The Content Mine is located 4km northwest of Croydon on the southern side of the Gulf Development Road. The area around the mine has been heavily disturbed in recent times by road construction and modern mining activities. While most of the vegetation has been cleared, to the north and east of the site there is a sparse coverage of trees, predominantly Eucalyptus spp regrowth.
The main concentration of machinery and concrete foundations are located to the northwest of the site, about 40-60 metres southwest of the current Gulf Development Road. However there are a number of shafts, most of which have filled with water, and one which is timbered with sawn hardwood, situated on the southern side of the former Gulf Development Road. The use of sawn timber to line the shaft is rare on the former Croydon goldfield; most timbered shafts in the area used locally cut sapling logs. Surviving sawn timber shaft linings are rare in Queensland.
The southeast corner of the site has been truncated as a result of the construction of a large open cut pit during 1980s mining activities, which has since filled with water.
The site has been much disturbed in recent times and stone boiler mounts, concrete compressor footings and a portable steam engine are the only evidence of Cuthbert's capital investment in the mine. The presence of the iron pump balance may be indicative of water problems in the mine, although there is no evidence of a pump bed at the collar of the surviving shaft.
Most of the plant has been removed from the place and the area, which is located immediately alongside the Gulf Development Road, has been subjected to considerable disturbance. All evidence of mullock heaps has been removed from the site. The two compartment timbered main shaft has partly caved at the surface. A group of concrete and bed log machinery mounts are aligned with the shaft including foundations for a winding engine and an air compressor. A twin cylinder portable steam engine and the remains of a stone mount for a Cornish boiler are similarly aligned. A section of a lightweight iron pump balance is located on the place. An above ground concrete tank contains evidence of cooling tower footings.
Plant:
·\tTwo cylinder portable steam engine - no brand.
·\tIron pump balance (not in situ).
","history":"Located on the Croydon Goldfield, the Content PC was opened in 1887 by Croydon businessman and mining investor FW Cuthbert as part of the True Blue and Isabella complex of mines at Croydon and it operated until the end of World War One. Production and profitability of the Croydon Goldfield declined from 1900, the field being largely abandoned by 1915.
Croydon is situated in the heart of the Gulf Savannah, 562km west of Cairns, approximately 176km west of Georgetown and 144km south east of the port of Normanton on the Gulf of Carpentaria. Europeans first explored this area in the 1860s: McKinley searched for lost explorers Burke and Wills in 1862 and JG McDonald explored a route from Carpentaria Downs to the Gulf in 1864. Pastoralists followed these early explorers, bringing sheep in 1865, but by 1867 many had retreated because of fever, drought, low wool prices and distance from the markets. An overland telegraph line was constructed from Cardwell to Normanton between 1869 and 1872. This passed through the Croydon district and later became a lifeline for the northern mining fields.
Gold was first discovered on Croydon Downs Station, which had been taken up by W. Brown in 1881. In the latter part of 1883, two of his employees found quartz carrying gold. However it was not until 1885 that Richard and Walter Alldridge, acting under instructions from WC Brown, prospected the area and discovered 20 payable reefs. The finds were reported in October 1885, and the Croydon area was proclaimed a goldfield on 18 January 1886, thus coming under the administration of the Department of Public Works and Mines.
Hundreds flocked to the area. By 1887 the population of the district had peaked at 7000, and by 1897 it still had the third highest population in north Queensland after Charters Towers and Townsville. From 1890 to 1910, gold output from the Croydon reefs were second only to Charters Towers. Total production from inception until 1947 was 772, 374 ounces. By 1909 however, production began to decline and by 1914, the population at the turn of the century had halved.
Residents on the Croydon Goldfield faced many hardships including inadequate supplies of water; pasture grasses and timber for fuel and constructions purposes. Isolation was also a major problem until the Croydon to Normanton railway was completed in 1891. The area was subject to droughts and floods, and even a cyclone in 1906. During the 'crash' of 1893, when most banks closed doors and gold buying ceased, many miners were thrown out of work. Despite all these difficulties, the 1890s were productive years for Croydon. Pugh's Almanac of 1900 listed 3 banks, 6 blacksmiths, 5 bakers, 6 commission agents, 4 newsagents, 6 carriers, 2 chemists, 6 drapers11 share brokers, 18 hotels and 4 watchmakers, among many other assorted businesses. Other townships were established at Golden Gate, Tabletop, Gorge Creek, Golden Valley, Goldstone, Carron, Twelve Miles, Mulligan's, Flannigan's, Morning Light, Moonstone and Alluvial Springs.
The Content Mine was established in 1887 by FW Cuthbert, a Croydon grocer, mining investor and mining director. The mine remained under Cuthbert's proprietorship throughout its life; public companies never invested in it. Cuthbert was the last of Croydon's influential mining men. He was known for his openness to new ideas such using the diamond drill to test his geological theories. His use of rock drilling machinery to make large, low-grade ore bodies pay through economies of scale was unusual in north Queensland. His personal qualities and business enterprises were important for the success of mining activities on the Croydon Goldfield.
In its first year of operation the Content mine produced 30 tons of quartz yielding 27 ounces of gold. The first equipment installed at the mine was a 12 horsepower steam engine imported in 1891 at a value of £500.
In 1892, during a widespread economic depression, the Isabella and the Content were employing 150 men, but in that year the Content only produced 206 ounces of gold. Along with the True Blue and Isabella the Content had pumping machinery and these were known as the premier mines on the field in 1893.
For the rest of the decade the Content produced an ounce of gold per ton of stone crushed. The most profitable years were 1894 with 897, 344 ounces in 1895 and 256 ounces in 1896. Production was sparse until 1900 and 1901 when 288 and 511 ounces were produced. By constantly pumping, Cuthbert produced profits and expanded operations. One history of the Croydon Goldfield acknowledged the success of Cuthbert's Content Mine:
This big low-grade reef was patiently developed over a decade, paying the occasional profit or breaking even. Cuthbert stayed with it, working it on an increasing scale; he even introduced rock drills in 1912. After 1905 it became the field's biggest producer of ore, if not of gold. It supported around 25-30 miners in a period of chronic depression on the field. However it had to crush at customs mills a couple of miles away and its output of 2-3000 tons a year was hardly impressive. Low grade ore needed to be worked on a larger scale to be consistently profitable over a long period, and cheap milling was essential. Often the Content made a profit simply because it hit a patch of richer stone. However it did show how working more of the low-grade reefs might have prolonged the field's life.
In September 1900, Cuthbert applied for a new lease of the Content (which included the Content Block mine) and commenced sinking a shaft striking the reef at 85m. He then spent over £10,000 on equipment and development work before he received any returns. If the Content had been owned by a company it would have been abandoned, but Cuthbert believed in its potential and was ultimately rewarded.
Substantial poppet legs and a winding engine were erected in 1903 on the frontage line and the two shafts were being worked together. They produced 1,252 ounces of gold from 1,306 tons of stone. The mine produced well in 1904 and 1905 yielding 5,571 ounces at under £2 per ounce from 2,206 tons of stone and 3,253 ounces respectively. However, like every Croydon mine, 1906 was a disappointing year for the Content. Heavy development work was underway. £4,418 was made in profit from 2,246 ounces in 1907. By 1908 it was the most productive mine on the Croydon field producing 2,770 tons of stone yielding 7,203 ounces of gold valued at £10,625. It held its own through 1909 with a profit of £6,091 from 3,465 ounces of gold.
Extensive development work was done in 1910 to follow the reef and it was the highest producer on the field with 3,031 ounces from 2,707 tons of stone. By 1912 the Content was producing one third of the total gold production on the Croydon Goldfield. It also employed the largest number of miners of any mine on the field - 32. An air compressor was purchased from Charters Towers in 1912 together with a 40HP Babcock boiler from the Federation mine for a total of £3,000.
In 1912 the Mines Department stated that Cuthbert's foresight in developing the Content mine showed that capital, judiciously expended, would give good returns on the Croydon Goldfield because undoubtedly there were other lines of reef which would probably give the same results if worked on the same scale and method.
The Content was earning Cuthbert, as owner, a considerable income up to1912. From then on water was a problem and the faces of the stopes were unpromising. Cuthbert sought to re-open Waram's shaft in 1914, which had been discontinued 20 years before. Production was all inferior stone and eventually Cuthbert gave up the struggle, closing the mine on 24 January 1918 after a continuous run of over 16 years. The final crushing was of 231 tons of stone, which yielded 1,058 ounces of gold valued at £1,843. The Content was the last of the large productive mines on the Croydon field.
Officially, the Content reef yielded 65,130 ounces of gold from 35,521 tons of ore between 1886 and 1918 and most of this derived from Cuthbert's Content Block mine. However, the bullion gold yield is quite deceiving: from the 60,235 ounces of bullion gold, only 23,822 ounces of fine gold was derived and the balance was almost all silver.
The plant was removed c.1918 and transferred to the Iguana Consols to prospect for the lost Iguana reef. The layout of the plant there mirrors the arrangement at the Content.
","criteria":"The Content Mine at Croydon, developed under the proprietorship of mining entrepreneur FW Cuthbert, is significant in Queensland history as the longest operating mine (1887-1918) on the important Croydon Goldfield. In addition, Cuthbert's willingness to trial, and then use, the latest mining technologies (such as new drilling machinery), allowed mining activities of large, low-grade ore bodies to be shown to be profitable.
|This demonstrates an unusual pattern for Queensland gold mines, making poorer ore payable by mining and treating it along with richer ore, instead of just extracting the richer ore. Even on Charters Towers Goldfield, only a handful of mines achieved this level of development. The timbered shaft at the southern end of the Content Reef (south of the former Gulf Development Road alignment) is very rare, being early (late 19th century) and lined with sawn timber boards. It is important in demonstrating its type and early gold mining techniques that are no longer practised.
|Surviving fabric associated with early mining activity at this site includes the foundations of the winding engine, compressor and compressor cooling tower, which indicate the scale of operations at the Content Mine.
|The Content Mine has a special association with the life and work of FW Cuthbert, a Queensland (and later New Guinea) mining entrepreneur who played a significant role in the success and history of the Croydon Goldfield.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | 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 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":1013,"place_ref":602371,"name":"Tabletop Cemetery","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"To be determined","suburb":"CROYDON","lga":"CROYDON SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2006-04-13","description":"Tabletop Cemetery is situated on the corner of two formed station roads which provide access to the site. The terrain is slightly undulating and consists of finely grained sandy soil. Eucalypts and other native trees are scattered throughout the area and tussocky grasses provide a dense ground cover during much of the year. Although the cemetery lies within an area heavily grazed by cattle, its perimeter fence protects the site. Native birds and animals also utilize this area.
Of the 23 potential burial sites identified within the cemetery, only five have headstones and only three are enclosed with iron railings. The three graves that have iron enclosures have been re-painted white in recent times. Identified graves date from between 1889 and 1904.
Stone piles, mounds, or shallow depressions are representative of the possible burials within the cemetery. While it has not been properly determined whether these are actual burial sites, no similar features (i.e stone piles, mounds) were seen to occur naturally outside the confines of the cemetery.
The identifiable headstones within the fenced cemetery all face to the east, and all the individual graves (including the stone piles and mounds) are aligned in an east -west direction.
Grave 1.
James Crameri, died 14 November 1904. This grave has a marble headstone with inscription and is surrounded by an iron railing, painted white in recent times.
Grave 2.
Henry Aldolphous Hasenkamp, died 19 October 1893 (child, aged just under 11 years). Similar to the Grave 1, Grave 2 has a marble headstone with inscription and is surrounded by an iron railing painted white. In addition, this grave is marked by a scattering of clam and other sea shells.
Grave 3.
A grave enclosed with an iron railing. This grave is marked by strap diagonal framing on its railings and has a sandstone headstone which is now illegible. Four stone mounts are visible, one for each railing corner post, and the marks on these suggest that at some stage this grave may have been slightly repositioned. A tree has grown up through the strap diagonal framing at the headstone end of the grave.
Grave 4.
Catherine Lahy, died 10 June 1889 (child, aged 2 years). The grave is identified by a solid sandstone headstone rounded at its top and inscribed with a cross, and an earth mound.
Grave 5.
Robert Fitzmaurice, died 29 April 1889 (child, aged 4 years 8 months). The grave can be identified by a simple stone headstone. Included on its inscription is a large cross.
Grave 6.
This grave consists of a solid rectangular stone headstone in the style of a Chinese grave marker, and similar in form to Chinese graves which are evident in the Croydon town cemetery. However, there is no visible inscription on this headstone and so the ethnicity of this grave cannot be confirmed.
","history":"Tabletop Cemetery is one of 6 cemeteries that served the Croydon district after it was declared a goldfield in 1886. The cemetery is situated near the former township of Tabletop, approximately 19 kilometres northeast of Croydon. The cemetery covers an area of approximately 1260 square metres, but was never gazetted as a cemetery reserve. Twenty-three potential burials have been identified in the cemetery, and at least one of the graves may be Chinese.
The Croydon field was one of the last of the north Queensland gold rushes of the nineteenth century. After a peak in gold production in 1900, mining declined over the next two decades. There was a small revival during the 1930s depression and again from 1988 to 1991. The present population of the district is approximately 300.
Croydon is situated in the heart of the Gulf Savannah, 562km west of Cairns, approximately 176km west of Georgetown and 144km south east of the port of Normanton on the Gulf of Carpentaria. Europeans first explored this area in the 1860s: McKinley searched for lost explorers Burke and Wills in 1862 and JG McDonald explored a route from Carpentaria Downs to the Gulf in 1864. Pastoralists followed these early explorers, bringing sheep in 1865, but by 1867 many had retreated because of fever, drought, low wool prices and distance from the markets. An overland telegraph line was constructed from Cardwell to Normanton between 1869 and 1872. This passed through the Croydon district and later became a lifeline for the northern mining fields.
Gold was first discovered on Croydon Downs Station, which had been taken up by W. Brown in 1881. In the latter part of 1883, two of his employees found quartz carrying gold. However it was not until 1885 that Richard and Walter Alldridge, acting under instructions from WC Brown, prospected the area and discovered 20 payable reefs. The finds were reported in October 1885, and the Croydon area was proclaimed a goldfield on 18 January 1886, thus coming under the administration of the Department of Public Works and Mines.
Hundreds flocked to the area. By 1887 the population of the district had peaked at 7000, and by 1897 it still had the third highest population in north Queensland after Charters Towers and Townsville. From 1890 to 1910, gold output from the Croydon reefs were second only to Charters Towers. Total production from inception until 1947 was 772, 374 ounces. By 1909 however, production began to decline and by 1914, the population at the turn of the century had halved.
Residents on the Croydon Goldfield faced many hardships including inadequate supplies of water; pasture grasses and timber for fuel and constructions purposes. Isolation was also a major problem until the Croydon to Normanton railway was completed in 1891. The area was subject to droughts and floods, and even a cyclone in 1906. During the 'crash' of 1893, when most banks closed doors and gold buying ceased, many miners were thrown out of work. Despite all these difficulties, the 1890s were productive years for Croydon. Pugh's Almanac of 1900 listed 3 banks, 6 blacksmiths, 5 bakers, 6 commission agents, 4 newsagents, 6 carriers, 2 chemists, 6 drapers11 share brokers, 18 hotels and 4 watchmakers, among many other assorted businesses.
Other mining townships were established at Golden Gate, Tabletop, Gorge Creek, Golden Valley, Goldstone, Carron, Twelve Miles, Mulligan's, Flannigan's, Morning Light, Moonstone and Alluvial Springs, with Croydon acting as the main administrative and commercial centre. Members of the outlying communities would visit Croydon on Saturday nights to shop, conduct their business and socialise.
As on many other Queensland goldfields, a Chinese community was formed at Croydon, congregating on the north west fringe of the town. At the end of 1888 Mining Warden Towner reported that Croydon had a population of 3500 of whom 300 were Chinese, Cingalese, Malay or African. This figure is surprising given that the Queensland Goldfields Amendment Act of 1878 excluded Chinese people from new fields for three years unless they had made the discovery. However it appears that the level of Chinese involvement at Croydon was confined to the service industry and in occupations such as gardeners, carriers, bakers and cooks. Racial tension was high at times and is reflected in a race riot in 1886 and later by the formation of the Anti- Chinese League in early 1888.
In Tabletop the town baker, Jim Sing conducted business for over eight years until 1900. It is significant that, in a region that experienced racial discord, a person of likely Chinese heritage is buried amidst Europeans in the Tabletop cemetery.
Tabletop township, located approximately 19 kilometres north-east from Croydon, was surveyed in 1887. Along with Croydon it was among the first areas on the Croydon Goldfield to be developed. A daily horse-drawn coach service between Tabletop and Croydon was soon established.
Mines serviced by Tabletop township included the Federation, Day Dawn, Mount Morgan, Bobby Dazzler, Happy Jack, Rising Sun, Ace of Hearts, Star of Hope, Black Diamond, Blackbird and Lady Jane. Two large mills operated during its peak years, the 5-head Day Dawn on the southern side of town, and the 12-head Catherine on the northern side.
In 1888 a small provisional school opened at Tabletop. This was the first provincial school on the goldfield, with Croydon provisional school opening one year later. By 1889, 20 children attended the Tabletop school and numbers evened out at 22 until the late 1890s, indicating a stable family community. As with many gold towns, almost overnight Tabletop emerged as small service town, with 8 hotels, a post office, 5 stores, 2 blacksmiths, 2 billiard saloons, a chemist, 2 produce dealers and a police presence. This supported a population of approximately 500 miners, their families and supporting industries, all initially enthusiastic about mining prospects in the district. However, the community quickly declined to around 220 and declined further after the mid 1890s. While the post office operated from 1887 to 1911, businesses in the town began to close from as early as 1893, a trend which continued through to 1900. By 1920, only the Tabletop Hotel remained.
The Tabletop community interacted socially with the nearby smaller townships of Golden Valley and Carron. Race meetings in particular were popular and Tabletop combined with Golden Valley in 1889 to form the Tabletop and Golden Valley Racing Club. The community was spiritually supported by both Church of England and Roman Catholic clergy based in Croydon as well as by the Primitive Methodist clergy based at nearby Golden Valley. A Senior Sergeant and Constable maintained law and order and their presence in town is represented in the Tabletop cemetery.
In 1893 Henry Hasenkamp was posted to Tabletop as the Senior Constable, Clerk of Petty Sessions and Inspector of Slaughterhouses. He was accompanied by his wife Mary and family.. Not long after they arrived their ten year old son, Henry Adolphous died on 19 October 1893, about 3 weeks short of his eleventh birthday. He was buried in the Tabletop cemetery. The next year Henry and Mary erected a simple headstone and encircled the gravesite with an iron railing. The grave mound was lovingly decorated with small clamshells and a few larger "Bailer" shells.
Families associated with mining communities often led a migratory lifestyle and many suffered the loss of a child due to the primitive living conditions and lack of medical supplies and expertise. Consequently, individual child burials (ie not within a family plot) are common in remote burial grounds - poignant reminders of the harshness of frontier living and the temporary nature of many early mining towns.
","criteria":"Dating from c1887, Tabletop Cemetery demonstrates and contributes to our understanding of the pattern and nature of settlement in small frontier mining towns. Established prior to any officially surveyed cemetery, this small burial ground served the township of Tabletop from the mid-1880s until the township declined in the 1910s. The cemetery is an important record of the historical development of the area and demonstrates in the surviving identified graves (including the graves of two children and a Chinese person) the ethnicity, occupations and social status of the inhabitants of a small satellite township on the Croydon goldfield. The place is important in demonstrating the nature of life on the Croydon goldfields in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly the high infant and child mortality experienced in early mining settlements.
|Tabletop Cemetery is one of a group of 6 cemeteries located on the former Croydon goldfield, and is still legible as an early burial ground. 23 potential burial sites have been identified, with remnant surviving fabric including 6 graves with headstones or grave markers, one of which is in the style of a Chinese grave marker. At least three of the graves have iron-railing surrounds. The place has the potential to yield information about the early history of the inhabitants of the field; in particular, a clearer understanding of ethnic, social, and religious background and attitudes within the mining community, through further investigation of the placement, inscriptions, type of materials used, or information relating to the deceased such as age or religion.
|Tabletop Cemetery has social significance for its symbolic value to the Croydon community.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C | Criterion G","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 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":15212,"place_ref":600437,"name":"Court House (former)","alternate_name":"Croydon Court House (former)","street_address":"Samwell Street","suburb":"CROYDON","lga":"CROYDON SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Croydon Courthouse is a single storey building on low stumps and faces Samwell Street, the main street of Croydon. To one side of it are the former police buildings and on the other, former town hall.
The court house has a timber frame and is clad with vertical corrugated iron. The gabled roof is also clad with corrugated iron. A verandah with a separate awning supported on posts runs around three sides of the court room. The main entrance is central and approached by low steps. Behind the court room and set at right angles to it are a series of 3 gabled sections containing offices. They are similar in form and set parallel to each other. The first two sections are separated from each other by a corridor roofed in curved corrugated iron and have a verandah to the rear. Behind this are a pair of offices with a space between them which allows entry to the rear verandah. Windows in the end walls have sun hoods and ventilation has been addressed by providing louvred panels in the upper section of end walls and ventilators on the roof
The courtroom has a coved roof and is well illuminated by windows at the front and sides. It is unlined, revealing the corrugated iron cladding except for the partition wall behind the bench, which is of horizontal timber boards. The court room retains its furniture, including the judge's bench, defendant's box, witness stand and jury bench.
","history":"The former Court House was erected in 1887 as part of a complex of government buildings on the main street of Croydon, at the time a busy goldfield.
In the early 1880s Croydon Downs Station was established on Belmore Creek and evidence of gold was discovered on the property soon after it was established. In October 1885 a major find was reported about 145 km east of Normanton and a rush to the area began. On 18 January, 1886 Croydon was proclaimed a goldfield under the administration of the Queensland Mines Department. The town site was then surveyed, and by the end of the year the population of the Croydon field was 2000 and rapidly increasing. A police reserve was declared to service the new field and a modest police station was begun immediately and completed in the same year.
A Court House reserve had been set aside next to the large reserve for police use as part of the administrative infrastructure of the goldfield. The Colonial government of the time faced the problem of policing a huge area with a scattered population on a limited budget. Transport also posed problems, especially before the development of reliable roads and a railway network. The situation was addressed by instituting a system of regional courts served by visiting magistrates or judges and which had police offices, accomodation and lockup facilities on the same site. Plans for a suitable court house with facilities for visiting magistrates and a Clerk of Petty Sessions were drawn up and the successful tender was that of contractors Edward and James Headland at £1875.
The courthouse was completed in May 1887, although the first court was held there on 24 January 1887 reflecting the urgency of the need. The use of corrugated iron as wall cladding reflects local conditions where suitable timber was scarce and voracious termites made keeping buildings in good repair a constant problem. Croydon had the services of a visiting mining warden from Georgetown from 1886 and it was clear that provision would need to be made for an office in the town. It was common for wardens to have offices in the court building and soon after completion, the court was extended by adding offices for the Mining Warden and Registrar. This raised the final cost of the work to £2075. Additional cells and stables for police horses were added to the police reserve about the same time as the demand for police services grew. The district was first proclaimed a divisional board in 1887/88 and declared a municipality in 1892. A new police barracks were built in 1896 and further cells in the following year. In the first ten years of its existence the population of the town had mushroomed and by 1897 Croydon had the third highest population in North Queensland after that of Townsville and Charters Towers. The police and court buildings and the town hall along the main street illustrate the way in which administrative services were provided for towns in such rapid growth areas.
1897 was also the year in which a disastrous fire that destroyed much of the town's centre possibly marked the beginning of a decline in its fortunes. Unlike Charters Towers, the Croydon field did not prove to have the deep reefs that would have provided work for large numbers and the population consequently fell. The district was redesignated as a shire in 1903/4 and by 1907 the field was considered to be effectively exhausted. The town became the centre of a pastoral district rather than a goldfield and by 1912 the gold warden's offices were being used by a surveyor and his assistant. Following World War I, when mining generally diminished and the price of gold dropped, it was obvious that the field would not recover. Mining came to a virtual stop by 1925. The last court was held in 1926 and rooms at the rear of the building were used for storage, though the Clerk of Petty Sessions maintained an office into the 1940s.
By 1961 the building was abandoned and had deteriorated. It was purchased on 13 June 1961 by the Croydon Shire Council. National Estate funding was obtained to preserve the building and major repair work was carried out in 1980. Since then the building has been a tourist attraction in the town as have the other buildings from Croydon's heyday. Stage one of a project to interpret the building as a courthouse museum was implemented in 1999.
","criteria":"Croydon Court House is important in illustrating the development of Croydon and district, reflecting the importance of the town following the discovery of gold and way in which justice was administered in such remote areas. It also demonstrates the short lived importance that goldfields, such as that at Croydon, might have.
|The Court house is a good example of a small regional courthouse of its era, having a large court room with offices for magistrates and court officials to the rear. The addition of offices for mining officials is typical of court houses in mining areas.
|It is one of a series of public buildings along the main street of Croydon, including the police station and residence and the shire hall, which define the visual character of the township.
|The Croydon Court House has had a long connection with the people of Croydon and the surrounding district as the focus for the administration of justice.
","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":15213,"place_ref":600438,"name":"Croydon State Emergency Services Building","alternate_name":"Croydon Hospital Ward","street_address":"Sircom Street","suburb":"CROYDON","lga":"CROYDON SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The former Croydon Hospital ward building is a single storey timber building on the western corner of Sircom and Brown Streets, Croydon. There is a timber picket fence around the property.
The building is rectangular in plan with an encircling verandah, built in on the north-western side. It is raised on low stumps, those at the perimeter being timber and the remainder, steel. The hipped roof is clad with corrugated iron and has two roof ventilators on the ridge and new ogee gutters and acroteria.
The main entry is a through a porch with a curved corrugated iron roof on the verandah facing Brown Street. There are also stairs at the centre of the rear verandah, and at the southern corner. At the centre of each end is a pair of French doors into the hall.
The verandahs are about 3.7m wide, with stop-chamfered posts, arched boarded valance, a handrail but no balustrade between the posts, and are unlined. The external walls have exposed timber framing, lined with 185 chamferboards. The Brown Street side wall has five casement windows, with 3-panes per sash and 2-pane toplights. The height of the sill of these windows alternates from floor level to sill level. Inside the hall, the walls and ceiling are lined with fibro sheet. The ceiling is raked up to the line of the collar tie.
The south-west verandah has been infilled with rooms, clad with external boarding and smaller casements, and internal v-jointed boards.
At the rear are two sheds. The closest is a corrugated iron garage with two rooms. It has a gabled roof over two rooms with a lean-to roof over the garage. The rooms are clad in corrugated iron, with shutters opening to the outside and the inside. The doors to the rooms are boarded. There is also a recent metal-clad structure behind.
","history":"Croydon State Emergency Services Building was constructed in 1894, as a ward of the Croydon Hospital.
In the early 1880s Croydon Downs Station was established on Belmore Creek and evidence of gold was discovered on the property soon after it was established. In October 1885 a major find was reported about 145 km east of Normanton and a rush to the area began. On 18 January, 1886 Croydon was proclaimed a goldfield under the administration of the Queensland Mines Department. The town site was then surveyed, and by the end of the year the population of the Croydon field was 2000 and rapidly increasing. The first hospital was constructed in 1886, on the present hospital reserve. This was a primitive structure, of bush timber framing with hessian walls a timber floor and galvanised iron roof. Soon after, a surgery/domestic block and a large ward were erected at a cost of £1886.
The district was proclaimed a divisional board in 1887/88 and declared a municipality in 1892. By 1897 Croydon had the third highest population in North Queensland after that of Townsville and Charters Towers. The establishment of shipping companies trading from southern Queensland to Normanton on the Gulf of Carpentaria and the opening of the railway from Normanton to Croydon assured the development of the gold fields. A peak population of 25,000 demanded a larger hospital facility and in 1894, a second ward building was erected. funded by a major bequest.
The goldfield at Croydon did not sustain its initial success. By the early 1900s its output had fallen considerably and after WWI when widespread mining diminished and the price of gold dropped, it was obvious that the field would not recover. It came to a virtual stop by 1925. The resultant loss in population saw the district redesignated as a shire in 1903/4 with the town becoming the centre of a pastoral district rather than a goldfield. The hospital did not always succeed in staying open and at times the matron had to deputise for a doctor. The last resident doctor was at the hospital in 1934. The Flying Doctor Service visited Croydon from Cloncurry holding a regular monthly clinic from 1953. Emergency dental services were also offered by them.
During the early 1980s, the hospital buildings were considered inadequate for modern hospital use and were threatened with demolition. At that time, the hospital reserve contained two large timber buildings, this ward building and the surgery/residence, and also a small corrugated iron morgue at the rear of the site. This building was then moved from the Hospital Reserve, at the south-western end of Sircom Street on the outskirts of the town, to the corner of Sircom and Brown Streets opposite the Club Hotel.
It is now the responsibility of the local government authority.
","criteria":"The Croydon State Emergency Services building, as a former hospital ward building, is important in illustrating the development of Croydon and district, reflecting the importance of the town and the size of the population when the gold field was at its peak.
|Although relocated, the former hospital building, in its form, scale and materials, relates to the other surviving public buildings of Croydon, including the former town hall, the police station and residence and the Club Hotel, which define the visual character of the township.
|The former hospital ward building has had a long connection with the people of Croydon and the surrounding district as a focus for the provision of hospital services.
","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":15214,"place_ref":600439,"name":"Homeward Bound Battery and Dam","alternate_name":null,"street_address":null,"suburb":"CROYDON","lga":"CROYDON SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The place contains two component groups - the dam and dam wall (or overshot weir) and the battery foundations. The dam wall is expertly constructed of large blocks of rough-shaped stone. The stonework reaches a maximum height of 5 m above the downstream creek bed surface (the foundations could be buried a further 4 m) and extends across the creek for about 40 m from where an earth wall continues for a further 55 m. The wall contains a lower spillway section. The top of the wall is concrete rendered for the length of its stone construction. A vertical boiler on a base of stamper dyes is located at the northern end of the wall at a former cyanide plant site. The dam is heavily silted and lined with acacia on the upstream edge of the wall. The clay bed of the dam extends north-east for about 250 m.
The battery site, situated on the northern bank of the dam, has been stripped of all buildings and plant. Remaining, are a broken concrete engine mount, concrete and aggregate foundations for twenty head of stamps, a twenty head camshaft with ten cams, and a beam pump arm.
The Homeward Bound settlement site on Waterfall Creek about 300 m - 400 m east of the battery contains several intact stone fireplaces and numerous stone surfaces. The extent of the settlement was not surveyed.
","history":"The Homeward Bound reef north of Croydon officially produced 22,280 tons of ore, for a yield of 25,335 ozs of gold, between 1886-1911. Work resumed between 1912-16 for a yield of 882 ozs of gold from 268 tons of ore and again between 1935-40, when 11.2 tons of ore returned 4.2 ozs of gold.
The Homeward Bound battery commenced crushing on 28 February 1888 with 20 head of stamps. The main mines serving the battery were all situated along the Homeward Bound reef on or near the summit of the ridge above Waterfall Creek. Homeward Bound Extended Block No.1 North Company (with a nominal capital of £12,000 in 20,000 shares) owned several of the mines and Croydon Homeward Bound Gold Mining Company owned the battery. The 20 head of stamps and eight berdan pans were driven by a 20hp portable steam engine. The plant was valued at £5,500.
Water was a problem throughout the Croydon Goldfield and a large dam with a stone pitched wall was constructed in 1888, by a Mr. Shoemaker (or Schumacher). (National Trust of Queensland file CRN2/8). Even so the Homeward Bound battery could not crush that year.
The Mountain Maid United Gold Mining Company (with a nominal capital of 56,000 ten shilling shares) took over the Homeward Bound battery in 1890 but relinquished it to the original company again in 1891. By then the Homeward Bound claim was almost abandoned. Although the major companies had failed, the battery was revitalized in 1893 by co-operative parties who were getting good results. One old miner said in 1896 that the Homeward Bound "has had less public attention paid to it than any other line on this extensive goldfield but left to the stragglers like myself to scratch away". When other Croydon mines were considering closing down, in 1898 the Homeward Bound was producing almost two ozs of gold per ton of stone. In 1899 Homeward Bound No. 4 South had a spectacular crushing of 232 ozs from 68 tons. Lane and Pate took over the battery in 1901 and cyaniding was commenced in 1902 using some of the equipment from the Pioneer cyanide works at Gorge Creek. In 1903, 144 ozs of gold were obtained from 156 tons of quartz. However by 1904 the Homeward Bound Company had lost the reef and others were only putting small crushings through and mining gradually petered out.
In the first year of cyaniding, 510 tons of tailings were treated for a yield of 668 ozs of gold bullion, but production increased thirteenfold in 1903 so that it was the second largest cyaniding treatment plant on the field - 6,565 tons of tailings were treated for 5,059 ozs of gold bullion. They continued with 2,650 tons of tailings yielding 239 ozs of gold bullion in 1904; 3,120 tons of old tailings for 1,728 ozs of gold bullion in 1905; and 480 tons of old tailings for 223 ozs and 940 tons of new tailings for 637 ozs in 1906. The average bullion values were amongst the highest on the Croydon Goldfield.
The settlement was never more than a camp with only a store, boarding house and postal receiving office from 1888 to 1893. An open cut mine and carbon-in-pulp treatment plant operated from 1988 to 1990 near the Homeward Bound mining area and surface evidence from earlier workings was lost in the more recent operations.
","criteria":"The Homeward Bound Battery and Dam is significant in Queensland's history as one of the mining settlements, or suburbs of Croydon, on the former Croydon Goldfield. The place demonstrates a number of stages in the development of Croydon Goldfield - British investment in ore crushing, then cyaniding to fully extract any remaining gold once a permanent water supply had been secured.
|The dam wall is the most substantial structure surviving at Homeward Bound and is the largest and earliest (1888) associated with mining, recorded in North Queensland. The size and quality of the stonework is noteworthy in a regional context. There were few dams constructed on the Croydon Goldfield even though lack of water was a perennial problem.
|(Criterion under review)
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | 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 a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15215,"place_ref":600440,"name":"Croydon Station, Normanton to Croydon Railway","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Helen Street","suburb":"CROYDON","lga":"CROYDON SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Normanton to Croydon Railway runs 94 miles in a roughly south-east direction from Normanton to Croydon, in the Gulf country of North-west Queensland. The line, carried for most of its length on Phillips patent steel sleepers, runs over level country and crosses a number of streams by low-level bridges. It has stations at each end of the line with several stopping places in between.
Croydon station complex is located on the outskirts of town and consists of both original and modern buildings. Croydon station is now a simple building clad in corrugated iron with a low pitched roof which does not resemble the station destroyed in 1969, but appears to have reused some of the materials. A set of Avery scales are against the outside wall at the end of the building and a cylindrical water tank is adjacent. Beyond the tank is an 1887 Saxby and Farmer lever, believed to be rare.
The complex also contains also a set of quarters similar in appearance to those at Blackbull with detached kitchen and shower annexes to the rear. Croydon station also retains some original equipment such as a Ransomes and Rapier crane, as at Normanton. This is located beside the line at a short distance from the station building and near the former goods shed, the concrete slab of which survives nearby. A loading ramp constructed of metal sleepers and rail and filled with earth also remains, though in a ruinous condition. The tower section of a windmill made from rails is also in the yards and locomotive parts are scattered about.
","history":"Croydon is the eastern terminus of a railway line linking it with the port of Normanton. The line was built between 1888 and 1891 when Croydon was an important goldfield and is the last isolated line of Queensland Rail still in use. It utilised an innovative system of submersible track with patent steel sleepers and retains buildings and equipment of considerable interest, both in their own right and as part of this system.
In 1867 William Landsborough investigated the Norman River area to select a port site to serve the pastoral stations south of the Gulf of Carpentaria. With him was George Phillips who shortly thereafter surveyed the chosen site of Normanton. Phillips later supervised the construction of the Normanton to Croydon Railway, and retained an interest in the area, serving as MLA for Carpentaria in the 1890s.
A railway line between Normanton and Cloncurry had been discussed as early as 1883 and was approved by Parliament in 1886. This was a difficult stretch for carriers and a rail link would have been valuable to pastoral stations in the area and was planned to serve the Cloncurry Copper Mine. It was at the time intended to eventually link the new line with the Great Northern Railway connecting Charters Towers and the important port of Townsville. However, in November 1885 a major gold strike was reported at Belmore Station, 145 km east of Normanton and by the end of 1886 the population of the Croydon field was 2000 and rising rapidly in a booming town. Transportation was a major problem and access to this field became more important than the link to Cloncurry. It was decided to divert the line to Croydon.
The line was technically innovative, in response to the terrain and conditions. The country was flat but difficult for conventional railway tracks due to flooding, lack of suitable timber for sleepers and termite attack. In 1884 Phillips patented a system for taking railways across such country which utilised special U section steel sleepers laid directly on the ground. During floods the line could be submerged without washing out the ballast and embankments normally used, so that it could quickly be put back into service when the waters subsided. The steel sleepers were also impervious to termite attack, and although initially more expensive than timber sleepers, were cheaper to lay and maintain. The bridges along the line were also designed to be submersible. This system was particularly suited to the Gulf country and was specified for the Normanton to Croydon line with Phillips engaged to supervise the construction. Tenders were called in July 1887 and the first section to Haydon began in May 1888 and opened in May 1889, then to Patterson's (Blackbull) in December 1890, and finally to Croydon in July 1891.
Some problems were encountered with constructing the line because of the difficulty of maintaining a constant and adequate supply of Phillips sleepers. They were cast at the Toowoomba Foundry at Woolloongabba in Brisbane and also in Glasgow, but in order to keep construction going, timber sleepers were used on some sections and timber was also used for some bridges, originally designed to be made of steel. Much of the timber was replaced with steel at a later date.
The grandest buildings were erected at the Normanton terminus, and because the line was isolated, a range of maintenance buildings and facilities such as machine shops, blacksmith and carpenters shops were also constructed there. At the railhead, Croydon had more modest goods and locomotive sheds and a station with a roofed section over 2 tracks. In 1895, a railway water reserve was proclaimed on the flooded Bird-in-the-Bush shaft on True Blue Hill at Croydon.
Initially the line carried perishables, mail and passengers, and goods like building materials and merchandise. It also ferried firewood for mine boilers and batteries as the land was progressively cleared. During the late 1890s special trains were run for picnics at most of the water holes along the line, particularly the Blackbull lagoon and weekend excursions from Normanton to Croydon or Golden Gate. The Golden Gate mine, some 4 miles west of Croydon and on the railway line, was first mined in 1887. It enjoyed prosperity from about 1895 to 1901, and the Golden Gate township itself had 1500 inhabitants. Special trains were regularly put on to serve picnic outings along the line and sports events like race days. A 'suburban' service between Croydon and Golden Gate on the weekends was introduced in 1902.
However, the goldfield at Croydon did not sustain its initial success. By the early 1900s its output had dropped considerably and after WWI when widespread mining diminished, it was obvious that the field would not recover. The railway had only run at a profit between 1898 and 1902 and traffic, never high, steadily declined. The line stayed open as a community service and as a vital link during the wet season. This was largely because the Phillips system worked well and the track could be put back into use almost immediately after flooding, whereas roads stayed impassable for much longer. Fortunately, the track took less maintenance than standard track because in the early 1920s the number of staff was considerably reduced. To cut costs, and because the supply of suitable water had always been a problem, the first railmotor, a Panhard, was introduced in 1922. By 1929 steam trains had been completely phased out. In the 1930s, all weather roads made the railway less important, but until the late 1960s the rail remained a vital transport link in the area. The line now functions largely as a tourist attraction. One railmotor was restored and named the 'Gulflander' in 1978 and a railmotor now makes a weekly trip hauling carriages and a flat top wagon for passengers' cars. In the wet season it also carries freight when the roads are cut
Not all of the buildings have survived, the station at Croydon being destroyed by a storm in 1969 and rebuilt in a more modern form. The tank there was demolished in 1972.
","criteria":"The Normanton to Croydon railway illustrates the way in which the rail system in Queensland developed as a series of isolated lines which connected ports to inland resources. It also demonstrates the short lived importance that goldfields, such as that at Croydon, might have.
|The Brisbane to Cairns railway connected all independent railways running from ports inland apart from Normanton and Cooktown, which closed in 1962. The Normanton to Croydon line is therefore the last isolated section of the Queensland Railways to remain in use and retains some rare items of equipment It is also the only full length line to have been constructed using the Phillips patented sleeper system, which is still in working order.
|Because of its isolation, extensive workshop facilities were provided and locomotives and rolling stock were retained when obsolete. Although some have now been removed, the line retained much of its individuality and can provide information on the way in which such an isolated line was maintained and the technology used.
|The railway line itself, with its use of low level submersible track and bridges and Phillips patented steel sleepers, was an important technical innovation designed for Queensland conditions which has lasted in use with a low level of maintenance for over a hundred years, proving its viability in these conditions.
|The railway has strong associations with the life and work of George Phillips, who helped to explore and survey the area, served for several years as its Parliamentary representative and designed and supervised the building of the railway.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | 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 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":15925,"place_ref":601153,"name":"Police Reserve Complex (former)","alternate_name":"Former Police Station and Residence","street_address":"Samwell Street","suburb":"CROYDON","lga":"CROYDON SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1999-07-23","description":"The Police Reserve Complex, Croydon is located on the corner of Samwell and Alldridge Streets, Croydon. The site is one of a number of public buildings within the main street of Croydon, and is adjacent to a Courthouse, and near the Shire Hall.
The site comprises a number of simple timber buildings, including the police residence at the corner of the streets, the police station to the west of this with frontage to Samwell Street and cells to the rear, south of the police station.
The former police station, originally constructed as police barracks and following dismantling of sections of the building reused as the police station from 1937, is a single storeyed timber framed and clad building elevated on low stumps. The hipped roof of the building is clad with corrugated iron sheeting. Verandahs line three sides of the building. The timber verandah posts are stop-chamfered and located between the posts is timber dowel balustrade. A gabled projection on the southern, principal façade of the building emphasises the principal entrance.
The police residence is a single storeyed timber framed building slightly elevated on low stumps. The building comprises a central four room core with kitchen and bathroom to the north. The building is of single skinned construction with the frame expressed externally and internally lined with horizontal boarding. The pyramidal hipped roof is clad with corrugated iron sheeting and extends over a verandah lining the four sides of the principal part of the building. The roof is surmounted by an iron ridge ventilator. Simple timber verandah posts support the verandah and a simple timber dowel balustrade and handrail line the verandahs. Entrance to the building is provided on the southern face via an open tread timber stair. The rear wing abuts the northern edge of the verandah on the northern face of the building and has a small rectangular plan with gabled roof.
The cells located to the rear of the police station are constructed with a timber frame and corrugated iron sheeting cladding externally. The cells are elevated on low stumps. The gabled roof of the small structure is also clad with corrugated iron sheeting. A verandah lines the southern elevation of the building and access is provided via an open tread timber stair.
","history":"European settlement in Croydon commenced following the discovery of gold bearing reefs in the area in about 1885. At first, ore was crushed at the Etheridge field with facilities in Croydon established by the end of 1886 causing a rapid influx of prospectors. A town grew up around the gold field and the initial survey plans included a Police Reserve. The first police station was erected during 1886 for a cost of £196 and a court house incorporating offices for a mining warden and mining registrar was completed in the following year. By 1889 a lock-up, additional cells and stables were added to the Police Reserve.
As Croydon developed, the initial police and justice facilities were replaced with larger buildings. In 1896, local contractor James Lancaster constructed a large timber building for use as police barracks (now known as the former police station). In 1897 further cells were constructed. A residence for the Officer-In-Charge was completed in 1899.
The gold reef discovered at Croydon was exhausted by 1907 and development within the town waned. The police service continued at Croydon and repairs and repainting was undertaken at the police complex in 1911. Further work was conducted in 1937 when the barracks, now too large for the small number of officers serving in Croydon, was cut into sections and only a small section of the original barracks was retained as a police station. The kitchen of the barracks was removed for use as a tracker's quarters. The remainder of the building was sold as timber. Correspondence between the Croydon station and the Inspector of Police in Cairns suggests that the 'decline of Croydon' since the initial boom period was the reason for the dismantling and removal of part of the original police barracks. The population of Croydon in 1937 was 250.
In 1939 the verandahs of both the police station and the police residence were made fly proof with the addition of timber battening and fly screens. The trackers quarters were restumped at this time. Although the 1889 lockup was retained in the reduced complex, it was reclad.
In 1938 a police report of the police residence described the building as having three bedrooms, dining and sitting room, kitchen, pantry, bathrooms and verandah.
New police buildings were constructed at the rear of the police reserve in 1977 and the nineteenth century buildings were vacated but not removed from the site. The Minister of Lands gave permission to the National Trust of Queensland to occupy the early buildings in 1982. More recently, the Croydon Shire Council has used the police station as a library and museum.
","criteria":"The former Croydon Police Reserve Complex, established from 1886, demonstrates the evolution of the early Croydon township with the provision of essential services following the discovery of gold in the area.
|The complex is a good, representative example of a nineteenth century police precinct.
|The buildings have aesthetic significance as an intact precinct of nineteenth century timber civic buildings which contribute to the 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":16414,"place_ref":601653,"name":"Croydon Shire Hall","alternate_name":"Croydon Town Hall | Croydon Shire Office","street_address":"Samwell Street","suburb":"CROYDON","lga":"CROYDON SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1996-06-11","description":"The Croydon Shire Hall is a large, single-storeyed timber and galvanised iron building situated in Samwell Street, Croydon. It is one of a group of civic buildings that date to c1890.
The hall is rectangular, with a square tower centrally located at the street frontage and a later rectangular addition on the western side. An imposing sense of grandeur is achieved by the bell capped tower with its tall flagpole, clockface and ornate cast iron balustrading.
Although the main body of the hall is of light hardwood construction with corrugated galvanised iron external sheeting, the tower and the front verandah are lined timber, as is the floor and stage at the rear of the interior.
A corrugated galvanised iron sheeted roof is supported on timber trusses and is hipped at the tower end and gabled at the rear; with a separate awning roof over the front verandah.
The ceiling of the hall is unlined, although the later additions are fully lined internally with hardboard sheeting.
The front verandah has been enlarged by removing part of the original wall lining along the east and west sides of the building, infilled with hardboard internally and metal ribbed sheeting externally and provided with a wrap around band of glass louvred windows. The western extension is constructed similarly, though without the narrow metal awning that shades the louvred windows at the front of the building.
At the front entry of the building, doors open either side to the office area within the enclosed verandah and a short passage leads through into the main body of the hall.
Above the passage is a projection booth, with an intact movie projector mounted on an open platform, which is situated directly beneath the tower. Access to the booth is through the office in the eastern verandah.
Externally, the building is shaded by trees to the east and west and has two detached privies at the rear.
Two, apparently early, street lamps are located on the footpath in front of the shire hall. The footpath is finished with early stone pitched gutters.
","history":"The Croydon Shire Hall, probably constructed c1892, was purpose built as a municipal town hall.
In the early 1880s Croydon Downs Station was established on Belmore Creek by partners, William Chalmers Browne and James and Walter Aldridge. Evidence of gold was discovered on the property soon after it was established. In 1885 the Aldridge Brothers and Browne located twenty payable lines of gold reef. When the partners reported the discovery in October 1885 a rush to the area began.
On 18 January 1886 Croydon was proclaimed a goldfield under the administration of the Queensland Mines Department. The town of Croydon was surveyed in 1886 and the survey plan shows an earlier building located on the Shire Hall block. Croydon Divisional Board was proclaimed in 1887, and in 1903 this became Croydon Shire Council, under the provisions of the 1902 Local Government Act. The arrival of the railway in 1891 and the discovery of gold in the district meant that by 1897 the area, including the town of Croydon, had the third highest population in North Queensland, after Townsville and Charters Towers. In 1892 a separate Croydon Municipal Council was established to administer the town of Croydon, and this became the Croydon Town Council in 1903. However, with the decline in the price of gold by 1900 and the resultant loss of population, the municipality of Croydon became part of Croydon Shire again in 1908. Mining came to a virtual stop by 1925 and from that time the town became the centre of a pastoral district.
It is likely that the Croydon Shire Hall dates from after the establishment of the municipality in 1892, rather than from the establishment of the divisional board, and photographic evidence reveals that the building was extant by 1897. Local tradition records that the rear of the Shire Hall was extended in 1929 or 1930 when the back 'hall like' back portion of Edgerton's Jewellery Shop, Croydon was added to the Shire Hall after the shop front was damaged during a cyclone.
The hall has been the social centre of the town and district from the early days of settlement. Early photographs indicate that the hall was the location of community celebrations such as Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1897 and the celebration which took place after the relief of Mafeking during the Boer War in 1900.
In the 1960s the building became the official administration centre for Croydon Shire Council. It remained as the shire offices until 1991 when new offices were constructed across Samwell Street. Since that time the hall has again become a social centre for dances, concerts, hoy and pioneer morning teas. Long term plans for the building are to turn it into a museum of mining and community history.
","criteria":"Croydon Shire Hall is significant as one of a group of late 19th century regional government buildings that illustrate the unprecedented era of prosperity that followed the discovery of gold in the Croydon region. The building also illustrates the establishment of Croydon as a major regional centre during the latter part of the 19th century.
The building demonstrates a continuous association of local government administration with this site for over a century.
|In its relatively unchanged state the hall demonstrates the principal characteristics of a regional shire hall in North West Queensland.
|The Croydon Shire Hall, through its distinctive design and its location in a street of late 19th century timber government buildings, is an aesthetically pleasing building valued by the Croydon community.
|In its role as a shire hall the building has been a focal point for civic and social events since its construction.
","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":16594,"place_ref":601857,"name":"Richmond Mine and Battery","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Gulf Development Road","suburb":"CROYDON","lga":"CROYDON SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2006-07-28","description":"Richmond Mine and Battery is located 10 kilometres east of Croydon and about 1 kilometre north of the Gulf Development Road. The vegetation in the immediate area is sparse and consists predominantly of eucalypts spp regrowth. Cattle graze the site.
The main workings of the place, including the shafts and incline, mullock, and battery site are situated on the crest and southwest face of Richmond Hill.
The mine and winding plant is situated on an earth bench cut into the hillside at adit level directly above the battery. Extensive areas of dumped rock extend down the hill from the mine. The mine site includes a portable steam engine with a connected cog drive to a small two-drum winding winch that is aligned to a timbered incline shaft. Items of plant in the vicinity include a winch base associated with the portable engine, a baling bucket and a small single-cylinder horizontal engine manufactured by the Stuart & McKenzie foundry of Croydon.
The battery site, situated on two earth benches leading to a flat immediately below the mine, includes the concrete foundations of a five head stamper frame and broken iron legs of the frame. A small inscription on the concrete foundations reads "AOP 18/5/13". A single-cylinder horizontal steam engine is located alongside the battery. A two-cylinder portable engine with all four wheels intact stands below the battery. The engine's flywheel lies alongside.
A tailings dump, dwelling sites, and machinery scatters extend southward from the base of the hill approximately 150 m, on flat ground.
On the flat below the battery site is situated a kiln constructed from a ship's tank and lined with ant bed bricks. An extensive area of cyanided sands is situated to the southwest of the kiln. The presence of the kiln and its position downhill from the battery site and in close proximity to the tailings sands indicates it was probably used to melt down the gold precipitate from the cyanide plant to produce gold bullion bars. It is unusual for such a feature to survive on cyanide plants.
The stone fireplace and chimney of a hut is located about 90m northwest of the remains of the stamper. Additionally, 100m south of the stamper, there is evidence of a row of at least 3 dwelling sites extending westward. These sites typically consist of stone arrangements, glass and artefact scatters, corrugated iron sheeting and remains of corrugated iron tanks.
Plant:
· One-cylinder horizontal steam engine - Stuart & McKenzie Makers Croydon.
· Two-cylinder portable steam engine - Robey & Co Engineers Lincoln.
· Two-drum winding winch - no brand.
· One-cylinder horizontal steam engine with flywheel - Clark & Faucet Engineers Queen St Brisbane.
· Two-cylinder portable steam engine (with 4 wheels) - no brand.
","history":"The Richmond Mine, near Croydon, was worked for about three decades, producing gold from 1886 until c1916. After 1914 the battery at the Richmond Mine crushed tin ore from mines on the Stanhill tinfield.
Croydon is situated in the heart of the Gulf Savannah, 562km west of Cairns, approximately 176km west of Georgetown and 144km south east of the port of Normanton on the Gulf of Carpentaria. Europeans first explored this area in the 1860s: McKinley searched for lost explorers Burke and Wills in 1862 and JG McDonald explored a route from Carpentaria Downs to the Gulf in 1864. Pastoralists followed these early explorers, bringing sheep in 1865, but by 1867 many had retreated because of fever, drought, low wool prices and distance from the markets. An overland telegraph line was constructed from Cardwell to Normanton between 1869 and 1872. This passed through the Croydon district and later became a lifeline for the northern mining fields.
Gold was first discovered on Croydon Downs Station, which had been taken up by W. Brown in 1881. In the latter part of 1883, two of his employees found quartz carrying gold. However it was not until 1885 that Richard and Walter Alldridge, acting under instructions from WC Brown, prospected the area and discovered 20 payable reefs. The finds were reported in October 1885, and the Croydon area was proclaimed a goldfield on 18 January 1886, thus coming under the administration of the Department of Public Works and Mines.
Hundreds flocked to the area. By 1887 the population of the district had peaked at 7000, and in 1897 it still had the third highest population in north Queensland after Charters Towers and Townsville. From 1890 to 1910, gold output from the Croydon reefs was second only to Charters Towers. Total production from inception until 1947 was 772, 374 ounces. By 1909 however, production began to decline and by 1914, the population at the turn of the century had halved. Inflation during World War One meant that the fixed value of gold could not keep up with increased costs and the field was reduced to a "poor man's field".
Residents on the Croydon Goldfield faced many hardships including inadequate supplies of water; pasture grasses and timber for fuel and construction purposes. Isolation was also a major problem until the Croydon to Normanton railway was completed in 1891. The area was subject to droughts and floods, and even a cyclone in 1906. During the 'crash' of 1893, when most banks closed doors and gold buying ceased, many miners were thrown out of work. Despite all these difficulties, the 1890s were productive years for Croydon, as the value of gold increases during a depression. Pugh's Almanac of 1900 listed 3 banks, 6 blacksmiths, 5 bakers, 6 commission agents, 4 newsagents, 6 carriers, 2 chemists, 6 drapers11 share brokers, 18 hotels and 4 watchmakers, among many other assorted businesses. Other townships were established at Golden Gate, Tabletop, Gorge Creek, Golden Valley, Goldstone, Carron, Twelve Miles, Mulligan's, Flannigan's, Morning Light, Moonstone and Alluvial Springs.
The Richmond reef, which outcrops on a hill capped with desert sandstone, strikes nearly north and south and underlies to the east at 35 degrees. Though small (8 to 10cm) and patchy, it contained extremely rich specimens.
The mine was worked from at least four claims and had underlie shafts at least 118m long. Between 1886 and 1907, a total of 6,615 tons of ore returned 21,324 ounces of gold. In the 1890s the Richmond PC was considered one of the best mines on the field. Curiously for a mine owned by syndicates, it was worked mainly by tributers (miners leasing part or all of the mine) in this period. It appears that the mine shut down after 1907 because the winding machinery and vertical boiler needed repairs that the miners could not afford.
Further work carried out between 1912 and 1916 under the name Richmond Amalgamated saw the production of 883 tons of ore yielding 3,696 ounces of gold. This appears to have been the last major production period. The present battery was erected in 1913, with the assistance of a Government loan under the Mining Machinery Advances Act of 1906. The stamps and shed came from the Highland Mary mine in Croydon and the mill engine from the yard of the local foundry, Stuart and McKenzies". The year 1913 is inscribed on the concrete footings. The battery also crushed for the public, including nearby tin mines, for which it installed Wilfley concentrating tables. By 1915 the mine's engine house featured a forge and a portable engine driving the winding engine, which was used to bail water by tank as well as raise ore. The mill shed housed a 5 stamp battery with a self feeder, engine, amalgamating table, berdan pan, two Wilfley tables, and a pump bringing in water from a dam at the rear. The boiler for the pump and engine was large and situated beside the mill shed. The mill in that year gained some notoriety when Albert Chambers was caught up in the drive belt for the Wilfley table and killed.
In 1921 the Richmond battery crushed 58 tons of tin ore from mines on the Stanhill tinfield. It is not known for how long the battery continued to operate.
","criteria":"The Richmond Mine and Battery is significant in Queensland's history as demonstrating the life cycle of a well preserved small mine in an isolated area. The battery and winding machinery show a pattern typical of small mines with intermittent production and using second hand plant. The four steam engines on site illustrate a range of manufacturers from Croydon (local manufacture), Brisbane and the United Kingdom. It is illustrative particularly of mines with small reefs with rich patches of ore, which were worked consistently on a small scale.
|The survival of the two-cylinder portable engine with wheels is uncommon in the context of early mining sites. The locally manufactured Stuart & McKenzie engine may be the only extant example of this model. The kiln or oven for melting cyanide residues is rare.
|The remains of the dwelling sites have the potential to provide valuable information contributing to an understanding of Queensland's history. Analysis of the spatial positioning of dwelling sites in relation to the processing plant and workings of the mine, and to each other, would provide new information about life and social hierarchy at isolated mines on north Queensland goldfields in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Analysis of the physical remains and associated artefacts of the dwellings would aid in our understanding of ethnicity, diet, status, and social class of people living and working on Queensland goldfields.
|The combination of shafts, extent of mullock, plant, tailings as well as stone fireplace and house site evidence contributes to the significance of the place. The spatial layout of these components, for example the shafts and mullock on the hill (and winding gear for the underlie), the plant and stamper below, and the kiln and tailing sands further below the stamper, demonstrate the typical layout of a small but complete mining and milling site in Queensland.
|The place possesses an aesthetic significance engendered by an evocative quality in the siting of remnant mining objects, machinery and workings within a sparse, arid and isolated environment.
","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":16815,"place_ref":602079,"name":"Chinese Temple and Settlement Site","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Off Gulf Development Road","suburb":"CROYDON","lga":"CROYDON SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2000-07-28","description":"The Chinese Temple and settlement site is located north west of the township of Croydon. The site is situated between The Gulf Development Road and the low hills to the north of the site.
Artefacts are spread over a considerable area although the physical remains of structures are located in the town block bounded by Charles, Kelman, Nicholas and Edward Streets.
The Temple:
The description of the Croydon site and use of the remnant structures has been based on the extant Hou Wang Temple, Atherton.
The remnants of the temple are the main feature within the town block. The concrete temple foundations comprise a main building with overall dimensions of 22 metres by 6 metres. The temple is orientated NE-SW with the main entrance facing SW. The building comprised:
a 4 metre by 6 metre front section, possibly with a suspended roof;
a 1.7 metre deep, covered porch;
an internal concrete floor 6 metres wide and 10.75 metres long;
a rear section, probably on low timber stumps, 6 metres wide and 7 metres long.
A large spread of granite chips extends 4 metres from the entrance. Four postholes at the SW extremity of the granite indicate that the porch may have extended beyond the main building. Poles probably supported a suspended roof over a raised timber deck.
A 2.5 metre square sunken section is located at the rear of the large concrete slab. It was probably the section known as the 'sunken courtyard or 'heavenly well'. It was a central offertory area within the temple where incense sticks might be burned.
Six sandstone bases remain in their appropriate location. Two others were removed from the site and are now located at a private residence in Croydon. The bases have been carved to broadly represent the form of the lotus flower. The use of carved sandstone seems to indicate that someone in the community was competent in the art of stone masonry. Rare sandstone burial markers on a number of the Chinese graves in local cemeteries seem to support this theory.
Adjacent Structures:
Caretaker's House and Meeting Hall:
There are traces of a second building 2.5 metres south of the temple. There is evidence of several postholes and remnant walls of corrugated iron embedded in the ground. Preliminary investigation indicates that this structure had an earthen floor. In the narrow passage between this building and the temple there is a mound of earth, which probably supported a tank stand.
The 'Pig Oven' or Outdoor Oven:
Twenty six metres to the south east of the temple foundations are the remains of a stone or 'pig' oven. The oven, built of local stone, was held together with a mixture of mud and broken termite mounds, to form a wall 600mm thick. It was 2.2 metres in diameter and stood well above the present 1.2 metre height. The upper section has collapsed. The collapsed stone now radiates out to approximately 1. to 1.2 metres from the base of the structure. To date no other Chinese ovens have been located in north Queensland although a number have been identified in the Northern Territory.
Other Structures:
Traces of a small structure are located to the nor north west of the 'Pig' Oven. Evidence of a remnant corrugated iron wall indicates that this is a similar structure to the Caretaker's House near the temple.
To the south east of the temple, straddling Charles Street, is a collection of foundations of several houses. Small rooms, passage ways and entrances are outlined by stone. Remnants of a second, small outdoor oven are located between two of these buildings.
Dump:
A modern dump is located to the south west of the Temple outside the boundary of the town block containing remnant buildings. It holds a considerable amount of material from across the site including old bikes, matchboxes, broken crockery, household pots and pans, and corrugated iron.
Artefact Scatters:
While most larger pieces of material have been collected into the dump the site is still covered with a vast quantity of material. Matchboxes, pot and pans, broken pottery shards, and corrugated iron. Pieces of sheet metal, cut in decorative patterns, which may have been fixed to the roof ridge of the temple, are scattered round close to the temple.
","history":"Chinese settlers moved into the Croydon area soon after the gold discovery was reported in 1885. From the earliest days of settlement they played a significant role in the viability of the isolated field by supplying fresh vegetables and fruit. They also supported the work of the miners as cooks, carriers and by working on tribute.
Gold was discovered on Croydon Downs Station soon after it was established on Belmore Creek, north west Queensland in the early 1880s. However, it was not until 1885 that the manager William Chalmer Browne and station hands Walter and James Aldridge located twenty payable lines of gold reef. A rush began to the area when the discovery was reported in October.
On 18 January 1886 Croydon was proclaimed a goldfield under the administration of the Queensland Mines Department. The town was surveyed the same year. By the end of 1887 Mining Warden L.E.D. Towner reported that the town had been transformed from a rough mining camp to a flourishing and well built centre with a population of approximately 3500 of whom 300 were Chinese, Cingalese, Malays and African. These figures are surprising given that under the Queensland Goldfields Amendment Act of 1878 Chinese were excluded from a gold field for three years unless they had made the discovery.
Despite these legislative restrictions Chinese settlers moved into the area soon after gold was found. It has been suggested that their involvement was primarily "... as gardeners, cooks, and carriers. No Chinese held claims at Croydon, although some worked on tribute for other miners. The majority however, worked as market gardeners on 172 acres surveyed in the town plan as garden areas. The Chinese were the chief providers of fresh fruit and vegetables on the goldfields usually growing fruit such as custard apples, mandarins, watermelons and lemons.
The Chinese settlement at Croydon developed on the north west fringe of the town. This was a similar pattern to other mining towns in north Queensland. The community constructed a temple, houses and associated facilities such as pig ovens, with the temple as the central focus of the settlement.
Temples were not simply places of religious worship, rather, they were an integral part of the village. They were places to meet, to check one's horoscope before embarking on a new venture and places where ancestors were venerated. In China each rural village may have had several temples. Each temple was primarily dedicated to a single deity. Emigrant Chinese in Australia generally adopted the practice of only one temple unless there were socially disparate clans within the same town. Temples in Australia had a single deity in a central role, supplemented by several other deities. They were not necessarily 'lesser gods' but, in the temple were given a supplementary status to the major deity.
Given the temple's role as the central focus of daily life, the community would worship at any time. Major gatherings were reserved for festival days when the community gathered to worship, feast and to hold processions.
Apart from being places of worship and community activity temples of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century provided an important social welfare role. This role was based on the Confucian principle of Universalism, which stated that:
\tWhen the great principle of Universalism prevails the world will become
\tthe common property of all; the people will elect men of virtue, talent and
\tcapability; they will act in good faith and fellowship ... Provision will be
\tmade for the aged till their death, employment given to the able-bodied,
\tand the means for self-development given to the young ... Perfect security
\twill prevail everywhere"
\t
The goldfield had a relatively short life but the size and form of the temple was far more substantial than would be expected in an itinerant community. The floor plan shows that the temple was slightly larger than the Atherton temple where the regional Chinese population exceeded 1000. According to a 1986 analysis of the Australian Chinese population after 1881, Sydney, with 3,500 and Melbourne, with 2,400 were the two key centres of population. Research showed that the total Chinese population in all other colonial capitals did not exceed 500 in each place. So Croydon, with an average of 300 people, probably had one of the largest Chinese populations in regional Australia.
Race relations on the Croydon goldfield have not been researched extensively. A "... minor 'roll up' against the Chinese occurred in September 1886 and in 1888 the Amalgamated Miners Association's demands that all Aliens leave the field initiated further conflict. While anti Chinese sentiment was demonstrated across north Queensland at that time, contemporary reports, newspaper articles and government documentation indicate that generally good commercial and social interactions prevailed between the Chinese and local communities on the goldfields. Evidence of the long term occupation of the Chinese settlement and temple site at Croydon, the graves of Chinese buried throughout Croydon cemeteries, and the continuing presence of descendants of the Chinese still living in Croydon seems to support this.
While the Croydon goldfield was initially highly lucrative the boom years were short lived. After a peak in gold production in 1900, mining declined during the next two decades. The first three years of the century were so dry that crushing was restricted and after 1905 output fell as water threatened operating mines. The town was damaged in a tropical cyclone in 1906 at a time when the community could ill afford the loss. Mining continued to decline until 1914 when the last Golden Gate mine closed. Crushing ceased in 1918.
Remaining evidence of Chinese occupation of the site would indicate that people utilised the temple site for a considerable period in the twentieth century. Several Croydon families are descended from the early Chinese settlers.
","criteria":"The Chinese Temple and Settlement site, Croydon demonstrates the extent of Chinese involvement in exploitation of natural resources in Australia in the nineteenth century especially their crucial contribution to the viability of isolated settlements associated with the goldfields.
With over three hundred people residing there at its height, the Chinese settlement at Croyden was, at that time, one of the largest Chinese communities in regional Australia. Although a typical goldfield community where race relations were sometimes volatile, surviving physical evidence of the settlement and contemporary documentation indicates the Chinese created a successful community at Croydon.
The Croyden settlement demonstrates the pattern of other Chinese settlements in north Queensland, including the location; on the fringe of the main town servicing a goldfield and the inclusion of a temple as the central focus of the settlement.
|Of particular significance are the two remnant 'pig' ovens, which are rare examples of ovens on a Chinese settlement site in Queensland.
|The remains of the settlement, including the foundation of the temple and associated buildings, several house foundations, extensive artefact scatters, and a dump of material gathered from the site have the potential to yield further information about the Chinese communities which flourished in Queensland in the nineteenth century. Of particular significance are the two remnant 'pig' ovens, which are rare examples of ovens on a Chinese settlement site in Queensland.
|The place has a special association with Chinese settlers in Australia and their descendants.
|The Chinese Temple and Settlement site, Croydon demonstrates the extent of Chinese involvement in exploitation of natural resources in Australia in the nineteenth century especially their crucial contribution to the viability of isolated settlements associated with the goldfields.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | 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 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":19495,"place_ref":602374,"name":"Old Croydon Cemetery","alternate_name":"Croydon Cemetery","street_address":"West of the railway station","suburb":"CROYDON","lga":"CROYDON SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2002-10-25","description":"Old Croydon Cemetery Cemetery Reserve R18, comprises of two hectares and is located to the west of the Croydon township.
Current access is via an unnamed, graded track near the eastern boundary. This road was constructed relatively recently for water supply access. It appears to run through the southeast corner of the cemetery reserve. This access is immediately adjacent to an area of about 4500 square metres, less than a quarter of the original surveyed area, which is now broadly considered as the 'Old Cemetery'. This section is maintained and mowed on an "as required" basis. The area is unfenced.
There are two headstones recording European burials, dated 1888 and 1889, and two markers recording Chinese burials. There are four other discernible graves with no identification.
The terrain is gently sloping with fine-grained sandy soil. Vegetation is predominantly natural with Eucalypts and other endemic trees scattered through the grounds. Tussocky native grasses provide a dense ground cover for much of the year. Native animal and bird life actively use this habitat.
","history":"The Old Croydon cemetery is one of at least 10 cemeteries which served the Croydon area after it was declared a goldfield in 1886. The cemetery was surveyed by John Sircom in 1886 and declared a cemetery reserve on 25 August 1888. It is no longer in use. The Croydon field was the last of the north Queensland gold rushes of the nineteenth century. After a peak in gold production in 1900, mining declined over the next two decades. There was a small revival during the 1930's Depression and again from 1988 to 1991. The present population of the district is approximately 300, and only the main Croydon cemetery is still in use.
Croydon is approximately 110 miles (176 kilometres) west of Georgetown and 90 miles (144 kilometres) south east of the port of Normanton on the Gulf of Carpentaria. This area was first explored by Europeans in the 1860s. Mackinley searched for lost explorers Burke and Wills in 1862. J.G. Macdonald explored a route from Carpentaria Downs to the Gulf in 1864. H.E. Young investigated routes for an overland telegraph line between Cardwell and Normanton, which was built between 1869 and 1872, and later became a lifeline for the northern mining fields. Pastoralists followed these early explorers, bringing sheep in 1865, but by 1867 many had retreated because of fever, drought, low wool prices and distance from markets
Gold was first discovered on Croydon Downs Station which had been taken up by W.C. Brown in 1881. In the latter part of 1883, two of his employees James and Walter Alldridge found a leader of quartz carrying gold. However it was not until 1885 that Richard and Walter Alldridge, acting under instructions from W.C. Brown, prospected the area and discovered twenty payable reefs. The finds were reported in October 1885, and the Croydon area was proclaimed a goldfield on 18 January 1886, thus coming under administration of the Mines Department. W.C. Brown and the Alldridge brothers shared a £1000 reward for the discovery, and the reward claim, Lady Mary, was taken up by 6 partners including W.C. Brown and Richard Alldridge.
By 1887, total population of the district had peaked at 7000, and by 1897 it still had the third highest population in north Queensland after Charters Towers and Townsville. From 1890 to 1910, gold output from the Croydon reefs were second only to Charters Towers. Total production from inception until 1947 was 772,374 ounces. By 1909 however, production began to decline and by 1914, the population at the turn of the century had halved. There was a small revival around Tabletop and Golden Gate between 1988 and 1991.
Residents at Croydon goldfields faced many hardships from inadequate supplies of water, pasture grasses and timber for fuel and construction purposes. Isolation was also a major problem until the Croydon to Normanton railway was completed in 1891. The area was subject to droughts and floods, and even a cyclone in 1906. Industrial action in 1888 resulted in the formation of a branch of the Amalgamated Miners' Association, and a strike occurred in 1889 when mining companies again tried to lower wages. Some mines close to Croydon township failed around 1890 when the ore was cut by a wall of granite. However rich discoveries at Golden Gate to the north west compensated a little for this. A financial setback occurred in the "crash" of 1893, when most banks closed doors and gold buying ceased, throwing many miners out of work.
As on many other Queensland goldfields, Croydon had a Chinese community which developed on the north west fringe of the town. The community constructed a temple, houses and other facilities such as pig ovens. By the end of 1888 Mining Warden L.E.D. Towner reported that Croydon had a population of approximately 3500 of whom 300 were Chinese, Cingalese, Malays and African. It appears that a shifting population of around 300 Asians was maintained. This figure is surprising given that the Queensland Goldfields Amendment Act of 1878 excluded Chinese people from new fields for three years unless they had made the discovery. However it appears that their involvement at Croydon was primarily as gardeners, carriers and cooks. There was some racial tension at times. A race riot occurred in 1886 when a Chinese residence was pulled down. Also, in May 1888, W.O. Hodgkinson, Minister for Mines, ejected all Chinese from the Croydon and Etheridge goldfields. However, they were soon allowed to return because their market gardens were essential to the well-being of the community.
Despite all difficulties, the 1890s were productive years for Croydon. Pugh's Almanac of 1900 listed 3 banks, 6 blacksmiths, 5 bakers, 6 commission agents, 4 newsagents, 6 carriers, 2 chemists, 6 drapers, 11 sharebrokers, 4 newsagents, 18 hotels and 4 watchmakers, among many other assorted businesses. Croydon became a municipality in 1892 under the control of the Croydon Divisional Board, and in 1907 administration passed to the Croydon Shire Council.
The fields developed with Croydon as the main administrative and commercial centre surrounded by 'satellite' communities established at outlying reefs. Members of the outlying communities would visit Croydon on Saturday nights to shop, conduct their business and socialise. There were townships at Golden Gate, Tabletop, Gorge Creek, Golden Valley, Goldstone, Carron, Twelve Mile, and campsites at Homeward Bound, Croydon King, Mark Twain, Lower Twelve Miles, Mulligan's, Flanagan's, Morning Light, Moonstone and Alluvial Springs. This resulted in the establishment of at least 10 cemeteries throughout the district.
Croydon township was first surveyed by John Sircom in 1886 after the district had been proclaimed a goldfield. The Old Croydon cemetery was also surveyed by John Sircom in 1886. It was declared a cemetery reserve on 25 August 1888 and identified as Lot 32 on C8186, Parish of Croydon, County of Surrey. At the time of survey, the cemetery already contained several graves. It apparently continued in use for several years until the main cemetery was surveyed and gazetted. According to the original survey plan, access was from a track extending from Samwell Street and running adjacent to the southern boundary of the reserve. This access is no longer used.
","criteria":"The Old Croydon Cemetery, in use since at least 1886, reflects the early development of the region. The cemetery is an important record of the cultural development of the area, showing the ethnicity, occupations and social status of the inhabitants of early Croydon since settlement.
|The cemetery has the potential to yield information in regards to the early history of the inhabitants of Croydon, their ethnic, social and religious backgrounds and standing within the community.
|The cemetery is significant for its high spiritual and symbolic value to the community because of the burials that took place there and the evidence of hardship experienced by the first inhabitants of Croydon.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C | Criterion G","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 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":19496,"place_ref":602375,"name":"Station Creek Cemetery","alternate_name":"Golden Gate Cemetery","street_address":"Normanton Road","suburb":"CROYDON","lga":"CROYDON SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2002-10-25","description":"Station Creek cemetery covers 1 hectare of land, five kilometres north west of Croydon on the north east side of the Normanton Road, and two-three kilometres south east of the Golden Gate town site. The site is just west of Belmore Creek.
There are two clearly marked graves, although evidence of a further 34 has been noted. One of the marked graves is that of a young girl, Charlotte Brown. This grave is marked by a metal railing with higher rails towards the head.
The cemetery is bounded by natural vegetation and a Department of Main Roads gravel stockpile on the eastern boundary. Access is from the Normanton Road about 100 metres west of the Belmore Creek bridge crossing.There is minor difficulty with access due to construction of the Belmore Creek bridge which has substantial side drains to the approaches. A roughly defined track crosses a drainage gully on the north side of the road. The track terminates near the corner of a post and wire fence which encloses the present cemetery boundary. The fence was recently constructed and may not reflect the original boundary. A single gate provides entry.
The terrain is gently sloping with fine grained, sandy soil. Vegetation is predominantly natural although introduced weed species have been noted. Eucalypts and other endemic tree species are scattered through the site. Tussocky native grasses provide a dense cover during most of the year. Native birds and animals utilise this habitat.
","history":"Station Creek cemetery is one of at least 10 cemeteries which served the Croydon area after it was declared a goldfield in 1886, although it is no longer in use.. It appears to have been gazetted as the Golden Gate cemetery in 1900 after a survey completed by Charles McGowan in 1899. It comprises 1 hectare of land, 2-3 kilometres south east of the Golden Gate town site, and east of the Croydon to Normanton railway line. However, this cemetery is commonly known as the Station Creek cemetery, while an earlier burial ground west of the Croydon to Normanton railway line, adjacent to the Golden Gate township, is commonly known as the Golden Gate cemetery. The Croydon goldfield was the last of the north Queensland gold rushes of the nineteenth century. After a peak in gold production in 1900, mining declined over the next two decades. There was a small revival during the 1930's Depression and again from 1988 to 1991 in the Tabletop and Golden Gate areas. The present population of the district is approximately 300, and only the main Croydon cemetery is still in use.
Croydon is situated approximately 110 miles (176 kilometres) west of Georgetown and 90 miles (144 kilometres) south east of the port of Normanton on the Gulf of Carpentaria. This area was first explored by Europeans in the 1860s. Mackinley searched for lost explorers Burke and Wills in 1862. J.G. Macdonald explored a route from Carpentaria Downs to the Gulf in 1864. H.E. Young investigated routes for an overland telegraph line between Cardwell and Normanton, which was built between 1869 and 1872, and later became a lifeline for the northern mining fields. Pastoralists followed these early explorers, bringing sheep in 1865, but by 1867 many had retreated because of fever, drought, low wool prices and distance from markets
Gold was first discovered on Croydon Downs Station which had been taken up by W.C. Brown in 1881. In the latter part of 1883, two of his employees James and Walter Alldridge found a leader of quartz carrying gold. However it was not until 1885 that Richard and Walter Alldridge, acting under instructions from W.C. Brown, prospected the area and discovered twenty payable reefs. The finds were reported in October 1885, and the Croydon area was proclaimed a goldfield on 18 January 1886, thus coming under administration of the Mines Department. W.C. Brown and the Alldridge brothers shared a £1000 reward for the discovery, and the reward claim, Lady Mary, was taken up by 6 partners including W.C. Brown and Richard Alldridge.
By 1887, total population of the district had peaked at 7000, and by 1897 it still had the third highest population in north Queensland after Charters Towers and Townsville. From 1890 to 1910, gold output from the Croydon reefs were second only to Charters Towers. Total production from inception until 1947 was 772,374 ounces. By 1909 however, production began to decline and by 1914, the population at the turn of the century had halved. There was a small revival around Tabletop and Golden Gate between 1988 and 1991.
Residents at Croydon goldfields faced many hardships from inadequate supplies of water, pasture grasses and timber for fuel and construction purposes. Isolation was also a major problem until the Croydon to Normanton railway was completed in 1891. The area was subject to droughts and floods, and even a cyclone in 1906. Industrial action in 1888 resulted in the formation of a branch of the Amalgamated Miners' Association, and a strike occurred in 1889 when mining companies again tried to lower wages. Some mines close to Croydon township failed around 1890 when the ore was cut by a wall of granite. However rich discoveries at Golden Gate to the north west compensated a little for this. A financial setback occurred in the "crash" of 1893, when most banks closed doors and gold buying ceased, throwing many miners out of work.
As on many other Queensland goldfields, Croydon had a Chinese community which developed on the north west fringe of the town. The community constructed a temple, houses and other facilities such as pig ovens. By the end of 1888 Mining Warden L.E.D. Towner reported that Croydon had a population of approximately 3500 of whom 300 were Chinese, Cingalese, Malays and African. It appears that a shifting population of around 300 Asians was maintained. This figure is surprising given that the Queensland Goldfields Amendment Act of 1878 excluded Chinese people from new fields for three years unless they had made the discovery. However it appears that their involvement at Croydon was primarily as gardeners, carriers and cooks. There was some racial tension at times. A race riot occurred in 1886 when a Chinese residence was pulled down. Also, in May 1888, W.O. Hodgkinson, Minister for Mines, ejected all Chinese from the Croydon and Etheridge goldfields. However, they were soon allowed to return because their market gardens were essential to the well-being of the community.
Despite all difficulties, the 1890s were productive years for Croydon. Pugh's Almanac of 1900 listed 3 banks, 6 blacksmiths, 5 bakers, 6 commission agents, 4 newsagents, 6 carriers, 2 chemists, 6 drapers, 11 sharebrokers, 4 newsagents, 18 hotels and 4 watchmakers, among many other assorted businesses. Croydon became a municipality in 1892 under the control of the Croydon Divisional Board, and in 1907 administration was under the Croydon Shire Council.
The fields developed with Croydon as the main administrative and commercial centre surrounded by 'satellite' communities established at outlying reefs. Members of the outlying communities would visit Croydon on Saturday nights to shop, conduct their business and socialise. There were townships at Golden Gate, Tabletop, Gorge Creek, Golden Valley, Goldstone, Carron, Twelve Mile, and campsites at Homeward Bound, Croydon King, Mark Twain, Lower Twelve Miles, Mulligan's, Flanagan's, Morning Light, Moonstone and Alluvial Springs. This resulted in the establishment of at least 10 cemeteries throughout the district.
The township of Golden Gate was surveyed in December 1892 by W.A. Irwin, although there were buildings constructed well before this. The survey was late in the history of the field considering that the first reward claim, Golden Gate PC, was taken up by Joseph Hardy and James Fulton on 12 April 1886. However, yields from the Golden Gate fields were meagre until 1891, when a rich ore chute was discovered in Roger's No. 1 mine. It went on to become the most productive field in the Croydon area. By 1900, Golden Gate had a population of 600, 11 hotels, 8 stores, 3 churches and 3 butchers. A school operated from 1896 to 1921, and a post office from 1891 to 1919. Production declined during the years leading up to World War 1, and the township virtually disappeared after the closure of Forsythe's Pioneer Mill in 1922.
Station Creek cemetery appears to have been originally gazetted as the Golden Gate cemetery in 1900, after a survey completed by Charles McGowan in 1899. Another and earlier burial ground commonly known as the 'Golden Gate Cemetery' lies west of the Croydon to Normanton railway line adjacent to the Golden Gate township. This earlier cemetery was never gazetted. It was possibly in use until gazettal of the later cemetery at Station Creek. Gordon Grimwade, who prepared a Conservation Plan for the Croydon cemeteries in January 2000, has recommended that this matter needs resolution by a 'location and ident' survey.
It is not known why a new cemetery was gazetted for the area in a different location. However the new site is midway between the Golden Gate group of mines and the Sunset group of mines, so it was possibly moved to facilitate common use by both of these communities.
Mines in the Golden Gate group included Golden Gate Nos 1 to 10, Golden Gate United, Golden Gate Consols, Tracey's Block, Morgan's Block, Rogers no. 1, and Plants Block, the deepest mine on the Croydon goldfields. Mines in the Sunset group included True Blue, Content, Blue Peter, Sunset and Lady Isabelle.
","criteria":"The Station Creek Cemetery, first surveyed in 1899, reflects the early development of the region. The cemetery is an important record of the cultural development of the area, showing the ethnicity, occupations and social status of the inhabitants of early Croydon since settlement.
|The cemetery has the potential to yield information in regards to the early history of the inhabitants of Croydon, their ethnic, social and religious backgrounds and standing within the community.
|The cemetery is significant for its high spiritual and symbolic value to the community because of the burials that took place there and the evidence of hardship experienced by the first inhabitants of Croydon.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion C | Criterion G","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 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":19497,"place_ref":602376,"name":"Croydon Cemetery","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Julia Creek Road","suburb":"CROYDON","lga":"CROYDON SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2002-10-25","description":"Croydon Cemetery, Reserve R16, comprises 4 hectares of land and is about 2 kilometres south of Croydon township. Access is via Julia Creek Road. A well maintained fence, with a single vehicle width gate and adjacent pedestrian gate, entirely encloses the cemetery.
The terrain is generally flat with fine grained sandy soils. The original survey plan noted sand with substratum of sandstone and drainage into Highland Mary Creek. The vegetation is predominantly natural, with Eucalypts and other endemic tree species scattered through the site. Native grasses provide a dense cover most of the year. Native birds and animals utilise this habitat.
There is extensive use of soldered sheet metal grave markers. These were often three dimensional and filled with ceramic floral displays protected by glass panels. This practice appears to be confined to this cemetery.
The graves with headstones represent only a small proportion of burials in the cemetery. The variety of material used in headstones is varied and ranges from polished granite to marble, sandstone, sheet metal, cast iron, concrete and tiles. The headstones show several stages of decay with sandstone weathering and marble deteriorating in the tropical heat.
The more elaborate headstones generally relate to Catholic burials with simpler headstones on the protestant graves. Some Chinese graves are marked with sandstone headstones and others with simple clay bricks. Many graves are surrounded with whatever materials were available including metal cots and iron railings.
","history":"The Main Croydon cemetery is one of at least 10 cemeteries which served the Croydon area after it was declared a goldfield in 1886. Cemetery Reserve R16 was surveyed in September 1888 by W.A. Irwin, gazetted in 1889, but was probably in use earlier than this. It was the second cemetery surveyed in close proximity to Croydon township, and is the only one in the district still currently used. The Croydon field was the last of the north Queensland gold rushes of the nineteenth century. After a peak in gold production in 1900, mining declined over the next two decades. There was a small revival during the 1930s depression and again from 1988 to 1991. The present population of the district is approximately 300.
Croydon is approximately 110 miles (176 kilometres) west of Georgetown and 90 miles (144 kilometres) south east of the port of Normanton on the Gulf of Carpentaria. Europeans first explored this area in the 1860s. McKinley searched for lost explorers Burke and Wills in 1862. J.G. Macdonald explored a route from Carpentaria Downs to the Gulf in 1864. H.E. Young investigated routes for an overland telegraph line between Cardwell and Normanton, which was built between 1869 and 1872, and later became a lifeline for the northern mining fields. Pastoralists followed these early explorers, bringing sheep in 1865, but by 1867 many had retreated because of fever, drought, low wool prices and distance from markets
Gold was first discovered on Croydon Downs Station which had been taken up by W.C. Brown in 1881. In the latter part of 1883, two of his employees James and Walter Alldridge found a leader of quartz carrying gold. However it was not until 1885 that Richard and Walter Alldridge, acting under instructions from W.C. Brown, prospected the area and discovered twenty payable reefs. The finds were reported in October 1885, and the Croydon area was proclaimed a goldfield on 18 January 1886, thus coming under administration of the Mines Department. W.C. Brown and the Alldridge brothers shared a £1000 reward for the discovery, and the reward claim, Lady Mary, was taken up by 6 partners including W.C. Brown and Richard Alldridge.
Hundreds of people flocked to the area. By 1887, total population of the district had peaked at 7000, and by 1897 it still had the third highest population in north Queensland after Charters Towers and Townsville. From 1890 to 1910, gold output from the Croydon reefs were second only to Charters Towers. Total production from inception until 1947 was 772,374 ounces. By 1909 however, production began to decline and by 1914, the population at the turn of the century had halved. There was a small revival during the 1930s Depression, and around Tabletop and Golden Gate between 1988 and 1991.
Residents on the Croydon goldfields faced many hardships from inadequate supplies of water; pasture grasses and timber for fuel and construction purposes. Isolation was also a major problem until the Croydon to Normanton railway was completed in 1891. The area was subject to droughts and floods, and even a cyclone in 1906. Industrial action in 1888 resulted in the formation of a branch of the Amalgamated Miners' Association, and a strike occurred in 1889 when mining companies again tried to lower wages. Some mines close to Croydon township failed around 1890 when the ore was cut by a wall of granite. However, rich discoveries at Golden Gate to the north west compensated a little for this. A financial setback occurred in the "crash" of 1893, when most banks closed doors and gold buying ceased, throwing many miners out of work.
As on many other Queensland goldfields, Croydon had a Chinese community which developed on the north west fringe of the town. The community constructed a temple, houses and other facilities such as pig ovens. By the end of 1888 Mining Warden L.E.D. Towner reported that Croydon had a population of approximately 3500 of whom 300 were Chinese, Cingalese, Malays and African. It appears that a shifting population of around 300 Asians was maintained. This figure is surprising given that the Queensland Goldfields Amendment Act of 1878 excluded Chinese people from new fields for three years unless they had made the discovery. However it appears that their involvement at Croydon was primarily as gardeners, carriers and cooks. There was some racial tension at times. A race riot occurred in 1886 when a Chinese residence was pulled down. Also, in May 1888, W.O. Hodgkinson, Minister for Mines, ejected all Chinese from the Croydon and Etheridge goldfields. However, they were soon allowed to return because their market gardens were essential to the well-being of the community.
Despite all difficulties, the 1890s were productive years for Croydon. Pugh's Almanac of 1900 listed 3 banks, 6 blacksmiths, 5 bakers, 6 commission agents, 4 newsagents, 6 carriers, 2 chemists, 6 drapers, 11 sharebrokers, 4 newsagents, 18 hotels and 4 watchmakers, among many other assorted businesses. Croydon became a municipality in 1892 under the control of the Croydon Divisional Board, and in 1907 administration passed to the Croydon Shire Council.
The fields developed with Croydon as the main administrative and commercial centre surrounded by 'satellite' communities established at outlying reefs. Members of the outlying communities would visit Croydon on Saturday nights to shop, conduct their business and socialise. There were townships at Golden Gate, Tabletop, Gorge Creek, Golden Valley, Goldstone, Carron, Twelve Mile, and campsites at Homeward Bound, Croydon King, Mark Twain, Lower Twelve Miles, Mulligan's, Flanagan's, Morning Light, Moonstone and Alluvial Springs. This resulted in the establishment of at least 10 cemeteries throughout the district.
John Sircom first surveyed Croydon township in 1886 after the district had been proclaimed a goldfield. The main Croydon cemetery, Reserve R16, was surveyed in September 1888 by W.A. Irwin, gazetted in 1889, but was probably in use earlier than this. It was the second cemetery surveyed in close proximity to Croydon township, and is still currently used. Croydon Shire Council's Burial Register appears to refer only to this cemetery. The first documented burial in this register is that of F.W. Kennedy on 5 January 1889. The first marked grave after gazettal was probably for William Pascoe who died on 19 July 1889.
Seventy-four Chinese burials were registered in Croydon between 1889 and 1951, although there are possibly around 130 graves. On at least four occasions exhumations occurred. Two bodies were exhumed in 1907, one in 1909, nine in 1913 and one in 1915. These exhumations reflect the spiritual importance for the Chinese to return permanently to their ancestral homeland, but given this, the number of exhumations seems small.
The cemetery reveals a fairly high death rate in Croydon, especially among the young. Their iron bedsteads mark some children's graves. Miner's phthisis was also a common cause of death. Some headstones record that friends erected them, and this reflects the isolation of many from their families, and the poverty of some on the fields. A small number of headstones are surprisingly impressive and are representative of the wealth of the goldfield.
As with many other north Queensland cemeteries Melrose and Fenwick produced the majority of the headstones. This firm started their Townsville operation about 1896-97, subsequently extending to Cairns (1908) and in 1915 to Charters Towers and Mackay.
Other stonemasons represented in the cemetery include J Petrie, Brisbane; J H Simmons, Brisbane; and E Greenway of Ipswich.
John Petrie was the son of Andrew Petrie, Forman for Public Works for the fledgling Colony of Morton Bay, who is recognised for his contribution to the development of the early architecture of Brisbane. John, who assumed responsibility for his father's business in 1848, expanded the stonemasonry company to Charters Towers and Townsville in 1889.
J H Simmons is known to have worked from a Brisbane base from about 1883 to at least 1910. Simmons supplied headstones throughout Queensland and is regarded as one of the most productive stonemasons of his time.
Ipswich stonemason Ernest Greenway was a descendent of early Colonial architect Francis Greenway who designed many of the public buildings in New South Wales during Macquarie's time as Governor of the Colony. Ernest Greenway learnt his trade in England and migrated to Queensland in 1882. He established a stonemasonry business in Nicholas Street Ipswich. He later moved to Grey Street and finally to Limestone Street in 1891. His business functioned from the Limestone Street site until 1934.
","criteria":"The Croydon Cemetery, in use from the late 1880's, reflects the development of the region from that period to the present day. The cemetery is an important record of the cultural development of the area, showing the ethnicity, social attitudes to death, availability of materials, occupations and social status of the inhabitants of the Croydon Shire since settlement.
|Given the nineteenth century Chinese practice of exhumation and transfer of remains back to their homeland it is rare that there are intact Chinese burials in cemeteries on Queensland mining fields. Therefore the surviving sandstone and small brick headstones at Croydon that denote intact burial sites are significant for their rarity. The uniqueness of the cemetery is further enhanced by the use of three dimensional 'vases' as grave markers in the absence of headstones.
|The cemetery has the potential to yield information in regards to the early history of the inhabitants of the Croydon goldfields, their ethnic, social and religious backgrounds and standing within the community. The economic and social history of the district can be read through the inscriptions and type of material used in headstones. Nationality, health, social status, lodge affiliation, occupation, religion and cause of death are often included in the inscriptions. Family relationships can be noted and the high infant mortality and death in childbirth are often recorded. The large number of single graves is illustrative of the hardship and isolation of pioneering life in north west Queensland.
|The work of a number of significant Queensland monumental firms is evident in this cemetery including that of Melrose and Fenwick of Townsville, Ernest Greenway of Ipswich and that of J Petrie and JH Simmons of Brisbane.
|The cemetery is significant for its high spiritual and symbolic value to the community because of its continuity of use as a burial place for the region for one hundred and ten odd years. The regard for the cemetery is evidenced by the Croydon Shire Council's funding of a conservation plan and ongoing maintenance of the cemetery.
","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":30728,"place_ref":645605,"name":"Golden Gate Mining and Town Complex","alternate_name":"Golden Gate Mine | Croydon Consols Battery and Cyanide Plant | Golden Gate Cemetery | Golden Gate No.10 North Mine | Croydon Consols Pump Shaft | Golden Gate Township | 700005","street_address":"Normanton (Gulf Development) Road","suburb":"CROYDON","lga":"CROYDON SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2009-08-14","description":"The Golden Gate Mining and Town Complex is located approximately 8km northwest of Croydon, adjacent to the heritage-listed Normanton-Croydon railway line (QHR 600396) and the Gulf Developmental Road. The site includes remnants of the Rogers' No. 1 Mine, No. 3 and 4 South Golden Gate Mine and Mill, Morgan's Shaft, Golden Gate Consols Mine, Croydon Consols Battery and Cyanide Plant, Croydon Consols Pump Shaft, Golden Gate No.10 North Mine, Golden Gate Township, and Golden Gate Cemetery.
\nRogers' No. 1 Golden Gate Mine
\nThe mine is located in the vicinity of the Gulf Developmental Road approximately 500m to the south of the Golden Gate Consols Mine. A brick flue, Cornish boiler and winding engine foundations were recorded as remaining on site in 1992 (Kerr 1992).
\nNo. 3 and 4 South Golden Gate Mine and Mill, and Morgan's Shaft
\nLocated towards the south end of the complex, this site retains a boiler, engine remains, boiler and mill foundations, winding engine, tanks, shaft and mullock heaps (Kerr 1992).
\nGolden Gate Consols Mine
\nThis mine is located about 200m north of the Gulf Developmental Road, on the east side of Golden Gate Creek, and over 500m southwest of the Croydon Consols Battery and Cyanide Plant. The place comprises a shaft, mullock dump, retaining walls, winding plant, boilers, chimney base and ship's tanks (JLA and Pearce 1996:171-2).
\nCroydon Consols Battery and Cyanide Plant
\nThe main component groups are a battery site and a cyanide plant. The battery site includes boilers, concrete and stone mounts and foundations, and steam engines. An earth formation for a tramway runs southward from the battery, past an earth reservoir site, to two small tailings dumps (JLA and Pearce 1996:177-8). The cyanide plant is centred 150m south of the battery, with a recent tailings dump extending some distance to its west and covering the site of most of the former Golden Gate Township. Sections of a chain of tailings buckets (not in situ) are located at the battery end of the cyanide plant. The surviving remnants include tailings bucket chains, a boiler, an engine, timber stump foundations and concrete ponds (JLA and Pearce 1996:178).
\nCroydon Consols Pump Shaft
\nThe Croydon Consuls Pump Shaft is located about 150m north-west of the Croydon Consols cyanide plant, between the western end of the tailings dump and the eastern bank of Golden Gate Creek. The place contains a high mullock dump, which extends on the west to the bank of the creek. The site includes remains of a shaft, pump arm, concrete and log mounts, engine parts, a winding unit and a boiler (JLA and Pearce 1996:181).
\nGolden Gate No. 10 North Mine
\nThis mine is located on the western bank of Golden Gate Creek about 150m north of the Croydon Consols pump shaft and about 200m west of the Croydon Consols battery site. The remains include the mine shaft, steam engines, winding unit and boilers (JLA and Pearce 1996:174-5).
\nGolden Gate Township
\nThe centre of the township is on the northern side of the railway. Parts of this are now destroyed by the Gulf Developmental Road and farm tracks. The central tailings dump associated with the mines along the Golden Gate reef, also now covers much of the former Golden Gate Township. Evidence of township habitation is located at the southern end of the Golden Gate Consols mine site. No extant structures survive but the remains of dwellings are found throughout the re-growth savannah woodland. These include earth floors, some stone footings, vertical sections of corrugated iron walls (possibly 'rat walls') set into the ground, and associated scatters of broken bottle glass, bricks, stove remains, sheet iron, tins and domestic ceramics. There are also some minor surface workings in and around the township site. There are further signs of habitation on the southern side of railway, connecting with the Golden Gate Cemetery.
\nGolden Gate Cemetery
\nThe Golden Gate Cemetery is located to the southwest of the railway and the former Golden Gate township, approximately 230m west of the Gulf Developmental Road. There are believed to be 19 graves in the cemetery (Grimwade and Ginn 2000:20). Only two graves have iron railings and two have sandstone surrounds. One of the graves with a metal railing has been subject to an exhumation. A further eight possible graves have been identified from soil disturbance and concentration of rocks.
\nOther Domestic Remains
\nArchaeological evidence of domestic habitation occurs outside the township area. Examples occur at the southern end of the listing boundary on the west side of the railway line where there is a large scatter of domestic artefacts including glass bottles, bricks, ceramics and metal items. There is also some structural evidence consisting of stone and concrete which may be steps.
","history":"The Golden Gate reef on the Croydon Goldfield, northwest of the town of Croydon, was first worked in 1886 but abandoned in 1887. Work recommenced in 1891 with production continuing until a decline in 1915. The Golden Gate proved to be the most productive reef on the field, attracting commercial interest and capital in mines such as Golden Gate No.1, Croydon Consols (which distributed £20,000 in dividends in 1896), No. 7 North, Nos. 3 and 4 South (which distributed over £72,000 in dividends in 1900), and No. 5 South (Wegner 1995:75). The township was surveyed in 1893, although buildings were established before this. The population of the township declined until it was deserted in 1922.
Croydon Goldfield
The earliest gold finds in the Croydon district were made by pastoralist William Brown and two of his station hands, who discovered a reef in mid-1883 (Wegner 1995:52). Additional finds soon followed, mostly around the developing township of Croydon. On 18 January 1886 the area was declared the Croydon Goldfield and by the end of the year the population had grown to approximately 2,000. During 1887 the field boomed, the population trebling to around 6,000. At this period, gold yields from the Croydon field were second only to those recorded from Charters Towers.
Some mines close to Croydon township failed around 1890 when the ore was found to be cut by a wall of granite. However, rich discoveries in 1891 at the Golden Gate reef to the northwest compensated for this (Wegner 1995:73). The 1890s proved to be the most productive years for the Croydon Goldfield, despite increasing competition from emerging mining enterprises in South Africa and Western Australia. Most mining companies on the field were local concerns and Croydon brokers established a local stock exchange in 1892. The bank crash of 1893 was a setback for local capital and economic activity on the field waned temporarily (Wegner 1995:74).
The township of Croydon, which emerged as the social, administrative and commercial centre of the field, was declared a municipality in 1892, under the control of the Croydon Divisional Board. In 1907, administration passed to the Croydon Shire Council. From the mid-1880s satellite communities were established at many of the outlying reefs, with townships being formed at Golden Gate, Tabletop, Gorge Creek, Golden Valley, Goldstone, Carron and Twelve Mile, and campsites at Homeward Bound, Croydon King, Mark Twain, Lower Twelve Mile, Mulligan's, Flanagan's, Morning Light, Moonstone and Alluvial Springs.
Golden Gate reef
The first claim on the reef, the Golden Gate PC, was taken up by Joseph Hardy and James Fulton in April 1886. However, yields from the Golden Gate claims were meagre until 1891, when a rich ore chute was discovered in Rogers' No. 1 Golden Gate mine. The large, well defined, north/northwest bearing Golden Gate reef contained gold-bearing quartz with abundant sulphides and was mined over a total length of 2.5km. Records suggest that payable ore was limited to a vertical depth of approximately 90m. Its most productive years, between 1886 and 1911, showed a yield of 483,000 ounces of gold from 244,364 tons of ore. This production totalled more than one-third of the entire Croydon yield.
Important reefs in the area included the Golden Gate, Nancy Lee, Banner of Freedom and Winning Post. Mines in the area included Golden Gate Nos. 5, 7 and 10, Golden Gate United, Golden Gate Consols, Tracey's Block, Morgan's Block, Roger's No.1 and Plant's Block.
In 1900 the Golden Gate was still producing prodigious amounts of gold, but despite this, the profitability of the Croydon Goldfield was in decline. Despite extensive efforts to secure new payable lodes, it was the lack of success of deep exploration that spelled the end of mining at Croydon. Gold production declined during the years leading up to World War I and by 1915 most mining activities had ceased.
Rogers' No. 1 Golden Gate
Rogers' No. 1 Golden Gate mine was one of the three major mines on this line along with the Golden Gate Consols and Golden Gate Nos. 3 and 4 South. James Rogers, an Irishman who came to Croydon in 1889 from Charters Towers owned and developed several mines on the Golden Gate reef and was also mayor of Croydon. The largest shareholder on the Golden Gate, Rogers obtained a government subsidy for deep sinking in 1894, which paid off with a rich find at 120 feet in 1896, with 3,800 ounces of gold obtained. The reef had been traced to a width of ten feet in 1897 and produced 12,560 ounces of gold that year from 8,393 tons of quartz. This provided an excellent advertisement for selling the Golden Gate No. 1 on the English market. An English company completed the purchase and Rogers received one fifth of the shares. The company intended to spend £25,000 on machinery and development and on changeover in 1899 they immediately proceeded with a further deep sinking project (Kerr 1992).
Further development work was required to enable the mine to be worked systematically and the Rogers' Golden Gate produced 3,295 tons of quartz yielding 3,947 ounces of gold in 1900. The mine was worked with two stem engines of eight and ten horsepower, two sets of double winding gear, one steam pump, and one whip, valued at £850. In 1902 additional plant was erected including three steam engines with a total of 51 horsepower, one single and two sets of double winding gear. The straight shaft was done to 510 feet and the underlie of the extended shaft down to 531 feet. The mine kept 15 head of stamps at the Golden Gate mill constantly employed. The mine was partly tributed in 1904 with the tributers doing well. In 1906 Rogers' Golden Gate was the Golden Gate line's largest producer - 2,000 tons for 10,527 ounces by the tributers (Kerr 1992).
No. 3 and 4 South Golden Gate Mine and Mill Site
This mine was one of the most successful on the field and went to a depth of approximately 400 feet. In the two years after its establishment in 1898 they produced 9,673 tons of quartz for a yield of 36,296 ounces of gold valued at £96,927. The mine was known as Cashman's and the private syndicate of owners was preparing in 1900 to work the mine towards the Golden Gate United reef end on an extensive scale. The ore from the mine was crushed at the Enterprise mill and in March 1900 James Davis had purchased the whole of the tailings of Golden Gate No. 3 and 4 South to be cyanided at the new Station Creek cyanide treatment works. F.W. Cuthbert, a well known Croydon mining agent, purchased the No. 3 and 4 Golden Gate South and profited handsomely in 1902 (Kerr 1992).
The mine produced a total of 31,960 tons of quartz yielding 91,917 ounces of gold bullion valued at £238,984, the largest of any of the Golden Gate mines. Gold production quickly dwindled at the mine after 1905, down to 292 ounces in 1908 (Kerr 1992).
Golden Gate Consols Mine
This mine was known initially as Golden Gate No.8 North and is located at the western end of the Golden Gate complex, between Rogers Gully and Golden Gate Creek. A 4 feet 6 inch (1.3m) reef, located at 86 feet (26m) in 1893, produced 363 ounces of gold that year.
In 1894 the mine was sold to an English company, Croydon Consols Limited (nominal capital of £100,000 in 400,000 shares), for £16,000, to be paid in instalments. The new company managed the mine well, straightening and timbering the shaft, erecting a headframe and introducing steel buckets in place of greenhide. In 1896 the main shaft was sunk to 380 feet (116m), making Golden Gate Consols the deepest mine on the field. In that year the mine produced 22,815 ounces of gold, which enabled the company to declare a dividend of £28,000 - in excess of profits obtained from any mine on the Croydon goldfield to that date. The following year the company undertook further sinking and produced 11,390 ounces of gold from 2,871 tons of quartz (Kerr 1992).
In September 1900 a rich leader was discovered, which sent shares up to a shilling (Kerr 1992). A new underlie shaft sunk in 1900 was equipped with winding plant (engine and boiler) made locally by Messrs Stuart and McKenzie of the Union Foundry, Croydon (QGMJ 1903). During the next decade this mine was one of the leading producers on the Croydon Goldfield, yielding 81,629 ounces from 32,877 tons of stone (an average of 2.48 ounces per ton) or 19% of the total gold produced from Croydon field quartz crushing in the period (Kerr 1992).
Croydon Consols Battery and Cyanide Plant
Ore from the Golden Gate line of reefs was crushed initially at the Enterprise battery on Station (now Belmore) Creek. Owned by the Golden Gate Milling Company, the Croydon Consols battery (also known as Richardson's mill) comprised one 18 horsepower steam engine, 15 stamps weight nine hundredweight, six Berdan or Wheeler pans, and one pump and was valued at £3,000 in 1900. The mill was effectively double in size the next year with one 32 horsepower steam engine, 30 stamps weighing ten hundredweight, 12 Berdan and Wheeler pans, three Whifley concentrators, and four pumps valued at £6,000. The following year another steam engine was obtained and a dam was constructed brining the value to £7,000. The mill's production declined rapidly after 1906, however it was still employing 16 hands in 1913 and had five or six others employed obtaining lime from Sweers Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria (Kerr 1992).
Cyanidation of tailings commenced on the Croydon Goldfield in 1894 (Hooper 1993:163). The Croydon Consols cyaniding plant operated between 1897 and 1904, during which period 9,500 tons of tailings were treated for a yield of 7,000 ounces of gold bullion. In 1897 the plant comprised one 12hp steam engine, ten vats each of 50 tons each, two sumps each of 50 tons, two solution vats each of 50 tons, four recovery boxes and six pumps, the whole valued at £3,000. It was reduced in 1901 to a 6hp steam engine, four 40 ton vats, two sumps each 3,960 gallons, one solution vat of 4,000 gallons capacity, two recovery boxes and a pump, valued at £1,500 (Kerr 1992).
Croydon Consols Pump Shaft
Continued exploitation of the Croydon reefs required deep exploration, which proved difficult: as the mines became deeper and were interconnected for ventilation or prospecting, water in one would mean water problems in all (Wegner 1995:75). This difficulty was partially solved in 1898 by the construction of a large pump at the Croydon Consol mine.
Following a huge and costly inundation of the Golden Gate Consols mine in 1898, then the deepest mine on the field, the owners let a contract for £3,000 to Walkers Limited of Maryborough for pumping equipment. The plant was installed by Emslie Limited of Croydon in the first six weeks of 1899 and commenced operation in February that year. In 1901 the plant incorporated both single and double winding gear, three steam engines of 54hp, six pumps, an air compressor and a rock drill, valued at £7,000. It was by far the most valuable pumping equipment on the goldfield and technically the most up-to-date. The pump also delivered water to the Golden Gate Milling Company mill in 1900. The pumping equipment remained in use until the closure of the mine in 1911 (Kerr 1992).
Golden Gate No.10 North Mine
It is not known when the Golden Gate No.10 mine on the northern edge of the Golden Gate reef commenced operations, but it is marked on Rands' 1896 map. At the northern end of the line of reef, at varying distances from Golden Gate Creek, a number of prospecting shafts were sunk to try and find a continuation of the reef, which had proved so productive further south. No.10 North was at the northern end of the field and here the reef became well defined, although there was a convergence of faults. Mining operations were conducted on a large scale in exploring the reef up to 1906 (QGMJ 1906).
In 1923 there is again record of the Golden Gate No.10 North mine being worked. By August that year Messrs. Hayman and Ah Foo, supported by a strong local syndicate, had de-watered the mine and were sinking a monkey shaft in the No. 2 North level in the hope of picking up the reef (QGMJ 1923).
In 1923 Golden Gate No. 10 North was the only mine working in the Croydon district, but efforts to locate the continuation of the reef past the fault were disappointing. A shoot at the 34m level yielded 55 ounces of gold from a crushing of 16 tons (Mines Department 1924:9). There are no further records after this time.
Morgan's Shaft
H.F Morgan, an old speculator of the field, formed the local Golden Gate United Block and 98 block Gold Mining Company Limited in 1899 on striking the reef at Golden Gate No. 4 and 5 South Block. The shaft, commenced in 1899, continued to be sunk through 1900, before striking water and having to constantly bail in 1901. A powerful pump was installed. In 1902 the shaft cut the Golden Gate reef at 480 feet and they sunk an underlie for 142 feet however the reef was not payable and the straight shaft was the outlet for the water. Surrounding mines contributed to the sinking and bailing as their mines would eventually be flooded otherwise (Kerr 1992).
The 98 Block Gold Mining Company Limited registered as the Golden Gate Amalgamated Blocks Limited in 1904 and used the Morgan's Shaft to test the deep ground in Golden Gate Consols mine and Golden Gate Gold mines. However water continued to be an issue. The shaft continued to serve the Golden Gate No. 8 and No. 10 lines up until 1914 when despite two shifts a day bailing water from the shaft, the flow could not be contained (Kerr 1992).
Township of Golden Gate
The township of Golden Gate, approximately 8km northwest of Croydon, was surveyed by W. A. Irwin in April 1893, comparatively late in the history of the field, although there were buildings constructed well before this. Along with other 'satellite' communities established at outlying reefs, Golden Gate developed around the main administrative and commercial centre of Croydon. Members of the outlying communities would visit Croydon on Saturday nights to shop, conduct their business and socialise (Pike 1981:158). The Chinese community of Croydon provided essential support to the surrounding communities through their market gardens. Mines serviced by Golden Gate included Golden Gate Nos 1 to 10, Golden Gate United, Golden Gate Consols, Tracey's Block, Morgan's Block, Rogers No. 1, and Plants Block, the deepest mine on the Croydon goldfield.
A railway station was opened at Golden Gate when the Normanton to Croydon railway commenced operation in 1891, and was relocated over a mile to the west in 1892. By 1894 the small township boasted a population of 250, which had risen to 600 by 1900, supporting 11 hotels, one billiards saloon, over a dozen stores, a blacksmith, three churches, three butchers and several carters, carriers and coach proprietors. A school operated from 1896 to 1921, and a post office from 1891 to 1919. Production declined during the years leading up to World War I, and the population of the township similarly declined, particularly after the closure of Forsythe's Pioneer Mill in 1922 (Hooper 1993:167).
Golden Gate Cemetery
Golden Gate Cemetery is one of at least ten cemeteries which served the Croydon area after it was declared a goldfield in 1886. It is situated adjacent to the Golden Gate Township on the western side of the Normanton to Croydon railway. It does not appear to have been gazetted and was probably in use from the establishment of mining settlement in the mid-1880s until a new cemetery at Station Creek was surveyed in 1899 and gazetted in 1900. The heritage-listed Station Creek Cemetery, surveyed in 1899, was known initially as the Golden Gate Cemetery. Located midway between the Golden Gate group of mines and the Sunset group of mines, it appears to have served both communities.
REFERENCES
Grimwade, G. and G. Ginn 2000 Conservation Plan: Croydon Cemeteries. Unpublished report to Croydon Shire Council.
Hooper, C. 1993 Angor to Zillmanton: Stories of North Queensland's deserted towns. Mundingburra: Colin Hooper.
Jane Lennon and Associates and Howard Pearce 1996 Mining Heritage Places Study, Northern and Western Queensland: Identification, assessment and documentation of cultural heritage significance; Volume 2: Georgetown Mining District. Unpublished report to Department of Environment, Brisbane.
Kerr, R. 1993 Queensland Historical Mining Sites Study, Vol 3. Unpublished report to the Department of Environment and Heritage, Brisbane.
Mines Department 1924 Annual Report. Queensland Government, Brisbane.
Pike, G. 1981 The Golden Days: Life in North Queensland in the Gold Rush Era. Mareeba: Pinevale Publications.
Queensland Government Mining Journal
15 October 1903, p.524
15 September 1923, p.345
Rands, W. H. 1896 Map No. 1, Geological Map of the Croydon Goldfield, to accompany 'Report on the Croydon Goldfield', Queensland Government, Brisbane.
Wegner, J. 1995 Croydon: Technology Transfer on a North Queensland Goldfield. Unpublished PhD thesis, Department of History and Politics, James Cook University, Townsville.
","criteria":"The Golden Gate Mining and Town Complex, which contains remnants of mine workings, battery, cyanide plant, township and cemetery, has the potential to provide information on important aspects of Queensland's history, especially early gold mining practices and treatment processes, and patterns of settlement in North Queensland. The Golden Gate Reef was the most productive on the Croydon goldfield and the complex demonstrates the pattern and development of gold mining on this important field.
\nThe complex features extensive archaeological evidence relating to a wide range of gold mining and processing activities. The place contains the largest surviving assemblage of early boiler and steam engine power plant recorded in North Queensland. The cyanide plant is amongst the earliest and most intact recorded in North Queensland and the tailings bucket chain and stumps and supports for the vats are now rare remains. The site contains a very rare undertype semi-portable steam engine and winching unit and a 4.5m high vertical boiler which is the largest of this type recorded in North Queensland. The pump shaft contains the only surviving beam pump arm recorded in the Georgetown-Croydon district.
\nArtefactual material has been identified in the former town site and surrounding areas in surface and subsurface deposits. This material includes domestic refuse such as glass bottles, bricks, domestic ceramics, stove remains, tins and sheet iron. Due to the extensive size of the identifiable archaeological materials a high degree of archaeological integrity remains. The cemetery at Golden Gate retains substantial physical evidence including iron railings, sandstone surrounds and soil disturbance.
\nThe mine workings, battery, and cyanide plant at Golden Gate provides a rare opportunity to examine, through archaeological remains, a wide range of gold mining and processing activities and technologies. The spatial organisation and layout of the complex's extensive archaeological evidence including shafts, machinery and other physical remains has the potential to reveal information about early gold mining operations and provide an understanding of the continuity and change in gold mining practices. Archaeological investigation of the Golden Gate Mining and Town Complex also provides for comparative and complementary research into other gold mining operations on the Croydon goldfield, including Enterprise Battery, Content Mine (QHR 602243) and the Homeward Bound Battery and Dam (QHR 600439).
\nArchaeological investigations at the Golden Gate Mining and Town Complex have potential to answer important research questions about the community's establishment, development, interaction, trade and decline. The archaeological evidence will provide information on the spatial organisation and pattern of the site, and of the interrelationships between mining, residential and commercial activities. The use of a cultural landscape approach to the archaeological investigation of Golden Gate will enable the examination of the network of satellite communities and their association with Croydon as the social and administrative centre. Physical and social connections can be investigated archaeologically through an examination of roadways, railways, domestic material culture and industrial technology. An understanding of the collective experiences of such communities may be gained through further research into the site, particularly given the level of intra-site complexity.
\nArchaeological research into the cemetery at Golden Gate has the potential to provide information on social aspects of the isolated community. Analysis of the types and styles of burials and grave markers, and the layout and organisation of the cemetery, have the potential to reveal information on such research questions as ethnicity, religion and social division within the community. Archaeological analysis of the remains of those buried in the cemetery also has the potential to reveal details of the health and living conditions of the residents of the township. Such research provides for comparative and complementary investigations at other cemeteries related to mining communities, including nearby Station Creek Cemetery (QHR 602375).
\nThe Golden Gate Mining and Town Complex provides the potential to examine social and ethnic groups not present or well represented in the historical record. Archaeological investigations have the potential to examine the presence and involvement of Chinese people in mining operations and in support economies through examination of domestic material culture and mining technologies. The presence and interaction of Aboriginal people with members of the Golden Gate community has the potential to be revealed in the archaeological evidence. Archaeological examination of the ethnic groups within the mining community, such as Irish, Cornish or Scottish, also has the potential to increase understanding of the social dynamics of such groups in mining communities in Queensland.
\nGiven the complexity of the Golden Gate Mining and Town Complex a wide range of additional archaeological research potential exists, including but not limited to examination of gender, labour relations and class.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion C","criteria_definitions":"The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history"} ]}