the Department of Environment in 1996 to allow brick piers to be repaired.
","criteria":"Gold mining has been important in the development of North Queensland and the Railway Hotel is one of the few buildings remaining from the once important goldfield town of Ravenswood. As an intact and good quality hotel named for and located near the former railway station, it provides evidence of both the prosperity of the field at the turn of the nineteenth century and of its subsequent decline, illustrating a pattern common on nineteenth century goldfields.
|The Railway Hotel is important as a good example of a quality hotel of its era in form, layout and interior decoration and has well preserved interior and exterior detail. It has had continuity of usage for almost a hundred years.
|The Railway Hotel is a fine example of Federation hotel architecture and as a substantial two storey building, one of only two remaining hotels, is a dominant feature in the town.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15220,"place_ref":600445,"name":"Ravenswood Ambulance Station","alternate_name":"Ambulance Building; Ambulance Station Ravenswood","street_address":"Deighton Street","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Ambulance Centre, Ravenswood is located in Deighton St close to the bank of Elphinstone Creek. It is a single storey building of rendered brick, rectangular in plan, with its long axis at right angles to the street. The roof is clad in corrugated iron and hipped at the rear. It has a decorative metal ventilator on the ridge. The façade has a gabled parapet and is asymmetrical, with the central doorway flanked by a large arched gateway for the ambulance vehicle to the left and a sash window on the right. It has rendered ornamentation including fluted pilasters, two Maltese crosses and the words 'Ambulance' and '1902' in raised letters. There is a lamp over the doorway.
Inside there is provision for the ambulance and a series of rooms on one side of the building with timber framed tongue and groove partitions, concrete and timber floors, and flat galvanised iron ceilings.
","history":"The Ravenswood Ambulance Building, constructed in 1904, has played an important role in the Ravenswood community providing assistance for the sick and injured. This role expanded when the hospital closed and it has continued its community service as a venue for regular clinics held by the Royal Flying Doctor Service for over thirty years.
Ravenswood was one of several important goldfields in which formed a major component in the development of North Queensland. The need to access and exploit gold finds determined the path of railways, the establishment of related industries and commerce and the location of settlements. Some of these were short lived 'rushes', where tent and shanty townships disappeared almost as quickly as they rose. Other settlements based on goldfields became established towns with government and civic buildings, shops and family homes and survived as such. A few became important centres, only to fade away as gold yields fell. Ravenswood was one of these.
The area was first settled by Europeans following the establishment of Bowen in 1861. Pastoral runs were soon set up in the hinterland, including the area on which the Ravenswood field was to develop. The first gold in north Queensland had been found at Star River in 1865 and triggered further exploration. Gold was found at Merri Merriwa, the run on which the town of Ravenswood stands, in 1867, although it was reported as being on the adjoining property of Ravenswood, the name by which the field was always known.
Much of the gold initially found was in a triangle in and around three dry creeks which soon formed the focus for a tent and shanty settlement. Ravenswood gold was in reefs and a small battery was first set up in 1869, followed by the Lady Marian Mill in 1870. The settlement was also surveyed at this time, but by then the goldfield itself, and the buildings and streets already established had shaped the town and the survey merely formalised what was already in place. This can still be seen clearly in the irregularity of the major streets. Ravenswood was gazetted as a town in 1871, but problems were soon encountered as the gold at deeper levels proved to be finely distributed in ore containing other minerals and was difficult to separate either by mechanical or chemical means. This required greater capital to fund various technologies for extraction. Many miners left for other fields, such as Charters Towers, discovered in 1871 and which quickly overtook Ravenswood as a gold producer and as the most important inland North Queensland town.
Despite this, Ravenswood continued to prosper due to a steady, though reduced, production of gold, the discovery of silver at nearby Totley in 1878 and as a commercial centre. By 1874, the town had a courthouse and police station, a post and telegraph office, and a school. The first hospital was established by subscription in 1871. The stability of the town was also assisted by the arrival of the railway in 1884 and the use of improved means to extract gold from ore. A new generation of public buildings began to replace those from the early days of the field, including a new hospital built in 1887.
In 1899, the New Ravenswood Company was formed by A.L. Wilson who raised overseas capital, reopened old mines and used modern methods to rework tailings more efficiently. The shareholders recouped their investment in the first two years and this drew world-wide interest. It was the beginning of Ravenswood's most prosperous period.
In the 1890s the perceived need to provide trained assistance and transport to hospital for the sick and injured resulted in the formation in Brisbane of the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade. Charters Towers set up the second branch of the QATB in 1900, needing it not only as a major city, but also as a mining town. Mining had always been a dangerous occupation and rapid growth tended to overtake the provision of safety measures, making serious accidents not uncommon. This was also the case in Ravenswood where between 1879 and 1917, 22 miners were killed and 116 injured in the course of their work. The water supply was also unsafe and there were periodic outbreaks of serious illnesses caused by this. The ambulance centre was established in Macrossan Street, a date commemorated on the parapet of the current ambulance building. Ambulances were equipped with harnesses which were used to pull up injured men from mine shafts. In 1904, the current building was constructed to serve 4700 people, the highest population level that Ravenswood would ever have.
After 1908 the town began to decline and the hospital closed. As time went by the cost of extraction grew as returns lessened and Wilson lost money searching for 'mother' lodes at deep levels and began to lay off miners. A strike in 1912 dragged out for eight months causing hardship and although judgement eventually favoured the miners, Wilson could no longer afford to employ many of them. The decline of the Ravenswood mines continued with the outbreak of war in 1914 increasing costs and disruptions to the labour supply. Buildings began to be sold for removal and in 1916 rail services were cut. In 1917 the New Ravenswood Company closed.
In the 1920s most of the timber buildings in Ravenswood were moved away, although brick buildings, such as the Ambulance station, could not be moved. Ravenswood Shire was absorbed into Dalrymple Shire in 1929 and in 1930 Ravenswood became the first Queensland town to lose its railway connection and therefore the use of the railway ambulance which had served Ravenswood from Charters Towers since 1919. Mining had a modest revival in the 1930s, but this had little effect on the life of the town. By the 1960s Ravenswood had reached its lowest ebb with a population of about 70. At this point, tourists began to take a growing interest in the town, studies were made of the buildings and work began to conserve them. In the 1980s the whole town was listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the National Trust of Queensland. In 1987 Carpentaria Gold Ltd opened a new open cut mine using modern heap leaching processes.
Following the closure of the hospital, the ambulance service had often provided medical advice. The centre was staffed until the 1950s although the buildings was also used intermittently for storage. In the 1960s the Flying Doctor began to hold a monthly surgery in the building. Clinics held by the Royal Flying Doctor Service have continued to the present day.
The building underwent considerable repair and refurbishment in the 1990s and continues to provide medical services for the community through clinics. It also houses a part time children's play group and the State Emergency Service has storage facilities built in a shed to the rear in 1997.
","criteria":"Mining has been important in the development of North Queensland and the Ambulance Station is one of the few buildings remaining from the boom period of the once important goldfield town of Ravenswood. Many accidents occurred in early mines and the erratic water supply of many mining towns caused frequent outbreaks of serious illness. The Ambulance Station therefore provided an essential service. Its early establishment and subsequent expanded medical use when the population reduced and the hospital closed illustrates a pattern of expansion and decline common to many mining towns.
|It is important as an example of an early ambulance station providing accommodation for ambulance, staff and office in a small, centrally placed building.
|The Ambulance station is an attractive building and, as one of the few brick buildings from the boom years of Ravenswood, is an important feature of its townscape.
|The Ambulance station has a long association with the Ravenswood community and the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15221,"place_ref":600446,"name":"Imperial Hotel, Ravenswood","alternate_name":"Ravenswood Imperial Hotel","street_address":"Macrossan Street","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Imperial Hotel is located on Macrossan Street, in the town centre, one of just a few buildings in a landscape of disturbed ground with scattered ruins and mullock heaps, set amongst chinee apple trees and rubber vines. To the rear is Buchanan's Creek, one of those which formed the centre of the field. Originally, there was a laneway to the south of the hotel and this side and the front have elaborate two storey verandahs. In contrast, the northern side is very plain, evidence that another building once adjoined it.
It is a symmetrical two storey building with a U shaped plan constructed of exposed red brick laid in English bond and decorated with horizontal bands of cream brick at the front. The corrugated iron roof is concealed by a high parapet with a central arched pediment and six flanking spires. The verandah to the street has a corrugated iron roof and is supported by paired posts with fretted timber brackets to the upper storey and a timber valance with arched openings on the ground floor. The upper verandah has panels of cast iron balustrading. The verandah on the side elevation is not connected to this and is to the upper floor only. It has dowel balustrading. There are two front entrances, one to the bar and one to the central hallway. On the upper floor French windows open out from bedrooms on to the verandahs.
The building retains almost all of it's original fabric and the interior layout is typical of nineteenth century hotels. It is exceptionally intact down to furniture, fittings and minor items of hotel equipment. The ground floor contains the bars, dining room and furniture and fittings, a billiard room and table, kitchen, store rooms and office. Features include an elaborately constructed and decorated bar with cedar and glass fittings, beer engines and ceramic taps.
A narrow, open court yard extends between the two wings of the building with ground floor toilets at the rear of the kitchen wing. Bedrooms are located on the first floor along with bathroom and toilet facilities. Upstairs the building contains much of its original furniture and fittings.
","history":"The Imperial Hotel, a striking two storey brick hotel in the main Street of Ravenswood, is one of a handful of buildings which survive from this once important mining town. Constructed in 1901 for James Delaney and run by members of this family for most of the twentieth century, it is evidence of Ravenswood's prosperity during its boom period.
The discovery of several important goldfields in Queensland in the nineteenth century formed a major component in the development of the North.. The need to access and exploit gold finds determined the path of railways, the establishment of related industries and commerce and the location of settlements. Some of these were short lived 'rushes', where tent and shanty townships disappeared almost as quickly as they rose. Other settlements based on goldfields became established towns with government and civic buildings, shops and family homes and survived as such. A few became important centres, only to fade away as gold yields fell. Ravenswood was one of these.
The area was first settled by Europeans following the establishment of Bowen in 1861. Pastoral runs were soon set up in the hinterland, including the area on which the Ravenswood field was to develop. Gold had been found in north Queensland at Star River in 1865 and this triggered further exploration. Gold was found at Merri Merriwa, the run on which the town of Ravenswood stands, in 1867, although it was reported as being on the adjoining property of Ravenswood, the name by which the field was always known. The first claim made was the 'Perseverance', later to be known as the 'Donnybrook' mine. This has a connection with the Imperial since the success of the mine is said to have provided James Delaney with the capital with which to build the hotel.
Much of the gold initially found was in a triangle in and around three dry creeks which soon formed the focus for a tent and shanty settlement. Ravenswood gold was in reefs and a small battery was first set up in 1869, followed by the Lady Marian Mill in 1870. The settlement was also surveyed at this time, but by then the goldfield itself and the buildings and streets already established had shaped the town and the survey merely formalised what was already in place. This can still be seen clearly in the irregularity of the major streets. Ravenswood was gazetted as a town in 1871 and at this time it had 30 hotels and a population of about 1000.
It was also beginning to have problems as gold at deeper levels proved to be finely distributed in ore containing other minerals and was difficult to separate either by mechanical or chemical means. This required greater capital to fund various technologies for extraction. Many miners left for other fields, such as Charters Towers, discovered in 1871 and which quickly overtook Ravenswood as a gold producer and as the most important inland North Queensland town. Despite this, Ravenswood continued to prosper due to a steady, though reduced, production of gold, the discovery of silver at nearby Totley in 1878 and as a commercial centre. Shanties were replaced by sawn timber buildings and as single miners left, more families moved in. The stability of the town was assisted by linking of Ravenswood to the Townsville/Charters Towers railway line in 1884. In this year the Ravenswood Gold Company was formed and experimented with better means to process local ore. In 1899 the New Ravenswood Company was formed by A.L. Wilson who raised overseas capital, reopened old mines and used modern methods to rework tailings more efficiently. The shareholders recouped their investment in the first two years and this drew world-wide interest. It was the beginning of Ravenswood's most prosperous period.
In 1900 James Delaney applied for a licence for a new 18 bedroom hotel. He had been the licensee of the Commercial Hotel since 1896 when he married Anne Browne, possibly a connection of the owner of the town's most prominent hostelry, Browne's Ravenswood Hotel. The site purchased by Delaney was separated from Browne's by only 2 shops and he opened his splendid two storey Imperial Hotel in early 1901. On the night of the 18 April, 1901, the Imperial burned to the ground taking with it the whole block of buildings, with the exception of Browne's hotel, which had been protected by a brick wall. The damage was estimated at £20,000. The wall had possibly been erected as a firewall as both the Ravenswood Hotel and the shops Browne owned alongside it were timber, as were virtually all of the buildings in Ravenswood. Closely built timber structures and the lack of an adequate water supply for fire fighting made it possible for fires to race along a block until reaching a gap which acted as a fire break, a fact underlined by a similar fire on the opposite side of the street only three months later. The owners agreed to use the same architect, Eaton, Bates and Polin, to redesign the whole block and tenders were called in early May 1901. The shops between the Ravenswood and the Imperial were replaced by 'Browne's Buildings', Trehearn built a new shop for his former tenant, James Tait & Co. and the bakery and Commercial Hotel, both owned by the Estate of Michael Franzman, were replaced by 3 shops.
Ravenswood had produced bricks since its early years and a team of bricklayers is thought to have already been on the field, brought in by A.L. Wilson to rebuild mining structures such as chimneys. It is said that bricks were brought in from Townsville, but these may have been the cream face bricks applied in bands as a feature of the new buildings and seen to striking effect on the Imperial, which became the centrepiece of two rows of handsome shops.
Delaney died in July 1902 but had already made the hotel over the his wife in 1901. The Delaney's had four daughters, Mary Ellen (1896), Kathleen (1898), Teresa (1899) and Johanna (1901) who at the time of his death were aged between six years and eleven months. In the early years Mrs Delaney appears to have employed a manager, but in 1906 took over the management herself, pending a proposed transfer of the license. In the event, she continued to run the hotel, assisted by her daughters as they grew up.
The population of Ravenswood peaked in 1903 at 4700 but after 1908 the town began to decline. As time went by the cost of extraction grew as returns lessened and Wilson lost money searching for 'mother' lodes at deep levels and began to lay off miners. A strike in 1912 dragged out for eight months causing hardship and although judgement eventually favoured the miners, Wilson could no longer afford to employ many of them. The decline of the Ravenswood mines continued with the outbreak of war in 1914 increasing costs and disruptions to the labour supply. Buildings began to be sold for removal and in 1916 rail services were cut. In 1917 the New Ravenswood Company closed.
In the 1920s most of the buildings in Ravenswood were moved away, but the Imperial, being a brick building, could not be moved and continued to trade. Ravenswood Shire ceased to exist in 1929 and was absorbed into Dalrymple Shire. In 1930 Ravenswood became the first Queensland town to lose its railway connection. A small revival occurred during the 1930s and a shaft was sunk next to the hotel, but most gold was gained by applying more modern extraction processes to known sites. This did not make much difference to the life of the town and by the 1960s it had reached its lowest ebb with a population of about 70. At this point, tourists began to take an interest in the town, studies were made of the buildings and work began to conserve them. In the 1980s the whole town was listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the National Trust of Queensland. In 1987 Carpentaria Gold Ltd opened a new open cut mine using modern heap leaching processes.
Throughout the difficult times in Ravenswood, the hotel continued to trade. Anne Delaney died in 1968 and the hotel was then run by Teresa (Tessa) who died in 1980 and Jo who died in 1989. The hotel then passed to Mary (Maisie), the only married daughter, and her three daughters, Kathleen having died early. In 1994 it was sold to local owners and still operates as a hotel. Ravenswood's two hotels have helped to maintain an economic life in the town and continue to offer accommodation and recreational facilities.
The buildings which flanked the hotel have been demolished, the last bay of Browne's Buildings within recent years, so the hotel now stands alone. The new owners have redecorated some of the bedrooms on the first floor and have removed some of the dining room furniture into storage to create a pool room at the front of the hotel.
","criteria":"Gold mining has been important in the development of North Queensland and the Imperial Hotel is one of the few buildings remaining from the once important goldfield town of Ravenswood. As an intact and good quality commercial building in what was once the heart of this town, it provides evidence of both the prosperity of the field at the turn of the nineteenth century and of its subsequent decline, illustrating a pattern common on nineteenth century goldfields.
The Imperial Hotel has a strong association with James Delaney and with female members of the Delaney family who conducted the hotel for over 90 years.
|The Imperial Hotel is rare because of the intactness of the building itself and of its interiors, particularly that of the bar, which is not only a fine example of its type, but remains virtually unchanged, highly unusual in a type of building in which constant change and refurbishment is common.
|Because of the preservation of room layout and usage, fittings and furniture, the Imperial Hotel has the potential to yield information that will contribute to our understanding of the operation of a hotel of the Federation era.
|The Imperial Hotel is important as a good representation of a quality hotel of its era in general form and layout; however, its style and decoration, both inside and out, transcend the typical.
|The Imperial is a fine and exuberant example of Federation hotel architecture and as a substantial two storey building, one of two remaining hotels, is a dominant feature in the town. It is generally the building most admired and photographed by visitors to Ravenswood.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15222,"place_ref":600447,"name":"Ravenswood Post Office and Residence","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Macrossan Street","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Post Office and Residence are located at the corner of Raven and Macrossan Streets, close to the bridge over Elphinstone Creek. The town is located in a mining landscape which consists of disturbed ground with scattered ruins and mullock heaps, set amongst distinctive 'chinkee apple' trees and rubber vine.
The Post office is a single storey timber building with an exposed stud frame, set on low stumps. It has a hipped, corrugated iron roof and is surrounded on three sides with verandahs supported on paired timber posts. The verandahs have diagonal timber balustrading and a cast iron valance. That on the right hand side is partially enclosed .
The front verandah and entrance to the Post Office and store are reached by steps up to a classically inspired central entrance formed of a triangular timber pediment supported by square timber pillars. The imposing effect created by this entrance is somewhat diminished by the presence of three petrol bowser in front of the stairs.
The Residence at the rear of the Post Office is built of similar materials. It is surrounded by verandahs, has a pyramid roof of corrugated iron and is connected to the Post Office by a short walkway.
","history":"The Ravenswood Post Office was constructed in 1885 on the corner of Macrossan and Raven Streets, replacing an earlier Post and Telegraph Office which had been in use since 1873.
Ravenswood was one of several important goldfields which formed a major component in the development of North Queensland. The need to access and exploit gold finds determined the path of railways, the establishment of related industries and commerce and the location of settlements. Some of these were short lived 'rushes', where tent and shanty townships disappeared almost as quickly as they rose. Other settlements based on goldfields became established towns with government and civic buildings, shops and family homes and survived as such. A few became important centres, only to fade away as gold yields fell. Ravenswood was one of these.
Gold was discovered at Ravenswood in 1868 a few years after pastoral settlement of the area had begun. Ravenswood gold was in reefs and a small battery was first set up in 1869, followed by the Lady Marian Mill in 1870. The settlement was also surveyed at this time, but by then the goldfield itself, and the buildings and streets already established had shaped the town and the survey merely formalised what was already in place. This can still be seen clearly in the irregularity of the major streets. Ravenswood was gazetted as a town in 1871 and such public buildings as a courthouse, a school and a Post Office and Telegraph Station were constructed within the first few years. However, miners began to encounter problems as the gold at deeper levels proved to be finely distributed in ore containing other minerals and was difficult to separate either by mechanical or chemical means. This required greater capital to fund various technologies for extraction. Many miners left for other fields, such as Charters Towers, discovered in 1871 and which quickly overtook Ravenswood as a gold producer and as the most important inland North Queensland town.
Even so, the town continued to prosper, supported by a steady, though reduced, production of gold, the discovery of silver at nearby Totley in 1878 and as a commercial centre. As single miners left, more families moved in and sawn timber buildings replaced the tents and shanties of the early field. The economy of the town was also assisted by the arrival of the railway in 1884 and the use of improved means to extract gold from Ravenswood ore. Several key public buildings were replaced in the 1880s, possibly as a government initiative to encourage the development of the town. In 1882 a new Court House and Police Station were built and a new hospital in 1887. The 1873 Post Office was replaced by the current building in 1885.
In 1899, the New Ravenswood Company was formed by A.L. Wilson who raised overseas capital, reopened old mines and used modern methods to rework tailings more efficiently. The shareholders recouped their investment in the first two years and this drew world-wide interest. It was the beginning of Ravenswood's most prosperous period, which lasted for several years. However, after 1908, the cost of extraction and continued exploration grew as returns lessened and after the end of World War I, it became apparent that it would not pick up again. In 1916 rail services were cut and in 1917 the New Ravenswood Company closed.
In the 1920s, buildings as well as people left Ravenswood, as timber buildings were relocated in other towns. There was a small revival in the 1930s and early 1940s as new technology allowed for economical mining of lower grade ores. Ownership of the Post Office passed from the Commonwealth Government into private hands in 1951, when Frank and Dorothy Weinheimer purchased the building and continued to run it as a post office. However, by the 1960s, the population fell to 70. This was to be its lowest level, as tourists began to take an interest in the town, studies were made of the buildings and work began to conserve them The Post Office was purchased by Warren and Fay Crow in 1975 and to the present owners in 1985. In the 1980s the whole town was listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the National Trust of Queensland. In 1987 Carpentaria Gold Ltd opened a new open cut mine using modern heap leaching processes.
Throughout Ravenswood's ups and downs, it has continued to provide some government and recreational services to the surrounding community. Postal services have been provided from this site since 1873, and from the current building since 1885. It now also run as a small mixed business selling groceries, fruit and vegetables and other small items is run from the building in conjunction with the postal services. The owners occupy the residence at the rear of the building.
","criteria":"Ravenswood is one of the earliest sites associated with major gold mining in North Queensland that gave significant impetus to the economic and social development of the region. The state's encouragement for such growth was demonstrated by the establishment of supporting public infrastructure such as Post and Telegraph Offices. The services so provided were vital in the establishment of isolated towns, particularly when they also had important resources, as Ravenswood did.
|The buildings are good examples of their type, being erected according to architectural types developed at this time by the Public Works Department, which was instrumental in improving the quality of building design and construction in Queensland.
|The Post Office is well designed and distinctive as an important public building in the town. Its position with a frontage to both Raven and Macrossan Streets makes it a significant feature in the townscape of Ravenswood.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15224,"place_ref":600449,"name":"Cake Shop, Ravenswood","alternate_name":"The Pie Shop | Jun Yeung Wong and Company; Ravenswood Cake Shop","street_address":"Macrossan Street","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Cake Shop is located on the western side of Macrossan Street near to the School of Arts and within the town centre of Ravenswood. The town is located in a mining landscape, which consists of disturbed ground scattered with ruins and mullock heaps, set amongst distinctive chinkee apples and rubber vines.
The shop is a modest single storey, timber framed building set on low stumps. It is rectangular in plan and with its long axis at right angles to the street. The gabled roof and outside walls are sheeted with corrugated, galvanised iron. The shopfront is clad with sawn boards and shaded by a corrugated iron skillion awning supported by plain timber posts over the footpath. Above the awning the gable is clad with sheet metal panels. The central front entrance is flanked by large shop windows with display alcoves behind. The interior has a timber floor and is largely unlined.
","history":"The Cake Shop is located on the western side of Macrossan Street near the School of Arts. It is thought to have been built in the 1880s and may have been first used by Jun Yeung Wong and Company as a store and an outlet for garden produce. It has had a variety of tenants over the years and is best remembered by people in the district as a cake or pie shop.
Ravenswood was one of several important goldfields which formed a major component in the development of North Queensland. The need to access and exploit gold finds determined the path of railways, the establishment of related industries and commerce and the location of settlements. Some of these were short lived 'rushes', where tent and shanty townships disappeared almost as quickly as they rose. Other settlements based on goldfields became established towns with government and civic buildings, shops and family homes and survived as such. A few became important centres, only to fade away as gold yields fell. Ravenswood was one of these.
Gold was discovered at Ravenswood in 1868, a few years after pastoral settlement of the area had begun. Ravenswood gold was in reefs and a small battery was first set up in 1869, followed by the Lady Marian Mill in 1870. The settlement was also surveyed at this time, but by then the goldfield itself, and the buildings and streets already established had shaped the town and the survey merely formalised what was already in place. This can still be seen clearly in the irregularity of the major streets. Ravenswood was gazetted as a town in 1871, but problems were soon encountered as the gold at deeper levels proved to be finely distributed in ore containing other minerals and was difficult to separate either by mechanical or chemical means. This required greater capital to fund various technologies for extraction. Many miners left for other fields, such as Charters Towers, discovered in 1871 and which quickly overtook Ravenswood as a gold producer and as the most important inland North Queensland town.
Despite this, Ravenswood continued to prosper due to a steady, though reduced, production of gold, the discovery of silver at nearby Totley in 1878 and as a commercial centre. By 1874, the town had a courthouse and police station, a post and telegraph office, and a school. The stability of the town was also assisted by the arrival of the railway in 1884 and the use of improved means to extract gold from ore. A new generation of public buildings began to replace those from the early days of the field.
In 1882 the land on which the shop stands was subdivided from the block granted to Ebenezer Roberts the previous year and was purchased by Frederick Wise. Wise kept a store and was Vice President of the School of Arts. An early resident of Ravenswood remembered the store as having being used by the Chinese as a general store, produce outlet and a gold exchange during the 'rush' years, although this may have simply taken the form of accepting payment for goods in gold. The name Jun Yeung Wong and Company was faintly visible on the front of the store until the 1960s, although it is not recorded in post office directories. Ravenswood had a significant minority of Chinese amongst its population in the nineteenth century, although, as with other goldfields, there is now little evidence of their presence .
In 1904 the property the property was acquired by Daniel Patience, apparently as an investment, but run by a Mrs Watson as a cordial shop and manufactory as an adjunct to James Watson's aerated waters factory until 1918. By this time Ravenswood was in serious decline, after having enjoyed a boom between 1900 and 1908 due to more modern techniques being applied to ore processing. However, the cost of extraction and continued exploration rose as returns fell and after the end of the war it became apparent that it would not pick up again. In 1918 the shop was sold to the Kluver family. Herbert Kluver was a carrier and his wife ran the shop as refreshment rooms. In the 1920s, buildings as well as people left Ravenswood, as timber buildings were relocated in other towns.
In 1924 the shop was bought by Ethel Wadsworth who ran refreshment rooms throughout the small revival of the 1930s and early 1940s as new technology allowed for economical mining of lower grade ores, but closed in 1947. It was grandly called a restaurant in its closing years but seems to have been actually a cake and pie shop that provided table service for customers. This is the use best remembered by local people. It may have been empty for a while before being sold to Gertrude Blackman in 1952. Its use during that time is not known but by then there were very few businesses in town and its use as a residence is remembered locally. It was purchased by the owners of Ravenswood station in 1966 and was used at one time to store fodder. During this period the population of Ravenswood fell to 70. This was to be its lowest level, because tourists began to take an interest in the town, studies were made of the buildings and work began to conserve them. In the 1980s the whole town was listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the National Trust of Queensland.. In 1987 Carpentaria Gold Ltd opened a new open cut mine using modern heap leaching processes.
The present owner purchased the Cake shop in 1986, but in 1989 it was severely damaged by two cyclones. A grant from the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage in 1991, together with assistance from the Dalrymple Shire Council, allowed the store to be repaired and the store front to be reconstructed reusing original materials where possible. In 1993 the rear of the shop and an attached residence were demolished.
A gift, craft and cake shop was opened in the building after renovations.
","criteria":"Ravenswood is one of the earliest sites associated with major gold mining in North Queensland which gave significant impetus to the economic and social development of the region. The Cake Shop reflects this economic and social development through it's role as a commercial building in the centre of the Ravenswood business district.
|Although as a modest timber and iron commercial building it is now a rarity in Ravenswood, it is important as a representative example of a type of building once common in the town and as such provides some perspective for the other remaining buildings, such as the hotels, which are far more grand.
|As one of a handful of buildings remaining from the peak years of Ravenswood, set amongst a mining landscape of mullock heaps, abandoned mines and equipment, the shop makes an important visual contribution to the town.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15227,"place_ref":600452,"name":"Thorps Building","alternate_name":"Thorp's Goldfield Tearooms | Hollimans Limited | Burns & Fritz Hardware","street_address":"Macrossan Street","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Thorp's Building is located in the main street of Ravenswood opposite the Imperial Hotel and adjacent to a single storey shop of approximately the same age. Ravenswood is located in a mining landscape which consists of disturbed ground with scattered ruins and mullock heaps, set amongst distinctive chinkee apple trees and rubber vines.
The building is a two storey rendered brick building with a corrugated iron skillion roof falling to the rear which is concealed by a parapet bearing the name Thorp's Buildings in raised letters. It consists of two shops at ground level with professional offices above. The front of the building has verandahs to both floors, supported by paired timber posts with cast iron lace brackets and valance and cast iron panels on the upper floor. The upper floor has four sets of French doors opening on to the verandah.
A central entrance with iron gates leads to a passage and stairs to the first floor. There are shop entrances on either side of this entrance with recessed timber doors and timber framed plate glass display windows. The interior of the shops are relatively intact, including the pressed metal ceilings and wall cladding. The building has its own gas producer and still has gas piping and fittings.
","history":"Thorp's Buildings was constructed about 1903 for Sydney Hood Thorp, a mining agent and sharebroker who had a substantial business interest in both the Ravenswood and Charters Towers goldfields. It housed businesses which supplied miners with everything from household goods to mining machinery and is the only two storey shop still standing in Ravenswood.
Ravenswood was one of several important goldfields which formed a major component in the development of North Queensland. The need to access and exploit gold finds determined the path of railways, the establishment of related industries and commerce and the location of settlements. Some of these were short lived 'rushes', where tent and shanty townships disappeared almost as quickly as they rose. Other settlements based on goldfields became established towns with government and civic buildings, shops and family homes and survived as such. A few became important centres, only to fade away as gold yields fell. Ravenswood was one of these.
Gold was discovered at Ravenswood in 1868, a few years after pastoral settlement of the area had begun. Ravenswood gold was in reefs and a small battery was first set up in 1869, followed by the Lady Marian Mill in 1870. The settlement was also surveyed at this time, but by then the goldfield itself, and the buildings and streets already established had shaped the town and the survey merely formalised what was already in place. This can still be seen clearly in the irregularity of the major streets. Ravenswood was gazetted as a town in 1871, but problems were soon encountered as the gold at deeper levels proved to be finely distributed in ore containing other minerals and was difficult to separate either by mechanical or chemical means. This required greater capital to fund various technologies for extraction. Many miners left for other fields, such as Charters Towers, discovered in 1871 and which quickly overtook Ravenswood as a gold producer and as the most important inland North Queensland town.
Despite this, Ravenswood continued to prosper due to a steady, though reduced, production of gold, the discovery of silver at nearby Totley in 1878 and as a commercial centre. By 1874, the town had a courthouse and police station, a post and telegraph office, and a school. The stability of the town was also assisted by the arrival of the railway in 1884 and the use of improved means to extract gold from ore. A new generation of public buildings began to replace those from the early days of the field.
The land on which Thorp's Buildings stands was purchased in 1881 by Ah Pong, although the first person recorded as trading from the site was Martin Braby who acquired the property in 1885. Initially a draper, he went on to become a commission and insurance agent also. In 1894 the property was purchased by Robert Stewart and James Clark and was probably leased out by them as commercial premises.
In 1899, the New Ravenswood Company was formed by A.L. Wilson who raised overseas capital, reopened old mines and used modern methods to rework tailings more efficiently. The shareholders recouped their investment in the first two years and this drew world-wide interest. It was the beginning of Ravenswood's most prosperous period, which lasted for several years.
Sydney Hood Thorpe was a sharebroker and mining agent based in Charters Towers, who had established a mining exchange there in 1887. In 1900 he set up a branch business in Ravenswood, trading as Thorp's Mining Exchange from a building in Barton Street which also housed a chemist and law library. This building was destroyed by fire in August 1901, a year of both destruction and construction in Ravenswood as the New Ravenswood Company rebuilt mining infrastructure, business improved and new commercial buildings went up following two large fires which destroyed whole blocks of the commercial area. Following the first of these in April, the Imperial Hotel and two adjoining rows of elegant shops were constructed in Macrossan Street, next to the Ravenswood Hotel. In 1902, Thorp purchased land opposite these new buildings. It is not known if Thorp ever conducted business from this address himself.
He was a shareholder in Hollimans Limited, a company that had been established in Charters Towers for some time, supplying the mining industry with household goods, guns and sporting equipment, as well as being agents for such mining essentials as steam engines, pumps, conveyors, compressors and parts for stamper batteries. They were also estate and commission agents. They opened a branch in Thorp's building in 1903 and it may have been constructed with this tenancy in mind, although they did not actually own the building until 1920. Hollimans at Ravenswood were 'machinery, hardware and timber merchants' who carried a large stock of new and second hand mining machinery and spares as well as furniture and ironmongery. Thorp's Buildings also had other tenants, including a dentist, and the upper floor may have been used as offices.
The mining boom at Ravenswood did not last and ironically, by the time Hollimans moved into the store, the population had peaked. After 1908 the cost of extraction and continued exploration rose as returns fell and by World War I it became apparent that returns would not pick up again. Buildings began to be sold for removal and in 1916 rail services were cut. In 1917 the New Ravenswood Company closed. In the 1920s most of the timber buildings in Ravenswood were moved away, although brick buildings, such Thorp's Buildings could not be moved.
Ravenswood Shire was absorbed into Dalrymple Shire in 1929 and in 1930 Ravenswood became the first Queensland town to lose its railway connection. Mining had a modest revival in the 1930s and in 1932 Robert Burns, previously a manager of Hollimans, leased the building in conjunction with a partner, John Fritz. They operated as Burns & Fritz Hardware also selling groceries and eventually purchased the building from Hollimans in 1948. In 1957, following the death of Fritz, the building was sold to Frank and Blanche Weinheimer. By the 1960s Ravenswood had reached its lowest ebb with a population of about 70. At this point, tourists began to take a growing interest in the town, studies were made of the buildings and work began to conserve them.
In 1973 the building was acquired by Sidney and Isabel Kelly but had been vacant for some time before being purchased in 1987 and renovated as an arts centre by Trevor and Pamela Nance. In the 1980s the whole town was listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the National Trust of Queensland. In 1987 Carpentaria Gold Ltd opened a new open cut mine using modern heap leaching processes.
In 1989 Thorp's Buildings was sold to the current owners who opened a tearoom in the building, using the adjoining shop to sell arts and crafts. The upper floor was used for residential purposes. Though the shop is currently vacant, the owner still lives on the premises.
","criteria":"Ravenswood is one of the earliest sites associated with major gold mining in North Queensland which gave significant impetus to the economic and social development of the region. Thorp's Buildings, as a substantial commercial building intended to stock essential supplies for miners and mining and to compete in quality with other commercial buildings being constructed in Ravenswood in the 1900s, demonstrates this development.
|(Criterion under review)
|Thorp's Buildings is the now the two storey store from a commercial centre which, in the early 1900s, featured a line of handsome and fashionable stores on either side of southern Macrossan street. In its form, layout and decoration it is a good example of a quality commercial building of the Federation era. It's original usage, as a provider of everything from household goods to mining machinery, accurately reflects the needs of a mining community at this time.
|Thorp's Buildings, forming a group with the adjacent single storey shop, is an attractive group which is an important and dominant feature of the Ravenswood townscape.
|Thorp's Buildings is important for its association with Sydney Hood Thorp, a sharebroker and mining agent who played an important role in the economy of the Ravenswood goldfield. It also had a long association with Robert Daniel Burns, first as manager of Hollimans and then as part owner of Burns & Fritz.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15228,"place_ref":600453,"name":"Ravenswood School of Arts","alternate_name":"School of Arts Ravenswood","street_address":"Macrossan Street","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The School of Arts is located on Macrossan Street, the main street of Ravenswood. It is on the edge of the town's commercial centre and close to the Imperial Hotel. Ravenswood is located in a mining landscape which consists of disturbed ground with scattered ruins and mullock heaps, set amongst distinctive chinkee apples and rubber vines.
The School of Arts is a single storey, rectangular timber building set on low concrete stumps. It is rectangular in plan with its long axis at right angles to the street and has a gabled roof clad in corrugated iron. The sides and back have an exposed stud frame but the front is weatherboard clad. The facade is symmetrical and divided into bays by pilasters. The arched parapet is echoed by the arched heads of the central front door and the double hung windows which flank it.
The interior features a large open space and a stage. The stage curtain has been preserved and is decorated with painted advertisements for local businesses dating from around the turn of the century, reflecting its use as a community building.
","history":"The School of Arts building is a timber hall, built in 1884 beside a former School of Arts structure then used as a library. It became the principal theatre, cinema, and social venue of Ravenswood and continued a series of facilities provided to the community of Ravenswood since 1872.
Ravenswood was one of several important goldfields in which formed a major component in the development of North Queensland. The need to access and exploit gold finds determined the path of railways, the establishment of related industries and commerce and the location of settlements. Some of these were short lived 'rushes', where tent and shanty townships disappeared almost as quickly as they rose. Other settlements based on goldfields became established towns with government and civic buildings, shops and family homes and survived as such. A few became important centres, only to fade away as gold yields fell. Ravenswood was one of these.
The area was first settled by Europeans following the establishment of Bowen in 1861. Pastoral runs were soon set up in the hinterland, including the area on which the Ravenswood field was to develop. The first gold in north Queensland had been found at Star River in 1865 and triggered further exploration. Gold was found at Merri Merriwa, the run on which the town of Ravenswood stands, in 1867, although it was reported as being on the adjoining property of Ravenswood, the name by which the field was always known.
Much of the gold initially found was in a triangle in and around three dry creeks which soon formed the focus for a tent and shanty settlement. Ravenswood gold was in reefs and a small battery was first set up in 1869, followed by the Lady Marian Mill in 1870. The settlement was also surveyed at this time, but by then the goldfield itself, and the buildings and streets already established, had shaped the town and the survey merely formalised what was already in place. This can still be seen clearly in the irregularity of the major streets. Ravenswood was gazetted as a town in 1871.
It was soon found that the gold at deeper levels was finely distributed in ore containing other minerals and was difficult to separate either by mechanical or chemical means. This required greater capital to fund various technologies for extraction. Many miners left for other fields, such as Charters Towers, discovered in 1871 and which quickly overtook Ravenswood as a gold producer and as the most important inland North Queensland town. Even so, Ravenswood continued to prosper due to a steady, though reduced, production of gold, the discovery of silver at nearby Totley in 1878 and as a commercial centre. By 1874, the town had a courthouse and police station, a post and telegraph office, a hospital and a school. In 1872, the first small School of Arts was formed, providing a lending library, newspapers and a meeting place for its members and in 1875 a separate library building was constructed beside it.
The first Mechanic's Institutes or Schools of Arts were established in Britain in the early 1800s and were intended to assist self improvement and to promote moral, social and intellectual growth, by providing lectures, discussions and lending libraries to a rising middle class. At the time there were no public libraries and books were expensive, so that access to books by borrowing as subscribers provided an important educational and recreational service. The first School of Arts committee in Queensland was established in Brisbane in 1849 with the aim of 'the advancement of the community in literary, philosophic and scientific subjects'. As towns and districts became established, local committees were formed to establish schools of arts and they became one of the principal sources of adult education.
Ravenswood's economy received a boost in the mid 1880s by the arrival of the railway in 1884 and the use of improved means to extract gold from ore. A new generation of public buildings began to replace those from the early days of the field, including a police station and courthouse, post office and hospital. In 1884, the current hall was built beside the library, presumably replacing the first small hall. In the late nineteenth century Schools of Arts expanded their aims to include the promotion of games of skill and intellectual amusements. The new hall provided the facilities for the staging of plays and concerts and became a focal point of entertainment for townspeople. It was used as a meeting hall, dance hall and a live theatre. An amateur dramatic society staged annual productions and a School concert and St Patrick's Day concert were annual events.
.
In 1899, the New Ravenswood Company was formed by A.L. Wilson who raised overseas capital, reopened old mines and used modern methods to rework tailings more efficiently. The shareholders recouped their investment in the first two years and this drew world-wide interest. It was the beginning of Ravenswood's most prosperous period, which lasted for several years. However, after 1908, the cost of extraction and continued exploration grew as returns lessened and after the end of World War I, it became apparent that it would not pick up again. In 1916 rail services were cut and in 1917 the New Ravenswood Company closed.
In the 1920s, buildings as well as people left Ravenswood, as timber buildings were relocated in other towns. There was a small revival in the 1930s and early 1940s as new technology allowed for economical mining of lower grade ores. However, by the 1960s, the population fell to 70. This was to be its lowest level, as tourists began to take an interest in the town, studies were made of the buildings and work began to conserve them. In the 1980s the whole town was listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the National Trust of Queensland. In 1987 Carpentaria Gold Ltd opened a new open cut mine using modern heap leaching processes.
In 1989 Cyclone Aivu damaged the facade of the hall and caused the complete collapse of the library. This building was propped by the community, but eventually demolished in 1992 as it was thought unsafe. The hall was repaired and the front reconstructed to resemble its original appearance In 1990 the Dalrymple Shire Council and Carpentaria Gold financed extensive renovations to the hall. Its official opening took place on Sunday, 29 September, 1991, since when it has again become a focus for community activities and celebrations including the "Back To Ravenswood Weekend" held each year.
","criteria":"The Ravenswood School of Arts is important as an element in the network of Schools of Arts which sprang up in any town of consequence in Queensland during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They were community based and played a valuable educational and social role in the dissemination of information and the provision of facilities for lectures, meetings, games of skill and the staging of community events such as plays and concerts.
|It is a good example of a School of Arts hall with a classically influenced facade and the provision of facilities for public events.
|The building is a significant as part of the townscape of Ravenswood because of its location within a group of other public and commercial buildings, close to the town centre.
|The painted stage curtain carrying advertisements for local firms around the turn of the century reflects its importance as a building used by the community.
The School of Arts is important for its connection with the community of Ravenswood as a an integral part of the social and community life of the town.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15229,"place_ref":600454,"name":"Shop adjacent to Thorps Building","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Macrossan Street","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The shop is located adjoining Thorp's Buildings in Macrossan Street close to what was the commercial centre of Ravenswood. This is located in a mining landscape which consists of disturbed ground with scattered ruins and mullock heaps, set amongst distinctive chinkee apple trees and rubber vines.
It is a single storey brick commercial building housing two stores with plate glass display windows and a central entrance with recessed timber doors. It has a pitched roof clad with corrugated iron and concealed by an ornate rendered parapet This has a raised section in the centre topped with a urn within a hollow arch, echoing the central arch motif on the Imperial Hotel and Browne's Buildings opposite. It is flanked by urns at each end of the parapet, although one of these has been lost. An awning supported by plain timber posts shades footpath at the front of the store and is decorated by a sawn timber valance. Most detail is intact.
","history":"The Macrossan Street store is located adjoining Thorp's Buildings and houses two shops in a single storey brick building. It was probably constructed during a building boom in Ravenswood in the early 1900s and has had a variety of commercial tenants including a long occupancy as a bookseller, newsagent and tobacconist.
Ravenswood was one of several important goldfields which formed a major component in the development of North Queensland. The need to access and exploit gold finds determined the path of railways, the establishment of related industries and commerce and the location of settlements. Some of these were short lived 'rushes', where tent and shanty townships disappeared almost as quickly as they rose. Other settlements based on goldfields became established towns with government and civic buildings, shops and family homes and survived as such. A few became important centres, only to fade away as gold yields fell. Ravenswood was one of these.
Gold was discovered at Ravenswood in 1868, a few years after pastoral settlement of the area had begun. Ravenswood gold was in reefs and a small battery was first set up in 1869, followed by the Lady Marian Mill in 1870. The settlement was also surveyed at this time, but by then the goldfield itself, and the buildings and streets already established had shaped the town and the survey merely formalised what was already in place. This can still be seen clearly in the irregularity of the major streets. Ravenswood was gazetted as a town in 1871, but problems were soon encountered as the gold at deeper levels proved to be finely distributed in ore containing other minerals and was difficult to separate either by mechanical or chemical means. This required greater capital to fund various technologies for extraction. Many miners left for other fields, such as Charters Towers, discovered in 1871 and which quickly overtook Ravenswood as a gold producer and as the most important inland North Queensland town.
Despite this, Ravenswood continued to prosper due to a steady, though reduced, production of gold, the discovery of silver at nearby Totley in 1878 and as a commercial centre. By 1874, the town had a courthouse and police station, a post and telegraph office, and a school. The stability of the town was also assisted by the arrival of the railway in 1884 and the use of improved means to extract gold from ore. A new generation of public buildings began to replace those from the early days of the field.
The Deed of Grant for the property was issued in 1881 to Phillip Benjamin, who quickly resold it to John Ellis, a bootmaker and saddler. As this was already a commercial area, there may have been an existing store on site or Ellis may have constructed one. In 1896 he became insolvent and the property was purchased by William J McChesney, a telephone line repairer.
In 1899, the New Ravenswood Company was formed by A.L. Wilson who raised overseas capital, reopened old mines and used modern methods to rework tailings more efficiently. The shareholders recouped their investment in the first two years and this drew world-wide interest. It was the beginning of Ravenswood's most prosperous period, which lasted for several years.
The style and materials of the store suggest that it may have been built during the surge of building that occurred in Ravenswood about this time. Following a fire in 1901, the buildings on the opposite site of the street were rebuilt in brick in a flamboyant style reflecting the prosperity of the goldfield. Thorp's building adjoining the store was constructed soon afterwards. Unfortunately the boom did not last and after 1908 the town began to decline. In 1912 McChesney died and the property was purchased by Raymond W. Richards, a bookseller, newsagent and tobacconist in Ravenswood since 1902. By this time the field was in serious decline because the cost of extraction and continued exploration rose as returns fell and it became apparent that the field would not pick up again. Buildings began to be sold for removal and in 1916 rail services were cut. In 1917 the New Ravenswood Company closed.
In the 1920s most of the timber buildings in Ravenswood were moved away, although brick buildings, such Thorp's Buildings and the store, could not be moved. In 1925 the shop was sold to Phillip Dennis who opened a haberdashery, drapery, tobacconists and newsagency at the address, possibly in two shops.
Ravenswood Shire was absorbed into Dalrymple Shire in 1929 and in 1930 Ravenswood became the first Queensland town to lose its railway connection. Mining had a modest revival in the 1930s, but this had little effect on the life of the town. By the 1960s Ravenswood had reached its lowest ebb with a population of about 70. At this point, tourists began to take a growing interest in the town, studies were made of the buildings and work began to conserve them. In 1978 both Phillip and Jessie Dennis died and the property passed to Gordon Dennis who owned it until 1984, when it was purchased by the current owners.
Although the shop has had a number of commercial tenants since it was built, for a significant part of the time it has served as a newsagent, tobacconist and haberdashery. It is currently vacant.
In the 1980s the whole town was listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the National Trust of Queensland. In 1987 Carpentaria Gold Ltd opened a new open cut mine using modern heap leaching processes.
","criteria":"Ravenswood is one of the earliest sites associated with major gold mining in North Queensland which gave significant impetus to the economic and social development of the region. The Macrossan Street shop, as a substantial commercial building serving the needs of a prosperous mining community, demonstrates this development.
|The shop is one of only two substantial retail stores from a commercial centre which, in the early 1900s, featured a line of handsome and fashionable buildings on both sides of southern Macrossan street. In its form, layout and decoration it is a good example of a quality commercial building of its era.
|With Thorp's building it forms an attractive group which is an important and dominant feature of the Ravenswood townscape.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15230,"place_ref":600455,"name":"Ravenswood State School, Residence and Former Pool","alternate_name":"Ravenswood School and Residence I Ravenswood State School Swimming Pool (former)","street_address":"School Street","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Ravenswood State School occupies an elevated and sloping site that includes allotments to either side of School Street in the north Queensland town of Ravenswood, approximately 100km south of Townsville. The school is in a prominent position overlooking the town and surrounding mining landscape (of scattered ruins, mullock heaps, distinctive chinkee apple trees and rubber vines).
\nThe main school reserve is located to the southeast of School Street, on a 13000m2 allotment bound to the east by Elcoate Street, to the north by John Street and to the south by a reserve. It comprises a Timber School Building and a Residence, standing at the northern end of the allotment. The Swimming Pool, located to the northwest and on the opposite side of School Street, occupies an 1860m2 site. It comprises an in-ground Swimming Pool (former, c1925) excavated into the sloping terrain. The Timber School Building, Residence and Swimming Pool retain an important visual connection with each other (although this is partly obscured by vegetation in 2017).
\nTimber School Building (1873, extended pre-1905)
\nThe Timber School Building is a single storey, rectangular building with its main axis to the street. It has a timber frame clad with weatherboards and is raised on high concrete stumps to create a shaded space underneath. The steeply pitched gabled roof is clad in corrugated iron extending to a skillion roofed verandah at the front and a rear enclosed verandah. The verandahs are supported on timber posts and have timber balustrading.
\nResidence (1873, extended 1897)
\nThe Residence is a single storey, rectangular house with its main axis to the street. It is timber framed, set on low stumps and clad in weatherboards. Its form is unusual as a result of repated extensions and it has open verandahs with horizontal balustrades on two sides. The roof is steeply pitched and is multi-gabled and clad with corrugated iron.
\nSwimming Pool (former, pre-1926)
\nThe Swimming Pool (former) is rectangular in form, with its long axis running approximately north-south. It measures 13.63 m x 4.95 m (45 ft x 16 ft), and stands empty. The pool walls and floor are of reused red bricks, sealed in a cement render (the render is worn down in some locations, exposing the brick). The width of the walls are approximately the size of a standard brick (230 mm), and are raised above the sloping ground at a height of 0.23 m on the western side and 0.45 m on the eastern side. The floor of the pool slopes down toward the south, with a depth ranging from 1.06 m at the northern end to 1.49 m at the southern end.
\nAccess is provided via three concrete steps in the northeastern corner of the pool. A rectangular concrete foot-wash basin is located adjacent the steps, on the northern side of the northern wall, and rows of brick pavers surround the pool on all sides.
\nNon-significant features
\nModern buildings and facilities on the school site are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance.
\nMetal and timber bracing elements supporting the eastern and western walls of the pool, and a metal sign post to the west of the pool are recent additions and are not of cultural heritage significance.
","history":"School and Residence
\nThe school and residence are components of an educational facility that has served Ravenswood since 1873. The existing early building at Ravenswood School is an 1880s extension of the original school built in 1873 and the residence dates from 1873, with extensions made over the years to accommodate changing needs.
\nGold was discovered at Ravenswood in 1868, a few years after pastoral settlement of the area had begun. A tent settlement quickly sprang up and was surveyed in 1870 and gazetted as a town in 1871. Although many miners left for other fields when it was found that the gold at deeper levels was difficult to separate from the ore body, Ravenswood continued to prosper and more families moved into the town as it developed. The need for a school was soon apparent.
\nAt Separation of Queensland from New South Wales at the end of 1859, two National (government) Schools existed in the new colony. In 1860, the Primary Education Act was passed, introducing a comprehensive system of State schools alongside a minimal provision for church schools. A Board of General Education was set up to administer annual grants, assist in building vested schools, and provide teachers. A few National Schools were built under this system, though the financial crisis in 1886 slowed up the project. However, Queensland was the first colony to provide free primary education from January 1870. A Royal Commission on Education in Queensland was set up in 1874 and resulted in a State Education Act which took effect from 1 January 1876 and provided for a Department of Public Instruction under a minister and a system of State primary schools.
\nIn 1872 a Ravenswood School Committee was formed and tenders were called for the construction of a school to meet the needs of the growing community. The government provided a teacher and books, but expected communities with more than 30 potential pupils to put up a third of the school costs. The Committee raised £306/18/- and covered the interim period by holding classes in the old 'Emerald Isle Hotel', purchased for the modest sum of £18.
\nAfter considerable disagreement between the committee and the Board of Education regarding the cost and suitability of plans provided by each, the school and residence were erected in 1873 and opened in January 1874 as a double classroom school with an enrolment of 70. As the school was constructed prior to the passage of the Queensland State Education Act it was known as the National School of Ravenswood.
\nThe school was initially within a school reserve of 2 acres and 22 perches of Crown Land, however, in 1875 the Ravenswood Divisional Board applied to the Minister for Works and Mines for a further grant of land in anticipation of continuing growth and the need to provide for a future girls' school. In 1887 the north corner of the school reserve was cut off by the Mines Department for street purposes and over the next forty years the boundaries fluctuated, echoing the booms and depression period experienced by Ravenswood.
\nRavenswood's economy received a boost in the mid 1880s by the arrival of the railway in 1884 and the use of improved means to extract gold from ore. A new generation of public buildings began to replace those from the early days of the field, including a police station and courthouse, post office and hospital. In 1889, the school reached its peak enrolment of almost 400 children. It was extended according to standard plans and by 1905 had 8 classrooms and a gymnasium. Ravenswood enjoyed a boom between 1900 and 1908 as more modern techniques were applied to ore processing. However, the cost of extraction and continued exploration rose as returns fell and after the end of the First World War it became apparent that the field would not pick up again. In the 1920s buildings as well as people moved away from Ravenswood and were relocated to other towns. In 1929 enrolment in the school fell to below 100 and in 1930, Ravenswood became the first town in Queensland to lose its rail connection.
\nAs the population declined, the extensions were progressively removed, although the foundations of extensions are still visible. A modern classroom block and other facilities have since been provided at the school.
\nThe school residence is the oldest building in Ravenswood and is thought to be the oldest surviving house in a North Queensland town. Because of its age, the residence predates the standardisation of design which strongly influenced domestic building throughout Queensland; the use of an exposed frame, for example, which was to become prevalent in North Queensland a decade later. The extensions to the residence and the reasons for each extension are fully documented. It remains today almost as it was on completion of the last extension in 1897 and is a catalogue of identifiable nineteenth century builders' techniques from 1873 to 1897.
\nIt was constructed originally as a lowset timber framed house of four rooms under a transverse gabled roof with an internal fireplace for cooking. The walls were clad externally with weatherboards but the interior was unlined. No separate kitchen was constructed and although it is believed that the first teacher appointed ate at a hotel, not an uncommon arrangement where a teacher was a single man, the design was more appropriate to a southern climate. The house was also constructed with only a front verandah, though after a complaint from the secretary of the local committee, a verandah was added to the rear later in 1874. On the appointment in 1877 of a teacher with a large family, a separate kitchen was requested on the grounds that \"...this climate does not admit of cooking being done in the midst of sleeping apartments\" A building from another site, described as \"an old weatherboarded house, shingle roofed\", was then attached to the house by a covered way. At some time a section of the rear verandah was enclosed to form a servant's room, possibly at the same time as the addition of the kitchen.
\nThe ceilings of the core section of the house were lined in 1883 and repairs made to storm damage in 1880 and 1884, the brick chimney being demolished following the severe storm of 1884 and not rebuilt, but no major changes were made until 1887 when the old kitchen was replaced by a new structure with a covered way and brick fireplace, the rear verandah room was moved to the other side of the building, a window was cut into the southeast bedroom wall and the core walls were lined internally with tongue-and-groove boards. Hans Thomsen and John Thomas, Ravenswood builders, carried out the alterations.
\nIn 1889 the then head teacher requested \"more suitable and worthy accommodation\", which reflects the general upgrading of public buildings in Ravenswood during the 1880s and the peak enrolment for that year of 390. The department responded by adding an asymmetrical extension to the front of the house, demolishing the front verandah and constructing an almost square living room with verandahs along the front and one side.
\nThe last extension was made in 1897, when a whole side of the residence was extended by eight feet to the north-east including a verandah on the third side of the living room. The verandahs were ceiled at that time. The house has since been altered only by the arrangement of some internal partitions and partial enclosure of the rear verandah.
\nExternally, the teacher’s residence remains the same as it was in 1897. It is no longer in use as a teacher’s residence.
\nSwimming Pool (former)
\nRavenswood State School swimming pool (former) is located at 36 School Street, Ravenswood on a local government swimming reserve to the northwest of the School and Residence. Located on the opposite side of the street to the school, the pool was built c1925 through the efforts of the head teacher and some of the boys at the school. The pool lay empty for many years before it was reconditioned as a water reservoir for mining operations in 1950. The land upon which it is situated was gazetted as a local government swimming reserve in 1979, although not used again for this purpose.
\nQueenslanders have a long tradition as a sports-loving people engaging in a wide variety of sports and quick to adopt new forms of activity. Queensland’s climate was conducive for swimming and could be undertaken with the minimum of amenities, although there were dangers associated with swimming in rivers, creeks and the sea. As a result, floating baths or enclosures were erected on river banks and at beaches to improve the safety of swimmers.
\nA new attitude towards swimming and more particularly bathing emerged during the 1880s. Amid a growing awareness of public health, in-ground swimming baths were promoted as a means of improving health and also a safer environment for swimming than in creeks and rivers. The first in-ground pool was erected in Rockhampton in 1883 and baths were subsequently erected around the State.
\nThe hot climate in north Queensland made swimming a particularly desirable activity. Early documented efforts at creating swimming facilities include a small swimming bath in a local Charters Towers creek as early as 1877 and by the 1880s the nearby Planter's Dam and the Burdekin River further afield were popular. In 1900 Charters Towers opened its first baths after many years of lobbying by locals.
\nSwimming became enormously popular in the early 20th century, following its inclusion in the modern Olympiad held in 1896. In Queensland, a modern progressive education included swimming which was taught in schools wherever access to a swimming pool (natural or artificial) was available. In 1908 the rules of swimming and other aquatic sports were standardised and in Queensland, metropolitan teachers who were keen to encourage swimming amongst school children formed the State Schools Amateur Swimming Association. By 1914, 34 clubs had been formed, catering for boys only. In 1911 a State Schools Girls’ Amateur Swimming Association was formed, with 28 schools affiliated by 1914. In 1915, the Hon HF Hardacre, Minister for Public Instruction, regarded swimming as ‘preferable to other physical drill during the hot summer months' and that he ‘would like to see a swimming pool in every school ground in Queensland.[1] From 1917, Voluntary Summer Schools of Instruction in Physical Training were offered to Teachers with swimming a compulsory subject.[2]
\nAlmost all of Queensland’s early state school pools were located in Brisbane. The first school to acquire a pool was Junction Park State School (QHR650023). The concrete pool, catering for 700 pupils was constructed by local builders and opened by the Minister for Public Instruction in February 1910. Wooloowin State School (QHR601565), keen to promote their school as one of the most modern in the state, completed its pool in 1916 with funds raised by the building committee. Ascot State School (QHR650044) completed their pool c1920, within 12 months of the school opening as part of a grand grounds improvement program. The fourth state school pool, at Cannon Hill State School (QHR602854), was completed in 1921 with the help of the school community, volunteers, parents, funding from the Department of Public Instruction and donations from the local brickworks, and the fifth was completed at Wilston State School (QHR602855) in 1923.
\nSwimming was given further impetus by the 1924 Olympic Games held in Paris where the standard was set for Olympic sized swimming pools. In 1925 Windsor State School (QHR600991) built a 30 metre concrete pool costing £2000 funded by the School Committee through a bank loan.
\nThere was no such support for the construction of a pool at Ravenswood State School in the 1920s when the mining town was in serious decline. In 1922 when the new head teacher James Charles Egan arrived, he was filled with despair at the fact that I had struck a town which the inhabitants were leaving as rats desert a sinking ship. Only those remained who could not possibly get away and to make matters worse the Department removed most of my school buildings creating the impression that they knew that the town was dying and that I had been sent to Siberia. In addition, the school committee had resigned in high anger at the removal of their best school building and Egan found himself alone in a strange place among strange people.[3]
\nDuring the mining boom at the turn of the century Ravenswood had numbered almost 5,000 and the School, established in 1872, reached its peak enrolment of 400 students in 1899. Ravenswood goldfield had been the fifth largest gold producer in Queensland but the boom did not last. Large scale mining ended in 1917, and the population and town shrank. Before the closure of Ravenswood’s railway branch line in 1930, hundreds of the town’s timber buildings were dismantled and railed away.[4] By 1924 the population had fallen to 609.[5]
\nEgan had been transferred from the Thornlands State School where he was also a swimming enthusiast and highly-regarded member of the Thornlands district swimming club. Upon his arrival in Ravenswood he initiated two unsuccessful attempts at establishing a pool in the local waterways. Undeterred, he subsequently secured a water supply for a pool in close proximity to the school through negotiations with the mine administrators to provide a junction in a water pipe being laid nearby to supply a tank on higher ground. All that remained was to find the means to construct the pool.
\nEgan’s plan to establish a local pool only found the support of the local boys. He tried on several occasions to engage the parents but to no avail. Scheduled meetings were not attended and Egan advised the boys that he would have to abandon the idea. He recalled in his article in the Townsville Bulletin…The following Saturday morning while sitting on the school verandah studying I was startled by the rattle of goat carts and the voices of boys shouting to their teams. In a few moments the boys had arrived in front of the school, their carts laden with bricks.[6]
\nThe boys would not be dissuaded and with Egan pegged out a pool and roughly excavated a 15 x 5 yard pool in their spare time. With a few of Egan’s personal friends and the local store manager the excavation was squared up, sand was carted up from the creek and finally with a subscription list, Egan was able to hire two men to build the brick walls and floor. The mine manager arranged for the filling of the pool a fortnight before Christmas 1925 and for the pool to be open a few hours every day while Egan was on holidays. A concert and subscription list cleared the debt and by the end of the season Egan had 80 swimmers.
\nMaintenance of the pool, which was surrounded by brick paving and enclosed with corrugated iron dressing sheds and fence[7] was carried out by Egan, with the help of a few boys. The pool was cleaned and refilled every Saturday. Egan described the pool as a lesson in self help to the children and a lesson to me that to be successful we must be so - not because of outside help but in spite of it.[8] Egan was transferred from Ravenswood to Oakey in mid 1926.[9]
\nHow long the pool operated after Egan’s departure is not known but it was recommissioned in 1942 and enjoyed by the pupils of St Anne’s School Townsville who were relocated to Ravenswood away from the coast line due to the threat of invasion of northern Australia during WWII.[10] In a 1950 report in the Northern Miner on a gold strike near Ravenswood and on the redevelopment of the Saratoga Mine by Messrs Cook, Eardman and Plaza, Mr Eardman recounted that the pool he had helped build as a school boy 25 years ago, and which had stood empty for many years, was to be patched and reused as a water reservoir for their battery operations.[11]
\nIn the 1960s and 1970s, Ravenswood’s population fell to its nadir of 68, but the locals were determined to preserve their authentic frontier town and provide new amenities and services. The Ravenswood Progress Association was formed in October 1975 and their first project was the construction of a new pool, intended for the State School but available to the general public. The School’s Parents and Citizens committee purchased land with its own water supply for this purpose off Deighton Street near the showgrounds where the current pool is located.[12]
\nIn 1979, a reserve of approximately 1860 square metres was set aside as a reserve for local government (swimming pool) purposes within the Ravenswood Mining Field.
","criteria":"The school complex is important as an example of an early school in a remote area, demonstrating the importance placed by government not only on education, but on the contribution made to the economy of the colony by such mining towns as Ravenswood. Its construction, extension and following reduction accurately reflect changes to the size and composition of the population and therefore the development and decline of Ravenswood as a goldfield and township.
\nThe Ravenswood State School Swimming Pool (former) (c1925) is important in demonstrating the widespread early 20th century movement to establish in-ground swimming pools for recreation and instruction and to improve health and safety in Queensland. Constructed largely by Ravenswood State School students and their teacher using discarded bricks from local mines, the pool, in its form and materials, is an early, rare and distinctive north Queensland example of its type.
|The Ravenswood School residence, constructed in 1873, is important as the oldest known residential building in a North Queensland town and its plan, roof form and construction details pre-date the standardised forms of later North Queensland houses. It is also the only one of the first government buildings erected on the field to survive.
|Because of their age and the fact that change has been well documented, the buildings, particularly the residence, have the potential to yield information regarding early building techniques and the way in which houses were extended to meet changing needs during the nineteenth and 20th centuries.
|The Ravenswood school is important as a good representative example of a school of its era and has had long continuity of use. The residence provides an excellent example of the way in which basic houses were enlarged in the Queensland tradition.
|The School is important for its connection with the community in and around Ravenswood as a provider of public education for several generations.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15232,"place_ref":600457,"name":"Totley Township","alternate_name":"King's New Mill and Tramway | Great Extended Mine | Great Extended Mill","street_address":"Charters Towers Mining District","suburb":"TOTLEY","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Great Extended Mine
The site contains a steel headframe of asymmetrical design which is located over a timbered shaft. Erosion of the shaft collar has fully exposed one of the concrete footings of the headframe. A mullock dump is located immediately west of the headframe. East of the headframe is an open-sided engine shed of corrugated iron on a timber and steel frame, containing a winding engine on a brick mount and a large four-cylinder MAN diesel engine with a Vickers generator. The engine shed also contains a compressor and marble slab electrical switchboard. A security fence has recently been erected around the engine shed.
Plant:
Four-cylinder (marine type) diesel engine with flywheel - M.A.N.
DC generator (coupled to the M.A.N. diesel engine) - Vickers.
Small diesel engine - General Motors.
Electric winding engine - James Steel Engineers Marrickville Sydney.
Headframe steelwork - Dorman Long Middlesbrough.
King's New Mill and Tramway
The site contains brick milling and machinery foundations located within a 50m square area on the east bank of One Mile Creek. A dominant structure is a brick mount that was probably associated with the terminus of the endless chain tramway. A stone forge is located at the north of the place. Structural evidence of the mill is minimal and difficult to interpret. The formation of the tramway running east from the mill features a raised ramp with stone abutments to allow its passage under Birkby Street, Totley.
Great Extended Mill
Mill foundations are located on the bank of a creek and include a of rendered brick concentration tanks and two concrete buddle bases each 8m in diameter with four outer annular channels of concrete. Adjacent to and immediately south of the buddles is a large rendered brick settling pond. There is minimal evidence of the mill building/s or other plant. The site of a large tailings dump is still evident to the south and east of the mill.
","history":"Great Extended Mine
Ravenswood struggled to maintain its status as an important gold producer during the 1870s but in early 1880, a silver-lead discovery at Totley, about 2 km from Ravenswood led to renewed prosperity.
Richard King developed the first silver mine during 1881 and 1882, but realized he needed more capital to exploit the mine. Accordingly he launched the Ravenswood Silver Mining Company Limited, with £60,000 in £1 shares, in Sydney in June 1882 and installed new plant and surface buildings. This activity sparked a small rush for silver properties and by the end of 1883 there were rival companies on adjacent leases trying to intersect the lode at deep levels.
The Great Extended Ravenswood Mining Company spent over £2,000 on surface plant (headframe, winding gear and two engines), and the shaft was sunk to 209m on the vertical and to a further 30.5m on the underlie once the lode was intersected. Although one assay was of 5,000 ozs of silver to the ton, results were disappointing compared with the adjacent King's mine.
There was a fatality (Alfred Cook) in the mine in 1886 and the mine manager (Frederick Wolff) was fined after admitting that the brace was faulty.
The Great Extended Company, with strong financial backing, was sustained more by hope than metal returns. Indeed the rich 1885 assay influenced wanton expenditure on an elaborate treatment plant costing £11,500, even though by 1888, when the mine's treatment works were completed, the amount of driving and stoping after the shaft had cut the lode, was minimal and only 2,000 tons had been stacked.
Operations at the mine ceased in 1890, probably due to speculative investment, which led to over-capitalisation, rather than because of falling silver prices, which had been sliding since 1886, or the loss of a silver consignment on the ill-fated S.S. Quetta.
In 1947 Percy Kean Jnr. commissioned a mining engineer, A.W. Wilson to report on the prospects for King's freehold and M.L. 363 which included the Great Extended shaft. Wilson reported that the Great Extended shaft had definitely proved a large lode formation with 180m to 206m vertical depth, from 1.5m to 3.6m in width with phenomenally high metal values at 198m depth. Kean decided to go ahead with development and purchased the mining plant at the Louisa mine, near Maytown, on the Palmer River goldfields. By 1949 he had erected the steel headframe, recollared the shaft and installed the Vickers generator and a 220 h.p. MAN diesel engine from the Louisa, and a new winding engine. However attempts to dewater the mine were unsuccessful so he pumped out the nearby King's mine.
In 1952, T.H. Connah, a government geologist, recommended further investigation of the front portion of the lode and Kean renewed equipment and continued mining. With the market depressed in 1953, Kean decided to abandon both mines. Kean's enterprise had produced 3,034 ozs of silver, 20 tons of lead and less than 100 tons of zinc concentrates.
Kean sublet the Great Extended lease to a Sydney company, Silver Horizons No Liability in 1964. They employed nine men to dewater the mine and clean out the stopes before mining but poor assay results discouraged further work and they withdrew. The mine has been abandoned since, although most of the machinery remains on site.
King's New Mill and Tramway
Richard King, realizing that he needed capital to further develop his mine, launched the Ravenswood Silver Mining Company Limited with £60,000 capital in June 1882. The treatment works were erected by 1883 and consisted of a Hope's stone breaker, a set of 75cm rolls, a Hancock jig, 35cm raff wheel, pulleys and trommels; and the workforce doubled to 46 men. In 1883, 371 tons of high grade ore valued at £11,872 were exported. In 1884, the despatch by railway of 853 tons of concentrate valued at £19,566 reflected the increased productivity. In 1885, despite temporary suspension of operations due to drought, 866 tons of concentrate valued at £21,568 were dispatched. In 1886, 743 tons valued at £19,036 were exported and in 1887, the output was 899 tons valued at £20,632.
The township of Totley was surveyed in 1886 and the King family dominated the lives of the residents: Richard was the managing director of the Ravenswood Silver Mining Company; Edward was the mine manager; William owned the boarding house and store; and George ran the brickworks. Over half the streets of the township were named after King family members.
Following favourable official assessments of the ore potential in King's freehold, a Melbourne syndicate bought into the Ravenswood Silver Mining Company and refloated it, under the same name, on the English market. With over 30,000 tons of tailings in the dumps, the new company proposed an elaborate treatment plant to be housed in an all brick building on One Mile Creek, connected by an endless chain tramway to the mine, at a cost of £15,000.
The mill was completed in 1889 and equipped by Sandycroft and Company, of Chester U.K., with three engines aggregating 54 h.p., Cornish boilers, piston jiggers, stone breakers, two pairs of rollers, two raff wheels and elevators, classifier, three sluices, six 4.9m Borleas round buddles, picking tables, three Frue vanners and a separator. Richard King remained as director of the company and Edward King as mine manager. When operations resumed in 1890, the mill ran only briefly yielding 274 tons of concentrate valued at £6,411. Soon after it closed permanently and King's mine was let to tributors but it too closed at the end of 1891 when the company abandoned its leases.
In 1924 Percy Kean Snr. acquired King's freehold and commenced dewatering King's shaft but the task proved too much for their machinery and finances. After World War 2, King's freehold and M.L.363, which included the neighbouring Great Extended Shaft, were taken over by Percy Kean Jnr., who decided to recommence operations. However water inflow was again a problem and Kean decided to pump out King's shaft. In 1951 Kean raised 50 tons of galena from King's mine and rather than re-equip King's mill he had his ore processed at Partridge's mill on Elphinstone Creek. However, with falling prices, Kean decided in 1953 to abandon both mines.
Great Extended Mill
The Great Extended Mill was developed in conjunction with the Great Extended Mine. A rich assay in 1885 influenced £11,500 expenditure on an elaborate treatment plant which was completed in 1888. It consisted of three 54 h.p. steam engines, six Jordan and Cummins patent jiggers, a Black and Marsden stone breaker, winding and pumping gear, six revolving screens, two Linkenbach round buddles, classifier, elevators, picking tables, grizzly and spitzcasten.
The works were located on One Mile Creek, about 200m downstream from King's New Mill. Schemes were proposed for connecting the mill to the Great Extended Mine by a wire tramway and for constructing a pumping engine at Rocky Point on Elphinstone Creek with underground pipes to a reservoir to ensure sufficient water supply to the mill. However, apart from trial runs, the works never treated a single ton of ore for export and they were sold to the Mount Albion Silver Mining Company, operating at Montalbion near Irvinebank, and dismantled at the end of 1891.
","criteria":"The Great Extended Mine at Totley is significant as a silver mining operation which was sustained more by hope than metal returns during two separate phases: 1883-1890 and 1947-1964.
Despite minimal structural evidence of the mill, other than machinery foundations of brick covering a 50m square area, the tramway formation running east from the mill site is still visible with raised embankments with stone abutments to allow its passage under the streets of Totley township. This archaeological remnant is rare surviving evidence of the transport system from mine to mill and illustrates the speculative enterprise of the King family in their overcapitalized attempt to establish a viable silver mining industry in the Charters Towers district.
Its [the Great Extended Mill's] locational association with King's New Mill illustrates the competition of rival companies during a speculative boom period through the duplication of facilities.
|The steel headframe over the mine is the only assymmetrical steel headframe recorded in North Queensland and, together with the MAN diesel engine and Vickers generator, was associated with the Wolfram molybdenite field and the Palmer River goldfield.
Despite minimal structural evidence of the mill, other than machinery foundations of brick covering a 50m square area, the tramway formation running east from the mill site is still visible with raised embankments with stone abutments to allow its passage under the streets of Totley township. This archaeological remnant is rare surviving evidence of the transport system from mine to mill and illustrates the speculative enterprise of the King family in their overcapitalized attempt to establish a viable silver mining industry in the Charters Towers district.
The Great Extended Mill, Totley, is significant as a rare example of a silver processing mill in the Charters Towers district and one of only two sites recorded in North Queensland where Linkenbach buddles were installed.
|(Criterion under review)
|The mine in its early phase was associated with poor management, accidents and a fatality, and in its later phase with experimentation by Percy Kean. The Great Extended Mine at Totley is one of the few readily accessible sites with early haulage plant and machinery still in position and physical evidence of mining remaining.
|The plant was imported by the La Societè Francaise des Metaux Rares company in 1912 and re-located to the Louisa mine on the Palmer in 1915. The MAN diesel engine is also associated with the beginnings of the use diesel technology in Queensland mining, This demonstrates the reuse of equipment and technology from one field to another and its creative adaptation to suit different mining conditions forty years later.
|King's New Mill and Tramway is significant through its association with the enterprising King family, pioneers of Totley silver mining and milling.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion F | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15698,"place_ref":600923,"name":"Eureka Hotel (former)","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Thornton Gap Road","suburb":"HERVEY RANGE","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Eureka Hotel is a colonial period structure built of ironbark with a gabled roof of modern corrugated iron over the central core of three rooms. The encircling verandahs are enclosed with asbestos cement sheeting and covered with a skillion roof. The horizontal slab structure, which is raised on low, round ironbark stumps and massive half round timber bearers fixed with wooden pegs, is a rare example of bush carpentry.
It would normally have had an earthen floor, but has been raised and a timber floor added. There are no ceilings in the core: all rooms are open to the unlined iron roof, while the walls of the largest room are lined with asbestos-cement sheeting. The building stands in well tended modern gardens of trees, shrubs and plants popular in the early part of this century. Behind the structure is a modern rectangular building which is used as a kitchen/livingroom by the present owner. Behind and to the left of this structure is an old shed and post and rail stock yards.
","history":"The first recorded licensee, Charles Saville Rowe, was operating from the hotel in 1865. It was built at the top of Thorntons Gap on Herveys Range to accommodate travellers moving down to the plains at Townsville and up to the new gold fields and pastoral leases west and north of Charters Towers. The hotel was first known as the Eureka, as the Sanatorium by 1879c, as Rolfe's in 1882c then as the Eureka from 1884-1886 and finally as the Range from 1886.
William James Rolfe became the licensee in 1875c and he or members of his family were responsible for the name changes for the next thirty three years. After acquiring the property in 1875 William Rolfe erected another building of sawn timber while retaining the original structure. The second building was moved to a property in the Upper Ross area sometime this century and was later destroyed by a bushfire.
After the licence was surrendered sometime after 1908 the building was owned by the Moodie family who used it as refreshment rooms and a dance hall. It was later acquired by the Fryer family, early landholders in the region, and sold to the present owners in 1984.
","criteria":"It is a good example of the early shanty style of hotel and its significance is enhanced because of its association with the development of the mining and pastoral industries in Northern and Far Northern Queensland.
|The Eureka Hotel is representative of a transitional type of construction which led to the development of the Queensland vernacular style of architecture and, together with the Bowen River Hotel (600042), it is a rare survivor of this early bush carpentry period of construction.
|It is a good example of the early shanty style of hotel and its significance is enhanced because of its association with the development of the mining and pastoral industries in Northern and Far Northern Queensland.
|The Eureka Hotel is representative of a transitional type of construction which led to the development of the Queensland vernacular style of architecture and, together with the Bowen River Hotel (600042), it is a rare survivor of this early bush carpentry period of construction.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion F","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15854,"place_ref":601081,"name":"Burdekin River Pumping Station (former)","alternate_name":"Charters Towers Water Supply Scheme","street_address":"Weir Road","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1995-07-03","description":"The former Burdekin River Pumping Station is located to the northeast of Charters Towers on the western bank of the Burdekin River. It is about one kilometre south of the present city weir and pumping station, on a peninsula at the junction of the Burdekin River and Sheepstation Creek. The pumping station, engineer's residence, worker's cottages and school were located on the north bank of the creek, which crosses the Water Supply Reserve from east to west. The school, cottages and engineer's residence are no longer extant.
The immediate site of the pump station has been fenced with a two metres high cyclone wire fence and the enclosed area has been well maintained. The ground between the creek and the bank of the river, which contains most of the remnants of the water supply system, has been kept clear of trees and larger shrubs. Some regrowth has occurred outside of this area and the creek is overgrown with vegetation. Scatters of machinery parts and building materials can be found along the banks and in the dry stream bed. Remnant pieces of machinery can be found scattered around the area close to the engines although some of these pieces have been gathered and stored to protect them from theft.
The western bank of the Burdekin River below the pumping station has become badly eroded. This erosion stems from the late 1880s when an inlet tunnel was constructed and flooding on several occasions washed away the disturbed river bank. The erosion has recently become so severe that the foundations of the steam pumps are threatened. The inlet tunnel remains although the stone work on the river bank entrance has been covered by sand. The access within the foundations of the engines remains intact.
Remnants of the aerial tramway (flying fox) foundations are located outside the fenced enclosure around the engines. Part of the tram track is visible in front of the flying fox foundations. The tracks run north-south along the river bank and finish near the engines. The chimney stands slightly northwest of the engines.
The steam engines and their foundations are relatively intact. After one hundred years the concrete steps and brickwork are deteriorating but have not yet reached a point where the security of the engines is threatened. The engines themselves are in reasonable condition, although some dismantling took place in the 1960s.
Behind the old engines is a fibrous cement clad building which was constructed to house the 1942 electric pumps. This building is in good condition and the electric pumps have been well maintained. To the south of the 1942 electric engine shed remnants of the rising main survive on the banks of Sheepstation Creek.
","history":"The former Burdekin River Pumping Station was erected as part of the important Charters Towers water supply system, constructed from 1887 to 1891 for the Burdekin Water Scheme Joint Board. When completed the scheme included a pumping station, rising main, reservoir on Tower Hill, chimney stack, engineer's residence, workers' cottages, provisional school, tram track, bridge across the Burdekin River and several trestle bridges to carry the rising main across small creeks between the pumping station and the reservoir in the town. The project cost around £80,000, exclusive of ongoing maintenance, the building of a weir in 1902 and construction of an aerial tramway (flying fox) across the river c1911.
The significance of the Charters Towers water supply system to the development of the surrounding goldfields cannot be overestimated. Discovered in late 1871, Charters Towers was the richest of the North Queensland mining fields, and made a major contribution to the social, political and commercial development of North Queensland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Peak production was reached in the early 1900s but by 1929 gold mining at Charter Towers had almost ceased.
Early Charters Towers mining activity depended on the local creeks, but the demand for water grew as population and mining expanded. Charters Towers was proclaimed a town in 1877, and by the early 1880s was a prosperous settlement with a rail link to the coast opened in 1882, yet still no sanitation system or reticulated water. In dry seasons the town survived on well water, and crushing slowed at the mines. A report and estimate for a water supply scheme for Charters Towers was prepared in 1878 by the Resident Engineer for Northern Waterworks, John Baillie Henderson, but action was delayed until the very dry years 1883-85 during which time a public campaign run by Thadeus O'Kane, editor of the Northern Miner, placed pressure on the government to provide an adequate water supply at Charters Towers. This campaign corresponded with a growing movement in industrialised countries for the establishment of water supply and sewerage infrastructures in urban communities.
In 1884 the Queensland Water Supply Department (established in 1881 with JB Henderson as the government Hydraulic Engineer) revived and modified the 1878 scheme. A new report was prepared but considered too expensive. Only following the 1886 speculative boom in Charters Towers did the government instruct Henderson to prepare a cheaper scheme. This was done by reducing the number of pumping stations from two to one and installing only one pumping engine initially. Water was to be pumped through a 12 inch cast-iron rising main to a circular reservoir on Tower Hill, from where it would be reticulated by gravity.
Under the Local Authority (Joint Action) Act 1886 the Burdekin Water Scheme Joint Board, drawn from members of Dalrymple Divisional Board and Charters Towers Municipal Council, was established to administer the project. Because the Board had no borrowing rights, loans of £30,200 each had to be raised through the Charters Towers Municipal Council and the Dalrymple Divisional Board, which were responsible for managing the loans.
In November 1886 a survey of the waterworks site was completed, with 7 acres reserved for the service reservoir at Tower Hill in Charters Towers, 53 acres reserved for the pipe track to town, and 742 acres at the junction of the Burdekin and Sheepstation Creek (13 kilometres northeast of Charters Towers) set aside as a water supply reserve [R.123] for the pumping station. The water supply reserve also functioned as a timber reserve to supply the wood to fuel the steam-driven pump engines, and was extended in the 1890s.
While the land survey and loans were being arranged Henderson prepared the plans and Frederick Talbot Joyce, a London trained civil engineer from Sydney, was selected as the site engineer. By early 1888 the Joint Board had placed an order with Hathorn Davey & Company of Leeds, England for a 75 horse power, inverted compound non-rotative engine coupled to a two-stage pumping system, with a capacity of 20,000 gallons per hour. The engine was designed by Henry Davey who made a significant contribution to the development of steam powered water pumping systems during the late 19th century. His differential system, applied to vertical compound engines, greatly increased the efficiency of non-rotative pumping engines and prolonged their viability as alternatives to rotating machines. Plans for the engine foundations, specifications for the assembling of engine and boilers, directions for the construction of buildings to protect them, and plans for a 60 feet high chimney arrived from Hathorn Davey in June 1888.
Despite initial progress, the project was plagued with problems and delays due to inexperience in implementing such a large project, a shortage of skilled labour, personality clashes and professional conflict between Henderson and Joyce. In mid-1888 the project ground to a halt and the Joint Board considered removing the project from the hands of the government engineers, but the loan structure prohibited this. It took intervention by the colonial secretary, Sir Thomas McIlwraith, for Henderson to abandon opposition to Joyce's plans and in June the Government approved issue of a loan so that the work could proceed.
Thomas H Mann & Co. was appointed contractor for the civil works at the pumping station, and in September 1888 F Taylor was appointed Foreman of Works and construction of the reservoir on Tower Hill commenced. Talbot Joyce prepared plans and specifications for the Charters Towers water reticulation scheme - 300,000 gallons pumped through 20 miles of pipe to service 5,000 people, with the possibility of supplying 600,000 gallons after the installation of a second engine. Thomas Tolson was granted the contract to dig the pipe trenches and build the trestle bridges across the small creeks between the pumping station at Sheepstation Creek and the town. In October 1888 Thomas Mann called tenders for making 80,000 bricks at the pumping station site, and in November the Joint Board accepted the tender of Contes and Company of London to supply pipes to the value of £22,700.
During January 1889 substantial progress was made with the civil works at the pumping station. An inlet tunnel 172 feet long to the river had been completed and was being lined with concrete and the pump shaft had been sunk to its full depth. The frame for the machinery shed at the pumping station had been constructed by Benjamin Toll, the boilers had arrived from England, and the site for the reservoir on Tower Hill had been excavated.
In 1889 conflict arose between the Dalrymple Divisional Board and the municipalities of Charters Towers, Millchester and Queenton, which were preparing to merge as one local authority, with the Divisional Board claiming that its ratepayers would have to pay higher water rates than those in the greater Charters Towers area. Disagreements over aspects of the waterworks project were common during Joint Board meetings and a violent disagreement over chairmanship of the Board in 1889 was resolved in the Supreme Court.
By late February the civil works at the pumping station were nearing completion. A major difficulty arose in April 1889 when it was discovered that Hathorn Davey had sent coal-burning Lancashire boilers when specially designed wood-burning boilers had been ordered. Hathorn Davey thought it understood that Lancashire boilers were more suitable for the site because they had two flues which allowed for the burning of either coal or timber, but offered to pay for the construction of furnaces. This offer was accepted and the furnaces, built of brick by Thomas H Mann & Co, cost £180 to install.
By August 1889 the chimney was under construction and work was progressing well, when Talbot Joyce tendered his resignation following a dispute with Taylor and the contractor for the reservoir. Joyce's resignation was accepted (illegally) by the Joint Board, Taylor was sacked and a new foreman (engineer William Bolland) appointed. By October the completion of works was slowing down and Talbot Joyce was reinstated, to resign of his own accord in March 1890. William Bolland took over as site engineer, and remained Resident Engineer of the Charters Towers water supply system until well into the 20th century.
An engineer employed by Hathorn Davey was sent from London to install the pump engine in 1889-90, and a tool shed and fence round the engine site were erected. The pump commenced operation in early February 1891, although not to full capacity. By August 1891 the reticulation system was operating fully, and by December 1,036 dwellings had been connected. After some delay the colonial government approved a £3,000 loan extension for the reticulation scheme and by 1894 3,132 premises were connected.
Flooding in 1894 caused problems at the pumping station when dirty water threatened to damage the pump and the intake tunnel silted up. To overcome this problem two shafts were sunk into the river bed to a depth of 42 feet so that sand-filtered water could be procured.
During the very dry years 1895-96 the high demand for water created difficulties in keeping the pumping station working, and the decision was made to purchase a second Hathorn Davey pump engine. By late May 1896 a new engine of the same capacity (20,000 gallons per hour) had been installed. The wood supply for these engines was exhausted on the western bank, so a low level bridge across the river was erected and a tram track laid for a distance of 1¾ miles to tap the supply of wood on the eastern side of the Burdekin.
In January 1898 Pumping Station Provisional (later State) School opened on land excised from the Water Supply Reserve [R.123], and served the families of the resident station workers and local farmers until closed in 1936.
The 1890s had been exceptionally dry and by 1900 Queensland was experiencing the worst drought on record. The drought corresponded with a large increase in population in Charters Towers and a subsequent increase in demand for water. There were 20,000 people in the district by 1897 and the population reached a peak of 26,780 in 1900. The reticulation scheme, extended in 1894, was not able to cope with the enormous increase in demand. The introduction of water restrictions changed the face of the town which, with the introduction of water reticulation in 1891, had become noted for its beautiful gardens and cool streets.
In 1902 the Board erected a substantial weir on R.122 upstream from the pumping station. The designer and site engineer was William Bolland, and construction was completed in November 1902. At 900 feet in length, 16 feet maximum depth and capacity of 400,000,000 gallons, the new weir was exceptional in scale and design for its time, and proved to be a tourist attraction and recreational venue for Charters Towers.
In the 1910s development at the pumping station included an aerial tramway (flying fox) constructed to replace the bridge across the Burdekin which was swept away in 1910/11; relocation in the creek bed of the rising main across Sheepstation Creek in 1913, eliminating on-going maintenance of the repeatedly flood-damaged trestle bridge; and in 1915-16 replacement of the Lancashire boilers with Cornish boilers purchased from the Brilliant and St George Mill and the Brilliant Central Mine. These were functioning by February 1916.
As the pump engines aged and the demand for a substantial supply of water continued, the provision of another pumping plant was discussed and a site selected up stream from the weir. However, before these plans were implemented the pressing need for water eased. By 1924 gold production at Charters Towers was on the decline, the population was falling, the demand for water had decreased and the pumps were able to meet the needs of the town. They continued in operation until 1942 when electric pumps were installed in a new shed behind the old pumps. These electric pumps remained in operation until 1975.
The 1942 installation of electric pumps was necessary because of the vast increase in population in Charters Towers and district during the lead up to the war in the Pacific. By February 1942 a Japanese invasion of Australia seemed imminent. To meet the danger, five US air bases with up to 15,000 personnel were located in the Charters Towers district. The Royal Australian Air Force and the Australian Army also had bases in the area.
After the war No 2 Hathorn Davey pump engine was used occasionally but No 1 was not used again. No 2 pump was decommissioned in 1954 and it is understood that in the 1960s the boilers were removed and sold for scrap and the engines partially dismantled. In August 1975 a new electric pumping station was built at the weir.
","criteria":"The former Burdekin River Pumping Station demonstrates the substantial contribution of the late 19th century Charters Towers water supply system to the establishment of the surrounding gold fields at a critical period in the economic development of Queensland.
|The pumping engines are rare as they appear to be the only examples of Hathorn Davey inverted cross-compound non-rotative pumping engines surviving in the world, and are amongst the most important stationary steam engines remaining in Australia.
|The site also has potential to reveal further information about late 19th century waterworks technology, layout, construction and materials.
|The pumping station remains an important illustration of late 19th century waterworks technology employed at a time when local authorities in Queensland were becoming aware of the benefits of a clean, plentiful water supply to their communities. The pumping head from the Burdekin River to the service reservoir in Charters Towers of 570 feet was the highest employed in Queensland up to that time.
|They are fitted with Davey's patented differential valve gear and are valuable examples of late 19th century British technology imported to Australia, and particularly of the work of Henry Davey (1843-1928). Davey was one of the great British engineers of the late Victorian era, and had a profound impact on the development of steam water pumping technology at a time when local authorities were becoming aware of the significant benefits of a clean water supply to the health of their communities.
|The former Burdekin River Pumping Station has a close association with the work of engineers JB Henderson and FT Joyce and their contributions to the development of Queensland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion F | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15968,"place_ref":601204,"name":"Ravenswood Court House Group (former)","alternate_name":"Court House and Police Station, Ravenswood","street_address":"Raven Street","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1994-01-27","description":"The Court House Group, on the northern corner of Macrossan and Raven Streets, is located near the town centre of Ravenswood on a raised site overlooking Elphinstone Creek to the south. Ravenswood is located in a mining landscape, which consists of disturbed ground with scattered ruins and mullock heaps, set amongst distinctive chinky apples and rubber vines. The group consists of three buildings; a court house, barracks and cell block.
The court house is a single-storeyed timber building with a corrugated iron gable roof and concrete stumps. The building has a T-shaped plan, with the court room forming the southwest wing surrounded on three sides by verandahs, and offices form the northeast wing with a verandah on the northeast side.
The building has weatherboard cladding to the exposed gable ends, and single-skin exposed framing to the verandah walls. Verandahs have a timber rail balustrade, with timber posts and capitals. French doors open to northeast verandah, with the southwest wing having sash windows and a central projecting gabled entrance porch with finial. The southwest gable has a finial and paired timber brackets, and the exposed gable ends have a casement window with timber and iron hood.
Internally, the building contains early court room furniture and fittings including timber gallery seating, witness stand, dock, and Judge's bench, with horizontal timber boarding to walls and a raked ceiling.
The barracks, located to the north of the court house, is a single-storeyed, single-skin timber building with a corrugated iron gable roof and concrete stumps. The building has a verandah on the southeast, the wall of which is clad with fibrous cement sheeting, with two french doors and a sash window and timber door. The exposed walls have weatherboard cladding, with glass louvred windows on the northwest, and a sash window with metal hood on the northeast. The southern corner has had some cladding and part of the verandah removed.
Internally, the building has three rooms, the northern one being lined with horizontal boarding, and boarded ceilings.
The cell block, located to the northeast of the court house, and to the west of the barracks, is a single-storeyed, single-skin timber building with a corrugated iron hipped roof and concrete stumps. The building has a verandah on the southeast, with four doors and a window. The exposed walls have weatherboard cladding, with glass louvred windows, a casement window and a door on the northwest, a glass louvred window on the southwest, and a sash window on the northeast.
Internally, the building has four rooms, some of which are lined and have boarded ceilings. Timber cell doors with original hardware have been removed, but remain on the site.
","history":"The Court House Group consists of three buildings erected on the site in 1882 - the Court House, Police Station, and Cells (formerly part of the Police Station), all of which were removed from the site in 1965 and subsequently returned during the 1980s.
The buildings replaced an earlier Court House (1870), Police Barracks (1871), and Lockup (1871), which were amongst a number of buildings erected by the colonial government to provide the necessary infrastructure to both encourage and control the early days of Ravenswood's gold rush.
Gold was to dominate mining in Queensland from the 1850s to the first World War, with major discoveries and consequential "rushes" in such places as Clermont (1861), Gympie (1867), Ravenswood (1868), Charters Towers (1872), Palmer Gold Field (1873), and Mt Morgan (1882). Such discoveries were to make Queensland the third largest producer of gold in Australia, after Western Australia and Victoria.
The initial and very successful gold mining in Ravenswood was by panning of the alluvial gold. This was then replaced by reef mining. By 1871, Ravenswood's troubles had begun; as mines sank beneath the water table it was found that the gold could not easily be extracted from the mundic sulphides. In Ravenswood this caused particular problems due in part to the variety and unpredictability of the distribution of sulphides in the ore. Greater capital was now required to fund the various technologies for extracting the gold. As a result many miners left for other gold fields, such as the recently discovered Charters Towers field, which was to quickly overtake Ravenswood as a gold producer and most important inland North Queensland town.
Despite the exodus, the town continued; the economy of town funded by mining (on a reduced scale) and the establishment of silver mines at nearby Totley. It was also substantially aided by the building of further government infrastructure, which included the opening of the railway from Townsville in 1884, a new Post and Telegraph Office (1885), and Hospital (1887) as well as the new Court House and Police Station (1882).
The Court House and the Police Station were erected by contractors A Donald (for £1,200) and FA Sparre (for £885) respectively and designed by the Department of Public Works. The designs were types (or variations of types) developed by the Department during this time which could be adapted to the varying requirements of the widespread colony. They enabled the Department to establish a high standard of public architecture for what were relatively modest buildings, which at the same time could be erected by local contractors.
The Court House was a "T" shaped timber building with verandah back and front; with a large court room located to the front and offices to the rear. The Police Station was erected as a "U" shaped timber building containing an office, quarters for the local policeman and his family, and three cells. At this time, a sergeant's residence is recorded as being on the site. This was sold and removed in 1929 and appears to have been the original Police Barracks erected in 1871. A stable to house the police horses is recorded on the site by 1899, however, this may well have existed prior to this time. By 1912, a brick retaining wall with a white picket fence had been erected along Raven Street.
By this time, the mining industry in Ravenswood was in decline. The great strike in Ravenswood of 1912/1913 left a bitterly divided community; the mines continued to decline and the outbreak of war in 1914 lead to an increase in costs and a scarcity of labour. This decline was to be repeated throughout Australia in the post World War I period; with the mining industry not regenerating (albeit in a new form in which coal, aluminium, and iron ore took precedence in the new markets) until after the second World War.
In the following years, mining in the town continued, but the boom was over: much of the population moved away, a number of buildings were removed, and in 1930 Ravenswood became the first Queensland town to lose its railway. In 1928, the Police Constable (who also acted as Assistant Mining Registrar, Acting Clerk of Petty Sessions, Acting Stock Inspector and Land Agent) reported (in the context of seeking to justify expenditure on police buildings) that although mining was quiet, there were indications that it might accelerate at any time. In fact a small revival occurred during the 1930s and early 1940s and later revivals as new technology allowed for economical mining of lower grade ores, but Ravenswood never returned to the prosperity of the early 1900s and was not rebuilt.
In 1965, both the Court House and Police Station joined the long line of buildings to be removed from Ravenswood. Although some changes had been made to the buildings in the intervening years (including conversion of one of the cells to a bathroom), they were substantially as built when removed to Mt Ravenswood Station, where the Police Station was used (in several pieces) as ringers' accommodation.
Since the 1970s, numerous studies of the Ravenswood area have been completed; in the 1980s the whole town was listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the National Trust of Queensland. During this time, as a result of the flooding of the Burdekin Dam, the Police Station, Cells (now annexed from the station), and Court House were moved back to the site. This period also saw the commencement of open cut gold mining by Carpentaria Gold Pty Ltd and the growth of cultural tourism in the town. The Police Station is proposed for reuse as such; the Court House is used as a community facility.
","criteria":"Ravenswood is one of the earliest sites associated with major gold mining in North Queensland which gave significant impetus to the economic and social development of the region. The state's encouragement for such development was demonstrated by the establishment of supporting public infrastructure. Moreover, the Court House and Police buildings, erected in Ravenswood during the 1880s, form part of an apparently deliberate government policy to support the town during a period of economic decline.
|The group was erected according to architectural types developed at this time by the Public Works Department.
|Located on a prominent rise in the centre of the town, the Court House and Police buildings, as was the usual practice, were erected on the same government reserve. The Court House, which includes early furniture and fittings, is particularly intact.
|Ravenswood is one of the earliest sites associated with major gold mining in North Queensland which gave significant impetus to the economic and social development of the region.
|The group was erected according to architectural types developed at this time by the Public Works Department, which was instrumental in developing the quality of building in the state.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15970,"place_ref":601206,"name":"Mabel Mill (former)","alternate_name":"Partridge Mill | Mabel Mill","street_address":"Barton Street","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1994-01-28","description":"The Mabel Mill, located near the town centre of Ravenswood and bounded by Elphinstone Creek to the south and Barton Street to the north, consists of the remains of a complex of buildings associated with the processing of gold, and to a lesser extent silver. Ravenswood is located in a mining landscape, which consists of disturbed ground with scattered ruins and mullock heaps, set amongst distinctive chinky apples and rubber vines.
The site, as indicated on the attached plan, includes the following remains:
(i)\tIn the centre of the site, a mullock road formation entranced from Barton Street which encircles the slab of the concentrate drying shed. The mullock road formation includes a shallow pit on the eastern side, which was probably the casing for a weighbridge. The concentrate drying shed, which has a wedge shaped plan, consists of a slab with post holes showing its original structure. Construction of the slab is by a cement sand screed over a rubble base.
(ii)\tTo the northeast, a general machinery display area on the site of the New Ravenswood Company office. The machinery display area includes a number of mining artefacts and machinery gathered from the Ravenswood Gold Field. Nothing remains of the New Ravenswood Company office.
(iii)\tTo the east, a safe, assay house and office. Roughly square in plan, the safe is a single-storeyed masonry building, with the perimeter wall built around a timber pole structure. The assay house is a single-storeyed timber pole structure with corrugated iron cladding to walls and roof. The building has a masonry chimney stack on the western end, and internally it contains two furnaces. The office is a single-storeyed timber framed building with corrugated iron cladding to walls and roof. The building has lean-to structures on the north and south.
(iv)\tTo the southeast, the sites of the chlorination works and cyanide tailings. The site of the chlorination works contain the remains of its footings. The site of the cyanide tailings includes areas of brick paving.
(v)\tTo the south, the stampers, boiler footings, base of stack and tailings wheel piers. From the original, only one head of stamps remain. This has timber framing and a concrete pad and timber butt base, with the surviving stamps branded with the name BRAND AND DRYBOROUGH. The footings of the boiler, used to drive the engine for the stamps and power the steam pump which drew from a well on the flank of the creek, are located at the base of the brick chimney stack. The remains of the tailings wheel, which lifted the tailings via a flume over Elphinstone Creek to the tailings area, consist of the two supporting rendered masonry piers, one of which has fallen on its side.
(vi)\tTo the southwest, the stack and flues, sites of the engine room and boiler house. The stack is a tall cylindrical masonry chimney on a square base. The remains of the flues to the south of this consist of four brick pipes, sections of which are damaged and bricks are scattered, leading to the former boiler house further to the south. The boiler house, which generated power for the mill, is survived by a line of steel posts marking the northern wall, and brick and concrete beds mark the location of the main engine room for the mill.
(vii)\tTo the northwest, the slab of a residence and stand of trees. The rendered slab is located between Mango trees, with Burdekin Plums and Date Palms nearby.
","history":"From the 1850s to the first World War, mining in Queensland was dominated by gold, with major discoveries and consequential "rushes" in such places as Clermont (1861), Gympie (1867), Ravenswood (1868), Charters Towers (1872), Palmer Gold Field (1873), and Mt Morgan (1882). Such discoveries were to make Queensland the third largest producer of gold in Australia, after Western Australia and Victoria.
In the early days, mining at Ravenswood, as with many other gold fields, was restricted to panning the alluvial gold in the gullies of creeks. Later with the establishment of reef mining, it was necessary to set up milling facilities to extract the gold. The Mabel Mill, located on the northern side of Elphinstone Creek, is known to have been established by 1871, by which time there were five mills on the Ravenswood Gold Field with a total of 52 stamps for crushing. The technology used at this time was amalgamation, involving washing the crushed ore over copper plates coated with mercury which amalgamated with the gold, scraping the amalgam off the plates, and driving off the mercury leaving the gold.
By 1871, Ravenswood's troubles had begun; as mines sank beneath the water table it was found that the gold could not easily be extracted from the mundic sulphides. In Ravenswood this caused particular problems due in part to the variety and unpredictability of the distribution of sulphides in the ore. Greater capital was now required to fund the various technologies for extracting the gold. As a result many miners left for other gold fields, such as the recently discovered Charters Towers field, which was to quickly overtake Ravenswood as a gold producer and most important inland North Queensland town.
Despite the exodus, the town continued; with the building of government infrastructure, such as the opening of the railway from Townsville in 1884 (with the station located conveniently opposite the Mabel Mill), new Court House and Police Station (1882) [601206], new Post and Telegraph Office (1885), and Hospital (1887); and other public buildings such as the School of Arts Library (c1876; dem 1992) and Hall (c1880); whilst the economy of the town was funded by mining (on a reduced scale) and the establishment of silver mines at nearby Totley.
The first reported description of the Mabel Mill site is in 1883, when a map shows the Mabel Mill as Machine Area no8 in the name of HH Barton; the site included a machine and crushing plant mill (a ten-stamp mill powered by one twenty-five horse power steam engine), furnace and stack, and a residence. At this time there were thirteen machine areas registered on the Ravenswood Gold Field with the Mining Warden's report recording that the only method in use here (Ravenswood) for dressing mundic ore is by the ordinary stamper mills and rotatory buddles, resulting in a great loss of mineral.
By 1885, the Mabel Mill was owned by "Joske & others", proprietors of the Ravenswood Gold Smelting Co, who had acquired some of the better mines in the town including the Grant, Excelsior, and Black Jack. The intention of the company was to use a smelting process to solve the mundic problem. According to the Warden, the Mabel was equipped with ten head of stamps, one buddle, two wheelers (Chilean mills?), two berdan pans, two arresters (arresteras?), and a reverbatory furnace. On the southern side of the creek, Joske was granted a five acre lease for depositing slag from his smelters.
Two years later, however, the Mining Warden reported that the methods employed by the Ravenswood Gold Smelting Co had failed and the company's capital was exhausted. The Mill (now renumbered Machine Area 28) was transferred to the Ravenswood Gold Co Ltd, under the management of previous owner, HH Barton, who also acquired the Sunset, General Grant, and Black Jack mines, and later the Melaneur and Duke of Edinburgh. A chlorination process to treat ore was installed which by 1889, was declared a success. The process involved roasting the ore to drive off the sulphur; treating the roasted ore with chlorine gas with the gold combining with the chlorine to form soluble gold chloride, which was then further treated to deposit the gold. Just two years later, however, the Mabel Mill was again in trouble with the Warden reporting that although the technology was successful as a treatment, it was not profitable.
Barton was in financial difficulties with the Banks, who took over the mill and his other extensive mining interests. In 1899, another of Ravenswood's entrepreneurs, Archibald Laurence Wilson, floated the New Ravenswood Co to acquire the assets of Barton's Ravenswood Gold Co. The new company with a capital of £50,000 had its directors in London, but was managed by Wilson. With the investment of English capital, substantial development occurred both in the town and the mines. Wilson's approach to "his companies" was reportedly high handed, but produced substantial (in 1901 and 1902, 50%) dividends for shareholders.
All of the company's acquisitions, including the Mabel Mill, were refurbished. Substantial changes were made to the mill site. Two shaking tables (known as the Wilfley type) were erected in 1901 at the Mill by Wilson, who is credited with introducing this new method of concentrating to Queensland. Under this process the ore was crushed in the stampers (without mercury), the crushed material was concentrated on the Wilfley tables, and the concentrate was sent for recovery of the gold.
Further changes were made the following year. In 1902, a new tailings (raff) wheel, measuring 48 foot (14.5 meters) in diameter, was erected higher up the creek for lifting the tailings (the fine material left after stamp milling and amalgamation) from the stamp batteries housed in a rambling galvanised iron shed on the northern side of the creek to the flume which transported the tailings across the creek onto the recently erected tailings area, where they were treated with cyanide. Cyaniding involved dissolving the gold out of the pulp with potassium cyanide and trickling the resulting solution through zinc shavings to which the gold attaches and smelting into bullion. The axis of the tailings wheel rested on brick pyramid piers sunk into bedrock, concreted, plastered, and painted); the flume was set on high posts the width of creek. Other work included a dam which was put in just below the Mill with the wall made of stone from the Ravenswood Deep Mine acquired by Wilson in 1900; the erection of a 70 foot (21.2 meters) high circular brick chimney stack; addition of new boilers to the steaming power of the battery; and an increase in capacity of the mill to thirty head.
A photo taken c1910 shows the complex to comprise the office building of the New Ravenswood Co (removed/demolished c1917), assay building, chlorination building (c1889), enclosed tailings wheel (1902), concentrate drying shed, road composed of mullock, stamper shed with elevator, main stack to boilers, and residence.
By 1912, the mining industry in Ravenswood was on its last legs; profits of the New Ravenswood Co had dropped substantially and the conditions of mine workers were in issue. The great strike in Ravenswood of 1912/1913 left a bitterly divided community; the mines continued to decline and the outbreak of war in 1914 lead to an increase in costs and a scarcity of labour. The town which had reached its peak population of nearly 5,000 people in 1903 was rapidly declining.
In 1917, the New Ravenswood Co went into liquidation, after which it is believed that much of the equipment and buildings were sold by the liquidators. This decline was to be repeated throughout Australia in the post World War I period; with the mining industry not regenerating (albeit in a new form in which coal, aluminium, and iron ore took precedence in the new markets) until after the second World War.
In 1918, a new company, Ravenswood Gold Mines Ltd, took up a portion of the abandoned mining leases of New Ravenswood; ore was sent to the Venus State Battery [600413] at Charters Towers for treatment. The Mabel Mill continued to provide crushing services for the reduced scale of local mining. A 1920 map shows the Mabel Mill (renumbered as Machine Area 203) with a significantly reduced area of 3 roods 8 perches. The formation of the new company, however, did little to arrest the rapid slide of Ravenswood (and the Mill) from its short period of glory. In the following years, mining in the town continued, but the boom was over: much of the population moved away, a number of buildings were removed, and in 1930 Ravenswood became the first Queensland town to lose its railway.
A small revival occurred during the 1930s (Partridge and Ralston established a mill on the southern side of the creek of the Mabel Mill site to treat old tailings) and early 1940s and later revivals as new technology allowed for economical mining of lower grade ores, but Ravenswood never returned to the prosperity of the early 1900s and was not rebuilt.
The minor buildings on the site lasted until after World War II and by 1960, the site was virtually as seen today, apart from the more recent removal to the site of a collection of machinery. Since the 1970s, numerous studies of the Ravenswood area have been completed; in the 1980s the whole town was listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the National Trust of Queensland. This period also saw the commencement of open cut gold mining by Carpentaria Gold Pty Ltd and the growth of cultural tourism in the town.
","criteria":"As a symbol of the varying fortunes of Ravenswood, the former Mabel Mill, both in spite of and because of its state of ruin, is one of the most significant sites in the town.
At the same time, by its very nature as a ruin (which is such a part of the pattern of the contemporary Ravenswood townscape), it provides tangible evidence of the often mercurial nature of a community dependent on finite mineral wealth.
|As a ruin, the site still retains sufficient physical evidence to demonstrate some of the processes employed to overcome the problem of extracting gold in the Ravenswood area.
|(Criterion under review)
|The history of the site is linked to those of HH Barton (Ravenswood Gold Co) and AL Wilson (New Ravenswood Co), two of the town's most notable entrepreneurs and companies associated with the development of the gold mining industry in North Queensland, which gave significant impetus to the economic and social development of the region.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15971,"place_ref":601207,"name":"London North Mine, Ravenswood","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Elphinstone street","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1994-02-22","description":"Ravenswood is located in a mining landscape, which consists of disturbed ground with scattered ruins and mullock heaps, set amongst distinctive chinky apples and rubber vines. The remains of the London North Mine, located near the town centre and bounded by Elphinstone Street to the northeast, London Street to the northwest and Macrossan Street to the southeast, consist of a headframe with mullock heaps to the north and south and an engine base to the west.
The headframe, straddling the mine shaft entrance, is a tall hardwood structure consisting of four inwardly-slanting legs connected at their apex by timber beams which once supported a pulley servicing one of the two compartments in the shaft. The structure has cross bracing to each side at the top, with some remains of cross bracing at mid level.
The northern mullock heap is supported by the remains of "pigsties" that were used extensively by miners for support of shafts underground and to shore up larger underground openings. The "pigsty" system provided a frame of timber logs that when packed with mullock could provide considerable structural stability.
The engine foundations, consisting of a concrete slab with its holding down bolts, is all that survives of the boiler house and engines. This is located across a small dry watercourse that possibly was of assistance for de-watering the shaft.
","history":"From the 1850s to the first World War, mining in Queensland was dominated by gold, with major discoveries and consequential "rushes" in such places as Clermont (1861), Gympie (1867), Ravenswood (1868), Charters Towers (1872), Palmer Gold Field (1873), and Mt Morgan (1882). Such discoveries were to make Queensland the third largest producer of gold in Australia, after Western Australia and Victoria.
In the early days, mining at Ravenswood, as with many other gold fields, was restricted to panning the alluvial gold in the gullies of creeks. Later, reef mining was established and it was necessary to set up milling facilities such as the Mabel Mill [601206] to extract the gold. The "London" Reef was discovered in the initial development of the Ravenswood Gold Field. An 1872 map shows the London Mining Co lease to include what were later known as the London Mine and the London North Mine.
By 1871, Ravenswood's troubles had begun; as mines sank beneath the water table it was found that the gold could not easily be extracted from the mundic sulphides. In Ravenswood this caused particular problems due in part to the variety and unpredictability of the distribution of sulphides in the ore. Greater capital was now required to fund the various technologies for extracting the gold. As a result many miners left for other gold fields, such as the recently discovered Charters Towers field, which was to quickly overtake Ravenswood as a gold producer and most important inland North Queensland town.
Despite the exodus, the town continued; with the building of government infrastructure, which included the opening of the railway from Townsville in 1884, new Court House and Police Station (1882) [601204], new Post and Telegraph Office (1885), and Hospital (1887); and other public buildings such as the School of Arts Library (c1876; dem 1992) and Hall (c1880); whilst the economy of the town was funded by mining (on a reduced scale) and the establishment of silver mines at nearby Totley.
During the 1890s, profitable mining was undertaken in the town but Ravenswood's second boom was not to occur until the turn of the century when Archibald Laurence Wilson floated the New Ravenswood Co. Funded by substantial British investment, the company acquired numerous mining interests in the town and undertook a major refurbishment introducing new technology to overcome the mundic problem.
In 1903, Ravenswood reached its peak population of some 5,000 people. In the same year, a Charters Towers group headed, according to the Mining Warden, by Thomas Upton, promoted the London North Mine with the intention of working the London Reef. The gold content of the reef was said to increase with depth and a vertical shoot, averaging 200 feet (60.6 meters) in length and from 200-458 feet (60.6-138.8 meters) in depth, was the first objective. A vertical shaft was sunk in the shoot, a headframe and brace erected over the shaft and a boiler, steam-winding engine and steam-driven pump installed. Underground, the lease was a maze of tunnels and drives covering some fifteen acres but the company had little space above ground with most of the surface near the shaft occupied by domestic buildings. Apparently due to this lack of space, "pigsties" (a particularly Australian method of support more usually employed in the underground shafts) were erected to contain the mullock.
Mechanically-powered shaft-hoisting equipment replaced whips and whims in the larger mines. The rope from a steam winding-engine (generally housed in a simple building nearby) passed over a pulley on top of the headframe and carried a hook on the end to which a cage, bucket, or other item could be attached for raising or lowering in the shaft. The brace provided a platform for handling both mullock and ore, the mullock being trammed to the mullock heap and the ore being tipped into bins for gravity-loading into either tramway trucks or horse-drawn drays.
In 1905, the Warden reported that the mine was covering its own expenses but in subsequent years no great improvement occurred; the heavy water that had confounded their neighbour, the "London" was now evident in the workings of the London North Mine. In 1907, the venture was sold to a local syndicate of Ravenswood investors who placed the mine with a tribute party. In the following years, the venture merged with the "London" and a combined lease was mined, but the results remained marginal. In 1910, the leases were purchased by the New Ravenswood Co; the workings were re-equipped but without any apparent increase in profitability.
By 1912, the mining industry in Ravenswood was in decline. The great strike in Ravenswood of 1912/1913 left a bitterly divided community; the mines continued to decline and the outbreak of war in 1914 lead to an increase in costs and a scarcity of labour. In 1915, the London North Mine was closed. This decline was to be repeated throughout Australia in the post World War I period; with the mining industry not regenerating (albeit in a new form in which coal, aluminium, and iron ore took precedence in the new markets) until after the second World War.
In the following years, mining in the town continued, but the boom was over: much of the population moved away, a number of buildings were removed, and in 1930 Ravenswood became the first Queensland town to lose its railway. A small revival occurred during the 1930s (an attempt was made in 1935 to rework the London North lease, but bad air and heavy expenses in keeping water down led to its abandonment) and early 1940s and later revivals as new technology allowed for economical mining of lower grade ores, but Ravenswood never returned to the prosperity of the early 1900s and was not rebuilt.
Since the 1970s, numerous studies of the Ravenswood area have been completed; in the 1980s the whole town was listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the National Trust of Queensland. This period also saw the commencement of open cut gold mining by Carpentaria Gold Pty Ltd and the growth of cultural tourism in the town. The London North Mine headframe is one of the last survivors from a period when similar headframes were dominant elements of the Ravenswood townscape.
","criteria":"Ravenswood is one of the earliest sites associated with major gold mining in North Queensland which gave significant impetus to the economic and social development of the region.
|The headframe is a rare example of a surviving timber headframe in North Queensland.
|The mine itself, including the headframe, mine shaft, mullock heaps, and engine foundations are very much a part of the prevailing townscape of ruin, which provides a vivid reminder of the often mercurial nature of a community dependent on finite mineral wealth.
|The mine itself, including the headframe, mine shaft, mullock heaps, and engine foundations are very much a part of the prevailing townscape of ruin, which provides a vivid reminder of the often mercurial nature of a community dependent on finite mineral wealth.
|Situated overlooking the town, the London North Mine is, as the only surviving headframe in Ravenswood, both a landmark and a symbol of the town.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16009,"place_ref":601245,"name":"Church of Christ, Charters Towers","alternate_name":"The 'German Church' | St Johannes Lutheran Church","street_address":"Anne Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1999-05-28","description":"The Church of Christ, Charters Towers, is a simple brick church with a substantial timber belltower to one side. The site is located in an early residential part of the city, three blocks from the main commercial street, Gill Street, and nearby to St Mary's Convent and Lissner Park (600397). Being situated on a corner, the belltower is prominent above the surrounding cottages.
The rectangular site is located on the corner of Anne and High Streets, and orientated north-south. The rectangular church is centrally located on the site, with the entry to Anne Street to the south. The belltower is at the street corner to the south-east. To the rear of the site at the northern end is a brick and concrete block community centre.
The church is unpainted brick with steeply pitched corrugated iron roofs. Projecting from the nave is an entry porch to the south, and sanctuary to the north with vestry beside. To each side and above the entry porch are tall narrow lancet windows, with borders of coloured glass. From the entry at ground level, the site falls gently to the rear exposing a base of random granite stones.
The side elevations of the nave are punctuated by brick buttresses, with lancet windows between having awning sashes and heads of coloured glass.
The belltower is framed and cross-braced in substantial timber members. Its construction is reminiscent of the mining headframes of the area, and similar to the bell tower to St Columba's Catholic Church (600399) further along High Street, which is believed to be of later construction. The belltower has a corrugated iron bellcast pyramid roof, mounted by a finial. It houses two large bells.
The white picket fence rune along the front of the site, and returns part of the way along High Street, past the belltower.
The interior of the church has exposed scissor trusses with a diagonally boarded ceiling above.
","history":"The Church of Christ, Charters Towers was constructed in 1885-7 as the first Lutheran Church in Charters Towers. After 1915 when the church was sold, the building became used as the Charters Towers Church of Christ.
Gold was discovered at Charters Towers in December, 1871. The first mining claims were issued in January, 1872 and the new gold field was proclaimed on 31 August, 1872. Populations on the fields grew with the most durable towns being established where reefing gold was the predominant form of mining. By the early 1880s technological innovation had improved production on the reef field. Large scale mining companies began to form at about this time in Charters Towers. The establishment of these companies was given a boost through the introduction of mining safety legislation and increased British investment.
By 1882 company mining became the rule rather than the exception on the Charters Towers field. One such company was the Day Dawn PC, formed after rich deposits of gold were found on land owned by a small group of German miners led by Frederick Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer and his partners, Messrs Heinrich Paradies, Carl Augustus Reidrich, Hamann, Romberge, Levers and Christian became enormously wealthy with the mine eventually yielding 1,000,000 pound in gold. The group, who sold the mine in 1887, were among the wealthiest men in the town. All of them remained in Charters Towers and later invested in other mining ventures.
The growth in reef mining led to a growth in population with miners and their families arriving from all over the world. The population structure of the new gold field is not well documented, however, it is fair to say that many nationalities were represented on the Charters Towers field, including a small group from Germany. This group was to become one of the first Lutheran communities in Queensland.
While some church groups were able to attend organised services after c1872 in Charters Towers, German Lutherans did not have access to a minister or church when they first arrived in the early 1880s. At first they met in private homes and later in the Oddfellows Hall. While this arrangement was satisfactory initially, in 1885 some members of the Day Dawn PC partnership decided to finance the building of a church for their community.
Many local German people contributed to the cost of a new building. Mr Christian Paradies, the founder of the congregation, donated more than £1800 towards the erection of a brick church which was known as the St Johannes Lutheran Church and he bequeathed a further £1000 to the church. Carl Riederich donated the building site and contributed to the building costs and the bells. Friedrich Pfeiffer and Heinrich Paradies shared the costs of building the parsonage. The foundation stone was laid on 5 December, 1885 and the church was completed in March, 1886. The total cost of construction of the church was £2500.
The designer and builder are not known but Mr Zander, formerly of Beenleigh, worked as a bricklayer on the site.
Pastor EO Maiser of German Station (later known as Nundah), the first pastor in Charters Towers, opened the church on 13 June, 1886. The bell tower, hung with two bells brought from Germany, was completed in 1887.
In 1897 the Lutheran Church community was affiliated with the State Church of Prussia and the church became the focal point for the German community in Charters Towers. Language classes and community festivities were some of the activities held at the church.
The Lutheran community remained active in Charters Towers until the First World War, when Pastor G Schafhirt was repatriated to Germany. The church community declined during the war and the property was sold to the Church of England in September, 1915. Since that time the church has been a place of worship for the Church of Christ community of Charters Towers.
","criteria":"The Church of Christ, Charters Towers is a brick building constructed in 1885-7 which demonstrates the development of the Lutheran community in Northern Queensland, particularly Charters Towers in the 1880s.
|The building has aesthetic merit as a simple brick church with Gothic detailing including a steeply pitched roof and lancet windows. The substantial timber bell tower is a prominent element of the streetscape and reminiscent of the construction of mine headframes once common in the area. The juxtaposition of the two distinct and unusual elements contributes to the aesthetic interest of the site.
|The church, which has been a landmark in Charters Towers since its opening, was an important centre for German cultural and social life for thirty years. The building has social value as a place of public worship for over 110 years. The site has special value to the Church of Christ community with whom it has a long association.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16022,"place_ref":601259,"name":"Fossey's Store, Charters Towers","alternate_name":"Pollard's Store | Daking-Smith & Company | Fosseys | Pollards | Target | D.S. & Co.","street_address":"18 Gill Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1996-10-03","description":"Fossey's Store stands at the western end of Gill Street, near the corner of Mosman Street, in the central business district of Charters Towers. This part of the town's main street also has a number of other prominent commercial and civic buildings.
The store is a two-storeyed building with an imposing street facade constructed of locally manufactured red bricks. The parapeted gable has a curved apex, piers projecting above the parapet, a large semi-circular window located centrally and octagonal towers at each end. Below the apex is a panel with the rendered letters 'D S & Co.' (Daking-Smith & Co.). The brick piers divide the parapet and the window into three. The upper sashes of this window have leadlight stained glass. To each side of the window are small circular recesses in the brickwork. The octagonal towers have elongated arched openings to each face with wrought iron balustrading, flat roofs and spires. The building exhibits characteristics of the turn of the century Federation architecture expressed in a commercial building in a free interpretive style.
The gabled roof is of corrugated galvanised iron, with a vented ridge and glazed rooflight located centrally.
To the street facade is an awning extending over the footpath. Framed in timber, it has a valance and parapet of fibrous cement sheet cut to a sawtooth between the posts. At the entry to the store are island plate glass display cases with red tiled bases, brass framing and leadlight upper panels. This area has a pressed metal ceiling and cornices. Above each entry is a sign painted on the glass including 'Stan Pollard & Co.' at the central bay.
The sides and rear of the building are of unpainted brickwork. Also to the rear facade but smaller than that of the front is a semi-circular leadlight window. Service access to the rear is via a laneway.
Internally, the building has a mezzanine level around a central well, with substantial columns of steel and timber. To the underside of the mezzanine is in extensive pressed metal ceiling and cornices, with a pressed metal cladding also to the balustrade. The ceiling to the store is raked, exposing the timber roof trusses.
","history":"The building was constructed c1909 for Daking-Smith and Co., drapers, furnishers and boot merchants, on the former site of the old Queens Hotel which had been demolished in 1906.
Between the years 1872 and 1969 the Charters Towers field produced 6,624,683 fine ounces of gold, and the Ravenswood field for the same period, 901,007 fine ounces. Peak production in the Charters Towers' mines was reached in 1899, when 319,572 fine ounces were produced. When Alfred Daking-Smith commissioned his grand department store building c1909, the economy of Charters Towers was buoyant and robust although the output of gold was starting to decline.
Although Charters Towers already had a single-storeyed departmental drapery store owned and run by the merchant brothers Joseph and Richard Arida, Daking-Smith believed that a more modern, 'genteel' shop was required for Charters Towers. He realised the commercial value of building along the lines of Melbourne and Sydney's emerging department stores, which recognised that shopping, as distinct from merely purchasing supplies, had evolved as an essentially female activity.
Between 1860 and 1920, with the industrialised world's rising level of affluence and leisure time, the 'art of shopping', once the prerogative of the wives of the wealthy, was adopted eagerly by the wives of the emerging middle classes. By the mid-19th century department stores were evolving world-wide to accommodate the rising numbers of middle class shoppers. The earliest of the 'grand' department stores was Aristide Boucicault's Bon Marché, opened in Paris in 1852, followed by Macy's in New York in 1860. These provided important models, but in the Australian colonies, the department store was also the logical extension of the typical general store, drapery or ironmongery.
To complement the refined department store environment, the customer experienced a superior quality of service, the object of which was to make her feel special and confident. Often this entailed an attitude of deference, but more commonly in Australia this developed into a 'cheerful, sensible, polite efficiency'. Whichever method was employed, the aim was the same: to encourage spending.
At the turn of the century Charters Towers, with its multi-cultural population, was known colloquially as 'the world'. Its isolated geographical position, accommodating a population of approximately 30,000 in 1899, seemed to justify the erection of a substantial, modern department store to service both the residents of Charters Towers and the wealthy surrounding district.
The impressive architectural style of the Daking-Smith building was unique for a remote North Queensland town. The locally manufactured bricks were unusual in a privately commissioned building of this era and location, demonstrating that little expense was spared in the construction.
Stan Pollard commenced working at Daking-Smith & Co.'s store in 1912 at the age of sixteen, however, in 1925 Daking-Smith's business was wound up and the store stood empty for a number of years. In 1928 a ten year lease of the building was taken by the ACB company, who conducted a mail order service for a short period before becoming insolvent. During this period Stan Pollard opened his own small menswear business alongside the Daking-Smith store in Gill Street, and by 1934 was able to purchase the Daking-Smith building in partnership with John Hall.
Stan Pollard had the store remodelled, removing the floor-to-ceiling plate glass windows and using them to construct 'island' display windows. This remodelling saw most of the second level removed, and the cashier's station moved to the back of the store, then later relocated to a central position. The Lamson Paragon Central Money Exchange System was installed when Mr Pollard bought the department store in 1934 and was removed only after Fossey's moved into the premises in 1993.
Stan Pollard & Company issued two catalogues a year, which not only circulated in Charters Towers, but were sent to the increasingly wealthy, outlying pastoral regions. In the early days of the store large amounts of stock were purchased, usually to last for six months at a time. Hats, dresses, sheets and all types of manchester were made on the premises, therefore huge quantities of materials were stocked upstairs. Twelve women worked in the millinery room and a similar number in the dress-making room. These women, who provided a quality service to the community, trained in the upstairs workrooms of the store where the latest styles in clothing were interpreted quickly and usually only with the aid of illustrations. The store also sold glassware, gifts and toys.
During the Second World War, five American air bases, totalling 15,000 personnel, were established in Charters Towers as a defence against the perceived threat of a Japanese invasion. The Royal Australian Air Force and the Australian Army were also present in the area. The extensive and sudden population increase placed heavy demands on the resources of Charters Towers. During this period the 'Big Store' became a favourite shopping place for military personnel.
Stan Pollard & Co. conducted business at the 'Big Store' until 16 January 1993. The building has been leased to Fossey's since August 1993.
","criteria":"Fossey's Store reflects the wealth of the Charters Towers community and district during the early part of the 20th century. It is important in demonstrating the development of the Charters Towers area as a rich gold mining and pastoral district which made a significant contribution to the economic development of North Queensland.
|Fossey's Store is a rare surviving example of an early 'grand' department store which brought a new style of luxurious shopping to remote North West Queensland.
|Still used as a department store, this building is important in illustrating the principal characteristics of an early 20th century department store in North Queensland.
|The building makes an important aesthetic contribution, through form, scale and materials to the Charters Towers townscape and is an important component of early civic and commercial buildings in Gill and Mossman Streets including the Stock Exchange [600406], the former Australian Bank of Commerce [600407], the Post Office [600400], the former Bank of New South Wales, and the former Queensland National Bank now City Hall.
|The Charters Towers community has always regarded the place as an important component of the heritage of the city and an important local retail store which has served the needs of the community through most of the 20th century.
|The place has a strong association for the community with the life and work of Stan Pollard.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16526,"place_ref":601789,"name":"Hann Family Grave","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Bluff Downs Station","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1999-06-24","description":"Bluff Downs Station is a cattle property in the northern part of the Kennedy District of Queensland. Situated about 150kms northwest of Charters Towers. The Basalt River approximately bisects the station. North of the river are open undulating black soil downs, and south are red basalt tablelands.
The Bluff Downs homestead sits on a bend on the river. The grave site is located about 1km below the Bluff Downs homestead on the western bank of the Basalt River. It is situated on a 'bluff' of land about 5 metres above the river. The bluff is suffering substantial erosion at the base.
The grave site is shaded by a scatter of eucalypts on the edge of a small plateau running towards the river. There is one prominent grave site remaining, that of members of the Hann family. It has a base platform of concrete, enclosed by an iron palisade fence with a white marble headstone. The grave faces the river. The fence has cast iron cross spearheads within arches, with corner posts of tulips with cast heads. There are some saplings sprouting from the grave.
The inscription of the headstone reads:
"Sacred to the memory of Joseph Hann
who was drowned in the Burdekin River,
January 4th 1864 aged 49 years.
Elizabeth his wife
died June 24th 1864 Aged 54 years.
Also of William, son of William and Mary Hann
died in February 1865 aged 2 weeks".
Beside this site, is a neat pile of decorative ironwork with concrete bases, being the remnants of fence of a grave site.
","history":"The Kennedy District was the first area settled by Europeans in North Queensland. The district was officially proclaimed open for settlement on 1 January 1861. Early pastoralists, encouraged by the success of the Australian wool industry, sought land in the district for sheep raising.
One of the earliest settlers was Joseph Hann. The Hann family had emigrated from Wiltshire in 1851, taking up land on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. Family stories indicate that Joseph and his family were not satisfied with the quality of the land they had settled and, encouraged by the buoyant wool industry, decided to follow other Victorian pastoralists moving into North West Queensland.
Joseph and his sons, William and John sailed to Rockhampton, bought horses and equipment and travelled overland to Port Denison where they arrived in February 1862. On arrival at the port Joseph, finding that the entire land north to Rockingham Bay and along the Burdekin Valley had been selected, decided to explore the area west of the Burdekin.
During a two month exploration trip the Hanns selected ten runs on the plateau country west of the Burdekin. Joseph Hann described the runs as "fine sheep country, lagoons, waterholes, beautiful volcanic tablelands".
Joseph and his sons returned south to sell their Victorian property. However, before they could purchase sufficient sheep for the stations the market was drained of stock as a result of the demand created by pastoralists heading north and by the demand for meat on the Victorian gold fields. In order to fulfil the stocking requirements of their lease Joseph and William travelled to the Darling Downs where they purchased 1800 head of cattle.
The Hanns arrived with their stock at Bluff Downs in February 1863 after an epic overland journey of six months. During the next two years they were occupied with establishing their stations. Despite their venture into beef, wool production was still a priority so Joseph began replacing cattle with sheep at the earliest opportunity. The decision to restock with sheep was probably a sound one, made for practical reasons. Unlike other pastoral products wool could be stored without spoiling and was relatively light to transport, while meat, the principal product of cattle could not be stored.
In order to finance their pastoral empire, the Hanns had taken three partners into their venture before leaving Victoria. Richard Daintree who worked for the Geology Survey of Victoria and Melbourne financiers Rivett Henry Bland and Edward Klingender. In 1863 Richard Daintree arrived to manage Maryvale Station for the Hanns. He also planned to spend part of his time exploring and surveying.
By 1864 the Hann family began experiencing- the benefits of their pastoral venture. However, that year was to be a sad one for the family. In January Joseph Hann drowned in the Burdekin River while crossing near the small town of Dalrymple. William and the rest of the family continued their pioneering work although Elizabeth Hann did not recover from the shock of her husband's death. Her health declined and she died on 24 June 1864. William and Mary also lost a child, William, in February 1865 on Bluff Downs. Although it is believed that Joseph's body was not recovered after he drowned, Elizabeth and baby William are known to be buried on the bank of the Basalt River below the Bluff Downs Homestead.
Despite the early promise of the land west of the Burdekin, the Hanns found that the country was subject to drought. The mid 1860s were difficult years with drought and a slump in the economy and it wasn't until the discovery of gold, in western Queensland and particularly at Cape River in 1867, that the family could see that their pastoral venture was likely to be successful.
In 1868 Richard Daintree was appointed first government geologist for North Queensland and in 1869 he accepted the position of Queensland Agent General in London. Thus the partnership of Hann, Bland, Daintree and Klingender was dissolved in April 1869.
The dissolution of the Hann & Co partnership was the beginning of several changes in the family's life. Despite the more readily available markets for meat on the recently discovered gold fields, squatters were finding that the raising of sheep was not profitable. By 1870 William Hann and his neighbours had to concede that sheep were quite unsuited to the Kennedy. In November William left Maryvale station with 19,000 sheep. He collected an additional 6,000 head from his neighbours Mitchell and Stenhouse on Niall Station for the long trek to markets in the south. The droving trip was an epic journey, which ended in central Victoria eleven months later.
After the dissolution of the partnership the Hann family decided to consolidate their holdings by purchasing Maryvale outright from the remaining partners while, at the same time, selling their share in Bluff Downs. The Bluff was sold in mid December 1871 after William completed the sale of the sheep from the stations.
After his return from the south in 1872 the Queensland Government asked William to lead an expedition to explore Cape York Peninsula. The party reported on geological phenomena and potential pastoral country while paying particular attention to the search for payable minerals. During the trip gold was found at the Palmer River which led to a rush in 1873. At the height of the rush the Palmer Gold Field had a population of over 30,000, thus creating a new market for the Kennedy squatters which ensured their survival.
After William's remarkable trip south and his successful exploration trip to Cape York the family moved to Maryvale Station and restocked with cattle. Further discoveries of gold in North Queensland and the subsequent opening up of markets for meat in the 1870s ensured that the station became a viable pastoral holding and the Hann family were able to lay the foundations of a pastoral tradition which continues to the present day on Maryvale.
With the consolidation of the family holdings and the years of prosperity following the discovery of gold William found time to make a contribution to the local community. He became a foundation member of the Townsville Hospital Board, the Townsville Race Club and Show Society. He contributed 1000 pound to the construction of St James Cathedral, Townsville and served in local government.
William Hann died at the age of fifty-two in a drowning accident off the Strand, Townsville.
","criteria":"The Hann Family Grave, situated on Bluff Downs Station the pastoral home of the Hann family, is a memorial to three members of the pioneering Hann family who arrived in the Kennedy District of North Queensland during the first years of European settlement. Joseph Hann and his sons William and John were leading figures in the process of exploration and pastoral settlement in the Kennedy Region of north Queensland. William, commissioned by the Queensland Government in the 1870s, led an exploration trip to Cape York during which he discovered gold on the Palmer River. Early pastoralist and explorer William Hann, son of Joseph and Elizabeth and father of baby William, became a prominent member of the North Queensland community.
|The Hann Family Grave, situated on Bluff Downs Station the pastoral home of the Hann family, is a memorial to three members of the pioneering Hann family who arrived in the Kennedy District of North Queensland during the first years of European settlement. Joseph Hann and his sons William and John were leading figures in the process of exploration and pastoral settlement in the Kennedy Region of north Queensland. William, commissioned by the Queensland Government in the 1870s, led an exploration trip to Cape York during which he discovered gold on the Palmer River. Early pastoralist and explorer William Hann, son of Joseph and Elizabeth and father of baby William, became a prominent member of the North Queensland community.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16566,"place_ref":601829,"name":"Ravenswood Community Church","alternate_name":"St Patrick's Catholic Church | St Patricks Catholic Church","street_address":"Chapel Street","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1999-09-24","description":"The Ravenswood Community Church is a rectangular planned building with a gabled corrugated iron roof. It is located south east of the town on a cleared rise facing Chapel Street.
On the western side of the building are remnant plantings and building material from the Mercy Convent, which was located next door. A brick entrance is located down the slope at the Chapel Street entrance to the site.
The front section of the building is clad with chamferboard while the rear has a single skin of chamferboard with exposed framing. Projecting from the nave is an entry porch, which faces Chapel Street. There are narrow windows either side of the porch and in the front wall of the porch. Similar windows are found along both sides of the structure.
A curved projection at the rear of the building marks the sanctuary. A sacristy and a similar extension are located on either side of the sanctuary.
The internal fittings include pews, timber and marble altar, baptismal font and confessional. The interior has been painted and fittings repaired. A new staircase to the choir loft has been recently constructed and windows replaced with new frames.
","history":"Ravenswood Community Church, formerly St Patrick's Catholic Church, was opened on 21 October 1871. Additions have been made to the church over time and it is understood that major additions were made to the building in the early 20th century.
Early discoveries of gold in the Ravenswood area were made by prospectors attracted to the district by gold mining at Cape River. Gold was discovered in the Ravenswood district in 1868 although the Top Camp Lode was not discovered until the following year.
Ravenswood was initially an alluvial field with some quartz reefing. Following the discovery of quartz reefs there were problems with attracting crushing machinery. The arrival of a five head stamp battery in 1869, led to a subsequent improvement in returns from the quartz reefs providing the miners with the impetus to develop a more permanent township.
By the mid 1870s, the population was fairly stable. There were a number of service industries established including five hotels, saddler, blacksmiths, chemist, baker, assayer, and butcher. auctioneer, a variety of stores from fancy goods to wholesalers.
About March 1871 a committee was formed to plan the construction of a catholic chapel. A subscription list was opened and donations acknowledged in the Ravenswood Miner. The construction of the church appears to have been a community affair with people from many denominations donating to the project or helping with construction. A small school was opened in the chapel soon after construction was completed.
Ross & O'Reilly who are believed to have been local builders constructed the building. Hugh Ross was identified as a builder in Charters Towers in 1875 where he constructed Acker & Company's building, the Oddfellows' Hall and the Anglican and Presbyterian churches. These churches are similar in design to the Ravenswood Community Church.
A severe storm in 1873 damaged the church although it is not known how severely. One local story says that the rear of the building had to be rebuilt while another says that the whole building was demolished and required rebuilding.
The Ravenswood Catholic community became a thriving one with a church, boarding school and convent located in Chapel Street. Fr JPF Connolly, from Townsville, was the first visiting priest to Ravenswood. Later, missionary priests from Italy and France visited the town before it became a parish in its own right.
In 1885 Fr Flood, first parish priest, began negotiations with the Sisters of Mercy to open a school and convent. The Ravenswood community again demonstrated their faith in the long term prosperity of their town by supporting Fr Flood's fundraising campaign. Fr Flood purchased a house for the nuns who arrived in 1886. The first convent school was probably opened in the church. And later a day and boarding school for girls was opened in 1890.
During the second world war students from St Patrick's College, The Strand, Townsville were evacuated to the boarding school at Ravenswood. After the war St Patrick's students returned to Townsville. The boarding school and convent remained in operation until 1948 when both were closed.
The school building was moved to Giru but the convent remained in situ until damaged in a storm and demolished by local residents for its timber.
Townsville builders Rooney & Company are thought to be the contractors who extended the church in 1905. The church continued to be used, although it was allowed to fall into disrepair, until 1957 when a community fundraising campaign raised fifty pound for repairs. Community working bees renewed the wall behind the sanctuary after it was damaged by white ants, the roof was renewed where necessary, and the white ant-damaged sacristy was demolished and reconstructed. The structure was then painted.
Despite this community activity the building was under-utilised and neglected until the mid 1970s when a local couple chose to be married there. Once again the community responded with working bees to repair the building in time for the wedding. Windows were replaced, the structure was painted, fittings were repaired and carpet laid in the aisle.
In the mid 1980s the Catholic Diocese of Townsville handed over the property to the Dalrymple Shire. Since that time the Ravenswood community, assisted with funds from local mining company Carpentaria Gold, has maintained its long association with the church by acting as caretakers of the building and by utilising the place as a community church. Special events such as carols by candle light, which involve the whole community, are also celebrated in the church.
The structure has recently been repainted and the stairs to the choir loft rebuilt.
","criteria":"Ravenswood Community Church, constructed in stages from 1871 by Charters Towers builders, Ross and O'Reilly, is important in demonstrating the periods of prosperity of the Ravenswood gold fields and is evidence of the spread of the Catholic religion in regional Queensland particularly North Queensland.
|(Criterion under review)
|The church, which is a simply constructed timber building overlooking the town, is a landmark in Ravenswood.
|The local community has had a long association with the church. On a number of occasions the survival of the church has depended on the concern and generosity of the Ravenswood community which has provided ongoing care and maintenance on the building since the 1950s. As a community church the building continues to be a focus for community gatherings, church services and celebrations.
|(Criterion under review)
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16585,"place_ref":601848,"name":"Pandanus Creek Battery","alternate_name":"Breitkreuz's Mill","street_address":"Via Ravenswood to Mingela Road","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-04-05","description":"Compact and partly intact battery situated on the eastern bank of Pandanus Creek immediately north of a recent re-treatment plant, which is currently mothballed. The battery comprises two almost intact 5 headsets of stamps in iron frames. One mortar box is manufacture by Walkers Limited, the other by Brand and Drybrough. Alongside immediately to the north of the battery is a Ruston one cylinder gas engine. The treatment area below the battery contains the remains of a wilfley table and five berdan pans including three in situ. Three 5-metre diameter corrugated iron tanks are also located in this area. The brick chimney has received substantial damage to its northwest base possibly during removal of the boiler. Other features of the site include a stone launder from the mill area to the creek and the remains of a stone forge. Battery shed timber uprights remain in situ.
Plant:
5 head battery and frame - (mortar box) Walkers Limited.
Five head battery & frame - (mortar box) Brand & Drybrough Townsville: (stamper frame) Brand & Drybrough Engineers Townsville.
One cylinder gas engine with flywheel - Ruston Lincoln England.
5 Berdan Pans (3 in situ).
Wilfley Table (fragments).
","history":"The Pandanus Creek battery was relocated by C. Breitkreutz from Rochford in 1904 where it had been known as the Hadleigh Castle Mill. It had been erected in 1890. The 1890's were the heyday of mining in the district. It is not known when the battery ceased operations, but Breitkreutz owned the Three Sisters and Sisters Extended Mines on the Kirk River to the east and they were working between 1900 and 1916.
","criteria":"The Pandanus Creek battery is important in demonstrating the evolution of gold mining practices in north Queensland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The place is also significant for its association with the enterprising Mr C. Breitkreutz of Rochford, where the battery had originally been part of the Hadleigh Castle mill.
|The battery is significant as one of very few surviving intact isolated stamp batteries in the Charters Towers Mining District.
|The technology of processing ore at the site is demonstrated through the association of the battery with a brick chimney, gas engine and a concentrating treatment plant below the battery, which includes berdan pans.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16586,"place_ref":601849,"name":"Lolworth Creek Battery","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"100km west of Charters Towers","suburb":"BASALT","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2003-06-14","description":"The place is situated on the northern bank of Lolworth Creek at the base of a steep spur that forms a horseshoe bend in the creek. The place contains an intact five head stamp battery alongside a two-cylinder portable steam engine. Both items are located within the partly intact bush-timber frame of a battery shed. All corrugated iron cladding has been removed from the shed frame. Three earth settling tanks reinforced with bush timber are located on the creek bank below the shed. A concreted ford across the creek serves as a low dam. The remains of a tailings sands dump and cyanide treatment area are also located on the creek bank. Above the battery there is evidence of a campsite including the remains of a wood stove. An almost intact weighbridge with scales is a feature of this area.
Plant:
·\tFive head stamp battery - Burns & Twigg Engineers Rockhampton.
·\tTwo-cylinder portable steam engine - no brand (Brown & May, Devizes?).
·\tWeighbridge platform - no brand (H. Pooley & Son).
·\tScales - H. Pooley & Son Patentees Liverpool.
","history":"The Lolworth Creek workings, also known as Mount Hope, officially produced about 7,584 oz of gold from quartz veins in granite country rock. Unfortunately, there is only a relatively small area free from the thick basalt which covers all but the mined area north of the creek. The workings are located in four groups of leases: Mount Hope and Crystal Oak on the north, and the Toby Creek group to the south.
Government geologist W.E. Cameron inspected the reefs in 1920 and thought they might be profitably worked if they were equipped with inexpensive plant and opened out.
Auriferous copper was discovered in 1926 by W.H. Shetland in the Crystal Oak mine and the hand picked ore was railed to Charters Towers for treatment between 1928 and 1930. By mid 1931 76m of sinking and driving on lode material had resulted in 37 tons of picked gold and copper-bearing ore from about 700 tons of actual material broken. This just paid costs.
The Lucky Hit mineral claim near Mount Hope was the second to be pegged on the Lolworth Creek field and caused a mild influx of diggers. By late 1932 between 40 and 50 claims had been applied for.
The battery was erected on the northern bank of Lolworth Creek, opposite its confluence with Brandy Creek, sometime between mid 1930 and 1932, when there are reports of tonnage from various claims (such as Campbell's Hope Extended) awaiting crushing. It is not known for how long the battery operated, but about 60 small gold mines operated to the south during the 1930s and records of yields of gold per ounce from tons of ore suggest that local crushing continued up to 1938.
","criteria":"(Criterion under review)
|The stamp battery is a representative, but now rare product of the local manufacturers, Burns & Twigg of Rockhampton. The two-cylinder portable steam engine is also rare and may be a product of engineers Brown & May of Devizes. The place also contains a rare surviving weighbridge with scales.
|The Lolworth Creek battery is significant as a representative example of a small isolated battery and power plant of late 19th century design and manufacture still in use in the 1930s.
The bush-timber frame of the battery shed is partly intact. Below the shed on the creek bank are three earth concentrate tanks which, with a group of rendered stone cyanide tanks and tailings sands, illustrate the crude processing technology.
There is also evidence of a camp, including a metal wood stove.
|The combination of surface ruins and natural setting creates a significant historical landscape.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16588,"place_ref":601851,"name":"Towers Hill","alternate_name":"Towers Chlorination Works | Rainbow Battery | Pyrites Works","street_address":"Southwest of Charters Towers city","suburb":"TOWERS HILL","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2003-04-29","description":"Towers Hill is a large granite hill rising 1,343m above sea level.
Pyrites Works:
The site comprises a complex of remnant concrete, brick and stone-pitched mill foundations extending down the eastern slope of Towers Hill. Demolished remains of a large brick chimney are located on top of the hill. The stone footings of two furnaces, including internal brick stairways, extend down from the chimney to the hearth areas near the base of the hill. Stone-terraced foundations of the chlorination works are separately located immediately south of the furnaces. Remnants of the red tailings from the Pyrites Works are located at the north-east base of Towers Hill. White tailings sands and recent retreatment tanks are located at the eastern base of the hill below the chlorination works. The stone base of an original chimney and flue, and the formation of the Pyrites branch railway with stone bridge abutments, are located further south of the works, near an area of early camp sites.
Rainbow Battery:
The site comprises an area of concrete and rendered-stone battery foundations, engine mounts and retaining walls. A tailings pit and two large concrete settling tanks are separately located on the southern side. A stone and earth dam is situated adjacent to the battery foundations on the north-west. A partially removed area of tailings adjacent to the battery on the north-east forms a component of the site. The remains of the Pyrites Works are visible on Towers Hill to the south.
Clarke's Mine and Battery:
The concrete and brick foundations for a winding engine, boiler and headframe survive as evidence of the mine surface plant. A large pile of mullock now fills and covers the shaft entrance. A concrete lined inground water tank has been constructed on top of the spur overlooking the mine. The demolished remains of a timber-framed cement-sheet clad hut of World War 2 military origin are located beside the mine on the former telegraph maintenance track. Concrete stamp battery foundations and mill surfaces are situated on a lower level immediately to the south. The mine mullock was adapted during World War 2 for construction of four form-cast concrete explosives stores which are built into the dump. These stores form part of a large complex of similar wartime structures which are constructed over the south-west slopes of Towers Hill. The place is intersected by an early telegraph route with Siemens Bros. & Co., London, iron telegraph pole bases surviving. Timber poles from later telegraph and telephone route construction are also present.
","history":"Towers Hill was the site of the first discovery of gold in December 1871 which led to the development of the Charters Towers Goldfield. George E. Clarke, Hugh Mosman, John Fraser and an Aboriginal called Jupiter comprised the prospecting party. They camped near the quartz strewn outcrops of the North Australia Reef. Commissioner William Charters awarded prospecting claims to Clarke, Mosman and Fraser on the North Australia line of reef on 25 March 1872.
Pyrites Works:
By the mid 1880s milling technology had developed considerably since the early days of the 1870s before mining had reached the ores below the water table. Crushing involved the breaking of the ore by gravitation stamps, with the resulting powder carried by a stream of water over copper plates coated with mercury to catch the gold. The gold was then recovered by scraping the amalgam from the plates and separating the two metals by distillation. When mining reached the water table this method proved inadequate for the recovery of gold in pyrites and base metal sulphides. New plants were set up to concentrate and retreat the tailings from the mills. Six pyrites works are shown on Robert Logan Jack's 1878 plan of the Charters Towers Goldfield.
Chlorination, which was introduced in the mid 1880s, involved first roasting the concentrates slowly in a large reverbatory furnace to expel the sulphur from the pyrites and to oxidise their base metals so as to reduce the amount of chlorine they could absorb. Salt was then added to satisfy copper, zinc and other metals whose oxides have a tendency to form chlorides when chlorine is presented to them in a free state. Finally chlorine and water were introduced so that the gold gradually formed a solution of gold chloride which was collected and precipitated.
Mr D.A. Brown designed and installed the original works and at the height of the Charters Towers Pyrites Works prosperity, he was sent to South Africa and England to study new methods of treatment. He was much impressed by chemical and electrical work done in England and on returning, built his patent "Hillside" furnace, erected works, and in all spent about £60,000 on new plant.
Operation of the works involved ore being fed in at the top of the hill and swept down through a reverberatory furnace to the bottom. It was swept along a hearth 3.2m wide for a length of over 100m by automatic rabbles and took about three hours to descend. The furnace was surmounted by a monumental chimney stack 54.7m high and 5.6m in diameter at the base on the outside. The stack was built of 120,000 bricks.
Between the stack and the feed hopper were elaborate dust chambers - four double and five single ones. These chambers had a V shaped cross-section, about 9m across at the top and sloping 45 degrees to a trough at the bottom. They were built and buttressed in brick.
The furnace had a number of arches which were parallel to the length of the furnace rather than a continuous arch from side to side. The total fall of the furnace was 90.2m, the length of the hearth therefore being considerably more than 100m. The total height from the furnace door to the top of the chimney stack was 145m.
The wood consumed by the furnace was said to average 4 cwt. per ton of ore roasted. It was claimed that from 250 to 300 tons of mixed concentrates and slimes were processed per week.
A smaller Hillside furnace, 47.5m long and 3.2m wide, was used by Brown as the design basis for the larger one. Remains of this furnace are shown on the 1994 plan (attached).
The company installed a very complete electrical transmission plant and the ore was hoisted up an inclined tramway to the top of the hill by means of motors; the dust was sucked back from the chambers, a Roots blower was operated, the furnace was rabbled, and the ore conveyed.
Other components of the works included a Carr's disintegrator which crushed glass to add to filter vats of fine damped sand through which chlorine gas was passed, then chlorine water was added from above to dissolve out the gold. Eight precipitating vats, each about 3m in diameter by 1m deep, were used to precipitate gold from solutions. The precipitate was burnt in a reverberatory furnace, leaving the ash and gold to be smelted, or sometimes the gold was redissolved and precipitated, after which it was smelted.
With the advance of cyanide treatment technology, introduced commercially to Charters Towers by the Australian Gold Recovery Company in 1892, the low cost of handling and treating sands and slimes and the utter simplicity of the new process, meant that the chlorination works, once so prosperous, became redundant and were shut down. The Forrest-McArthur cyanidation process of treating mill tailings was perfected by 1895. In 1899 there were 96 cyaniding plants in Charters Towers. That was the year of peak gold production - 319,572 fine ozs.
By 1904 the Pyrites Works had converted to a cyanide treatment plant; four more sand vats of similar dimensions to those used in the chlorination process were added, and the red tailings which had been chlorinated were retreated by cyanide.
Just prior to the Pyrites Works closing a meeting of the board of management was held and when asked to read the minutes of the previous meeting the chairman, D.A. Brown, produced a revolver and shot and killed the inquiring member of the board. Brown was taken into custody and was subsequently tried and hanged in Brisbane. The landmark chimney, known locally as "Brown's Folly" was demolished in 1942 when it was considered a hazard to aircraft.
Rainbow Battery:
The Rainbow reef was the site of early mining claims worked during 1872. In mid 1875 the owners of the Rainbow Claim floated a company to finance the sinking of a new vertical shaft. From the Rainbow reef 15,479 tons of ore were crushed for 28,130 ozs. The vertical shaft was 67m deep and the underlie over 244m. The Rainbow mine continued to be worked until about 1896.
It is not known when the battery was constructed as it was not shown on R.L. Jack's 1878 plan or in an 1878 photo of the Rainbow line of reef. However the North Queensland Register reported in 1897 that the Rainbow battery had a 16h.p. engine, 10 head of stamps, 10 berdans, 2 wheelers, a buddle, and concentrators. Ore was run direct to the mill, which was on the Rainbow lease. The Rainbow battery was idle in 1897 and owned by the Queensland National Bank.
It is not known if it worked continuously again, although it is shown on Frederick Deighton's 1903 plan of the Charters Towers Goldfield and on later large-scale Geological Survey of Queensland plans. On the latter, extensive areas of associated tailings are also mapped. In 1911 it was reported that tributors took 36 tons from the Welcome P.C. mine mullock dump and treated it at the Rainbow battery.
A photograph of the Rainbow battery appearing in the Queensland Government Mining Journal of 15 February 1917 (p.65) shows the works still structurally intact and comprised a corrugated-iron clad battery shed, raff wheel, tanks, tailings dam and other buildings, with Towers Hill and the Pyrites Works chimney in the background.
Clarke's Mine and Battery:
Clarke's mine on the north-western side of Towers Hill is in the vicinity of the first discovery of gold in 1871 by Clarke, Mosman, Fraser and party. Clarke's Gold Mine was worked on the Lady Maria and Moonstone reefs between 1872 and 1885. In 1885 it was one of the claims that amalgamated to form the Mosman Gold Mine which was floated in the United Kingdom in the following year. Under this name it worked until 1898. After this the various claims split again and Clarke's Gold Mine reopened in 1914 and worked fairly successfully until 1924. In this stage the mine produced about 42,000 ounces of gold from the Lady Maria and Clarke's Moonstone reefs. The Clarke's shafts probably produced about 70,000 ounces of gold over their lives, but production figures are confused because of the amalgamations. George Clarke later prospected on the Russell River goldfield before going to Papua, where he was killed on the Mambare River in 1895.
","criteria":"The Pyrites Works site is important in demonstrating the evolution of gold extraction practices in Queensland.
Additional historical themes are represented by other components surviving in this landscape including an early reservoir, early telegraph line poles and World War 2 explosives magazines. Nature conservation values are also present.
The visible association of the site with a 1950s telephone line route utilising early telegraph line poles and the secure storage of explosives during World War 2 provides a unique combination of past technologies and events, and a continuity of history.
|It [the Pyrites Chlorination Works] is a rare, if not unique, survivor of its kind, exhibiting in its layout and foundation the latest chlorination process technology before the introduction of the cyanide process; then its takeover and adaptation to the cyaniding process.
|These characteristics give the site [the Pyrites Chlorination Works] the potential to yield information likely to contribute to further understanding the history of mineral processing technology.
|Towers Hill contains the most extensive remains of a pyrites chlorination works in Queensland.
The Rainbow battery site is a surviving example of the layout of a once representative ore processing mill and demonstrates the pattern of establishing a battery near a line of reef. In addition its location clearly illustrates a physical association with the Pyrites Works and Towers Hill.
The place [Clarke's Mine and Battery] also represents two distinct phases in the life of the Charters Towers field: the initial prospecting and working of surface outcrops, then the latter reworking of reef off-shoots from the surface workings following the exhaustion of the deep leads in the centre of the town.
|The [Pyrites Chlorination] works, located on the east side of Towers Hill, contribute to the historical landscape and landmark qualities which are further enhanced by the size of the granite Towers Hill rising 1,343m above sea level and visible from far distances.
|It [the Pyrites Chlorination Works] is a rare, if not unique, survivor of its kind, exhibiting in its layout and foundation the latest chlorination process technology before the introduction of the cyanide process; then its takeover and adaptation to the cyaniding process.
|Towers Hill has a special association with the community of Charters Towers for social reasons associated with its landmark qualities and led to the town and its surrounds being called "The Towers" since the 1870s.
|Clarke's mine and battery foundations are significant because of their association with George E. Clarke, one of the discoverers of the Charters Towers Goldfield.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion F | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":17021,"place_ref":602200,"name":"Day Dawn PC No.3 Shaft mine remains","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Paull Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2003-04-29","description":"The Shaft is open and well defined behind a chain wire safety fence (14m x 14m) that was erected in the late 1960's by the City Council. A temporary wire chain safety fence has been placed on the eastern side presumably to render safe this side from subsidence. The shaft is open and intact. 50 metres to the south west is a brick magazine. Substantial foundations for mine machinery associated with the mine lie to the north. The Day Dawn PC No. 4 is in evidence to the east as has a temporary safety fence around it. The USL on which the shaft lies is heavily grassed and is generally clear of other built or natural features.
","history":"The Day Dawn PC No. 3 mine was a part of the Day Dawn Prospecting Claim which was the first lode mine to turn out £1,000,000 worth of gold in Queensland. This took place in 1898.
Discovered in late 1871, Charters Towers became the richest of the North Queensland mining fields. The field was proclaimed a town in 1877, and by the early 1880s was a prosperous settlement which made a major contribution to the social, political and economic development of North Queensland.
The original Day Dawn P.C. was taken up by a group of German miners and was the first to give Charters Towers a good start and indeed may be said were it not for it, Charters Towers would be a one horse mining centre. The ground was first worked in 1874 and was for many years a 'stringer'. In the hands of Mr Frederick Pfeiffer and his partners Christian and Ievers, the wealth of the Day Dawn Reef at a depth of 200 ft was found in 1878. All at once the stone came in 4 ft thick of 3 oz stuff. The reef widened as far as 20 ft and occasionally went to 5 oz to the ton. The Day Dawn PC ranked as the fifth largest producer on the Charters Towers goldfield with 275,128 tons crushed for a return of 379,859 oz of gold. From 1902 onwards the returns grew less. The mine was closed in 1913.
In June 1887 the mine was sold to an English company for £470,000 and used the name Day Dawn P. C. Gold Mining Company. Returns for the first five years (1887 to 1891) were 120,722 oz of gold with total dividends of £155,000.
The Day Dawn PC No. 3 mine was put down as a vertical shaft by this new English owner some time around 1891 to work the eastern portion of the Day Dawn Claim, which had increased in size from 24 to over 55 acres. It was sunk to cut the Eastward Ho reef and to prospect a big portion of the Rainbow Flat. The original Day Dawn PC together with the No. 2 to the west were underlie shafts. To the east the No. 4 was put down some time after. In 1897 No. 3 shaft turned out 9,500 tons for 15,000 oz.
Gold Production for the Day Dawn PC from 1881- 1913 was 75,128 tons of ore raised for a return of 379,859 oz and dividends returning £638,00. It was the goldfield's 5th mine in terms of value of output.
When in use the shaft was in three compartments. In 1898 it is known the vertical descent of the shaft was 868 ft with two underlies going north east and north west. The total depth at the time was 1078 ft. The capital brace was 40 foot high and was quite distinctive with a long raised walkway to the east. The head frame was an open timber structure. In 1897 the North Queensland Register listed the equipment on the surface to include a 430 ton hopper, a stone breaker, a 28 hp engine, two air compressors, two robey boilers, six rock drills and an underground air machine.
","criteria":"Mine Remains at the Day Dawn PC No. 3 shafts are located on what was one of Australia's most productive gold fields and reflects the importance of the mining industry to the development of North Queensland. In association with other surviving mining sites, the place has the ability to demonstrate the pattern of Queensland's mining history.
The remains of the Day Dawn PC No. 3 along with the machinery mounts, powder magazine, and water tank are the few tangible remains of the Day Dawn era of mining on the Towers. The original Day Dawn PC and the No. 2 shafts have been destroyed. However the vista of the Day Dawn ridge with Frederick Pfeiffer's villa residence still intact in nearby Paull Street coupled to the outline of the tramway that connected these mines to the Excelsior Mill provides evidence of the nature and scope of mining activity that permeated most aspects of life in Charters Towers from 1872 to 1918
|These remains of surface infrastructure and their surrounding cultural landscapes have the potential to yield information about the nature and scope of mining activity during this period.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":17034,"place_ref":602221,"name":"Charters Towers Gold Mine Shafts and Remains","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Stubley Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2003-04-29","description":"(a) DAY DAWN BLOCK AND WYNDHAM NO.1 MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
The shaft is located close to the western side of Upper Deane Street, on vacant land. It is surrounded by a 10m x 6m chain wire safety fence and is visible from the street. The shaft opening is 3m across with a predominantly rock collar. The eastern and northern side of the shaft openings however, show some small evidence of collapse in recent times. The ground within the fence is lightly grassed and free of debris. There are no other mine remains in evidence but evidence of the tramway which connected this, the No.2 and no.3 shafts of the Day Block and Wyndham Co. to the main railway lines lies beside the shaft.
(b) DAY DAWN BLOCK AND WYNDHAM NO.3 MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
The shaft, machinery foundations and mullock heaps are located on vacant land on the eastern side of Stubley Street and are visible from the road. The area is accessed by a drivable track off Stubley Street, diagonally opposite Day Street.
The shaft is open and well defined behind a 12m x 13m chain wire safety fence erected in the 1960s by the City Council. The vertical shaft has a rock collar and is claimed to have a vertical depth of 568ft. Within the fence there are the remains of two of the mine's head frame leg footings.
The fenced area of the shaft is flanked on either side by small mullock heaps which rise to high ground behind the shaft.
Opposite the shaft, (across the track) are the remains of large concrete and brick, machinery and building foundations. Slightly to the west of these large foundations is a large rectangular concrete slab close to the curb of Stubley Street.
Houses sit close to this area on the northern side.
(c) DAY DAWN FREEHOLD EXTENDED MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
The shaft is located at the southern end of Oxford Street on vacant land. Access can also be gained by Faull Street, (a dirt track), off Cambridge Street.
The vertical shaft sits directly behind a house and is open and well defined within a chain wire safety fence 18m x 18m. The entrance to the shaft is very wide and overgrown and is claimed to have a vertical depth of 1,185ft. Three of the mine's concrete footings for the head frame legs are visible inside the fence.
Across the track, opposite the shaft are the concrete and brick remains of a settling pond. Some small mullock heaps are visible to the east of this structure and a large excavation is in evidence further again to the east.
A natural ridge runs east west to the south of this area.
(d) PLANT'S DAY DAWN MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
The shaft is located near the corner of Marion and Oxford Streets in Charters Towers and consists of a fenced shaft with some small concrete slab foundations around the outside of the fence.
An altered landscaped in the form of a small plateau towards the Elizabeth Street side of the block with minor concrete foundations in the escarpment, could also be associated with the former mine site, possibly where the machinery and auxiliary buildings stood.
The shaft has a concrete cover and is in meed of some repair. A conical concrete footing structure lies on the ground inside the fence.
(e) BRILLIANT DEEPS MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
The shaft and foundations of surface infrastructure are on land in between Anne and Park Streets with access via Park Street. Of significance here is the shaft, with the remnants of a brick exhaust chimney on the rim of the shaft, and the large concrete and brick remains of machinery and building foundations. The shaft is open and well defined to a depth of 2,552ft and is enclosed by a 14m x 14m chain wire safety fence. The land surrounding the shaft is flat with no evidence of mullock heaps.
On the eastern side of the shaft is a new mine currently being worked by Charters Towers Gold Mines.
Housing surrounds the land on which the two mines sit.
(f) QUEEN CROSS EXTENDED MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
The mineshaft and brick machinery foundations are located on vacant land at the top of Gladstone Road, at the junction of Arthur Jones Avenue. Access is gained by Deanes Street which manifests itself as a dirt track running through scrubby terrain behind a residential area. The site is not visible from the road but is accessible.
The shaft is wide with no evidence of a rock collar and does not appear to be of great depth. It is enclosed in a 14m x 14m chain wire safety fence. Directly opposite the shaft on the western side are the reasonably small foundations of the mine machinery constructed entirely of brick.
(g) NEW QUEEN CENTRAL NO.2 MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
The shaft and infrastructure remains are located on vacant land bounded in part by Sayers Street to the south, Norman Dungavell Dr to the east, and Cross Street to the west. The site lies nearest to the southeast corner of the lot and is accessed by Sayers Street. The shaft and remaining infrastructure are visible from the street.
The shaft is open and well defined behind a chain wire fence of 14m x 14m. It is vertical to a depth of 1,900ft. Two poppet head footings stand outside the fence on the north and south sides and minimal concrete foundations are in evidence on the other sides of the fence.
Opposite the shaft, towards Sayers Street, are the remains of brick and concrete machinery foundations, the largest structure being in the centre with a concrete slab on the eastern side and a smaller brick structure on the western side. Another concrete slab lies between the shaft and the foundations on the western side.
(h) ST GEORGE AND MOONSTONE MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
The shaft is located on the southern side of Towers Hill with access via Chloride Street. The shaft lies at the intersection of upper Chloride Street and Percy Street but as both of these streets are unformed, access to the shaft is through open bush commencing from the private road to the Microwave Repeater Station.
The shaft itself is open and well defined behind a chain wire safety fence (14m x 14m). The opening to the shaft is 6m x 4m wide and is filled with water to approximately 1.5m from the surface. Within the fence there are the remains of one of the mine's head frame leg footings, and outside the fence on the eastern side are some small mullock heaps. Remains of concrete foundations are found scattered around the shaft, but none are intact.
","history":"CONTEXT
These eight vertical mine shafts are to be found amongst the suburban streets of Charters Towers and were developed during the period of intense gold mining that occurred on the Charters Towers Goldfield from 1872 to 1917. During this forty-five-year period, Charters Towers became one of the most important goldfields in Queensland, and in Australia, attracting heavy investment interest from overseas companies. At its peak it accounted for more than a third of Queensland's entire gold production. The success of the goldfield led to the permanent establishment of the town of Charters Towers and had a major impact on the continued settlement of North Queensland and the economy of Queensland as a whole.
Gold was discovered at the foot of Towers Hill in late 1871 and in August 1872 the Charters Towers Goldfield was officially proclaimed. There was little alluvial gold at Charters Towers, the major payable gold to be found in downward sloping reefs of gold-bearing ore. Gold mining in Charters Towers was characterised by deep underlie shafts with levels striking the various reefs that ran through the field. Vertical shafts were also a feature of the goldfield however not as common as the underlie shafts. (There are approximately 200km of mine shafts under Charter Towers.)
Because Charters Towers Goldfield was a reefing field it required capital and equipment for its development. Underground mining of this nature led to the development of more stable settlements as opposed to some of the fleeting settlements that developed and then disappeared around short-lived alluvial gold fields.
The gold mining leases (GMLs) that were taken up during the late 19th and early 20th centuries covered the entire area of Charters Towers in a patchwork fashion. Mining companies who held the leases would often sink several shafts on their land to cut the reefs, with unsuccessful prospecting being a common aspect of mining as well as the spectacular successes.
A heightened phase of prosperity was entered when the great wealth of the Day Dawn Reef was discovered in 1878. It was to become one of the highest producers of gold on the Charters Towers field. Charters Towers boomed throughout the 1880s, overshadowing all other mining centres in North Queensland. Increased speculation was triggered by the floating of companies on the London stock market from 1886 following a display of Charters Towers Gold at the Colonial Exhibition in London in 1885 and changes to investment law. British investors poured wealth into Charters Towers during this period providing the capital which gave rise to the substantial nature of the city and the continued large scale mining.
By 1886, thirty-three shafts had been sunk to below the 152m-level and gold production had doubled since 1883. In 1889 the famous Brilliant Reef, the richest on the field, was discovered and Charters Towers continued to prosper throughout the depressed economy of the 1890s with its peak production of 319,572 ounces of gold in 1899, and the population peaking to approximately 27,000 in 1900. The great numbers of wage-earning miners employed by the mining companies in Charters Towers also created an environment conducive to the growth of an industrial union which made a vital contribution to the Queensland labour movement.
Charters Towers was so full of confidence during its peak that its inhabitants referred to it as 'The World'. No other mining town in North Queensland came close to its prosperity and diversity.
The early 20th century was marked by a steady decline in gold production. Menghetti suggests that '... already an unhealthy amount of the return was coming from the re-treatment of the residues with the cyanide process which had arrived in Charters Towers in 1892'. In the three years after 1910 the number of employed miners on the field fell from 2,631 to 985. Government subsidies were granted to some mines for further exploration, however this yielded little and the population of Charters Towers began to drift away.
Most mines had been abandoned by 1916 with the last of the big mines, the Brilliant Extended, closing down in 1917. By the end of this peak gold mining period, Charters Towers Goldfield had produced about 7 million ounces of gold.
Throughout World War I, most of the infrastructure around the mines (e.g. headframes, poppet heads and machinery) was dismantled for recycling purposes during the war effort. In many cases the infrastructure was simply moved to new mines.
During the 1960s the Charters Towers City Council constructed fences around the remaining mine shafts. In recent years a program of capping many old mine shafts has been in place. The Department of Natural Resources and Mines currently maintain the mineshafts.
(a) & (b) DAY DAWN BLOCK AND WYNDHAM NO.1 MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS & NO. 3 MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
The Day Dawn Block and Wyndham Company worked three shafts on the Day Dawn reef continuously from 1883 to 1912 and was one of the three great mines on the Day Dawn lode. It had the greatest yield of any mine on the Charters Towers goldfield: 589,531 tons of ore was raised for 546,531 oz of gold. The mine was situated on Gold Mining Leases 1807, 1808, & 1809 on an area of 100 acres.
Tom Mills took up the Day Dawn Block in 1880 to complement his lease on the Wyndham mine alongside in the west. This 'Block' lease, as it was known, was forfeited and then taken up by J. Malone and A. Young who formed the Day Dawn Block Company and started a vertical shaft to cut the Day Dawn lode. Litigation over this lease instituted by Mills against the company resulted in a compromise where the Wyndham lease was amalgamated with the Day Dawn Block and the Day Dawn Block and Wyndham Company was formed in 1882.
The No. 1 shaft was on the former Day Dawn Block lease and was on the eastern boundary of the Day Dawn Block and Wyndham lease. In June 1883 a straight shaft was sunk and it cut the Day Dawn reef at 475 ft. The Northern Mining Register Christmas Number of 1891 said, 'Never before in the history of the field or perhaps in Australia, has a block shaft bottomed on such a show' The shaft was a small one but from it between the walls was taken 32 tons of stone which yielded 187 oz 16dwt 6gr (of gold).' (P.51). By 1897 the No.1 shaft was abandoned.
The No. 2 shaft was an underlie shaft and was sited on the original Wyndham lease on the eastern side of Upper Mosman Street.
The No.3 shaft in the west was a vertical shaft to a depth of 560 ft. An underlie shaft then followed the lode and intersected a shoot at a depth of 1,200 ft. It was when this shaft was connected to the No.2 shaft at the No. 14 level that rock drills were first used with success on the goldfield: The North Queensland Register's Mining History of Charters Towers remarked that '... the ground was terrifically hard and the contractor Mr Beith, lost money.'
In 1886 the mine was sold to a British company which in 1897 had paid-up capital of £500,000. The three mines were connected by tramway to the main rail line where the ore was transported to the company's mill at Selheim. (The mill at Selheim is extant). This was 14 miles to the east on the Burdekin where 60 head of stamps made it the largest reducing plant of the goldfield. In 1900 the company employed 225 men.
With reserves depleted, work started on the Talisman reef with reasonable returns from 1904 to 1906. There was a gradual decline and the company entered voluntary liquidation in 1909 with tributors working the mine until it closed in 1912.
(c) DAY DAWN FREEHOLD EXTENDED MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
This shaft was identified as part of the Day Dawn Freehold Extended Mine on Jack, Rand and Maitland's map of 1898. It was sunk at the western end of the Day Dawn reef and in 1898 had a vertical depth of 1079ft.
From the early days of the goldfield nothing payable was found on the surface in this vicinity. Around 1887 the Day Dawn Consols Company, with shares principally held in Melbourne, was floated to prospect the area at greater depth. A two-chamber shaft was sunk to a depth of 500ft at the southern end of the common boundary of the company's two leases, GML 1685 & 1684 comprising 25 acres. Soon after the ground was virtually abandoned.
The Day Dawn Freehold Extended Gold Mining Company was floated locally around 1896-97 to take over the rights and the machinery of the first company. The company had capital of £50,000 in 100,000 shares at 10/- each. The new company sank a shaft cutting the Day Dawn reef at 1,100ft. It was then taken to 1,250ft with an underlie shaft opened and sunk a further 50ft. The No.1 west level was driven 550ft with only poor stone being found. The No.1 East level was driven 495ft with two levels being opened and fair quality ore being reported in 1897.
In 1898 the mine was taken over by the Dawn Gold Mines on GMLs 1882, 1883 & 2052 on over 69 acres with capital of £100,000. Prospecting work was undertaken on the Talisman reef from 1905 to 1907 without success, followed by the acquisition of the Wallis Day Dawn lease to the west in 1910 which also failed to produce payable ore. The mine was closed in 1911.
(d) PLANT'S DAY DAWN MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
Plant's Day Dawn Gold Mines Ltd held land north of the Day Dawn Block and Wyndham lease on GMLs 1702 & 1703 on an area of 50acres. In 1902 a deep shaft was sunk to cut the Day Dawn reef. The shaft reached a depth of 1,200 ft by 1906, after which work was ceased.
This shaft is associated with E.H.T. Plant the influential mining magnate of Charters Towers who was responsible for the construction of the Venus Battery and Thornburgh House and is credited with making a major contribution to the industry and life of Charters Towers.
(e) BRILLIANT DEEPS MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
According to the Sydney Mail of 17 August 1895, 'The most important event of the past ten years from a Charters Towers point of view was the striking of what is now known as the Brilliant Reef...'(p337). The discoveries on the Brilliant Reef ensured the field's survival during the depression of the 1890s and in the excitement that followed the discovery the Charters Towers Stock Exchange was reconstructed, opening for business in Mosman Street in 1890.
Numerous mines developed to exploit the Brilliant Reef in the Queenton area of Charters Towers lying to the east of the city. The Brilliant Deeps shaft was sunk on a 31 acre gold mining lease. It was taken up in 1891 as the Brilliant Extended Block when the company sunk a three compartment vertical shaft to over 2,000ft in depth.
Because of a lack of capital, the company was reconstituted in 1896 as the Brilliant Deep Levels Gold Mining Company. The shaft was then carried to 2,250ft where the lode was intersected, but it was not payable. An explosion of dynamite of Christmas Day 1896 damaged the shaft collar throwing 30 men out of work. An underlie shaft had been driven to 2,615ft but no payable ore was found and operations were suspended in 1904 due to difficulty in ventilating the shafts.
Until 1907, returns from the Brilliant Deeps shaft were minimal. From 1897 to 1899 a mere 69 oz of gold was produced and from 1900 to 1907 there were no returns at all.
In 1907 the company was reconstituted as the Brilliant Deeps Ltd and the western ground was prospected with greater success when the 'hanging wall' reef was struck in the No.2 west level and from 1908 regular crushings were obtained. In 1911 the 'footwall' reef was found in extending the No.4 level west at a depth of 2,811ft. In 1914 the 'hanging wall' workings were connected to the Brilliant Block workings for ventilation purposes.
From 1908 to 1916, 22,843 oz were returned making it a mediocre producer. The Brilliant Deeps was the mine with the deepest vertical descent on the Charters Towers Goldfield.
Prospecting has been resumed on this site with the Charters Towers Gold Mining Company digging immediately adjacent to the old shaft, aiming for the reserves on the Brilliant Reef which are reputed to still lie beneath.
(f) QUEEN CROSS EXTENDED MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
While many of the mines in Charters Towers experienced a gradual decline after the turn of the century, one last rich find was made in 1902 with the discovery of the New Queen Cross Reef.
In 1902, GML 1913, then named the East Victoria, was surveyed to the east of the Victoria and Queen reefs. By 1905 it was renamed the Queen Cross Extended and comprised 25 acres of land. It was at this time that the shaft for the Queen Cross Extended Mine was sunk on this lease. Returns from the mine were first reported in late 1905 with July's crushings giving a yield of 51 tons of ore for 19oz 15dwt. The amount of ore raised was very small and the mine was soon closed. As the history of neighbouring mines would indicate, this mine probably held no great promise for high returns.
(g) NEW QUEEN CENTRAL NO.2 MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
The New Queen Central Mining Company operated from 1892 to 1916 with very little success. Two vertical shafts were sunk on GML 1602 and five reefs were worked including the Just-in-time, 'Old' Queen Cross, 'New Queen Cross, Victory and the Brilliant but even though other surrounding mines had rich pay shoots, very little ore extended onto this ground.
The No.2 shaft was at the eastern boundary of the lease and cut the Just-in-Time reef at 600ft and the 'New' Queen Cross reef at 846 ft at which depth levels were driven with little success. The vertical shaft was continued with formations being opened up at 1,453ft (approximating the Brilliant reef) and1868ft.
By 1916 the company held GMLs 2478 and 2483 and had raised 7 626 tons of ore with a yield of 8,157 oz of gold and dividends of £1500. The mine closed in June 1916.
(h) ST GEORGE AND MOONSTONE MINE SHAFT AND REMAINS
In 1917 Reid reported this shaft as that of the St George and Moonstone Gold Mining Company on GML 2457. This shaft was sunk in 1915, subsidised by the government to 798ft, intending to intersect the Moonstone reef.
The Moonstone reef was one of the earliest to be worked in Charters Towers on the southern side of Towers Hill in 1872. In the 1890s Millet's Wellington, which was an amalgam of claims on the Wellington and Madeline reefs, dominated mining activity on this side of the hill with the Moonstone reef on the higher ground to the north being worked by various 'Moonstone' companies. When Maitland carried out his survey in 1898, the Havelock Block on GML 1509 to the north of Millet's Wellington, was abandoned giving some suggestion that prior to 1898, the St George and Moonstone Shaft was on a claim previously taken up to work the Havelock Reef.
The prospecting in 1915 was unsuccessful and operations were suspended and the mine was closed.
","criteria":"The mineshafts and their surrounding remains are important in demonstrating the development of the mining industry in Queensland. They reflect the immense gold mining activity that occurred in Charters Towers from 1872 to 1917, which saw it become the second largest city in Queensland during this time period and the third largest gold field in Australia. Gold from Charters Towers made a powerful contribution to the economic development of Queensland and the settlement patterns of North Queensland.
|From the hundreds of mines that were active in Charters Towers during its peak, these eight mineshafts and their surrounding remains are among the few tangible links left to the mining activity that was so prevalent in a town which had a substantial impact on Queensland's development.
|The mine shafts, the remaining foundations of surface infrastructure and their surrounding cultural landscapes have the potential to yield information about the nature and scope of mining activity which dominated life in Charters Towers from 1872 - 1917. As a group, the mineshaft sites give an insight as to how the town of Charters Towers developed in the midst of massive gold mining operations.
|The eight mineshafts and the remaining infrastructures surrounding them are good examples of mines and vertical shafts developed for deep reef gold mining during the period.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":19633,"place_ref":602512,"name":"Stone kerbing, channels and footbridges of Charters Towers","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Various","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2005-02-07","description":"The early granite kerbing and channeling at Charters Towers is constructed of granite, an igneous rock of coarse grain and consisting essentially of quartz together with feldspars and a mica. Granite is an excellent building stone because of its hardness and resistance to erosion.
The early granite kerbs and channeling at Charters Towers is constructed as dry stone masonry. It is visible in a number of streets throughout the city, with the boundary being from Hackett Terrace in the north, Jardine Street in the east, Daydawn Road in the south and Oxford Street in the west.
The kerbs have been constructed to several different depths, possibly dependent on the extent of storm-water run off in specific areas. The granite stone used to construct the kerbs are irregular in size, depending upon where they are located. For the most part, within the one square mile the stone used to construct the kerbs is approximately 200 mm x 300 mm, with straight sides and a flat face. They are laid on an angle of approximately 75 to 80 degrees i.e. Deane Street, Church Street and High Street. Other kerbs on the eastern and southern side of the city have been laid on an angle of 50 to 65 degrees i.e. Marion Street and King Street. In other areas the granite stones are laid almost flat forming an early stone-pitched dish drain i.e. King Street.
In Gill Street, which has become the main centre for commercial activity within the city, most of the early granite kerbing and channeling has been removed and replaced with concrete kerb and channeling. However, there is a small section of stone kerb and channeling between High Street and Vulture Street. In these areas, the early granite kerbs and channeling has been covered with a layer of concrete, however it is still visible in places where the concrete capping has cracked or worn thin.
The granite channels vary in width throughout the town. Channels are between three to five stones in width, approximately 800 mm to 900 mm wide. The stones are more irregular in shape and have a flat face.
In some areas individual stones have been removed, either dislodged and lying in the channel adjacent or missing. For example, on the southern side of Anne Street, between Deane Street and Church Street one stone had become dislodged and was lying in the channel. At the southern end of Mosman Street, in front of St Paul's Playhouse, four stones were lying in the adjacent channel. In other areas the early granite stone channel was covered with either bitumen or a thin layer of concrete, which has cracked to expose the stones underneath.
In recent years concrete slabs have been used to provide vehicular and pedestrian access to people's homes and businesses within the city. The concrete slabs, known locally as "cross-overs", have been placed across the early granite stone kerbs and channeling. Numerous cross-overs are located throughout the city.
The channeling to the streets from the slopes of Towers Hill directs storm-water runoff down the granite kerbs and channels along Deane Street. At the intersection of Deane and Gill Street, a large stone-pitched underground drain carries the water underneath Gill Street. The storm-water then flows along a steep stone-pitched open drain the length of Deane Street to the western boundary of Lissner Park. This opens into a wide stone-pitched open drain along the northern boundary of Lissner Park, formerly Mosman Creek. This northern end of town receives a large quantity of storm-water from the elevated areas of the town and was the original confluence of Deane Creek and Mosman Creek.
On the north, east and west boundary of Lissner Park there are five pedestrian footbridges and one road bridge that provide access across the open stone-pitched drain into the Park.
A pedestrian footbridge (No 1) is located on the northern boundary of Lissner Park. The footbridge is a simple beam bridge with a pair of steel girders supporting a timber deck spanning the 10.2 m wide gap between the two concrete piers on either side of stone pitched drain, with a north-south orientation. A 15 cm thick slab of pre-stressed concrete approximately 1.13 m wide has been laid over the timber deck. Originally Mosman Creek, the drain contains the remains of the original dry stone wall on the northern side, however the southern side has been covered with concrete. There are round steel handrails on both sides of the footbridge.
A second pedestrian footbridge (No 2) is located on the north-east boundary of Lissner Park. The footbridge forms an extension of the footpath on the western side of Church Street. The footbridge is a beam bridge with a pair of steel girders supporting a 15 cm thick concrete slab spanning the 18 m wide gap between the two concrete piers on either side of the stone pitched drain. The bridge is orientated north-south. Etched into the western side of the concrete slab are the words "H.P. POOLE. MAYOR. 15.3.29". There are steel handrails on either side of the footbridge.
A third footbridge (No 3) is located on the eastern boundary of Lissner Park. The bridge provides pedestrian access through the Charters Towers City Council's Animal Enclosure, which is located on the eastern side of the Park. It is a beam bridge with steel girders supporting a 15 cm thick concrete slab spanning 29.6 m long x 1.7 m wide. The piers are constructed on concrete. The bridge is orientated east-west. Access to the bridge on the western side is via a concrete ramp. Inscribed into the concrete ramp is the date "30.10.91". Access to the bridge on the eastern side is via four concrete steps, which have small granite stones inlaid in them. A plaque inside the animal enclosure notes that the site was upgraded in 1988 and was officially recognized by the Mayor, Alderman D E Birgan on 10 June 1988.
The fourth bridge (No 4) is a road bridge located on the western side of Lissner Park, which provides access for Charters Towers City Council staff into the Lissner Park Depot. It is a beam bridge with a pair of steel girders supporting a 3.3 m wide timber deck on top of which has been laid a base of black plastic that has been covered with a 20 cm thick concrete slab. The bridge spans 4.8 m between two concrete piers and is orientated east-west. The bridge spans the Deane Street drain (originally Deane Creek), which contains the remains of the original dry stonewall on the northern side, however the southern side has been covered with concrete. There is park rail fence on both sides of the bridge. The fence is approximately 85 cm high and consists of three steel posts and two steel rails, which have been painted white.
The fifth bridge (No 5) is a pedestrian footbridge located on the western side of Lissner Park at the intersection of Mosman and Deane Streets. This beam bridge is a simple bridge constructed by placing a pair of steel girders on two concrete piers on either side of the Deane Street drain. The steel girders support a 1.5 m wide timber deck on top of which has been laid a 10 cm thick concrete slab, which is approximately 6.1 m long. The date "28.10.1940" has been etched into the concrete pier adjacent to Deane Street. There is a timber park rail fence comprising three posts and one rail (approximately 9.2 cm x 9.2 cm square posts) that have been painted white.
The sixth bridge (No 6) is a pedestrian footbridge located on the western side of Lissner Park opposite the intersection of Jane Street. The footbridge is a beam bridge that spans the Deane Street drain. It comprises a pair of steel girders on two concrete piers and supports a timber deck (timber slabs are approximately 20 cm wide x 127 cm long x 5 cm thick) on top of which has been laid a 15 cm thick concrete slab. The bridge is 5.5 m long x 1.3 m wide and is orientated east-west. There is a round iron post handrail on both sides of the bridge. They have been painted dark green and are an extension of the railing that is evident along the western boundary of Lissner Park, which is constructed of the same type and style of material and is also painted dark green.
The seventh bridge (No 7) is the 1889 Show Street Bridge, a single lane road bridge that is located on the southeastern corner of the Charters Towers Show Grounds. The original timber bridge has been replaced. Today the bridge is a beam bridge and is comprised of a 40 cm thick slab of pre-stressed concrete approximately 6 m wide and 6.6 m long on three concrete piers. The Show Bridge is orientated north-south. The original granite stone-pitched open drain and approaches are still evident underneath the bridge. A single round steel post safety rail, painted white, has been placed on either side of the bridge.
The eighth bridge (No 8) is the Mary Street Bridge, which is a pedestrian footbridge located on the north side of Mary Street between King Street and Stubley Street. It is a simple beam bridge that is constructed from a steel deck supported by two concrete piers. Inscribed into the western pier is "EAT 95". The bridge is orientated east-west. A single round steel post safety rail is located on either side of the bridge. The handrail is 104 cm high. The drain underneath the footbridge has been lined with concrete, however there are stone pitched kerbs and channels on the southern side of the footbridge.
The ninth bridge (No 9) is the Elizabeth Street footbridge, which is located on the southern side of Elizabeth Street between King Street and Stubley Street. This beam bridge has been constructed by placing a pair of steel girders on two concrete piers on either side of a stone pitched drain. The steel girders support a 1.5 m wide timber deck, which is 4.5 m long. There is a park rail fence comprising three steel posts and one steel rail. Posts and rails are approximately 7 cm x 7 cm square posts that have been painted white. The handrails are 105 cm high.
The tenth bridge (No 10) is located on the corner of Marion Street and Stubley Street. It is a pedestrian footbridge that provides access across a stone pitched drain. It is aligned east-west. The beam bridge has been constructed by placing a 15 cm thick slab of pre-stressed concrete approximately 1.5 m wide and 6.1 m long on two concrete piers. There is a park rail fence comprising three steel posts and one steel rail. Posts and rails are approximately 7 cm x 7 cm square posts that have been painted white.
The eleventh bridge (No 11) is located on the northern side of Towers Street, between Rutherford Street and Stubley Street, opposite the Charters Towers and Dalrymple Family History Library. It is a pedestrian footbridge that provides access across a stone pitched drain. It is aligned east-west. The beam bridge has been constructed by placing a slab of pre-stressed concrete approximately 6.3 m long on two concrete piers. The date "1.2.29" has been inscribed in the concrete on the northern face of the east pier. A safety rail constructed of a round steel post is located on the northern side of the footbridge.
The twelfth bridge (No 12) is located on the northern side of Towers Street at the terminus of King Street. It is a pedestrian footbridge that provides access across an earth and concrete creek. It is aligned east-west. The beam bridge consists of a pair of steel girders supporting an 11 cm thick slab of pre-stressed concrete on two concrete piers. The date "23.8.37" has been etched into both concrete piers. The concrete slab has been poured onto sheets of galvanized steel. There is a label stuck on the steel sheeting, which is visible from underneath the bridge, which states: "Bondek I1 BMT Galvanised Z350 Coating. 2/12/2002 - Delivery Date".
The thirteenth bridge (No 13) is located on the northern end of Boundary Street. It is a pedestrian footbridge that consists of a simple beam bridge over a dry creek bed. The bridge includes a pair of steel girders supporting a slab of pre-stressed concrete on two concrete and stone piers. The bridge is 7.4 m long and 96 cm wide. There are steel handrails on either side of the footbridge.
The fourteenth bridge (No 14) is a pedestrian footbridge located on the western side of Brisk Street across a dry creek bed, which is adjacent to the School of Distance Education. The bridge is orientated north-south. The beam bridge includes a pair of steel girders supporting a 16 cm slab of pre-stressed concrete on two concrete piers, which are approximately 1.5 m high. The bridge is approximately 10 m long x 1 m wide. The concrete slab contains numerous paw prints, the date "25.7.85" and other dates that are not discernable, and the names "MARC" and "HECTOR".
At the eastern end of Mexican Street there is a small granite culvert with early granite kerbing and channeling located on both sides of it.
","history":"Charters Towers was a principle gold mining centre from 1872 to 1907 and by 1901 it was Queensland's second largest town. The stone kerbs and channels are significant in highlighting the areas of the town that were settled during the town's mining hey day. Most of the early granite kerbing and channeling at Charters Towers was constructed between c1884 and c1905. Particularly fine examples of this work are evident with the original one square mile of the municipality, namely: Hodgkinson, Church, High, Lee, Bow, Anne, Mary and Deane Street.
The early granite kerbs and channeling form a unique pattern of drainage that directs water through and out of the town. The early work directed storm-water into Mosman, Deane and St George Creek. As the creeks themselves were stone-pitched to form drainage channels and then bridged, some of the the land was re-claimed and buildings were constructed nearby. The most impressive example of this is the Deane Street kerb and channeling, which directs most of the water out of the city centre.
The masonry work was carried out by either day labour or by contractors. The stone was reportedly quarried nearby, but its exact location is yet to be determined. The network of footbridges that remains in the city today provides details of how early residents of Charters Towers made their way around the city during the wet season, from house yards, across footpaths, over kerbs, channels, and streets to gain access to all parts of the city for work and pleasure.
Gold was discovered in Charters Towers late in 1871 by Hugh and Jupiter Mosman, George Clarke and John Fraser. Their claim was registered at Ravenswood in early 1872 and the Charters Towers Gold Field was proclaimed on 31 August of that year. Settlement followed quickly with the arrival of other diggers eager to peg out their own claims, millers and small business operators. As the mines burrowed deeper and deeper into the granite the small owner-operator mines were replaced by big companies employing wage miners.
Charters Towers was proclaimed a municipality on 21 June 1877 with its first Mayor and aldermen elected two months later. Only a small municipality, it embrace one square mile centred on Mosman Street. Much on the land within the municipality was unsurveyed and was occupied for residential purposes under Miners' Rights. Business life centred on the grid pattern of Gill, Deane, Bow, Ryan, Hodgkinson, Church, Aland, School and in particular, Mosman Street. In the early 1880s committees were in place to oversee council activity and make recommendations including an Improvement Committee. During this boom period many of the initial timber buildings were replaced by more substantial and impressive structures. A number of civic improvements were undertaken by the Council including the construction of a water supply system from the Burdekin River, the development of the city's drainage system (i.e. storm-water kerbs, channeling and drains), the construction of footpaths, "metalling" of roads and the erection of bridges over creeks in the city.
By January 1884 a bridge was constructed over Hospital Creek, on a road leading from Charters Towers east to the railway station at Queenton. The contract for these works was won by Mr Walker who stablised the creek with dry stone masonry and constructed a timber bridge over it. The bridge is reported to have been of great benefit to travelers on the Queenton Road.
In March 1884 the Charter Towers Municipal Council's Foreman of Works, Mr Hugh Swann, reported on the improvements works to roads in the town. Works nearing completion included: the clearing of the road in preparation for "metalling" and undertaking drainage work to the bridge and approaches near Plant's Day Dawn mine in Rutherford Street; repairing part of Elizabeth and other streets, forming part of Mary Street to carry part of the channel water and storm-water from Mosman Street; procuring material and repairing footpaths throughout the city; and repairing the Municipal's portion of Mosman Street that had been previously damaged by water from Plant's Day Dawn.
In September 1884 the Municipal Council's Improvement Committee supervised the construction of the Deane Street improvements works, including construction of a bridge at the intersection of Gill and Deane Street. The Foreman of Works, Mr Hugh Swann, initially suggested that Deane Creek should be considered the principal line for the main drain or sewer, as it drains two thirds of the municipality. However, the Council approved his second recommendation in which the creek was formed into a road with the middle of the street formed high as a carriageway, with footpaths, and stone pitched side channels pitched very wide and deep to create a large water-way. At the intersection of Gill Street a bridge was constructed across the creek that allowed the water in the two side channels to pass under it. The bridge was completed by the end of September 1884. The bridge decking was covered with metal to improve access on to the bridge. The two deep and wide channels in Deane Street were continued below the Gill Street intersection to Lissner Park. The successful crossing of Deane Creek provided for the development of the eastern end of Gill Street, which became the main street for commercial activity in Charters Towers.
There is one reported fatality involving the deep channel in Deane Street. In April 1886, an inquiry was held into the death of Ms Annie Garvan who drowned when she was washed down channeling in Deane Street. Ms Garvan apparently walked out of Jackson Lane into Deane Street where she lost her balance due to the force of the water running down the channel, reportedly two-feet deep at the time. The witness to the tragic accident, Mr Alfred Rule, reported that the woman's body was carried down the channeling along Deane Street. At the inquiry he stated that he tried three times to rescue the woman before her body passed under the footbridge leading to the yard of the Bank of Australasia then under the "big bridge" (presumably the Gill and Deane Street bridge). Her body traveled the full length of Deane Street, past the Defiance Mill, and was found about 100 yards from the main creek.
On 25 October 1884 the Charters Towers Municipality was again calling for tenders for the erection of a bridge, this time over Mosman Creek in Mary Street. Tenders closed at 8 p.m. on Tuesday November 4. It is not known who won the tender to do these works.
In November 1889 the Municipal Council erected a bridge over the creek below the Show Grounds. The works were supervised by the Council's Foreman of Works, Mr Hodges. The contract was let to Mr John McCourt. The masonry work in the creek described as very solid and strong, was laid using the hard bed rock for foundation. The timber bridge was constructed of hard wood. At the time it was constructed the Show Ground Bridge was described as the best bridge ever built in Charters Towers. During the wet season the new bridge provided residents who lived on the north-west side of the Charters Towers access to the commercial centre of the city.
By 1899, the Town Clerk, Mr Henry B Walker, in his Annual Report to Council reported that a variety of civic works had been undertaken during the year to enliven the character of Charters Towers, with the priority being road and pedestrian access. At the same meeting, Mayor Benjamin reported that work undertaken by the municipality in 1899 included parts of High, Mary, Mexican and Stubley Streets being stone kerbed, channeled, and tarred and footpaths formed. He stated that this work added to previous works of the same nature that had already been undertaken throughout much of the town.
As the population of the town waned following the end of the mining boom in 1907 many areas of the town were abandoned however the stone kerbs, channels and footbridge at Charters Towers continued to be maintained by the Charters Towers City Council. During the Depression of 1929 the Charters Towers City Council conducted maintenance work on the Gill and Deane Street intersection. The date 1929 is etched in the concrete. A number of the timber footbridges in Charters Towers were also replaced at this time with pre-stressed concrete. In 1990s the Council widened Deane Street, north of Gill Street, with no effect on the nature of the open channels. A steel safety fence replaced the original timber structure. It is not known when the original timber bridge was replaced.
Over time the street level in Charters Towers has raised and some areas of stone kerbs and channeling are now barely visible underneath soil and grass cover. In recent years new areas of stone kerbing and channeling have been identified. For instance, during the conservation works at the Venus Battery in 2002 a section of early granite stone kerbing and channeling was uncovered in Jardine Street at the entrance to the Battery. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a similar section of early granite stone kerbing and channeling was uncovered at the base of Towers Hill.
In recent years the Charters Towers City Council has undertaken a program to repair the early granite kerbs and channeling at Charters Towers. For example, in 2003, a section of early dry stone granite kerbing on the northern side of Mosman Street, between Jane Street and Deane Street, was "capped" with another layer of granite stones. The stones were laid on top of the original granite kerbing using concrete. The new section of kerbing is easily distinguished from the original section as the stones have been set into concrete, similar to laying bricks, rather than using the traditional method of dry stone wall.
A section of Anne Street, between Boundary Street and Vulture Street, in which the early granite kerbing and channeling had been removed and replaced with eight concrete "Besser" blocks, was reconstructed with granite kerbing and channeling in August 2004.
","criteria":"The early granite kerbs, channels and footbridges at Charters Towers is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, especially the important role of Charters Towers, once a prosperous gold mining centre and the second largest town in Queensland, in the development of far north Queensland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The work was initiated in the mid-1880s after the Charters Towers Municipal Council, which was declared in 1877, commenced a number of other civic improvements, including a water supply from the Burdekin River, street formation and bridge construction.
The early granite kerbs and channels at Charters Towers are important in demonstrating the development of early drainage methods in mining towns in far north Queensland in the late 19th century.
The early pedestrian footbridges at Charters Towers demonstrate the evolution of Queensland's history, in particular, the role of pedestrian footbridges in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in providing access to residents and visitors at Charters Towers to their places of work, schools, churches, shops, banks, homes and recreational activities prior to the introduction and wide spread use of the motor vehicle.
|The early granite kerbs and channeling at Charters Towers is important in Queensland's history for its rarity value. Such extensive use of granite kerbs and channeling, illustrating the confidence and optimism of local business and civic leaders in the future of Charters Towers in the late 19th century, is known only in the far north Queensland town of Cooktown, where granite kerbs and channels were constructed between the period 1884 and 1910. Together they are significant as a rare and uncommon aspect of Queensland's cultural heritage.
|The early granite kerbs and channeling at Charters Towers have the potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history. As the population of the town waned following the end of the mining boom in 1907 many areas of the town were abandoned.
Over time, the street levels have been raised. There is the possibility that sub-strata kerbing and channeling exist with the potential to extend the current body of knowledge about this early civic work of the Charters Towers Municipal Council.
|The granite stone kerbs, channels and footbridges at Charters Towers contributes to the overall aesthetic quality of the historic streetscapes of Charters Towers and provides a high degree of unity to the townscape in its material and design. It contributes also to the distinctiveness of Charters Towers, and as such is valued by the local community and visitors to the historic mining town as an important element of Charters Tower's history and identity.
That the community values the early granite kerbing and channeling is evident in the actions of the Charters Towers City Council, which since the 1990s has been reconstructing areas of granite kerbing and channeling to complement the earlier work.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":29433,"place_ref":602668,"name":"Aldborough","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"25 Deane Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2008-08-14","description":"Aldborough occupies two allotments at the intersection of Deane and Hodgkinson Streets, within the original one square mile of the town of Charters Towers.
Aldborough is set back from the corner of Deane and Hodgkinson Streets, and faces north-west towards the intersection and a small entrance gate at the corner. The ground rises to a terrace between the road frontage and the house. There is no definable entrance path although there is a small set of concrete steps up to the terrace. The main house entrance comprises a set of wide stairs with steel railings (not original) and a projecting gabled porch, which has metal acroterions and a decorative finial at its apex. The porch has a decorative pediment with a name board below, and is supported by double timber columns with decorative timber brackets.
The ground to the south-west of the house steps up via two stone retaining walls, and there is also a derelict chicken shed on the southern boundary of the property, with the remains of a possible pond circled by stones nearby. At the rear of the main house, in the angle formed by the kitchen wing, there is a fernery made of rough bush timber framing, covered over the top with wire mesh. There are also two corrugated iron rainwater tanks at the rear of the house, and two corrugated iron sheds along the rear (eastern) edge of the property. Access to the understorey of the house is through a metal gate next to a retaining wall beside the north-east elevation of the house. Access from the road is via a bridge at the north-east corner of the property, over the stone stormwater channel [QHR 602512] along Hodgkinson Street.
Aldborough is a large, single-storeyed timber villa that is lowset on a mix of thick timber stumps and round steel stumps. There is a corrugated iron generator shed under the house, with a concrete mount in situ. Aldborough has a corrugated iron pyramid roof with some surviving metal acroterions and a large roof ventilator. The roof extends to cover the verandahs on all four sides. The exterior walls of the main house are single-skinned, with vertical timber boards and exposed timber studs to the verandahs. The hip-roofed, semi-detached kitchen wing, located at the southern end of the south-east verandah of the main house, is clad with horizontal timber boards, with the timber studs exposed inside the rooms, except for the walls along the wing's verandah, which extends south-east from the south-east (rear) verandah of the main house. These walls have the studs exposed to the verandah. The same construction occurs in the former bedroom built at the corner of the north-east and south-east verandahs of the main house.
There are decorative iron balustrades with timber railing on the north-west verandah, with a mix of timber lattice-work and timber-slat blinds above, while the north-east verandah has the same balustrading with timber-slat blinds above. There is also a timber partition with a door towards the eastern end of the north-east verandah, and a small timber toilet room. The south-west verandah has balustrading, but only a small section of lattice and no timber blinds. The south-east verandah has no balustrading and is screened by timber latticework. The narrow verandah that runs along the north-east elevation of the kitchen wing past the bedrooms and bathroom to the kitchen, has timber balustrading, and a lattice partition and door towards the north-west end. Hedged plants grow to the height of the top balustrading rail in front of the north-west, north-east and south-west verandahs of Aldborough. They are supported by a double galvanised steel pipe frame that is attached to the side of the house.
A central hallway is entered by means of a large door surrounded by sidelights and an opening fan light, and the hall exits through a similar door to the rear verandah. To the north-east of the hall are three bedrooms. The western-most bedroom is larger than the other two, and has a bay window with three large double-hung windows that can be opened from floor level, overlooking the north-west verandah. This master bedroom also has a set of French doors to the north-east verandah. The centre bedroom also has a bay window set with French doors narrowly protruding onto the north-east verandah, with another set of French doors adjacent to the bay. The eastern-most bedroom has sets of French doors to both the north-east and south-east verandahs.
The south-west side of the hallway comprises one large living and dining room, with a middle archway dividing the room into two spaces. Each space has a large ceiling rosette and its own door to the central hallway, and the dining space to the south-east has a set of French doors to the south-east verandah. There is a decorative frieze in both rooms, which appears to be pressed metal. The bay window at the north-west end of the living space has three large double-hung windows, as in the master bedroom. Two sets of French doors provide access to the south-west verandah from the two spaces.
A free-standing pantry/larder is accessed off the south-east verandah of the main house. It is about two metres square, has the same proportioned pyramid roof with metal acroterions and ventilator as the main house, and is reached by stepping over a narrow gap between it and the verandah. The pantry's walls adjacent to the verandah comprise a light fly-screen mesh attached to a timber frame while the outer-facing walls comprise chamferboard topped with fixed louvres. The pantry stands on low concrete stumps which are set inside small concrete water wells, as protection from ants.
The kitchen wing comprises three bedrooms, a bathroom that was remodelled in the 1950s or 1960s, and a large kitchen at the rear. The western-most bedroom in the kitchen wing has a set of French doors opening onto the east end of the south-west verandah. The kitchen has a large brick fireplace at its south-west end. There is an outside laundry under a skillion roof to the south-east of the kitchen. A built-in copper shares the same brick chimney as the fireplace in the kitchen.
All rooms in the main house have 13'6" (4.1 metre) high ceilings. There is early linoleum flooring on the floors of all rooms except for the middle bedroom in the main house and the storeroom and bathroom in the kitchen wing. There are a number of original and early fittings in the house, including light switches, decorative metal coat hooks, window catches, rods for opening fanlights above doors, and an electric bell on the wall of the kitchen wing.
","history":"Aldborough, a large timber residence at the corner of Deane and Hodgkinson streets, one block south of the main business street of Charters Towers, was built in 1896 for the successful draper and merchant Alfred Edwin Daking-Smith. The house is a well-known landmark in the town. Aldborough demonstrates characteristics typical of housing in Charters Towers, and is a good example of a house built for a successful Charters Towers businessman. Between 1872 and 1917 Charters Towers was one of the most important goldfields in Queensland. At its peak in 1899 it accounted for more than a third of Queensland's entire gold production, and by 1901 it was Queensland's second largest town.
Gold was discovered at the foot of Towers Hill in December 1871, the find was reported to Warden WFCM Charters at Ravenswood in January 1872, and the Charters Towers Goldfield was proclaimed on 31 August 1872. Charters Towers was proclaimed a municipality on 21 June 1877, and the town embraced one square mile, centred on the intersection of Gill Street and Mosman Street. The gold was found in reefs of gold-bearing ore, and as the mines deepened the smaller mining operations were replaced by larger companies. A heightened phase of prosperity was entered after the great wealth of the Day Dawn reef was discovered in 1878. The completion of a railway line from Townsville to Charters Towers in December 1882 also boosted the town's prosperity, by lowering the cost of supplies and building materials.
Charters Towers boomed throughout the 1880s, overshadowing all other mining centres in North Queensland. A display of Charters Towers Gold in the Queensland Court at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London in 1886 in turn led to an influx of capital from English speculators, and in 1889 the famous Brilliant Reef, the richest on the field, was discovered. During this time many of the 1870s timber commercial buildings on Mosman and Gill Streets were rebuilt in brick. Charters Towers continued to prosper throughout the depressed economy of the 1890s with a peak production of 319,572 ounces of gold in 1899, and a population of around 26,500 the same year. At the turn of the century Charters Towers, with its multi-cultural population, was known colloquially as 'the World'.
After 1899 there was a steady decline in gold production. In 1912 the Warden reported that the extreme depth for profitable mining had been reached, and most mines had been abandoned by 1916. The last of the big mines, the Brilliant Extended, closed in 1917, but small mining operations continued to be serviced by the Venus battery, which was owned by the Queensland government from 1919. By 1921 Charters Towers' population had decreased to 5,682, and many timber buildings were moved to Townsville after World War I. Some villas were reused as schools as Charters Towers adapted to becoming an educational centre for North Queensland.
When Daking-Smith arrived in Charters Towers in 1891 the town was still booming. Born in 1866, he had lived with his grandmother at Aldeburgh on the coast of Suffolk, England, after the deaths of his parents. At the age of 21 Alfred Daking-Smith decided to seek a new life in Australia, and he arrived in Melbourne in 1887, before moving to Brisbane. He was employed by the drapery firm Overell and White as a departmental manager in Brisbane, and he later opened and managed a branch for the firm in Laidley. In 1891 Daking-Smith moved to Charters Towers in North Queensland and established himself as a draper in his own right in 'humble premises' in Mosman Street. He moved into larger premises on the corner of Gill and Mosman around 1895. This building was described in 1898 as a two-storeyed warehouse with prominent window displays with a staff of thirty-five working in eight departments.
Daking-Smith built his home Aldborough, named in honour of his years with his grandmother, close to the main business street of the town. In June 1896 three allotments at the south east corner of Deane and Hodgkinson streets were transferred from Louis Hamann to Daking-Smith.
On 21 October 1896 ‘The North Queensland Register’ reported that Daking-Smith’s new residence, one of the finest in the town, was approaching completion. The position of the building, facing the corner, was apparently designed to secure an expansive outlook, while increasing privacy. The building’s style – the bungalow – was seen as the most suitable for the local climate, and features mentioned at the time included: a handsome flight of front steps; a spacious verandah with cast iron railings; glass front and rear doors, both with sidelights; an arch in the hallway and one between the dining and drawing rooms; cedar cornices and an embossed stamped paper frieze in the dining and drawing rooms; two floor-to-ceiling bay windows to the front verandah; varnished interior woodwork; three large bedrooms in the main building; ventilation tubing from the ornamental panels in each ceiling, with an iron ventilator on the roof; and bedrooms on either side of the latticed back verandah, separated from the main building. There was also a separate pantry, on piles set in vessels of water, off the rear verandah; and the kitchen wing included the kitchen, a bathroom and three bedrooms (counting the bedroom on the south end of the rear verandah). The contractor for the residence was TB O’Meara, the architect was WHA Munro, and the plumber was Charles Fraser.
Part of the site was fenced off for a stable (three stalls with stone floor, carriage shed, harness and feed room) and a bulk store, the latter being a two storey building measuring 40 feet by 20 feet (12.2m by 6.1m). This store fronted Deane Street, and was later retained by Daking-Smith when he sold Aldborough.
The Queensland Post Office Directory (QPOD) first lists Daking-Smith as living on the site in 1900. In 1901 the Charters Towers City Council Valuation Register listed Alfred Daking-Smith, draper, as occupying allotments one, two and three of section eleven with a capital value of £600. Initially he is listed in the postal directories on Deane Street, and then from 1906 he is listed on Hodgkinson Street.
Aldborough is aligned to the northwest, facing the corner, which is also roughly in the direction of the intersection of Gill and Mosman streets, where Daking-Smith had opened his 1895 shop. The most common houses in Charters Towers were two or four-room timber cottages, and in plan Aldborough is an expanded version of these simple buildings, many of which were prefabricated to standardised plans. Aldborough's style and fabric, including the light timber stud frame, reflect construction techniques common in Charters Towers. In a technique well-suited to the climate of North Queensland, the walls of houses in Charters Towers were lined with horizontal boards, and the timber frame was left exposed externally. From circa 1900 vertical boards were more likely to be used.
Aldborough shares other features in common with Charters Towers housing, such as sheet metal acroterions on the corners of its guttering; a sheet metal ventilator at the crown of its roof; and shades and screens around its verandahs to reduce the effect of the hot climate - such as latticework, timber louvres, canvas blinds and drop-down timber blinds. Aldborough's extended verandah eaves are also characteristic of Charters Towers housing.
In 1906 Alfred Daking-Smith married Beryl Maud Hooke, and the couple soon moved to Sydney, where Daking-Smith attained even greater wealth. He built the mansion Berith Park at Wahroonga, North Sydney in 1909. That same year Daking-Smith erected the Daking-Smith Building [QHR 601259] as a purpose built department store in upper Gill Street, Charters Towers. Although Charters Towers already had a number of drapery stores, Daking-Smith believed that a more modern, 'genteel' shop was needed. Between 1860 and 1920, with the industrialised world's rising level of affluence and leisure time, the 'art of shopping', once the prerogative of the wives of the wealthy, was adopted eagerly by the wives of the emerging middle classes. The impressive architectural style of the brick Daking-Smith building was unique for a remote North Queensland town. From his new building Daking-Smith advertised himself as a draper, furnisher and boot merchant. Through this business activity, he made an important contribution to the commercial development of Charters Towers.
In 1913 Daking-Smith built the office block Daking House in Sydney. He also purchased, rebuilt and re-equipped the old Parramatta Woollen Mills in 1913, under the name of the Sydney Woollen Mills. He became a director of the Automatic Breadbaking Co. of Sydney, and The Jungle Ltd of lnnes Springs. His mining investments and interests were extensive as were his active memberships of many public institutions. By now Alfred's preferred name was Dakingsmith. He lived for some time after 1923 at the Astor, Sydney's first co-operatively owned residential flats, but he retired to his country home Beraldor in Bowral. He died in Sydney on 7 August 1943 aged seventy-seven years.
Although living in New South Wales from 1909, Dakingsmith maintained his business in Charters Towers, and he returned on regular visits for some years. He was an unsuccessful National candidate for the seat of Queenton in the Queensland elections of March 1918. From 1909 Dakingsmith rented out Aldborough before it was sold in 1919 to a medical practitioner, Thomas Roy Edmeades, on a reduced parcel of land.
At the time of the 1919 sale allotments one and two were resurveyed into subdivisions one and two. Dakingsmith retained subdivision two (20.6 perches just southwest of Aldborough, facing Deane Street) while Edmeades took possession of the land on which Aldborough stood, subdivision one of allotments one and two (one rood 20.4 perches) and allotment three (1 rood). Dakingsmith continued to operate his store on subdivision two, and "D Smith and Co. Stores" is listed at this location in the postal directories from 1912 to 1923 inclusive.
Dr Edmeades used Aldborough as a surgery and residence, the bedroom at the corner of the north-east and south-east verandahs reputedly serving as his waiting room. Edmeades became a highly respected and long serving medical practitioner to the people of Charters Towers. The park beside City Hall in Mosman Street is named in his honour.
In October 1922 Aldborough was transferred to Jessie Mary Beach, from Muttaburra. Jessie's husband had drawn a selection at Julia Creek in a land ballot, but Jessie lived in Aldborough so that their three children could be schooled in Charters Towers. Jessie died in September 1954, but the property remained in the Beach-Steele family until auctioned in 2008. Local interest in the fate of this landmark building attracted 300 people to the auction, and the sale made the front page of The Northern Miner.
Sometime in the 1920s or the 1930s the main section of the house was painted internally, with stencilled patterns over the base colours. Accounts differ as to whether it was painted during the ownership of Edmeades, or the Beaches. As the paint was applied over the varnished timber walls and ceilings of the hallway, living room and dining room, it soon cracked into a crazed pattern, which remains a feature of Aldborough's interior to this day. In the bedrooms, which did not have varnished walls, the stencilled designs are more intact. The house was also reputedly the first in Charters Towers to have electric lighting, run by a 32 volt generator under the house.
When Dakingsmith wound up Daking-Smith & Co. in 1925 his property and store in Deane Street, adjacent to Aldborough, was transferred to bakers Herbert Powell Jones and William John Lang in January 1926. After their business folded the land was sold to Jessie Beach in 1947.
","criteria":"Aldborough is a very intact example of a large, fine quality house designed for the North Queensland climate, complete with single-skin timber walls, high ceilings, a central hallway, extended eaves, roof ventilator, and verandah shading in the form of lattice work, timber slat blinds and hedge plantings close to the house. It contains pre-World War II stencilled paintwork, early fittings and early linoleum floor coverings. Its semi-detached kitchen wing, complete with servants' rooms, illustrates the social stratification that existed between the master and servant classes prior to World War I. A freestanding pantry/larder just off the rear verandah demonstrates early means of keeping vermin and insects away from food stores, and the open laundry to the rear of the kitchen still contains its copper and fireplace.
|The large timber residence Aldborough was constructed in 1896 for Charters Towers businessman and draper Alfred Daking-Smith. Aldborough, in conjunction with the former Daking-Smith Drapery Store in Gill Street [QHR 601259], is important in demonstrating the prosperity of Charters Towers at that time. Charters Towers was an extraordinarily rich goldfield which made a major contribution to the economy of Queensland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and Aldborough is a product of the wealth generated by a successful retailer in what was then Queensland's second largest town.
|Aldborough stands on a large and highly visible corner block of land close to the main business street of Charters Towers. It is highly intact. Of note are the timber lattices, timber slat blinds and hedge plantings that provide shade in a sub tropical climate. The impressive entrance porch, decorative iron balustrading, roof ventilator, and acroterions also enhance the visual impact of the residence.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion D | Criterion A | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":30492,"place_ref":602739,"name":"Charters Towers Airfield Bore Sight Range and Compass Swinging Platform","alternate_name":"Charters Towers WWII Airfield Gun Firing Range and Compass Swinging Station","street_address":"Corinda Avenue","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2010-05-14","description":"The Charters Towers Airfield is located on the northern outskirts of Charters Towers, about 1km north of the suburb of Richmond Hill.
Bore Sight Range
Aligned approximately east-west off the northern end of the wartime north-south runway, the place includes an aircraft hardstand in the form of a raised concrete platform approximately 15 metres square. A steel tie down shackle is set into the concrete surface. An adustable metal plate, which can be raised or lowered, is set at the front of the raised hardstand to carry the nose wheel of aircraft fitted with tricycle undercarriages. A cleared range extends east about 360 metres from the hardstand to the original earth butt, in front of which a recent display target is set.
Compass Swinging Platform
The Compass Swinging Platform is located about 850m south-east of the Bore Sight Range's hardstand, on the northern side of the wartime NE-SW runway, near its central point. It comprises a circular concrete slab 120 feet 6 inches (36.7 metres) in diameter with a compass rose inscribed on the surface.
","history":"Charters Towers Airfield was constructed for the United States Army in early 1942 to provide dispersal facilities for the main Townsville air base at Garbutt, in the event of Japanese air raids. During 1942 the US 3rd Bombardment Group was based at Charters Towers while undertaking strikes against Japanese bases in the south-west Pacific. From 1943 the airfield served as a US aircraft replacement and training centre. Facilities constructed during this period included a gun firing range and compass swinging station, which remain.
The site of Charters Towers Airfield is said to have been selected about December 1941, by a Mr Pettus who was attached to the US Army with the honorary rank of Colonel. As a civilian with the US firm of Sverdrup and Parcel, engineering consultants to the US forces, Pettus was involved in a contour survey of the town for the placement of three runways each 7000 feet (2133 metres) in length and 150 feet (45.7 metres) wide, which it was optimistically thought would blend in with the Charters Towers street grid and be invisible from the air.
As early as July 1941 the Royal Australian Air Force had ordered a survey of the Charters Towers vicinity to identify sites for airfields to accommodate heavy bombers and combat aircraft and an initial survey was undertaken during September. This survey resulted in the selection of suitable airfield sites at Corinda (Charters Towers), Sandy Creek (Breddan) and several locations near Sellheim.
On 7 December 1941 Japanese aircraft made a surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbour in the Hawaiian Islands. At the same time Japanese forces launched assaults on Thailand, the Philippines and the British colony of Malaya. Three days after Pearl Harbor, two capital ships of the Royal Navy were sunk off the coast of Malaya. This gave the Japanese almost total control of the seas to Australia's north. The sudden fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 and the rapid, unchecked Japanese advance through the islands of the Netherlands East Indies raised fears of the invasion of Australia and aerial attacks on Queensland bases.
Charters Towers was the closest inland centre that could provide strategic support and aircraft dispersal facilities for the main North Eastern Area air base at Garbutt, Townsville, which was considered vulnerable to Japanese attack.
The RAAF ordered commencement of preliminary work on the Charters Towers town aerodrome during January 1942, with the grading of three temporary landing strips for use while the main aerodrome was under construction (two landing grounds were cleared on football fields and one near the cemetery).
By early February 1942 the airfield project had been accorded priority by the RAAF with a request that the NE-SW runway be graded first followed by the north-south runway. To get the project underway while awaiting the original plans, the airfield site was resurveyed by Main Roads Commission (MRC) engineers at Charters Towers and the layout was amended slightly.
Construction of Charters Towers airfield began in earnest on Monday 16 February 1942. Deadline for completion of the first strip was 14 days. Hundreds of men and all available earth-moving plant were brought in from Townsville and the first gravel strip was completed in 17 days. Grading of the second runway was completed soon after.
To speed base construction and foil Japanese aerial reconnaissance, all houses in the vicinity of the airfield were taken over so that personnel could be housed as inconspicuously as possible.
The airfield became operational during March with arrival of the first of four bombardment squadrons of the US Army Air Force 3rd Bombardment Group (Light), equipped with A-24 Dauntless dive bombers which had been intended for the Philippines. The group was later equipped with A-20 Boston medium bombers. These aircraft were followed by the arrival of B-25 Mitchell bombers that had been intended for use by the Dutch in the Netherlands East Indies, but were taken over by the Americans.
At Charters Towers, the cost for construction of runways, taxiways, hardstands, dispersal areas and all buildings and facilities was the responsibility of the US Army Services of Supply, Base Section Two. Works were ordered by the US Army through the federal Co-ordinator-General, Department of Public Works and contracted through the Department of Interior and Allied Works Council to the MRC for supervision.
In July 1942 the NE-SW runway (known as Runway 45, later Runway 56) was sealed and the north-south runway (known as Runway 7, later Runway 9) was metalled. The MRC used local mine tailings for the runways prompting a US press report that they were 'paved with gold'.
During 1942 Charters Towers airfield became instrumental in the development of the B-25 'Strafer'. Experimentation began with the replacement of four fixed 30 calibre machine guns in the nose section of the A-20 Boston, with heavier 50 calibre machine guns which were found to be more effective for low level ground and shipping attack. This led to conversion of the B-25 Mitchell 'bombardier nose' to a 'gunnery nose'. The B-25 conversion involved the fitting of eight fixed forward firing 50 calibre machine guns. The early B-25 'Strafer' conversions were carried out at Eagle Farm, Brisbane, on aircraft of 3 BG(M) operating from Charters Towers in low level strikes against Japanese shipping in Rabaul Harbour and airfields and bases in New Guinea. The B-25 'Strafer' conversion, initiated in north Queensland, was quickly adopted in all US theatres of World War II.
Following the transfer of 3 BG(M) to New Guinea in November 1942, Charters Towers airfield served through most of 1943 as a US Fighter and Bomber Command Replacement Training Centre.
During mid-February 1943 the Department of Public Works received a requisition from the US Army for construction of a gun firing range, or bore sight range, platform at Charters Towers airfield to test the accuracy of aircraft fixed armament. The work order was lodged with the superintending engineer, Department of Interior, Townsville. The concrete gun firing platform was designed with an adjustable metal plate set in front of the concrete block to take the nose wheel of aircraft with tricycle undercarriages, such as the B-25. A steel gantry frame with a sling was positioned on the platform to lift the tail of fighter aircraft with tail wheels such as the P-40. The bore sight range extended about 360 metres to an earth mound, or butt, in front of which a target was set.
It was probably during this early period of 1943 that a compass swinging station, or platform, was constructed on the northern side of the NE-SW runway near its central point. No record of the date of construction has been located. The platform was a circular concrete slab, 120 feet 6 inches (36.7 metres) in diameter with a compass rose inscribed on its surface. Aircraft were pushed onto the platform and aligned with each of the 16 main cardinal points of the compass, starting with north. Variations in aircraft compass bearings were noted and compass magnets were adjusted.
The RAAF resumed responsibility for the maintenance of the airfield in May 1944. The US withdrawal was signalled in June 1944 when the Charters Towers Airfield was classified as a 'reserve airdrome'. Most of the US facilities at the airfield were turned over to the RAAF in December 1944. The Department of Civil Aviation was advised by the Department of Air in January 1946 that the RAAF planned to retain responsibility for Charters Towers airfield in the post-war period. RAAF responsibility has long since lapsed and today the airfield is operated by the Charters Towers Regional Council.
","criteria":"The Bore Site Range is the only known example of its type in Queensland with an adjustable nose wheel platform to accommodate aircraft such as the P-39 Airacobra, A-20 Boston, B-25 Mitchell 'Strafer', and B-26 Marauder.
|
The Charters Towers Airfield Bore Sight Range and Compass Swinging Platform remain substantially intact and are important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of their types. The bore sight range retains its concrete hardstand, cleared range and earth butt. The circular concrete slab of the compass swinging platform remains adjacent to the wartime runway, and retains its compass rose inscription.
|Charters Towers Airfield Bore Sight Range and Compass Swinging Platform are significant as surviving evidence of a major United States Fifth Air Force Aircraft Replacement and Training Centre developed for the Townsville region during World War II.
The Bore Sight Range and Compass Swinging Platform are significant for their role in the operation of the US Replacement and Training Centre and in the conduct of the air war in the South West Pacific Area in association with the nearby RAAF aircraft repair and salvage installation at Breddan Airfield.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion A","criteria_definitions":"The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":30493,"place_ref":602745,"name":"Breddan Airfield","alternate_name":"Breddan WWII Aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Salvage Depot","street_address":"Gregory Developmental Road","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2010-04-16","description":"Breddan Airfield is located about 13km north of Charters Towers on the Gregory Developmental Road. The place contains a number of component areas associated with its wartime operation.
Runways and Duty Pilot's Tower Base.
The bitumen sealed east-west Runway 60 degrees extends east of the Gregory Developmental Road for about two kilometres in length. The unfinished north-south Runway 20 degrees, remains evident as a regrowth area and former wartime taxiway running parallel with the road. Other taxiways extend north and west from Runway 60 to workshop sites of the Airframe Repair Section, General Engineering Section and Engine Repair Section. The duty pilot's tower is located at the western end of Runway 60. The site comprises a concrete slab, possibly an office floor, with four concrete tower footings at each corner, each containing two steel members to which the base of the tower was attached with bolts.
Airframe Repair Section
The Airframe Repair Section, located to the west of the Gregory Developmental Road, contains the concrete floors of at least seven workshops and hangars including the base of a cantilever hangar. An earth butt for gun testing is located near the cantilever hangar. Other workshop surfaces were designed for Bellman hangars. Several concrete tie down blocks for aircraft remain.
General Engineering Section
The General Engineering Section, located between the east-west Runway 60 and the unfinished north-south runway, contains concrete floors of at least seven workshops and hangars. Three Bellman hangar floors are evident, including an instrument repair shop and a lathe workshop. An electroplating workshop can be identified by two concrete channels running the length of the floor surface. The GES also included an armature winding shop.
Engine Repair Section
The Engine Repair Section, located north of the GES, contains concrete floor surfaces for six workshops including a number of Bellman hangars. From south to north the six ERS workshop slabs are identified as: Receipt and Despatch Shop, Engine Inspection and Dismantling Shop, Stripping and Cleaning Shop, Blacksmith Shop with Retort Furnace, Final Assembly Shop, and Propeller Maintenance Shop. Two other ERS workshop floor surfaces, including an engine running shed with steel tie down bolts, are located on the west side of the Gregory Developmental Road.
Motor Transport Section
The site of the Motor Transport Repair and Engine Overhaul Section is located south of Runway 60, at the entrance to the airfield. At least three MT workshops are shown on a wartime plan of the base. The site of No.2 Camp is located nearby.
Torpedo Maintenance Unit
The Torpedo Maintenance Unit stores are located apart from the engineering workshops in the south east sector of the airfield complex. The TMU stores consist of ten reinforced concrete igloos of two types. Seven torpedo maintenance stores are spaced apart over about a kilometre forming a rough oval. These reinforced concrete buildings, 16 metres in length by 6.8 metres in width, are designed with two entrances at one end and a semi-circular formwork concrete roof reaching about 4 metres in height. The roofs contain ventilation holes and steel bolts for securing camouflage nets. Three reinforced concrete torpedo warhead stores are spaced apart in gullies further to the south east of the maintenance igloos. The warhead stores are designed with a single entrance at the centre of the buildings with a reinforced concrete portico above. The stores are about 7 metres in length, 6.50 metres in width and 3.5 metres in height. All are equipped with ventilation holes in the roofs, bolts for securing camouflage nets and contain evidence of wartime ochre and green camouflage paint.
Torpedo Maintenance Unit Camp
The Torpedo Maintenance Unit camp, located at the north east end of Runway 60, contains a small reinforced concrete igloo building which served as a generator shed. The camp area also includes the concrete floor and oven base of a mess and kitchen, and a small stone structure thought to have been a water heater or incinerator.
Power House and Hospital
A power house and hospital sick bay are located south of Runway 60 near the southern boundary of the airfield. The power house is constructed with 5.5 metre high reinforced concrete walls. The internal concrete floor surface contains footings and channels for a diesel engine, alternator and cabling to a distribution board. A reinforced concrete switching room is attached at one end of the building which totals 16.2 metres in length and 6 metres in width. A reinforced concrete inground cooling tank is situated at the north west end of the building. The hospital foundations comprise concrete floor surfaces and concrete footings that may have supported a timber floor surface.
Reinforced Concrete Building and No.1 Camp
North of Runway 60 at its eastern end is a reinforced concrete building of seven rooms covered with a flat concrete roof. The building is 10.90 metres in length by 8 metres in width and includes a toilet. An eroded earth traverse wall once protected the entrance doorway. The purpose of the building is uncertain. It may have been constructed as a signals station or a medical aid post, and may have later been used for secure storage.
The site of No.1 Camp covers an area of the airfield extending north from the east end of Runway 60. Archaeological evidence of an open air picture theatre includes concrete lined post holes for a projection box and a scatter of metal slide holders. Several large concrete floor surfaces of former stores buildings are located north of the runway, nearby.
","history":"Breddan airfield, located about 13 kilometres north of Charters Towers, was initially constructed as a dispersal field for Charters Towers airfield during April 1942. In August 1942 Breddan was occupied by two squadrons of the US 38th Bombardment Group. On the departure of the US squadrons Breddan was chosen for development as a major aircraft repair and salvage depot under RAAF control. The construction program which took place during 1943 involved the erection of maintenance hangars, engineering workshops, torpedo stores, personnel camps, a power station and medical facilities. The base was abandoned after 1947.
As early as July 1941 the Royal Australian Air Force had ordered a survey of the Charters Towers district to identify sites for airfields to accommodate heavy bombers and combat aircraft. An initial survey was undertaken during September resulting in the identification of suitable airfield sites at Corinda (Charters Towers), Sandy Creek (Breddan) and several locations near Sellheim.
On 7 December 1941 the Japanese made a surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. At the same time Japanese forces launched assaults on Thailand, the Philippines and the British colony of Malaya. Three days after Pearl Harbor, two capital ships of the Royal Navy were sunk off the coast of Malaya. This gave the Japanese almost total control of the seas to Australia's north. The sudden fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 and the rapid, unchecked Japanese advance through the islands of the Netherlands East Indies raised fears of the invasion of Australia and attacks on Queensland bases.
Charters Towers was the closest inland centre that could provide strategic support and aircraft dispersal facilities for the main North Eastern Area air base at Garbutt, Townsville, which was considered vulnerable to Japanese attack. The RAAF ordered commencement of preliminary work on an aerodrome at Charters Towers during January 1942. By early February Charters Towers airfield had been accorded high priority and Main Roads Commission engineers were engaged to supervise the clearing and construction of two gravel runways. The work was completed during March in readiness for the arrival of the United States Army Air Force 3rd Bombardment Group (Light).
Arrival of the US 3 BG(L) at Charters Towers saw the need for dispersal strips in the vicinity and the revival of the earlier investigation of the Sandy Creek airfield site north of the town. A second dispersal strip was planned at Southern Cross, a gold mining area to the west of the town.
Under MRC supervision, clearing and construction of an airfield at the Sandy Creek location on the northern inland road connecting Charters Towers with the Atherton Tableland, began on 10 April 1942. The new airfield was named Breddan, however the origin of the name remains uncertain. Completion of a gravel east-west runway was the priority, with clearing of a second north-south runway to follow. Dauntless dive bombers of 3 BG(L) arrived at Charters Towers in late March 1942 and some aircraft may have been dispersed to Breddan during April.
On 26 May, after discussions with the RAAF North Eastern Area Command, the USAAF decided that a heavy bombardment role proposed for Charters Towers airfield, would be transferred to Breddan, with torpedo workshops established between Charters Towers and Breddan. It was initially planned that when the US bombardment squadrons vacated Charters Towers, the airfield facilities would be occupied by a RAAF aircraft repair and salvage unit. With the US victory at Midway Island in early June, much of the proposed airfield construction program west of Charters Towers was abandoned. For Breddan the plan became one of completing both runways to gravelled stage and the erection of workshops and camp facilities.
By June a major construction program had commenced at Breddan with the erection of approximately 40 buildings which by July were noted to be urgently in need of camouflage painting. The buildings included an aircraft repair section workshop, a motor transport workshop near the southern entrance and camp facilities (No.1 Camp). The Allied Works Council (AWC) was responsible for contracting the building program. By late July Breddan was occupied by the RAAF No.12 Repair and Salvage Unit and ground crew of the USAAF 38th Bombardment Group (Medium).
On 22 August the 71st and 405th squadrons of the US 38 BG(M) arrived at Breddan after leaving Hawaii on 25 July and flying their B-25 Mitchell bombers across the Pacific Ocean. Their aircraft were combat ready on arrival and reunification with the ground crews who had reached Australia by sea. The main east-west Runway 60 was bitumen sealed by 22 August when most of the B-25 bombers arrived. The north-south second runway running parallel with a straight section of the northern inland road, was not completed.
The AWC contracted the construction of a USAAF camp at Breddan which was in the course of erection by 22 September when the US Base Section ordered that no further work be done on the camp. The Base Section also ordered that the main runway facilities be completed, but that all work on the second runway should be abandoned. The second runway later served as an aircraft taxiway for the northern repair and maintenance workshops.
By early October the 71st and 405th squadrons of the US 38 BG(M) had been posted to Townsville and Breddan was chosen for development as a major aircraft repair and salvage depot under RAAF control, based around No.12 Repair and Salvage Unit and No.6 Aircraft Repair Depot, RAAF. For this reason winding dispersal taxiways were considered unnecessary. The facilities required would include engineering workshops.
RAAF No.1 Torpedo Maintenance Unit was established at Breddan on 18 November 1942 and an order was placed with the AWC for construction of facilities for the unit including reinforced concrete igloo shelters for the storage of torpedos and torpedo war heads. Ten reinforced concrete storage buildings for No.1 TMU were completed by June 1943 when provision was made for their camouflage.
RAAF No.6 ARD departed from Breddan during December 1942 and arrival of an advance party of No.13 ARD marked the beginning of a significant building program. RAAF No.13 ARD found a number of important building works were outstanding on their arrival at Breddan and the advance party were given the role of erecting their own workshops and stores as their first major task at the base. On 20 January 1943 the AWC was asked to proceed with construction of 11 buildings as part of the Breddan ARD Scheme. Buildings ordered comprised: salvage hangar, propeller testing building, armament hut, electroplating shop, battery hut, motor transport store and office, and four headquarters buildings. The workshops included a number of prefabricated steel frame Bellman hangars. Up to six Bellman hangars may have been erected at Breddan by the end of World War II.
AWC minutes for 18 February 1943 include an approval to proceed with the fabrication of four 'American Type Hangars' 95 by 45 feet (28.9 by 13.7 metres) galvanised iron covered steel workshop buildings which had been reconstructed in Melbourne. These buildings were also erected by the advance personnel of No.13 ARD. Throughout this period units of No.12 RSU, RAAF, continued operating from Breddan.
During 1943 the AWC were asked to organise an intensive program of building construction at Breddan which received a substantial allocation of funds to cover the works. The following works were ordered during the first half of the year: a hospital sick bay near the No.2 Camp, with a treatment room and medical officer's hut; a barracks store and officers' mess for No.1 TMU; motor transport engine repair and body chassis workshops; aircraft dismantling hangars; gun firing platform and test butts.
Work on No.1 Camp to hold 350 personnel was completed during May by which period work was also nearing completion on No.2 Camp to hold 400 men. The building construction work was undertaken by Civil Construction Corps labour. During June orders were lodged by the Department of Air for construction of a post office, canteen, ethylene glycol reclamation hut, WAAAF camp, dental clinic, squadron air depot, cool room and duty pilot's tower. Orders were also placed for the sealing of taxiways and supply of an air conditioning unit for the instrument repair workshop. By October 1943 provision of hutted camp accommodation for WAAAF personnel had been accorded priority for construction.
To avoid dependency on power supply from Charters Towers a reinforced concrete sub-station building was commenced about June to hold a 25 KVA diesel electric generating plant. The power station was scheduled for completion in September.
Workshops and barracks were sufficiently established by August 1943 to allow the main contingent of No.13 ARD to make the move from Tocumwal (NSW) to Breddan. In December 1943 No.12 RSU departed from Breddan for Kiriwina in New Guinea. No.6 Central Recovery Depot, RAAF, was established at Breddan in June 1944.
RAAF units based at Breddan airfield during World War II were No.12 RSU, No. 10 RSU, No.6 ARD, No.13 ARD, No.1 TMU and No.6 CRD. At its largest in late 1943 a total of 1200 personnel were accommodated on the base. The RAAF continued to operate from Breddan after World War II and the last unit, No.13 ARD, departed in November 1947. The base was closed by 1948. All workshop and camp facilities were later removed and the property turned over to pastoral use.
","criteria":"Breddan Airfield demonstrates rare and uncommon aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage with the only known structural evidence of a World War II Torpedo Maintenance Depot, containing 12 reinforced concrete igloo stores for the storage of torpedos and torpedo war heads.
|Breddan Airfield has potential to yield archaeological information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history with particular regard to the layout of camp and workshop surface elements that remain comparatively undisturbed.
|Breddan Airfield is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a major World War II maintenance, repair and salvage base in north Queensland, containing structural and archaeological evidence including workshop and hangar concrete floors, wartime sealed runway and taxiways, camp installations, reinforced concrete buildings, and torpedo maintenance facilities.
The place is important in demonstrating the pricipal characteristics of particular types of World War II structures, including a power house, propeller maintenance workshop, electro plating workshop, cantilever hangars, torpedo maintenance and torpedo war head stores.
|
Breddan Airfield is significant as a major World War II maintenance, repair and salvage base, being developed as one of the largest RAAF aircraft and motor transport engineering repair facilities in north Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion A","criteria_definitions":"The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":33098,"place_ref":602804,"name":"Bank of New South Wales (former)","alternate_name":"Wherry House","street_address":"34-36 Gill Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2012-11-09","description":"The former Bank of New South Wales is a substantial building in the heart of the commercial district of Charters Towers and is an important element in a largely late 19th century townscape. Facing north, the bank is located on Gill Street where it rises to meet Mosman Street. The bank is a dominant element in its immediate setting amidst smaller, less pretentious buildings and has a visual relationship with other former banks and important civic buildings in scale and style, including Charters Towers Post Office and the former Queensland National Bank (now the City Hall).
\nThe rendered brick building with timber framed floors and large hipped roof clad in corrugated metal sheeting has an elaborate, classically detailed two-storey masonry arcade fronting Gill Street. Behind, timber verandahs on the east and west sides of the first floor shelter the core of the building and provide access lanes at ground level to the rear of the site.
\nThe building comprises the former bank on the ground floor approached from Gill Street; the former residence on the first floor accessed from the eastern lane, and an attached single-storey service wing at the rear with access from Powell Lane to the south. The former Bank of New South Wales retains a large proportion of its early fabric and displays a high standard of craftsmanship and detail. The principal interior spaces are spacious and highly decorative, contrasting with the simplicity and practicality of the service spaces. Notable features include the generous ceiling heights, substantial and handsomely detailed cedar joinery, ventilated plaster cornices and ceiling roses and hand-pressed brick walls and barrel-vaulted ceiling in the strong room.
\nThe original layout of the building is clearly discernible. Approached from the footpath, the centred main entrance opens from the arcade into the spacious banking chamber. The manager's office and accountant's alcove are located to the left along its eastern side and strong room, toilet and stationery room along the rear to the south. A door in the rear of the western wall leads out to the lane. The dining room is located in the south-east corner. Adjacent, at rear of the bank, is an impressive stair hall which provides separate external access to the first floor manager's apartment together with through access from the service wing to the dining room. There is a storage room under the stair and linen store on the first floor. Opening off the stair hall, the apartment has an L-shaped hall leading to the western verandah where there are bathrooms clad with chamferboards located on the south-western corner. Two large principal rooms across the front (originally the drawing room and principal bedroom) and four smaller rooms (dressing room and three bedrooms) toward the rear open off the hall. The former, connected by bi-folding doors, have substantial joinery and all rooms opening onto the front and side verandahs have French doors.
\nAttached by a secondary, timber-framed stair hall to the rear of the apartment stair hall is a single-storey service wing. A rendered brick building with hipped roof clad in corrugated metal sheeting, it comprises two rooms (originally a servant's bedroom and kitchen) separated by a pantry with verandahs on its eastern and western sides. A brick chimney is located in the south east corner of the kitchen which has a coved ceiling lined with flat sheeting and at the rear of the kitchen is a bathroom housed in a timber-framed, skillion roofed structure. The stair from the service wing to the mid-level landing of the main stair has been removed.
\nPublic toilets are located beside the former banking chamber at the end of the western side lane. One is a detached structure of concrete blocks that is not of cultural heritage significance. The other is a timber-framed lean-to. The interior fittings and fixtures are not of cultural heritage significance.
\nThe rear yard is surfaced with concrete and contains a number of structures including steel framed carports (that are not of cultural heritage significance) and a timber-framed garage with flat sheet walls and a gabled roof of corrugated metal sheeting.
","history":"The former Bank of New South Wales was built in Gill Street, Charters Towers in 1889, replacing a number of earlier timber bank buildings on other sites in both Charters Towers and nearby Millchester. This two-storey masonry building addressing Gill Street also has a number of additions to the rear which demonstrate the evolution of the banking industry in the town over time. It complements other significant bank buildings in nearby Mosman Street, including the former Australian Joint Stock Bank (QHR 600407), now The World Theatre and the former Queensland National Bank building which now serves as the City Hall.
Charters Towers' gold was first discovered in December 1871, by an Aboriginal boy named Jupiter who tended the horses for prospectors Hugh Mosman, George Clarke and John Fraser. A storm frightened the horses into a gap in the hills, and while retrieving them, Jupiter found a rich vein of gold laden quartz. [1] Mosman travelled to Ravenswood in early January 1872 to register the claim which he named Charters Towers, honouring the Gold Commissioner for the Broughton gold fields. By March 1872, Commissioner Charters had issued 25 prospecting area permits in the vicinity of Mosman's claim, and the rush began. [2]
The earliest settlement grew around diggings at the confluence of Buchanan's Gully and Gladstone Creek and was known as Millchester. A few miles west of Millchester, another settlement evolved which became Charters Towers. It included a number of stores, hotels and a butcher shop along a track that was to become Mosman Street. The population of Charters Towers was reputedly 3000 by August 1872. [3] There was rivalry between the two settlements, particularly after the courthouse was erected at Millchester in 1873. [4]
In the meantime, it had become evident that the procurement of gold from the deep seams of Charter Towers required substantial machinery to crush quartz and sink shafts. This required working capital to finance machinery and to pay the wages of workers employed on these time consuming processes. The Queensland Gold Fields Act 1874 and Gold Mining Companies Act 1875 allowed for combinations of leases, claims and syndicates in order to work their leases at great depths. The legislation also underpinned the establishment of permanent settlement which would attract capital investment to the field. [5] The influx of money and the resultant yield of gold were reflected in the growth of the township and the establishment of banks, mining companies and mining agencies and exchanges. Two banking companies, the Australian Joint Stock Bank and the Bank of NSW established offices on the goldfields by July 1872, only six months after the registration of the first claims. [6]
The Bank of New South Wales (NSW) was the first bank established in Australia (February 1817) but it was restricted to trading in Sydney until 1850. After restructuring, it opened its first branch outside Sydney, in Brisbane, on 14 November 1850, also being the first bank established in Queensland. It continued to expand rapidly with the rush of gold discoveries in New South Wales and Victoria. The bank set up agencies and gold-buying agents at every new mining venture in order to spread its network and consolidate its position. Bank officers were urged on by their superiors to be the first to a new location to set up a gold-buying agency. By 1861 the Bank of NSW had grown from a single Sydney office to a network of 37 branches in Australia and New Zealand. [7]
The expansion of the Bank of NSW into North Queensland was driven by Robert Towns, one of its directors. Bank establishment followed both pastoral development and mineral discoveries. Port Denison, established to serve pastoralists, became the municipality of Bowen in 1863. By 1864 there was Bowen branch of the Bank of NSW, followed by one in Townsville in March 1866, where Towns and his partner John Melton Black had established a boiling down works. Another branch opened on the Ravenswood goldfields in 1870, one at Cardwell, (the terminus for the gold escort) in 1871 [8] and in Charters Towers and Georgetown in 1872. The Cooktown branch, servicing the Palmer River fields opened in 1876, then Thornborough in 1877 on the Hodgkinson goldfields, followed by Cairns and Port Douglas. The Charters Towers Bank of NSW had opened only two days after the Australian Joint Stock Bank, which had opened on 2 July 1872. [9] Then in October 1872, both banks relocated to nearby Millchester. [10]
In Millchester, land on the northern corner of Jardine and Macdonald Streets was formally transferred to the Bank of NSW in April 1875, but the actual sale is likely to have occurred prior to the title documentation. The Joint Stock Bank owned land opposite in Macdonald Street, and the Queensland National Bank opened in 1873 adjacent. [11] Then in July 1874, a cottage was reported to have been relocated to Mosman Street, Charters Towers, to be used as an agency of the Bank of NSW. Presumably the main branch remained in Millchester. At the time Charters Towers was described as: ‘solidifying rapidly and is giving undeniable proof that it means to stand. New shops and stores are going up. Buildings are being renovated and painted...' [12]
Charters Towers soon dominated. A town survey was undertaken in November 1874, and marked out allotments in a ‘T' formation, [13] with the mines and provision stores of Mosman Street on one axis, and the road to Millchester marked by Gill Street on the other. In January 1876, the Bank of NSW was relocated to Charters Towers, with Millchester becoming the agency office. [14] This relocation was touted by the Northern Miner newspaper, as ‘the beginning of the end' for Millchester. [15] Charters Towers was declared a municipality in 1877 encompassing one square mile centred on Mosman Street. [16] It included new churches, the Oddfellows and Good Templar Lodges, and 21 hotels and 57 shops. The Bank of NSW moved into new premises in March 1877, described as a five roomed banking house, bringing solidarity to the top end of Mosman Street. [17]
The wealth of the Charters Towers goldfields grew in the following years, particularly following the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London where specimens of Charters Towers Gold were featured. Almost immediately English investors seized the opportunity to be part of the Charters Towers gold riches. Mining companies were formed, managed by Charters Towers' mining agents and share-brokers, and while some shares were held by English interests, many local people prospered through their investments, which then led to an expansion of banking facilities and mining exchanges. Banks and gold buyers purchased the gold, minted it into sovereigns in Australia and England, which were held in the vaults of banks in Melbourne, London, Berlin, and New York and then shipped to pay international debt. [18] According to the Northern Miner newspaper, there were five banks in Gill Street in mid 1887: the Bank of NSW, Bank of Australasia, London Chartered Bank, Union and Royal Banks. The Queensland National and the Australian Joint Stock Bank remained in Mosman Street. [19]
The Bank of NSW gradually improved banking facilities during the 1880s when many new branches opened in Queensland. Most directors were keen for bank premises in country towns to emphasise dignity, size and solidity in the design of their buildings demonstrating the bank's capacity to survive and consolidate. Consequently, well known architects were employed to design bank buildings in New South Wales, and throughout Australia and New Zealand. [20]
This was the case in Charters Towers. The Bank of NSW purchased an allotment in February 1887, diagonally opposite the post office in Gill Street, on which to erect a new substantial brick building. [21] Architects Eyre and Munro called for tenders in the local newspaper in April 1888. The firm had offices in Townsville and Charters Towers. [22] The Charters Towers office was run by William Henry Allan Munro, who had been previously employed in Townsville by architects and builders Rooney Brothers. After winning a competition for the design of the Queensland Hotel, he was taken into partnership with Walter Morris Eyre. In 1887 he became the junior partner, managing the Charters Towers office. Eyre, brother-in-law of architect FDG Stanley, had managed Stanley's Maryborough office between 1882 and 1885 before relocating to Townsville, where he supervised the construction of the Bank of NSW in Flinders Street (QHR 600890). The Eyre and Munro partnership designed many north Queensland buildings including the 1889 Holy Trinity Church of England in Herberton (QHR 600538), the 1890 Bank of North Queensland in Cooktown (QHR 600422), the 1890-1 Townsville School of Arts (QHR 600925), and the 1892 Burns Philp Building, now part of Bartlam's Store in Charters Towers (QHR 600409). They also designed the building on the corner of Deane and Gill Streets for auctioneers Ackers, Wilson, Ayton and Ryan, built in 1888 which later housed the Royal Bank of Queensland. [23]
Construction of the new bank was by contractor Mr Kelleher under the supervision of Eyre and Munro. It opened for business on Monday 13th May 1889, [24] and was described as ‘handsome and very pleasing, an imposing structure, superior to anything north of Brisbane' and overshadowing the adjacent Bank of Australasia (no longer extant). While the Northern Miner newspaper reported the cost at £9,000, the bank's archives indicated £6,040. The new building was seen as the way forward in both structure and location. [25] The inclusion of a commodious manager's private apartment was usual for regional banks.
On the ground floor the building comprised banking chamber, fitted handsomely in polished cedar, the upper part of the various partitions being in ornamental ground glass...ample room for the public in front of the counter for the transaction of business, and a table... placed there for the accommodation of those who may desire to fill in deposit slips, requisitions for drafts, &c; a counter...14 ft long by 4ft 6 in [4.2 x 1.4m] wide, with the bill department on the right, and the exchange clerks' office on the left; ledger desks...placed at the back of the counter. To the left of the main entrance to the public hall is the manager's room, ...and opening out of that is the accountant's office... which has a raised floor, so that the official, by simply standing up, can get a good view of all that is going on. There is a passage leading from the manager's room to the dining-room, which, with the exception of the kitchen and servants' offices is the only one of the private apartments on the ground floor. At the rear of the ledger-desks are the strong room (fireproof), a lavatory and a stationery-room. Leaving the dining-room, we come to the private hall, which is approached from the passage to the left of the building. The upper floor is reached by a staircase from this hall...and contains a handsome drawing room...communicating by folding doors with another large room...which will be used by Mr Beattie for his own bedroom. There are three other bedrooms and a dressing room, all of large dimensions, with linen closet and a bathroom. The upper part of the building has a balcony running around three sides...and the internal passages are all proportionately spacious. The servants' quarters on the ground floor comprise kitchen, pantry, wash-house and sleeping apartment, and are furnished with the usual appurtenances for cooking and washing. Stabling has yet to be erected. Gas is laid on in every room and provision is made: for the Burdekin water supply when that scheme is complete. In the meantime there are three 1000 gallon [45 litres] tanks all full. The chimney-pieces and other fittings are in cedar, and are in excellent taste. All the rooms are ceiled, with mouldings, &c., of elegant design, and ventilation and drainage have been specially attended to.' [26]
An economic downturn occurred in 1888, during the construction of the bank, due to a decrease in overseas investment and a continuing drought which led to the closure of crushing machines due to lack of water. The slump was short-lived after the development of the Brilliant Reef, [27] which when mined to a depth of 3000 feet (914 m), became the biggest producer in the field.
Charters Towers was at its economic peak in the late 19th century. According to Government Geologist Robert Logan Jack, Charters Towers was the third largest gold producing area in Australia, after Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo). [28] Many new buildings were completed in this period in Charters Towers. The ‘T' junction of Mosman and Gill Streets became the financial district of Charters Towers. For one block to the east, north, and south were eight banks, the post and telegraph office, two assaying offices, and four solicitor's offices. Share-brokers occupied the Royal Arcade, and other offices were located in Mosman and Bow Streets. The Royal Arcade was built in 1888 for Alexander Malcolm and by 1890 the Stock Exchange (QHR 600406) operated from the building. Other significant buildings of this era include the1887-92 Masonic Lodge (QHR 600411) and the 1892 Post Office (Commonwealth Heritage List 105523). Banks of this era include the 1881 (lowset timber) Bank of Australasia, the London Chartered Bank (which purchased the two-storey masonry building from local builder Hugh Ross in 1887), the former Australian Joint Stock Bank (QHR 600407) and the Queensland National (QN) Bank, both designed by FDG Stanley and both built in 1891. The Union Bank then occupied the former QN Bank premises in Mosman Street. [29] All of these buildings remain, apart from the Bank of Australasia. The Bank of NSW was considered the first financial institution to erect premises worthy of the town and the business conducted there. The North Queensland Register claimed it was the largest banking institution in Australasia in the 1890s. [30]
The banking crisis of 1893, when the Queensland National Bank and the Australian Joint Stock Bank, both suspended trading, led to an increase in business for the Bank of NSW in Charters Towers, when successful mining companies transferred their accounts. [31] At that time there were eight banking businesses operating in Charters Towers; the Australian Joint Stock Bank, Bank of Australasia, Bank of NSW, Bank of North Queensland, London Chartered Bank, Queensland National Bank, Royal Bank and the Union Bank, and all were still operating after the crisis had passed. [32]
In 1899, Charters Towers was the second most important city in Queensland with a population of over 26,000, and an internationally noted goldfield. [33] The gold yield for the state rose dramatically following the development of the Brilliant Reef, and in 1891, rose from 123,000 ounces (3487 kg) to 218 000 ounces (6181 kg). It reached its all time peak of 319,572 ounces (9059.7 kg), yielding over £2,000,000 by 1899. [34] Gold production contributed between 21.61 and 35.53 percent of Queensland's export income during the 1880s and 1890s. These enormous amounts of gold were purchased by banks, which played a vital role in this process of wealth creation and distribution.
Gold production had been the mainstay of the Queensland mining sector in the 1890s, amounting to 85 per cent to 92.8 per cent of mining production during the decade. Apart from a brief spike in production at Mount Morgan in 1888-9, Charters Towers consistently out-produced the other major gold mining areas of Ravenswood, Gympie and Mount Morgan between 1880 and 1913. [35] While Gympie peaked between 1901 and 1906, generally figures for all centres declined in the early 20th century. Charters Towers' production of 96,046 oz (2723 kg) in 1912, fell to 42,777 oz (1213 kg) in 1916 and was reduced to 8095 oz (22.9 kg) by 1919. [36]
Despite Charters Towers being declared a city in 1909, the downturn in mining from 1914 and its virtual cessation by 1917 contributed to a steady decrease in population during this time. A town that had boasted a population of 25,000 in 1900, when it was the second largest in Queensland, was reduced to just 13,000 by the end of World War I (WWI). Between 1914 and 1918 more than 900 homes and business premises were removed from Charters Towers. Many were dismantled and transported by train to Townsville or Ayr where they were re-erected. Others were relocated to various places in Western Queensland. [37] Nevertheless, banking institutions remained in town to service the regional rural economy and included the Bank of NSW, Bank of Australasia, London Chartered Bank, Queensland National Bank, Union Bank and the Bank of Commerce in the early 1920s. [38] The Bank of NSW took over the Western Australian Bank in 1927, and then absorbed the Australian Bank of Commerce in 1931. [39]
The Bank of NSW occupied the building in Gill Street until 1970 and during this time a number of repairs and small modifications were made. Renovations were undertaken in 1910 included plastering, painting and general repairs, [40] with further unidentified alterations occurring in 1921 and 1940. [41] A post-1900 photograph of the rear of the bank shows rendering to the face-brick walls of the bank core and service wing; lattice panels fixed to the western verandahs of the manager's apartment and service wing; horizontal battens on the wash house and stables and a lavatory in the far south-western corner. It is likely that the female toilets attached to the northern western corner of the bank were built during WWI when women were employed to make up for the shortfall of men. [42] Following the 1931 merger with the Australian Bank of Commerce, the amalgamated business was carried on in the Bank of New South Wales premises in Gill Street. The former Bank of Commerce building (originally the Joint Stock Bank) was used as accommodation for bank officers. It was sold in 1937.
The Charters Towers Bank of NSW played an important role in the Pacific Campaign of World War II, as the New Guinean Bank of NSW branches in the towns of Wau, Samrai, Rabaul and Port Moresby were successively evacuated in January and early February 1942, due to bombing or threat of bombing. The transportable business effects including records, cash and bullion were taken by boat to Townsville, and a custodian branch was set up in Charters Towers, while the reconstruction of the business was undertaken in Brisbane. [43]
The Charters Towers City Council acquired the Queensland National Bank building in 1949 and relocated its administrative operations there. The building was then known as the Town Hall. A library was established in the old town hall building. The Charters Towers City Council acquired the former Bank of Commerce (AJS Bank) in 1992 and converted it into The World Theatre (QHR 600407).
In 1967 a property exchange was made with the Charters Towers City Council, whereby the Bank of NSW acquired the old town hall site owned by the council. The old timber Town Hall was demolished in August 1968. [44] The bank continued to occupy its original building during the construction of a new building on this site, which opened on 16 March 1970. The Bank of NSW acquired the Victorian based Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd in 1982 and then changed its name to Westpac, reflecting the Western Pacific region in which it now operated. [45]
From 1982, the former Bank of NSW building was used as the council library and child care centre. The property was formally transferred to the Council in 1984. [46] The council erected women's toilets to the rear of the western side of the building sometime prior to 1980. During the 1980s a restaurant occupied the first floor of the building. In the 1990s it housed the offices of Skill West and Skill Share, as well as school support services provided by Education Queensland. The semi-detached building at the rear has undergone a number of renovations over time. The library was relocated in 2003 and the day care centre ceased operation. The former Bank of NSW building has had a number of tenants since that time including a real estate agent and a Bendigo Bank Agency. The Australian Association of Distance Education Schools utilised space on the first floor for training purposes in the 2000s, however it has been vacant since 2010. [47] The building was renamed Wherry House in 2006 to honour a former mayor Paul Wherry and his wife Molly who served the city from 1952 to 1964. [48] Plaques commemorating their community work were installed in the building in November 2006.
","criteria":"Designed by prominent North Queensland architects Eyre and Munro, the Bank of New South Wales (former), Charters Towers is an important example of their major commercial work. Highly intact, it is an exceptional demonstration of a substantial, regional 19th century bank - its two-storey masonry construction; elaborate classical styling make it a prominent element in the streetscape of the central business district and its large elaborate banking chamber; strong room; offices; discreet, commodious manager's residence; and semi-detached service wing are key features. The building retains its original layout illustrating the interrelation between the functions of the rooms.
|The Bank of New South Wales (former) is important for its expressive attributes, conveying the concept of financial stability and permanence sought by financial institutions of this era through its imposing, classically detailed arcaded façade. Finely composed, it is a major contributor to the streetscape and one of a suite of large masonry bank buildings in the central business district in Charters Towers, a largely intact and important nineteenth century gold era town.
It is notable for the variety of high quality decorative treatments and interior joinery illustrating the hierarchy of the former functions within the building and demonstrating the tastes of the nineteenth century.
|The Bank of New South Wales (former) in Charters Towers is important in demonstrating the history of gold mining, a major contributor to Queensland's wealth. Built in 1889, the bank symbolises the vital need for the provision of financial services to the burgeoning deep reef gold mining industry of Charters Towers, the largest gold producer in Queensland and the third largest in Australia by the 1890s.
It contributes significantly to our understanding of the important operations of the bank, the first banking institution in Australia, and the first in Queensland, which expanded its interests in north Queensland concurrently with the growth of pastoralism and mining from the 1860s. It was the second banking organisation to establish a branch on the Charters Towers gold field, providing financial services since 1872.
The 1889 Bank of New South Wales (former) was the first substantial two-storey masonry bank building in Charters Towers, and served as bank and managers' residence for over 80 years. It symbolises the desire of bank management to have buildings in regional towns demonstrating the dignity, size and solidity of the bank's wealth and prosperity in a prime location in the business centre of town.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion A","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":35201,"place_ref":602846,"name":"Charters Towers Central State School","alternate_name":"Charters Towers Girls' and Infants' Central State School | Charters Towers Boys' Central State School | Charters Towers Girls' Central State School | Charters Towers Girls' School | Charters Towers State High School","street_address":"39-47 High Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2014-11-28","description":"Charters Towers Central State School is located on a flat site, southeast of the central business district in Charters Towers. It occupies a 2.49ha, irregular-shaped block that is bounded by Mexican, High, Aland and Boundary streets, as well as residential properties to the south. The school comprises a variety of educational buildings, primarily at the northern and western ends of the property, and includes a former infants' teaching building (1900) standing in the northeast corner, which was built to an early Department of Public Works design. In 2014, the main entrance to the school is via High Street; however, established trees mark the former main entrances to the school on Aland Street.
The former infants' teaching building stands behind a small lawn and is approached from the secondary entrance off Aland Street (originally this was the main entrance when the building was separated from the Girls' School adjacent). The building is a weatherboard-clad, timber-framed structure that is highset on concrete stumps. It comprises two gabled-roof wings, one southern and one eastern, that have verandahs front and back. The wings are linked together by the inner verandahs to form an L-shaped plan. Projecting from the verandahs are two small gable-roofed enclosures - a former hat and cloak room, and a teachers' room, enclosed at the understorey level with weatherboards - and a highset principal's room with a hipped roof. The main building's roof is clad with corrugated metal sheets and its ridges have metal ventilation fleches. The former hat and cloak room and teachers' room enclosure features packed weatherboards for ventilation at floor level, and the apexes of gable walls have ventilation panels of louvres that assist with internal ventilation.
The elevations are symmetrically composed. Original windows are timber-framed, centre-pivot windows with high sills. In the gable ends of the wings, later timber-framed awning windows have been added below. Gable end walls have wide and deep window hoods that are timber-framed with battened cheeks and are clad with corrugated metal sheets. The understory of the building is used as a covered play area and is open, with the exception of an original enclosure below the former hat and coat room and teachers' room projection, and an early corrugated metal-clad enclosure under the eastern wing.
Timber stairs provide access up to the verandahs, which are timber-framed with original lattice and batten enclosures at some ends. Balustrades are timber dowels, with some replaced by bagracks. Raked ceilings are lined with beaded boards or later fibrocement sheets; and adjacent to the hat and cloak room and teachers' room, the ceilings are flat. The verandah walls are single-skin with externally exposed timber framing and bracing. Original centre-pivoting windows within these walls are retained. French doors with centre-pivoting fanlights allow access into the classrooms, French doors lead into the hat and cloak room, and low-waisted doors provide entry to the teachers' and principal's rooms .
The east and south wing are both internally divided into two classrooms by single-skin timber partitions, which kink at 45 degree angles to allow access to both rooms from mutual exterior doors. Low-waisted doors in the partitions internally connect the rooms. The classrooms have high, coved ceilings lined with beaded boards, and central timber fretwork ventilation roses. Metal tie rods are exposed within each space and horizontal beaded boards clad the walls. At the base of the verandah walls, the lowest board is hinged to provide ventilation.
The ceiling and interior walls of the former hat and cloak room are lined with beaded boards and walls have hinged ventilation boards. The teachers' room is internally lined with flat sheeting.
Other structures within the heritage boundary are not of cultural heritage significance.
","history":"The school now known as Charters Towers Central State School opened on its current site, east of High Street and south of Aland Street, on 13 August 1883 as Charters Towers State School for Girls and Infants. As the town and school attendance grew, the school expanded to have new teaching buildings, other structures, and landscape elements. A highset Department of Public Works timber teaching building was added to the east of the original school building in 1900, initially as a separate school for infants. This infants' teaching building, which addresses Aland Street, was later used as a high school, and then as a separate boys school, before the girls', infants' and boys' schools on the site combined as Charters Towers Central State School in 1965. The Charters Towers Central State School has been in continuous operation since its establishment on the current site in 1883 (and from 1875 at a previous site) and has been a focus for the local community as a place for important social and cultural activity.
\nTraditionally the land of the Gudjal people, European settlement of the Charters Towers area began when gold was discovered at the foot of Towers Hill in December 1871. The find was reported in January 1872, and the Charters Towers Goldfield was officially proclaimed on 31 August 1872. Two settlements were established; one became Charters Towers, and one 4 miles (6.4 km) distant became Millchester. There was rivalry between the two settlements, but Charters Towers soon dominated.[1] Charters Towers was proclaimed a municipality on 21 June 1877, and a heightened phase of prosperity was entered after the great wealth of the Day Dawn reef was discovered in 1878.[2]
\nThe first local state school opened in 1874 in Millchester, while Charters Towers Primary School opened on 18 October 1875,[3] on a 5 acre block, three blocks west of today's Charters Towers Central State School, on the site now occupied by a high school. However, this land was not gazetted until September 1876, after miners were seen pegging ground within the school.[4]
\nThe provision of state-administered education was important to the colonial governments of Australia. National schools were established in 1848 in New South Wales and continued in Queensland following the colony's creation in 1859. After the introduction of the Education Act 1860, Queensland's public schools grew from four in 1860 to 230 by 1875.[5] The State Education Act 1875 provided for free, compulsory and secular primary education and the establishment of the Department of Public Instruction. This further standardised the provision of education, and despite difficulties, achieved the remarkable feat of bringing basic literacy to most Queensland children by 1900.[6]
\nThe establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of early communities and integral to their success. Locals often donated land and labour for a school's construction and the school community contributed to maintenance and development. Schools became a community focus, a symbol of progress, and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents, and teachers. The inclusion of war memorials and community halls reinforced these connections and provided a venue for a wide range of community events in schools across Queensland.[7]
\nThe Queensland government developed standard plans for its school buildings to help ensure consistency and economy. From the 1860s until the 1960s, Queensland school buildings were predominantly timber framed, an easy and cost-effective approach that also enabled the government to provide facilities in remote areas. Standard designs were continually refined in response to changing needs and educational philosophy and Queensland school buildings were particularly innovative in climate control, lighting, and ventilation. Standardisation produced distinctly similar schools across Queensland with complexes of typical components.[8]
\nThe Charters Towers Primary School initially consisted of one building, with separate play sheds for girls and boys.[9] As a result of the increasing population of Charters Towers, a separate building for the girls was constructed in 1879 at the primary school.[10]
\nOnce again, the school became overcrowded and the need for a separate school for girls was evident. In November 1880 a School Inspector's report recommended the establishment of a separate Girls' School, given both the growth in numbers and parents' moral concerns. It was also decided to locate the Girls' School on a new site.[11] A site of 1 acre, 3 roods and 17.5 perches (0.75ha) was surveyed in June 1881, and was gazetted in August that year.[12] The new State School for Girls and Infants was located to the east of High Street, three blocks east of the primary school, and adjacent to the Roman Catholic Church School Reserve.[13]
\nThe site was bound by Aland, High and Mexican Streets, but it initially excluded a small, privately owned block on the northwest corner of the site, fronting Aland and High Streets.[14] The new school site was on the crown of Mexican Ridge and was described as ‘healthy... central and airy'.[15] It overlooked the town to the west, and the railway station and the suburb of Queenton to the east. The government provided plans for a building which would cost of £1500, one fifth (£300) of which would have to be raised locally.[16]
\nTenders were advertised for a new school in September 1881 but none of the tenders received were within the anticipated budget.[17] Further calls for tenders were made in November 1881, and April 1882.[18] In 1883, after multiple years of public complaint and outcry about overcrowding at the original school site, the government constructed the new building at the new site using its own labour.[19] The Girls' School, which addressed Aland Street, was officially opened on 13 August 1883.[20] The original school site then became the State School for Boys.
\nThe new teaching building at the State School for Girls and Infants was constructed to a standard design by architect Robert Ferguson. In 1885 Robert Ferguson was replaced as the Department of Public Instruction's Superintendent of Buildings by his brother John Ferguson, who continued to implement his brother's designs until John's death in 1893, when responsibility for school buildings passed back to the Department of Public Works.[21]
\nCharters Towers continued to prosper and grow in the 1880s. In this decade it became the most productive goldfield in Queensland.[22] The procurement of gold from deep seams required substantial machinery to crush quartz and sink shafts, and by 1882 company mining became the norm in Charters Towers. The completion of a railway line from Townsville to Charters Towers in December 1882 also boosted the town's prosperity, by lowering the cost of supplies and building materials. A display of Charters Towers Gold in the Queensland Court at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London in 1886 in turn led to an influx of capital from English speculators.[23] Although there was a brief economic downturn in 1888, due to drought reducing the water supply for crushing machines, in 1889 the famous Brilliant Reef, the richest on the field, was discovered.[24]
\nBy January 1884, there were two state schools, a convent school, and two small private schools in Charters Towers; with a total of 924 children, including 160 at the State School for Boys, and 421 at the State School for Girls and Infants.[25] In October 1885 tenders were called for additions to the ‘Girls' and Infants' State School', and the Ferguson building was extended to accommodate infants' classes, in an additional timber wing at the south end.[26] By December 1885 the Girls' and Infants' School had an average attendance of 690 students; while the Boys' School at the original site had an average attendance of 250.[27] In mid-1889 the girls' and infants' schools were separated, although they both remained in the Ferguson building.[28]
\nCharters Towers continued to thrive throughout the depressed economy of the 1890s, with a peak production of 319,572 ounces of gold in 1899. By this time it had a population of around 26,500, and was the second most important city economically in Queensland. At the turn of the century Charters Towers, with its multi-cultural population, was known colloquially as 'the World'.[29]
\nThis continued prosperity was reflected in the schools. The State School for Boys had a new building by 1890, while in 1891 the grounds at the girls' and infants' schools were extended. A block of 1 acre 3 roods 1.5 perches (0.71ha) was purchased in 1891, extending the school site eastwards as far as Boundary Street. By 1892 the Girls' School had an enrolment of 405 (average attendance 309), and the Infants' School had a roll of 700 (average attendance 500).[30]
\nIn 1895 the term ‘Central' was added to the names of the three state schools for the first time, possibly to avoid confusion between other state schools that were constructed in Charters Towers around a similar time (in the suburbs of Richmond Hill and Queenton). The schools became known as Charters Towers Central (Boys) School, Charters Towers Central (Girls) School and Charters Towers Central (Infants) School.[31]
\nAs numbers at the girls' and infants' schools continued to grow, it was decided that a separate new building would be constructed to house the Infants' School. Tenders were invited on 19 October 1899, and a social and dance was held in the School of Arts in aid of the building fund later that month.[32] The tender of Benjamin Toll, a local builder and contractor, for £1912,13s was accepted in January 1900.[33]
\nThe 1900 Infants' teaching building was constructed to the east of the Ferguson building, to a design by the Department of Public Works. Under the stewardship of the Department of Public Works, which retained responsibility for schools until 2013, and through the involvement of some of Queensland's most innovative architects, school buildings became more advanced and diverse. This was the outcome of years of systematic reform and experimentation.[34]
\nA period of marked experimentation in school design occurred between 1893 and 1914, with a primary focus on improving the natural light and ventilation of classroom interiors.[35] Various combinations of roof ventilators and ducting; ceiling and wall vents; and larger windows of varying sill heights and dormer windows were trialled. For timber-framed buildings, single-skin construction was favoured for its heat dissipation ability and economy. Often the building was lined on the interior rather than exterior, providing a smooth, cleanable surface that provided better interior light. The resulting externally-exposed stud framing was protected from the weather by wide verandahs, which had the added benefit of shading the building and providing makeshift teaching space. The introduction of highset buildings began in the late 1890s, providing better ventilation and additional teaching and covered play space underneath. This was a noticeable new direction and this form became a characteristic of Queensland schools. A number of ventilating techniques were introduced at this time. One of note was a continuous ventilation flap on the wall at floor level. This hinged board could be opened to increase air flow into the space and, combined with a ceiling vent and large roof fleche, improved internal air quality and lowered internal temperatures effectively.[36]
\nAt Charters Towers Central State School, the new infants' teaching building was built facing Aland Street, featuring a considerable number of the lighting and ventilation techniques that were being experimented with at the time. Similar to standard design type C/T1 but highset, it was an L-shaped building of two wings, each accommodating one large classroom 53ft x 26ft (16.2m x 7.9m). These classrooms each had 10ft (3m) wide verandahs front and back. Projecting from the front verandah were two rooms: a hat and cloak room and a teachers' room. The Department of Works Annual Report for 1900-01 noted: ‘The building has been kept high enough off the ground to enable the entire area underneath to be used as a playground for the children'.[37] This use of a highset building with a play area underneath was an early example of what became a standard design from 1909. An enclosure was provided underneath the building for toilets, negating the need to build a separate structure. The classrooms were lofty, well lit and ventilated by tall windows sheltered by deep window hoods, fanlights, a ventilation flap on the wall at floor level, vented ceiling roses connected via ducts to vented roof fleches, and louvred vents into the roof space. The teachers' and hat and cloak rooms incorporated packed weatherboards at floor level for ventilation.
\nAfter opening, the new building was used by infants (students between 5 and 7 years old) and the spaces previously used by the infants in the Ferguson building were converted for use as the junior girls' classrooms. When the new infants' teaching building was opened, it had 219 infants on the roll.[38] A Grand Children's Concert was held in the Theatre Royal to assist in the repayments for the new building.[39]
\nBy the time of the Infants' Schools' opening, Charters Towers was no longer a boom town. There was a steady decline in gold production after 1899, and although Charters Towers was declared a city in 1909, most mines had been abandoned by 1916. The last of the big mines, the Brilliant Extended, closed in 1917, but small mining operations continued to be serviced by the Venus battery. Many timber buildings were moved by rail to Townsville during and after World War I, and by 1921 Charters Towers' population had decreased to 5,682. Some villas were reused as boarding schools as Charters Towers adapted to becoming an educational centre for North Queensland.[40]
\nThe Infants' School's enrolments declined significantly in the early 20th century; affected by outbreaks of measles, mumps, whooping cough, dengue fever and severe influenza between 1908 and 1909.[41] In 1907 there were 191 enrolled infants at the school, but by 1911, this number had dropped to 137.[42] By 1912 enrolment in the Infants' School was small enough for it to move back into the Ferguson building, and the girls' and infants' schools were re-united.[43] In 1912 the attendance at the Girls' and Infants' School was 512 - declining to 396 by 1921.[44]
\nThe vacant infants' teaching building was occupied by the new Charters Towers State High School which opened on 22 January 1912 as one of Queensland's first six high schools.[45] In Queensland, governments were slow to establish state secondary education, considering this to be of little relevance to Queensland's primary industry-based economy. It was not until 1912 that the government instituted a high school system, whereby separate high schools were established in major towns or, where the student population was too small, a primary school was expanded to include a 'high top'. High tops were an economical measure that provided essentially the same education while utilising already established facilities. The first purpose-built high school buildings were constructed in 1917. In Queensland generally, there were few high schools until after World War II, when secondary education was generally accepted as essential and was more widely provided for.[46]
\nModifications to the former infants' teaching building c.1917 for high school use included new walls dividing each of the original teaching rooms into two classrooms; the hat and cloak room was used as a classroom, and a Principal's Office was added to the east side of the easternmost verandah.[47]
\nDespite the drop in enrolments, the school grounds were officially extended by 2 roods (2023m2) in 1923,[48] although this land appears to have been surveyed in 1913.[49] The High School eventually became overcrowded, and in 1929 it swapped sites with the Charters Towers Boys' Central State School. The Boys' School moved into the 1900 former infants' building but remained segregated from the Girls' and Infants' School.[50]
\nExisting teaching buildings at the schools were regularly altered for improved lighting and ventilation. Changes to the fenestration at the Boys' school were proposed in 1952, and hopper windows and new hoods were added to the gables, below the existing casement windows and hoods.[51]
\nIn 1965 the boys', girls' and infants' schools were amalgamated and renamed Charters Towers Central State School.[52] The 1970s was a period of substantial growth for the school. New buildings from this time included: ‘C' Block (1971), ‘D' Block (1975), the library (1977), and a dental clinic (1978).[53] In the late 1970s, two blocks of land south of Mexican Street at the corner of Boundary Street were purchased for a preschool (opened 1980). The property next door to the preschool site was later purchased to allow for the construction of a play area.[54] In 1980, an application was made to have the section of Mexican Street between the school and preschool closed off, although it was not incorporated into the school grounds until 1996.[55] Today the school grounds cover 2.49 hectares.
\nIn 2014, the school continues to operate from the site. The school retains the 1900 infants' teaching building. The school is important to the town having operated from the site since 1883 and having taught generations of Charters Towers students. Since establishment it has been a key social focus for the Charters Towers community with the grounds and buildings having been the location of many social events over time.
","criteria":"The Charters Towers Central State School's former infants' teaching building (1900) is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education, and its associated architecture, in Queensland. It is an excellent, representative example of a building that was an architectural response to prevailing government educational philosophies. The former infants' teaching building is an early and intact example of a highset design by the Queensland Department of Public Works, also incorporating experimental ventilation design.
The place is important for its association with the development of Charters Towers in the late 19th century. During this period Charters Towers played an integral role, through its gold production, in the economic development of Queensland, which is reflected by the size of the school by 1900.
|Queensland schools have always played an important part in Queensland communities. They typically retain a significant and enduring connection with former pupils, parents, and teachers; provide a venue for social interaction and volunteer work; and are a source of pride, symbolising local progress and aspirations. The Charters Towers Central State School former infants' teaching building has a strong and ongoing association with the Charters Towers community. The school has operated from its current site since 1883, (with the infants' teaching building extant from 1900) and has educated generations of Charters Towers' children.
|The former infants' teaching building is important in demonstrating the Department of Public Works' creative approach to natural lighting and ventilation c.1900. A highset school building with a play space underneath as standard, its design combined a number of existing technologies to cope with a hot, dry climate. The building also contains the earliest known evidence of the innovative ventilation technique of wall ventilation flaps at floor level.
|The Charters Towers Central State School's former infants' teaching building, constructed during a period of experimental design by the Queensland Department of Public Works, is important in demonstrating the development of standard designs in Queensland state schools.
The former infants' teaching building retains the characteristics of a standard, timber-framed, Department of Public Works teaching building constructed between 1894 and 1914, a period of diverse design united by a distinct emphasis on improved natural light and ventilation. This includes a variety of techniques: highset form; single-skin construction; wide verandahs on two sides of lofty classrooms; a lined interior; fanlights and tall windows with high sills, sunshading through lattice, battening, and broad and wide window hoods; and an assembly of ventilation techniques including packed weatherboards, hinged flaps, ceiling roses connected via ducting to roof fleches, and louvred panels in the roof space.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion G | Criterion F | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":null,"place_ref":650009,"name":"Ambulance Building (former)","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"157 Gill Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2015-12-04","description":"The Ambulance Building, Charters Towers (former) occupies the southwest corner of a level, 0.158ha, rectangular allotment; approximately 1km east of the central business district in Charters Towers, North Queensland. The site is bounded to the south by the major thoroughfare of Gill Street, to the west by a lowset modern ambulance facility (setback from Gill Street), to the north by residential properties, and to the east by a vacant lot. The Ambulance Building (1903) is positioned at the front (southern end) of the allotment, facing Gill Street, and is an eye-catching feature in the townscape. An access driveway runs along the eastern boundary.
\nAmbulance Building (1903)
The Ambulance Building is a two storey, rendered brick structure, designed in a classical idiom, and sheltered by a corrugated metal-clad gable roof that is hipped at the rear. The building is approximately rectangular in plan, with its front elevation angled to align with Gill Street and its long axis running north-south. The building’s roof has circular metal vents along its ridgeline and a tall, rendered brick chimney protrudes from the northeastern corner. The building has pedestrian and vehicular access from Gill Street, with additional pedestrian entrances on the north and west sides. Various items relating to Queensland’s ambulance history are retained in a museum display within the building.
The front elevation is symmetrical around a central pediment, arched window and front entry aedicule. A stepped parapet concealing the roof is terminated at each end by octagonal pilasters, projecting prominently above the roofline and topped with domed caps and ball finials. Other applied ornamentation to the front elevation includes: the former logo of the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade (QATB) (a Maltese cross encircled by the letters Q, A, T and B) and the date ‘1900’ in raised letters within the pediment; acanthus leaf motifs and the word ‘AMBULANCE’ raised within the entablature; fluted arch spandrels; ivy leaf motifs; and moulded horizontal bands. A foundation stone, set within the wall at the eastern end of the elevation, commemorates the foundation date of the building, 29 March 1903, and the name of the person who laid the stone, PJ Allen.
\nIn plan, the former ambulance service facility rooms are housed on the ground floor, and the former living quarters occupy the first floor. The ground floor is divided into two sections: front and rear. The front section comprises a large Plant room, with servicing rooms along the eastern side, including (running south to north): a former casualty room, a former radio room and, underneath the timber stair, a former kit room. The stair features an early metal handrail, and memorial plaques dating back to at least 1934. The kit room houses built-in, timber-framed bunk beds and timber lockers. A corridor, beginning at the Plant room and terminating at a rear entrance door, divides the rear section – to the west is a recreation (rec) room (former workshop), with a northern store room, toilet and bathroom; and to the east is a laundry and kitchen. The first floor contains a large boardroom in the southwestern corner, with two bedrooms flanking the eastern side. North of the boardroom, a hallway runs north through the centre of the building. Three bedrooms and a northern bathroom are west of the corridor, and a southern bedroom, stairwell, former kitchen and northern former laundry are to the east.
\nEarly timber joinery is retained. Most windows have deep reveals and wide sills. The front elevation contains a tall, timber-framed casement window (ground floor) and double-hung windows with timber sashes (first floor). The window in the centre of the first floor is arched. On the ground floor, the central entrance door and wide, vehicular access door are recent reconstructions – render and brick arches above these doors indicate their lowered height. The openings on the side and rear elevations remain in their early locations, with the ground and first floor openings generally aligned. Doors to the northern elevation are ledged and boarded with v-jointed (VJ) timber. A doorway on the eastern elevation and an archway in the northern elevation are now enclosed. Aligned with the northern archway, a large, internal arched opening is set within a wall separating the front and rear of the ground floor. Most interior doors are panelled timber and those at the southern end of the ground floor have decorative timber fanlights.
\nMost early interior linings are intact. The brickwork of the exterior walls is painted internally. Partition walls are generally single-skin, timber-framed and lined with wide, horizontal, VJ timber boards. Those at the rear of the ground floor are lined with flat sheeting (some with cover strips), indicating their later installation. Notches within partitions in the boardroom are evidence of the location of early picture rails. Large concrete pavers line the floor of the Plant room, which slopes from the north down to the south. The floors of the first level are lined with timber boards; and a mark within the floor lining of the boardroom is indicative of the location of a later partition (now removed). Pressed metal ceilings of various patterns are featured throughout the building – those at the front end of the ground floor and in the first floor boardroom are of a more decorative style. The first floor features a range of decorative ceiling roses. A section of narrow floor boards at the southern end of the first floor corridor, and a circular hole within the ceiling lining, denote the former location of a pole which accessed the ground floor. The underside of this floor lining is visible within a recessed section of the ground floor ceiling. A hole in the ceiling lining of the laundry is indicative of a chimney connection’s location. Cornices and architraves are timber of a detailed profile.
\nRecent elements that are not of cultural heritage significance include: the carpet, tile and linoleum floor linings; kitchen and bathroom fit-outs; external, northern stairs; aluminium-framed windows; sheeting enclosing openings; the door connecting to adjacent, modern ambulance facilities; reconstructed doors within the front elevation; paint covering window panes; and light fittings.
\nLandscape Elements
A driveway remains in its original (c1903) location along the eastern edge of the site and allows access to the rear of the Ambulance Building. It has a recent surface.
Other Structures/Elements
Other structures, sheds, footpaths, walkways and roads within the cultural heritage boundary are not of cultural heritage significance.
The former Ambulance Building, Charters Towers (1903), is a two-storey masonry structure, located in the former mining town of Charters Towers. As the second purpose-built, and oldest surviving ambulance building in Queensland, it is important in demonstrating the establishment of ambulance services in regional centres throughout the state in the early 20th century. It is an excellent example of an early 20th century ambulance building, makes a strong aesthetic contribution to the townscape, and has a special association with the Queensland Ambulance Service (formerly QATB).
\nCharters Towers was established after gold was discovered at the foot of Towers Hill in December 1871, leading to the proclamation of the Charters Towers Goldfield on 31 August 1872.[1] The settlement began with a number of shops and hotels along a track, which became Mosman Street, with the population reputedly 3000 by August 1872. In 1877 the one square mile comprising Charters Towers, centred on Mosman Street, was declared a municipality.[2]
\nIn the 1880s Charters Towers continued to prosper and grow, becoming the most productive goldfield in Queensland. The completion of a railway line from Townsville to Charters Towers in December 1882 boosted the town's prosperity, by lowering the cost of supplies and building materials. An influx of capital from English speculators from 1886 funded further mining. In 1889 the famous Brilliant Reef, the richest on the field, was discovered, boosting the goldfield’s fortunes.
\nCharters Towers consistently out-produced all other Queensland goldfields between 1880 and 1913, apart from a brief spike in production at Mount Morgan in 1888-9, coinciding with a brief economic downturn at Charters Towers due to drought reducing the water supply for crushing machines.[3] According to Government Geologist Robert Logan Jack, Charters Towers was the third largest gold producing area in Australia, after Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo).[4] From 1883 to c1909 gold was Queensland’s second largest or largest export by value.[5]
\nAt the turn of the century, Charters Towers had just achieved peak production (1899), comprised a multi-cultural population of around 26,500, was Queensland’s second largest city, and was known colloquially as 'the World'.[6]
\nDuring the field’s period of high production, its mines were dangerous places to work. Death and injury figures between 1890 and 1901 for Charters Towers ‘were consistently higher, in proportion to the number of miners employed, than for the colony in general’.[7] The whole community was affected by accidents, poor mine sanitation (resulting in typhoid and other enteric disease) and ‘miners lung’. The causes were poor health and safety due to inappropriate managerial practices, and the field’s geology. In addition, there were the usual injuries such as fractures, contusions, gunshot wounds, cuts, burns, bites and drownings.[8]
\nAn ambulance service for Charters Towers was proposed in 1900, as an initiative of the City Ambulance Transport Brigade (CATB), which had operated in Brisbane from 1892, due to concerns about the lack of adequate medical aid for accident victims. Prior to its establishment, the sick and injured were required to make their own way to medical services, at times, worsening injuries. The objective of the brigade was to provide first aid and to transport sick and injured people to hospital.[9]
\nElsewhere in the world, ambulance services had commenced earlier. In the United States of America, the Commercial Hospital in Cincinnati started the first public, hospital-based ambulance service before 1865. Britain’s first hospital-based ambulance, for transportation of fever and smallpox patients in London, commenced in 1867. The Red Cross formed in Europe in 1870 and St John’s Ambulance Association commenced in England in 1877. Wheeled litters were used in London from 1880 with police taking responsibility for transportation of the injured. In Australia, Sydney’s Board of Health formed the first recorded ambulance corps in 1881, for transportation of patients with suspected infectious diseases to the Coast Hospital. Thereafter, other Sydney hospitals replicated this service.[10]
\nIn 1900 the CATB instructed Superintendent R Nye Stevens to report on extending an ambulance service to the Colony’s larger towns and cities. He visited Townsville and Charters Towers to discuss the establishment of ambulance services. A public meeting, organised by Mayor JA Benjamin, for those interested in the commencement of an ambulance and transport brigade in Charters Towers, was held on 12 October 1900. Superintendent Stevens informed the meeting that an Ambulance Brigade Centre in Charters Towers would require at least two paid officers, who would be paid £3 per week, while 20-30 honorary staff would be required (at a cost of £6 per head for uniform, badge etc.). The necessary equipment would be three improved Ashford Litters,[11] and associated gear. The headquarters for Charters Towers could be anywhere in the centre of town. The management costs would be met by the public, aided by government subsidy and the first year’s expenditure could be covered by £200 from locally-raised subscriptions plus the government subsidy.[12] As a result of this meeting, a local committee was formed to establish the Charters Towers Ambulance Brigade.[13]
\nThe Charters Towers Ambulance Brigade, operational in December 1900 was the first regional centre opened in Queensland. It operated from the fire station in Bow Street under the superintendence of TW Treacy of the CATB.[14] Later the centre moved to a six-roomed house on the corner of Deane and Ann Streets, with its stable and Plant room located on an adjoining allotment.[15]
\nIn 1902, the CATB was renamed the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade (QATB), to reflect the expansion of its operations in regional centres throughout Queensland. Ambulance brigades were established in Charters Towers and Townsville (1900); Rockhampton, Warwick and Ipswich (1901); Toowoomba (1902); Ravenswood and Mackay (1903); Cairns (1904) and Bundaberg (1907). While most ambulance services were affiliated with the QATB, others such as Gympie (1902) were established independently. The goldfields of Charters Towers, Ravenswood and Gympie, with large working populations of miners, were among the first to establish ambulance services in the state.[16]
\nRecognition of the need for a permanent centre in Charters Towers, and action to achieve it, soon followed. As early as December 1901, the Charters Towers Ambulance Brigade Committee discussed the need for a permanent centre. It wished to purchase land and erect its own premises at the cost of about £1200 and the Chair, JA Benjamin, thought it should be located near the suburb of Queenton, to the east of the city centre.[17] An advertisement requesting details of land for sale in Charters Towers, in a central position and suitable for building the new ambulance brigade quarters, was placed in The Northern Miner in July 1902 by TW Treacy, Superintendent.[18] Subsequently, land was purchased in Gill Street, Queenton, just beyond Boundary Street, for £625 from Joseph Hopper. On the site was a seven-room house and store.[19] The property was located between the city centre and the railway station, and close to the hospital (one block to the west on Gill Street) and to the principal mines of the goldfield (the Brilliant and Queen reefs to the east); therefore, near transport, medical facilities and potential patients.[20]
\nFundraising for the Ambulance Brigade Fund was necessary, but attracted criticism. The North Queensland Register newspaper criticised the Charters Towers Ambulance Brigade for spending too much on its new premises, claiming the two-storey masonry building would be costly and take money from hospital fundraising. There was also resistance to the ambulance service from the hospital, which believed that ambulance subscriptions disadvantaged its own fundraising activity. Nevertheless, fundraising continued, with an ambulance sports day attended by the Governor, Sir Herbert Chermside, and musical performances at Charters Towers’ Theatre Royal.[21]
\nLocal architect Walter Hunt was appointed to design the building. A Mr Reid was contracted for its construction and a Mr Walker carried out the brickwork for Reid, under Hunt’s supervision.[22] Walter Hunt was born in Kiama, New South Wales (NSW) in 1870 and trained in NSW. From 1902 he was a Fellow of the Institute of Architects NSW and from 1912 a Fellow of the Queensland Institute of Architects. He practised as an architect in Charters Towers from 1899-1910. During that time, as well as the Ambulance Building, he designed the Charters Towers Swimming Baths (1900); the Commonwealth Fountain in Lissner Park (1900); the 1901 extension to the ED Miles Mining Exchange (QHR 602801); cottages; villa residences; and the Northern Miner Newspaper Building (1903).[23] In 1911 Hunt formed a partnership with Charles Dalton Lynch – CD Lynch and Walter Hunt, Architects, Northern Queensland – located in Townsville. During that partnership the firm undertook diverse projects.[24] Hunt practised as an architect and surveyor in Townsville from 1921 to 1931 and from 1923 taught architecture at Townsville Technical College. With his son, Maurice, Hunt operated Maurice and Walter Hunt, Architects, Townville from 1931 until he retired to Sydney in 1932.[25]
\nOn 29 March 1903, 1500 people witnessed Charters Towers Ambulance Brigade Committee member, PJ Allen, lay the marble foundation stone of the Ambulance Building, the second purpose-built ambulance centre in the state.[26] Less than three months later, on 13 June 1903, the building was officially opened by JA Benjamin, Chair of the Charters Towers Ambulance Brigade Committee.[27] The property, building and fixtures had cost £2600, of which, £1000 had already been repaid.[28] The building was described by the Charters Towers Mining Standard newspaper at this time:
\nThe ground floor being paved with concrete blocks … consists of a large room where the sulky and stretchers are kept, the harness being suspended over the shafts of the sulky ready to drop on the horse at any time… Wunderlick [sic] ceiling has been used on the ground floor…[29]
\nThe front and stable doors opened by electricity, so that when the alarm bell is rung – and the horse is trained sufficiently – the doors will open and the horse will walk into position ready for the men to come sliding down the pole from the upper storey.[30]
\n[Upstairs] is the large boardroom, two lavatories and bathrooms and six bedrooms for the staff.[31]
\nAt the Ambulance Brigade’s Annual Meeting in January 1904, the Committee’s purpose in erecting such a building was given:
\nThe building is of brick and most substantially erected, consequently the cost of repairs will be practically nil and should meet the requirements of this district for all time.[32]
\nA 1905 photograph shows the building as a two storeyed, rendered structure with a symmetrical front elevation that featured an eclectic mix of classical motifs, such as pediments with entablature, pilasters, an aedicule, arched openings and rendered ornamentation of acanthus and ivy leaves. The exception to the elevation’s symmetry was a large opening at the western end of the ground floor which allowed for horse-drawn vehicle access. The logo of the QATB (a Maltese cross encircled by the letters Q, A, T and B), the date ‘1900’ and the word ‘AMBULANCE’ were also incorporated into the elevation’s ornamentation, and a stepped parapet concealed the roof structure from the street. Moulded horizontal bands spanned across the elevation and each level of the stepped parapet.[33] The building was erected close to the western boundary of the allotment, leaving space to the east of the building for access to the rear of the block.[34]
\nThe superintendent resided in a timber house to the rear of the ambulance station, on the same allotment.[35]
\nAlthough the Charters Towers Mining Standard concluded that the building ‘really represents a Sydney fire station, adapted to the use of the ambulance brigade’,[36] the layout of the Ambulance Building mimics that used in the Wharf Street headquarters of the CATB in Brisbane in 1897 (since demolished), which established a precedent for subsequent ambulance station designs as the service expanded throughout Queensland. The Wharf Street building comprised two storeys with plant and staff facilities on the ground level and accommodation on the first floor. Large ground floor openings allowed ready access directly to the street for horse and sulky to quickly exit the building.[37]
\nThe first year of operation was busy for the Charters Towers Ambulance Centre. In 1901 it attended 1165 cases: 388 attended outside, 175 transported to hospital and 602 transported to the ambulance centre, showing that the organisation and its service had been very much needed.[38]
\nProduction at all Queensland gold mining centres declined in the early 20th century. Charters Towers experienced a rapid downturn in mining from 1914, leading to its cessation in 1917.[39] Consequently, the city’s population decreased steadily to 13,000 by the end of World War I, and more than 900 homes and business premises were removed between 1914 and 1918.[40] However, Charters Towers remained a regional centre providing services to its surrounding community; one of which was the ambulance service.
\nDespite the decline in the town with mining, the ambulance brigade’s work did not lessen, as the use of motor vehicles extended its area of service into outlying rural areas. In 1915, the Charters Towers Ambulance Brigade ‘installed a new motor car for bush work’,[41] and in 1918 the QATB converted from horse-drawn vehicles to motorised ambulances. This greatly increased, by number of cases and mileage travelled, the Charters Towers Ambulance Brigade’s work as it increasingly assisted the community beyond Charters Towers.[42]
\nA number of changes to the Ambulance Building were made over time; primarily for operational purposes. In 1916 a Wunderlich ceiling was added to the first floor of the ambulance station by contractor Ben Toll.[43] In 1946 the top floor of the building was converted into a residence for the Superintendent and the former detached residence sold for £200 for removal. This change ‘cut down maintenance costs’[44] and converted the Ambulance Building to the standard layout for ambulance buildings which the QATB had developed by 1921. This included a space for vehicles with easy street access, a casualty room, a meeting room and a sleeping room for ambulance bearers on the ground floor and residential quarters for the superintendent above.[45] In the following year, one of the doors to the Plant room was sheeted over; there was ‘installation of [a] septic system, bathroom and laundry for use of the bearers; levelling of the old workshop floor; and the erection of a partition between that workshop and Plant room which became ‘a much need room for the bearers’ use.’[46]
\nFurther operational changes took place in the ensuing years. Sometime after 1956, the timber-doored opening to the Plant room from Gill Street, which was designed for horse drawn vehicle access, was widened to accommodate motor vehicles, but its height lowered and a cantilevered awning added.[47] Air-conditioning was installed prior to 1994, using modern single air-conditioning units fitted within windows on both floors, primarily on the eastern side of the building;[48] but has since been removed.
\nExpansion of the Charters Towers facilities was planned when the QATB purchased additional land adjacent to the existing site. In 1983 a block of land to the west of the Ambulance Building was purchased and two more blocks were purchased, again to the west, in 1988.[49]
\nIn 1995 there were major changes to the Charters Towers ambulance service when a new, lowset ambulance building was added, to the west of the original building, on land purchased during the 1980s. Alterations made to the former Ambulance Building at that time probably included the covered passage on its western side; from the ‘rec room’ (former workshop) to the new ambulance station building.[50]
\nIn April 2003 in preparation for the re-purposing of the Ambulance Building to a museum display, the awning over the Plant room’s vehicular entrance was removed and the Gill Street elevation rebuilt to its 1903 specifications, including the re-creation of the middle doorway, but with the vehicular entrance lower than its original height.[51]
\nIn 2015 the Ambulance Building, Charters Towers retains a strong presence in the streetscape of Gill Street, the principal street of the city. The building houses a museum display including a collection of vehicles, uniforms, ambulance paraphernalia and log books recording cases treated by ambulance officers.[52] Some of these are objects associated with the Charters Towers QATB, while others have been donated from elsewhere.[53]
","criteria":"The former Ambulance Building, Charters Towers (1903) is important in demonstrating the development of civic ambulance services in regional Queensland centres, a pattern of development commencing in the first decade of the 1900s and continuing during the 20th century. It is the earliest known surviving, purpose-built ambulance building in Queensland.
\nBuilt during the peak period of gold mining in Charters Towers, the most productive and dangerous goldfield in Queensland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Ambulance Building, Charters Towers, is important in demonstrating the early role of gold mining towns in developing ambulance services in Queensland.
|The former Ambulance Building, Charters Towers is important in demonstrating the evolution of the principal characteristics of purpose-built ambulance stations during the 20th century. The building is a two-storey structure, incorporating ambulance service facilities at ground level with ready-access to the street; and living quarters (and boardroom) at the first level. It is positioned in a central location, in close proximity to a hospital, transport and its patients. The earliest surviving ambulance building in Queensland, it is substantially intact and has a high degree of integrity.
\nAlterations undertaken during the building's use as an ambulance building (1903-95), including widening of access doors and alterations to the ground floor for motorised vehicles, provide important evidence of the evolution of Queensland ambulance services – illustrating the transition from hand litter and horse-drawn to motorised transport, and growth in demand for the service.
|The former Ambulance Building, Charters Towers, through its substantial form and eclectic design, is important for its contribution to the Charters Towers townscape. The building is an eye-catching feature at the eastern entrance to Charters Towers’ central business district; and its substantial massing and detailed ornamentation express the importance of ambulance services to early mining areas.
|The former Ambulance Building, Charters Towers is important for its association, since 1903, with the Queensland Ambulance Service (formerly the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade and initially the City Ambulance Transport Brigade), an organisation of enormous importance to Queensland in providing ambulance services throughout the state since 1900.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":null,"place_ref":650038,"name":"Ravenswood Mining Landscape and Chinese Settlement Area","alternate_name":"Ravenswood Goldfield","street_address":"Reserve bounded by School Street, Cemetery Road, Railway Street and Burdekin Falls Dam Road","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2016-10-14","description":"The Ravenswood Mining Landscape and Chinese Settlement Area occupies an area of approximately 50ha in the north Queensland town of Ravenswood. Bounded by Elphinstone Creek to the north and west, and School Street and Kerr Street to the east, the landscape consists of an expanse of undulating modified ground punctuated by mullock heaps, tall brick chimneys and other scattered ruins. There are 12 former mine and mill sites dispersed across the area, and Chinese sites including a temple and associated pig roasting oven are concentrated in the vicinity of Deighton Street to the north (refer Figure 13: Site Plan).
\nThe Ravenswood Mining Landscape and Chinese Settlement Area is surrounded to the north, west and east by Ravenswood township. Significant buildings adjoining the landscape include Ravenswood School and Residence [QHR 600455], Ravenswood Ambulance Station [QHR 600445], and the Railway Hotel [QHR 600443]. An active mining area around the Buck Reef West open cut (1987) occupies the southern extents of the historical mining landscape.
\nWhile individual ruins have been subject to deterioration, they continue to illustrate characteristics of their former function. Collectively they are a physical legacy of the complex and innovative history of mining in the area. Elements that have been relocated or adapted for modern use are of lesser significance than in-situ elements; however, they provide evidence of historical change and contribute to the significance of the overall mining and settlement landscape. Modern mining infrastructure, modern mullock heaps, fencing and the Buck Reef West open cut mining operations are not of heritage significance.
\nThe following description is based on a site visit undertaken by EHP in October 2015.
\nRavenswood Mining Landscape
\nThe Ravenswood Mining Landscape has been formed through various phases of alluvial and reef mining activities from the late 1860s to the 1960s; however, the majority of surface evidence of mining infrastructure dates from the New Ravenswood Company era (1899-1917); and subsequent intermittent small scale mining and re-treatment of old mullock heaps and tailings dumps (1919-60s). Judge’s Mill and the Partridge and Ralston Mill date from the 1930s.
\nThe former General Grant, Duke of Edinburgh and Sunset No 1 Mines are situated on the northern edge of the modern Buck Reef West open cut and, along with the former Grant and Sunset Extended mine to the south, are wholly or partly within the active (restricted) mining area. To the north, the former Sunset No 2, Grand Junction and Little Grand Junction Mines, along with the Deep Mine and Mill, Judge’s Mill, Partridges Mill and adjacent Mabel Mill Tailings Treatment Site are publicly accessible.
\nFormer Grant and Sunset Extended Mine (c1902 - 1930s)
\nThe most southern of the mining landscape sites, the former Grant and Sunset Extended Mine (refer Figure 14: Site Plan) retains evidence from the New Ravenswood Company era and small scale mining from the 1930s including:
\nThe mine shaft is located to the northwest of the winding engine site. It was reconfigured (c1988) for modern use and has a concrete collar, metal grid and cage surround, as well as modern concrete headframe footings and machinery foundations nearby.
\nThe area has been subject to earthworks and vegetation clearance. Two disturbed concrete headframe footings have been moved to the southwest of the winding engine site. Both are square in plan and have a 0.5 metre diameter hole through the centre, with metal bracing within. One footing retains remnant timbers.
\nA ramped earth structure is situated to the north of the mine site; it is supported at its western end by boulders, corrugated and plate metal sheeting, and substantial round timbers (possibly reused headframe timbers).
\nFormer General Grant Mine (c1869 – 1930s)
\nLocated north of the Grant and Sunset Extended mine, the General Grant Mine (refer Figure 15: Site Plan) is prominently positioned on a ridge overlooking the mining landscape. It retains evidence from the New Ravenswood Company era and small scale mining from the 1920s-30s including:
\nThe area has been subject to earthworks and vegetation clearance. Disturbed mullock, and concrete mounts and footings are visible across an elevated area to the east of the winding engine site that has been bulldozed. Part of a second square brick chimney stack (twenty courses high) lies amongst the upturned concrete mounts.
\nTwo disturbed concrete headframe footings are located in the low-lying area between the General Grant and Duke of Edinburgh Mines.
\nFormer Duke of Edinburgh Mine (c1869 – 1940s)
\nLocated on a ridge to the east of the General Grant Mine, the Duke of Edinburgh Mine (refer Figure 16: Site Plan) retains evidence from the New Ravenswood Company era and small scale mining from the 1920s to 1940s including:
\nA modern fence that defines the boundary of the active mining operations traverses the mine site. Access to the caved underlie shaft and workings to the east of the headframe site is restricted.
\nFormer Sunset No1 Mine (c1869 – 1940s)
\nLocated on a ridge to the west of the General Grant Mine, Sunset No1 Mine (refer Figure 17: Site Plan) overlooks the Sunset No2 Mine to the north. It retains evidence from the New Ravenswood Company era and small scale mining from the 1920s to 1940s including:
\nAn earth mound at the centre of the site indicates the location of the former underlie shaft headframe, and an area of disturbed mullock extends down the northern slope of the site. A large flattened clearing extends from the northeast to the northwest of the site; indicating the location of the former Sunset No 1 mullock heap (treated and removed c1983).
\nFormer Sunset No 2 Mine (c1869 – 1940s)
\nLocated at the centre of the mining landscape, to the north of Sunset No1 Mine and south of Grand Junction Mine, Sunset No 2 Mine (refer Figure 18: Site Plan) is situated at the intersection of Sunset Street and Grant Street (both unsealed). It retains evidence from the New Ravenswood Company era, and small scale mining and re-treatment of old mullock heaps from the 1920s to 1940s including:
\nAn area of mullock extends to the north of the tailings treatment site; it includes a large heap situated between Sunset No 2 Mine and Grand Junction Mine to the north.
\nFormer Grand Junction Mine (c1901 - 1950s)
\nLocated off Sunset Street, to the north of Sunset No 2 Mine and south of Partridges Mill, the Grand Junction Mine (refer Figure 19: Site Plan) retains evidence from the New Ravenswood Company era and small scale mining from the 1930s to 1950s including:
\nTwo small earth mounds are situated to the northeast of the chimney. An unsealed track traverses the site, between the fenced shaft and the winding engine mounts.
\nFormer Little Grand Junction Mine (c1901 - 1940s)
\nLocated near the intersection of Siggers Street and School Street road reserves, the Little Grand Junction Mine is situated on a rise to the southwest of the former Ravenswood Ambulance Station. Little Grand Junction (refer Figure 20: Site Plan) is the most southern of three mine shafts in the immediate vicinity, with a fourth shaft down the hill on Deighton Street. It retains evidence from the New Ravenswood Company era and small scale mining from the 1930s and 1940s including:
\nSmall, disturbed mounds of mullock are situated to the north and west of the shaft.
\nFormer Deep Mine and Mill (c1902 - 1919)
\nLocated on the eastern fringe of the mining landscape, the Deep Mine and Mill (refer Figure 21: Site Plan) is situated on a west-facing slope off School Street. It retains evidence from the New Ravenswood Company era, and sporadic processing following renovation of the mill in 1919, including:
\nMine site (south)
\nMill / battery site (north)
\nMabel Mill Tailings Treatment Plant (c1904 - 1917)
\nLocated on the northern fringe of the mining landscape, between Deighton Street and Elphinstone Creek, the Mabel Mill Tailings Treatment Plant (refer Figure 22: Site Plan) is an extension of the Mabel Mill [QHR 601206] to the north of the creek. The site retains evidence of mineral processing from the New Ravenswood Company era including:
\nFormer Partridge and Ralston Mill (c1938 – c.1965)
\nLocated to the immediate west of the Mabel Mill Tailings Treatment area, the Partridge and Ralston Mill (refer Figure 22: Site Plan) is situated between Deighton Street and Elphinstone Creek. The site retains evidence of intermittent mineral processing from the late 1930s to 1960s including:
\nFormer Judge’s Mill (c1938 – 1940s)
\nLocated in the western extents of the mining landscape, the Judge’s Mill site (refer Figure 23: Site Plan) retains evidence of the Ravenswood Gold Mining Syndicate’s mineral processing activities from the late 1930s – early 1940s including:
\nAn earth ramp and crushed ore deposit is situated to the south of the strongroom. The site is traversed by an unsealed road and a crushed granite walking track.
\nChinese Settlement Area
\nThe Chinese Settlement Area dates from the 1870s to the early 20th century. While the settlement area included market gardens along Elphinstone Creek, the remaining physical evidence is concentrated south of Deighton Street and comprises the ruins of a temple, adjacent pig roasting oven, and associated archaeological features and artefact scatters (see Archaeological Evidence).
\nFormer Temple (c1874)
\nThe temple remnants are located south of Deighton Street and comprise a series of concrete, stone and earth platforms with overall dimensions of approximately 22 metres long and 10-11 metres wide (refer Figure 24: Site Plan). The temple is orientated roughly north-south. From north to south the five platforms comprise:
\nA disturbed earth mound is situated to the south of the temple foundations. It is has stone and brick inclusions and random-rubble stonework to the eastern end.
\nFormer Pig Roasting Oven
\nEighteen metres to the northeast of the temple foundations are the remains of a brick and stone pig roasting oven (refer Figure 24: Site Plan). The structure (approximately 5 x 2 metres) is aligned east-west. The upper section has collapsed and it currently stands at 1.1metres high. The eastern end of the structure features a cylindrical brick and mortar hearth with stacked render framing the opening. The remaining structure is less formal in construction, comprising random-rubble stone and earth that has collapsed to the west.
\nSetting and Landscape Features
\nElphinstone Creek winds across the north and west of the mining landscape, which is traversed by a network of unsealed roads and walking tracks. The area has been cleared of remnant vegetation and regrowth is dominated by chinee apple (Ziziphus mauritiana) and rubber vine (Cryptostegia grandiflora). Stands of various eucalypt species have been planted in an area that extends to the north of Duke of Edinburgh and east of Sunset No 2 Mines.
\nMuch of the ground surface has been modified by the historical and subsequent mining operations. Mullock heaps punctuate the undulating landscape, most notably in the vicinity of the Grand Junction, Sunset No 2 and Deep Mines. A total of five prominent brick chimneys are dotted across the landscape. They have a range of stack types: three square; one round and one octagonal, and are a distinctive feature of the place.
\nViews are afforded to, from and across the mining landscape from a range of vantage points. Several of the mine sites (General Grant, Sunset No1, Duke of Edinburgh and Deep Mine) are elevated and offer panoramic views across the mining landscape and the town. Views from lower vantage points and along the tracks also offer glimpses of nearby and elevated features in the surrounding landscape, in particular the prominent brick chimneys.
\nArchaeological Evidence
\nArtefacts associated with mining infrastructure and operations are concentrated amongst the ruins of the mine and mill sites, including: bottle glass; ceramics; bricks; and metal containers, cables, fixtures and fittings.
\nModerate density scatters of industrial and domestic glass and ceramic artefacts extend across the ground surface to the east of the Mabel Mill tailings treatment plant, along Elphinstone Creek. A sub-surface concentration of black and green glass bottles is evident in an eroded gully within the Mabel Mill tailings treatment area.
\nHigh density artefact scatters associated with the Chinese temple and oven site include glass, ceramics and metal. There is some evidence of cooked bone fragments to the immediate west of the eroded oven.
\nAn area to the south and west of the temple site contains several higher density concentrations of domestic artefacts accompanied by flattened sheets of kerosene tins, buckets, kettles, and drystone wall and platform features, which indicate the location of habitation sites. Ceramics of Chinese origin are evident at some of these sites. A narrow (0.85 metre) brick lined shaft, possibly a well, is located on the south side of Deighton Street, near the former intersection with School Street.
\nAn area containing evidence of possible alluvial mining is located immediately south of Judge’s Mill and to the west of Sunset No 1 Mine. It comprises a gully with a regular channel cutting to the base (possible water race) and small earth mounds deposited along the banks. Artefact scatters extend along the banks of the gully and include ceramics, bottle glass and wire cut nails.
\n","history":"
The Ravenswood Mining Landscape and Chinese Settlement Area is situated south of Elphinstone Creek and to the west of School Street and Kerr Street, in the town of Ravenswood, about 85km south of Townsville and 65km east of Charters Towers. The Ravenswood goldfield was the fifth largest producer of gold in Queensland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its main mining periods, prior to modern open cut operations (1987 onwards), were: alluvial gold and shallow reef mining (1868-72); attempts to extract gold from sulphide ores below the water table (c1872-98); the New Ravenswood Company era (1899-1917); and small scale mining and re-treatment of old mullock heaps and tailings dumps (1919-60s). In 2016 the Ravenswood Mining Landscape and Chinese Settlement Area contains surface structures from eight mines: the Grand Junction, Little Grand Junction, Sunset No.1 and Sunset No.2, Deep, General Grant, Duke of Edinburgh, and Grant and Sunset Extended mines, as well as the mill associated with the Deep mine, and the Mabel Mill tailings treatment plant (most structures dating from the New Ravenswood Company era). It also includes remnants of two treatment plants (Partridge and Ralston’s Mill, and Judge’s Mill) from the 1930s; and the Chinese settlement area (1870s to the early 20th century, covering the first three mining periods at Ravenswood).
\nThe place contains important surviving evidence of: ore extraction (from underground shafts) and metallurgical extraction (separation of gold from the ore) conducted on and near the Ravenswood goldfield’s most productive reefs during the boom period of the town’s prosperity (1900-08); later attempts to re-treat the mullock heaps and tailings dumps from these mines; and Ravenswood’s early Chinese community, which made an important contribution to the viability of the isolated settlement and was located along Deighton Street and Elphinstone Creek. The Ravenswood Mining Landscape and Chinese Settlement Area also has the potential to reveal evidence of early alluvial and shallow reef mining, as well as domestic living arrangements on the Ravenswood goldfield. It is an evocative reminder of the precarious and short-lived nature of north Queensland’s mining booms, and has a special association with Archibald Lawrence Wilson, who established the New Ravenswood Company and improved both ore and metallurgical extraction processes on the goldfield.
\nSettlement and mining in north Queensland
\nEuropean settlement of the Kennedy Land District in north Queensland commenced with the founding of Bowen in 1861, and the spread of pastoralists through the hinterland. Pastoral stations were established up the valley of the Burdekin River, including ‘Ravenswood’ and ‘Merri Merriwa’.[1] Townsville and Cardwell were both established north of Bowen in 1864.
\nHowever, mining, not pastoralism, proved to be the main catalyst for European settlement of north Queensland.[2] In 1865 the founders of Townsville offered a reward for the discovery of a payable goldfield, and gold rushes occurred in the region from 1866.[3] Mining employed 19.8% of the north Queensland population in 1868, and 50% by 1876, before dropping to 15% in 1911.[4] Although gold mining attracted people to north Queensland, alluvial finds of gold usually led to temporary townships, whereas underground reef mining held the promise of more stable and permanent settlements.
\nAlluvial gold and shallow reef mining (1868-72)
\nAlluvial gold was discovered south of the later site of Ravenswood, in tributaries of Connolly Creek on Merri Merriwa Station, north of the Burdekin River, in late 1868.[5] Prospectors soon established ‘Middle Camp’ (later Donnybrook) on Tucker’s Creek, and ‘Lower Camp’ on Trieste Creek, with about 700 miners on the field by early 1869.[6] Further north, in April 1869, the goldfield’s richest alluvial discoveries were made in three dry creek beds close to the site of Ravenswood: Nolan’s, Jessop’s and Buchanan’s gullies.[7] Despite these finds, many miners soon left for the rush to the Gilbert River (over 300km west of Townsville).[8]
\nThe parent reefs of the alluvial gold found in April were located about the same time as the exodus to the Gilbert – the General Grant being discovered first, followed by the Sunset. Both were visible above ground level, and both reefs would play an important part in the future prosperity of Ravenswood.[9] In the next 40 years, nearly £3 million of gold would come from the reefs ‘in the little triangle between Buchanan’s Gully [just east of Macrossan Street], Jessop’s Gully [southwest of the town] and Elphinstone Creek’.[10]
\nOther reefs were soon found north of Elphinstone Creek, and in Nolan’s Gully;[11] and meanwhile, reefs had been discovered at Middle Camp.[12] However, a lack of water meant that miners did not establish ‘Upper Camp’ (later Ravenswood) near the General Grant and Sunset reefs until October 1869, after a storm temporarily resolved the water issue. By this time, most miners had returned from the Gilbert.[13] The three camps on the goldfield had a population of 600 by January 1870, most in Upper Camp.[14] Work was slowed by a lack of water, until rains in February 1870 enabled panning and sluicing, the results of which confirmed that Ravenswood was the first significant reef mining goldfield in the northern half of Australia.[15]
\nHowever, the miners needed to crush the quartz ore to extract gold. The first machinery for this purpose, WO Hodkinson’s five stamp crushing battery, the Lady Marion (or Lady Marian) Mill, was operational at Burnt Point (south of Upper Camp) from 18 April 1870.[16] The first month’s crushing results caused ‘an even greater “rush” than that … caused by the discovery of the alluvial gold’.[17] A second battery was operational in Upper Camp in August 1870, when the goldfield’s population was about 1200.[18]
\nOfficial recognition of the goldfield and settlement soon followed. Government Geologist Richard Daintree visited Upper Camp in August 1870, and the Ravenswood goldfield (about 300 square miles) was proclaimed on 3 November 1870.[19] By this time, the goldfield had a population of about 2000, and Upper Camp had 10 ‘public houses’, with six public houses in Middle Camp.[20]
\nThe Government Surveyor, John von Stieglitz, arrived in November 1870, but was too late to impose a regular grid pattern on the settlement. Instead he formalised the existing plan, which was centred on the crossing of Elphinstone Creek by the main road (Macrossan Street), with tracks radiating out to the various diggings. Most commercial buildings were located along Macrossan Street. The resulting juxtaposition of mining, habitation and commerce gave the town its distinctive character.[21]
\nThe town was proclaimed on 19 May 1871, with an area of one square mile (259ha).[22] This was later expanded to four square miles (1036ha) on 13 July 1883.[23] Although gold had been discovered on Merri Merriwa Station, the name Ravenswood, after the run located further southeast, downstream on the Burdekin River, was preferred.[24]
\nIn 1871 the population of the goldfield was 900, with over half being in Upper Camp/Ravenswood,[25] and by the end of 1871 there were five machines in Ravenswood.[26] Hodgkinson’s mill had been moved into town, to a site just north of Elphinstone Creek, and was renamed the Mabel Mill [QHR 601206].[27] In 1871 the town had 30 licensed hotels, although these were referred to as ‘shanties’ and did not offer accommodation.[28]
\nBy this time Ravenswood also had a Chinese population, due to an influx of Chinese miners who had been forcefully evicted from the Western Creek diggings near Gilberton in mid-1871. At least three of the hotels of 1871 had Chinese licensees.[29] The first Chinese had arrived in north Queensland in 1867, during the rush to the Cape River, and there were 200 Chinese looking for alluvial gold at Ravenswood in 1871.[30] In January 1872 it was estimated that there were about 1500 Chinese present on the Ravenswood goldfield, and a matching number of Europeans.[31] As the Chinese focussed on alluvial gold, and also provided other services, they were tolerated at Ravenswood, because the Europeans were now focusing on reef mining.[32] The quartz reefs were originally worked at shallow depths by means of a windlass (hand-wound rope and bucket), or a horse-powered whip or whim (using poles, ropes and pulleys) raising the ore from shallow shafts.[33]
\nExtracting gold from sulphide ores (c1872-98)
\nDespite its promising start, in 1872 the Ravenswood goldfield entered a ‘period of depression’,[34] as its most important mines reached the water table at about 70ft (21m) deep – starting with the Sunset in 1871, followed by the General Grant, Black Jack, and Melaneur in 1872.[35] Although the oxidised quartz (‘red stone’ or ‘brown stone’ quartz) close to the surface yielded its gold to traditional methods of mechanical crushing, below the water table the gold was in fine particles, which was not easily recovered by mechanical means. It was also mixed with sulphide ores; mainly iron sulphide (pyrite, or ‘mundic’ ore) but also sulphides containing lead, copper, zinc, arsenic and antimony, which interfered with chemical treatments such as amalgamation (amalgamating the gold with mercury; then heating the resulting amalgam in a retort to vaporise the mercury)[36] and chlorination (exposing roasted, concentrated ore to chlorine gas, and then precipitating gold out of the chloride solution).[37] A process that worked on the ore from one reef might not work for an adjacent reef, due to a varying distribution of different types of sulphides. In addition, even if a process worked on a small scale, it could be uneconomical on a larger scale, given the price of transporting fuel to Ravenswood for smelting, or transporting concentrates for smelting elsewhere.[38]
\nOnce the mundic had been struck, ‘mining was \"worse than dull\" as the field grappled with the realisation that to break below the waterline, the days of the individual miner were over and the time of companies was looming’.[39] The 1870s was a decade of major gold discoveries in Queensland, and miners keen on quick profits had plenty of new goldfields from which to choose.[40] Many miners joined the rushes to Charters Towers (1872) and the Palmer River (1873).[41] Charters Towers soon overtook Ravenswood as the most important inland town in north Queensland; and the Hodgkinson rush (southwest of Port Douglas) in 1876 also drew away miners.
\nHowever, Ravenswood grew during the 1870s and 1880s, despite the goldfield’s ‘refractory’ ores, and ‘mundic problem’. The goldfield had a population of 950 in 1877 (with 50 Chinese), rising to 1100 in 1880 (including 250 Chinese), and 2000 in 1883 (including 300 Chinese; with 190 working the alluvial, and 10 quartz miners).[42]
\nThe 1877 Pugh’s Almanac listed one Chinese hotelkeeper (out of seven hotelkeepers) in Ravenswood, and one Chinese storekeeper.[43] The Chinese, as well as working alluvial claims and operating hotels and stores, were employed as wage labour in some mines; worked as roasters and chlorinators at the Mabel Mill; and operated 24 licensed gardens on the Ravenswood goldfield in 1883.[44] Chinese gardens were vital in providing fresh vegetables to north Queensland’s goldfield populations.
\nFor 19th century diasporic Chinese communities such as Ravenswood’s, the establishment of specific cultural settlement areas, or ‘Chinatowns’, that ‘provided a range of sacred and secular services, including temples, stores and accommodation’, was an important aspect of community building.[45] Deighton Street, west of Macrossan Street, was the centre of Chinese life in Ravenswood. There were two eating houses close to Macrossan Street’s bridge across Elphinstone Creek, in the 1870s;[46] and market gardens were located between Deighton Street and Elphinstone Creek, as well as north of Elphinstone Creek, interspersed amongst several crushing machine operations.[47] There was also a temple south of Deighton Street. Temples were not just places of religious worship; rather, they were an integral part of a Chinese village. ‘They were places to meet, to check one's horoscope before embarking on a new venture and places where ancestors were venerated’.[48] As well as being a place where the community could worship at any time, major gatherings were held at temples on festival days, with feasts and processions. The Ravenswood temple appears on an 1874 survey plan, making it the earliest known Chinese temple in Queensland. [49] The nearby pig roasting oven is also a rare example of its type, and demonstrates the usual spatial arrangement of temple and oven, for community feasts.[50]
\nRavenswood continued to develop during the 1880s. By 1885, the Ravenswood goldfield had an estimated population of 2294 Europeans and 227 Chinese, with 1490 Europeans and 148 Chinese located in Ravenswood itself.[51] Ravenswood at this time had four Chinese storekeepers, and two Chinese produce merchants, but all six hotel licensees were European.[52] The Ravenswood National School [QHR 600455], which began in late 1873,[53] had an average attendance of 110 students in 1878, and reached its peak enrolment of 390 by 1889.[54]
\nThe 1880s were also a period of experimentation in metallurgical (gold extraction) technology. In 1883, the only method for dealing with sulphide ores was stamper mills and rotary buddles (which used water and gravity to separate and concentrate the crushed ores),[55] but later Ravenswood ‘was the first place where the chlorination process and Wilfley tables [developed 1896, to shake the ore and separate out different sized particles] were used in Queensland, and probably the first place where the cyanide process [dissolving fine gold in a cyanide solution, and later precipitating the gold out of the solution] for extracting gold was used in Australia’.[56] Other techniques attempted included fine grinding (using ball mills), roasting (burning off the sulphides), and smelting (prohibitively expensive, as it required high temperatures and thus a lot of fuel). By 1888 a new company at One Mile Creek, formed by Duncan and Peter Macintyre, had adapted an abandoned Cassell’s patent plant (a version of the chlorination process which was applied and failed in Ravenswood in 1886), to work on a ‘secret process’ (cyaniding).[57]
\nRavenswood mining continued to be viable, although only a (fluctuating) percentage of the gold was being recovered from the ore. In the mid-1880s there was even a temporary increase in the goldfield’s production, due to good returns from the Sandy Creek mines on the John Bull reef.[58] For the next eight years, the principal producers of the district were the General Grant, Sunset, New England, Wild Irish Girl, Melaneur and John Bull reefs, plus the silver lodes of the One Mile (at Totley).[59]
\nRavenswood’s economy survived the 1880s due to the development of silver mines at Totley [QHR 600457], a township established about 2km north of Ravenswood. The silver mines opened c1879-80,[60] and Richard King floated the Ravenswood Silver Mining Company Ltd in 1882 – the year of Ravenswood’s lowest gold production between 1878 and 1898.[61] Silver prices were high during the 1880s, and the Totley mines encouraged the Queensland Government to approve a branch railway line (off the Northern Railway between Townsville and Charters Towers) to Ravenswood in 1882 (completed 1884).[62] The railway meant that some gold ores could be crushed, concentrated and sent for treatment at the Aldershot works just north of Maryborough or overseas to Swansea, in Wales.[63] However, all silver mining had stopped by 1891, due to falling silver prices and over-expenditure on treatment plants.[64]
\nGold mining at Ravenswood continued during the 1880s and 1890s. Hugh Hawthorne Barton, who had operated Brothers Mill on Elphinstone Creek from the late 1870s, took over the General Grant, Sunset and Black Jack mines, and the Mabel Mill (and later the Melaneur and Duke of Edinburgh mines), and floated the Ravenswood Gold Mining Company in 1887, with £100,000 in capital.[65] From 1884 to 1896 Barton’s group was the largest and most successful operation in Ravenswood, its profitability assisted by the railway, economies of scale, and flexibility in ore-treatment methods. Barton utilised roasting, chlorination (by 1889), and smelting, and employed Chinese workers at the Mabel Mill. Along with their market gardens along Elphinstone Creek, Chinese employment at the Mabel Mill also influenced the location of the Chinese settlement area in Ravenswood.[66] Meanwhile, the landscape was being altered by mining. The need for timber for boilers and for timbering-up mine shafts led to the loss of native trees in the locality, and goats also helped shape the landscape by eating regrowth.[67]
\nBy the mid-1890s, Barton was in debt to the Queensland National Bank, and his properties were seized in 1896, with the General Grant, Black Jack and Mabel Mill being let on tribute (where a party of miners worked a mine, while giving the mine owner a percentage of any results) in 1897. The tributers refused to employ Barton’s experienced Chinese workers at the Mabel Mill, leading to disastrous attempts at chlorination.[68] However, the goldfield’s production was boosted in the late 1890s when work resumed on the Donnybrook reefs for the first time in 20 years, and the Hillsborough (Eight Mile) reefs were taken up.[69]
\nThe New Ravenswood Company era (1899-1917)
\nRavenswood’s boom period of gold production (c1900-08, with 1905 the year of highest production) is reflected in the town’s surviving mining infrastructure and commercial and public buildings. This boom occurred due to the efforts of Archibald Laurence Wilson (1852-1935). After gaining a diploma in mining engineering in Edinburgh, and working in New Zealand and on the Palmer River, Wilson arrived in Ravenswood in 1878. He was publican of the Silver King Hotel in Totley in the 1880s. As manager of the John Bull mine at Sandy Creek in the mid-1890s, he raised capital in London and installed a cyanide plant.[70]
\nWilson later travelled to London in 1898, where he floated both the Donnybrook Blocks Mining Syndicate and the New Ravenswood Company in 1899. Wilson was the General Manager of both companies, under their London directorates.[71] Until 1917, the New Ravenswood Company was the largest mining operation on the Ravenswood goldfield. Registered with a capital of £50,000, the company purchased the General Grant, Sunset, Black Jack, Melaneur, and Shelmalier mines, and the Mabel Mill, from the Queensland National Bank (and later obtained the Saratoga, Duke of Edinburgh and London North mines),[72] and initiated a new era in ore and metallurgical extraction. Using British capital, Wilson introduced modern machinery to work the mines, and effectively reshaped Ravenswood’s landscape. Wilson was known as ‘the uncrowned king of Ravenswood’.[73] He was also Chairman of the Ravenswood Shire Council for some years, and was later on the Dalrymple Shire Council, until he resigned from poor health in 1934.[74]
\nFrom 1900, both the Sunset and General Grant (also known as the Grant) mines were redeveloped by Wilson. These became the key earners for the New Ravenswood Company; by 1903 the two mines employed about 205 men, and were ‘the “backbone” of [the] town’.[75]
\nThe Sunset reef, which runs roughly northwest-southeast through the Ravenswood Mining Landscape, was the largest producer on the goldfield (almost a quarter of the total). It produced 14,722oz of gold from 1870-94,[76] and by 1900 it was worked from an underlie (an inclined shaft, following the dip of a reef) branching off from a vertical shaft 130ft (40m) deep. It was stated at this time that the reef had ‘much the same history as the General Grant, the two being generally worked together’.[77] By 1903 the New Ravenswood Company had extended the underlie shaft right up to the surface,[78] where a headframe was constructed to haul ore directly up the slope. The Sunset’s yield of ‘free gold’ (pure gold not combined with other minerals), which could be extracted at the Mabel Mill, peaked in 1904, then fell slowly. In 1905 an average of 170 men were employed at the mine.[79] In 1908 the reef was being worked by the main underlie shaft, 900ft (274m) deep (Sunset No.1); and a vertical shaft, 556ft (169m) deep (Sunset No.2).[80] As the Sunset reef was worked in conjunction with the General Grant and the Duke of Edinburgh reefs in the New Ravenswood Company era, its exact total production of gold is hard to calculate; but from 1876 to 1912 the reef probably produced about 177,000oz of gold; and probably most of the 22,000oz that the company extracted from 1912-17.[81]
\nThe General Grant, one of the most productive reefs on the goldfield, running roughly north-south just east of the Sunset reef, was worked almost continuously to the late 1880s, and periodically thereafter. By 1895 returns had diminished, due to the small size of the reef and its highly refractory ore.[82] In 1900, the General Grant had a vertical shaft to 110ft (34m), and then an underlie of 610ft (186m), the bottom of the latter being 450ft (137m) below the level of the shaft mouth; but operations were ‘almost completely suspended’ as the New Ravenswood Company concentrated on the Sunset reef.[83] To 1900 the General Grant had produced 23,651oz of gold; and after crushing of ore from the mine resumed at the beginning of 1903, it was treated with ore from the Sunset. [84] On average, 40 men were employed on the mine in 1905.[85] In 1908 the power house for both the Sunset and the General Grant mines was situated on the General Grant lease, with three Cornish boilers.[86] By 1912 the General Grant had produced about 36,000oz of gold.[87]
\nTo the east of the General Grant was the Duke of Edinburgh reef, running roughly northwest-southeast. This was one of the early reefs discovered on the goldfield; and in 1872 it was identified by Warden TR Hackett as one of the 28 principal reefs.[88] It was worked in several episodes prior to the 1890s, and was re-opened in 1891, producing 1286oz of gold during 1891-95.[89] In 1908 the mine was taken over by the New Ravenswood Company, and was reorganised as an underlie shaft with haulage machinery from the Golden Hill mine, being worked in conjunction with the General Grant until 1917.[90]
\nAlong with his modernisation of the goldfield’s best mines, Wilson also abandoned chlorination at the Mabel Mill, increased the mill’s crushing capacity to 30 stamps (by 1904), and introduced the first Wilfley tables to Queensland. Crushing resumed in January 1900.[91] Wilson improved metallurgical extraction by ‘postponing amalgamation of the free gold till the great bulk of the sulphides [had] been removed by concentration’.[92] The ore was crushed in stampers without using mercury. Then, using the Wilfley tables, the heavier Galena (lead sulphide ore) and free gold was separated from the lighter sulphides. The free gold and galena was then ground in Berdan pans with mercury, while the remaining sulphides (containing iron, zinc and copper) were dispatched to the Aldershot works (near Maryborough) for smelting.[93] In 1902-3, a raff wheel, 14.5m in diameter, was built at the Mabel Mill to lift tailings (post-treatment residue) up to a flume, which carried them over to the south side of Elphinstone Creek, where they could be treated with cyanide.[94] The cyanide works (of which remnants still remain south of Elphinstone Creek) was erected c1904.[95] A 21m long girder bridge was constructed across the creek to carry steam water pipes and electric cable from the Mabel Mill to the new works, which eventually comprised two Krupp ball mills and 12 Wilfley’s tables.[96]
\nDue to the New Ravenswood Company’s efforts, the goldfield’s production increased between 1899 and 1905. Gold recovery increased from 18,016oz in 1899 to 24,832oz in 1900 and to 42,465oz in 1905.[97] The New Ravenswood Company paid impressive 50% dividends to its shareholders in 1901, 1902 and 1904; and 75% in 1903.[98]
\nThe productivity of Ravenswood’s mines during the New Ravenswood Company era was also reflected in the goldfield’s population, which rose from 3420 in 1901 to its peak of 4707 in 1903. The 1903 population included 215 Chinese, 89 of these being alluvial miners. [99] In 1905 two Chinese were listed as ‘storekeepers and grocers’.[100]
\nThe population increase led to a building boom in the first decade of the 20th century. Hundreds of new houses, the town’s first two brick hotels – the Imperial hotel [1901; QHR 600446] and the Railway Hotel [c1902; QHR 600443] – as well as brick shops such as Thorp’s Building [1903; QHR 600452], and the brick Ravenswood Ambulance Station [1904; QHR 600445] were constructed in this period; the use of brick being spurred by the threat of fire. The New Ravenswood Company also rebuilt the mining landscape in and around the town, with expansion of the Mabel Mill, and new headframes and winders, magazines, boilers and brick smokestacks erected beside all the principal shafts.[101]
\nHowever, not all Wilson’s ventures in this period were successful. In 1902 he floated Deep Mines Ltd, with a capital of £100,000,[102] to sink a shaft east of the New Ravenswood Company’s leases. This mine (also within the Ravenswood Mining Landscape) was an ambitious attempt to reach a presumed intersection of the General Grant and Sunset reefs at depth. Using the capital raised, Wilson built a model mine and mill. The shaft was started in late 1902-early 1903, and construction work on the buildings and machinery was completed later in 1903.[103] The mine reached 512m, the deepest on the goldfield, with extensive crosscutting and driving, but only about 240oz of gold was recovered.[104] No ore was crushed at all in 1908.[105] By 1910 a new shaft was being sunk ‘near the western boundary’; but the mine was abandoned in 1911, and never worked again.[106] Wilson’s London investors lost at least £65,000.[107]
\nThe Deep’s mill, built nearby and operational by 1906, was a smaller version of the Mabel Mill, with gravity stamps, Wilfley tables, and a cyanide plant. Its site, adjacent to the mine, ran counter to the normal practice of siting mills near water courses. With the failure of the Deep mine, it milled ore from other mines until about 1917.[108]
\nAnother mine, the Grand Junction, was located north of the New Ravenswood Company’s most productive mines, in the Ravenswood Mining Landscape. The Grand Junction Consolidated Gold Mining Company was formed in 1900, and a shaft was sunk in 1901 (probably the No.1 shaft on the Grand Junction Lease No.520). In 1902 another exploration ‘deep shaft’ (No.2) was sunk at the southwest boundary of the Grand Junction Lease No.503.[109] The Grand Junction mine was another failed attempt to locate a presumed junction of the General Grant and Sunset reefs at depth; by 1908 it was owned by the New Ravenswood Company.[110] Total production was about 425oz of gold.[111]
\nSlightly more successful was the Grant and Sunset Extended mine, at the southern end of the Ravenswood Mining landscape. This was a deep shaft sunk by the Grant and Sunset Extended Gold Mining Company, a Charters Towers-owned company with Wilson as its local director.[112] During the 19th century, small mines had been operated in the Rob Roy reef, to the southeast.[113] The Grant and Sunset Extended was floated in 1902,[114] the intent being to locate the General Grant and Sunset reefs south of Buck Reef. The plant and buildings of the Yellow Jack mine, southeast of Ravenswood, were re-erected on the site.[115] The shaft was down 70ft (21m) in 1902 and 930ft (283m) by 1908, with 50 men employed at the mine by the later date.[116] The mine closed by 1910, but was worked on tribute until 1917, with about 15,000oz of gold obtained over 1904-18.[117]
\nThe boom period at Ravenswood did not last. As well as losing money on the Deep and Grand Junction mines, the New Ravenswood Company faced the closure of the Aldershot works in 1906, and declining yields from 1908 to 1912. Although Wilson experimented with flotation (agitating crushed ore in oil and water, and extracting fine gold particles on the surface of air bubbles) and cyanide processes at the Mabel Mill, it was too late to save his company.[118] The Shelmalier had closed by 1904, the Black Jack in 1909, and the Melaneur in 1910. By that year, the General Grant, Sunset, Duke of Edinburgh and London North (obtained 1910) were the New Ravenswood Company’s only producing mines.
\nFew new buildings were constructed in Ravenswood after 1905. The hospital closed in 1908. That year the goldfield’s population consisted of 4141 Europeans (including 2625 women and children) and 181 Chinese (including 94 alluvial miners).[119] This dropped to 2581, including 92 Chinese, by 1914.[120]
\nIncreased costs and industrial disputes in the 1910s hastened the end of the New Ravenswood Company era. During a miner’s strike between December 1912 and July 1913, over lay-offs, the fresh vegetables and business loans provided by Ravenswood’s Chinese community helped keep the town going.[121] Although the miners won, it was a hollow victory, as the company could only afford to re-employ a few of the men. World War I (1914-18) then increased labour and material costs for the New Ravenswood Company. The London North mine closed in 1915, and on 24 March 1917 the New Ravenswood Company ceased operations; ending large-scale mining in Ravenswood for the next 70 years.[122]
\nBy 1917, the Ravenswood goldfield had produced over 850,000oz of gold (nearly a quarter coming from the Sunset mine), and 1,000,000oz of silver;[123] making it the fifth largest gold producer in Queensland, after Charters Towers, Mount Morgan, Gympie and the Palmer goldfield. Ravenswood was also the second largest producer of reef gold in north Queensland, after Charters Towers.[124]
\nSmall scale mining and re-treatment (1919-60s)
\nAfter 1917 the Ravenswood goldfield entered a period of hibernation, with intermittent small-scale attempts at mining. In 1919, Ravenswood Gold Mines Ltd took over some of Wilson’s leases and renovated the Deep mine’s mill, but obtained poor returns.[125] Ravenswood Gold Mines also worked the Duke of Edinburgh from c1919 to 1930, with good returns reported in 1924.[126] The General Grant and Sunset were also worked on a small scale from 1919-21,[127] while the Mabel Mill continued to provide crushing services for the limited local mining.[128]
\nConsequently, Ravenswood’s population declined and the town shrank physically. In 1921 the town’s population fell below 1000, and by 1923 there were 530 people left, including 8 Chinese.[129] During the 1920s, prior to the closure of the railway branch line to Ravenswood in 1930,[130] hundreds of the town’s timber buildings were dismantled and railed away. By 1927, only the two brick hotels remained operating as hotels.[131] The Ravenswood Shire was abolished in 1929, and by 1934 only 357 people remained in the town.[132]
\nDespite this decline, some gold was still being extracted. There was a small increase in gold production between 1923 and 1927,[133] and due to the gold price rise of the 1930s, some mines were re-worked and efforts were also made to treat the old mullock heaps (waste rock from mining) and tailings dumps with improved cyanide processes. Between 1931 and 1942, 12,253oz of gold was obtained from the goldfield, the peak year being 1940.[134]
\nA number of companies were active in Ravenswood in the 1930s-early 1940s. In 1933, the North Queensland Gold Mining Development Company took up leases along Buck Reef and reopened the Golden Hill mine, and the following year their operations were taken over by Gold Mines of Australia Ltd. The 1870s Eureka mine (near the Imperial Hotel) was revived by James Judge in 1934.[135] In 1935 the Ravenswood Concentrates Syndicate began re-treating the Grant mullock heaps in the remaining stampers at the Mabel Mill, and dewatering the Sunset No.2 shaft; while the Sunset Extended Gold Mining Company, with James Judge as manager, dewatered the Grant and Sunset Extended shafts (which connected to the Sunset, General Grant and Duke of Edinburgh shafts), and re-timbered the Grant and Sunset Extended, General Grant, and Sunset underlie (No.1) shafts.[136] The London North mine was reopened by RJ Hedlefs in 1937,[137] and Basque miners were working the Sunset No. 2 shaft at this time.[138]
\nThe Little Grand Junction mine, located at the intersection of Siggers Street and School Street, on the old Grand Junction Lease No.520,[139] was operated from 1937-1942 by local miners Henry John Bowrey and John Thomas Blackmore.[140] Five men were employed at the mine in 1940.[141] The shaft had apparently been sunk previously by the Grand Junction Consolidated Gold Mining Company; and Bowrey and Party reconditioned it and extended the existing workings.[142]
\nIn 1938, Archibald and Heuir set up a mill on the bank of One Mile Creek to treat mullock dumps, and the Ravenswood Gold Mining Syndicate (formed 1937, with James Judge as manager) began treating the mullock dumps of the Sunset mine in late 1938.[143] The same syndicate also dewatered and reopened part of the Grant and Sunset Extended;[144] and the Grand Junction mine was reopened by Judge c1939-1942.[145]
\nThe Ravenswood Gold Mining Syndicate’s (Judge’s) mill initially consisted of 10 head of stamps obtained from the Mother Lode Mill at Mount Wright (northwest of Ravenswood), powered by a diesel engine. The ore was crushed by the stamper battery, concentrated with Wilfley tables, and then either treated with cyanide or sent to the Chillagoe smelters. Initial success with some rich ore led to enlargement of the mill to 30 stamps in 1939-40.[146] A Stirling boiler and a 250hp engine were also obtained from the Burdekin meatworks (Sellheim), and a rock breaker, elevator and conveyor were installed.[147] However, the upgraded mill proved to be overpowered and required a lot of timber fuel; the brick foundations used for the machinery were not strong enough; and the best ore from the Sunset had already been treated, so the mill closed early in 1942 and the plant was moved to Cloncurry.[148]
\nAlso in 1938, Maxwell Partridge and William Ralston installed a new plant south of Elphinstone Creek, to the immediate west of the Mabel Mill’s old cyanide works, to re-treat the old tailings with cyanide. A ball mill, filter and other plant were purchased from the Golden Mile, Cracow in 1939, while later that year a suction gas engine and flotation machine were also installed.[149] This operation closed c1942,[150] and the coloured sands on the site today are residues from the flotation process: the yellow sand is from the floatation of iron pyrites; the grey sands are copper tailings; and the black material is zinc tailings.[151]
\nThere was limited activity on the goldfield in the late 1940s to early 1960s. The Empire Gold Mining Syndicate treated mullock dumps from The Irish Girl, London, and Sunset mines from 1946 to 1949, as well as some of the dumps from the Grand Junction (1947).[152] The Duke of Edinburgh mine was briefly reopened by Cuevas and Wilson in 1947, and the Cornish boilers on the site (one with the maker’s mark ‘John Danks & Son Pty Ltd makers Melbourne)[153] may relate to this (unsuccessful) operation.[154] Percy Kean reopened the Great Extended mine at Totley in 1947, and later purchased Partridge’s mill in 1951 to use it as a flotation plant to treat the silver-lead ore from Totley, adding a diesel engine, stonebreaker, Wilfley tables and classifier.[155] The Totley mines closed in 1954,[156] although the Great Extended mine was briefly sub-leased by Silver Horizons No Liability, in 1964.[157] Partridge’s mill was closed c1965.[158]
\nOther attempts were made in the early 1950s to rework old sites. A Townsville syndicate led by Leslie Cook and George Blackmore reopened the Grand Junction mine in 1951, but it soon closed.[159] James Judge also recommenced gold mining at Donnybrook, but closed in 1954;[160] while 900 tons of tailings from the Deep mine’s mill site were taken for re-treatment at Heuir’s cyanide plant in the early 1950s.[161]
\nA new industry
\nIn the 1960 and 1970s, Ravenswood’s population shrank to its nadir of about 70 people. At the same time, there was a growing nostalgic interest in old towns in Australia. In 1968 the landscape of Ravenswood was described in romantic terms: ‘Mute testimonials are the numerous mullock heaps which dot the countryside; the rusty remains of steam engines; stampers which were used to crush stone; and collapsed cyanide vats… Derelict poppet-heads…stand above deep, abandoned shafts. Colossal columns of chimney stacks rise majestically from the entanglement of rubber vines and Chinese apple trees.’[162] Some locals realised that preserving the town’s surviving historic buildings and structures was necessary to attract tourists and create a new local industry.[163]
\nFrom this time onwards the town’s mining heritage was seen as an asset. The National Trust of Queensland met with locals in 1974, and a conservation plan for the town was published in 1975. Later, the town sites of Totley and Ravenswood were both entered into the National Trust of Queensland Register. Comments from an International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) trip to northern Australia in 1978 included ‘[Ravenswood]…is one of the most evocative (gold towns of Australia) and this must be preserved. A policy of “all that is necessary but as little as possible” must be strongly pursued’.[164] The increased population of north Queensland, longer paid holidays, improved roads and the rise of car ownership after World War II, all increased visitation to Ravenswood, as did the completion of a road past Ravenswood to the Burdekin Dam, in the 1980s.[165] As a result, the town and its mining landscape have been represented in brochures, art and photography. In particular, the landmark qualities of the tall brick chimneys are a distinctive feature in representations of Ravenswood.
\nModern operations
\nHowever, gold mining recommenced at Ravenswood in the 1980s, due to a rise in the gold price and the efficiencies gained from open cut mining and modern cyanide metallurgical extraction processes.[166] From 1983-86 the Northern Queensland Gold Company Ltd conducted agglomeration heap-leaching (spraying a sodium cyanide solution on previously mined material heaped on a plastic membrane), in the process removing a landmark tailings dump at King’s mine in Totley, and mullock heaps from the Grant and Sunset mines.[167] In 1987 Carpentaria Gold commenced open cut mining of the Buck reef (the Buck Reef West pit) near the old Grant and Sunset mines on the south side of the town. Later, pits were dug further east along the reef. Some underground mining was also undertaken from the Buck Reef West pit until 1993, which broke into the old workings of the General Grant, Sunset, and Duke of Edinburgh mines. The old headframe at the Grant and Sunset Extended was demolished in 1988, and replaced with a new steel headframe, which was used until 1993 and then removed.[168] The Melaneur-Shelmalier-Black Jack-Overlander reef complex, on the north side of the town, was mined as an open cut 1990-91, before being backfilled as a golf course. The Nolan’s Gully open cut commenced in 1993.[169]
\nAlthough modern mining revived the economy of the town, it did not replicate the building boom of the early 20th century.
\nThe heritage significance of Ravenswood’s surviving mining infrastructure was recognised in a 1996 Queensland Mining Heritage Places Study by Jane Lennon & Associates and Howard Pearce; and a 2000 Conservation Management Plan by Peter Bell. In 2006, the population of Ravenswood, the oldest surviving inland town in north Queensland, was 191.
The Ravenswood Mining Landscape and Chinese Settlement Area is important in demonstrating the historical development of gold mining in Queensland. The Ravenswood goldfield (discovered 1868) was the first significant goldfield in north Queensland, the fifth largest gold producer in Queensland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and an Australian leader in metallurgy.
\nThe mining landscape, including the ruins of 12 mines and mills punctuated by mullock heaps, is a physical legacy of the complex and innovative history of mining in the area. It contains important surviving evidence of mining operations conducted on and near the Ravenswood goldfield’s most productive reefs during the boom period of the town’s prosperity (1900-08). It also retains important surviving evidence of the evolution of mining practices, in particular the range of innovative technologies developed to extract gold from sulphide, or mundic, ores.
\nThe Chinese settlement area, which dates from the 1870s to the early 20th century, is important in demonstrating Chinese involvement in the exploitation of natural resources and the evolution of mining settlements in Queensland. It retains important physical evidence of Ravenswood’s early Chinese community, including the remains of the earliest known Chinese temple in Queensland and an adjacent pig roasting oven.
|The remnants of the temple (the earliest known in Queensland) and pig roasting oven are rare surviving evidence of Ravenswood’s Chinese community, which constituted an important but little-known part of Ravenswood’s history. The temple and pig roasting oven site is a rare surviving example of the combination of these two elements in a Chinese settlement in Queensland.
|The extensive mining landscape - its surface ruins, artefact scatters, and potential alluvial and sub-surface workings - has the potential to reveal information about late 19th and early 20th century mining practices and treatment processes.
\nThe medium and high density artefact scatters, some domestic in origin and associated with evidence of habitation, have the potential to contribute to our understanding of the occupants and their material culture, and the proximity of industrial and domestic life in a remote goldfield settlement.
\nThe rare Chinese temple and oven site, and associated artefact scatters, has the potential to yield information regarding early temple and oven construction methodology, the relationship between the two elements and their function in the community.
\n|
Characterised by its broad sweeps of modified ground, and collection of ruins from diverse mining and processing practices, the Ravenswood mining landscape is an excellent example of a historical goldfield. It retains the ruins of eight mines and four mills that are collectively important in illustrating the principal characteristics of reef gold ore extraction and metallurgical extraction sites from the late 19th and early 20th century.
\nThe mine sites retain evidence of caved shafts, winding plant and engine mounts, and brick chimneys - key elements in layouts that demonstrate the ore extraction process. The mill sites retain evidence of their stamp battery and ball mill mounts, strong rooms, Wilfley table mounts, cyanide plants, settling tanks and tailings - complex assemblages that demonstrate ore crushing, concentrating, and other metallurgical processes required to extract gold from the mundic ore for which the Ravenswood goldfield was renowned.
\nThe Ravenswood Chinese settlement area is important in demonstrating the characteristics of Chinese community settlements at north Queensland goldfields. Located close to Elphinstone Creek, along which the Chinese community were active in the cultivation of fresh produce, it is a specific cultural settlement area situated on the periphery of the main retail precinct of Ravenswood. It retains the ruins of a temple and adjacent pig roasting oven – physical elements in a spatial arrangement that demonstrate the social and cultural practices of goldfield Chinese communities.
|The Ravenswood Mining Landscape and Chinese Settlement Area, a distinctive, heavily modified landscape punctuated by brick chimneys, mullock heaps and other remnant mining structures, is an evocative reminder of the precarious and short-lived nature of Queensland’s mining booms.
\nThe place expresses the complex history of mining in the area and has picturesque qualities that can be experienced from a range of vantage points. The strong visual impact of the landscape is further enhanced by its close proximity to the town and its surviving historic building stock.
\nViews of the place and in relation to the town have been represented in brochures, postcards, art and photography. In particular, the landmark qualities of the tall brick chimneys are a distinctive feature in representations of Ravenswood.
|The Ravenswood Mining Landscape and Chinese Settlement Area has a special association with the work of Archibald Lawrence Wilson, Ravenswood’s most notable entrepreneur, whose New Ravenswood Company is associated with the development of the gold mining industry in north Queensland, and gave significant impetus to the economic and social development of the region.
\nWilson’s involvement in raising capital in London had a significant impact on the physical appearance of the landscape through the establishment of numerous new mines and the modification of earlier mines in the early 1900s, evidence of which remains visible across the landscape.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":null,"place_ref":650242,"name":"Chapel Street Bridge","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Chapel Street","suburb":"RAVENSWOOD","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2019-11-29","description":"The Chapel Street Bridge crosses Slaughter Yard Creek and is located on Chapel Street, approximately 100m southwest of the intersection with Griffin Street, on the northeast outskirts of Ravenswood, North Queensland.
\nThe bridge is approximately 4.2m long x 8m wide and constructed of red facebrick. It has a single-span semi-circular arch rib and low-height solid spandrels (side walls, north and south) with coping. The bridge deck is earth fill. Three bracing metal tie rods connect the spandrels across the width of the bridge, internal to the structure. The bridge abutments (east and west) have facebrick wing walls to channel water flow on the upstream (south) side and drystone retaining walls on the downstream (north) side.
\nFeatures also of state-level cultural heritage significance are:
\nFeatures not of state-level cultural heritage significance are:
\nThe single-arch, red-brick road bridge on Chapel Street, over Slaughter Yard Creek, Ravenswood, was most likely constructed by the Ravenswood Divisional Board c1895-1900, to replace an earlier timber bridge and improve access between Ravenswood and the gold mines at Sandy Creek (and their associated town of Evlinton), located almost 4km southeast of Ravenswood. The Chapel Street Bridge is important in illustrating the importance of mining to the economy of Ravenswood during the 1890s. It is also rare as the only known example of an early brick-arch road bridge in Queensland.
\nRavenswood, part of the traditional land of the Birriah people, is located about 85km south of Townsville and 65km east of Charters Towers. The Ravenswood goldfield, which included the John Bull reef near Sandy Creek, was the fifth largest producer of gold in Queensland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[1]
\nEuropean settlement of the Kennedy Land District in north Queensland commenced with the founding of Bowen in 1861, and the spread of pastoralists through the hinterland. Pastoral stations were established up the valley of the Burdekin River, including ‘Ravenswood’ and ‘Merri Merriwa’.[2] Alluvial gold was discovered in tributaries of Connolly Creek, on Merri Merriwa Station, in late 1868;[3] and in April 1869, the goldfield’s richest alluvial discoveries occurred in three dry creek beds close to the site of Ravenswood.[4] The parent reefs of this alluvial gold were soon located, but a lack of water meant that miners did not establish Ravenswood (initially called ‘Upper Camp’) until October 1869, after a storm temporarily resolved the water issue.[5] The first machinery for crushing quartz ore to extract gold was operational at Burnt Point (south of Upper Camp) from 18 April 1870.[6]
\nThe Ravenswood goldfield (about 300 square miles) was proclaimed on 3 November 1870, and the town of Ravenswood was proclaimed on 19 May 1871.[7] In 1871, the population of the goldfield was 900, with over half being in Ravenswood. The town developed on either side of Elphinstone Creek, and the first permanent bridge over the creek was constructed, of timber, in 1873.[8]
\nDespite its promising start, in 1872 the Ravenswood goldfield entered a ‘period of depression’, as its most important mines reached the water table, and difficult to process ‘mundic’ ore, at about 70ft (21m) deep.[9] Although only a percentage of the gold was recoverable from the mundic ore with the technology available at the time, Ravenswood’s mines continued to be viable into the 1880s.[10]
\nThere was an increase in productivity in the mid-1880s, due to good returns from the mines on the John Bull reef, located on the east bank of Sandy Creek, almost 4km southeast of Ravenswood.[11] The Chapel Street Bridge is a product of the success of the John Bull reef, and the resulting need for a road link between Ravenswood and Sandy Creek.[12]
\nWork on the John Bull reef, just south of the later site of the town of Evlinton (initially known as Sandy Creek), had occurred from 1879 – and by October that year crushings from a stamper battery on the John Bull were being carted into Ravenswood.[13] The John Bull Gold Mining Company Ltd (formed in 1881), worked the John Bull PC lease on the reef, while the John Bull Block lease, to the south, was worked by Hugh Hawthorne Barton and Andrew Trenfield by July 1882. A 15-stamp battery was erected on the John Bull Block in 1883, when it was reported that ‘Sandy Creek bids fair to become a very busy little place at no distant date’.[14] Although the John Bull’s ore was low quality, the reef was large, and it continued to produce well during 1884 – the year that the railway reached Ravenswood from Ravenswood Junction on the Northern Railway.[15]
\nBy 1886, the settlement at Sandy Creek was called ‘Evlinton’, and was part of a mail route.[16] Although Sandy Creek Provisional School, established in 1885, was renamed Evlinton Provisional School in 1886, the town of Evlinton was not surveyed until early 1890.[17]
\nA timber bridge was extant over Slaughter Yard Creek on Chapel Street, on the road between Ravenswood and Evlinton, by 1887.[18] This bridge was the scene of a fatal accident in August 1887, when Joseph Lane, a miner working at the John Bull Block, fell off his horse when it slipped on the bridge while he was riding into Ravenswood.[19] The Ravenswood Divisional Board is likely to have built the bridge, as after the Divisional Boards Act 1879, responsibility for local roads passed from Queensland’s Department of Public Works to local governments – although the State Government still provided grants and loans.[20]
\nThe John Bull reef remained one of the best producers on the Ravenswood goldfield from the mid-1880s to the early 1890s.[21] By October 1887, the John Bull Block was ’held to the extent of three-fourths by Messrs. [Kyle] Sidley and [Andrew] Trenfield’;[22] and in 1891, it was reported that the John Bull Block mine and mill employed 60 hands. ‘Although they put through a low-grade ore, the size of the reef and the great number of tons passing under their stampers (twenty head) give a live and busy appearance to their little township of Evlinton’.[23]
\nThe Ravenswood Divisional Board attempted to replace the timber Chapel Street Bridge in 1888. It sought a grant of £1000, to build bridges over the One Mile Creek (on the main road to Ravenswood Junction), and ‘over the crossing on [the] road to Sandy Creek, at which place there is a considerable amount of heavy traffic’. However, no grant appears to have eventuated at this time, as the government preferred that the Divisional Board borrow the money.[24]
\nThe bridge’s replacement was delayed when Evlinton’s prosperity was interrupted in the early 1890s. The John Bull Block had already extracted the best quality ore, and had continued issues with water ingress. [25] This led to a stoppage of work in 1892, which ‘caused an almost total desertion of the little township there (Evlinton), and a shifting of dwellings in here and elsewhere’.[26] The Ravenswood goldfield’s production in 1893 was its lowest since 1886.[27]
\nA revival in the fortunes of Evlinton and the John Bull reef occurred from 1894, when Sidley and Trenfield sold their mines and the St George (20 head) battery to Archibald L Wilson (1852-1935).[28] Wilson had arrived in Ravenswood in 1878, after gaining a diploma in mining engineering in Edinburgh, and working in New Zealand and on the Palmer River. He was publican of the Silver King Hotel in Totley in the 1880s.[29] At the end of 1893, Wilson travelled to London to float the John Bull property, and his syndicate purchased the John Bull mines, with himself as general manager, in April 1894. Digging of a new vertical shaft commenced in late 1894.[30]
\nGold bearing ore was struck in October 1895, at 626ft (191m) depth, and by 1896 the John Bull was considered the ‘chief mine’ on the Ravenswood goldfield. [31] Although the ore was low grade, and there were ‘oceans of water’ to pump out, Wilson had set up a cyaniding plant nearby, to treat tailings as soon as they had been crushed. He extracted 1800oz of gold from 5000 tons of ore during 1896; and supplying the 20 stamper battery with cordwood required ‘quite a little colony’ of timber-getters and carters. ‘Sandy Creek (Evlinton), with two public-houses, boarding houses, school, and its mill at work, present[ed] quite a lively appearance, particularly on “pay night”’.[32]
\nThe recovery of Evlinton in the late 1890s led to the construction of the current brick bridge on Chapel Street, between 1895 and 1900.[33] In May 1895, the Ravenswood Divisional Board asked for a £500 grant to repair several roads and their bridges, including the road from Ravenswood to Evlinton. ‘These are all main roads and lead to thriving mining centres, particularly the Evlinton and Old [?] roads, where there are several large gold mines being developed…. All the roads and bridges thereon…are almost untrafficable, particularly in bad weather’.[34] The expenditure statement of the Division of Ravenswood for the second half of 1895 refers to a £25 18s and 8p contract for a wall on ‘Slaughter-yard Gully’, while the statement for the first half of 1896 lists a ‘retaining wall at Slaughter-yard Gully Bridge’, for £25 18s and 9p, deducted from the ‘Main Roads Grant Account’. Later, £48 is deducted, for a bridge, from the ‘John Bull and Standard Road Account’ during the second half of 1900.[35]
\nConstructed of red brick, the Chapel Street Bridge has a semi-circular arch and low-height solid spandrels (side walls, north and south) with render-capped coping. Postholes formed in the coping suggest the bridge originally had a balustrade. The angled abutment wing walls on the upstream (south) side were designed to channel water flow during times of flood and, along with the stone retaining walls on the upstream (north) side, help stabilise the abutment embankments and roadway approaches (east and west).[36]
\nThe Chapel Street Bridge is a rare Queensland example of a brick-arch road bridge, where historically, due to an abundance of hardwood timber for bridge piers and decking, the preference has been for girder and truss types of timber, steel, or concrete construction – although early pipe culverts used brick, and some bridges used bricks for abutments or retaining walls.[37] Brick was also used in Queensland for railway bridge abutments and piers, retaining walls, and culverts. Early examples of brick culverts are found on the 1860s Main Range Railway (1865-7) [QHR 601480]. One example of a masonry road bridge in Queensland is a c1865 bridge at Dalrymple Gap on the Valley of Lagoons Rd [QHR 600393], which consists of stone retaining walls inset with a circular brick culvert. A 1930s arched road bridge across Little Crystal Creek at Mount Spec [QHR 602652] is faced in stone, but is actually concrete. Comparatively more common in the southern states of Australia, masonry arch bridges rely on their curved arch rib and end supports for stability, and characteristically have solid spandrels.[38]
\nThe bricks for the Chapel Street Bridge may have been locally manufactured, although quality bricks were available from Townsville, particularly after the railway reached Ravenswood in 1884. Most buildings in 19th century Ravenswood were constructed of timber, but bricks were used for mining infrastructure such as chimneys, flues, furnaces and engine mounts – so skilled bricklayers would have been available on the goldfield. At least one brick chimney existed by 1880, while a 56ft (17m) brick chimney was present at HH Barton’s chlorination works in 1888.[39] During 1891-92, the contractor Robert Mann locally constructed the bricks for, and erected, a 90ft (27m) brick chimney and furnaces, for the Australasian Gold Extracting Company (New England lease). Later, a block of timber commercial buildings in Ravenswood, lost in a disastrous fire in April 1901, was rebuilt using bricks, suggesting confident expectations of permanence for Ravenswood.[40]
\nHowever, the revival of nearby Evlinton in the late 1890s was a short-term phenomenon. Although Wilson was able to wring enough return from cyaniding the ore to pay the John Bull’s operating expenses, there was insufficient capital for development work. Wilson left for London in 1898 to seek investors for other mines, and although the John Bull Block mine had a record weekly crush of 298oz of gold from 198 tons of ore in 1899, the John Bull mines closed in January 1901.[41]
\nEvlinton vanished after the closure of the John Bull mines, although the town did not die immediately. A social and dance was held at Evlinton State School in 1916, in aid of Ravenswood Red Cross Society, when people from Ravenswood travelled ‘by motorcar, buggy etc’ to the function; and the school was also used as a polling place for elections, prior to its closure in 1921.[42]
\nAlthough the John Bull mines at Sandy Creek had closed, Ravenswood entered a new period of prosperity from 1900, thanks to Wilson. While in London, in 1899 he had floated both the Donnybrook Blocks Mining Syndicate and the New Ravenswood Company.[43] Using British capital, Wilson introduced modern machinery to work the main Ravenswood mines and the New Ravenswood Company effectively reshaped Ravenswood’s landscape. Wilson was known as ‘the uncrowned king of Ravenswood’.[44]
\nThe early 20th century revival at Ravenswood ended in 1917, after declining yields, increased costs, and industrial disputes.[45] On 24 March 1917 the New Ravenswood Company ceased operations, ending large-scale mining in Ravenswood for the next 70 years.[46] Up to 1917, Ravenswood was the fifth largest gold producer in Queensland, after Charters Towers, Mount Morgan, Gympie and the Palmer goldfield. Ravenswood was also the second largest producer of reef gold in north Queensland, after Charters Towers.[47]
\nAfter 1917 the Ravenswood goldfield entered a period of hibernation, with intermittent small-scale attempts at mining until the 1960s.[48] During the 1920s, prior to the closure of the railway branch line to Ravenswood in 1930, hundreds of the town’s timber buildings were dismantled and railed away; and by 1934 only 357 people remained in Ravenswood.[49] In the 1960 and 1970s, Ravenswood’s population shrank to its nadir of about 70 people. However, gold mining recommenced at Ravenswood in the 1980s, due to a rise in the gold price and the efficiencies gained from open cut mining and modern cyanide metallurgical extraction processes.[50]
\nThe Chapel Street Bridge was closed to traffic in the 1980s, but it survives as a physical reminder that the mines at Sandy Creek, once accessed via the road that crossed the bridge, were important to Ravenswood’s economy. In 2019, modern metal road guards block access to the bridge, which is located almost 300m north of the northern rim of Carpentaria Gold’s Sarsfield pit.[51]
","criteria":"The Chapel Street Bridge (c1895-1900) is important in demonstrating the development of the Ravenswood goldfield, the first significant reef mining goldfield in north Queensland and the fifth largest gold producer in Queensland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Built on the road connecting the mines of the John Bull reef at Sandy Creek to Ravenswood, the Chapel Street Bridge, as mining-related infrastructure, is important in illustrating the importance of mining to the economy of Ravenswood during the 1890s.
|The Chapel Street Bridge is rare as the only known Queensland example of an early brick-arch road bridge, a design form that has always been rare in Queensland.
|The Chapel Street Bridge is a rare and intact Queensland example of an early brick-arch road bridge. Characteristics of this type of transport infrastructure include: brick construction; open curved arch; solid spandrels; abutments; roadway approaches; and spanning of a watercourse or other physical obstacle.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":null,"place_ref":650251,"name":"Queensland National Bank (former)","alternate_name":"City Hall (former)","street_address":"72 Mosman Street","suburb":"CHARTERS TOWERS","lga":"CHARTERS TOWERS REGIONAL COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2020-06-26","description":"Queensland National Bank (former), Charters Towers (1891) is an elaborately-detailed, two-storey former bank building, prominently-sited on Mosman Street at the head of its T-intersection with Gill Street, the two main streets in the central business district of Charters Towers. The building faces east, directly fronting the street, and is a conspicuous and attractive contributing element in the surrounding townscape, which is characterised by late nineteenth-century masonry buildings. The site is bounded on other sides by a commercial property (retaining the earlier, timber Queensland National Bank building) to the south, Edmeades Park to the north, and Rutherford Lane to the west.
\nFeatures of the place of state-level cultural heritage significance are:
\nQueensland National Bank Building (former, 1891)
\nThe Queensland National Bank Building is an intact, substantial masonry structure. Rectangular in plan, the building’s front (east) half is two storeys, the rear (west) half is single-storey, and a small single-storey strong room protrudes from the southwest corner of the rear. A single-storey extension (c1990s) has been made at the rear and is not of state-level cultural heritage significance.
\nThe front elevation is symmetrical, with a central pediment and main public entrance into the former bank. It features ground and first floor colonnaded verandahs and is ornamented with Classical details. A private entrance into the former bank manager’s residence, on the first floor, is accessed via a narrow lane to the south side of the building.
\nThe original interior layout of the ground floor reflects the bank operations, with separate areas and circulation for bank customers, bank employees, and the bank manager’s residence. The main entrance is via an ornate central entry hall into the banking chamber, which is a large and impressive room with high ceilings. Accessed from the chamber are the manager’s office, and gold room, each with two entrances – one for bank staff and ones for customers. At the rear of the banking chamber are offices, a verandah (now enclosed), and two strong rooms, one of which retains its early vault door and safe. The manager’s residence on the first floor is accessed via a private stair hall, which also has a short private hall directly into the banking chamber. The first floor rear verandah has been enclosed (enclosures to both the ground and first floor rear verandahs are not of state-level cultural heritage significance).
\nThere is evidence of modifications made to the building to accommodate its use as City Hall (c1948-49). These include alterations to lettering on the Mosman Street elevation, installation of desks and partitions to the ground floor, and modification of finishes and demolition of partitions to form one large space for council chambers to the first floor.
\nThe original and early features of the Queensland National Bank Building are of state-level cultural heritage significance and include:
\nFeatures of the Queensland National Bank Building (former) not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nViews
\nThe Queensland National Bank Building (former) is a distinctive and attractive feature of the Charters Towers townscape, contributing to its commercial character of intact nineteenth century buildings. Views of state-level cultural heritage significance to the building are of the front elevation from both Mosman and Gill streets.
","history":"Queensland National Bank (former) was built in 1891 in Charters Towers, a city located approximately 107km southwest of Townsville in North Queensland. It replaced an earlier 1880 timber bank building and was designed by prominent Queensland architect, Francis Drummond Greville (FDG) Stanley, at the peak of the Charters Towers gold rush. The grand masonry building expressed the confidence and wealth of Charters Towers at the time. When the bank was closed in the early 1940s, it became a workers’ club established by the Trades and Labour Council. This was not a success and in 1948, the property was acquired by the Charters Towers City Council and used as the City Hall, relocating from the earlier town hall in Gill Street. It continues to be a centre for local government administration.
\nCharters Towers forms part of the traditional land of the Gudjal People.[1] It was established after gold was discovered at the foot of Towers Hill in December 1871, leading to the proclamation of the Charters Towers Goldfield on 31 August 1872. The settlement began with a number of shops and hotels along a track, which became Mosman Street, with the population reputedly 3000 by August 1872. In 1877 the one square mile comprising Charters Towers, centred on Mosman Street, was declared a municipality.[2]
\nIn the 1880s, Charters Towers continued to prosper and grow, becoming the most productive goldfield in Queensland. The completion of a railway line from Townsville to Charters Towers in December 1882 boosted the town's prosperity, by lowering the cost of supplies and building materials.[3] Procurement of gold from the deep seams of Charters Towers required substantial machinery to crush quartz and sink shafts. This required working capital to finance machinery and to pay the wages of workers employed on these time consuming processes. The Queensland Gold Fields Act 1874 and Gold Mining Companies Act 1875 allowed for combinations of leases, claims and syndicates in order to work their leases at great depths. The legislation also underpinned the establishment of permanent settlement, which would attract capital investment to the field.[4]
\nWith the influx of wealth into North Queensland, several financial institutions recognised that establishing banking facilities in these mining centres would prove profitable, including the Queensland National Bank (QNB).[5] The QNB was the first and most successful of the three Queensland-owned nineteenth-century banks. As the colony's most powerful banking institution, the QNB dominated the Queensland economy. It was established in March 1872 by an influential group of prominent Queensland squatters, politicians, lawyers, and businessmen who wished to secure development capital free from overseas or inter-colonial control. It commenced trading on 3 June 1872 at its first office in Brisbane. The bank attracted widespread Queensland patronage and branches opened in quick succession. By early in 1874 the bank had 10 branches. In 1878, the QNB opened a branch in London, while one in Sydney opened two years later. In September 1879 Thomas McIlwraith (Queensland Premier 1877-83, 1888, 1893), a director of the QNB, persuaded Parliament to confer on it the whole of the Queensland Government's banking business. By 1880, the bank held 40% of the total deposits and advances in Queensland, a higher proportion than any other bank in any Australian colony. Despite financial scandals and a brief suspension of operation during the 1890s, the bank exclusively held the government's account for 42 years, until 1921.[6]
\nAs early as 1872, requests had been made to the QNB’s Board of Directors by Charters Towers’ residents ‘inviting them to establish a branch of their bank at Charters Towers’.[7] A petition with 800 signatures was sent to the board, which decided to establish a QNB branch in June 1873. A further two branches would be opened; one in the nearby mining settlement of Millchester, and one in Townsville, which served as the mines’ port town.[8] The first to open was Charters Towers in July 1873, closely followed by Millchester and Townsville respectively.[9] Other banks in Charters Towers at this time included the Bank of New South Wales (1872) and the Australian Joint Stock Bank (1872), with the QNB purportedly ‘the most popular, and deservedly so, as but for its assistance, the field could not have attained, for a considerable time longer, such a state of prosperity’.[10]
\nIn the early 1880s, the gold mines in Charters Towers continued to have high yields and the town prospered. In the main streets, more substantial structures were built, reflective of the confidence in the town’s success at that time. In July 1880, following the QNB’s purchase in 1876, of two adjoining lots with frontage to Mosman Street, a new timber bank building had been completed. It was designed by Colonial Architect, Francis Drummond Greville (FDG) Stanley, and built by local contractors, Fraser Brothers. Although not as grand as the masonry QNB building constructed in Townsville in the late 1870s, also designed by Stanley, the new structure was nonetheless an attractive addition to the Mosman Street streetscape, and the Northern Miner claimed ‘the permanence and stability of Charters Towers appear to rest on as sure a foundation as those of Townsville’.[11]
\nThe wealth of the Charters Towers goldfields grew in the following years, particularly following the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London where specimens of Charters Towers gold were featured. Almost immediately English investors seized the opportunity to be part of the Charters Towers gold prosperity. Mining companies were formed, managed by Charters Towers' mining agents and share-brokers, and while some shares were held by English interests, many local people prospered through their investments, leading to an expansion of banking facilities and mining exchanges. Banks and gold buyers purchased the gold and minted it into sovereigns in Australia and England. The sovereigns were held in the vaults of banks in Melbourne, London, Berlin, and New York and then shipped to pay international debt.[12]
\nBy 1889, Charters Towers was producing 1/6th of all of Australia’s gold, and Queensland became the most productive gold producing colony in Australia.[13] Enormous amounts of gold were purchased by banks such as the QNB, which played a vital role in this process of wealth creation and distribution.[14] At this time, the QNB had 14 branches on the Queensland mining fields. Charters Towers and Gympie were the premier mining branches transacting more than half of the bank’s mining business. Their aggregate deposits and advances exceeded £0.5 million, making them highly profitable branches.[15]
\nBy the early 1890s, Charters Towers (known colloquially as ‘The World’) had grown to be the second largest centre in the colony, after Brisbane, with a population of almost 25,000 people.[16] Amidst this optimism, the QNB desired to better reflect its prominence as one of the town’s primary banks by having a new, grand bank building constructed. It was hoped it would rival other stately banks that had been constructed in the centre of town, in particular the Bank of New South Wales (QHR 602804) in Gill Street, which had been built in 1889.[17] Stanley was engaged to design the new QNB building.
\nFDG Stanley was a gifted and prolific architect. He was Queensland Colonial Architect between 1873 and 1881, and in 1888 became the inaugural president of the Queensland Institute of Architects. He designed many large and prestigious public and commercial buildings, including a number of banks.[18] These include the Australian Bank of Commerce (former), Charters Towers (QHR 600407), Westpac Bank, Cooktown (QHR 600419), Ipswich and West Moreton Building Society, Ipswich (QHR 600574), Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Mackay (QHR 600671) and the Australian Joint Stock Bank (former), Maryborough (QHR 600693). In early 1891, Stanley accepted the tender from North Queensland building contractors, Spane and Hansen, to erect the new QNB bank building for £4595.[19]
\nFrom November 1890, whilst the construction of the building took place, a temporary bank was set up in commercial premises on the corner of Gill and Deane streets.[20] The QNB’s 1880 timber building was sold to the Union Bank of Australia and moved onto the adjacent lot in 1890, then refitted as their bank building.[21]
\nIn the course of its construction, the Queenslander described the QNB’s new bank building as ‘palatial’.[22] By December 1891, the new masonry building had been completed and at the time, it was stated that ‘the building has just been erected at a cost, with the land, of nearly £9000, and is one of the architectural ornaments of the town. It is situated at the corner of Gill and Mosman streets, and therefore occupies a most central position’.[23]
\nQNB’s new two storey bank building was depicted in a c1895 photograph as a prominent feature of the street, with a symmetrical street elevation and Classical architectural ornamentation. Its street elevation had a central pediment and entry, and colonnaded ground and first floor verandahs, framed by corner pillars inscribed to appear as ashlar. The entablature over the first floor contained ‘QUEENSLAND NATIONAL BANK LIMITED 1891’ in large lettering, and a balustrade parapet concealed the roof from the street.[24] Early plans show the building provided banking facilities on the ground floor, including entrance hall, gold room, manager’s office, main banking chamber, stationery room, and a strong room; and the first floor accommodated a manager’s residence comprising two bedrooms, drawing room, and a rear verandah with bathroom enclosure.[25]
\nThe QNB retained its prominence as one of the city’s major banks in the early twentieth century. The downturn in mining from 1914 and its virtual cessation by 1917 contributed to a steady decrease in population during this time. A town that had boasted a population of 25,000 in 1900, when it was the second largest in Queensland, was reduced to just 13,000 by the end of World War I (WWI). Between 1914 and 1918 more than 900 homes and business premises were removed from Charters Towers. Many were dismantled and transported by train to Townsville or Ayr where they were re-erected. Others were relocated to various places in Western Queensland. Nevertheless, banking institutions remained in town in the interwar period to service the regional rural economy and included the Bank of NSW, Bank of Australasia, London Chartered Bank, Union Bank, Bank of Commerce and the Queensland National Bank.[26]
\nBy the early 1940s, however, this demand had waned and the Charters Towers QNB branch was closed.[27] In April 1943, it was announced in The Northern Miner that an auction would be held on 30 April that year, for the sale of the former QNB’s interior furnishings, ‘the whole of the office and bank chairs, tables, linoleums, on bottom floor, in addition to the whole of the superior and useful furniture … on the top floor (living quarters) of the bank’.[28] In May 1943, the sales agent for the property offered it to the Charters Towers City Council as a replacement for the original town hall in Gill Street, however, the council declined, deeming that there were more pressing priorities for ratepayer’s money.[29]
\nThe Trades and Labour Council purchased the property for £2000 in 1945 for the establishment of a workers’ club, to be named the ‘John Curtin Memorial Hall’.[30] For an annual membership fee of £1, workers and their families could use the club’s facilities, which would include a library, reading and rest rooms, refreshment bar (unlicensed, as it had been refused a club licence), billiard table, and a child-minding service in the backyard. This would enable mothers to leave their children in a safe and supervised environment while they shopped. Servicemen and women could attend the club free of charge.[31] The official opening ceremony was held 3 December 1945 amidst great optimism.[32] Ultimately the workers’ club was not a success and in February 1948, the property was acquired by the Charters Towers City Council to be used for a new town hall, which would replace the old and dilapidated 1880s town hall in Gill Street.[33]
\nNo alterations were needed to the building’s exterior and only slight alterations to the interior, to repurpose it for council administration uses.[34] By mid-1949, the former bank building had become the centre for the city’s local government administration and began to be called ‘City Hall’. The lettering to the first floor entablature was subsequently removed and the words ‘CITY HALL’ were added to the central pediment. The building also played host to many community meetings. Its prominent position on historic Mosman Street, with its intact nineteenth-century streetscape, ensured that the City Hall was featured in Charters Towers’ tourism information booklets and postcards.[35]
\nIn 2008, the Charters Towers City Council was amalgamated with the Dalrymple Shire Council to form the Charters Towers Regional Council. Some of the council services, once administered in the City Hall, were moved to the Administration Centre at 12 Mosman Street.[36]
\nThe Queensland National Bank (former) on Mosman Street has played an important role in the history of Charters Towers from the late nineteenth century to the present day. As a highly prominent and grand masonry building at the heart of the city’s commercial centre, it plays a vital role as part of its historic streetscape. It demonstrates the dominance and wealth of the town in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as Queensland’s premier gold field. In 2020, the building continues to be used by local government administration.
","criteria":"The Queensland National Bank (former), Charters Towers (1891), is important in demonstrating the development of mining in Charters Towers, a major contributor to Queensland’s wealth and its largest gold producer by the 1890s. In its form, fabric, materials and layout, the place illustrates the vital role of financial institutions in the process of wealth creation and distribution on nineteenth-century Queensland goldfields.
\nThe place is an important representative example of a grand masonry bank constructed during the peak period of gold production, when Charters Towers’ prosperity was reflected in the erection of more permanent and elaborate buildings in its central business district.
\nAs Charters Towers’ City Hall from 1948, the place is important in demonstrating the provision/evolution of local government in Charters Towers, a major regional centre. This is illustrated through early alterations to lettering on the Mosman Street elevation, installation of desks and partitions to the ground floor, and modification of finishes and partitions to form one large space for council chambers on the first floor.
|The Queensland National Bank (former), Charters Towers, designed by renowned architect Francis Drummond Greville (FDG) Stanley, is an excellent representative example of a late nineteenth-century masonry bank building in regional Queensland. Through its intact form, fabric, materials and layout, the place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of its type, including its: location in a central business district; prominent street presence with an elaborate and decorative street elevation; masonry construction; high-quality design with Classical architectural treatments and ornamentation; fine interior materials and finishes; and hierarchical layout of rooms comprising a banking chamber, impressive entry hall with elaborate finishes, strong rooms with safe, offices, and private manager’s residence with separate entrance.
|The Queensland National Bank (former), Charters Towers, has aesthetic importance for its expressive and beautiful attributes, and its streetscape contribution. Through its Classically-styled architectural treatments and ornamentation, symmetrical and elegant composition of the main elevation with central pediment and elaborate colonnade, and high quality exterior and interior materials and decorative treatments, the place conveys the concept of financial stability, permanence and prosperity sought by financial institutions of this era. These expressive attributes have been sustained through its civic use as City Hall, Charters Towers’ main local government building since 1948.
\nVisually distinctive and finely composed, the place is a major contributor to its townscape setting, sharing a similar form, scale and materials to a suite of large masonry nineteenth-century buildings in the central business district of Charters Towers. The place features prominently in views from Mosman Street, and important views of the place unfold from Gill Street towards the intersection with Mosman Street.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"} ]}