The main smelter area contains the steel column mounts of two blast furnaces and evidence of two additional furnace mounts. A steel gooseneck flue atop the western furnace mount has recently collapsed. The most visible features of the area are a long brick flue which formed the base of the smelter shed charge floor before ascending the hill to the main smelter chimney. This brick chimney, which is round in section, dominates the smelter works and the township. The top of this chimney has been damaged by lightning strikes and is in poor condition.
Adjacent to the main smelter area is the power house, workshops and water softener plant foundations. The power house chimney is octagonal in section and is the most intact of the three brick chimneys at the site. The top of this chimney has recently been stabilised as part of a conservation program. Adjacent to the west of the blast furnace site is a matte re-heating furnace and four converters.
The lead sulphide pre treatment area, which is opposite the main smelter area, contains furnace foundations and plant remains for roasting and sintering, including a Dwight-Lloyd sintering plant, Edwards roasters, Huntington Heberlein plant, and the site of an original Edwards roaster furnace adjacent to a third brick chimney, known as the roaster chimney, which is round in section. Remains of a crusher are alongside the chimney.
From the smelter and pre treatment areas the surface of a large slag dump extends eastward to the bank of Chillagoe Creek. A concrete weir and foundations of a pump house are situated on the creek. Evidence of the smelter housing precinct lies across the creek from the slag dump. One family house survives in situ. Railway formations and earth embankments extend west from the smelter and pre-treatment areas to Smelter Junction on the Cairns - Mungana line. The foundations of an assay office, general office, stores, weighbridge and railway workshops are located in this area.
Plant:
- Primary crusher parts - No 5 Gates Gyratory Breaker & Krupp rolls.
- 4 Copper converter vessels.
- Blast furnace steel mounts - Walkers Ltd.
- 3 Blast furnace vats (none in situ).
Virginia firebricks - roaster chimney & Huntington Hebelein plant.
","history":"The first explorer in the Chillagoe region was J. V. Mulligan on his 1874 exploration trip. Then William Atherton took up pastoral leases in 1887 and built a timber homestead on the bank of Chillagoe Creek.
John Moffat sent the first prospecting party into the area in mid 1887 and they pegged many surface shows (Kerr, 1992:1). Mining on a serious scale began in the district in 1892 at Muldiva, where Moffat's company commenced silver production. Unfortunately a few months before the silver price crashed and the newly built smelter only operated for eighteen months. Moffat erected small exploratory smelters at Calcifer in 1894 and at Girofla (Mungana) in 1896.
In 1896, with mining developments at Mount Lyell (Tasmania) and Kalgoorlie causing great interest, Moffat sought to raise large scale capital to develop the Chillagoe field. In Melbourne, the heartland of Australian mining investment, he interested a syndicate of capitalists, including J. S. Reid, in a scheme to purchase his leases, to build smelting works and to construct a private railway more than 150 kms from the government railhead at Mareeba to the mines and smelter. A company called Chillagoe Proprietary Limited was formed in Melbourne and placed its proposal before the Queensland Government. Before the end of 1897, the Mareeba to Chillagoe Railway Act authorised the company to carry out its plans and granted it generous concessions.
Construction on the smelter site commenced in mid 1900 while the railway work was underway, and proceeded slowly, as all materials had to be carried overland from the advancing railhead which reached Chillagoe in August 1901.
In mid 1900 the Chillagoe Company had operating: three boilers, three steam engines (46h.p.), one active reduction works, two pumps, half a mile of two feet tramway, 2600 feet of water mains, two brick machines, one clay mill, two saw benches, one traction engine, and a dam constructed, valued at a total of £4,120. Walkers of Maryborough contracted for the iron frames of the furnaces and Jack and Newell were agents for a large amount of the smaller material for the construction of the smelters. The proposed smelting plant being erected under the supervision of J. M. Higgins (former metallurgist of Dry Creek Works, South Australia) and R. Shepherd (the construction engineer who had supervised the erection of the Mount Lyell smelters) was to treat 100 tons of ore per day and comprise six furnaces. By 1901 there were five boilers, ten steam engines (167h.p.), nine pumps, two rock breakers, one brick machine, six furnaces, four blowers, two lathes, three drilling machines, one traction engine, several small machines, one roller, and two grinders, valued at a total of £23,444.
Six furnaces were blown in on 13 October 1902, but did not run freely, treating only 8,129 tons of ore for five ounces of gold, 367 tons of copper, 15,721 ounces of silver, valued at £23,792, and the works were shut down for reconstruction of the company. A major problem was the lack of ore which was only being obtained from Redcap and Calcifer. The company had hoped to receive ore from Mount Garnet also. Managers changed frequently, Back in 1903 and T. J. Greenway in 1904. In the early years of operations the Chillagoe smelter treated lead ore from Girofla mine and Torpy's Crooked Creek silver lead mine, producing 17,661 tons of lead and 357,196 ounces of silver in 1904. The converters were blown in on 21 January 1905.
In 1907 the Huntingdon-Heberlein process plant was erected at a cost of £60,000. Extensive excavations were done and rails laid to ore bins on the hill opposite the main smelters. The process flow involved - rock breaker, converter kettles for 12 hours desulphurising process, then to the lead furnaces. A new electric plant was also installed.
A new lead furnace was blown in on 21 January 1908. However in 1908 there was hardly a mine operating outside of the company mines as an outcome of wage increases with the emergence of unions and declining copper prices. The new copper furnace was blown in on 20 February 1908 and the converter plant was operating effectively by early March that year. Much better lead recoveries were noticeable after the second converter was introduced into the line, and ores had to be preliminarily roasted as well. At a cost of £70,000 the Chillagoe Railway and Mines Company Pty Limited could treat sulphide ores from its Mungana mines as well as public ore. They could also treat the Penzance (Redcap), Boomerang (Calcifer) and Calcifer slag dump material, along with self-fluxing mixture with Ruddygore ore. To achieve this the company had to extend its tramline from the Chillagoe railway at Harper Siding to the Boomerang and Calcifer slag dump.
By 1909 the lead price had fallen markedly and the Huntingdon-Heberlein plant had to be partially shut down.
A fourth blast furnace was installed in 1909 to treat the copper ore. A larger air-blowing machine also improved the copper smelting. A heavy duty horizontal compound condensing steam engine with duplex air cylinders could blow two converter stands at once. A new high pressure motor-driven air compressor supplied air to the pneumatic ram used for relining converter vessels. A DC generator was ordered for the motors and lighting. The ore sampling floor was doubled in capacity. A high-lift motor-driven centrifugal pump for pumping furnace jacket water was added. A new sample crushing office was attached with electric motors driving the pulverizers.
Ore supplies locally were poor in 1910 and ore was scavenged across the Etheridge Goldfield to supply Chillagoe smelters. The roasting furnaces were supplied with all the Etheridge gold mine dumps, the copper smelters worked on sintered Havelock residues, along with Mungana copper-lead oxides and clean lead ores from the Lady Jane, Girofla and Etheridge mines. Overhead central flues were fitted over the copper and lead furnaces.
Heavy rain on the Etheridge watershed washed away the Tate and Lynd River railway bridges and the Chillagoe smelters had to close between 19 April and 3 May 1911. Copper smelting only operated for half the year. The copper furnace was remodelled in May 1911 with extra battery jackets replacing the brick shaft. The forehearths of cast iron were also replaced by riveted mild steel. The tanks were lined with chrome bricks. A 42 inch Dwight-Lloyd unit for the palate sintering process was completed by November 1911. However a large part of the smelter, including an electric crane, was destroyed by fire. The damage was quickly repaired and the smelter recommenced in February 1912.
Sixty feet of the main stack dust flue collapsed in May 1912. Rebuilding was completed by 13 June. A temporary chimney was used for the lead smelters only. In early June 1912 the Chillagoe lead smelter was closed down and 50 men laid off. The water jacket on the copper smelter burst and copper smelting also closed down. The lead smelter resumed on 2 August 1912 and the copper smelter on 4 September 1912. Both furnaces ran until October when the coke ran out. The Huntingdon-Heberlein furnace was out of commission. The roasting works operated solely on Mungana sulphide ores and on ore from Torpy's Crooked Creek mine. The Chillian mill (No.8 ball mill) operated on the fine ores.
In 1913 the smelters operated only intermittently. The company had men cleaning flues and working in the railway workshops. Union efforts to obtain a 44 hour week were also influential in the closure. Above all, the fall in company profits determined a bleak future for the Chillagoe smelters. The receipts for 1912 were insufficient to pay even the interest on the debentures. In February 1914 J. S. Reid approached the Queensland Government for £30,000 assistance. The Government refused and the company closed the smelters immediately. The mining press lamented the continual failures of the Chillagoe company in its history.
The smelters remained closed from March 1914 until January 1920. This was the World War 1 boom time for metal prices and other copper smelting companies, especially in the Cloncurry district, experienced the greatest prosperity they had ever known while Chillagoe was closed.
In July 1915, six weeks after the election of the Ryan-Theodore Labor Government the Chillagoe Company approached the Government about the sale of the railway. By Christmas the Government had found the possible means of funding upgrading of the smelters and mines by a mortgage over the railway. The agreement between the Queensland Government and the debenture and shareholders had to be passed by Parliament. The Legislative Council rejected the first bill and a second one was introduced in November 1917. The bill passed in November 1918, four days after the Armstice which ended the metals boom, and gave title to the Queensland Government over the railway for £661,000, smelters £30,000, Einasleigh mine £9,000, mining plant and machinery £1,000.
Peter Goddard was appointed Manager of Chillagoe smelters on 22 April 1919 for three years at a salary of £1,500 per annum. The smelters were administered by the Minister for Mines under the State Enterprises Act 1918 and under the Chillagoe and Etheridge Railways Act 1918.
Smelting recommenced in January 1920 with one copper and one lead furnace in blast. The smelters settled into a steady run of seven years production, drawing their copper ore supplied from Einasleigh mine and lead ore from the Girofla mine at Mungana. Metal prices continued to decline.
The State acquired the Mungana mines in 1922 and consolidated their smelter ore supplies. In 1921, the sole remaining asset of the old Chillagoe Company, the Mount Mulligan coal mine was shut by an underground explosion which killed all 75 miners underground and finally ruined the company. It was wound up in 1923 and the State acquired the coal mine only to discover that the coke works which had been under construction for years were useless as the coal was not suitable for coking.
Ore supplies continued to be a problem after the Einasleigh mine closed in 1922 and the Girofla and Lady Jane mines were handed over to tributers in 1926. Ore came via railways in varying parcels from all over North Queensland and the Cloncurry field
The 1920s were a controversial period with wide dissatisfaction and local rumour surrounding the involvement of manager, Peter Goddard, Mining Warden, Dunlop, Treasurer, McCormack, and mine owner, Fred Reid, in corrupt activities at the Chillagoe smelters and the mines. Opposition parliamentarians asked numerous questions in Parliament and after the election of a conservative government in 1929 and the appointment of former Chillagoe and O.K. butcher, Almaden ore-buyer and member of the Chillagoe pastoral family of Athertons, E.A. Atherton, as Mines Minister, a Royal Commission was established to investigate the operations of the Chillagoe smelter and mines. The smelters were re-opened in October 1929 while the Royal Commission was underway. The subsequent litigation against Theodore, McCormack, Reid and Goddard in the Supreme Court in 1931 destroyed the political careers of both Theodore, then Federal Treasurer, and McCormack.
Despite the uneconomic returns, the smelters continued to operate. In 1932 Chillagoe produced its highest ever annual copper output of over 3,000 tons, but 1933 was the last year of lead production from stockpiled ores. Coke costs at Chillagoe were brought down after 1933 when the Bowen State coke works opened, but this relief was not enough to offset the falling copper price.
The Chillagoe State smelters were being run as an instrument of the State's welfare policy, to create work in the depressed mining districts.
World War 2 saw a surge in base metal prices. In 1942 the Federal government conducted a review of base metal production throughout Australia, and in the cold light of wartime emergency, the Chillagoe smelters showed up badly: A run-down, forty year old smelter which made a loss ever year, operating at less than a quarter of its planned capacity, with more than half its ore being railed nearly a thousand miles from the Cloncurry mineral field, could not be allowed to survive. The controller of Mineral Production directed Mount Isa Mines to commence producing copper and this occurred in April 1943. The Chillagoe smelters closed for the fourth and final time in July 1943.
By the time of the final closure the total debt was over £453,451, the figure on 31 March 1940 when the Co-ordinator General decided not to spend any more money on the Chillagoe smelters from the Income (State Development) Tax funds. The files on the disposal of the smelters equipment and machinery record the official dispersal of items on the smelters site. Small machines and tools went to the Collinsville State Coal Mine in 1946 and secondhand bricks were sold off to private buyers. Part of the smelters were dismantled in 1949 and delivered to other departmental operations. The Queensland Government wrote off the figure of £2,832 on 30 June 1954 when the only remaining assets were an unsaleable building valued at £50 and the annual rent of a horse paddock for £10.
Since then the site has only been utilised for collection of slag for use as ballast on the Chillagoe and Etheridge Railways, and since the 1970s by tourists. There have also been unsuccessful mining lease applications in the 1980s to use the slag for sand blasting material.
The Chillagoe smelters produced copper in 37 of the years between 1901 and 1943 and lead in 25 of those years. The smelters total production can be summarised as follows:
Ore treated \t1,250,000 tons
Copper production\t60,000 tons
Lead production \t50,000 tons
Silver production\t6,500,000 ozs
Gold production\t175,000 ozs
A million tons of slag (as a minimum estimate) was poured onto the dump at Chillagoe. Chillagoe never made a profit in any year and the smelters probably lost their two owners a total of between four and five million pounds.
","criteria":"The Chillagoe smelters are significant in Queensland history as an important element in the great age of mining industry from 1870 to 1914 which opened North Queensland to settlement by Europeans. For much of the period from 1901 to 1943 the Chillagoe smelters and their ancillary industries were major components of the economic activity of the Cairns hinterland.
"... the legacy of this grandly inept company was the infrastructure of an entire mineral industry which the State could never have afforded to build for itself, and which functioned in the public interest for over twenty years at very little capital cost. Under both the company and the State, the Chillagoe venture created thousands of jobs, provided railway transport over enormous distances, and kept mines and businesses open throughout the north. Although the Chillagoe smelters never once made a profit, the multiplier effects radiating from them were responsible for a significant proportion of North Queensland's prosperity for nearly fifty years. In the last years the smelters were deliberately being run at a loss by the State in order to continue this economic role in the wider community".
Its operation as a State enterprise is significant in its regional history.
|The size, scale and evidence of, now rare, smelting processes are preserved in the physical remains at the Chillagoe smelters. The three tall brick chimneys surviving at the site are unique as a group. The slag dump is the largest remaining in Queensland.
|(Criterion under review)
|There are only a small number of mining sites in Queensland historically comparable to Chillagoe - Mount Morgan, Mount Isa, Mount Perry and Mount Elliott, and only Chillagoe retains the evidence of the smelting process.
Although the site has been stripped of most of its plant, what remains is sufficient to interpret the operation of the smelters, working conditions and health and safety considerations at Chillagoe.
The smelter site has strong visual and social associations with the Chillagoe township and functional associations with the railway. The location of the smelter is enhanced by the topography between ridges and creek.
|The Chillagoe smelters are an excellent demonstration of the technology of mineral (copper, silver, lead and gold) smelting at the turn of the century, when up-to-date plant was, assembled and then modified repeatedly between 1901 and 1911 to meet local conditions.
|The Chillagoe smelters are associated with the careers of mining entrepreneurs, John Moffat and J. S. Reid, with the development of the Amalgamated Workers Association , and with the political affairs of Labor leaders, William McCormack and Edward Theodore, whose careers were ruined by the Mungana Affair.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion F | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15453,"place_ref":600678,"name":"Queensland National Bank (former)","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Jessie Street","suburb":"IRVINEBANK","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Queensland National Bank building is a square-plan two storey Federation style bonded brick building that faces Jessie Street adjacent to the School of Arts building at the base of a slope below Loudoun House and the Irvinebank State Treatment Works. It has a corrugated iron roof with an attached cantilevered timber balcony on the upper level. The original unpainted and un-rendered external brickwork is retained. The plan of the building is typical of late 19th century bank buildings with a former banking chamber at ground floor level and a residence for the manager on the upper level.
The building's corrugated iron roof has a "U" shaped hipped configuration, which is worthy of note. While giving the perception of symmetry when viewed from the street, this type of roof was often constructed in order to reduce the height of the roof. Builders usually employed the technique where poor quality or undersize timber framing was not readily available, even though the original architects plans may have been for another style of roof.. As evidenced by this building, the configuration created a central box gutter (in the valley of the roof) that was prone to flooding, placing increased pressure upon the internal structure of the building. A central supporting wall, forming part of the hallway of the upper level, supports the increased load.
The upper level was originally used as a manger's residence. It has a timber balcony with a two-rail dowel balustrade, square stop-chamfered timber posts with shaped timber brackets above capital moulds, and covered by a bullnose corrugated iron roof on two sides. The floor of the balcony has been painted white, with dowels and timber brackets, and red/brown rails and posts on the balustrade. The main roof has quad gutters while the balcony has bullnosed guttering. Several sets of low-waisted six-panel (two timber at the base, the rest is clear glass) French doors with rectangular fanlight and flat arch open onto the balcony. The flat arch is formed by untapered bricks laid in a stretcher bond on about a sixty-degree angle, from either side in opposition, meeting in a v-shape forming a central triangle. This arch is repeated above the windows and French doors on the ground floor. The upper level leads to a freestanding extension at the rear of the building. The extension consists of a square timber framed building with single skinned timber walls and a hipped corrugated iron roof. The interior colour scheme includes the use of white, cream, green, blue and yellow paints.
A set of concrete steps with bullnose edges, leading to a short verandah along the front wall of the building, form the entrance to the lower level. The verandah has square posts and a two-rail dowel balustrade. An external flight of stairs to the upper level joins the verandah at the far end. The entrance on this level is a low waisted four-panel timber French door, with a three-pane rectangular fanlight (two panes of clear glass and one painted) and flat arch. The door and windows on this level are surrounded by a false quoin effect created by brickwork proud of the main wall face. Timber elements appear to have been painted red. External walls are constructed in brick with quoins on each corner. The lower floor has double hung timber sash windows with horns and flat arch. Timbers used to support the balcony rest on corbels between the windows and are painted white. A white-painted awning, made from timber palings finished to form a decorative edge, hangs from the balcony and covers windows on two sides of the building. The rear wall of the ground floor is built into the slope behind. This level consists of 3 rooms, two smaller ones that open onto the main room that runs the length of one side of the building. The main room contained the cedar bank counter, which divided the room into two halves. There is no internal access from this level to the floor above. The original unpainted and un-rendered external brick and stonework is retained. Square blocks of stone have been used in part of the rear wall on the lower level and the verandah. One of the side walls on the lower level also uses blocks of stone and has been painted white.
No significant plantings are associated with the building. There is a cut stone wall which extends from the rear corner of the building following the slope of the hill, parallel to the benched pathway between the Bank and the School of Arts which leads up to Loudoun House. A short distance from the building a flight of five steps is built into the wall, allowing access to the upper terrace and rear wall of the building.
Inspections in January 2004 revealed extensive damage to the internal fabric of the building, including original features. Remaining internal features include timber flooring, single skin timber walls, and cedar and glass panelling and suspended partitions on the lower floor.
The building forms an important part of the streetscape of Irvinebank because of its unusual roof design, wrap-around verandah, brick construction and visual accessibility from the main street.
","history":"The former Queensland National Bank building at Irvinebank was erected c1905 by the Irvinebank Mining Co. Ltd. A branch of the Queensland National Bank operated from these premises from July 1905 to April 1923.
The Queensland National Bank was established in Brisbane in 1872. The bank was formed by an influential group of Queensland squatters, politicians, lawyers and businessmen who were anxious to secure development capital, which was free from overseas or inter-colonial control. Within 6 months, three branches had been opened. In 1878, the Queensland National Bank building opened a branch in London, and in 1880, one in Sydney.
In the 1870s and 1880s the Queensland National Bank was patronized by prominent public figures, including Sir Thomas McIlwaith (Queensland Premier 1879-1882, 1888, 1893) and Sir Arthur Hunter Palmer (Queensland Premier 1870-1874). In September 1879 McIlwraith, a director of the QNB, persuaded Parliament to confer on the Queensland National Bank the whole of the Queensland Government's banking business. By 1880 the bank held 40% of the total deposits and advances in Queensland, a higher proportion than any other bank in any Australian colony. The bank exclusively held the government's account for 42 years, until 1921. As the colony's most powerful banking institution, the Queensland National Bank dominated the Queensland economy.
Despite financial scandals and a brief suspension of operation as a result of the 'bank smash' in the 1890s, the Queensland National Bank contributed substantially to the development of North Queensland, lending generously to pastoral, sugar, and particularly mining interests. In 1948, it merged with the National Bank of Australasia Ltd.
Irvinebank (originally named Gibbs Camp) was established in 1883 as a tin town and the centre of entrepreneur John Moffat's mining empire. Prior to 1905, banking facilities at Irvinebank were non-existent. Spurred by profitable silver and tin smelters, the nearby town of Montalbion grew quickly during the 1880s and became an administrative centre. During this time, a branch of the Queensland National Bank operated at Montalbion, although it closed in 1893, the economic depression of the early 1890s crippling mining operations and causing the town to decline more rapidly than it had grown. Sources indicate that prior to the opening of the Irvinebank branch, some residents of Irvinebank (including John Moffat) banked at the Herberton branch of the Queensland National Bank.
The Queensland National Bank opened the Irvinebank branch on 6 July 1905. The architect is unknown and it appears that the Queensland National Bank did not the own the premises, but rented the building as an office and manager's residence from the Irvinebank Mining Co. Ltd. The Queensland Government Mining Journal of 15 November 1919:464 states that "the company also owns a brick building used as the Q.N. banking chambers and bank manager's residence".
According to bank records the first manager to occupy the Queensland National Bank building at Irvinebank was a Mr Harry Bathurst. Mr James Orr, who remained until 1908, succeeded him after only a short period. Jack Farquar took the role of branch manager from 1908 until 1920 and was followed by SJ Allison, who remained in the position until the branch closed on 30 April 1923. Due to the long travelling time and vast distance between the branch and its administrative centre in Brisbane, the managers of remote branches such as Irvinebank had a higher than usual responsibility.
Suggestive of the encouraging progress made by the Queensland National Bank in the town, the Bank of New South Wales also opened a branch in Irvinebank, operating from 1907/8 until 1915.
Moffat's own residence and office was a very short distance from the Queensland National Bank, and was connected to it by a benched pathway, demonstrating the complex inter-relationship between the bank and the North Queensland mining industry. By 1912 John Moffat's overdraft with the Queensland National Bank had reached £58,000. As protection of their loan, the Queensland National Bank demanded Moffat's retirement from the Irvinebank Mining Co. Ltd.
The company's management and interests were passed to Moffat's long time colleague John Reid, but consolidation of its enterprises could not be achieved. John Moffat passed away at Toowoomba on 28 June 1918 and the major part of Irvinebank's operation, the Loudoun Mill and associated buildings such as the mine manager's residence and the former Queensland National Bank premises, were sold to the Queensland government in 1919. After a lengthy period of mixed operation under government control the Loudoun Mill and associated buildings were leased to a private operator in 1983. From at least this period the former Queensland National Bank building at Irvinebank was used as a private residence.
In January 2004 the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines and Energy removed the lessee from the Loudoun Mill and the Queensland National Bank building. Subsequent inspection revealed that some original joinery in the former bank building had been damaged or removed. Among the missing fixtures were the original red cedar bank counter from the first floor as well as a number of the red cedar doors, door-frames and window frames from the upper storey manager's residence.
","criteria":"The former Queensland National Bank is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, particularly the association between the influential Queensland National Bank and the developing North Queensland tin fields, and as evidence of the infrastructure which developed to support North Queensland mining fields in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
|The place has aesthetic significance for its architectural qualities, as well as for its contribution to the streetscape through its form, scale and design, which compliment the nearby School of Arts, Loudoun House, and other surviving 19th century buildings. Irvinebank's frontier setting, nestled amongst the isolated hills of Far North Queensland provides visual context contributing greatly to the aesthetic value of the building.
|The former Queensland National Bank building is an example of the a special association between the Queensland National Bank and the growth of the north Queensland mining industry, in particular it exemplifies of the close relationship between the Queensland National Bank and the Irvinebank Mining Co Ltd.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion H","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 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":15454,"place_ref":600679,"name":"Irvinebank State Treatment Works","alternate_name":"Loudoun Mill; State Treatment Works Irvinebank","street_address":"Off Jessie Street","suburb":"IRVINEBANK","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The place covers an area along the base of a spur running down to the junction of Gibbs and MacDonald creeks in the centre of Irvinebank township. The area forms a precinct containing a representative range of buildings and structures relating to mineral treatment, railways, residential dwellings and community activities. Structural and archaeological remains exemplify the layout and arrangement of a "state of the art" late 19th century reduction plant showing changes in technology and in the flow of improvement capital.
The focal building is the mill, now an electric powered plant based around a rod mill which continues to treat parcels of local ore. Surviving structures associated with the mill include timber ore bins (no longer in use), a primary crusher, early ball mill and blast furnace foundations, boiler house and chimney foundations, a workshop and a carpenters shop.
Three significant buildings on the northern edge of the precinct include the School of Arts hall - a weatherboard building used as a community hall, the former Queensland National Bank - a brick building now used a residence, and Moffatt's former house and office - a group of weatherboard buildings; the house now used as a museum.
The railway station and large goods shed remain intact. The railway formation and engine shed foundations are evident. The early smelter works and assay office are now mainly surface archaeological structures following their demolition and subsequent erosion. A pig sty log weir with stone and concrete infill continues to dam Gibbs and MacDonald creeks.
Plant:
2 Rod mills.
2 Wilfley tables.
Jaw crusher.
Retort/furnace.
Frue vanner.
Four-Cylinder oil engine.
Lathes and workshop plant.
Concentrating and drying plant.
","history":"Tin had been discovered in 1882 at Gibbs Camp, 16 km west of Watsonville by a party of Herberton prospectors. The best lode was the Great Southern assaying 60% tin. After persevering for further months without a crushing the miners were eager to sell their properties to capitalists prepared to erect machinery.
The Gibbs Creek properties were purchased in October 1883 on behalf of the Glen Smelting Company for £6,000 cash. John Moffat, the major shareholder, was the mining entrepreneur at Herberton, and this purchase consolidated his investments and determined his future influence in North Queensland tin mining.
The Glen Smelting Company immediately commenced building smelters at Gibbs Creek which Moffat renamed Irvinebank after his birthplace in Scotland. The site chosen for the mill was on an evenly sloping tongue of land between Gibbs and McDonald's Creeks where a "log crate" or pig sty walled dam was constructed to provide water for the concentrating mill. Moffat purchased a five head battery lying idle at Thompson's Creek, 14 km away and re-erected it above the Irvinebank dam. Kerr believes that it was very likely the first Australian battery using a continuous flow system of concentration. There were six terraces on the hillside. One was fed automatically from the tramway hoppers to the stamps. Between the second and fifth floors were the jiggers and Cornish buddles slowly rotated by a 6 m diameter water wheel. Below were settling tanks and a driver. In February 1989 Moffat built a high-set house for himself with an office underneath and a wide front verandah overlooking the dam.
The battery and smelter commenced operations in December 1884 and was called the Loudoun mill, after Moffat's Scottish family. The mill was valued at £12,000 and was managed by George McTavish, who had been a floor manager at the Tent Hill smelters and Stanthorpe. In its first year of operation the Loudoun mill crushed 3,840 tons of ore for a yield of 651 tons of black tin which returned 438 tons of metallic tin after smelting.
The development of tin mining on the Tablelands was controlled by the capacity of the Loudon mill and its crushing charges. Extra five heads of stamps were added in 1886, 1893, 1899 and extra 10 heads in both 1901 and 1904 in conjunction with smelting expansion. Tin separation facilities were improved in 1888, 1893, 1900, 1902 and 1904 to compete with Stannary Hills. By then the value of the mill had risen to £40,000.
Moffat gained a reputation for medieval technology and although frue vanners were installed in 1890, he was slow to upgrade machinery. The skyline changed with an extra chimney in 1903 and more in 1905 and 1906. The Krupp ball mill was replaced in 1908 (Kerr, 1992,3). L. C. Ball, Government Geologist, visited the treatment works in 1909 and described the processes. He noted the poor arrangement of the 40 head stamper battery and the high consumption of steam. He also noted that it was "the chief tin-mining centre of Queensland".
At its peak this was the largest tin battery and smelter in Australia. It was reached by the narrow gauge Stannary Hills tramway from Boonmoo siding on the Chillagoe Railway. Moffat was involved in many other Tableland mines but the Irvinebank mines were his mainstays even though the Vulcan mine ore halved in value in 1907. He later developed the nearby Governor Norman mine, which yielded £61,480 worth of tin between 1905 and 1914.
Declining assays, falling tin prices and rising overdrafts led to the demise of the Irvinebank Mining Company. the Queensland National Bank forced him to retire as a Director in 1912 in favour of J. S. Reid. The rationalisation program of his mines worsened industrial relations. World War 1 dispersed the mining population and the collapse of the European market in 1914 forced the closure of the works.
Reid liquidated the Irvinebank Mining Company in 1919 and Premier Edward Theodore who, as a former miner, had formed the Amalgamated Workers Association in Irvinebank, bought the Loudoun Mill, tramway, aerial ropeways and various mines for £22,500 as a State Enterprise on 25 October 1919. Suction gas replaced the ancient steam power plant.
In 1929 the works were handed over to the Whitworth Finance and Mining Corporation Limited as a private enterprise. Its failure during the Depression demoralised the local tin industry. The smelters were dismantled and the chimney stacks blown down. As ore supplies dwindled the Loudoun mill was barely a ghost of the Irvinebank Mining Company's glory.
In May 1934, when Charles Edford became manager, the mill was substantially as it was in 1919. With Mines Department support he modernised it in 1935 installing Isbel vanners, a rod mill and additional circuits to extract tin concentrates after each stage of the crushing to reduce tin sliming. In 1951 Diester Overstrom tables were introduced after Alf Hooley, an experienced manager from Kidston and Chillagoe took over. Throughout the 1950s the State Government injected £5,000 per year into the town for electricity, housing and additional milling plant. The stamps were finally abandoned in 1966 and today the mill operates with gyratory crushers, rod and ball mills, vibrating screens and wilfley tables.
In 1981 the State Government announced the inevitable - the decision to transfer the treatment works, the last of the State Enterprises established by Premier Theodore. Since July 1983 the works been operated by the Hilla family. The Irvinebank State Treatment Works (Sale and Operation)Act 1990 sets out obligations and responsibilities for continuing operation of the works.
","criteria":"The Loudoun mill, known as the Irvinebank State Treatment Works from 1912 to 1983, is highly significant in Queensland's history. Mining entrepreneur John Moffat, based at Irvinebank, created an empire in the Cairns hinterland which exported metals valued at £4 million over 25 years. The mill and treatment works have provided the focus of Irvinebank township and sustained it economically and socially since 1884.
|They are one of the few surviving mining complexes established as State Enterprises by the Ryan/Theodore Labor Government.
Such a mill is rare in Australia and in North Queensland where it is only rivalled by the Emuford battery.
|The complex of mill buildings and machinery has potential to provide further information about the development of tin concentrating technology and mining and metallurgical engineering in Queensland. Although the stamps and boilers do not remain, some of the ore bins timberwork and tramway formation date from 1884. Remnants of the blast furnace flue, brick chimney base, smelter retaining wall and assay office remain.
|The mill illustrates the history of tin mining technology in North Queensland from its inception in 1880 to the present. Plant, machinery parts and foundations remain in the mill and have the potential to interpret the full range of processes and technologies used at the mill during its 110 years.
|The mill has a special association with John Moffat, who operated it from 1884 until 1912, as owner and general manager of the Irvinebank Mining Company. He was a regional entrepreneur who controlled and developed North Queensland from 1880 to 1918 by establishing mines, constructing mills, towns, tramways, roads and public buildings.
","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":15455,"place_ref":600680,"name":"Loudoun House","alternate_name":"Moffat's House","street_address":"Macdonald Street","suburb":"IRVINEBANK","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Loudoun House is a high-set timber building with enclosed sub-floor and additional kitchen and bedroom areas on the eastern side. It has a westerly aspect from the top of a low spur in Irvinebank, near the ruins of the Assay Office and above the Queensland National Bank Building and the School of Arts. A number of trees surround the building, including mangoes, red cedar, boab, figs and a bunya pine. The Irvinebank to Stannary Hills tramway formation, is evident on the lower side of the property where it has been used as pedestrian access to MacDonald Street below.
The original house was a simple gabled roof timber structure with encircling verandahs. Offices were located in the sub-floor and the living spaces were above. Subsequent extensions were made on both floors during Moffat's residence.
The upper level is supported on cypress pine or ironbark stumps. The sub-floor is enclosed with walls of unlined corrugated iron. The floor is tongue and groove red cedar on lower and upper levels inside the building and concrete below the verandah overhangs outside.
The upper level has tongue and groove red cedar walls, ceiling and floor; the verandah is not tongue and groove. Studs are exposed on the exterior verandah and back walls. Studs are internal on the north and south sides of the building. The upper section of the house has a central living area, with four rooms at the rear of the building and two rooms on either side of the main living area. An additional room comes off the rear of the building and a stove alcove is on the northern side room.
Some of the original furnishings are still present in the house including Moffat's office desk and table, but most of the furnishings were removed by the Department of Mines in 1967/8.
Little remains of the once extensive landscaping apart from the established fig (Ficus sp.), red cedar (Toona ciliata), mangoes (Mangifera sp.), boab (Adanoria gregorii) and bunya pine (Araucaria bidwillii).
","history":"John Moffat (1841-1918) was a mining entrepreneur of considerable standing. His influence dominated the mining industry of the Cairns hinterland from the early 1880s until the first World War: he was instrumental in founding the towns of Irvinebank, Watsonville, Chillagoe, Mungana, Mt Garnet, and Mt Molloy.
Moffat, the greatest mining magnate of his time in Queensland, is still remembered with affection in the North. He is credited with a scrupulous regard for ethical business practices, and the imposition of a benevolent paternalism over mining enterprises under his control. He was a man of high moral principles. The extent that Irvinebank residents relied on the industries created by John Moffat for their livelihoods is evident in the prayer "God Bless John Moffat" said to be taught by Irvinebank parents to their children at the turn of the century.
At a time when gold was the glamour industry of the region, Moffat concentrated his investments in base metals, notably tin and copper. He built a battery and smelter (the Loudoun Mill) at Irvinebank, centre of a rich tin lode district, and from 1883 lived in the town, first in tents and later in Loudoun House. His choice of a house site was characteristic of the man - whereas most wealthy mine owners disdained to live in the district where their mines were located, Moffat built right in the centre of Irvinebank, overlooking the Assay office, two minutes walk from the smelters and within earshot of the stampers. His house was also a very short distance from the Queensland National Bank [QHR 600678], and connected to it by a benched pathway; demonstrating the complex and powerful influence the bank had on the mining industry, or vice versa. The Irvinebank to Stannary Hills tramway ran between the Queensland National Bank and Loudoun House, and into the Tramway Station at Loudoun Mill.
Moffat's house was built c1883/4. An 1886 photograph (Kerr 200X:9) shows a two story timber house surrounded by verandahs on four sides (partly enclosed) with a small detached timber building to the rear. It is believed to be an early use of high timber stumps and infilling of the sub-floor to create a second floor at ground level. Drawings indicate an expansion program occurred around 1907 expanding the servant's wing on the eastern side of the building. Conventionally framed timber exposed studwork was used. An unusual construction method of single skin brickwork reinforced with timber framing was used in a surviving section of the earlier kitchen wing. This was presumably used for food storage. The original section of the servant's wing, or the eastern side, has a concrete floor. The additional rooms have timber floor, walls and ceiling. A concrete water tank is at the south-eastern corner of the servant's wing.
In correspondence Moffat described the house as built of local cedar cleared from Loudoun Dam and imported seasoned timber. It comprised a sitting room, two main bedrooms, four side verandah bedrooms, plus a front verandah affording a fine view over the Mill site and dam. The downstairs area was enclosed for cool offices, store, and assay rooms. Bachelor quarters were added twenty years later.
Moffat's mining empire fell on hard times with the fall in metal prices in 1907. In 1912 he was forced by the Queensland National Bank to retire (to his Cremorne home in Sydney) as the tin industry subsided. Shortly after his death from influenza at Toowoomba in 1918, the Irvinebank works were purchased in 1919 by the Queensland government as a State treatment works. The State Government continued to use the downstairs section as an office for the State Treatment Works with upper floor becoming accommodation for employees of the Works. It served for a time as the manager's residence. By 1980 it was still occupied as an office and storeroom by the Department of Mines. By 1984 it was in use as a museum building by the Irvinebank Progress Association. In 1987 R200 (lot 6 on plan HG710) was gazetted as reserve for museum purposes.
","criteria":"Loudoun House at Irvinebank was erected c1883-84 for mining entrepeneur John Moffat who dominated the mining industry of the Cairns hinterland for thirty years (1880s - 1910s). The house is closely associated with the development of the mining industry (in particular tin and copper) in North Queensland.
The use of high blocks to create a second floor at ground level is regarded as an early use.
|Its siting in close proximity to both the Loudoun Mill and town of Irvinebank (including the offices of the Queensland National Bank) are regarded as symbolic of Moffat's "hands on" approach to his business activities including his relationship with employees and their families and in the case of the Queensland National Bank of its major role in Moffat's business affairs.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15456,"place_ref":600681,"name":"Vulcan Mine and Headframe","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Mareeba Mining District","suburb":"IRVINEBANK","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The mine and machinery foundations are situated on a narrow bench excavated into a steep hillside at the head of a gully running down to Gibbs Creek.
The dominant structure is an steel headframe over the Vulcan shaft. Brickwork footings of the former boiler house and chimney are located immediately south of the headframe. Alongside are stone and brick foundations for a pump and air compressor. Immediately south again are large concrete foundations for a winding engine containing a relief inscription reading - Vulcan T M Co. 1906. Nearby are further boiler foundations connecting with the remains of a brick flue
A beehive brick below-ground tank is constructed into the hill above the headframe. Near the base of the tank is an adit which continues through the hill to connect with an open stope. The Tornado Mine winding and pump engine foundations are located on the hillside above and to north of the Vulcan .
Plant:
Steel headframe (base plate inscribed) - Engineering Supply Co of Aust Ltd Brisbane.
","history":"The Vulcan tin lode at Irvinebank was discovered in September 1888 by a party of Italian woodcutters and miners - Harry Maranta, Alexander Leone, Battista Leone and Guiseppe Lampatta. Several crushings in 1889 assayed 20% tin. The first few years of Vulcan mine development involved competition between claimholders and John Moffat, whom they feared would take over the mine.
During Moffat's absence from Irvinebank, a syndicate of local miners banded together to purchase the Vulcan mine from the Italians for £2,100 and formed a public company, the Vulcan Tin Mining Company Limited, on 13 December 1890 with a capital of £4,400 in £1 shares paid to ten shillings each. This company was the first joint stock company on the Walsh and Tinaroo fields to pay a dividend, in January 1891.
In order to continue to control the main mines on the field Moffat infiltrated the Vulcan company through nominees and within seven months he controlled 40% of the company's shares. Moffat also sought to amalgamate the Vulcan and Irvinebank Mining Companies. This confrontation and the secretiveness about the Loudoun mill operating costs and the direction of the Vulcan lodes hampered negotiations for a co-operative operation.
A third company, the Vulcan Tin Mining Company NL was formed on 29 March 1892 and its capital was increased to £44,000. The mine produced well and was the only mine in the district capable of paying wages in the 1890s.
Moffat continued his policy of technical innovation, installing in 1893 a first motion double action winding engine, the first on the Walsh and Tinaroo field. A 40hp Cornish boiler powered the 16hp Tangye winding engines with 1.4 metre drums on brick foundations and fitted with two 1.8 metre pully wheels at the base of a 9 metre timber headframe. There were two cages for miners to descend the 92 metre shaft.
Moffat's intervention overcame the operating problems and the Vulcan mine became the staunchest pillar of his empire. Over the next 15 years the Vulcan yielded 9,000 tons of black tin worth £377,362 and paid dividends totalling £162,030.
A feature of the workings was their depth. By 1903, the Vulcan was being described as one of the deepest mines in the southern hemisphere, as well as being called "the premier lode tin mine of Queensland". In 1905 the shaft was over 305 metre in depth and the winding engine could not pull up the ore from the deepest level, so a new engine was ordered from Walker's foundry in Maryborough. It was a first motion winding engine of a nominal 100hp, capable of winding ore from 610 metres.
The wooden headframe was replaced by a steel headframe 18.3 metre high between 1903 and 1912, according to photographic evidence.
During 1907 the ore from the seemingly inexhaustible Vulcan mine almost halved in assay value coupled with strikes and falling tin prices, the prospects of the Vulcan company dimmed and dissension among managers and miners was rife. Moffat maintained an aloof stance. Because it paid out so much of its profits in dividends, the Vulcan company was considered as a small man's company in which the local working miner could own a small parcel of shares and participate in North Queensland's mining wealth. Unfortunately for Irvinebank miners the output of the Vulcan mine fell in the period from 1905 to the outbreak of World War 1 from an average assay of 10.2% to 4% and the value of tin output dropped from £61,618 to £12,805, an alarming drop due both to declining tin prices and to poorer ore at the 366 metre level.
The 1907 and 1908 strikes seriously affected the value of the Vulcan ore in relation to its chief competitor on the field, the Stannary Hills Company operating the nearby Rocky Bluff battery. But because of Moffat's established monopoly of the field, the Vulcan company was able to continue production whereas the Stannary Hills company was forced to close the Rocky Bluff battery after 1909 and rail its ore to Irvinebank.
In 1913 an aerial tramway was installed from the mine to the Loudoun mill. Improved facilities for travelling between the surface and the working faces were installed in 1915 when the mine was down 445 metres. Production improved by 1918 to 934 tons of tin ore for a return of 26.5 tons of concentrates valued at £4,350 but no dividends were paid for the third year running.
Fresh chimney stacks replaced the corroded ones at the mine in 1921. The Whitworth Finance and Mining Corporation Limited employed over a dozen men renovating the surface plant at the Vulcan in early May 1929 prior to commencing dewatering operations. This included the placing of a new collar set in position above the shaft.
This implies that the mine had not operated for some years previously. The Whitworth Corporation failed and presumably the mine closed from the early 1930s.
North Broken Hill Limited applied for 60ha lease over the old Vulcan workings in 1947, but in 1981 Don Walker of Herberton purchased the mine which is not operational but it has become a local tourist site.
","criteria":"The Vulcan mine and headframe is significant in Queensland's history for its development as a local shareholders mine which supplied ore to the main battery, the Loudoun mill, in Irvinebank. It was the most productive tin mine in North Queensland.
|This steel headframe is one of very few dating from before World War 1 and still standing on its original site. A beehive brick covered underground water tank above the mine is now rare in the North Queensland context.
|It is Australia's deepest tin mine (at 464 metres) and has one of the largest headframes still remaining.
|Early development of the mine was associated with Italian miners.
There were major strikes in the Vulcan and nearby mines in 1907 which were catalysts of change in Irvinebank mine management practices. The place has some importance in the history of the Labor movement.
|The mine is also associated with William McCormack and Edward Theodore, later Queensland Premier and State and Federal Treasurer, who came to Irvinebank as an underground miner in the Vulcan mine and established the Amalgamated Workers Association (later amalgamating with the AWU).
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion F | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15457,"place_ref":600682,"name":"Kingsborough Battery","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"off East Street (old)","suburb":"KINGSBOROUGH","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"Kingsborough township is located about 30 km north of Dimbulah township with access through Thornborough township off the Dimbulah - Mt Mulligan road. The place is now abandoned save for one resident who lives in a concrete cavity brick house near the battery. The battery is located within the garden of a fenced allotment near the house on Caledonia Creek.
The place consists of a 5 head stamp battery, boiler, engine, jaw crusher, brick double chimney, corrugated iron tanks and earth ramp, some of which are covered by a corrugated iron roof with timber uprights. The stamper sits on a timber and earth wall and is marked 'Langland's Foundry Co. Ltd Melbourne 1882'. A belt connects the stamper to the flywheel which is attached to an engine sitting on concrete blocks beneath under the shed roof. The boiler sits off the ground on concrete stands immediately on the south-east of the shed and is marked 'Gold Medal Paris 1876'. The shed has been constructed from salvaged pieces of corrugated iron and bush timbers and is partially enclosed. There is evidence of termite activity inside the shed and the floor of the shed is concrete.
An earth ramp with a low incline leading to the stamper is on the north-east side of the shed. A jaw crusher sits at the head of the ramp adjacent to the stamper. The timber hopper has completely collapsed.
There is a double brick chimney on the western side of the battery shed that is no longer part of the operation of the battery. Four corrugated iron tanks sit about 5 metres to the north-east of the battery shed.
The surrounding landscape is dry sclerophyll, with some vegetable and flower gardens associated with the nearby masonry house located close to the battery. Neither the plantings nor the masonry house form part of the heritage significance of the place.
","history":"The Kingsborough Battery is located around 30 kilometres west of the town of Dimbulah within the former Kingsborough township in an area once known as the Hodgkinson goldfield. It was reconstructed from salvaged parts in the 1990's for processing minerals, although reprocessing at the site did not eventuate. The plant is comprised of a 5 head stamper, concrete foundations, boiler, earth ramp, corrugated iron shed and brick chimney.
The Hodgkinson Goldfield was proclaimed on 15 June 1876, after the first discoveries of gold on the Hodgkinson River by Venture Mulligan in February that year. Although the Hodgkinson was geologically similar to the great alluvial gold field to the north, the Palmer, it was predominantly a reefing field and did not prove to have the same attraction for small miners due to a lack of alluvial finds. The major mines were in the vicinity of the now abandoned townships of Kingsborough, Thornborough and Northcote. It was a neglected field through lack of capital, and although there was an optimistic outlook until the first decade of the twentieth century, it was clear by 1908 that its small yield no longer justified separate goldfield administration and accordingly, in 1909 it was incorporated into the Chillagoe Gold and Mineral field.
When government administration first arrived on the Hodgkinson on 19 April 1876 over 2,000 men were working on the field, mainly alluvial miners from the Palmer goldfield. Many of the men were disappointed in the lack of alluvial gold on the Hodgkinson and soon returned to towns such as Byerstown on the Palmer goldfield. As a result of the government administration visit, miners on the Palmer were warned through posters on the Hodgkinson track that the new find was a total failure and not to travel to the newly established goldfield.
However the Hodgkinson proved to be a valuable reefing field, and it was estimated that over 100,000 ounces of gold was produced from gravel and reef from the Hodgkinson up to 1877, over 44,000 ounces in 1878 and declining until 1891, when only 655 ounces were produced. There was subsequent rising production to 4,853 ounces in 1901. Crushing equipment was brought to the field from the Palmer and Etheridge and established at Tyrconnel, Watsonville (later Woodsville), Beaconsfield, Kingston (later Kingsborough) and Thornborough. In total, 8 machines were operating on the Hodgkinson and within a year of its discovery settlements were located close to the major reefs, with Kingston and Thornborough the major settlements on the field.
By mid 1877 Kingston (later Kingsborough) had a population of 1,100, with 8 general stores, 2 butchers, and 12 public houses. There was a lemonade factory, chemist, baker, auctioneer, assayer, blacksmith, newsagents, and brickworks as well as the Vulcan crushing battery. A small dam was built across the Caledonia Creek to ensure water supplies for the steam-powered crushing machinery. The town was surveyed on 1 May 1880. By 1886 the population of Kingsborough had declined to 50 (by 1901 the Mining Warden estimated the entire population of the Hodgkinson Goldfield to be 960). The Vulcan battery was purchased by the Tyrconnel Gold Mining Company in 1884 and relocated to Sam the Roman's camp in 1895.
In 1896 new finds in the Kingsborough district led to the erection of the Reconstruction battery (also known as Rowan battery, named after the family that re-erected the crusher) and a cyanide plant. Reconstruction battery had formerly been known as the Good Hope battery prior to its relocation from Limestone. The major focus of the renewed interest in the Hodgkinson was General Grant mine, a surface plant with a deep shaft that was sunk to 735 feet over the next few years.
In August 1901 the Reconstruction battery had to suspend operations for 4 months due to the lack of water caused by the drought and because of a leak in an old boiler which had to be replaced. The principal mines in the area, including the General Grant, had to lay off men and undertake development work rather than supplying ore for crushing.
By 1904, over half the population of the Hodgkinson were working in the wolfram industry at Wolfram Camp. Irvinebank Mining Company bought into most of the wolfram mines in 1907 and subsequently developed the Mount Mulligan coal mine. In 1914 the Irvinebank Mining Company constructed a rail line from Mount Mulligan to connect to the Cairns-Dimbulah railway.
It is presumed that the Reconstruction battery had ceased operating by about 1908 when goldmining of the Hodgkinson had faded. Photographic evidence published in Kirkman essay 'Mining on the Hodgkinson' in Readings in North Queensland Mining History (Vol 2 pp187) shows the Reconstruction battery had totally collapsed by 1979, only the brick chimney was still standing. Local knowledge indicates that any useful material such as corrugated iron was moved to Thornborough in the late 1970's and the site was totally abandoned in 1980.
The current caretaker of the site describes reconstructing the battery for use as a crusher in the early 1990's after an episode of vandalism left it in pieces. Reconstruction involved building an earth ramp and timber retaining wall, welding together pieces of the 5 head stamper battery that were found laying in pieces, bringing a jaw crusher from Mount Garnet and re-erecting the steam boiler. A corrugated iron shed was constructed over the battery. Crushing at the newly erected battery did not eventuate and the caretaker of the property currently uses the site as a storage area for machinery and other spare parts.
","criteria":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history, particularly the development and decline of north Queensland mining and the re-use of available equipment for subsequent mining operations in remote areas.
|It contains the principal characteristics of reef gold processing sites, being a 5 head stamper battery, and corrugated iron shed, with a double brick chimney nearby.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D","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"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15458,"place_ref":600683,"name":"General Grant Mine and Winding Plant","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Off Dimbulah - Mount Mulligan Road","suburb":"KINGSBOROUGH","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The place includes a large winding shed, workshop, and two mine shafts situated on a terrace, set high on a steep hillside. Extensive mullock dumps extend from both shafts to the base of the hill. The collar of the main shaft has caved and is strewn with the timbers of a recently collapsed headframe.
The winding shed is constructed of heavy round timber uprights supporting a sawn timber frame. The building and adjacent workshop are corrugated iron clad. The building contains a winding engine, an intact Babcock boiler in a brick mount, a compressor and an air receiver. The Babcock & Wilcox boiler is equipped with a high steel chimney. A second shaft and an adit are located about 70 metres north-west with two colonial boilers.
Plant:
One-cylinder air compressor - R.Schran & Co. Engineers London.
Babcock & Wilcox boiler - no brand.
Two-cylinder steam winding engine - Walkers Limited Queensland No 870 1908.
2 Colonial boilers. (one not insitu)
Egg-end air receiver.
","history":"The Hodgkinson Goldfield was proclaimed on 15 June 1876. Although the Hodgkinson was geologically similar to the great alluvial gold field to the north, the Palmer, it was predominantly a reefing field with its major mines in the vicinity of the now abandoned townships of Kingsborough, Thornborough and Northcote. It was a neglected field through lack of capital, and although there was an optimistic outlook until the first decade of the twentieth century, it was clear by 1908 that its small yield no longer justified separate goldfield administration and accordingly, in 1909 it was incorporated into the Chillagoe Gold and Mineral field.
There was an initial rush of over 2,000 men and up to 1877 it was estimated that over 100,000 ounces of gold had been produced from gravel and reef; in 1878 over 44,000 ounces; then a decline until 1891, when only 655 ounces was produced. Since then there was rising production to 4,853 ounces in 1901.
The General Grant reef up to the end of 1882 recorded seventeen crushings totalling 957 tons of ore yielding 1,281 ounces of gold. The workings remained idle between 1883 and 1893, but in the next two years produced 1,048 tons of ore yielding 1,402 ounces.
The revival was unexpected, but the opening of the Cairns-Mareeba railway in 1893 had made the field more accessible and increased use of cyanding promised improved returns for reefing fields. The real impetus came in 1897 when the British group, the Cecil Syndicate focused on the General Grant mine.
With an infusion of capital not previously witnessed in the area, the syndicate erected sophisticated surface plant and sunk the shaft to 177 m. Between 1898 and 1910, it returned 25,622 ounces of bullion gold from 27,145 tons of ore. In 1902, when the shaft reached the reef at the 150 m level the syndicate decided to erect a battery at the mine and constructed a 10,000,000 gallon capacity dam. However crushing from the mine did not even recoup the £8,000 outlaid on the construction of the dam, battery and cyanide plant.
Intermittent working resulted in the shaft reaching the 229 m level by 1937 when it was owned by the Hodgkinson Gold Development Syndicate Limited. The reef was under consideration for dewatering and re-opening in late 1944, when it was thought that at least 8,000 tons of ore, with an average grade of 0.4 ounces gold, remained and although the grade is said to have improved at the bottom of the workings, it was not economical. Several small prospecting efforts have been carried out since.
","criteria":"The General Grant mine and winding plant is significant in Queensland's history because it was a major producer of reef gold on the Hodgkinson field between 1878 and 1910.
|In addition, the winding shed is one of two surviving in North Queensland housing an intact range of early winding plant. (The other is located at the Great Northern Mine, Herberton) The Walkers winding engine is one of the most intact examples surveyed, while the Schran air compressor is rare. The Babcock and Wilcox boiler in its brick housing is the only intact example surviving in the Mareeba Mining District.
|Isolation and difficult access has ensured the survival insitu of this representative and now rare mine haulage plant.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15459,"place_ref":600684,"name":"James Venture Mulligan's Grave, Mt Molloy Cemetery","alternate_name":"Mulligans Grave | James Venture Mulligan","street_address":"Bakers Road","suburb":"MOUNT MOLLOY","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"James Venture Mulligan is buried in the Mount Molloy cemetery, Bakers Road, Mount Molloy, 2.6 kilometres from Mount Molloy by road. A low cyclone fence, with three gated entrances, surrounds the cemetery. One entrance is for visitors on foot coming from the northern or road side, one for vehicles also from the north, and another for visitors on foot coming from the west.
The landform is open woodland slightly sloping towards the south-east. The ground appears hard and stony and little grass cover was evident at the time of inspection in October 2003. Tree species do not appear to be part of an overall planting scheme, and include species of Acacia, Melaleuca, Eucalypt and Grevillea. One frangipani and three palms have been planted in direct association with a recent grave. Termite mounds are evident across the cemetery.
Mulligan's grave is at the south-east corner of the cemetery, near a mature grevillea tree. It is marked with a marble headstone, made by W.A. & C. Whelan in Townsville and surrounded by a concrete border and cast iron fence. The fence is attached to the concrete with bolts. Both the fence and the concrete border are painted white. A bronze plaque, embedded in concrete and surrounded by white quartz pebbles, sits below the headstone. Loose white quartz pebbles are inside the concrete edging.
Other graves in the cemetery are constructed of materials such as marble, granite, concrete, tiling and cast iron.
","history":"Mount Molloy was established in 1880 after Patrick Molloy, a selector who had taken up land beside Rifle Creek on the Port Douglas to Herberton track, found rich copper deposits. Patrick Molloy attracted the interest of James Forsyth and Venture Mulligan, who promoted the potential of the area to Melbourne investors. The investors, including the Victorian Premier, formed the Mount Molloy Copper Mining Company in 1899. The mine was taken over by John Moffatt's Irvinebank Company in 1901.
James Venture Mulligan was born in 1837 at County Down, Ireland, to a Protestant family who rented farming land in Slievenaboley. Sometime during 1859 or 1860 he travelled to Melbourne, Victoria. Details of his early years in Australia are not clear, but it is thought he unsuccessfully attempted to join the Burke and Wills expedition from Melbourne, then travelled to New South Wales, to Nundle, Glen Innis and Armidale, where he is thought to have opened a butcher's shop and first tried his hand at prospecting. Mulligan left Armidale for the Gympie goldrush in 1867, travelled to the Gladstone goldfield in 1871 and the Etheridge goldfield in 1873. He is also thought to have prospected at Ravenswood and the Gilbert River goldfields.
Mulligan led a party of six men from Gilbert River via Mount Surprise in 1873, to investigate a reported gold discovery by William Hann on the Palmer River. Days after Mulligan's expedition returned the following announcement was posted on the door of the Gold Commissioner at Etheridge:
"JV Mulligan reports the discovery of payable gold on the Palmer River. Those interested may inspect at this office the 102 oz he brought back."
On 26 September 1873 Mulligan led a large party of 100 diggers to the Palmer. The Palmer was to provide considerable stimulus for the development of North Queensland in the late nineteenth century. Mulligan prospected for a short time on the Palmer and also spent some time in the newly established port of Cooktown. On 1 May 1874 he left Cooktown for another prospecting expedition. On this expedition Mulligan named the St George River, sited the short lived town of Toughville and explored tributaries of the Palmer, Mitchell and Walsh Rivers, and what was to become the Hodgkinson goldfield. On 29 April 1875 he led a government sponsored expedition which passed the future sites of Mareeba and Atherton, crossed the Herberton Range and discovered tin in the Wild River, but found little gold. The government paid Mulligan £300 to equip him for another expedition, to be raised to £1000 if he found substantial gold deposits.
On 23 October 1875 Mulligan led another expedition to the Hodgkinson. The party returned to Cooktown on 13 March 1876 with sufficient gold to stimulate the Hodgkinson gold rush. The Hodgkinson field was proclaimed in March or June 1876 and lasted until 1909 when it was incorporated into the Chillagoe Gold and Mineral field. Though geologically similar to the rich alluvial finds on the Palmer River, the Hodgkinson supported mainly reef mining, and disappointed miners blamed Mulligan for their misfortunes on the field.
In 1877 Mulligan settled at Thornborough and fostered business interests, such as the ownership of the Thornborough store with his old mate James Dowdall, and chairmanship of the local Progress Association. After the store was declared insolvent in 1879 Mulligan again turned to prospecting. He led another government sponsored expedition in 1882, prospecting at the Millstream, Wild River, Emu Creek near Irvinebank and Silver Valley. He led another three expeditions in 1883 in search of tin and gold deposits, to the Valley of Lagoons, Chillagoe and the Palmer/Laura region.
Widely respected for his bush skills and religious principles, Mulligan became a justice of the peace in 1894. In 1903, aged in his early 60's, Mulligan married Fanny Bulls, a widower from the Palmer goldfield, and they settled in Mount Molloy, then a bustling 'twin town' with one township close to the copper mines and another servicing John Moffat's smelters where the town of Mount Molloy stands today. It is thought that while living in Mount Molloy Mulligan continued prospecting on Mount Fraser, a few miles north west of the town.
The details about the events that led to Mulligan's death are unclear. It seems that on 23 August 1907 Mulligan was involved in a pub brawl, in which he sustained critical injuries. Conflicting accounts of the fight place it in Jimmy Forsyth's pub mid-way between the two towns, now marked by a large mango tree on the left of Bakers Road, or as reported in the Cairns Morning Post on 27 August 1907, at Mount Carbine, north of Mount Molloy. He was taken to Mount Molloy hospital and died the next day. The Cairns Morning Post records Mulligan was buried "in the little cemetery at Mount Molloy" the Saturday following his death. The Cairns Post suggested opening a subscription list for a memorial in honour of Mulligan. Local residents erected a marble headstone, made in Townsville, over his grave, which identifies Mulligan as 67 when he died (in fact he was 70) with the words "erected by a few old friends".
Mulligan enjoyed exploration as much as prospecting and was never secretive about his finds. His lively diaries, published regularly in the Queenslander were re-published in 1875 as "A guide to the Palmer River and Normanby goldfields". Mount Mulligan, a plaque at Mareeba, and the Mulligan Highway commemorate his name.
Mulligan maintained an association with Mount Molloy throughout its development, having led the first prospecting expedition through the area and later acquiring the copper mining claim in partnership with James Forsyth. This claim was then sold to a Melbourne syndicate and eventually operated by mining magnate, John Moffat. After initial mismanagement it had, by 1903, become one of North Queensland's leading copper producers.
Mulligan has the earliest marked grave in the Mount Molloy cemetery, followed by William James Cairn in 1908 and James Laing in 1909. Another seven marked graves, members of the George, McDonach, Campbell and Geraghty families, date to between 1924 and 1938. The cemetery continues to serve the Mount Molloy community and presently contains around 70 marked burials.
The site has ongoing significance to the community as evidenced by the placement of a bronze plaque and other commemorative activities at the plot.
","criteria":"Mount Molloy cemetery, in use from at least 1907, 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, representing the development of early mining activities and the subsequent decline in economic activity.
|James Venture Mulligan was closely associated with the discovery and opening of the Palmer goldfields, which was to provide considerable stimulus for the development of North Queensland in the late nineteenth century. Mulligan is also credited with the development of the Hodgkinson goldfield and is recognised for locating a number of potential mineral developments in North Queensland.
In addition to his published writings, JV Mulligan is remembered through the naming of Mt Mulligan and the Mulligan Highway. James Venture Mulligan's grave is the most direct and tangible reminder of the man and his life with its long associations with the mining history of North Queensland.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15462,"place_ref":600687,"name":"Tyrconnel Mine and Battery","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Mareeba Mining District","suburb":"MAREEBA","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The place contains four component groups - living quarters, mine, battery, and cyanide works. The living quarters and mine are located above the battery and cyanide works. The quarters include a corrugated iron clad cottage and kitchen, and several outbuildings. One of these buildings is a workshop which houses a small retort of comparatively recent origin.
The mine shaft contains a concrete collar and is now covered with a grid. Concrete foundations of a timber headframe survive. The headframe and winding shed were recently destroyed by fire. The winding plant includes the remains of a winding engine, a two-cylinder steam engine, two Cornish boilers, a colonial boiler in brick mounts, and an air receiver.
The battery shed is of heavy bush timber uprights carrying a light sawn timber frame. The building is corrugated iron clad and roofed. The battery contains two sets of timber ore bins. The primary crusher has been removed. Timber chutes on the lower bins feed into the two mortar boxes of 2 five head stamp batteries. Two Petter crude oil engines provide the power source for the battery. One engine remains in operating condition. Most of the concentrating plant has been removed with the exception of a wilfley table.
Below the battery shed the remnants of a tailings dump with seven cyanide tanks extends down to Tyrconnel Creek. The most recent cyanide treatment was completed in 1986. A corrugated iron clad cottage on Tyrconnel Creek alongside the cyanide plant was formerly the battery manager's house. The battery dam remains intact on Tyrconnel Creek.
Plant:
Colonial boiler - Walkers Limited.
2 Cornish boilers - no brands.
Two-cylinder centre flywheel tandem steam air compressor - Thompson Engineers Castlemaine.
Two-cylinder steam winding engine with flywheel - Tooth & Co Vulcan Foundry Maryborough (Vic).
Cornish boiler (not insitu).
2 Five head stamp batteries - Fraser Chalmers Erith England.
2 Mortar boxes (not insitu) - Fraser Chalmers 108A.
2 Two-cylinder crude oil engines with flywheels - Petter Yeovil.
Small kerosene engine with two flywheels - no brand.
Wilfley table.
Berdan pan (not insitu).
Grinding pan (not insitu) - Kalgoorlie Foundry Engineers. Silverthorne & Adair Boilermakers.
Egg-end air receiver.
Small retort furnace
","history":"The Tyrconnel mine has been one of the richest producers on the Hodgkinson Goldfield. Discovered in 1876 it was originally taken up by Redmond and McVeigh on 20 April 1876. The first battery erected at the mine was Warde and Company's in November 1876, evidently financed by A. Forsythe in Brisbane, from whom this expensive ten head stamp battery took its name. This battery began crushing in February 1877 and the local proprietors, John Warde and Thomas E. White, renamed it the Brisbane in March 1877. In early 1879 they obtained a berdan pan for it, obtaining one from the Spring Gully mill which had been idle since June 1878.
The Tyrconnel shaft was down to 128 metes in 1888 when it closed in the hands of the bank. The mine had not been worked for several years although its total production to date was 11,000 tons of stone for a yield of 18,000 ounces of gold. The mine had a 12h.p. engine and winding and pumping gear but was full of water.
The mine was advertised for sale by public auction at Herberton in May 1897. It was sold to a Sydney syndicate who floated it and the Sweet William mine at Mount Molloy on the English market £4,000 cash and 1,000 shares in 1898. It was then the deepest mine on the field. The float came to nothing. Because of water flooding, the lease holder, William Keating Snr, worked a new shaft to obtain good samples of which he sent a ton of four to six ounce stone to the 1899 Colonial Exhibition. He held the mine for several years of perseverance. He offered it to a Melbourne syndicate in 1899.
A new company was formed in 1912 and the mine reopened after many years. A Victorian mine manager, David Morgan, was appointed as the new Tyrconnel mine manager. By early 1913 they had the winding gear and ore bins erected. The owners bought the Great Dyke Company's ten head battery at Caledonia Creek near Thornborough. T. Harley, engineer-in-charge, had the contract for £80 to transport the battery to its new position. Their first twelve weeks of crushings from the mine were impressive yielding 1,041 ounces of gold from 945 tons of stone (sent out to another battery for crushing). They installed a compressor in July 1913 and rock drills in September. In October they struck a reef almost 2.4 m wide which offered two to three ounce gold quartz. The mine shaft was then put in order in November for skips. By then the battery was almost ready and the headframe was being put in position. They also had a suction gas engine sitting at Dimbulah awaiting transport to the Hodgkinson. The battery started crushing in February 1914 but broke down in May because the engine bed plate broke. The company was doing very well through Morgan's careful management and William Keating's confidence. They were obtaining one ounce stone continually in 1914 and the battery kept going as long as there was water.
The battery's suction gas engine broke down in October 1915 and crushing had to be stopped. An electrical plant (210 volt generator) was installed in 1915 to provide lighting and pumping facilities and the battery had a wheeler pan. In 1916 the mine boiler was retubed and the battery gas plant was being repaired and all other machinery overhauled. Dewatering of the mine was commenced at 81 m. Cyaniding was also undertaken. A new boiler was obtained for the winding engine and compressor. Crushing and cyaniding was producing satisfactory results and additional steam power was obtained in 1917. The Tyrconnel Gold Mines Limted bought the Cecil Syndicate battery at the General Grant mine and re-erected it at the Tyrconnel mine in 1917. The tailings from the milled ore were then run directly into the cyanide plant. The working shaft on the northern end of the property was sunk further in 1918 to work on one ounce stone. A large quantity of this stone was stoped out and sent to the battery. A 10 head stamper was brought from the General Gordon mine to enlarge the battery to 20 head. A large Cornish boiler was put in position at the beginning of 1918. A compressor to drive the drills was also being considered for purchase and, if the mine proved up well, then the water supply would have to be upgraded to supply the battery.
New head gear and another high pressure Cornish boiler were added to the Tyrconnel mine plant together with an eight drill air compressor in1919. A 7kw dynamo was installed in 1922 to provide light for the battery and the surface of the mine. Operations were suspended in 1924.
In 1930, 120 tons of the old sands from the mine were cyanided. With the granting of a 600 acre concession there was renewed optimism on the Hodgkinson goldfield. W. Craven treated 700 tons of old sands for 216 ounces of bullion gold valued at £190.14.7 in 1934. Machinery from overseas was ordered in 1935 for the mine. Renovations to the battery were proposed so as to treat 60 tons of ore per day and also to dewater the mine. The Queensland Gold Development Syndicate Limited reconditioned the mine, erected a new headframe and a 10 head battery, classifying and flotation machinery were installed. A concrete dam at the junction of Caledonia and Tyrconnel creeks was also constructed.
The Hodgkinson Gold Development Syndicate Limited erected a new battery in 1936 and an Ingersoll Rand drill was purchased. The ten head battery comprised a jaw crusher, ball mill, 10 head stamper, classifiers, amalgamation plates, 6-cell Kraut flotation machine, and drier. This company ceased operations on 22 July 1937 for lack of capital. After 360 fine ounces of gold and 114.5 ounces of silver and 29.21 tons of concentrates were sent to Chillagoe for refining, a caretaker was put in charge of the battery.
The battery was overhauled in 1940. A 12 and 14 inch jaw crusher and a No.5 wilfley table were installed. By the end of the war all the mines on the Hodgkinson Goldfield were closed. Oliver Reece, an American, owned the New Tyrconnel, General Grant and Cecil and had a caretaker, Amos Jones, in charge. No work was done on the mine in 1950.
The mine was reactivated during the late 1960s mining boom and again in the early 1980s. In 1983 the five head battery was operated by a Petter crude oil engine fuelled by bunker oil. However a fire destroyed the timberwork of the winding engine and part of the headframe in 1984. The mine dumps were cyanided again during the 1980s.
","criteria":"The Tyrconnel mine and battery is significant in Queensland's history as one of the most complete and impressive mine and battery sites in the State. It demonstrates technological developments from 1876 to the mid 1980s.
|The surviving combination of living quarters, mine, battery and cyanide works in close proximity is rare.
The battery shed is one of only a handful in North Queensland that are intact and contain plant; (others include the Emuford battery, Irvinebank Treatment Works, Kidston and Venus batteries). The current plant includes the third stamp battery on the site. The very intact Thompson air compressor is one of only two recorded in North Queensland (the other is at the Croydon State mine) and is rare, as is the Vulcan winding engine. The intactness of the cyanide plant relates to its recent use and is not common in the Mareeba Mining District.
|Buildings and plant are relatively intact and the complete gold mining process from raising the ore to the final extraction of gold through the milling and cyanidation processes, can be traced through the physical evidence remaining on site.
|(Criterion under review)
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion F","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15530,"place_ref":600755,"name":"Cairns Railway, Section from Redlynch to Crooked Creek Bridge","alternate_name":"Surprise Creek Rail Bridge | Kuranda Railway Station | Rail Bridge over Christmas Creek | Stoney Creek Bridge | Cairns to Kuranda Railway","street_address":null,"suburb":"KURANDA","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-08-21","description":"The Cairns Railway, Section from Redlynch to Crooked Creek Bridge is an approximately 23km long rail corridor commencing at Redlynch Railway Station (near Cairns) and following a circuitous route northwest to Crooked Creek Bridge (near Mareeba) in far north Queensland. In 2020 the line is operational, primarily as a scenic, passenger travel train.
\nRedlynch Railway Station
\nRedlynch Railway Station (11.6km from Cairns Railway Station) is located northwest of the Cairns CBD at the intersection of Kamerunga Road and Redlynch Intake Road. The main station building (c1887) stands adjacent to Kamerunga Road, elevated from street level on steel poles to the level of the rail platform, which runs along the building’s northwest side. The building is a small, rectangular timber-framed and chamferboard-clad structure with a corrugated metal sheet-clad gable roof, which extends on the platform side to form a verandah supported by timber brackets, supplemented by later steel pipe frames. The building retains original or early timber-framed doors and windows, including casement and double-hung windows, board-lined doors, and large folding doors, as well as fixed ventilation panels of timber louvres. Some early window and door hardware has been retained as well as early acid etched glass.
\nThe building layout comprises a goods room at the southwest end, an office and a passenger waiting area at the centre, and a ladies’ toilet at the northeast end. The goods room includes a small store room with shelves. The partition between the goods room and the office has been removed. The office space retains some original or early timber counters, and a stable door and ticket window through to the waiting room. The waiting room has a large, glazed double folding door onto the platform and retains timber bench seating fixed to the perimeter of the room. The ladies’ toilet, accessed from the platform, accommodates one basin area and stall with glazed timber door. The interior side of the external walls is not lined and internal partitions are timber-framed and single-skin. The floors are lined with timber boards as are the ceilings in the goods room and office – the waiting room and ladies’ toilet do not have a ceiling.
\nTo the southwest of the station building is the remains of gardens with concrete retaining walls to Kamerunga Road.
\nJust northeast of the passenger station building is a freestanding men's toilet block. Standing on a concrete slab elevated on low concrete stumps, it is a small, timber-framed building clad with chamferboard and has a skillion roof clad with corrugated metal sheets. Projecting from the platform side is a corrugated metal sheet-clad entrance porch, shielding the entrance, and there is a glass louvre window on the opposite (southeast) elevation.
\nNortheast of the station building on the other (north) side of the rail line is an earth loading bank with concrete retaining wall.
\nTo the southwest of the station building, past the railway crossing, a short branch of railway track survives at the beginning of the former western arm of the turning triangle.
\nRedlynch Railway Station to Stoney Creek Railway Station
\nFrom Redlynch Railway Station, the railway line heads south to Horseshoe Bend, before heading north along the eastern side of the Lamb Range and turning west into Barron Gorge and then to Stoney Creek Railway Station, approximately 11km along the line.
\nOn this length there are 16 bridges, 13 tunnels, and other features. In order they are (measured from Cairns Railway Station) (bridge numbering is derived for the purposes of this description and should not be confused with the historical numbering of the bridges, which changed over time):
\nStoney Creek Railway Station
\nSoon after Tunnel 13 is Stoney Creek Railway Station (22.53km from Cairns Railway Station), standing in a cutting within the Stoney Creek Gorge forest. It comprises a siding branch running off and parallel to the main line, re-joining it at the west end of the station. A shelter shed stands between the siding and the main line. The shed has an earth floor and a hipped roof, and is enclosed on its southern side with a part-height single-skin, timber-framed chamferboard wall with an unglazed window. An office enclosure is at the south east corner of the shed made of timber-framed single-skin walls of chamferboards. Walls and posts are mounted on low-height concrete walls. The office has unglazed window frames on its south and west sides, a pivoting timber window on its east side, and a timber door on its north side.
\nSouth of the siding, at either end of the station, are large stone-pitched open drains. At the west end of the station, uphill of where the siding re-joins the main line, is a water tower, with a sand shed to its west. The two-tier cast iron square water tank stands on timber supports, with its disconnected jib lying underneath. The skillion-roofed sand shed is clad in corrugated metal sheets, has two doors at the front, and stands on concrete base walls.
\nStoney Creek Railway Station to Kuranda Railway Station (approximately 10.7km)
\nFrom Stoney Creek Railway Station, the railway line heads across Stoney Creek, through the remainder of Stoney Creek Gorge, before heading north along the eastern side of the Lamb Range to Kuranda Railway Station, approximately 10.7km along the line.
\nOn this length there are 22 bridges, two tunnels, and other features. In order they are (measured from Cairns Railway Station):
\nKuranda Railway Station
\nKuranda Railway Station (33.23km from Cairns Railway Station) is located on the northeast edge of the town of Kuranda and is the northernmost operating station in Queensland.
\nThe station area is roughly rectangular and stretches northwest to southeast against the curving edge of the Barron River. Built on a raised island platform with rail lines passing either side, the station comprises a number of detached buildings, the largest being the passenger station building.
\nThe passenger station building stands centrally on the island platform and is a modest one storey rectangular building in a Federation-era style. Its walls are concrete to window sill height with horizontal precast concrete planks above, slotted into a concrete frame. It has a hipped-gable roof with hipped-gable dormers and metal Boyle's ridge ventilators, and on either long side it has an upswept, cantilevering awning over the platform, supported on steel lattice trusses. The roof is clad with non-original ribbed metal sheets, replacing the original tiles.
\nThe building accommodates a semi-enclosed booking lobby at the northwest end, station master's office, waiting shed open to the platforms, ladies toilets, passage between platforms, and at the southeastern end a gift shop and cafe, with an attached kitchen in a lean-to extension.
\nThe building has timber-framed doors with glazed fanlights, double-hung windows, and arched battened timber valances around the entrances into the booking lobby, waiting shed, and passage. Interior finishes are generally unpainted concrete floors and walls, and timber board-lined ceilings with latticed ventilation grilles. The ticket windows in the booking lobby have decorative steel grilles and between them hangs a timber World War I Roll of Honour commemorating Kuranda School Past Pupils. The building is enhanced by potted palms, ferns, and hanging baskets of tropical rainforest plants.
\nSubsidiary structures stand on the island platform to the southeast of the passenger station building, including a signal cabin and a utilities block. Both are also constructed using a precast concrete system and have non-original ribbed metal sheet-clad roofs.
\nThe signal cabin is a small rectangular one-roomed building with a Dutch-gable roof. It has timber-framed casement windows in a continuous ribbon on three elevations and the remaining elevation (northwest) has only a centrally positioned timber panelled door. The interior has a timber floor elevated above platform level and a timber board-lined ceiling. It contains a McKenzie and Holland 37-lever mechanical signal frame. Elements of the interlocked signalling system include the signal frame and its mechanism, plus all linkages, points, points indicators and signal towers located around the station yard.
\nThe utilities block is a small rectangular building with a Dutch-gable roof. It accommodates a men’s toilet, former lamp room (accessible toilet), and two store rooms. It has timber-framed double hung windows. A small hip roof projection shelters the entrance to the men's toilet.
\nAlso standing on the platform is a series of large garden beds at both ends of the platform.
\nThe platform contains structures that are not of state-level cultural heritage significance including: a 2005 stone cairn memorial to the building of the Kuranda Range Railway; a modern shade structure with a Dutch-gable roof; and a pedestrian overbridge and luggage lift (modern replacements of originals).
\nBeyond the platform are other features of the place. An old steel telephone pole stands near the overbridge, on the town (west) side of the line. Also on the town side stands the former station master's residence. This is a timber-famed building clad in chamferboards with an enclosed front and side verandah and a hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheets. Standing further northwest is a railway turntable.
\nStanding southeast on the town side of the line is a goods shed with a gabled roof. It stands on timber stumps, and its walls and roof are clad with corrugated metal sheets. Adjacent to it is a loading platform of timber supported on steel poles. Further to the southeast, east of the line, stands a three-bay trolley shed (pre-1982) with a skillion roof and walls and roof clad with corrugated metal sheets. A two-lever ground frame with attached signals and points stands nearby.
\nFour semaphore signal towers, which include kerosene lanterns with coloured lenses, also stand in the southeast area, including one near the goods shed and a three arm tower near the trolley shed. A further signal tower stands outside the passenger station building and two further semaphore towers stand to the northeast of the passenger station building, including a second three arm tower.
\nThe station grounds contains features and structures that are not of state-level cultural heritage significance including: an old steel carriage used for storage; and a modern driver's quarters (opposite the goods shed).
\nKuranda Railway Station to Crooked Creek Bridge (approximately 1.5km)
\nOn leaving Kuranda Railway Station the line follows the curving Barron River northwest for a short distance to Crooked Creek Bridge, which crosses Crooked Creek, a small tributary.
\nFeatures Not of State-Level Cultural Heritage Significance
\nFeatures of the place not of state-level cultural heritage significance at stations and along the line include:
\nThe Redlynch to the Crooked Creek Bridge portion of the Cairns Railway constitutes most of the second section (Redlynch to Myola) of a planned railway line to Herberton. It ascends the coastal range and travels around Stoney Creek Gorge and through the Barron Gorge, to a height of 327.7m at Barron Falls Railway Station. It proceeds through Kuranda Railway Station 21.7km from Redlynch, to Crooked Creek Bridge 23.2km from Redlynch. Built between April 1887 and June 1891 through a steep and slip-prone landscape, the section is a feat of engineering, which in 2020 included 15 concrete-lined tunnels, 15 steel bridges, and 24 timber bridges (from Redlynch Railway Station up to and including Crooked Creek Bridge).
\nA new railway
\nMining provided the original impetus for building a railway line up to the Atherton Tablelands from Cairns. Cooktown thrived as a port for the Palmer River goldfield, discovered in 1873, but it was too far from the Hodgkinson goldfield, discovered further south in early 1876. Trinity Bay was chosen as the port for the Hodgkinson; the first settlers arrived in October 1876 and Cairns became a port of entry on 1 November 1876.[1] However, the founding of Port Douglas in 1877 almost stifled Cairns, as the former provided an easier access route to the Hodgkinson. When tin was discovered on the Wild River in 1880, the road from Port Douglas to Herberton was also preferred to the pack tracks from Cairns.
\nCairns salvaged its economy after a heavy wet season in early 1882 closed the road from Port Douglas, resulting in calls for a railway from Herberton to the coast. Linking mining areas to ports by railway was already government policy. In August 1877 the Queensland government had approved three railways to connect mining towns to their principal ports: Charters Towers to Townsville; Mt Perry to Bundaberg; and Gympie to Maryborough.
\nThe Minister for Works, JM Macrossan, commissioned the explorer Christie Palmerston to find a route from Herberton to Cairns or Port Douglas; but in August 1882 Palmerston reported that there was no natural route. The Johnstone Divisional Board commissioned Palmerston to find a route to Mourilyan Harbour during late 1882, but as the Board failed to pay him, Palmerston did not report his findings.
\nThe search for a rail route continued, with the Railway Department's surveyor, George William Monk, arriving in Cairns in April 1883. Surveys of the various possible routes to Cairns, Port Douglas and Mourilyan were carried out by Monk and other surveyors and in late 1884 Robert Ballard, the Railway Department's Chief Engineer (Central and Northern Railway Division) reported to the Commissioner for Railways the cost would be the same from any of the three rival termini, but Cairns was the better port.[2] The preferred route from Cairns was via the Barron Gorge, although the Mulgrave River had also been considered. The government's decision in favour of Cairns was announced, much to the outrage of Port Douglas residents, on 10 September 1884. The decision to build the railway from Cairns ensured that it became the preeminent town in far north Queensland; yet the Barron Gorge was chosen in ignorance of its unstable geology,[3] which later proved costly in both money and lives.
\nConstruction of the Line
\nParliament approved plans for the first 24 miles (38.6km) of the Cairns to Herberton railway in late 1885[4] but the contract let to Messrs PC Smith and Co. on 1 April 1886 was only for the first 8 miles (12.9km). On 10 May 1886, the Premier Sir Samuel Griffith turned the first sod. Smith lacked the experience for even such a short section and McBride and Co took over the contract in November 1886. The government then had to take over from McBride in July 1887.[5] The first section opened on 8 October 1887 and the terminus was soon named Redlynch. In 1911 a deviation shortened the first section, meaning that Redlynch was no longer at the eight-mile mark from Cairns.
\nThe ascent of the range to Kuranda began with the awarding of the 15 mile [6] (24.1km) second section of the contract (Redlynch to Myola) to John Robb of Melbourne in January 1887 for £290,984. Robb was an experienced contractor, and brought hundreds of men to the job. Robb also had mining, rural and business interests in South Australia, New South Wales and Melbourne, where he was a founding director of the Federal Bank in 1881. The Kuranda ascent was his most significant work, but his company's other contracts included Tasmania's and Western Australia's first railways. He returned home to Toorak when he left Cairns, was declared insolvent in October 1894 and died in May 1896, aged 62.[7]
\nWork on the second section began in April 1887. To aid construction Robb built a 2km branch line from Redlynch to the main construction camp at Kamerunga beside the Barron River, and public trains extended to Kamerunga from 20 October 1888. This branch line ran northwest from Redlynch Railway Station, up Kamerunga Road, before diverting north of Kamerunga Road near its intersection with Fairweather Road and continuing northwest towards the intersection of Harley and Sandwich Roads, Kamerunga.[8] Robb planned to work at various points along the line simultaneously, and tracks ran from Kamerunga to the sites for tunnels 2, 3, 6 and 9, to the Stoney Creek Bridge site and to The Springs.[9]
\nOne feature of interest near the beginning of section two is Horseshoe Bend, located after the third timber bridge from Redlynch. In December 1888 the embankment at the bend was described as 51 feet (15.5m) high, 15 feet (4.6m) wide at the top, and 170 feet (51.8m) wide at the base, and was sown with Couch grass (Cynodon dactylon) on the sides.[10] The embankment has since been widened using landslide material. Section two used Horseshoe Bend to gain height, followed by the line ascending to the top of Barron Falls. The section then followed the Barron River to Kuranda, terminating at Myola, almost 3km past Kuranda. Nineteen tunnels had been originally planned between Horseshoe Bend and Barron Falls Railway Station, but four (two between Stoney Creek and Tunnel 14 and two at Red Bluff) were subsequently replaced by cuttings. Sand from the bed of the Barron River was used as the base material for concrete work on the second section; all the tunnels were concrete lined, and culverts and drains were also built in concrete.
\nThe replacement of brick or stone with concrete for tunnel linings was a recent technical development in Queensland. Concrete was first used during the extension of the Southern Railway from Warwick to Stanthorpe (constructed 1878-81) due to the influence of civil engineer Charles Lambert Depree. Resident engineer on the extension from 1875-1878, Depree is attributed with the design of concrete culverts, the Gorge Dam retaining wall and the Cherry Gully tunnel [QHR 601517] on the line. Although the Cherry Gully tunnel was the first tunnel in Queensland to use concrete, it was partially constructed with brick. HC Stanley, Chief Engineer of the Railway Department, reported in 1880 that the use of concrete, instead of bricks, for the tunnel provided a considerable saving for the department. The 1882 Normanby Tunnel (no longer extant) on the Brisbane exhibition loop was wholly constructed of concrete, followed by the Woolloongabba Branch Tunnel in 1884 (no longer extant). A concrete-lined tunnel (extant) was also constructed c1887-1889 at Ernest Junction, on the South Coast Railway Line [QHR 650228].[11]
\nThe Cairns Railway's range ascent tunnels represent the largest group of tunnels in Queensland and were the 24th to 38th of the 64 tunnels opened in Queensland from 1866 to 1996.[12] By 30 January 1889 tunnels 1 and 2 were finished; Tunnel 3 was in a forward state, while 4-9 and 12-13 were ready for lining. Tunnels 10 and 11 had headings through only, while tunnels 16 and 19 were not yet opened. Work was authorised on the redesigned and lengthened Tunnel 19 in December 1889. Due to the cancellation of four tunnels, tunnels 16 and 19 were renumbered as today's tunnels 14 and 15.
\nAs well as tunnels, bridgework was a major element of the construction work on the second section. The total length of steel required to complete the bridgework was around 800 feet (244m). The steel work was all cut, fitted and partly riveted by Walkers Ltd of Maryborough. In 2020 the steel bridges between Redlynch and Kuranda included: six with lattice girders; plus Steel Bridge 9 (historically called Bridge 42) (1890), where fishbelly plate cross-girders have been reused as main span members; Mervyn Creek Bridge (which replaced an earlier timber bridge in the 1920s); and Jumrum Creek Bridge, which although mainly timber has a steel central span (the bridge was reconstructed in 1962). There were also five very short steel bridges by 2020. About 1.5km past Kuranda is Crooked Creek Bridge, which in about 1900 reused (shortened) plate girders from the 1867 Jumrum Creek Bridge on the Main Range. The bridge has been strengthened with new steel piers either side of the concrete pier, and its replacement steel cross girders also originally came from Jumrum Creek Bridge on the Main Range.[13]
\nThere were 24 timber trestle bridges extant in 2020, but none of these retain their original timber. The local scrub hickory originally used in the bridges was of poor quality, requiring replacement work in the 1890s to 1900s.[14] Components of the timber bridges are also gradually being replaced with steel, due to the scarcity of suitable hardwood, and over the years some bridges have been replaced with concrete culverts.
\nThe steel bridges have retained their integrity to a greater degree. The six steel lattice-girder bridges were all built during the construction of the second section. Three are located at Stoney Creek, Surprise Creek, and Christmas Creek.
\nStoney Creek Bridge in front of Stoney Creek Falls, is built on a 4 chain (80m) radius curve and was designed by the government engineer John Gwynneth.[15] The design is unique in Queensland, the curve being the only way to avoid tunnelling. By the end of 1887 the concrete foundations on which the wrought iron trestles (Phoenix columns) were erected were well underway.[16] It is one of only two Queensland railway bridges constructed with wrought iron trestles, the other being Christmas Creek Bridge, further up the line.[17] A visit to Cairns by the Governor of Queensland, Sir Henry Norman, in April 1890 was taken as an opportunity to inspect the construction works. A marquee, covering a banquet table and open to the waterfall, had been set up on the almost completed Stoney Creek Bridge with planks laid over the sleepers. There were no speeches due to the roar of the waterfall immediately behind the bridge.[18] The bridge passed load testing on 30 June 1890.
\nIn the period of the early 1900s large quantities of rock in the vicinity of the bridge were removed, due to the risk of rock falls. Work was carried out in 1916 to strengthen riveted connections, and in 1922 timber longitudinals were substituted for the ballast flooring of the original bridge, to reduce corrosion problems.
\nStoney Creek Bridge is one of the most photographed bridges in Australia due to the spectacular beauty of its location. Historian John Kerr called it 'the best-known structure on a line with the most spectacular scenery on the Queensland Railways'.[19] Trains would halt on the bridge and passengers could leave the train to walk along the bridge for a short period of time. In order to strengthen and improve the safety of the bridge, in the late 1990s new steel longitudinals were added under the bridge, the timber decking was replaced with steel grating and the walkways at the sides of the bridge were widened to improve maintenance access. The legs of the iron trestles were also reinforced.
\nSurprise Creek Bridge was constructed in 1890-91. Originally the main span had timber approaches, but these were replaced in the late 1890s by pin-jointed steel lattice trusses recycled from an older bridge. New interior steel longitudinals were added under the bridge in the late 1990s.
\nChristmas Creek Bridge was built in 1891. Some cross girders have been replaced after they rusted out.
\nThe construction of the section's tunnels and bridges required a lot of labour. Queensland signed a special treaty with Italy in order to obtain indentured Italian workers, and many Irishmen were employed. At the height of construction up to 1500 workers were employed along the length of line.
\nThe tunnelling work was done by hand. The usual danger from the extensive use of explosives in the tunnels and cuttings was increased by the unstable nature of the rock and the steep drop down the side of the Barron Gorge. The average slope of the ground was 45 degrees, covered with a disjointed layer of decomposed soil and rock varying in depth from 5 to 8m. Robb had to dig deep into hillsides to find solid ground, and multiple deviations from the original surveyed route also increased his costs. Red Bluff and Glacier Rock were exposed when earth, rocks and trees were removed,[20] again by hand, from above the line (escarpments had to be cleared and levelled back).
\nAt least 23 accidental deaths occurred during construction of the second section, the main causes being premature blasting, injuries from rock falls and cave-ins, and falling.[21] One man, Giovanni Zappa, fell 250m into the Barron Gorge in September 1888. Other deaths resulted from malaria, ticks, scrub typhus (mites), dysentery, fevers, and snakes. Hundreds of men were injured, but despite the existence of the Queensland Employers' Liability Act 1886, only one worker was compensated.[22] Other labour issues led to the formation of a trade union - the United Sons of Toil, which called a strike in late 1890.[23]
\nDuring construction navvies' camps were established at most of the cuttings and at each of the bridges or tunnels along the range section. The main townships other than Kamerunga included New Cairns (later Jungara); Rocky Creek Falls (between tunnels 8 and 9); Stoney Creek; The Springs (between tunnels 14 and 15); Red Bluff; and Camp Oven Creek (just past Tunnel 15).[24] There were also small towns at Tunnel 3, Surprise Creek, and Gray's Pocket on Rainbow Creek above the falls.[25] These small townships of tents and portable buildings usually had at least one hotel, a general store, and a boarding house for single men. At Stoney Creek Falls, Patrick Paton's hotel possessed a billiard room, dining room, bar, ballroom and 28 double rooms, while New Cairns below the Horseshoe Bend had a hotel, sawmill, and at least two general stores. In all 26 hotels were licensed to operate from Kamerunga and Redlynch to Kuranda from 1886 to 1888.[26]
\nDue to the difficulty of the project both the contract price and the completion date of 26 July 1888 were greatly exceeded. After a very wet season in 1891 there was major damage to the track; about 140 metres of ground slipped and an embankment at one tunnel collapsed and required the ground to be drained.
\nWhen Tunnel 15 and Surprise Creek Bridge were completed by 14 March 1891, it marked the end of major works. The last rails were laid for the second section in May 1891 and the line opened for goods traffic to Myola on 15 June; and for passengers 10 days later.[27]
\nDespite the difficulties encountered during construction, the line proved to be well built, a tribute to Willoughby Hannam, Chief Engineer for Railways, Northern and Carpentaria Division (from 1885 to 1889), who had to survey many deviations when the original route proved impossible to construct. Hannam was succeeded by Chief Engineer Annett.[28]
\nIn common with all railway contracts, the price was calculated by multiplying the quantity of each type of work required by the quoted price and summing up the individual amounts. If the survey was altered to require more excavation, the government paid for the extra at the schedule rate. The unstable nature of the terrain in the second section meant that the slopes of cuttings and banks had to be reduced. As Robb had to remove five times as much material as originally estimated for cuttings and tunnels, he was eventually paid £880,406. He claimed a further £262,311, but only received £20,807 of this after arbitration. With rails and other costs, the second section cost the Queensland Government £1,007,857; the most expensive line in Queensland.[29]
\nThe huge cost overrun on the second section, along with the financial depression of the early 1890s, delayed the Cairns Railway's extension to Herberton. The contract for section three (Myola to Granite Creek/Mareeba) was awarded to Alexander McKenzie & Co. in early 1891 (Robb’s tender failed) and this section was opened on 1 August 1893.[30] A lack of funding meant that the line stopped at Mareeba for some time. It did not open to Atherton until 1903 and to Herberton until October 1910. By this time timber and agriculture, rather than tin, drove the railway's extension and the line was extended past Herberton. It opened to Tumoulin in July 1911 and finally to Cedar Creek (Ravenshoe) in December 1916. Meanwhile, a branch line from Tolga opened to Yungaburra in March 1910, to Malanda in December 1910, and to Millaa Millaa in December 1921.[31]
\nKuranda Railway Station
\nBy 1891 Kuranda Railway Station was the most important station on the second section. It had also become a tourist destination due to its proximity to the Barron Falls. Kuranda was surveyed in 1888 in anticipation of development which would accompany the arrival of the railway and the first station buildings were relocated from Kamerunga after services to the latter location ended in 1891. The station master's house from Kamerunga was also moved to Kuranda, in 1908.[32] By 1913 Kuranda Railway Station included (from northwest to southeast) the office, a separate refreshment room (operated by the proprietor of the Kuranda Hotel from 1894), men's and women's toilets and a goods shed. Construction of the Chillagoe Company's private railway lines from Mareeba to Chillagoe and Forsayth, during 1898-1901 and 1907-1910 respectively,[33] increased freight traffic through Kuranda, and tourist traffic was also increasing prior to World War I.
\nA 1910 report had recommended a new station building at Kuranda on an island platform that could be made ornamental by planting trees. Vincent Price was in charge of the architectural section of the Railway Department's Chief Engineer's Office when the passenger station block, described by the Chief Engineer as 'after the style of a Swiss Chalet, the idea being to make Kuranda a show station',[34] was designed in 1911. Modified plans were drawn in 1913-14, and included the main station building (with booking lobby, booking office, waiting shed, ladies’ toilets, passage, refreshment room, kitchen, pantry, scullery and kitchen yard); a signal cabin; and a utilities block (with men’s toilet, porter's room, store room, and lamp room). Each of these three buildings was constructed of precast concrete units, in a Federation style with a Marseilles terracotta tile roof.
\nExpansion of the station began in 1913 and continued into 1915. Changes involved the extension of the platform and yard, the signalling and interlocking of the station and the construction of a timber overbridge and new station buildings. The main station building was 'nearing completion' by September 1914.[35] Its main spaces survive, although the former refreshment room and kitchen are now the gift shop and café, and the former kitchen yard is now a lean-to extension.
\nOne of the earliest stations to be built in Australia using standard precast concrete units, Kuranda is the second oldest remaining example of its type in Queensland. Two earlier examples at Northgate (1911-12) and Chelmer (1913) in Brisbane have both been demolished, while another example opened at Ascot [QHR 602195] in February 1914[36] survives. A luggage lift from the overbridge to the platform, installed in 1915, was demolished after 1939, but a new lift with a shed at its base has been built since 1994.
\nThe signal cabin included a fully interlocking McKenzie and Holland 37-lever mechanical signal frame (still extant). Before railway 'safeworking' systems were computerised and centralised in Queensland, mechanical signals were controlled from signal cabins, which dealt with the traffic on a particular block of railway line. Signal cabins coordinated signals that indicated whether or not a section of track was clear of other traffic. Early signals were mechanical, while later signals were operated electrically. The most common form of mechanical signal was the semaphore signal. These consisted of a metal framed tower with one or more arms that could be inclined at different angles, with the arm at the horizontal signalling 'danger', or do not proceed. Examples of this form of signalling system survive at Kuranda Railway Station. At night, lights were necessary, and kerosene lamps with movable coloured spectacles displayed different colours, including green (proceed), yellow (prepare to find next signal red), and red (stop).
\nTo coordinate signals so that it is impossible to give a 'clear' signal to a train unless the route is actually clear, the signals could be interlocked. An interlocked yard is a railway yard where semaphore or coloured light signals are controlled in such a way that the signals will not allow a train to proceed unless the points that operate in conjunction with the signals are correctly set. A mechanical interlocking device, located under a mechanical signal frame, is a system of rods, sliding bars and levers that are configured so that points cannot be changed in conflict, thus preventing movements that may cause a collision or other accident.
\nAlthough 169 Queensland railway stations had interlocking by 1918,[37] mechanical interlocking technology eventually became obsolete, as electrical interlocking or electro-pneumatic systems replaced it. Computerised Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) signalling systems now control most of the network.
\nAs well as the station buildings, signals and interlocking, the station was beautified. The ornamental planting proposed in the 1910 scheme was developed by George Wreidt and Bert Wickham, both station masters at Kuranda. The tropical vegetation in the platform's gardens and under the platform shelters helped to soften the lines of the station, which first won the Northern Division of the Railways' Annual Garden Competition in 1915 and was so often the winner in subsequent years that it became folklore that Kuranda won every year.
\nBy 1927 the station included a goods shed to the southeast of the main platform, and a turntable at the northwest end of the station. The current turntable is apparently smaller than the original, which was relocated to Port Douglas.[38] Elements that were present in 1932 which no longer exist include a motor shed by the turntable, and signalman's, ganger's and waitresses' quarters to the south of the station near Arara Street.
\nDue to the position of the station at the top of the range climb the station played a key role in freight handling. Extra trains would usually run to Kuranda where their load was transferred, as trains operating west of Kuranda were able to haul double the load they could carry up the range.
\nAs well as freight services, tourist trains ran to Kuranda, although the tourist service was not a formal part of the public timetable of the Queensland Railways until the 1960s.[39] The tourist potential of the second section was recognised early on, with Cairns Alderman Macnamara in September 1887 calling it a great engineering feat, which 'would prove a great attraction to tourists from all parts of the globe'.[40] In 1893 local representatives from the Barron Divisional Board met with the Railway Commissioners to discuss a proposed viewing stop on the line for the Barron Falls.[41]
\nThe growth of tourism in Kuranda was linked to the popularity of the passenger services of the Adelaide Steamship Company, the Australian United Navigation Company and Australian Steamships (Howard Smith Ltd). Travellers from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne came to Cairns by ship until the opening of the rail line to Brisbane in 1924. In the early 20th century Queensland Railways published a brochure called 'Train Trips While the Steamer Waits' which urged tourists not to miss the unsurpassable natural beauty of the mountains, best seen by taking the train to Kuranda. Another early tourist booklet 'The Glory of Kuranda' describes the station as the most picturesque in Queensland. In the late 1930s a 'Grandstand Train' ran to Kuranda. This had special carriages with two rows of tiered seats both looking out the same side, through scenic windows.
\nTourist travel stopped after Japan’s entry into World War II (WWII). However, Kuranda was one of the busiest stations at this time, handling freight for the many troops which were stationed on the Atherton Tablelands from early 1943 for rest, rehabilitation and training in a malaria-free environment close to New Guinea. Rail traffic was so great that the road from Cairns to Kuranda was constructed to relieve congestion. [42]
\nDiesel-electric locomotives were introduced onto the Cairns-Kuranda railway in 1959, and tourism recovered after World War II, with a 100 percent increase in passengers between 1965 and 1975.[43] During the 1960s Kuranda became an alternative lifestyle centre, and the Sunday Markets which began in the late 1970s boosted tourism to the town and the railway station, as did the building of the Skyrail ride in the mid-1990s.[44] By 2003 some 500,000 people visited Barron Gorge National Park each year via the Kuranda Scenic Railway,[45] often returning on the Skyrail.
\nThe tiled roofs of the station buildings were replaced with plain iron sheet in 1961 which was in turn replaced by ribbed metal sheeting in 1989-90. The southern section of the foot bridge was rebuilt in steel in 1990, and the northern section has since also been replaced in steel. The station master’s house survives just to the northwest of the railway station, although its verandahs have been enclosed.
\nOver time, other stations between Redlynch and Myola have included Jungara, Stoney Creek, The Springs, Barron Falls, Hydro, and Fairyland. Only Redlynch, Stoney Creek, Barron Falls and Kuranda retain any built structures, and those at Barron Falls are modern.
\nRedlynch Railway Station
\nIn 2020 the remaining infrastructure at Redlynch Railway Station included a station building with garden area, a men's toilet, and a loading bank. The core of the station building existed by 1890, although it originally had a curved roof.[46] The building may date from the opening of the first section of the Cairns Railway in 1887, as in August 1888 plans were afoot to erect station buildings at Kamerunga 'similar to those at Redlynch'.[47] The Kamerunga Railway Station building also had a curved roof and was later moved to Kuranda when the second section was opened in 1891. The steel pipe framing under the current verandah at Redlynch was once used to hang pot plants.
\nAn 1899 plan of the Redlynch Railway Station building included a store (2.4m), waiting shed (3m) and an office (3m). Around this time the office was extended another 2.4m to the southwest, with a ladies room (3.7m) added at the southwest end of the building. There was a partition for a toilet in the latter, which seems to have survived when the ladies room was converted into a goods area circa 1954. At this time the store at the northeast end of the building became the new ladies room, and a separate men’s room was constructed northeast of the station building.
\nThe wall between the office and the former ladies room has since been removed, and the roof is now gabled rather than curved. A World War II photo of the building shows weatherboard cladding at the northeast end. A goods shed present in a 1954 site plan, northeast of the shelter shed, is no longer extant. In this plan a timber stage was located west of the shelter shed at the end of a siding, on the site of the present car park. A station master's cottage was located within the turning triangle to the southwest of the shelter shed, but this has been replaced by modern buildings for a Queensland Rail (QR) maintenance gang.[48] Redlynch Railway Station was also known to have an impressive garden display, receiving a runner up award in 1939 for the northern division of the Queensland Railway Station Garden Awards.[49] The garden with concrete retaining wall located west of the passenger station building is likely the remains of the 1939 garden bed.
\nA log-faced loading bank is shown being constructed at in December 1943, (annotated on a 1927 site plan) in the position of the current concrete-faced loading bank, located northeast of the station building. This loading bank may have been related to the military’s use of Redlynch Railway Station, which was close to two wartime facilities. From late 1943 a US Army hospital (taken over by the Australian Army in early 1944) was located off Shaw’s Road at Jungara, south of Redlynch. In addition, the 16th Australian Personnel Staging Camp was established less than 1km northwest of Redlynch Railway Station, off Harley Street, with an entrance from Kamerunga Road. By mid-1943 this staging camp, which rationed and supplied solders transiting through Cairns on their way to the front lines, as well as troops on their way to the Atherton Tablelands, was visited by thousands of allied soldiers.[50]
\nStoney Creek Railway Station
\nAt Stoney Creek Railway Station, a gatehouse was erected in 1909. By 1911 the complex included an open shelter shed with an enclosed office, plus a ladies' room with a curved roof to the east.[51] By 1936 the complex consisted of the shelter shed; ladies' room; a water tank for steam trains, supplied from Stoney Creek Falls and a sand shed (west end of station); plus two fettler's camping quarters and a trolley and tool shed (either side of track, east end of station). Only the shelter shed, the water tank and the sand shed survive. The latter was once used to refill sandboxes on trains, which enabled dry sand to be dropped onto the tracks to assist traction. In the 1980s a telephone line and its poles were removed. The siding is used by QR maintenance gangs to wait for tourist trains to pass, and the shelter shed is used when it is raining. Exotic plantings in the station's gardens have been replaced by native species, in keeping with the National Park, although mature mango trees of heritage significance have been retained.
\nFor many years, Stoney Creek was notable for its gardens of coloured tropical foliage. This site was always expected to have tourism value - during construction, a piano was laboriously brought up the range to the Stoney Creek Hotel. The owner optimistically expected that future tourists would stay at his hotel to view the falls.[52] The Kuranda Scenic Railway (running from Cairns to Kuranda) no longer stops at this station.
\nChange since construction
\nSince construction of the second section, the weather and geology have continued to impact on the line. There were landslides during 1894, 1896, 1904, 1909 and 1910, but the biggest disruption occurred in the summer of 1910-11. Slips in December 1910 resulted in a tramway being built to bypass Tunnel 10, which was blocked on the Kuranda side, and the line was closed for 10 weeks. There were more slips and washouts in late March 1911, with interruptions to traffic until the end of April 1911.
\nIn 1939 18m of the Cairns end of Tunnel 14 required reinforcing, and the thinner concrete formwork is visible. There were also serious disruptions in March-April 1954 due to a landslide. The continued threat of rock falls and slips have meant that rock anchors have been deployed on boulders above the Stoney Creek Falls, and large barrier fences have been erected in places above the line.
\nThe original rails were replaced in the 1990s, from 60 lbs (27.2kg) per yard (0.9m) weight, to 41kg per metre. One in every four sleepers are now steel, with a one in two ratio on curves with a radius under 120m. Some cuttings were also widened in the 1980s and 1990s. Most cuttings are in earth or rock, but some have concrete lining or stone pitching in parts. Some timber bridge components, such as the piles or headstocks of trestles, have been replaced by steel, or whole trestles have been replaced by concrete piers. There are a large number of small open concrete drains passing under the line. Early cast concrete pipes and culverts (not reinforced) along the line will be replaced with reinforced concrete pipes if the originals collapse.
","criteria":"The portion of the Cairns Railway between Redlynch and Crooked Creek Bridge was built 1887-91 as part of a railway to the tin-mining town of Herberton. The railway's ascent of the coastal range demonstrates the Queensland Government's policy of building railways from ports to inland mining centres to promote economic growth.
\nThe Cairns Railway is closely associated with the economic development of Cairns and the surrounding region. As a result of its selection as Herberton's port, Cairns became the largest town in Far North Queensland. Although the railway did not reach Herberton until 1910, the ascent of the range facilitated timber getting and then farming on the Atherton Tableland.
\nThe place is also closely associated with the development of tourism in Far North Queensland. From 1891 the second section of the Cairns Railway facilitated visits to Stoney Creek Falls and the Barron Falls, and Stoney Creek Station and Kuranda Station became important stops for visitors. The township of Kuranda and Kuranda Railway Station remain major tourist attractions.
\nRedlynch Railway Station is significant as it contains early infrastructure located at the end of the first section of the Cairns Railway (built 1886-1887), and is the start of the ascent to Kuranda.
|Kuranda Railway Station includes three early (c.1914) surviving Queensland examples of pre-cast concrete railway station buildings, and has one of the few mechanically interlocked signal cabins still commissioned in Queensland. The complex is also a rare surviving resort station, comparable with those at Spring Bluff [Main Range Railway, QHR 601480] and Yeppoon [QHR 602563].
\nStoney Creek Station has a rare combination of scenic beauty and evidence of its past role as a service point for steam trains climbing the coastal range. The water tank provides rare surviving evidence of the age of steam trains in Queensland, and the sand shed is also rare.
\nThe design of the curved, steel lattice girder Stoney Creek Bridge is unique in Queensland's railways. It and Christmas Creek Bridge are also the only two Queensland railway bridges constructed with wrought iron trestles.
\nSteel Bridge 9 (historically called Bridge 42) employs reused fishbelly plate cross-girders as its main span members, which is rare.
\nSurprise Creek Bridge is one of a small group of bridges extant in Queensland with pin jointed spans.
\nChristmas Creek Bridge is a rare example using both lattice girder and lattice truss span members.
|The sites of former camps and townships within the railway reserve between Redlynch and Crooked Creek Bridge have the archaeological potential to reveal information on the organisation and domestic life of 1880s railway camps in Queensland.
|The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a railway range crossing, incorporating 15 tunnels, 15 steel bridges and 24 timber bridges. The line's tight curves, embankments, cuttings, culverts and drains are also characteristic of the engineering techniques needed to traverse steep, unstable terrain. The culverts and drains are vital in a tropical climate with a high rainfall.
\nKuranda Railway Station is an intact station complex and is an excellent example of the work of the architectural section of the Railway Department's Chief Engineer’s Office under Vincent Price.
\nThe main elements of Kuranda Station which contribute to an understanding of the how the complex functioned include the concrete main station building, its platform and garden beds; the concrete male toilet block; the concrete signal cabin with its associated mechanical signal frame, linkages, semaphore signal towers, points, and points indicators; the goods shed; the trolley shed; the Station Master's residence; and the turntable.
\nStoney Creek Bridge has remained substantially unchanged since it was built and is an important example of large metal truss bridges, which played an important role in creating the Queensland rail transport network.
\nThe plate girder main spans of Crooked Creek Bridge are the oldest of their type still in use in Queensland, being a reuse of girders from an original 1867 bridge on the Main Range (Ipswich to Toowoomba line).
|The train trip through the Barron Falls National Park is a highly popular tourist attraction, due to the rugged beauty of the terrain, the many bridges and tunnels, and the views from the railway.
\nStoney Creek Station is a location of scenic beauty where day trippers once stopped to view Stoney Creek Falls and Stoney Creek Bridge. The latter is one of the most photographed railway bridges in Australia due to its remarkable location across a deep ravine with a waterfall backdrop. Photographs of the falls and the bridge have featured in railway advertising over many decades.
\nKuranda Railway Station is renowned for its dramatic setting, established gardens and showpiece station buildings. Harmoniously combined, these elements create a picturesque aesthetic effect.
|The ascent to a height of 327.7m at Barron Falls Station is an outstanding engineering achievement in a tropical environment, cut through unstable and rugged terrain. It demonstrates the nature of the challenge surmounted by John Robb, his workers and government engineers such as Willoughby Hannam and John Gwynneth. There were numerous deviations to the surveyed line during construction, and the railway utilises cuttings, embankments, tight curves, and multiple bridges, tunnels, culverts and drains.
\nThe place contains the largest collection of late nineteenth century tunnels and timber and metal span bridges of any other section of railway in Queensland of comparable length.
\nStoney Creek Bridge is a spectacular feat of civil engineering, with an 80 m radius curve, mounted on wrought iron trestles, passing in front of a waterfall. It is of technical significance for its degree of complexity on a difficult site.
\nAs early surviving, fully concrete-lined, 19th century railway tunnels in Queensland, the 15 tunnels along the line are important in demonstrating the innovative use of concrete as an economic and effective method of railway construction in the 1880s.
|The train trip from Cairns to Kuranda, in particular the ascent past Redlynch, is a socially significant scenic railway attracting thousands of local, national and international visitors each year.
Stoney Creek Bridge and its accompanying waterfall has been an attraction for tourists visiting north Queensland since the 1890s, while Kuranda Railway Station is one of Australia's most popular tourist destinations and is known worldwide.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion F | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15757,"place_ref":600982,"name":"Anglo Saxon Mine and Groganville Township","alternate_name":"Limestone Cemetery","street_address":"TO BE DETERMINED","suburb":"GROGANVILLE","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2003-10-03","description":"The Anglo Saxon mine occupies a narrow terrace reached by a narrower access track cut into the western side of a steep hill spur. A gully at the base of the spur that extends south contains a number of building surfaces and associated building remains, stone retaining walls and small mine workings which may have been associated with the mine's manager's house and mine camp.
Ore tramway formations extend east, and northwest of the mine to Harbord battery. The main components of the mine terrace are a concrete collared shaft equipped with a pump arm, and a semi-portable steam engine. The semi-portable is a rare undertype engine equipped with a winding plant base. The winding drums have been removed. The Palmer River Historic Preservation Society has periodically coated the engine with oil to help with preservation. A second portable engine and a flywheel have been pushed over the side of the terrace. An extensive mullock dump descends down the hill from two shafts that have been stoped out into open cut workings.
Plant:
·\tSemi-portable steam engine - no brand. (Robey undertype semi- portable engine with self-contained winching plant base).
·\tTwo-cylinder (overtype) portable steam engine - no brand.
·\tPump arm.
","history":"The Anglo-Saxon Mine and Groganville Township, situated just south of what was known as the Palmer River Goldfield Reserve, was founded after prospector Harry Harbord located the rich Anglo-Saxon Reef at the head of Limestone Creek in 1886. The discovery came at a time when the output of gold in the Maytown/Palmer district to the north was waning. The discovery of the Anglo-Saxon reef instigated the last big rush on the Palmer River Goldfield before the hey-day of gold discoveries began to wind-down all over North Queensland.
The first reports of gold in the Palmer River area were made after the return of an exploration party led by William Hann in August 1872. It was not until James Venture Mulligan and party returned in mid 1873 with cautious, but nonetheless optimistic reports of payable claims, that the Palmer rush started. A rush of some 20,000 miners followed soon after, including a substantial influx of Chinese miners into Northern Australia.
Alluvial practices dominated mining in the Palmer River area during the first few years of the rush. During this period the goldfield became a prime example of the sort of transient settlements which were the result of alluvial gold mining and which were a major feature of North Queensland settlement patterns until the 1930s. The Palmer, archetype of alluvial goldfields, produced nearly a million ounces of alluvial gold in five years from 1873 sparking a monumental population movement into an area far beyond previous European settlement. (Bell, 1982:1).
In the late 1870s, efforts to extract the maximum profits from the Palmer River Goldfields led to the introduction of reef mining processes into the area (Comber 1991:11). Reef mining involved the working of surface deposits and if the results warranted it, the sinking of deep shafts. Such activities required additional equipment such as boilers, pumps and winding equipment, and well organised transportation infrastructure. As Grimwade (1989:5) notes
For the most part the reef mines were to be the mainstay of Palmer gold. Their bulk, their remote locations and their continuing existence, in albeit varying states of repair, are seen as fitting monuments to the early mines of the region as are the extensive stone pitched waterways and channels of the alluvial miners scattered widely through a harsh but challenging environment.
Only three principal quartz reefs were located in the area with reef mining activity principally concentrated within the southern catchment of the North Palmer River and south to the Palmer itself. There were a few notable exceptions further south, including the spasmodically operated Alexandra Mine near Dog Leg Creek and 'the productive and well preserved Anglo-Saxon Mine north of Groganville' (Grimwade, 1989:5).
Contrary to the transient development effects of alluvial mining, reef mining led to the development of more stable settlements. Charters Towers, with a peak population of 30,000 in 1900 was the most important, with Croydon, Ravenswood and Etheridge making up the bulk of other underground gold production.
The significance of gold mining to the development of Queensland in the late 19th century, both economically and geographically, cannot be underestimated. Blainey has pointed-out that in half the years from 1873 to 1906 Queensland's exports of gold and metals exceeded wool and the impact of gold on Queensland's growth was powerful. The ports of Townsville, Cairns and Cooktown were made or magnified by mining fields, and the whole colony was invigorated by the web of commerce spun by gold (Blainey, 1969:87). The total value of gold produced in Queensland to 1898 was £44, 499, 955 compared with tin £4,448,800, copper £2, 022, 927, and silver £697, 418. Gold did more to bring Europeans to Queensland and to establish white settlement in Queensland's tropics than any pastoral or agricultural product ever did. The placing of towns, ports and railways is a legacy of the early history of mining in a colony that once wanted a single substantial field (Fitzgerald, 1986:179).
After Harbord's 1886 discovery of the Anglo-Saxon Reef, the extremely rich initial ore sample gave 300 ounces of gold to the ton of rock, making the Anglo-Saxon Reef the richest reef on the north Queensland goldfields at this time. Harbord floated a company, the Anglo-Saxon Gold Syndicate, in England in 1887, based on the analysis of the initial stone collected at Limestone creek. In 1888 the Anglo-Saxon started crushing. After the first year, the February tally was 1, 175 ounces of gold.
By 1889 nearly fifty men were employed by the Anglo-Saxon Gold Syndicate - miners were paid £4 per week, blacksmiths, engine drivers and carpenters all earned more. Cartage to Cooktown was £25 per ton. It cost £8.4.0 to raise and crush 2,308 tons of ore which averaged 5.5 ounces of gold per ton. The company made good dividends of 14 shillings on every £6 which was remarkable for a gold mine in such a remote area.
There was a haulage road for carts, surveyed by John J. Davis in 1889, from the Anglo Saxon mine to the Harbord battery. The track climbs away from the mine across a spur, then between deep gullies and into a cutting along the face of the high country then down to the battery at Harbord. According to official records, the Anglo Saxon reef yielded a total of 30,892 ounces of bullion, or almost one third of the total production of all of the Maytown/Palmer reefs.
The mine was said to have produced dividends of £30,000 before expenses became too high. A shaft was sunk, hoisting machinery purchased and a tramway laid from the mine to the Harbord battery, (this tramway is now listed on the Register of the National Estate) the old system of carting quartz by drays having been found to be very expensive. The quartz was then run from the mine face into iron trucks, the same trucks placed on the safety cage and hoisted to the surface where the quartz was tipped into hoppers, and run into large iron trucks each holding 30cwt. One man took two of the trucks (or three tons at a time) down to the battery. The mine continued to operate during the 1890s depression but the area was abandoned by 1897.
The township of Groganville, also known as Limestone, was surveyed in May 1889 by John J. Davies and was named after Patrick Grogan who had the first butcher shop on the field. Businesses and dwellings soon started appearing on the steep banks of the Limestone Creek gully. Sites had to be excavated from the hillside to create a flat platform on which to build. Retaining walls were constructed by hand with local rock and gravel, and in one case a retaining wall was constructed from beer bottles.
By 1890 there was a school, Post Office, Bank of North Queensland, Limestone Hospital, 3 or 4 pubs and a butchers shop. A mill site was erected on the northern bank of Limestone Creek about 2 kms from the mine.
Patrick Grogan operated a hotel at Groganville from about 1890. In July 1890 there was a population of 500 and seven hotels, eight stores, two bakers, a butcher, two cordial factories, a bank, post office, news office, blacksmith, billiard room, reading room, chemist, doctor, police and a mining warden. There were 300 men and twenty-seven women at a Hospital Ball in May 1890 and a School Ball in August 1890.
In November 1890 200 people attended a public meeting to protest against Chinese mining, while six sly grog sellers were fined in court. In December a Roman Catholic priest visited to conduct marriages and christenings. In April 1891 the school and telegraph office opened and the Chinese erected a second temple near the school.
Unlike the spectacularly successfully reef mining towns of Charters Towers and Ravenswood, Groganville Township did not prosper after its gold-rush had ended. This was in part be due to the sheer isolation of its location, meaning transportation was difficult and costly, and also due to the impoverished soils of the district which were unsuitable for widespread agriculture and did little to enhance the development of permanent towns. By the close of 1891 the seven hotels had declined to two, and by the turn of the century the town was abandoned. Patrick Grogan moved to Thornborough and established the Royal Hotel in 1897, and by 1914, he had acquired interests in the new township of Mount Mulligan. However the remains of the mine, the township and the cemetery act as an important and legible physical document of how such a mining settlement developed and operated in late 19th tropical Queensland and of the ingenuity of the miners and the inhabitants who settled the site. It is representative of a widespread phenomenon that will never be repeated in the evolution of Queensland's history.
","criteria":"The Anglo Saxon Mine and Groganville Township are important in demonstrating the evolution of the gold-mining industry in Queensland in the late 19th century. The Anglo-Saxon reef was one of the richest producers on the Palmer River Goldfield during its short life from 1886 to 1897. Gold production was a powerful economic driver in Queensland from the 1870s through to the turn of the century and it is argued the discovery of major gold fields in central and northern Queensland saved the floundering colony from near bankruptcy. Gold mining in north Queensland also affected the patterns of settlement and the development of towns and port cities in the northern part of the colony that persist today. The remnants of a settlement like the Anglo Saxon Mine and Groganville Township bears testament to a once thriving community, supported solely by gold production that foundered when available gold veins were exhausted. It is representative of a pattern of desertion common throughout Queensland gold-mining towns at this time.
|The Anglo Saxon mine area provides evidence of reef mining, a practice uncommon south of the Palmer River. Reef mining involved the working of surface deposits and if the results warranted it, the sinking of deep shafts. Such activities required additional equipment such as boilers, pumps and winding equipment. Examples of this machinery remain in situ at the Anglo Saxon Mine including a rare and intact Robey undertype semi-portable steam engine probably dating to the 1880s. This is the most intact undertype engine recorded on a Queensland mining site.
The occupation remains at Groganville Township are relatively undisturbed and include rare and endangered elements of Queensland's cultural heritage and are unique to the mining settlements of the late 19th century north Queensland. Examples include the numerous habitation floors excavated into the hillside and found along the high creek banks of Limestone Creek, including one platform reinforced with a rare early beer bottle retaining wall.
|The Anglo Saxon Mine and Groganville Township represent a place with potential to yield information that will contribute to the understanding of north Queensland's gold-mining industry in the late 19th century. The gully from the mine south through Groganville Township to the Limestone Cemetery is a well-preserved cultural landscape and a rare example of an archaeologically intact group of habitation sites and associated occupation debris. The place had a brief habitation span and the archaeological remains provide a "snap-shot" into life in the Limestone district during the late 19th century. Extensive archaeological materials are extant on the surface and remain largely undisturbed. The potential for stratified archaeological deposits is however, assessed as low due to the rugged nature of the terrain and short occupation period. The high integrity of the remaining features provides future researchers with a potentially valuable resource for investigating the undocumented aspects of everyday life in the Limestone district during what was an important period in the history of north Queensland.
|The Anglo Saxon mine area provides evidence of reef mining, a practice uncommon south of the Palmer River. Reef mining involved the working of surface deposits and if the results warranted it, the sinking of deep shafts. Such activities required additional equipment such as boilers, pumps and winding equipment. Examples of this machinery remain in situ at the Anglo Saxon Mine including a rare and intact Robey undertype semi-portable steam engine probably dating to the 1880s. This is the most intact undertype engine recorded on a Queensland mining site.
|Anglo-Saxon Mine and Groganville Township and the Limestone Cemetery form a cultural landscape with high aesthetic value relying on the combination of large-scale remnants of mining infrastructure, smaller remnants of the human settlement such as stone retaining walls and the typically picturesque style of the 19th century cemetery with ornate stone headstones all set in a rugged bush setting against steep hills and valleys also complemented by a fresh water creek.
|The construction of a substantial tramway system linking Anglo Saxon Mine and the ore processing battery at nearby Harbord, demonstrates the technological developments in mining transportation and infrastructure made during the late 19th century. The presence of this route, designed to supersede the existing overland cart route and cut through solid rock and traversing treacherous terrain, provides a testament to the resourcefulness, skill and dedication of the miners at the Anglo Saxon Mine and of the wider inhabitants of the Limestone District.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E | 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 has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16126,"place_ref":601363,"name":"OK Mine & Smelter","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"2286 Nychum Road","suburb":"BELLEVUE","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1996-10-02","description":"The smelter works and associated open cut mine workings are located around the base of a small hill, on the southern side of small watercourse.
The smelter site comprises four terraces with stone retaining walls, of which there are two main levels. The lowest level, or copper floor, contains a number of items of plant including four copper converter vessels and two converter hoods, a portable steam engine and an Aveling and Porter, Rochester steam traction engine. Below the upper level, or furnace floor, there is evidence of a long brick flue leading to the tall brick chimney which is octagonal in section. The chimney stands intact with some vertical shearing of brickwork around the top, probably as a result of lightning strikes. The power house site immediately east of the chimney contains concrete engine mounts, brick boiler foundations and the brick base of a metal chimney.
A large and remarkably intact slag dump extends north of the main chimney for about 120 metres to a small watercourse. An intact Pooley and Sons Ltd, Birmingham and London No 524, steel weighbridge is located on a former access track on the east side of the slag dump.
The mine workings southwest of the smelter comprise a large open cut containing several mine shafts. Rendered stone water tanks are located above the smelter terraces, and a limestone deposit is located to the west.
","history":"In September 1901, copper was discovered by John Munro in an area at the northern perimeter of the Chillagoe mineral district, part of the Walsh and Tinaroo Mineral Field. He named the site OK, reputedly after an empty OK jam tin. On 11 November 1902 Munro applied for a Prospecting Area of 400 square yards on a hill where copper carbonates were showing profusely and where he assayed copper at 34%.
The OK Copper Mines Development Syndicate NL was formed, consisting of members John Munro; railway contractors GC Willcocks and Acheson Overend; John Newell of Jack and Newell storekeepers; Edward Torpy, mineowner of Crooked Creek near Almaden; and CAS Andrew, civil engineer. The syndicate developed the mine and constructed and operated the OK smelters, and was the first copper company in North Queensland to declare a dividend.
Transport costs were a major obstacle for mining companies, and as the railway to nearby Mungana had recently been completed by Chillagoe Railway and Mines Limited, the OK mining venture became viable.
Chillagoe mineral lodes had attracted official attention in 1888 following a report from the Mineral Lands Commissioner that John Moffat had engaged seventy-five men to prospect some 260 acres of leases, and planned to finance a tramway from Montalbion to Chillagoe to redress the isolation and lack of transport. However, as copper prices were depressed and the capital market was contracting, and there was no reliable geological opinion on which to float the properties, no major development eventuated. In 1894 Moffat renewed his interest in the Chillagoe properties, and equipped two groups of mines with small furnaces. Early assays were encouraging and the Mineral Lands Commissioner predicted that with cheap transport 'this will be the premier mineral producing field in Australia'. In 1897 separate reports by government geologists stated that only lack of capital for mining and rail communications was retarding development.
New mining company listings on the Melbourne Stock Exchange between 1896 and 1900 were almost double those for the preceding five years, and the trend was sustained during the first decade of the twentieth century as a result of British capital flow. Many of these new mining companies failed partly because promoters tended to splurge working capital on expensive machinery, rarely assessing ore reserves with any degree of thoroughness, and partly because investors sought immediate returns on their outlays once mining was commenced. Many mines were prematurely abandoned after the surface lodes were exhausted, earning some Australian promoters notoriety for dubious financial practices. Capital investment diminished when dividends ceased, and with the exhaustion of high yield surface ores, realisation costs escalated. Many British investors sought mining debentures, the most secure form of investment. By 1914, many Australian mining ventures were British controlled as a result of under-writing capital expansion in London.
In 1897, while the Mount Lyell (Queenstown Tasmania), Broken Hill, Mount Morgan and Western Australian mining successes were exciting Melbourne and London speculators, John Moffat, James Smith Reid and Charles William Chapman devised a grandiose scheme for the exploitation of the Chillagoe district. This scheme comprised the construction of a railway from Mareeba to Chillagoe, and the erection of central smelters and a mining programme. This required approval by the Queensland government as existing colonial mining laws and railway policies could not countenance such a proposal. The government was lobbied, and enabling legislation entitled the Mareeba to Chillagoe Railway Bill was enacted in December 1897, after considerable opposition from Labor as it was considered a major departure from government policy. This allowed Moffat, Reid and Chapman to construct a private railway through mineral lands in return for an additional 1,800 acres of leases. A new company, Chillagoe Railway and Mines Limited, was formed and with a promising prospectus considerable capital was raised making it a million pounds company. In 1899, a further agreement was made with the Queensland government to construct a branch line to nearby Mount Garnet.
During this time, the Queensland Mines Department was involved in a scandal with the Admiral Sampson Chillagoe Company involving the inflation of values and projected yields. The reputation of mining companies associated with the Chillagoe district was tarnished and this resulted in heavy selling on the London sharemarket.
The railway was completed and opened in August 1901 and the smelters were geared for blowing in early the following month. However, as a result of the sharemarket uncertainty, another report was commissioned to ascertain the amount of available ore, and this stated that there was less than half of the original estimate, and of a value less than what had already been expended on the infrastructure. The company subsequently collapsed and the smelters closed down in December 1901. All the infrastructure was in place however, and a new company was floated to raise more capital to continue with the mining which recommenced by May 1902. A flush of optimism resulting from the opening up of the OK Mines on the northern perimeter of the district resulted in an increased building programme at Chillagoe and Mungana.
At first the OK Copper Mines Development Syndicate NL employed a dozen men mining the rich surface ore (37% copper) which was hauled to Mount Garnet for smelting. A road was completed to Mungana on 9 August 1902, and the first three teams departed that day with 211 tons of copper ore for Mungana railway station for transportation to the Mount Garnet smelters at a freight cost of £3.10.0 per ton.
The syndicate decided to establish their own smelters and acquired the Mount Garnet smelters which were part of the Mount Garnet Freehold Copper and Silver Mining Company Limited liquidation. The OK smelter cost £5,000 and commenced operations on 29 November 1904. The company built a storeroom at the Walsh River for the wet season and planned to bring winding machinery from the Palmer Goldfield in June 1904.
The smelter operated effectively though intermittently at first until all the flux and carrying arrangements were finalised. Tenders were called for the monthly carriage of 400 tons of matte (impure product of smelting) and ore, and back loading of 200 tons of coke and stores from Mungana. Tenders were also called for carrying 10 tons of limestone daily for 12 months. Abdul Wade, a shareholder of the company, obtained the contract for carriage to Mungana for which he used approximately 400 camels. They proved expensive, caused labour difficulties with the unions and were susceptible to the local poison bush. As a result, ten wood-burning traction engines were purchased by the company for transport to and from Mungana.
By May 1905 the company had 400 tons of matte ready for export. At that time they believed there were 62,360 tons of ore in sight valued at £1,060,000. In June 1905 they declared a dividend of five shillings per share, the first copper mining company in North Queensland to do so. During 1905, the company produced £61,248 worth of copper. They paid £25,308 in dividends, and expenses were £16,192 on the copper matte, £12,189 on smelting, £6,149 on ore raising, £2,922 on management expenses, £781 on general expenses and £632 on the smelting plant.
In 1906 they produced 13,687 tons of copper valued at £135,774 from the 80 and 115 feet levels of the mine, which were still considered fairly backward in development. Two new Babcock and Wilcox boilers were bought, a new converter plant erected, new winding machinery obtained and lead frame erected. A new compressor and diamond drills were installed, and 250 men were employed.
High world metal prices in 1906-07 conferred short lived prosperity. From a high of £112 per ton in March, copper prices fell to ?62 per ton in December. Manifestations of militant unionism were also emerging, with strikes over award conditions affecting mining operations.
An octagonal brick smelter chimney was erected in 1907 to improve smelter ventilation and disperse the harmful fumes. Keith Maitland-Gibson, an experienced English engineer with American experience, significantly expanded the smelter in 1907 even though the income from the copper matte declined. The lead frame was completed and the winding gear and modern mine cages were installed. A six feet by three feet water jacket furnace, Bessemerising converter of four tons capacity and flue dust chamber were added to the smelter, and boiler capacity was doubled with the smelter having a 90 ton capacity. During this time, 1,424 tons of blister (almost pure) copper were produced from 16,000 tons of ore mined, and one dividend was paid of £16,872 because of the cessation of the smelter for two months due to lack of fuel.
In 1908, the company's fortunes changed. Copper quality deteriorated and no payable ore was located below 150 feet in the mines. The output dropped to 19,970 tons of ore yielding 1,479 tons of copper. In October 1909 mining operations were suspended due to a strike, which also affected Mungana. There had also been curious stock exchange share price rigging allegations in 1905, and difference of opinion between Willcocks and the other directors over the smelter and mine manager's work. The smelters closed in June 1910, and the mine and town also closed down in the wake of a court case in the Brisbane Supreme Court between the OK Company and Aaron Hirsch and Sons of Germany over breach of contract for the supply of copper matte. The writ had been issued for £30,000 damages, disputing the accounts of the company which had not allowed for depreciation of plant or an estimate of the ore reserves. Judgement was given for Aaron Hirsch and Sons and the OK Company was ordered to pay £19,570.5.3. The other strong reason for closing down the operations was the rapid decline in copper content of the ore. In 1909, 14,376 tons of ore were smelted for a yield of 193.5 ounces of gold, 1,323 ounces of silver and 752 tons of copper valued at a total of £46,409.
Although efforts were made to float a new company in 1912 it was unsuccessful as the mines could not be de-watered. The company offered the traction engines for sale and they were dispersed across the Atherton Tableland for use in the mining and timber industries.
The dislocation of world metal markets caused by the outbreak of hostilities in 1914, as much of the copper was contracted to German manufacturers, was overcome by the demand from the Imperial Government for munitions. Prices initially dropped until a market was found, but subsequently copper soared from £66 per ton in 1914 to £153 per ton in 1916. Four years of prosperity during the First World War, during which the Imperial government had control of the copper market, was followed by a severe slump in prices as wartime demand ceased.
Failure of mining companies to adopt new treatment methods contributed to higher realisation costs. Companies which relied on conventional methods of ore dressing by gravity mills and smelting by blast furnaces had to consider that treatment of ore with less than 10% copper content was a dubious economic proposition. Copper flotation, which had been successfully used in the United States since 1912, achieved a recovery rate 20% higher than gravity concentration, and this contributed to the recession of metal prices in the 1920s.
In 1920 a cyclone damaged the OK Mine and store buildings. A proposal to construct concentrating machinery to treat the mine dump did not eventuate, and machinery was removed from the mine and smelters for use in the Chillagoe State Smelters in 1921.
The mine opened again in 1930 supplying the Chillagoe smelters and closed in 1942 after producing 7,685 tons of copper. In 1951 the OK Syndicate erected a three head battery for trial treatment of ore.
","criteria":"The OK Mine and Smelter is important in demonstrating the establishment and development of copper mining in North Queensland, and the Aveling and Porter steam traction engine is a monument to ore transporting problems and costs.
|The place demonstrates the layout and processes of a mid-sized copper smelter, and contains a rare large, intact and very symmetrical slag dump.
The octagonal brick chimney dominating the smelter site is one of only three octagonal mining chimneys recorded in North Queensland, the others being at Chillagoe and Sunset No 2, Ravenswood. The Pooley and Sons weighbridge is the most substantial and intact weighbridge recorded in North Queensland.
|The place demonstrates the layout and processes of a mid-sized copper smelter, and contains a rare large, intact and very symmetrical slag dump.
|As a ruin the OK Mine and Smelter, including the large symmetrical slag dump, has considerable aesthetic significance.
|(Criterion under review)
|The OK Copper Mines Development Syndicate NL, which established and developed the mine and smelter, is significant in Queensland's history as the first North Queensland copper company to pay a dividend, due to its practical equating of technical requirements and expenditure on smelters and mine equipment against the known reserves of ore. No other public company on the Walsh and Tinaroo Mineral Field was able to achieve this.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | 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 is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place has a 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":16315,"place_ref":601553,"name":"Mareeba Shire Hall (former)","alternate_name":"Former Mareeba Shire Hall","street_address":"136 Walsh Street","suburb":"MAREEBA","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2013-10-11","description":"The former Mareeba Shire Hall in the Atherton Tablelands town of Mareeba stands on the western side of Walsh Street, which runs parallel to Byrnes Street, the town's main thoroughfare. Located towards the centre of a town block bounded by Middlemiss Street to the north and Atherton Street to the south, the hall with its high curved roof is a prominent building along Walsh Street, which has low-rise residential, commercial and semi-industrial buildings generously spread out along its length. The block is flat and rectangular with an additional small rectangular area to the rear on the southern side, used as a car park. The hall addresses the street with the main entrance approached by a set of steps.
\nThe layout of the hall is designed to a square grid with a circle motif used for ornamentation. Natural finishes are used, with brickwork generally unpainted and timberwork stained. The main structure is cavity brick with a timber and steel roof structure supported by eight semi-circular, laminated timber, three pin arch[47] frames. Concrete piers support the timber auditorium floor and the laminated timber arches are bolted to concrete footings.
\nAlong the ridgeline, natural light enters the hall through sections of translucent roof sheeting. A suspended, arched light cove partially shields views of the roof structure and five large metal ventilators along the ridgeline. The arched roof is clad with corrugated metal sheeting.
\nThe main elevation is composed of overlapping, geometric elements. The dominant semi-circular arch of the auditorium is broken up by a tall brick tower on the northern side of the main entrance. The exaggerated inclined soffit of the single-storey side walls of the hall cuts across the main elevation and around the projecting box of the former library on the southern side of the entrance. A smaller, secondary entrance on the far northern side is set back, and long brick planter boxes project towards the street. The pavement and stairs in front of the main entrances are of green concrete inscribed with a pattern of squares.
\nThe upper end wall of the auditorium is of frosted glass set in metal frames in wide vertical strips divided by aluminium-clad fins. The glazed main entrance doors are four sets of timber-framed double doors ornamented with semi-circle and quarter-circle timber pieces. The doors swing from round poles and the circle motif is carried through to the pattern of vinyl tiles on the foyer floor.
\nTo the left of the main entrance a corridor leads to the former library entrance, which has a glazed wall along one side. The former library has plain brick walls and banks of frosted glass windows running below soffit level, turning the corner at the southern end. Attached to the northern wall is a plaque commemorating the hall's opening.
\nThe tower is ornamented with a pattern of lines formed by raised brickwork. Two semi-circular elements protrude through the tower continuing the curve of the auditorium roof, a single aluminum-clad truss towards the front and a section of curved roofing at the rear, sheltering a garden bed which was originally a small pool.
\nThe side walls are divided by brick piers into bays, with ventilation openings incorporated within raised brickwork patterns. Banks of rectangular awning windows connect the top of each bay with the roof soffit. Clerestory windows above this roof level run the length of the auditorium.
\nThe inclined face of the roof soffits are clad in flat fibrous plaster sheeting ornamented with regularly spaced cover strips painted a contrasting colour. The top fascia is made from horizontal tongue-and-groove v-jointed boards.
\nThe rear wall of the hall is flat brickwork with no ornamentation. Concrete steps lead from the south-west corner down to a sunken area behind the building, overlooked by louvred windows and three doors from the former supper room below the stage. Timber staircases at either end of this area lead to the rear of the stage and to a small toilet block at the northern end.
\nThe interior layout consists of the entrance foyer at the front with a concrete staircase on the northern side leading to the gallery level. On the southern side of the foyer are the former cloak room, ticket box and soft drink bar. The auditorium occupies the full width of the main portion of the hall with the stage and dressing rooms at the far end. The toilets are located in the north-west corner of the hall and a sunken area along the northern wall provides access to side doors. Along the southern wall, ramps lead down to the side doors and a former store room at the western end is now a kitchen. Between this kitchen and the stage a staircase leads down to the former supper room. The former library in the south-east corner of the building has been divided into an office at the front and store rooms at the rear.
\nPassing through all ground-level rooms and on both sides of the auditorium are continuous flat lighting coves. Clad in stained plywood with an angled timber fascia, the undersides of the lighting coves are pierced by regularly spaced square lights. The ceiling above these coves is clad in perforated plywood. Other light fittings are generally circular. Throughout the building the footings of the laminated timber arches are exposed.
\nThe front portion of the former library has been converted into an office with no early joinery remaining. The floor is carpeted and the brick walls have been lined and painted. The rear portion, accessed from inside the hall, has had modern partition walls inserted to form two store rooms. Remnant cork flooring remains attached to the concrete slab, revealing the location of original walls which enclosed a workroom and children's outdoor reading room. The original ceiling and lighting coves remain throughout.
\nThe entrance foyer has vinyl floor tiles and a low ceiling clad in perforated panels with decorative cover strips. Round columns support the gallery above. One panel of a sliding decorative metal screen remains in its track under the lighting cove.
\nThe cantilevered concrete staircase to the gallery has a metal balustrade with circle ornamentation. The gallery is a stepped concrete slab surrounded by a solid balustrade, which is ornamented with cover strips in a pattern of lines and rectangles on the auditorium side.
\nThe former cloak room, ticket box and soft drink bar are partially surrounded by timber counters with sliding windows above. Inside, an opening has been created between the rooms and the ticket box and cloak room counters removed.
\nThe main arched ceiling of the auditorium is clad in perforated ceiling panels and the ceiling cove is clad in fibrous plaster sheeting. The cove is supported by curved timber hangers and has circular lights in two rows in the underside. The auditorium floor is polished timber.
\nThe southern side of the auditorium has bench seating along the exterior wall.[48] The kitchen, accessed by a sliding timber door, has laminated timber benches and a tiled floor. A recent store room adjacent to the former library, constructed from timber stud walls, is not of cultural heritage significance.
\nAlong the northern side of the hall, low brick walls define the edges of the sunken area, which has the same green concrete steps and floor as used for the exterior entrance areas. Double doors are aligned with the steps. The middle section of this area has been raised to the same level as the auditorium floor, with alterations made to the light cove and brick walls to accommodate a kitchenette.[49] The male and female toilets have tiled floors and rendered and painted walls. A store room adjacent to the male toilets contains solid timber shelving.
\nThe stage is accessed from the hall by a set of movable steps. On either side are curving walls ornamented with battens that conceal the side wings. The sounding board above the stage is clad in stained plywood. The stage floor is raked and curves outwards, clad in polished timber boards with footlights concealed beneath a removable timber board. Curtains line the wings and rear wall of the stage and the ceiling structure is exposed.
\nThe former supper room is a long, low space with exposed steel beams supporting the stage above. The ceiling is clad in perforated panels, the walls are rendered and painted and the concrete floor has a recent epoxy coating. Exit doors in the western wall are accessed by concrete steps. The raised kitchen area at the northern end has been refurbished.
\nThe hall is a striking building that stands out from surrounding low-set commercial buildings on Walsh Street.
","history":"The Mareeba Shire Hall (former) in Walsh Street was constructed in 1960-61 for the Mareeba Shire Council. It was designed by Cairns based architect Edwin Henry (Eddie) Oribin in 1956, and was his first major solo project.[1] It was constructed by local builder E Lepineth, with engineering details provided by R McLean.[2] The hall's structure is a combination of timber framing, concrete and brick, and features a striking semi-circular roof of laminated timber arches, an early use of this structural system in Queensland.
\nThe Atherton Tableland, west of Cairns in Far North Queensland, was named after squatter John Atherton, who was the first person to establish a cattle run in the area in the late 1870s.[3] In the 1880s the Atherton family established a wayside inn and store at the crossing of Granite Creek, supplying goods to traffic passing between Port Douglas to the north and the new tin mining township of Herberton to the south.[4] A settlement grew on the southern side of Granite Creek and a town, named Mareeba, was surveyed by EB Rankin in 1891.[5] In 1893 it became a railhead when the Cairns to Kuranda line was extended, and by 1919 Mareeba was the district's most important town.[6]
\nIn 1919 Mareeba became the administrative centre for what was then Woothakata Shire,[7] and a Shire Council Chambers building was constructed on the corner of Rankin and Walsh streets in 1924.[8] The shire changed its name to Mareeba in 1947.[9] Owing its prosperity to a diverse agricultural economy, post-World War II Mareeba grew to become the largest tobacco-growing centre in Australia, and in 1954 the town's population reached 3369.[10]
\nMareeba Shire Hall (former) was constructed on the site of the council-owned Mareeba School of Arts (1907) which was destroyed by fire on 28 March 1954.[11] The loss of the largest hall in Mareeba was keenly felt by the community, however disagreements between local councillors about the possible relocation of the hall to another site, and the burden of reconstruction costs to ratepayers, delayed the decision to rebuild. During this process, Cairns architects Barnes and Oribin, who were designing a hall in Ravenshoe at the time, were consulted about cost estimates.[12]
\nIn July 1955 it was announced that a new Shire Hall would be built on the existing Walsh Street site at an estimated cost of £37,000. Plans prepared by Barnes and Oribin were accepted, with the new design incorporating all the functions of the previous School of Arts. The proposed building was described as ‘an igloo building, with brick front and timber structure and with a hall said to be larger than that of Innisfail's famous civic headquarters.'[13] To accommodate the width of the new hall and provide sufficient access to side and rear entrances, the Council purchased additional land along the northern boundary of the site in 1955 and 1957.[14]
\nEdwin Henry (Eddie) Oribin was born in Cairns in 1927. As a teenager during World War II, he spent time in Brisbane working with the Allison Aircraft Division of General Motors rebuilding aircraft engines. Returning to Cairns in 1944, Oribin commenced architectural training with Sid G Barnes, Chief Architect of the Allied Works Council for North Queensland, whose training gave Oribin a solid grounding in structural design and construction. In 1950 Oribin moved to Brisbane to work and study, and on 10 February 1953 he obtained his registration as an architect in Queensland, returning to Cairns the following month to begin a partnership with Barnes. This partnership lasted until Barnes' death in 1959, after which Oribin continued practicing on his own.[15]
\nOribin undertook a wide range of work in North Queensland between 1953 and 1973.[16] Throughout his career, he was devoted to experimenting with different structural and aesthetic ideas, drawing inspiration from a wide variety of Australian and international publications. Characteristics of Oribin's work included meticulous detailing, structural creativity and concern for the modulation of light.[17] He was also known for his model- making skills and superb craftsmanship, often creating objects himself.[18]
\nDuring the 1950s Barnes, and later Barnes and Oribin, were well known architects in Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands, receiving numerous commissions for a range of small- and medium-scale projects, such as fire stations, shops and hospital facilities.[19] Prior to working on the Mareeba Shire Hall, Barnes and Oribin had designed at least two other halls in the region: the RSL Memorial Hall at Babinda (completed 1954, destroyed by Cyclone Larry in 2006)[20] and Ravenshoe Divisional Hall (designed 1954, completed early 1960).[21]
\nPublic halls of varying design and dimension are landmarks of Australia's cities and suburbs, shires and towns, important as social venues and focal points for their communities.[22] In the mid to late 20th century, hall designs were evolving away from the traditional concept of a central auditorium with council chambers and municipal offices attached, towards more multi-purpose halls and civic centres.[23] Many new halls constructed throughout Queensland during this period replaced earlier halls that had been destroyed or become inadequate for communities' needs. While each contained a different combination of features and facilities, such as clock towers, libraries, supper rooms, public toilets, memorials, shops or offices, common to all public halls was a large multi-purpose auditorium with stage and dressing rooms.[24]
\nConstruction of the Mareeba hall began in 1960.[25] The laminated timber arches were constructed by the builder E Lepineth in a nearby warehouse before being transported to the site and erected. These arches were able to span the 60ft (18m) wide floor, allowing for an unobstructed ceiling height of 20ft (6m).[26]
\nLaminated timber arches, constructed by overlapping and bolting together small pieces of timber to make a single, large member, have been in use in Australia since the mid-19th century.[27] Cost-effective and able to span large distances without intermediate posts, laminated timber arches also became an alternative system for roof structures of large buildings such as markets, factories and, from the early 20th century, large auditoria and picture theatres.[28] The process of glue lamination, using casein glue to bond the layers of timber rather than bolts, originated in Germany before being introduced to the United States in the 1920s. Several publications in the 1930s and early 1940s provided the necessary data for constructing glued laminated timber arches, and became a source of inspiration for Australian designers.[29] The earliest experiments in Australia took place in the early 1940s[30] and the arrival of powerful synthetic resin adhesives in the post-World War II period increased the reliability and range of applications of glue lamination.[31] The former Burge Bros Factory in Melbourne (1945-46) is considered to be the oldest known surviving example of this technology in Australia, with semi-circular arches spanning 30 metres, manufactured by Sydney-based company Ralph Symonds Ltd.[32]
\nDespite the technology being available, it wasn't until the 1950s, when curved shapes such as conoids and hyperbolic parabolas became fashionable,[33] that glue laminated arches were more commonly used in Australia, particularly for church structures.[34] Recognising the structural and aesthetic potential of this new technology, Oribin specified glue laminated timber arches for two of his earliest buildings, St Paul's Anglican Memorial Church in Proserpine and the Mareeba Shire Hall; both were designed in 1956 and completed within 5 years, making them an early use of the technology in Queensland. The Proserpine church was completed first, in 1959, with engineering details for both buildings provided by Cairns engineer R McLean.[35]
\nThe ‘igloo type of construction' of the hall's design, made possible by the glue laminated arches, was viewed favourably by the local councillors, as it was seen as a cheaper method of covering large areas than more conventional structures.[36] World War II igloos, with their large curved trusses made from small pieces of timber, were a familiar building type in the region[37] and to Oribin, who had worked in the Allison Overhaul Assembly Plant igloos at Albion during World War II.[38]
\nThe hall was officially opened on 15 March 1961 by the chairman of the Mareeba Shire Council, CL Davies, having cost a total of £74,000. The main auditorium provided seating accommodation for 800 people and a dance floor of approximately 6000 square feet (557.42m2).[39] The area under the stage and dressing rooms contained a kitchen and supper room. The main entrance foyer provided cloak room facilities, a ticket box and soft drink bar, as well as stairs to a gallery level above. Sliding metal and coloured glass screens separated the foyer from the auditorium. The library was located in front of the auditorium with a separate entrance, and contained ‘outdoor reading rooms' and a workroom enclosed with vertical wooden louvres.[40] A newspaper article described the hall as having been ‘constructed on very modern lines and featured flood and spot lighting designed to give the best effects for stage production.'[41] Considerable attention was given to natural ventilation, through the ridgeline and high side windows and through the perforated brick panels in the side window bays. Oribin's characteristic innovation and attention to detail was evident throughout the design, from the carefully planned layout and circulation routes, the complex intersection of horizontal and curved elements in the roof structure, to the use of the circle motif in ornamentation.
\nThe new hall soon became the heart of social and cultural life in Mareeba, hosting numerous events including dances, plays, musical performances and film screenings.[42] The integrity of Oribin's design led to the hall's survival through many cyclones and its use as a community evacuation centre during severe tropical cyclone Yasi in February 2011.[43] The hall has been occupied by the Mareeba Police-Citizens Youth Club (PCYC) since 1999[44] and in 2013 is still used for a variety of community purposes.
\nVarious alterations have been made to the hall over time. Partitions within the former library were changed to create office and storage areas, and no library shelving or joinery remains. The former cloak room, ticket office and soft drink bar have also become office space. A recent store room has been constructed along the southern wall of the auditorium, an original store room converted into a kitchen, and the original tiered floor has been removed. Additions to the northern side include a timber partition wall, concealing the entrances to the toilets, and a kitchenette. The renovated former supper room retains its early layout, with a modernised kitchen at the northern end.
\nOribin's significant contribution to Queensland architecture was recognised by the Queensland Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in 2000, when the new ‘Building of the Year' award for the Far North Region was named in his honour.[45] In 2013, two of Oribin's other works, the first Oribin House and the Oribin Studio, received the ‘Enduring Architecture Award' at the Australian Institute of Architects' Queensland Architecture Awards.[46]
","criteria":"The Mareeba Shire Hall (former), completed in 1961, is important in demonstrating the Queensland pattern of local governments expressing civic pride through building public halls. With its bold design, the hall is an outstanding example of the type of public halls constructed in the mid to late 20th century to replace older halls that had been destroyed or become inadequate for the community's needs.
As his first large solo project, the Mareeba Shire Hall (former) is an outstanding example of the work of Cairns architect Edwin Henry (Eddie) Oribin, who produced a range of innovative and unique buildings in north Queensland between 1953 and 1973. Oribin's contribution to Queensland architecture is recognised by the Australian Institute of Architects' establishment of the Eddie Oribin Building of the Year Award for the Far North Queensland region.
|The Mareeba Shire Hall (former) is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a public hall, with an impressive exterior, a large multi-purpose auditorium, stage and dressing rooms, entrance foyer, gallery, kitchen, supper room, and former cloakroom, ticket box, bar and library.
The creativity, craftsmanship and attention to detail evident in the hall's design are characteristic of the works of architect Eddie Oribin, whose buildings are remarkable for their complex geometries, unconventional roof forms, innovative use of materials and structural systems, and manipulation of natural light and ventilation.
|The Mareeba Shire Hall (former) demonstrates a high degree of creative and technical achievement for the period in Queensland. It was the first major building solely designed by Oribin, displaying his enthusiasm for experimentation and his ability to adapt international architectural influences to suit local site and climatic conditions.
The main structural feature of the hall, semi-circular arches made from glue laminated timber, was an early use of this technology in Queensland.
|The Mareeba Shire Hall (former) has aesthetic significance as a distinctive building of exceptional architectural quality. The striking asymmetrical composition of strong, dynamic forms, including the semi-circular hall, deeply inclined soffits and tall brick tower, reflects the world-wide influence of expressive modern architecture.
These qualities are evident in the interior of the hall, where the architect has created a daring and complex composition of horizontal and curving forms, utilising natural materials and finishes and carefully manipulating natural light.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion F | 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 in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16380,"place_ref":601619,"name":"Irvinebank School of Arts Hall","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"McDonald Street","suburb":"IRVINEBANK","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1995-05-29","description":"The Irvinebank School of Arts Hall is a one storeyed timber building, located on a prominent intersection in the Northern Queensland town of Irvinebank. Close to the School of Arts Hall are the Queensland National Bank and John Moffat's House, both of which are culturally significant elements of the townscape. The Hall is surrounded by established trees including several figs.
The building which is raised from the ground on round timber stumps, has a rectangular plan and a corrugated iron gabled roof. The timber framed building has exposed timber studwork, with horizontal timber lining in some sections which are protected by verandahs. The symmetrically composed north eastern facade features three projecting gabled bays, enclosed with weatherboards, with simple decorative barge boards, finials and vertical sash windows. These bays emphasise the central entrance and two end corners of this facade. Between the projecting elements is a bull-nosed verandah with diagonally crossed balustrading. The principal entrance, through the projecting central bay, is accessed via a straight timber stair from the east. High level openings, above the verandah awning, provide light and ventilation to the internal hall as do round openings on the gables of the north eastern and south western facades.
Internally, the building features a large hall with stage and semi-enclosed verandah spaces running along the two long sides. The hall is fully lined with unpainted red cedar timber boards, on the floor, walls and partially raked ceiling. A timber arch, featuring moulded and reeded sections, forms the proscenium over the elevated stage, which is lined with diagonal timber boarding as are some of the doors.
","history":"The Irvinebank School of Arts Hall was constructed in about 1900, as the third building of the Irvinebank School of Arts Committee. The building reflects the growth of Irvinebank during a period of its prosperity as a base metal mining district.
In 1880 the Great Northern tin lode was discovered in the Herberton area and prominent businessman, John Moffat, and his company, the Glen Smelting Company, soon secured a monopoly over mining and reduction works in the area. Moffat arrived in Queensland from Scotland in 1862, where he soon opened his own business, from which grew his empire. Whilst Moffat was overseas in 1883, his partner, George Young, bought mines in what was then Gibb's Camp, in the Herberton district. Gibb's Camp was renamed Irvinebank after Moffat's birthplace in Scotland, and the Loudoun Mill, comprising a five headed crushing battery and tin smelter, was opened there on December 10, 1884. Moffat envisaged Irvinebank as a major industrial region of the Atherton Tablelands, and established both his business interests and home in the town.
A School of Arts Committee was established in Irvinebank by March 1885, at which time a subscribed sum of £100, along with a subsidy, was used to construct a building. This first building, which no longer stands, was opened by July 1885.
Schools of Arts were popular institutions in many Queensland towns, the first was established in 1849 in Brisbane. They were based on an English model, which provided opportunities for the education of wider sections of the community; this being a popular nineteenth century social concern. Typically, in Queensland, the schools were set up by the local community who received a government subsidy. The building usually provided a reading room, subscription library and a public hall for lectures and debating. Upon its opening in 1885, the Irvinebank School of Arts was well patronised...(with) sound judgement...been displayed...in expending a good portion of the funds on books, papers and leading weekly journals...instead of putting too much into the building.
Irvinebank experienced rapid development during the late 1880s and 1890s, when tin mining was successful, particularly after the opening of the Vulcan tin mine in 1889, subsequently purchased by Moffat, which became one of the most successful tin mines in the district. Irvinebank was further boosted after 1894 when low silver prices lead to adjacent towns, such as Montalbion, experiencing severe downturns.
This prosperity at Irvinebank is reflected in the various Schools of Arts buildings that were built as previous buildings became inadequate. In 1890 there is evidence of the renovation of the first building that was vacated for a larger and more substantial second School of Arts building. This may have been constructed adjacent to where the Queensland National Bank would be built and across the street from where the third School of Arts building would stand. This second building was a simple rectangular timber building, with exposed stud framing and gabled roof.
In 1900 a third building was required, and a School of Arts Hall was planned, with a proposal drawn in September 1900 by an unknown author with initials H.H.P., possibly Henry Pope, an architect who was doing work in North Queensland at the time. The new building was planned with a large hall that the previous buildings lacked. Visiting vaudeville and dramatic companies were now able to frequent the town, as provision was made in the new building for stage accommodation. Alterations were carried out to the School of Arts Hall in 1912, enclosing the projecting entrance bay and altering the stage which was to be one of the largest in the north...(to) suit the largest company which comes around.
However, Irvinebank continued in prosperity only until the First World War, when the metal markets fell. John Moffat had retired to Sydney in 1912, and the Irvinebank smelters were sold to the Queensland Government in 1918, since when the town has steadily declined. The School of Arts Hall continues as a community hall and focal point of Irvinebank activities, to this day.
","criteria":"The Irvinebank School of Arts Hall provides evidence of the growth and prosperity of Irvinebank, as a result of the successful base metal mining industry, encouraged by the prominent Queensland businessman, John Moffat.
|The building is on a prominent site in Irvinebank, and is an integral part of a precinct including the QN Bank and Moffat's house. The Irvinebank School of Arts is a landmark in the town.
|The Irvinebank School of Arts Hall has been continuously used as a school of arts hall since its construction in about 1900. As the only public hall in Irvinebank, the building has been the focal point of social life in the town.
|The building has associations with Moffat who reputedly financed its construction.
The School of Arts Hall provides intact evidence of the workings of a school of arts, a common institution of many Queensland towns in the nineteenth century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion E | Criterion G | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16596,"place_ref":601859,"name":"Fischerton Water Race","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Tate-Almaden Road","suburb":"CHILLAGOE","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2003-11-21","description":"The remains of the water race run roughly parallel to the western and northern banks of the Tate River for approximately 6.5km to the western sluice face area adjacent to Soda Spring and an earthen dam wall at an unnamed north-south trending creek-line. This western end features evidence of iron fluming, timber retaining wall or loading ramp, concrete slab building surfaces and associated mining debris.
For most of its length the race is constructed of a stone retaining wall, in some places up to 2m in height, carrying a now shallow clay-lined drain on its up-slope side. While the majority of the stonewall is constructed of rough angular blocks, several sections are noted to include blocks specifically cut to form a smooth surface on the down-slope side of the race. At several sections along the race, fabric changes from stonewall to a low earthen ditch for lengths of up to 500m.
Along its course the race is crossed four times by vehicular roads (twice by the Tate - Almaden Road and twice by other tracks) and by a number of small creeks. Heavy water flows in the past along the majority of these intersecting creeks have collapsed small sections of the race. Approximately 5.5km from its western end the race intersects a large creek entering the Tate River from the north. This creek had previously been dammed, with the race constructed over the dam wall. This dam has been breached and the race has subsequently collapsed at this point.
The area 1.5 - 2.0km from the western end has been heavily affected by large powerful outflows of water from large underground (now partially exposed) water pipes emptying into the Tate River. Little remains of the race in this section.
Sections at the eastern end of the race are damaged in large part due to changes over time in the course of the Tate River. Much of the race here is now situated within the ephemeral riverbed. However, this section of the race still features large sections of drystone wall, some of which has been fixed in place through the concreting of blocks, as well as large sections cut or blasted out of the bedrock to form the race.
","history":"Tin was first discovered in Queensland at Stanthorpe in 1872. The first recorded finding of tin in north Queensland was by James Venture Mulligan in 1875 in the Wild River district, near Herberton. Gold was still paramount at that time, but by the 1880s the mining industry of north Queensland was shifting its focus away from gold toward baser metals such as lead, copper and tin. Prior to this few prospectors had been interested in base metal extraction in the remote areas of north Queensland as road, rail and nearby port facilities were largely non-existent making freight costs involved in shipping extracted minerals to the coast too high.
The first commercial tin workings in the north were, however, not conducted by large commercial European enterprises but by Chinese prospectors. Chinese miners are believed to have begun mining for tin in north Queensland as early as 1876-7, but certainly by 1878 the declining gold yields in the area had resulted in many Chinese investigating tin deposits located on Granite Creek and Cannibal Creek south-east of Maytown.
Prospectors J. Hogsfleisch (a pioneer mailman) and companions J. Dow, J. Williams and H. Hammond discovered tin on the remote Tate River in 1878. In 1883 the fields along the Tate were worked for the first time and for more than a decade small groups of miners washed the alluvial tin. Distance from batteries, however, precluded additional development of the field at this time. Further tin discoveries in north Queensland led to alluvial tin being worked at Stannary Hills in 1885, and along the Annan River north of Cooktown in 1885.
By 1893 a town was formerly surveyed on the northern bank of the Tate River. This town was named Fischerton after the local landowner Mr H. Fischer, but is also referred to as the Tate Tin Mines or simply the Tate. By the time the school at Fischerton opened on 16 October 1894 the town's population had grown to 260 men, 14 women and 14 children.
In 1894 the Brisbane-based Tate Alluvial Tin Syndicate N.L. negotiated with Fischer for the construction of a 10km water race from the Tate River to a working face east of the town site. An engineer, Mr George Bell, supervised the construction of the race that included 6.5km of excavation, 2.5km of drystone wall construction, 100m of fluming and 6km of solid rock blasting. The race emptied at its western end into a substantial dam with a 60m long embankment. The race was completed on Saturday 13 October 1894 at a total cost of £7,000. On the Monday following completion a dinner was held for the construction workers at Abraham's Royal Hotel in Fischerton followed by a picnic the next day and a ball in the evening. Flood damage only months after completion of the race completely destroyed the syndicate's finances with the mining operations taken over by John Moffat's Irvinebank Mining Company under manager William Waddell, later manager at Kooraboora Battery. The Irvinebank Mining Company then conducted sluicing operations on the Tate during favourable seasons. This company practiced a policy of preference for public ore designed to ensure a continuous supply of ore for processing at the company's mills. This practice provided quick returns for individual miners and encouraged them to work their claims more effectively. At Fischerton the company purchased the winnings of many of the old prospectors who scratched a living from the area's alluvial deposit.
Output at the Tate Tin Mines was usually in the order of 30 tons. In 1914 only 1.5 tons of tin was obtained through sluicing operations on the Tate, while just 5.5 ton were recovered by dry blowing. This downturn in tin mining fortunes was occurring across all fields then in operation in north Queensland. The Tate River, which had by then been a constant supply source for tin fossickers during nearly thirty years of operations, was reported to be producing meagre returns. The Irvinebank Company continued its operations on the Tate until 1920 by which time it had extracted 3,556 tons of tin over a quarter of a century of barely profitable operations.
","criteria":"The Fischerton Water Race is important in demonstrating the evolution of tin-mining practices in Queensland in the late 19th century. The water race is representative of practices used for the extraction of base metal resources in north Queensland and is significant as an early example of the effort, both manual and financial, that was applied to mine base metals in a remote location reliant on seasonal rains.
|The water race is a rare and uncommon example of its type and is the longest stone pitched water race recorded in North Queensland. It is unusual in its size, ranging to over 2m in height in places and with a total extent of up to 10km in length.
|The intactness of the water race 100 years after construction was completed testifies to the quality of the construction, in particular the stonewall sections. While water races were common to mining areas, the Fischerton Water Race is a fine example of its type with significant variation from a standard water race design involving simple earth ditches with timber, metal or masonry linings that often incorporated flumes.
|The structure is complex in design in terms of contours and fall. Various sections of the stone pitched wall show evidence of great effort in terms of shaping and fitting locally sourced stone to produce flat wall surfaces. Sections near the Tate River feature early examples of the concreting of stones to keep them in place as well as large sections blasted out of the bedrock to form the race.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion F","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16598,"place_ref":601861,"name":"Rocky Bluff Battery and Township","alternate_name":"Stannary Hills Mill","street_address":"TO BE DETERMINED","suburb":"HERBERTON","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2002-12-13","description":"The place comprises a number of components including the formation and terminus structures of the Stannary Hills - Rocky Bluff tramway: a ropeway formation descending from the tramway to the battery including concrete brake mounts; and foundations of the battery including terraced benches and high retaining walls descending steeply to the Walsh River; an intact stone weir across the river; and two township areas, one on the river flat and the other in the gully below the battery.
Chimney, 1994
The battery comprises four main terraced levels separated with high rock-face retaining walls. The crusher level includes sections of brick walls and flues of a two-unit Babcock boiler house, the substantial brick base of a metal chimney and concrete engine mounts. Adjacent are three pairs of concrete foundations for 30 head of stamps. The battery floor contains three circular brick bases for large agitator vats, and an intact square brick chimney associated with an arrangement of brick precipitation tanks. A furnace floor, below, contains the brick remains of a Merton furnace with flues connecting to the base of the chimney. This area also contains a small retort comprised of an iron furnace and brick firebox. Three circular concrete rendered brick buddle bases for the treatment of slimes are located on a lower level.
Evidence of structures at the settlement sites is minimal and includes timber stumps, rock walls and a dump of green beer bottles marking a hotel or store site. A section of steel chimney has been dumped on the settlement site. A small stone building known to survive in the vicinity of the settlement was not located in the time available for survey.
","history":"Tin was discovered in the Rocky Bluff district in 1883 but initially little development occurred. Extensive leases were acquired over the area by a South Australian company, the North Queensland Tin Mining Corporation, in 1900. The company passed the properties and fixed assets to the Stannary Hills Mines and Tramway Company Limited, an Adelaide based company with a nominated capital of £650,000. This company took advantage of the tramway clause in the Mining Act of 1898 and commenced surveys for a narrow gauge tramway from Boonmoo, along Eureka Creek to Stannary Hills, thence over the ridge to a terminus at Watsonville.
The line opened to Stannary Hills in May 1902. Instead of proceeding to Watsonville it was decided to construct a branch line 11 km to Rocky Bluff on the Walsh River and this opened on 18 November 1902.
The battery was constructed in 1902 on a machine area of 4 hectares beside the Walsh River. Sand and gravel had to be carted uphill from the river. Bricks were carted in on the Stannary Hills tramway and then lowered on a rope tramway 190m down the hill to the battery site. The battery was formally opened on 6 May 1903. Named "Jumping Moses", the 20 head battery, Huntington mill and Merton furnace were perched high on the steep hillside above the river.
The battery closed in June 1903 because the mortar box shifted and there was insufficient boiler power. The general manager, Charles S. Pasley, reported that the battery could only work at half power until the boiler was replaced by a larger one; £600 was to be spent on two frue vanners, two wheeler pans and a small four compartment jigger.
In 1905 new stamper foundations and storage bins were constructed, a further 10 head stamps were added and the old 20 head were replaced. New rolls were put in between rockbreaker and battery, and a travelling "grizzly" to take the crushed ore with the roughs taken out on a moving elevator. A Krupp ball mill reground the coarser parts of the battery pulp. All the pumps were replaced by new return pumps throughout the mill. The bases of the vanners were built in and the brickwork of the Merton furnace was repaired and relined. A slime buddle was also put in to deal more efficiently with the overflow slimes. The gravitation water supply was brought by wooden fluming about 2 km up the river, except at times of reduced flow, when a system of pumping from, and returning to a dam in the river was resorted to. Motive power for the battery was supplied by a 350hp Robey compound engine and for the dressing plant by a 30hp high-pressure engine, steam being generated in Babcock and Wilcox boilers.
In 1905 the small township of Rocky Bluffs had "some 200 inhabitants and ... a good hotel, store and provisional school". The battery supplied electricity to the school and some of the principal buildings in the township. The township was also reticulated from the gravitational water supply.
Because of its steep site the township had the reputation that no wheeled vehicle, cart, wagon or buggy ever got into its main streets. A postal receiving office operated from 1903 to 1907. The battery and general work at Rocky Bluffs, the terminus of the Stannary Hills tramline, gave employment to about 50 men in 1905. Ore was shipped in from surrounding mines, such as the Arbouin, which was connected by an aerial ropeway to the tramline, the Ivanhoe, Extended, Kitchener and Eclipse mines.
The Stannary Hills Company spent £120,000 in three years on tramways, plant and buildings, and mine development. The company was highly successful while tin prices remained high, but after the collapse of the market in late 1907 its influence declined. Between 1904 and 1911, when the company closed down output was valued at £275,352.
John Darling and Company, a South Australian company, bought the assets of the liquidated Stannary Hills Tramway and Tin Mines Limited and undertook extensive repairs in 1912 to reopen the battery. The battery was renovated in 1917. It reopened with one shift per day in the latter half of 1918 and operated into the mid 1920s. The tramway from the Junction to Rocky Bluff was dismantled in 1926.
","criteria":"The Rocky Bluff battery, tramway and township are significant as an expression of early integrated development in North Queensland's mining industry.
|The combination of functions in one place is unique: steam tramway and terminus, rope incline tramway, battery, weir and settlement. The battery of 30 head was one of the largest to operate in the Mareeba district.
The brick chimney and Merton furnace (though partly demolished), are a rare combination. The place is one of the few battery sites in Queensland with a brick chimney remaining.
|(Criterion under review)
|Due to difficult access the place retains comprehensive evidence of the layout of a range of representative late 19th century haulage, concentrating and settlement features. The battery layout still clearly demonstrates treatment processes through its surviving structures and surface archaeology.
|The battery site was selected for efficient operation above the Walsh River and the mountain and river setting is very impressive containing historic landscape values.
|(Criterion under review)
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | Criterion D | Criterion E | 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 has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":16899,"place_ref":601692,"name":"Assay Office & Store, Mareeba","alternate_name":"Forestry Office | Assay Office and Store (former)","street_address":"167 Walsh Street","suburb":"MAREEBA","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2000-07-28","description":"The Assay Office and Store are situated in the grounds of the Mareeba Court House and are located at the corner of Hort and Constance Street, Mareeba. The complex comprises two buildings:
\nAssay Office (Laboratory)
\nStore Room and Office
\nThe Assay Office is a tall, single story building approximately 6.5 m long and 4 m wide, with a verandah approximately 2.5 m wide facing the store room and office. The Assay Office was built on a concrete slab foundation. The exterior walls are mostly weatherboard, however approximately 4.5 m of the wall facing Hort Street is constructed of brick (English bond), this wall contains a brick chimney. Adjacent to the chimney is the small building constructed in 1917, which was used to house the air gas plant. It has corrugated iron walls nailed to a timber frame. It was constructed on a concrete base.
\nThe hipped roof is constructed of asbestos tiles, and extends over the verandah on the eastern side. A small porch covers the entry to the building, which faces Constance Street. The interior of the building consists of one room. The internal linings are tongue and groove. The building has three exits including the front door, another on the east side of the building and, opposite this on the west side of the building, is a third door that opens out onto the verandah. There are three windows, all are double hung sash windows with plain timber surrounds. Fanlights have been incorporated into the front door and the door on the western side of the building. A panel of wire mesh is fixed to the inside of all glass windows for security purposes.
\nA large block of concrete located on the eastern wall marks the location of the Muffle Furnace. Next to this is a damaged section of brick wall where some of the bricks have been removed from the wall and are now lying in a heap on the floor. This is the remains of the Wind Furnace.
\nThe verandah has a concrete floor and is enclosed with wire mesh and has a wire mesh door on the Constance Street side.
\nThe Store Room and Office is a single story building which has the same floor dimensions as the Assay Office, and includes a verandah on the eastern side (facing the Assay Office). The store room and verandah were built on a concrete slab foundation. The exterior walls on the north, south and west sides are weatherboard. The eastern side is an exposed stud frame wall with a single skin on the inside of the frame. It has a hipped colour bond roof. The store room has two exits, both doors being located on the eastern side of the building. There are four double hung sash windows, one in each of the two side walls and two along the western wall. The interior of the building is one large room, which has a tongue and groove lining.
\nThe block is sparsely vegetated and is surrounded by a wire mesh fence. The two buildings are set close to the road and overlook the St Thomas School and the St Thomas of Villanova Catholic Church.
","history":"The Government Assay Office was built in 1916, it is situated behind the Court House on the corner of Hort and Constance Streets, Mareeba. It was designed by the Government Architect and built by E G Greening of Atherton, at the cost of 400 pounds. The adjacent storeroom and office, constructed in the same style, was built the following year.
At the end of the 1890s, the important minerals around the Mareeba area were wolfram and molybdenite, used for hardening and strengthening steel. These were mined mainly at Wolfram Camp, Mt Carbine, Mt Perseverance and Bamford. In May 1915 Queensland's first secure Labor government was elected into power. Under the leadership of T J Ryan, and with many members drawn from the State's northern mining fields and a policy of State capitalism, the Queensland Government set about implementing a policy of acquiring State enterprises to compete on the free market. There was a pre-World War One boom in wolfram in both Australia and Europe, to supply armament industries. However, a wartime ruling banning the sale of ore to foreign buyers prompted the Government to assist the local mines by building a State Battery at Bamford and an Assay Office in Mareeba.
Mareeba, because of its proximity to the rail network and the surrounding mineral areas, was chosen as the site for the Assay Office. The town of Mareeba was originally surveyed in 1893 following the arrival of the railway from the coastal port of Cairns. The line was later extended to service the Herberton tin fields. In 1901, the Mareeba to Mungana railway line was opened to service the Chillagoe mining fields, further securing the future of the township. By 1916 the population of the Mareeba district was estimated to be over 1,200.
The Assay Office, a single, two-roomed brick and timber construction, was built in 1916 by local Atherton builder, E G Greening. The design of the Mareeba Assay Office was modified from other similar buildings, which had been found to have certain design faults. In particular, the original plans called for the walls and ceiling of the office to be constructed of pine timber, which could have been easily ignited by the heat of the muffle furnace used in the assaying process. Therefore, the plans for the Mareeba Assay Office allowed for the whole of the west wall to be constructed of brick. Other local adaptations included the inclusion of a door adjacent to the Balance Table to allow fumes to dissipate.
In November 1916 the State Mining Engineer recommended that another building be provided on the site for use as a storeroom and office. He further recommended that this building be of the same dimensions as the existing Assay Office building, but of cheaper construction. Therefore, the walls of the building were constructed entirely of chamferboard, on a concrete slab, with a fibro cement roof. He requested that the construction of the office and storeroom be dealt with "as an urgent matter" because he wanted the building completed before the Assayer was appointed. The second building was constructed in 1917, adjacent to the original Assay Office.
The Government Assayer appointed was Mr Cosmo Murray. It is said 14 year old Bill McGore was his apprentice for possibly the last 18 months of the building's use as an Assay Office. Late in 1917, at the request of the Government Assayer, the complex was fenced at a cost of 22 pounds, to keep children from the nearby school away from the area containing poisons, as well as to deter cattle which strayed nearby at night. Also in 1917, the Government Assayer requested incandescent lights be installed in both the Assay Office and the storeroom, since he often worked at night. These were approved of at the cost of 6 pounds.
In 1917 a report showed that the Assay Office was proving very convenient to miners from surrounding districts, because samples could be treated there at the same time as they were sent to buyers and this ensured better conditions regarding sales of ore. However, the metals boom came to an abrupt halt following the end of the war in November 1918. By 1921, the Mareeba Assay Office was closed.
With the construction of Mareeba airfield in 1942 and the influx of troops to the area during World War II, the Assay Office was used as an American Army PX store. In 1943 it became the district headquarters for the Australian Women's Army. A.W.A.S. personnel were barracked in eight-bedded huts in Arnold Park alongside the Assay Office, using the building itself as their orderly room. At this time, Mareeba Railway Station was the Tablelands' main depot for materials needed in the construction of roads, army camps, warehouses, hospitals and other defence facilities. These movements, plus the 3,579 U.S. and Australian troops brought to the area, once again changed the face of Mareeba township. It became one of the "feeding points" for troops travelling by train to the Atherton Tableland, with local women providing the food from their own rationed supplies.
In 1949, the Assay Office was taken over by the Queensland Forestry Department, who used it as an office until 26 July 1964. The Mareeba Magistrate's Court then used the former storeroom and office as a storage area until 1978, at which time the Public Works Department began using it for storage. At the present time, both buildings are unoccupied.
","criteria":"The Assay Office and Store is important in demonstrating the evolution of twentieth century mining technology in Queensland, in particular the role of the Queensland Government in providing assay services to miners of rare metals, in this case Wolfram, during the metals boom sparked by World War One.
|The complex is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of small Assay Offices. The Mareeba Assay Office has altered little since it was constructed in 1916. Its layout and fabric were modified to rectify design faults with similar buildings constructed in Charters Towers and Cloncurry.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D","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"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":17049,"place_ref":602240,"name":"Thermo Electric Ore Reduction Corporation Mill","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"Wolfram Road","suburb":"DIMBULAH","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2004-04-07","description":"The place contains four separate groups of structural foundations in addition to a number of breached weirs along Bulluburrah Creek. A group of concrete foundations and engine mounts on the west side of the Wolfram road form the remains of the Irvinebank Company mill powerhouse and molybdenite tower.
Opposite, on the eastern side of the road, a series of terraced building surfaces retained by heavy dry stone walls, formed the foundations of the Thermo Electric Ore Reduction Corporation's store and office. A feature of this group is the form-cast concrete walls of the office, which remain in good condition, though without a roof.
The Thermo Electric Corporation mill foundations to the south are connected to the store and office by a benched track supported by a rock retaining wall. The mill foundations are extensive and comprise massive retaining walls of rough-dressed stone blocks, supporting eight terraced benches with concrete machinery mounts and rendered surfaces. A fourth group of machinery mounts south of the mill comprise the boiler room and power plant foundations.
","history":"The Hodgkinson River area was declared a goldfield in 1876. While yields of gold were small compared to those being produced along the Palmer River, the area is also a geologically rich mineral field. The mineral known as wolfram (also known as 'wolframite') was discovered in 1894 in the headwaters of the Hodgkinson River scattered over the surface as bunches in quartzose boulders or in drifts interspersed with coarse gravels. In 1900, 91 pounds of molybdenite was also discovered. This was said to contain some of the finest specimens of molybdenite discovered anywhere in Australia.
Wolfram is composed of a heavy gray-white metallic element, with pure wolfram being used mainly in electrical applications and is also the ore from which tungsten is refined. In 1899 wolfram was returning £38 per ton. Other than along the Hodgkinson, wolfram has been located in north Queensland at Bamford Hill approximately 85km west-south-west of Cairns in 1893, north-west of Cairns at Mount Carbine in the 1890s, on Moa Island in the Torres Strait during the 1940s, and also in the Herberton district.
A small town formed near the mineral deposits, and by 1900 there were 100 men working wolfram, molybdenite and bismuth at what became known as Wolfram Camp. The Irvinebank Mining Company invested there in 1900, appointing a manager, Alexander Gillan.
Demand for high grade wolfram, after the development of tungsten as a lamp filament in 1904, and for molybdenite for use in patent alloys, led to an early interest in rare metals by British firms, the most prominent being George G. Blackwell and Sons of Liverpool. Prices in 1904 for both metals were high - up to £200 per ton for molybdenite and £140 per ton for wolfram - and attracted many goldminers. Of the 1,136 people on the Hodgkinson by 1904, 700 were miners working at Wolfram Camp. By 1909 wolfram was returning £41,820 compared to the value of gold production at £7,089. But the rare metals industry was unstable - there was insecurity in the unknown overseas markets where demand fluctuated erratically and local miners were never sure of their returns. So a Wolfram Co-operative Association was formed to arrange advances and shipments through intermediaries such as the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency and W.J. Lempriere and Co, but generally the local industry was poorly organised.
From 1904, 2,500 tons of wolfram valued at £250,000 were produced at Wolfram Camp, half of which went through John Moffat's Irvinebank Company mill. John Moffat, a large speculator and enterprising investor in north Queensland mining, was diversifying his interests through steady exports of rare metals. The Irvinebank Mining Company spent upwards of £1,000 on development work on the main mines the Weate, Tully, Weate United and Comerford in 1905. The Irvinebank Company set up the battery in 1906 on Bulluburrah Creek in the lower valley using the technology for separating molybdenite which was developed by local miners. W.A. Pepper was the battery manager. The battery comprised: a rockbreaker, Cornish rolls, a Krupp table, and a Frue vanner to remove the quartz. This battery was a stabilising influence on Wolfram Camp - treating ore from the Mulligan, United, Downfall, Nichol's, Forget-me-Not, Bonner, Tully, Weate, Larkin United, Murphy's and Leinster's claims. The mill was closed for long periods throughout 1909 because of strikes over the 44-hour week. It operated again from 1910 to 1912 and was closed in the rationalisation of the Irvinebank Mining Company's assets that year.
The wolfram mining industry passed through a depression for several years from 1910 chiefly because of the exhaustion of the residual surface accumulations of ore, thus ending the days of the gougers. The Irvinebank Company had been the chief producer but its operations were not a financial success. High cartage costs to the mill and water supply were problems, as was the old and troublesome ball mill, whereas the company's molybdenite plant, erected for the separation of quartz and molybdenite with aid of oily water, was a model of simplicity. Lionel Ball, government geologist, noted that: "The Irvinebank Mining Company's enterprise ... in the hazardous undertaking of wolfram mining demands recognition. Its mines are the deepest and by far the most extensive at Wolfram; and had it not erected a battery, the yield for some years past would have been insignificant, while Wolfram as a town would probably have ceased to exist".
Many of the mines were closed during World War One. In 1915 new rolls were added by the Irvinebank Company to the dry crusher and a roasting furnace was built to treat increased quantities of pyrites. A government subsidy was also used for a road deviation to assist Wolfram miners. In 1916 the Irvinebank Mining Company replaced the ball mill with stamps and installed a dynamo for lighting and a magnetic machine to separate wolfram from bismuth and the impurities from the concentrates. A 66hp suction gas engine and belt-driven air compressor were erected at Leisner's Wolfram Block mine.
The advent of the Thermo Electric Ore Reduction Corporation of Britain sustained the Wolfram district through the war years with the government paying fixed prices. Mr F.C. Cann was General Manager and consulting engineer. Unfortunately the completion of the company's new and extensive reduction and concentrating works was delayed until 1918 when the first unit of 20 stamps and the concentrating plant became operational.
The Corporation's mill was located adjacent to the Irvinebank Mining Company's battery. The new company bought the Irvinebank Company's and other mines, built a new dam, and planned a new gravity treatment plant. The Corporation lost some of its machinery in transit during the war. Twenty head of stamps and an aerial ropeway were erected to treat the wolfram ore in 1918. The mines were formed into groups with common haulage systems. The central collection point for the mines (Liesner's Wolfram Block, Murphy and Geany, Larkin and Wade, Hillside, Hughes, Tully and Mulligan) was the Forget-me-Not mine, and the buckets were transported electrically to the mill.
The Thermo Electric Ore Reduction Corporation failed to survive the slump in metal prices after the return to free market forces in March 1920. Within weeks Wolfram Camp was almost deserted. It is presumed that the mill ceased to operate from this time and was dismantled as the next wolfram mining revival in 1926 saw the Queensland Rare Metal Company erecting a new battery on the site of the Irvinebank Mining Company's previous 10 head battery.
","criteria":"The Thermo Electric Ore Reduction Corporation Mill at Wolfram is important in demonstrating the evolution of rare mineral mining and processing practices in Queensland in the early 20th century. The mill provides physical evidence of an important shift in mining practices and employment in the Hodgkinson River area, from gold to rare mineral mining and processing.
The Thermo Electric Ore Reduction Corporation Mill is significant in Queensland's history as an example of overseas (British) capital funding a state-of-the-art ore processing works, which was short-lived (18 months) due to foreign market influences and an inability to diversify.
The mill and associated remains, especially the scale of the mill foundations, demonstrate the scale and economic importance of wolfram mining in north Queensland in the years prior to, and during, World War One.
|The mill is representative of an uncommon mining practice in north Queensland, that of rare mineral mining of molybdenite and bismuth.
The Thermo Electro Co. office, a 1918 form-cast concrete building, is unique in relation to early twentieth century mining in north Queensland. The heavy stone retaining walls with concrete machinery mounts rise up the steep slope in eight terraced benches and are the largest and most massive mill foundations recorded in north Queensland.
|(Criterion under review)
|The mill is significant due to its association with John Moffat, who between 1872 and 1918, played an important role in the development of the base metal mining industry in north Queensland. The mill is representative of Moffat's efforts to diversify his mining activities in the north, particularly his activities involving the extraction, processing and export of rare metals.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion C | 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 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"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":19477,"place_ref":602355,"name":"Stannary Hills to Boonmoo and Stannary Hills to Irvinebank Tramway formations","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"To be determined","suburb":"IRVINEBANK","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2005-02-25","description":"The formations are evidence of two tramways that operated between Irvinebank and Boonmoo for approximately 29 kilometres in the tin mining fields west of the Atherton Tablelands. One formation is evident from Boonmoo to Rocky Bluffs via Stannary Hills and the second tramway from The Junction to Irvinebank. The tramways ran on a two foot gauge, distinct from the state railway system which operated on a 3 foot 6 inch gauge.
The tramway alignment is traceable from Boonmoo siding but the evidence at this end is now minimal. The heritage register boundary starts at latitude 17.25991 S and longitude 145.10478 E (by GPS; WGS Datum 84) where the formation now forms part of a station access road. The formation heads south-east along Eureka Creek. The formation is partly excavated into the sides of Eureka Creek valley. The formation is raised over some areas of solid rock by means of stone retaining walls containing earth fill. Ruins of bridges, minor earthworks and cuttings can be seen between Boonmoo and the 6 Mile (6 miles from Boonmoo). A large quantity of broken bricks mark the site of the former brick factory beside the tramway formation at 10 Mile (17.30605S, 145.17661E).
A number of ore bins can be seen on or near the formation, with markings 'Arthur Berlin' at 17.30863S 145.17891E. The formation was not inspected from here to Stannary Hills due to difficult access along Eureka Creek, however near the ore bin site, the tramway formation turns sharply into the west bank of Bock's Creek, a tributary of Eureka Creek, travels upstream along this creek and then comes back into Eureka Creek on the east side of Bock's Creek. Eureka Creek Gorge is between Bock's Creek and Stannary Hills.
Two old mango trees, about 25 metres away from the formation, mark the tramway station site at Stannary Hills (17.31285S, 145.21458E and 17.31285S, 145.21458E). Some glass and metal fragments are evident here, and there are some remains of the Stannary Hills station building, most notably remnants of the loco service pit.
A concrete weir is constructed in Eureka Creek at Stannary Hills, this is included in the heritage entry. Remains of a corrugated iron water tank can be seen on the formation above the weir (17.31367S, 145.21448E). The formation is clearly visible at Stannary Hills excepting a 10 metre section where the formation rounds a bend between the mango trees and the weir and appears to have been disturbed by recent mining activities.
From Stannary Hills to the Black Bridge site (17.31528S, 145.22139E) the formation is benched into the side of a steep slope into Eureka Creek. Concrete blocks and the base of timber stumps are all that remains of this bridge, the largest on the Stannary Hills to Irvinebank section. The Bradman inscription ('Bradman 320') is inscribed on one of the concrete blocks here, although it was not located at the time the formation was inspected.
The tramway diverges at the Junction on the bank of Eureka Creek adjacent to a station track (17.31304S 145.23055E). Cuttings can be seen on both sides of the creek and both sides of the station track. There is no evidence of the bridge that once took the tramway across Eureka Creek from the Junction towards Rocky Bluffs. The formation of the Rocky Bluffs line is evident from the Junction to a point at 17.31304S 145.23055E. From here the formation has been disturbed by recent mining activities. The Rocky Bluffs line crosses Loloma Dam (the section crossing Loloma Dam does not form part of the entry) and into Lot 612 OL72 where the formation and terminus at Rocky Bluffs becomes part of the Rocky Bluffs entry to the Queensland Heritage Register (QHR: 601861).
The Irvinebank line turns south from the Junction and can be clearly traced to a point at 17.31159S 145.23102E where it has been disturbed by mining activities The formation again becomes visible at 17.31564S 145.23133E to 17.32465S 145.23143E. Further mining disturbance has heavily impacted the formation from here to 17.33427S 145.22602E. The formation is clear from this point to Yorkies Cutting, at the boundary between Boonmoo and Mont Albion Stations.
Yorkies Cutting is located at 17.34205S 145.23102E. It is a distinctive landmark about 5 metres deep and 20 metres long consisting of a cutting into rocky ground. From here the formation is visible for another few hundred metres, in some places the metal railway spikes show where the formation once lay on flat sandy ground. The formation is not evident for approximately 200 metres through a sandy area of melaleuca sp. but can be seen again as it approaches Hales Siding.
Hales Siding consists of a small curved section of tramway formation north of the Herberton-Petford Road. This section is apparently part of some sort of spur line that went from the main line into Hales Siding. The area to the north of the road consists of a flattened, disturbed area marked by distinct signs of several layers of settlement over a large area. These include a concrete floor with machine foundations and two posts (possibly from a roof or shed over machinery), at least three mature common mango trees, two smaller Bowen mango trees, one small citrus tree, a number of small pine trees, a jacaranda and a frangipani. A vertical excavation into rock could mark an engine watering pit, a well or a mineshaft. While there are areas of disturbance, there is evidence of the tramway spur line.
The tramway formation meets the northern side of the Herberton-Petford Road at GPS S17° 21.807" E145° 12.812". The line reappears on the opposite side of the road at S17° 21.803" E145° 12.803". At this latter point there are small scatters of coal, slag and glass bottle fragments and the tramway is visible though indistinct. There is evidence of the spur line to a point of major disturbance at S17° 21.675" E145° 12.612" about 25 metres from the Stannary Hills Road junction. Some sections between these GPS readings are indistinct and there are signs of possible disturbance but no old tracks. Other sections are very clear and include raised areas, shallow cuttings, a stone formation and a fallen telegraph pole with wire and insulator fragments.
From the Stannary Hills Road junction, the tramway formation follows the Herberton-Petford Road in a south-westerly direction. About 300 metres from the junction it meets a track heading approximately south-east, which creates an area of disturbance 8 metres wide. On either side of the track the tramway formations are broken from S17° 21.786" E145° 12.474" to S17° 21.784" E145° 12.473". On the tramway formation to the south-west of the disturbance there are the remains of a bridge over a creek at S17° 21.828" E145° 12.453" and a small creek crossing with reinforcing rods near a cutting.
From the track, the tramway formation follows the Herberton-Petford Road until it meets another track about 600 metres from the Stannary Hills Road junction. This also heads approximately south-east. It creates an area of disturbance approximately 13 metres wide. On either side of the track tramway formations are broken from S17° 21.920" E145° 12.281" to S17° 21.919" E145° 12.285".
From here, the tramway formation runs fairly close to the Herberton-Petford Road and is frequently visible, particularly for about a kilometer in the vicinity of Weinart Siding. There is stone pitching near to the road at S17° 22.358" E145° 11.418". The base of a telegraph pole, broken insulators and a metal bracket for holding insulators were found nearby, between the tramway formation and the road. Small metal scatters, including rail spikes, were also found on or next to the tramway formation in this area.
The area south of Weinart Siding has suffered considerable disturbance. A fence and a firebreak intersect the tramway formation and a new track or firebreak runs along the fence. The disturbed area runs from the northerly side of the track/fire break along a fence (S17° 22.496" E145° 11.324") to S17° 22.539" E145° 11.260" on the south side. The disturbance extends to the Herberton-Petford Road.
From the disturbance south of Weinart Siding to Victoria Siding, the tramway heads more or less south and is no longer close to the Herberton-Petford Road. North of Chinaman Creek, mining and grazing activities have caused considerable disturbance between southern point S17° 23.653" E145° 11.068" and northern point S17° 23.504" E145° 11.151". There is a section of tramway formation visible between these points but part of it serves as a bank on the Mont Albion Station dam.
The tramway formation from Chinaman Creek to Victoria Siding (on the Irvinebank-Petford Road) is clear and in good condition and there are many scatters and tramway remains. Among these is a creek crossing with a wooden pole and fine stone work at S17° 24.042" E145° 11.108". There is also a standing telegraph pole at S17° 23.912" E145° 11.104"; another is nearby. Close to the first pole is a partly exposed 2-3" pipeline. There is another railway sleeper with two spikes at S17° 23.885" E145° 11.123" and one with four spikes at S17° 23.859" E145° 11.136". At this point there is a crossing with stone work.
The tramway formations meet the Hereberton-Petford Road again at Victoria Siding. The heritage boundary ends at a deep rock cutting at Ganes Flat which is marked by a mature mango and other exotic trees.
","history":"The Boonmoo to Stannary Hills and Stannary Hills to Irvinebank tramway formations represent two private tramways constructed between 1901 and 1907 that provided transport for the tin mining fields west of the Atherton Tablelands in north Queensland from their construction until 1936. The tramlines are on a 2 foot gauge, distinct from the standard 3 foot 6 inch gauge used on the government railway of the time. Sleepers and bridge spans were constructed from local timber such as cypress pine, bloodwood and spotted gum. The Boonmoo to Stannary Hills section was also known as Dixon's tramway, named after the engineer responsible for the construction of the first tramway.
James Venture Mulligan reported the first tin deposits to the west of Atherton Tablelands in June 1875. Four years later a group of prospectors found tin in the Wild River and pegged the Great Northern Mine. Further tin lodes were found and in 1881 the Great Western Mine opened, followed by Eureka Creek in 1882 and Gibbs Creek in 1883. Prior to the construction of the tramways Cobb and Co provided the only reliable form of transport between the tin mining area west of the Atherton Tableland and the coastal ports of Port Douglas and Cairns.
In 1884 the Queensland Government chose Cairns as the coastal terminus for a railway to Mareeba across the Great Divide, although the line was not built until 1893. Copper deposits were discovered at Chillagoe/Mungana in 1888 creating renewed calls for increased transport between the coastal ports and the mining areas west of the Atherton Tablelands.
The construction of the 3 foot 6 inch Cairns to Mungana railway by the Queensland Government in 1893 sparked interest in the Herberton area from a group of Adelaide based mining entrepreneurs. North Queensland Tin Mining Corporation was registered on 20 September 1899 with WH Phillips as Chairman and S Dixon as Queensland Director. It had capitol of £20 000 in £100 shares. The company was particularly interested in the Eureka Creek mines, which had been abandoned by tin workers in the early 1890's due to high transport costs. By October 1900 the company controlled a range of assets including 500 acres of mining leases, 320 acres of freehold, tramway leases, water rights and battery sites at Nigger Creek and Rocky Bluffs. The closest siding on the government railway to the Eureka Creek tin fields was Boonmoo, also known as the 35 Mile.
In 1901 North Queensland Tin Mining Corporation was floated to raise the capital to construct the Boonmoo to Stannary Hills tramway. Properties and fixed assets to the Stannary Hills Mines and Tramway Company Limited, an Adelaide based company with a nominated capital of £650,000. The company was the first to take advantage of the 1900 Amendments to the Mining Act of 1898 which introduced provisions for tramways to carry goods and passengers in addition to mineral traffic, to attract investment in Queensland mining operations. C.T. Stephens was appointed to survey the line and supervise construction of the tramway by Dixon in 1901.
The original line was surveyed from Boonmoo along Eureka Creek to Stannary Hills and terminating at Watsonville. Work began at Boonmoo in early 1901 and reached Stannary Hills in 1902. For several miles construction work offered no major difficulties, but within 4 or 5 miles of Stannary Hills the ranges had to be surmounted, which necessitated cutting around the hills to enable a reasonable grade for the line. After the Boonmoo to Stannary Hills line opened in May 1902, instead of proceeding to Watsonville, it was extended 11 kms to Rocky Bluffs (QHR: 601861) a battery site on the Walsh River where minerals from the Eureka Creek tin deposits could be processed.
A modern 33 head stamper battery, capable of crushing 100 tons a day, was installed at Rocky Bluff immediately on completion of the line. The battery was known as 'Shaking Moses' and was formally opened in May 1903. The tramline finished at the top of a steep incline above the battery. All firewood for the boilers and ore for treatment at the battery were lowered down the inclined tramway with two tracks for a distance of about 600 ft. Brake control on the trucks was exercised from a platform at the top of the inclined tramway.
Passenger fares were 3 shillings sixpence each way from Stannary Hills to Rocky Bluff and passengers travelled "at their own risk". There were no stations, passengers simply hailed the tram to board it
Mining entrepreneur of north Queensland, John Moffat, had a strong interest in the transport developments at Stannary Hills. With the commissioning of his second tin smelter, Loudoun Mill at Irvinebank (later to become the Irvinebank State Treatment Works, QHR: 600679), in the latter part of 1904, it became clear that improved transport was necessary, for firewood, tin from the outer areas and for transporting ores. Firewood was particularly important, as the Loudoun Mill consumed in excess of 100 tonnes a day in its peak and supplies from Irvinebank were dwindling. Moffat decided to build the Stannary Hills to Irvinebank tramway, to connect with the Stannary Hills to Boonmoo line.
Construction work on The Junction to Irvinebank section started in August 1906. About 150 men were employed on the construction work, with one gang working on cuttings and general formations, one gang on platelaying and one gang on bridge construction. Construction workers were paid 8 shillings per day, while gangers were paid 10 shillings per day.
By 1907 Herberton and Irvinebank were the centre of Queensland's base metal industry with major smelters and batteries producing nearly three-quarters of Queensland's tin production. The construction of a tramway from Irvinebank to Stannary Hills had the potential to link Moffat's tin mining empire by rail to the newly discovered coal supplies at Mount Mulligan (QHR nomination: 601036), the port of Cairns, Brisbane, and on to Melbourne, Sydney and eventually Adelaide.
Early in 1907 the rails had extended almost all the way into Irvinebank. A siding and goods shed known as Close-up was established just below the overflow of the Ibis Dam at Loudoun Mill. This remained the goods shed until the tramway station at the Loudoun Mill was completed. The first load of firewood was delivered to Loudoun Mill by tramway on 28 March 1907. John Moffat's company began transporting goods on behalf of the public from June 1907.
The official opening of the tramway was a festive occasion. It took the form of a grand picnic, hosted by John and Margaret Moffat at the 'All-but' near Fireclay Gully on the west of town on 29 June 1907. Several trams conveyed the 1500 guests to the specially cleared site. Businesses closed for the day and all of Irvinebank was there. Entertainment included sports, dancing, barrel mule and steam merry-go-round.
After its construction, the Stannary Hills to Irvinebank tramway served for two decades as the most reliable form of transport to and from Stannary Hills, Rocky Bluffs and Irvinebank. A long procession of politicians, journalists, promoters, company directors and Governor McGregor himself came this way to visit John Moffat and the Loudoun Mill. The passenger carriage was attached to the goods wagon loaded with coke and town and mill supplies and hauled by wood burning locomotives. The twenty-one mile trip took four hours and all travel was at the passengers own risk.
In the first year 61,782 tonnes of freight and 8,696 passengers were transported between Irvinebank and Boonmoo. Passenger fares were 4 shillings return from Irvinebank to Stannary Hills, compared to 2 shillings for the same distance, from Boonmoo to Stannary Hills on the Rocky Bluffs line. A 2 shillings and sixpence surcharge was charged for public freight on the Irvinebank line and the first class freight rate was 40% higher than the Government and Stannary Hills Tramway rates.
While the Stannary Hills to Irvinebank tramway was principally used for transporting ore, metal, fuel and general supplies, it also offered an enormous social benefit to those employed in the tin industry west of the Atherton Tablelands. A number of social outings relied on the transport of the tramway, such as employees picnics and other special events. The tramways also carried goods such as kerosene, ice, fruit and vegetables, beer and mail.
John Moffat retired from managing the Irvinebank mining industry in February 1912 aged 72. One time General Manager of Stannary Hills Mine and Tramway Company, JH Reid, took over as manager of Irvinebank Mining Company Ltd and continued operations on a restricted scale. The First World War further accentuated the decline in the Irvinebank tin fields. The whole of the mining, milling and smelter works were sold to the Queensland Government in 1919 for the total sum of £22,500.
Loudoun Mill was reopened as the Irvinebank State Treatment Works in October 1919. Operations were continued until December 1920. The tramway service from Boonmoo to Irvinebank came under the control of the State Treatment Works. In 1922 the State Government purchased the Stannary Hills to Rocky Bluffs line from John Darling and Company, who had previously purchased the tramway from Stannary Hills Mine and Tramway Company. Locomotives and stock were then moved to Irvinebank and pooled with the Irvinebank tramway engines and stock. The Junction to Stannary Hills line was dismantled in 1926.
After several unsuccessful attempts had been made to revive the mining industry in the district, tramway operations ceased permanently at the end of 1936. In 1938 the locomotive 'Old John' was sold to the Marian Sugar Mills. During the Second World War the government disposed of all recoverable materials from the mines. The rails were taken up and sold to cane and mining tramways in the state. Some ironwork was purchased by Douglas Shire Council for the Port Douglas tramway, which was eventually incorporated into, and is still used by, the Mossman Mill.
","criteria":"The Irvinebank and Stannary Hills tramway formations, constructed between 1901-1907 are significant in Queensland's history for the role they played in the development of the north Queensland tin fields.
|The formation demonstrates an uncommon aspect of Queensland's cultural heritage as a track with a gauge of 2 foot, constructed specifically for the mining industry for private freight and passengers, and being of private construction.
|Archaeological remains such as discarded mining equipment, bottle dumps, locally made bricks and bridge span constructions associated with the tramway formation have the potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history.
|The tramway formations have a special and continued association with the tin mining community of north Queensland and a special association with the life or work of John Moffat.
|The tramway formations have a special and continued association with the tin mining community of north Queensland and a special association with the life or work of John Moffat. Moffat was important in Queensland's history as a regional entrepreneur who controlled mineral developments in North Queensland from 1880 to 1912. Moffat built the Irvinebank to Stannary Hills tramway between 1906-1907, and owned and operated the Irvinebank to Stannary Hills tramway privately from 1906 to 1912.
","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":21573,"place_ref":602583,"name":"La Societe Fransaise des Metaux Rares treatment plant (former)","alternate_name":"Former French Company Rare Metal Treatment Plant Site Upper Wolfram","street_address":null,"suburb":"DIMBULAH","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2006-07-04","description":"The site of the former La Societe Francaise des Metaux Rares treatment plant is across six levels excavated from the side of hill on the eastern bank of Bulluburrah Creek.
The principal extant remains are on Levels 3 and 4 (see attached diagram). Level 3 is a levelled area of approximately 50 x 25 metres. It includes a concrete lined hole, 6 x 8 metres and 5 metres deep. A row of 5 concrete fan blocks of varying sizes are adjacent to the excavated area, on the south side. The largest fan block is 4.4 x 3.2 metres and stands 4 metres high, with a round opening of 1.6m in diameter. There are three smaller concrete blocks of 1.4 to 1.8 metres high between the largest fan block and another large fan block that measures 4.3 x 2.9 metres and stands 2.7 metres high. It also has a round opening of 1.6m diameter. Two rows of skip track anchor posts, standing 400mm high and set in concrete blocks, run north-south on the east and west edges of Level 3.
Level 4 consists of a concrete floor (23 x 5 metres) and a concrete bed (16 x 6 metres) with a complicated arrangement of concrete pits, trenches and platforms. There two parallel rows of bolts standing upright in a line for 3.5 metres, as well as a number of other bolts indicating where the engine was bolted to the floor. A concrete floor with dimensions 23 x 5.1 metres is 8 metres south of the machine site.
Level 5 is the highest level on the site and consists of a flat clay floor approximately 25 x 10 metres. Some small pieces of metal fragments are present. Two more excavated levels are evident to the south of Level 5. The first, which appears to be hand excavated, is 50 x 25 metres. Another appears machine excavated and measures 25 x 25 metres.
Level 6 is a smaller excavated area to the north of Level 3. A mullock heap extends 40 x 20 metres above Level 6. It consists of quartz, molybdenite, sandstone and wolfram.
Level 1 and 2 are the lowest levels and the closest to Bulluburrah Creek. Level 1 has a concrete block with a small pulley wheel. A number of cement canister retaining strips can be seen on this level.
Level 2 is above and to the north of Level 1. It contains a few archaeological remains, including part of a steel cable and cement canister retaining strips.
The northern boundary is a straight line starting at a point on Bulluburrah Creek at 144degrees58'21"E, 17degrees04'25"S and finishing at Bulluburrah Creek at 144degrees58'14"E, 17degrees04'25"S. The western boundary is Bulluburrah Creek to a point at 144degrees58'12"E, 17degrees04'30"S. The southern boundary is from this point on the creek to a point on the top of the hill above Level 5 at 144degrees58'21"E, 17degrees04'34"S. The eastern boundary runs from the point on the top of the hill to the north-eastern most point on Bulluburrah Creek.
","history":"The former La Societe Francaise des Metaux Rares treatment plant operated between 1911 and 1913. The plant used an unusual dry blowing treatment process for the rare mineral, wolfram.
Wolfram was discovered in 1894 in the headwaters of the Hodgkinson River scattered over the surface as bunches in quartzose boulders or in drifts interdispersed with coarse gravel. In 1899 when wolfram was at its highest price, 240 tons were sent away for £38 per ton.
The township, Wolfram, named after the mineral, formed on the banks of the Bulluburrah Creek in two parts, Upper Wolfram or Top Camp, and Lower Wolfram or Bottom Camp.
In 1900, 91 pounds of molybdenite was discovered at Wolfram. This was said to contain some of the finest specimens of molybdenite discovered in Australia. There were 100 men working at Wolfram by late 1900, on wolfram, molybdenite and bismuth. The Irvinebank Mining Company invested at Wolfram in 1900, appointing Alexander Gillan as manager.
Demand for high grade wolfram, after the development of tungsten as a lamp filament in 1904, and for molybdenite for use in patent alloys, led to an earlty interest in rare minerals by British firms, the most prominent being George G. Blackwell and Sons of Liverpool. Prices in 1904 for both metals were high- up to £200 a ton for molybdenite and £140 a ton for wolfram - and attracted many goldminers. Of the 1,136 people on the Hodgkinson by 1904, 700 were miners working at Wolfram. By 1909 wolfram was returning £41,820 compared to the value of gold at £7,089. But the rare metals industry was unstable - there was insecurity in the unknown overseas markets where demand fluctuated erratically and local miners were never sure of their returns. So a Wolfram Co-operative Association was formed to arrange advances and shipments through intermediaries such as the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency and WJ Lempriere and Co, but generally the local industry was poorly organised (Kirkman 1982: 189-190).
The workings extended without a break from over 3 kms along the contact of the intrusive granite with older porphyries and slates from high rugged slopes down to the valley of Bulluburrah Creek (QGMJ 15 Jan 1913: 4). Initially settlement was concentrated on the higher slopes at Top Camp.
From 1904, 2,500 tons of wolfram valued at £250,000 were produced at Wolfram Camp, half of which went through Moffatt's Irvinebank Co. Mill. The Irvinebank Mining Company set up a battery on Bullaburrah Creek in the lower valley. This battery was a stabilising influence on Wolfram Camp, although it was closed for long periods throughout 1909 because of strikes over the 44 hour week. It operated again from 1910 to 1912 and was closed in the rationalisation of Irvinebank Mining Company's assets at the end of that year.
The area around the mill in the lower valley became the main settlement after 1907. The township, clustered on a ridge north of the battery, was at its peak during WWI. The wolfram mining industry passed through a depression for several years from 1910 chiefly because of the exhaustion of the residual surface accumulations of ore, thus ending the days of the gouger.
La Societe Francaise des Metaux Rares was registered in Queensland in 1911. That same year Frenchman, Mr Poulet, took over a number of mine dumps and tailing heaps on behalf of French syndicate. The objective was to extract wolfram, molybdenite and bismuth from the lowest grade mixed-metal ore using a specially designed treatment plant.
The crushing plant was delivered in August 1911 and the Queensland Government Mining Journal (15 Jan 1913: 4) reports that earthworks were underway in July 1912 for installation of the plant above Bulluburrah Creek in Upper Wolfram. The power plant imported by the company included an early 240 horsepower MAN diesel engine, type A4V49, weighing nearly 35,000kg that was coupled axially to a DC generator. An extensive system of overhead wire ropeways to collect ore from mullock heaps and a dam in Bulluburrah Creek were some of the proposed constructions. The cost of installation was expected to be considerably over £50,000 and required constant employment of 50 people, mostly skilled mechanics.
After a few short and unsuccessful trial runs, the process plant was liquidated in 1913 because of the health hazards associated with the dry blowing process.
The diesel engine was sold to Cooktown syndicate, and transported to the Louisa mine on the Palmer Goldfield. It now resides at the Great Extended Mine, Totley.
Many of the mines were closed during WWI. The Thermo-Electric Ore Reduction Corporation plant built near the site of the Irvinebank Company Mill at Lower Wolfram, sustained the district through the war years with the government paying fixed prices. After slumps in metal prices after the return of free market forces in March 1920 the Thermo Co. failed to survive. Wolfram Camp was almost deserted within weeks of its shutdown.
In 1926 Queensland Rare Metal Company erected a new battery on the site of the Irvinebank Mining Company's 10 head battery. As the prices of wolfram and molybdenite were declining there was little hope of success and the plant worked intermittently, with no crushing in 1934. Increased wolfram prices in 1935 attracted miners back to Wolfram and in 1937 the Pepper mine was dewatered and 200 men working in the area.
During WWII 3 tributers worked mines at Wolfram: Larkin, Lansky and Forget-me-Not. In 1946 the contract price for wolfram between the British and Australian governments expired, no further prices were quoted and operations ceased. There were small scale workings at some of the mines in 1947. There was a brief rush after the outbreak of the Korean war in 1951. However, as the price of wolfram fell many mining activities ceased.
The Mount Arthur Molybdenite Company NL worked several mines in the Wolfram Camp area in the 1970s until they sold their equipment by tender in 1989.
In 2006 there is renewed interest in mining wolfram, molybdenite and bismuth at Wolfram, and an open cut mining operation approximately 1km south of the site of the former La Societe Francaise des Metaux Rares plant, is proposed.
","criteria":"The former La Societe Francaise des Metaux Rares treatment plant is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland mining history. One of four processing plants in the Wolfram area, the treatment plant provides physical evidence of an important shift in milling practices and employment in the Hodgkinson River area, from gold to other mineral mining and processing. The treatment plant represents an uncommon milling practice in north Queensland, that of the mineral, wolfram. The scale of the treatment plant foundations demonstrates the scale and economic importance of wolfram mining in north Queensland in the years prior to WWI.
|The former La Societe Francaise des Metaux Rares treatment plant has the potential to contribute to our understanding of the different processing methods used in the treatment of wolfram, prior to WWI. The relatively high value of the mineral led to the experimentation with different processing methods such as the dry blowing process used at La Soceite de Francaise des Metaux Rares treatment plant.
|The former La Societe Francaise des Metaux Rares treatment plant is important because of its aesthetic significance. As an abandoned industrial ruin complex in a secluded dry bushland setting, the place evokes a strong aesthetic response. The remains of the treatment plant, over 6 terraced levels, exhibit a 'sense of remoteness' enhanced by the place's isolation, landscape, scale and setting.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion E","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":28839,"place_ref":602643,"name":"Mareeba Uniting Church (former)","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"189 Walsh Street (cnr Rankin Street)","suburb":"MAREEBA","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2021-06-25","description":"Mareeba Uniting Church (former) (1960) is a single-storey church standing near the town centre of Mareeba, between a residential area and the main commercial area. Located on a corner site, with Rankin Street to the north and Walsh Street to the west, the church’s main entrance faces northwest to the intersection. Surrounding properties are a mixture of low-rise commercial, residential, and civic buildings in a flat landscape. The building is highly intact, designed in a bold mid-century Modernist architectural style and, viewed from the intersection across its open front church ground, it makes a strong contribution to the immediate streetscape.
\nFeatures of Mareeba Uniting Church (former) of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nStanding adjacent to the church are the earlier former Methodist church hall (to the south) and the manse (to the east), which are not of state-level cultural heritage significance.
\nChurch
\nThe church comprises a square structure with a gable roof that features a sloping ridgeline. A face brick memorial tower rises above the front entrance, topped by a large cross.
\nThe building has a Modernist style with bold forms and high-quality construction techniques, including finely-constructed brickwork and joinery, minimal and colourful material palette, and triangle and diamond motifs throughout, found in features such as the shape of the roof, fascia ornamentation, integrated external flower beds, glazing panels, and fixed and movable furniture.
\nThe front street-facing elevations comprise full-height glazing with closely-spaced timber framing, forming a striking ‘screen’ to the street. The screens incorporate operable ventilation and cast patterned shadows within the church interior during the day and create a dramatic visual effect when the church is lit up at night. The building corners and tower are face brick and feature protruding interlocking regular bricks at the acute/obtuse corners. Non-street-facing elevations have single-skin, weatherboard-clad walls that angle outwards from the base with a band of timber-framed casement windows. These windows have sashes that have an angled top so that each pair of sashes has a triangular fanlight.
\nThe church has a symmetrical square plan with a diagonal central axis from the front entrance in the northwest corner, into a large and broad nave, to the chancel, and the vestry behind it in the southeast corner. The front entrance has a small recessed landing and two double doors into the nave. Inside the front doors is a V-shaped wall shielding the entrance doors and forming the base of the tower above. It holds a small war memorial shrine comprising wall-hung timber shelves. Nearby is a marble foundation stone set into the brick wall. Above the nave and extending over the chancel is a kite-shaped lowered ceiling lined with clear-finished stained timber boards. The ceiling faces slope gently down to form a peak above the nave. The chancel is raised by one step from the nave and its V-shaped rear wall is lined with diagonal timber boards matching the ceiling. The wall has a large, plain cross made from roughly-finished timber, and a diamond-shaped, cantilevered ‘holy table’ similar to that of the war memorial shrine. The small vestry contains a cantilevered table and light trough in the south-east corner, similar to the shrine. Two plain timber doors lead into the church on either side of the rear chancel wall.
\nInterior finishes in the church are generally minimal, with face brickwork exposed and joinery either stained and clear-finished, or painted brown-orange. The nave has a raw concrete floor, carpeted in some sections, and the building retains original light fittings.
\nThe church retains a considerable amount of original furniture designed by Oribin, which match the church’s geometric decorative features.
\nFeatures of the Church also of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the Church not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nChurch Setting
\nThe Church’s setting comprises open space on its street-facing sides which blends with the open space of the footpath to form a modest and informal civic space partially within the church’s allotments and partially within the road reserve. The space has minimal landscaping of grass with a concrete footpath. A Wayside Pulpit (c1960) stands to the southwest side of the church and includes a case for display signs.
\nFeatures of the setting of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nFeatures of the setting not of state-level cultural heritage significance includes:
\nViews
\nViews of the church of state-level significance include:
\nFeatures within these views not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nMareeba Uniting Church (former) was built in the town of Mareeba on the Atherton Tablelands in 1960 and is one of a series of innovative buildings designed by Queensland architect Edwin Henry (Eddie) Oribin (1927-2016). Originally established as Mareeba Methodist Church, it was built during a period of Christian modernisation and growth, and served as its congregation’s place of worship from its dedication in August 1960 until January 2021.
\nThe Atherton Tablelands, west of Cairns in far north Queensland, was named after squatter John Atherton, who was the first person to establish a cattle run in the area in the late 1870s.[1] In the 1880s the Atherton family established a wayside inn and store at the crossing of Granite Creek, supplying goods to traffic passing between Port Douglas to the north and the new tin mining township of Herberton to the south.[2] A settlement developed on the southern side of Granite Creek, on the traditional lands of the Muluridgi People, and was surveyed by EB Rankin as the town of Mareeba in 1891.[3] In 1893 it became a railhead when the Cairns to Kuranda line was extended, and by 1919 Mareeba was the district’s most important town.[4] Owing its prosperity to a diverse agricultural economy, post-World War II (WWII) Mareeba grew to become the largest tobacco growing centre in Australia, and in 1954 the town’s population reached 3369.[5]
\nThe earliest church services in Mareeba were conducted by visiting clergymen in the 1890s, from temporary premises such as the Mareeba State School (completed in 1893). The first church built in Mareeba was a United Protestant Church, constructed in 1896 on Walsh Street and shared by the Methodist and Presbyterian congregations for more than 60 years.[6] In 1954 the combined population of Methodists and Presbyterians in Mareeba was 752, of which just over half (388) identified as Methodist.[7]
\nMethodism arose as a group movement within the Church of England in the early 18th century during the industrial and agrarian revolutions.[8] It spread rapidly throughout the United States of America in the late 18th and early 19th centuries through itinerant preachers and later throughout the world through Methodist missionaries.[9] The term ‘Methodism’ arose from the methodical way the Christian faith was approached and included an emphasis on preaching, evangelism, a love for singing, and social activism.[10]
\nThe 1950s were a period of substantial change and reform within the Methodist and other Christian denominations throughout Australia, as they sought to become more relevant to modern society. Developments in theology and liturgy, coupled with an expansionary building program, led to a radical departure from established architectural traditions. Reflecting international trends, church designs moved away from historical revival styles and became increasingly influenced by Modernism.[11] However, it was expected that a church would still be recognisable as such, resulting in a wide range of variations combining traditional church elements, symbols, and functions with new construction techniques, materials, and forms.[12] A new flexibility in the spatial organisation of modern churches resulted in an immense variety of plan arrangements that broke away from the traditional cruciform or rectangular plan. These altered church interiors reflected the community celebration of worship, without distance between clergy and people.[13]
\nMany new Methodist churches, Sunday school halls, and parsonages were constructed throughout Queensland in the 1950s, replacing older buildings and meeting demand in new suburbs and growing regions. In addition, the church constructed new buildings to support its various charities and organisations including aged-persons homes, hostels, Young People’s Department (YPD) Camps, and Kings College at the University of Queensland St Lucia campus (opened 1955).[14]
\nMethodist optimism in the post-WWII period was demonstrated in ‘a series of nationalistic [sic] evangelistic campaigns, which climaxed in the “Mission to the Nation”’.[15] Carried out between 1953 and 1957, the Mission was the largest attempt ever made by the Methodist Church to reform the nation, emphasising the Christian faith as the only answer to social and industrial problems. Meetings were held in capital cities and main provincial centres throughout the country, conducted by campaign leader Reverend Alan Walker. Attracting large crowds, the crusade received wide newspaper and radio coverage.[16] During his Queensland tour in 1954, Rev. Walker visited the Atherton Tablelands on Sunday 4 July, where a massed service was held in Atherton in a WWII igloo (Merriland Hall, QHR 602016).[17]
\nAfter this event, the decision was made to progress with building a separate Methodist Church at Mareeba. The minutes of the Mareeba Circuit quarterly meetings note that in October 1954 a letter from the Northern Commission requested that steps be taken towards the building of a Methodist Church in Mareeba as soon as possible. To help finance the construction of new buildings, the Methodists arranged to sell their half of the United Church property to the Presbyterian Church for £2300, which was paid by the Mareeba Presbyterian Church in early 1957. Donations and legacies from parishioners also contributed to the church Building Fund. [18]
\nA Memorial Fund was established in July 1958 for the proposed new church and by October that year, more than £508 had been raised for this purpose.[19] Utilitarian war memorials in post-WWII were popular and many public buildings, including memorial churches, were funded with the assistance of the Commonwealth government’s tax deduction scheme for donations to war memorial funds.[20] In the case of the Mareeba Uniting Church, the memorial was an incorporated tower, rather than the whole building.
\nThe site for the proposed new Methodist church was on the corner of Walsh and Rankin streets, towards the southern end of town. The church had purchased two lots there in 1940 as the site for a manse, which was completed in early 1941.[21] In 1942 the church purchased a third adjacent lot to the south.[22] In preparation for relocating to the new site, a church hall was constructed on this lot in 1956-57, leaving the corner of the property vacant.[23] Over the next few years, fundraising continued and Cairns-based architect E H Oribin was engaged to design the new church.
\nEdwin Henry (Eddie) Oribin was born in Cairns in 1927. As a teenager during WWII, he lived in Brisbane where he obtained work with the Allison Aircraft Division of General Motors, rebuilding aircraft engines at Breakfast Creek in an early example of an Emil Brizay-designed igloo (demolished). Returning to Cairns in 1944, Oribin commenced architectural training with Sid G Barnes, Chief Architect of the Allied Works Council for North Queensland, whose training gave Oribin a solid grounding in structural design and construction. In 1950 Oribin moved to Brisbane to work and study, and on 10 February 1953 he obtained his registration as an architect in Queensland, returning to Cairns the following month to begin a partnership with Barnes. This partnership lasted until Barnes’ death in 1959, after which Oribin continued on his own until 1973 when he closed his full-time practice.[24] Oribin passed away in 2016.
\nOribin undertook a wide range of work in north Queensland between 1953 and 1978.[25] Throughout his career, he was devoted to experimenting with different structural and aesthetic ideas, drawing inspiration from a wide variety of Australian and international publications. Characteristics of Oribin’s work included meticulous detailing, structural creativity, and concern for the modulation of light.[26] He was also known for his model-making skills and superb craftsmanship, often creating objects himself.[27]
\nDuring the 1950s Barnes and Oribin were well known architects in Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands as well as further afield, receiving numerous commissions for a range of small and medium scale projects, such as fire stations, shops, and hospital facilities.[28] In 1956 Oribin designed the Mareeba Shire Hall (former; QHR 601553), which was constructed at a nearby site in Walsh Street in 1960-61.[29]
\nBy December 1959 plans for the Mareeba church were completed.[30] To be constructed primarily from brick and timber, the design had a square floor plan with its main entrance at the corner facing the intersection, full-height glass front walls with timber fins, and a brick tower. The interior was laid out on the diagonal, with the chancel and a small vestry in the southeast corner. This arrangement allowed the congregation to fan outwards around the altar, and was a type that had been successfully employed in Europe in the 1950s.[31] The choice of a square plan for the Mareeba Methodist Church took advantage of both the remaining space available on the site and its corner position.
\nThe contractor employed was Les Tinsley, a local builder who had worked with Oribin previously, having just constructed St Paul’s Anglican Church at Proserpine (QHR 601589, 1959).[32] A ceremony for the laying of the foundation stone was held on Saturday 2 April 1960, attended by Methodist church representatives from the Northern District. The stone was set by senior circuit steward Mr Andy Smith and an address delivered by the Reverend R W Moreton (of Cairns). During the ceremony, an inscribed silver trowel was presented to Smith by Oribin.[33]
\nThe church was completed within five months and was dedicated by the President of the Methodist Conference, Rev. Cyril A Read, on 6 August. It cost £9000. The tower was dedicated as a memorial to those who had served in World Wars I and II, with a small continuously lit red lamp intended to signify the people’s remembrance.[34] A wayside pulpit was added south of the building soon after the church’s opening, using funds raised on that day.[35]
\nThe unique design of the church attracted attention from both the Methodist and wider community. Articles about the building appeared in the Methodist Times, and the architectural journal Building Ideas, while an article in The Courier-Mail about modern churches, described it as ‘one of the most unusual design[s] with its sloping, wedge-shaped roof and louvred grill’.[36] Two years after its completion, a Tablelands Advertiser article described the church as already a landmark in the district.[37] The church was also photographed during the 1960s by noted architectural photographers Richard Stringer (1968) and Peter Wille (c1960). Oribin was named as an innovative architect in a study of significant 20th century building in 1988 and the building has since featured in articles and architectural theses.[38]
\nThe Mareeba Methodist Church was the second completed of three unique churches designed by Oribin in the late 1950s, the others being St Paul’s Anglican Memorial Church, Proserpine (1959, QHR 601589), and St Andrew’s Presbyterian Memorial Church, Innisfail (1961, QHR 602332). Each of these churches is distinctive in design, having directly responded to the needs of the clients, and experimented with construction and design ideas.[39] The Mareeba Methodist Church illustrates Oribin's use of angular motifs, similar to St Andrew’s Church in Innisfail,[40] Oribin’s first house (1958) and his Studio (1960, QHR 602825) in Cairns.[41]
\nOribin was particularly influenced by the mid-20th century work of American architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), particularly Wright’s ‘organic’ architecture.[42] Like Wright, Oribin’s architecture follows organic principles. His buildings are compatible with their environments, closely integrated with the site, and have regard for the processes of nature and the forms they produce.[43] Oribin’s buildings use local materials, respond to the topography and climate to produce comfortable conditions, and have highly organised layouts. Oribin’s first house was included in a 1969 journal article, which detailed organic architecture and its wide variety of forms, materials, and interpretations employed by Australian architects, with features such as clearly expressed timber structure, textured brickwork, free massing, and complex geometries that complemented natural elements of their site.[44]
\nThe Mareeba Methodist Church design shares many similarities to Oribin’s studio in Cairns (designed during the same year), which emulates the form and structure of one of Wright’s most important American works, the Unitarian Meeting House (1947-51) in Wisconsin.[45] Some of the studio’s features, such as the peaked gable roof form and angled timber side walls with triangular fanlights over casement windows, were reused and adapted by Oribin to suit the site and scale of the church.
\nThe church used ordinary materials in a highly creative way. Brick walls anchor the corners of the large angled roof, which is pierced by the brick tower. The timber and glass front screen walls incorporated operable ventilation panels and their repeated patterns cast a changing dappled light effect on the interior during the day and made an impressive display of the church when illuminated at night. ‘Natural’ finishes, which emphasised the inherent beauty of the base building materials, were used throughout. A contrast between light and dark materials was used for dramatic effect on the interior, where a central lower ceiling of stained and clear-finished timber boards appeared to hover over the seated congregation and formed a background wall to the chancel and its large cross. Triangle and diamond motifs were used for ornamentation.
\nDesigned to seat 200 people, the pews (custom-designed by Oribin) were laid out so that the congregation was grouped around the preacher, the furthest seat being only 9m from the pulpit.[46] Original plans show that a 2.8m high screen was to divide the entrance lobby from the church, however, no evidence of it having been built was found.[47] The church furniture, both fixed and movable (pews, removable communion rails, pulpit/lectern, stand for baptism font, moveable plant pots), was designed by Oribin to reflect the overall design of the church, with sharp angles and triangular ornamentation.
\nThe Mareeba church design includes triangular garden beds projecting from the brick ends of the front elevations. Oribin also designed movable timber plant pots for the church interior.[48]
\nOriginally set within the front entrance doors were four triangular glass panels featuring the Methodist Church emblem that were designed by Oribin and imported from England. After three of the panels were damaged, the fourth was removed and all were replaced with plain red glass.[49] In 2021, the surviving pane is displayed within the church, mounted on a wall.
\nVery few other changes have been made to the building in its lifetime. They comprise: installation of modern guttering and drainage; and removal, during the 1970s, of a carillon electronic bell used to signal religious ceremonies, after it malfunctioned.[50]
\nThe church became the Mareeba Uniting Church in 1977 after the amalgamation of the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregational churches to form the Uniting Church in Australia.[51] In 2010 the congregation celebrated the 50th anniversary of the church building.[52]
\nOribin’s contribution to Queensland architecture was recognised by the Queensland Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in 2000, when the new ‘Building of the Year’ award for the Far North Region was named in his honour.[53] In 2013, two of Oribin’s other works, the first Oribin House and the Oribin Studio received the ‘Enduring Architecture Award’ at the Australian Institute of Architects’ Queensland Architecture Awards.[54]
\nIn 2021, the former Mareeba Uniting Church remains highly intact and is an excellent example of the design work of E H Oribin. It is no longer used for church purposes. Following 10 months during which the church was not used for services, initially due to Covid-19 restrictions, the Presbytery of Carpentaria of the Uniting Church in Australia, at the request of the Mareeba congregation, agreed to close the site. The reported reasons were: the church’s reduced and aging congregation, the cost of its ongoing maintenance, its location, and traffic issues. The last service held in the church took place on 31 January 2021.[55]
","criteria":"Mareeba Uniting Church (former) (1960) is important in demonstrating the growth and expansion of the Methodist Church and the evolution of church architecture in Queensland in the post-World War II (WWII) period. Its Modernist design reflects the post-war mission of the Methodist Church to become more relevant to modern society through liturgical change and extending its services across the state.
\nThe church, in its form, scale, materials and details, is an outstanding example of the contribution of renowned architect Edwin Henry (Eddie) Oribin (1927-2016) to the evolution of Queensland architecture through his range of innovative and unique buildings produced in northern Queensland from 1953. His contribution to Queensland architecture is recognised by the Australian Institute of Architects’ Eddie Oribin Building of the Year Award for the Far North Queensland region.
\nIncorporated in the church is a mid-20th century memorial tower dedicated to those who served Australia during World War I (WWI) and WWII, which is important in demonstrating the community’s involvement in these major world events. War memorials are a tribute to those who served, and those who died, from a particular community. They are an important element of Queensland towns and cities and are important in demonstrating a common pattern of commemoration across Queensland and Australia.
|Mareeba Uniting Church (former) is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a post-WWII Modernist church in Queensland. Highly intact and an exceptional example of its type, it retains its: bold Modernist architectural style; incorporation of traditional Christian spaces (nave, chancel, vestry), configurations, and motifs in non-traditional forms; minimal material palette; tower; and original church furniture (holy table, pulpit, lectern, baptismal stand, presiders chairs, communion rails, pews, and plant pots).
\nThe place is also important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of Oribin’s work. Embodying architectural concepts Oribin developed and refined over his career, Mareeba Uniting Church (former) is remarkable for its complex architectural simplicity, incorporating: the use of a rational plan grid and geometry; unconventional roof form; a high degree of craftsmanship and attention to detail; triangular decorative motifs; screen walls of glass and timber; simplified building forms and spatial arrangements; minimal material palette; creative manipulation of natural light and ventilation; and custom-designed, hand-crafted furniture.
|Mareeba Uniting Church (former) is important for its aesthetic significance as a building of exceptional architectural quality. Prominently located on a corner site and highly intact, it possesses beautiful attributes derived from its symmetry, form, scale, materials, detailed and meticulous assembly, careful manipulation of light and shadow, and cohesive Modernist style. The all-encompassing decorative aesthetic of the place includes coordinating original furniture.
|Mareeba Uniting Church (former), in its highly intact form, scale, materials, and details demonstrates a high degree of architectural excellence, employing standard building materials and elements in a highly-creative and carefully-detailed manner, achieved with a high-quality construction finish. The high architectural quality of the church was recognised in contemporary published reports on the building.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion F","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 is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":30338,"place_ref":645601,"name":"Mungana Archaeological Area","alternate_name":"Girofla Mine | Eclipse Limeworks and Cemetery | Lady Jane Mine | Mungana Township | Old Mungana Township | Mungana Prospect | 700001","street_address":null,"suburb":"MUNGANA","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2008-12-11","description":"The Mungana Archaeological Area consists of eight discreet areas of variable size spread over 6.5 Km2.
Mungana Cemetery: Commenced in the early twentieth century and located within a gazetted reserve on the northern side of Burke Development Road, away from the main Township. Only a small number of graves are clearly marked with headstones, but physical evidence such as remnant grave furniture and east-west aligned depressions indicate the presence of numerous other graves. The area is clearly marked with a wire and post boundary fence and the entrance gate is signed.
The Main Township and Cattle Yards: This is the largest area and is located just south of the Burke Development Road. It includes many features such as the Eclipse Quarry and Lime Kiln, the railway and embankment and remnants of domestic and commercial properties, the second school, the cattle railway siding and the cattle yards. The area around the town and kiln is covered in heavy vegetation in places and many historical features are obscured. The cattle yards have been damaged through termite activity, decay and fire, but the surviving hardwood fencing is still reasonably solid and can be easily read and interpreted. The site also includes the concrete spray race and a slab for a now absent building. The associated railway line is still extant as are other pieces of railway infrastructure (e.g. signal light and track changing lever). However the tracks immediately adjacent to the yards have been heavily undermined by erosion.
The Hospital: Located near the top of a hill to the south of the main township, remnants includes structural elements such as concrete drains and wooden posts, plus many artefacts including but not limited to bed frames, kerosene tins and a bath.
Girofla Mine: This site is located to the west of hospital and directly adjacent to the southern side of the Mungana Branch Railway Line. The site includes the main mine shaft, remnants of the pump arm, a large brick and concrete tank stand, wooden posts, numerous concrete foundations, pipes, and a riveted metal chimney that has collapsed. The geography of the area is varied and includes both natural features, such as a large limestone karst above the main shaft where machinery was established, and cultural features, such as large mullock heaps. The main shaft area is fenced off for safety reasons.
Girofla Smelter: Located to the south of the Mine and at the base of a steep ridge, this area consists of substantial foundations, a stone wall, slag spoil and domestic dwellings. The ruined domestic dwelling is located on a hill to the south of the smelter and consists of a stone foundation platform with a thin concrete slab floor. Immediately adjacent to the floor area is a large depression in the ground that probably represents a water soak. A light scattering of surface domestic artefacts are found around the house area including bottle and ceramic fragments.
Lady Jane Mine: Located to the east of the Girofla Smelter and adjacent to the southern edge of the modern access road to Red-Dome, this is another large and complex area consisting of both mining and domestic features. The large main shaft is directly adjacent to the aforementioned road and is fenced off for safety. All around the shaft are numerous mining artefacts and features including machinery foundations, metal pipes, and a tramway with remnant wooden sleepers, kerosene tins and numerous bricks/brickwork. To the south-west of the mine shaft are two ruined domestic dwellings. These are associated with light artefact scatters and the most eastern has a Frangipani tree immediately adjacent to the concrete floor. This dwelling is also located near large U-shaped winding foundations made of concrete.
Old Mungana or Girofla Township: Located to the north of Lady Jane Mine on the other side of the modern road, this site consists of series of features and artefact scatters associated with the early township. Artefacts consist of ceramics and glass and date from the late nineteenth century to the mid 1930s, possibly indicating continued use of the area for a considerable period after the township moved in 1901.
Mungana Magazines and Access Route: Located within the National Park to the north of the old Mungana/Girofla Township, this area contains the only extant buildings within the archaeological area. The two magazines are different in size and are located immediately adjacent to each other. The smaller structure measures 2040 mm width, X 2100 mm breadth X 2270 mm height and was used for housing detonators. The larger building measures 4100 mm width x 5370mm breadth X 2650 mm height and was used for housing explosives. Both structures are of a similar design, with a corrugated iron gabled roof and whitewashed exterior walls. Both are constructed of a single course of hollow blocks, which are believed to have been handmade locally. The missing roof on the explosives magazine was replaced in 2000 with a free standing metal framed roof. The magazines are located away from the former township and behind a series of limestone karsts. Access is via a road between two of the line karsts. The road still exhibits scars from the blasting and drilling required during the construction process.
","history":"The Mungana Archaeological Area is an aggregation of the remnants of mining and associated community infrastructure that commenced during Queensland's mining boom in the 1880s. The area was both geographically and commercially linked to the development of the nearby township of Chillagoe, which was originally settled and named in 1887 by William Atherton, the son of the famous North Queensland Pioneer, John Atherton. William established a large homestead on the banks of the Chillagoe Creek in 1888 with the intention of supplying beef to the expanding mining operations of the area. The far north Queensland Mining magnate, John Moffat, buoyed by reports from Atherton and others of the discovery of payable mineral deposits, visited the area in October 1888 and subsequently acquired the mineral rights over a considerable amount of the Chillagoe/Mungana area. He consolidated his position by establishing a number of smaller mining operations, including a smelter at Calcifer in 1894.
\nMining at Mungana commenced in 1893/4 when John Moffat employed 70 men to prospect the Girofla load. Full scale operations commenced in 1896 when Moffat instructed 20 men to sink a shaft at Girofla, prepare a dam and construct a smelter site. A calico township quickly grew near the mine, and was also called Girofla. The settlement soon expanded to include a small number of buildings, including three hotels. By 1897 the copper smelting machinery from Muldiva had been transferred to Girofla and the latter's population had grown to 158. Although the Girofla mine was principally a lead/silver producer, the smelter also processed other ore from a series of nearby mines associated with Moffat, including the Griffith, Dorothy, Red Dome and Lady Jane.
\nAs mining operations in the area expanded, John Moffat, and his business partner James Smith Reid, sought to restructure their holdings in an effort to establish more manageable portions and raise capital for infrastructure investment. They initially formed the Chillagoe Proprietary Company, which acquired Moffat's leases and negotiated with the colonial government. By late 1897 the Mareeba to Chillagoe Railway Act had been passed which enabled the construction of a private railway network, ensured 1800 acres of mineral leases, waived labour conditions on the mines, and provided the government with the option to acquire the enterprise after fifty years. A new company was subsequently formed called the Chillagoe Railway and Mines Limited, which had a million pounds nominal capital. They then set about constructing the railway and the smelter, although the latter project encountered difficulties and was eventually located at the less preferred location of Chillagoe Smelters (QHR 600675).
\nJust as the rail network was nearing completion in 1901, Moffat and Reid floated the Mungana group of mines as a separate company; the Mungana (Chillagoe) Mining Co. Ltd. This company included the Girofla, Lady Jane, Griffith and Dorothy mines and their associated infrastructure. The completion of the railhead to Mungana in 1901 had a substantial impact upon the town. The township was moved from its original location opposite the Girofla mine to a newly surveyed site either side of the rail head, and was officially renamed Mungana. The Girofla smelter was closed in 1902 as ore could be easily railed to the new large smelting facility at Chillagoe.
\nThe new township of Mungana quickly grew and had a cricket club, turf club, Progress Association, court house, library and reading room. At its peak in 1920 Mungana had six hotels, three stores, bakery, butcher, confectionary shop, drapers, post office, church, school and livery.
\nAt the railway terminus, on the southern side of the railway formation, a stone embankment was built in 1902 by the OK Copper Mines Development Syndicate NL. The OK Mine, smelter and township complex was located to the north of Mungana and made good use of the latter's new railhead. The OK Company used the siding to unloaded coke (for its smelter) and stores (for the town), and load refined copper for export. At first horses did the carrying from Mungana to OK, but in 1905 the OK Company arranged for 400 camels to take over the carriage, managed by Abdul Wade's 'Bourke Carrying Company', which was also a shareholder in the OK Company. Within months Abdul Wade quickly replaced the camels with traction engines to overcome labour problems and because camels were too expensive to feed and were poisoned after eating native bushes. The six traction engines each capable of hauling eight tons cost 7,000 pounds. The embankment was still being used in 1913 after the OK smelters closed and miners had to cart the ore in to Mungana themselves for railing to the Chillagoe smelters.
\nDespite a series of financial scandals associated with the parent Chillagoe operation and the temporary closure of its smelters, Mungana continued to develop. The Lady Jane Mine was regarded as 'promising' and in 1909 new plant was installed including a Babcock boiler. The Mungana Mining Co. installed a pumping plant at Girofla in 1911 that was one of the largest in Queensland at the time and required considerable supporting infrastructure. It consisted of a beam pump with a 39 foot sweep, a tandem compound engine with an 18 foot long crank shaft and a 9 ton weight fly wheel 18 foot in diameter.
\nLike many of its contemporaries, Mungana had a reputation as a wild frontier township. The large number of men, physical isolation and tough living conditions resulted in frequent fights and drunkenness. In October 1901 a domestic servant named Hannah Treacy was murdered by a drunken miner, Richard Henderson, who soon after committed suicide. The offender is believed to occupy one of at least three graves rumoured to exist at the end of Main Street. A formal cemetery was established approximately two kilometres from the Township in the early twentieth century, consisting of both marked and unmarked graves. The oldest know burial is dated 1904. The town racetrack was also located in this area and one of the cemetery fence posts was the fourth furlong marker.
\nDespite the infrastructure investments, the Mungana Co. struggled and eventually collapsed. An underground fire forced the partial closure of the Lady Jane in 1909, resulting in the loss of considerable paying ore. The entire Mungana Company went into liquidation by 1914 and all the mines closed; the Lady Jane completely filling with water. The Mungana operation was subsequently purchased by the Chillagoe Company even though it was also continuing to experience financial difficulties, and the Mungana mines remained closed until they were purchased by the State in 1919.
\nState Government ownership of the Mungana Mines was to represent the Town's civil peak, but also made it the centre of a great political scandal. When the State Labor Government took over operations in 1919, E.G. Theodore was Treasurer and his close friend William McCormack was Home Secretary. Theodore and McCormack had been founding members of the Australian Workers Association (AWA), which was to merge with other labour organisations in 1913 to form the powerful Australian Workers Union. They had both been active in the Chillagoe area from 1908 onwards and succeeded in establishing branches in places such as Mungana, when earlier attempts by others had failed. In 1909 the AWA initiated industrial action at Mungana resulting in pay loading concessions by the Company. Theodore was later the state member for Chillagoe.
\nWhen the state purchased the mines in 1919, it reopened the Girofla and Lady Jane Mines. Fred Reid, a local miner, purchased the leases for both sites while debate about their future was being discussed in Parliament. When the purchase was settled in 1922, Reid was paid in a mixture of cash and royalties. The government also spent a considerable sum dewatering and timbering the mines. It is also believed that the extant powder magazine and detonator shed were constructed during this time.
\nHowever, in 1926 the mines again closed and accusations were made that the government had spent considerably more than originally tabled in both royalties and improvements, plus it emerged that McCormack held shares in Mungana Mines Ltd. Questions were being raised about the legality and ethics of the purchase and a change of government eventually led to a Royal Commission in 1930 that was critical of Theodore, McCormack, Reid and the Chillagoe Mine Manager, Goddard. Theodore and McCormack had both served as the Queensland Premier in the years after the purchase, and the former had since become the Federal Treasurer. Theodore resigned as Treasurer and both he and McCormack were forced to stand trial. Although eventually cleared of fraud and conspiracy charges, the Mungana Affair ended both their political careers. The Chillagoe Smelters still provided a focus for regional mining activities, however by 1943 the dearth of payable ore and the loss of workers to the war effort finally also saw its permanent closure.
\nAfter the closure of the mines Mungana struggled on as a service centre and cattle railhead. The cattle trucking yards had been built along a separate rail siding near the town in 1901. Since the establishment of Chillagoe station by the Atherton family in 1886, cattle had been an expanding industry and the Mungana trucking yards serviced not only local producers but also stations from the Gulf and Lower Peninsula, which initially droved and later trucked their stock to the rail head. Water for stock was a constant issue, especially after the closure of the mining operations. 'Underground' water tanks had been established at the yards but water had to be brought in from Smelters Junction by the locomotives and then emptied into the tanks. The yards had a Buffalo Fly spray plant installed in the late 1930s or early 1940s and the water from the tanks was used primarily for its operation. An old collapsed limestone well near the yards was cleaned out in 1949 but failed to provide a reliable source. The situation grew so desperate that the Courier Mail reported on 29 November 1949 that cattle trucked from Mungana to Cairns had been without water for two days and the future of the practice had to be considered.
\nRegular rail services to Mungana ceased in 1958 and only extended beyond Chillagoe when they were required for cattle. The end of rail services was the final blow to Mungana and by 1959 it had shrunk to a hotel, store, post office and seven residents. A new metal cattle holding yard for road haulage were built in the 1970s and the old wooden cattle yards became derelict. Today the Mungana Township is completely abandoned and has become a tourism destination, although some mining leases have been recently reactivated over parts of the site and a new 'drive' zinc mine is being established. The powder magazine and detonator shed are the only extant buildings but substantial remnants of the rail network, building foundations, stock trucking yards, and mining operations and cemetery survive.
\n","criteria":"
The Mungana Archaeological Area is important in demonstrating the role of the mining industry to the development of far north Queensland and the settlement of the area by non-indigenous people. The peak in its economic life occurred with John Moffat's Chillagoe Company and the State run enterprises of the 1920s. It struggled on for another five decades serving the cattle industry in the Gulf.
The former Mungana Township and railway terminus situated within the Mungana Archaeological Area are important in Queensland's history as a major development associated with the Chillagoe Mineral Field. The Mareeba to Mungana Railway line was the only successful large-scale state/private partnership in railway development between 1860 and 1900. The Girofla and lady Jane Mines were substantial operations, forming an important part in the network of mines that provided ore to the Chillagoe Smelters. The pumping plant installed at the Girofla Mine in 1911 was one of the largest of its type in Queensland at the time and represented an important attempt to deal with the ground water issues that plagued the district.
Despite extensive searches, only limited archival records concerning the activities at Mungana survive. The archaeological record of Mungana has the potential to answer a range of important research questions about Queensland's history through its material remains, especially potential for providing a rare opportunity to examine a complete community for its entire duration. All aspects of the town and mining operation survive in some form. Identifiable areas of archaeological interest include the mining infrastructure foundations and ruins, boilers, railway and tramlines, culverts, bottle dumps, domestic remains, a lime kiln, explosives stores, blasted access roads, a cemetery, a school, wells, a hospital site (including associated artefacts), cattle yards and public venues such as hotels. Artefactual material has been identified in a variety of environments throughout the area, including surface and subsurface deposits and natural depressions. Although there has been some disturbance of the site, its size and relative isolation has ensured a high degree of overall archaeological integrity.
The Mungana Archaeological Area has the potential to answer important research questions associated with how the community developed, interacted, traded and survived. Information about the history of the township and the lives of its occupants would therefore be substantially enhanced through future research. For example, preliminary archaeological analysis demonstrates that although the township of Girofla was officially moved to the current site of Mungana in 1901, artefactual evidence suggests the former continued to be occupied into the 1930s.
The Mungana Archaeological Area has the potential to answer important research questions about the collective experiences of isolated mining communities in far north Queensland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There are many abandoned mining townships across Queensland and the far North in particular. The archaeological artefacts and potential artefact deposits within the Mungana Archaeological Area provide a strong basis for comparative analysis with other townships and mining operations, even if they are not as comprehensively preserved, to establish a better understanding of behaviour processes and industry norms in such communities.
The Mungana Archaeological Area has additional research potential to reveal important information about Queensland's history, including questions associated with gender, class, demographics, health, industry the labour movement and entertainment. Such questions could potentially be further refined in terms of the townships' periods of free enterprise and state ownership.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion C","criteria_definitions":"The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":31831,"place_ref":602850,"name":"Irvinebank State School","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"High Street","suburb":"IRVINEBANK","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2015-05-01","description":"Irvinebank State School stands on a 1.28ha site in the centre of the small town of Irvinebank. The school is approached from the southwest by an unsealed road off Herberton Petford Road. The teaching building stands on the centre of the site, facing southeast down the steep slope with rock wall terraces behind forming level platforms for the tennis court and playshed.
\nTeaching Building
\nThe teaching building, comprising three classrooms, is an L-shaped timber-framed and clad building with a corrugated metal-clad gable roof. The natural slope has been terraced so the building is lowset at the rear and highset at the front. The exterior is clad with weatherboards and the roof with corrugated metal sheets. The 1889 and 1899 classrooms form the long wing with the 1906 section branching off at a right angle.
\nThe 1889/99 wing is intact. Verandahs on the front (southeast) and rear (northwest) have stop-chamfered posts and timber post and rail balustrades. Original hatroom enclosures survive at the centre and at both ends. The wing retains original tall, narrow windows with high sills in all walls, sheltered by hoods with latticed cheeks in the gable end walls. Louvred panels in the gable end wall apexes vent the roof space and an original metal fleche stands on the centre of the ridge, venting both classrooms. From the verandahs, timber French doors with stop-chamfered frames and tall centre pivot fanlights open into the classrooms which are separated by a beaded tongue and groove board lined partition with a half glazed door. The interior walls are unlined, with timber wall framing and tie-beams exposed internally. The coved ceiling is lined with boards and has central lattice ventilation panels. Solar panels mounted on the roof and the metal shade structure attached to the southeastern elevation are modern additions and are not of cultural heritage significance.
\nThe 1906 wing has a verandah on the southwest side with square timber posts and an original hatroom enclosure at the southeastern end. Packed weatherboards at the apex of the gable end walls vent the roof space. Original window hoods with latticed cheeks are retained on the gable end walls, sheltering windows with lower sills. The sashes and fanlights are all later replacements within the original openings, comprising timber-framed awning sashes or steel louvres. A large area of windows has been inserted into the verandah wall, however, the original timber French doors survive. The southwestern verandah has been enclosed with later weatherboards (external) and flat sheeting (internal). The interior walls are lined with later flat sheeting and the coved ceiling is lined with boards and has ventilation panels, which have been sheeted over. Timber tie-beams are exposed within the space.
\nSome early school forms (long bench seats) and a school bell are retained in the building.
\nThe understorey stumps of the building are later replacements in steel and concrete and small enclosures have been made – none of which is of cultural heritage significance. The solar panels on the roof, metal walkway covers at the south, and the external window-shade louvres on the south western elevation of the 1906 wing are also later additions and are not of cultural heritage significance.
\nTennis Court
\nA tennis court stands immediately behind the teaching building, retained by rock walls.
\nPlayshed
\nA ten-post, timber-framed playshed stands on higher ground immediately northwest of the tennis court. It has open sides and a hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheets. The timber roof framing is exposed and the floor is concrete.
\n","history":"
Irvinebank State School opened in 1889 in the small, private mining town of Irvinebank. As the town prospered, the teaching building (1889) was extended in 1899 and 1906, and other structures and landscape elements were built, including a playshed (1891). The town declined after 1907. In 2015 the school buildings remain remarkably intact. Irvinebank State School has been in continuous operation since establishment and has been a focus for the local community as a place for important social and cultural activity.
\nTraditionally the land of the Bar Barrum people, European settlement at Irvinebank began in the 1880s. Irvinebank’s existence is due to John Moffat (1841-1918), whose mining enterprises drove much of the economic activity in north Queensland between 1884 and 1914.[1] In 1883 tin lodes at Gibbs Creek were purchased by Moffat’s partner in the Glen Smelting Company, George Young, while Moffat was overseas.[2] In 1884 Moffat had a dam constructed at Gibbs Creek, above which he built his residence, Loudoun House, and the locality was named Irvinebank.[3] A battery and smelter, the Loudoun Mill [QHR 600679], was constructed and commenced operations in December 1884.[4] A School of Arts building was erected in Irvinebank in 1885, and the first sale of allotments in the town occurred in February 1886.[5] Irvinebank became the centre of Moffat’s business empire, and Loudoun Mill was expanded between 1886 and 1904.[6]
\nIn June 1886 a public meeting was held at Irvinebank to elect members of a building committee to establish a provisional school.[7] Irvinebank Provisional School opened on 18 October 1886,[8] in a building south of Jessie Street.[9] By the end of December 1886, enrolment had reached 16 pupils.
\nThe provision of state-administered education was important to the governments of Australia. After introducing the Education Act 1860 the number of public schools in Queensland grew from four in 1860 to 230 by 1875.[10] The State Education Act 1875 instituted free, compulsory, and secular primary education and established the Department of Public Instruction.[11] The establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of early communities and integral to their success. Locals often donated land and labour for a school’s construction and the school community contributed to maintenance and development. Schools became a community focus, a symbol of progress, and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents, and teachers.[12]
\nIrvinebank soon had the population to support a state school, thanks to increased tin production. The economy of the town experienced two peak periods of prosperity – 1888-90 and 1899-1904 – boosted by the opening of the Vulcan tin mine in 1889, and by expansion at the Loudoun Mill.[13] At its peak in the early 1900s, the Loudoun Mill was the largest tin battery and smelter in Australia.[14] In 1888, the School Committee sought to upgrade Irvinebank Provisional School to a state school and raised 20 percent of the cost of a new building, as the Department of Public Instruction refused to allow the existing facility to be used.[15] A new site, steep but closer to the centre of town than a surveyed school reserve further northeast, was reserved in May 1889; comprising 2 acres, 1 rood, and 19.8 perches (0.96ha).[16] Construction tenders were called in May 1889,[17] and the new school buildings (teaching building and teacher's residence) were completed soon after. The upgrade to a state school was officially approved on 25 July 1889.[18]
\nThe teaching building at Irvinebank was built to a standard design by architect John Ferguson. The government developed standard plans for its school buildings to help ensure consistency and economy. From the 1860s until the 1960s, Queensland school buildings were predominantly timber framed, an easy and cost-effective approach that also enabled the government to provide facilities in remote areas. Standard designs were continually refined in response to changing needs and educational philosophy and Queensland school buildings were particularly innovative in climate control, lighting, and ventilation. Standardisation produced distinctly similar schools across Queensland with complexes of typical components.[19]
\nIn 1879 the Department of Public Instruction appointed its own Superintendent of Buildings to be responsible for the design of all government schools, the first appointee being the builder-architect Robert Ferguson. Ferguson immediately revised the design of schools to address deficiencies in ventilation and lighting. This period of school design was pivotal in this regard. Ferguson introduced tall and decorative ventilation spires to the roof and louvred panels to the gable apex to vent the classrooms. Additional and larger windows were incorporated with high sill heights that did not allow draughts and sunlight to enter the room. The overall form was lowset on brick piers. In larger schools, multiple classrooms were arranged symmetrically around a parade ground. The designs remained single-skin to eliminate 'receptacles for germs and vermin' but were lined externally rather than internally to address the previous weathering problem. Importantly, Ferguson's buildings were decoratively-treated with a variety of elaborate timber work and were heralded by educationalists as 'far superior in design, material and workmanship to any we have before built'.[20] In 1885 Robert Ferguson was replaced by his brother John Ferguson who continued to implement his brother’s designs until John’s death in 1893, when responsibility for school buildings passed back to the Department of Public Works.[21] The Ferguson period (1879-1893) is distinct and marked by extensive redesign of school buildings including associated structures and furniture.
\nThe original teaching building at Irvinebank State School was a lowset timber-framed building with 8’ (2.4m) verandahs front and back, clad externally with weatherboards, and had a gable roof. It was single-skin with louvred panels in the gable apexes to ventilate the interior and tall, highset windows on all sides. It accommodated one large classroom 34' x 18' (10.36m x 5.49m) and the rear verandah accommodated a hatroom and lavatory enclosure at either end.[22] The classroom had a coved ceiling and the building was attractively-decorated with modest ‘carpenter gothic’ timberwork.
\nIn 1891 a playshed was built at Irvinebank State School.[23] The Queensland education system recognised the importance of play in the school curriculum and, as school sites were originally cleared of all vegetation, the provision of all-weather outdoor space was needed. Playsheds were designed as free-standing shelters, with fixed timber seating between posts and earth or decomposed granite floors that provided covered play space and doubled as teaching space when needed These structures were timber-framed and generally open sided, although some were partially enclosed with timber boards or corrugated galvanised iron sheets.[24] The hipped (or less frequently, gabled) roofs were clad with timber shingles or corrugated iron. Playsheds were a typical addition to state schools across Queensland between c1880s and the 1950s, although less frequently constructed after c1909, with the introduction of highset school buildings with understorey play areas. Built to standard designs, playsheds that ranged in size relative to student numbers.[25] The playshed at Irvinebank was typical of the standard designs. Standing at a distance behind of the teaching building, it was a timber-framed, 10-post open-sided shelter, 30' x 20' (9.1m x 6m) with a hipped roof and perimeter seats.
\nIrvinebank continued to prosper throughout the 1890s. Moffat formed the Irvinebank Mining Company in 1890[26] and Irvinebank was booming by 1899, assisted by the 1890s decline of the nearby silver mining town of Montalbion. A new School of Arts building was erected in 1890, to be replaced by another School of Arts building [QHR 601619] in 1900.[27] The office of the Walsh Divisional Board was transferred from Montalbion to Irvinebank by 1898, at which point there were 107 children attending Irvinebank State School.[28] By the end of the 1890s ’the townscape comprised two-roomed timber-framed galvanised iron cottages … Shops and hotels straggled along both McDonald and Jessie Streets. Jack and Newell’s store, Hales’ Royal Hotel and the adjacent Orient Hotel were on the Herberton Road’.[29]
\nAs the town grew, the school expanded. In July 1895 additional land to the northeast was added to the school reserve, comprising one acre (0.4ha).[30] To cope with the growth in student numbers, the teaching building was extended in 1899 to a design by the Department of Public Works. Under the stewardship of the Department of Public Works, which retained the responsibility for school design until 2013, and through the involvement of some of Queensland's most innovative architects, school buildings became more advanced and diverse. This was the outcome of years of systematic reform and experimentation.[31]
\nFrom 1893 the Department of Public Works greatly improved the natural ventilation and lighting of classroom interiors, experimenting with different combinations of roof ventilators, ceiling and wall vents, larger windows, dormer windows and ducting. Achieving an ideal or even adequate level of natural light in classrooms, without glare, was of critical importance to educators and consequently it became central to the design and layout of all school buildings.[32] For timber-framed buildings, single-skin construction was favoured for its heat dissipation ability and economy. Often the building was lined on the interior rather than exterior, providing a smooth, cleanable surface that provided better interior light. The resulting externally-exposed stud framing was protected from the weather by wide verandahs. The introduction of highset buildings began in the late 1890s, providing better ventilation and additional teaching and covered play space underneath.
\nA notable technical innovation introduced at this time was a continuous ventilation flap on the wall at floor level. This hinged board could be opened to increase air flow into the space and, combined with a ceiling vent and large roof fleche, improved internal air quality and decreased internal temperatures effectively. To increase ventilation and lighting and decrease building cost, a return to only having a verandah on one side of the classroom (with generous eaves overhang on the other) occurred during this period, quickly becoming the form most commonly constructed across Queensland.[33]
\nIn September 1899, the tender of T Gordon for £365 10s was accepted to extend the teaching building at Irvinebank, doubling its size.[34] The new section replicated the existing building and added elements for providing better lighting and ventilation that were characteristic of the new direction in school design. Accommodating one classroom 34' x 18' (10.36m x 5.49m), the lowset extension was made to the northeast by removing the existing northeastern gable end wall (including rear hat room and lavatory enclosure) and refixing it as the gable end in the new work.[35] Originally only having three window sashes, the gable end window was widened to seven sashes. A new hatroom enclosure was added to the rear verandah and a metal ventilation fleche to the roof at the junction between old and new, to better ventilate both classrooms. Divided from the earlier classroom by a single-skin partition with glazing and a connecting door, the interior of the new classroom had unlined walls, a coved ceiling, and tall, highset windows in all walls.
\nIrvinebank State School reflected the town's continued prosperity into the 1900s. Enrolment was 221, with an attendance of 193 for March 1905.[36] The town’s population also increased, from 619 in 1901 to 1264 in 1911.[37] Tin prices were high between 1900 and 1907, and by 1907 Herberton and Irvinebank were the centre of Queensland’s base metal industry.[38]
\nDue to a need for more space, another extension was made to the teaching building, also to a design by the Department of Public Works.[39] F Ohnesorgen's tender of £527 5s was accepted in December 1905 and construction was completed in 1906.[40] Attached to the end of the 1899 classroom, the extension was similar to the earlier building but was oriented at right angles and introduced further lighting and ventilation methods. It was a single-skin timber-framed building clad with weatherboards and had a gable roof. The gable end walls had packed weatherboards in the gable end apexes to vent the interior. Accommodating one classroom 34' x 18' (10.36m x 5.49m), it had a coved ceiling and tall, highset windows on all sides. The teacher’s residence was also extended in 1906.
\nIrvinebank's prosperity began to decline from 1907. Moffat’s (and therefore, Irvinebank’s) fortunes fell due to factors such as the cost of a private tramway built between Stannary Hills and Irvinebank, industrial action, a steep drop in assays at the Vulcan mine, and a fall in tin prices.[41] Due to excessive debt, Moffat was forced to retire as director of the Irvinebank Mining Company in 1912, and his business partner John Reid became manager.[42] In 1919 the Loudoun Mill was purchased by the Queensland Government and was reopened as the Irvinebank State Treatment Works.[43] The population of Irvinebank dropped sharply to 607 by 1921 and 147 by 1933.[44] After a long period of government ownership and declining fortunes, the mill was leased to a private operator in 1983.[45]
\nAfter 1906, the Irvinebank State School teaching building remained relatively unaltered.[46] Over time, earthworks have occurred to flatten the sloping terrain around and under the Ferguson building, which included replacing all understorey posts and making enclosures under the building. Minor changes occurred in 1961 when the 1906 classroom interior was lined with sheet material and the windows were altered to have lower sills and timber-framed awning sashes.[47] In 1969 another school reserve was gazetted 700m to the southwest of the school, for a sports field, and a new school residence was constructed there in 1979.[48] The original residence was later removed. In 1992 part of the southwest end of the 1889 school reserve was reconfigured as road reserve.
\nIn 2015, the school continues to operate from the site and the Ferguson teaching building, with its 1899 and 1906 extensions, and the 1891 playshed, remain intact. The state school is important to the town and generations of Irvinebank students have been taught there.
\n","criteria":"
Irvinebank State School, established 1889, is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture in Queensland. The place retains excellent, representative examples of standard government school building designs that were an architectural response to prevailing government educational philosophies.
\nThe erection and extension of the school’s teaching building and playshed between 1889 and 1906 is a result of Irvinebank’s growth and prosperity over this period, when the mining town played an important role in north Queensland’s economy.
\n|
Irvinebank State School is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of early Queensland state schools. These include: generous, landscaped sites with mature shade trees; playshed and assembly/play areas; and timber-framed teaching buildings of standard designs that incorporate verandahs and classrooms with high levels of natural light and ventilation.
\nTogether, the three classrooms of the teaching building (1889, 1899, and 1906) illustrate a marked period of experimentation in school design (c1879-1914) and illustrate an evolution in modest, timber-framed school buildings for small communities.
\nThe Ferguson building (1889) and the extension designed by the Department of Public Works (1899) are highly intact, which is rare. They are important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of these two types, retaining: a lowset form with a gable roof; single-skin, timber-framed and clad construction; wide verandahs to the front and rear of large, lofty classrooms; high-quality, modest timber decorative detailing; and effective natural lighting and ventilation features.
\nThe 1906 extension designed by the Department of Public Works is also intact and is important in demonstrating the characteristics of this type, including: high-set form with gable roof; verandah to one side only of a large, lofty classroom; and effective natural lighting and ventilation features.
\nThe playshed (1891) is important in demonstrating this type. It retains its open-sided, timber-framed form with a hipped roof.
\n|
Schools have always played an important part in Queensland communities. They typically retain significant and enduring connections with former pupils, parents, and teachers; provide a venue for social interaction and volunteer work; and are a source of pride, symbolising local progress and aspirations.
\nIrvinebank State School has a strong and ongoing association with the Irvinebank community. It was established in 1886 through the fundraising efforts of the local community and generations of Irvinebank children have been taught there. The place is important for its contribution to the educational development of Irvinebank.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion D | 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 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":31912,"place_ref":602776,"name":"JM Johnston's Sawmill (former) Steam Plant","alternate_name":"Johnstons Sawmill","street_address":"cnr of Santowski Crescent and the Peninsular Development Road","suburb":"MOUNT MOLLOY","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2011-07-15","description":"The remnant steam plant from JM Johnston's sawmill is located at the southern entrance to Mount Molloy on the corner of Santowski Crescent and the Peninsular Developmental Road (Mulligan Highway), on a grassed site above the road level. The land rises to the west and falls away to the south.
The Stirling water tube boiler is the largest component of the steam plant, located at the northeast side of the group of objects, nearest the street intersection. The boiler's surrounds and the flue and chimney are made with brick, with metal framing. It is a 'W' type boiler, with three metal steam drums at the top and two metal water drums at the bottom, joined by metal tubing; plus an extra steam drum on top. The top drums are supported on the metal frame, while the bottom two drums are free to move with expansion of the tubes. The maker's name is cast onto the metal access doors to the tubing: 'The Stirling Boiler Co Ltd, Edinburgh & London'. The furnace doors are located at the southeast end of the boiler, while the brick flue and chimney base are located at the northwest end. The main steam pipe is still extant. Vegetation is currently growing out of the boiler's brickwork.
The metal blowdown tank, a cylindrical device with a vent pipe, is connected to the boiler, located about 7 metres west of the southernmost corner of the boiler. The blowdown tank was used to flush sediment out of the boiler under pressure, by allowing the steam to flash off up the vent pipe while the hot water drained away.
About 7.6 m south-west of the boiler, to the west of the blowdown tank, is a Walkers Ltd (Maryborough) steam winch, which was used to power a stiff leg derrick crane for moving logs. The winch is a twin-cylinder horizontal reversing single-drum second-motion steam winch; its steam cylinders are 8 inches (203mm) in diameter, and the stroke is 14 inches (356mm).
About 7.6 metres south of the boiler is the Marshall steam engine. There is no manufacturer's name on the engine, but it has the characteristics of a Marshall, Sons & Co. (Gainsborough, England) engine, specifically their class C model, which was fitted with a Hartnell's Patent automatic expansion gear governor. An example of the latter is still present on top of the engine next to the flywheel.
The engine is a horizontal (the cylinders are horizontal) cross-compound (high pressure plus a low pressure cylinder, side by side) stationary steam engine. It was once fitted with a tailrod extension on the low pressure cylinder, and the tailrod crosshead casting has since been broken off. The high and low pressure cylinders were originally lagged with timber strips held on by brass bands, but most of the timber has rotted away. The high pressure cylinder bore is about 15 inches (381 mm) in diameter while the low pressure cylinder bore is about 24 inches (610 mm) in diameter. The stroke of both cylinders was 36 inches (914 mm), while the flywheel is 10 feet (3048 mm) in diameter, and 21 inches (533 mm) wide. The engine is mounted on a concrete base, with a concrete trough for the flywheel.
Some timber relics, plus metal objects such as piping and laddering, also survive on the site.
","history":"John Michael Johnston's Sawmill (former) Steam Plant, comprising a brick-encased Stirling water tube boiler with flue and chimney base, Marshall steam engine, Walkers steam winch and boiler blow down tank is located in a prominent position at the corner of Santowski Crescent and the Peninsular Developmental Road (Mulligan Highway) in Mount Molloy. A small sawmill owned by the Mount Molloy Copper Mining Company appears to have operated on the site c.1908, and JM Johnston's larger sawmill was operational between 1914 and 1963.
\nThe township of Mount Molloy was initially called 'Smelter Town', one of two settlements that grew up around a copper mine and its related copper smelter built near Rifle Creek, northwest of the mine. Copper had been discovered in 1885, [1] either by teamster Pat Molloy or by Dan Cuddihy, one of his bullock drivers. Molloy worked the lode intermittently, making about £500 before he abandoned or sold the mine, [2] which was taken up by successful prospector James Venture Mulligan and businessman James Forsythe in the early 1890s. Mulligan and Forsythe made about £3000 from the ore before attracting the attention of a Melbourne syndicate, which purchased the mine in 1898 for £6000. [3] The company failed to find payable copper ore, the mine was abandoned and the mining lease forfeited. Forsythe regained possession of the mine, which he soon sold to JS Reid. It became part of John Moffat's holdings in 1901. [4] Between 1880 and 1914, much of the economic activity of North Queensland was driven by the railways and mining towns created by John Moffat's enterprises, and his Chillagoe Company built private railways between Mareeba and Chillagoe during 1898-1901, and from Almaden to Forsayth during 1907-1910. [5]
\nTo avoid carting ore from Mount Molloy to the government railway at Biboohra (the railway had reached Biboohra from Cairns in 1893), a smelter was built near Rifle Creek at Mount Molloy. The smelter manager's residence was located on the hill just above the smelter, which commenced operations on 25 November 1904. A small sawmill existed on the flat north-west of the smelter by early 1905, [6] to produce timber for mine shaft supports and buildings. A two foot (.61 metre) gauge tramway linking the mine and the smelter was also completed by 1905 - the peak year for copper production at Mount Molloy. At this time the Mount Molloy Copper Mining Company Limited was floated, with John Moffat as Chairman.
\nAs the smelted copper matte still needed carting by road to Biboohra and copper prices were high in 1906, Mount Molloy Ltd started constructing a 19 mile 65 chain (31.9 km) private railway from Biboohra to the Mount Molloy smelter in 1907. However, the expense of this railway, combined with a slump in copper prices in late 1907, meant that by the time the railway opened on 7 August 1908 the company was already in financial trouble. The smelter had suspended operations while waiting for the railway to be completed, and a short smelting campaign was conducted in late 1908.
\nAlthough mining operations were no longer profitable in Mount Molloy, an alternative source of income existed in timber. The rise of sawmilling in the Cairns region was part of the evolution of the industry in Queensland over time. Although there was timbergetting in the far north from the 1870s, South East Queensland's (especially Maryborough's) sawmills supplied a substantial portion of central and north Queensland's sawn timber needs until sawmilling in the Cairns district from the 1880s reduced dependence on the south. [7] By 1888 there were three sawmills in the Cairns district, including the Union Saw and Planing Mills at Stratford (E Martin and Son), and a steam powered sawmill was also established at Carrington in 1889. [8]
\nThe first steam powered sawmill in Queensland had opened in Brisbane in 1853 and prior to World War II most sawmills on the Tablelands used steam engines. A reliable source of water was required for the steam boilers which powered the engines, and the latter were commonly equipped with a large flywheel, as the energy stored in the flywheel enabled the saws to make major cuts with a minimum loss of speed. Power was transferred to the saws via belts, pulleys and shafts. However, most machinery was sold, relocated and reused when a sawmill closed, leading to paucity of relics at most sawmill sites.
\nThe fact that Mount Molloy Ltd was building a railway towards a timber source made the company's shift to timber viable, as logs could be efficiently transported to sawmills located along the railway network. The Queensland sawmilling industry was initially located in major towns, close to the markets for sawn timber. As the industry evolved there was a tendency to locate mills near the resource only if there were sufficient supplies to last during the life of the investment. Sawmills were also initially sited by rivers and creeks, where logs could be rafted or moved by ship, but when railways were established, sawmills were sited on or near the railway.
\nThe spread of railways in the Cairns region thus facilitated the timber industry. The Cairns railway reached Mareeba in 1893 and Atherton in 1903, enabling Tableland timber to be transported to the coast, and railway extensions over the next two decades made the Cairns region the main sawmilling district outside South East Queensland. Major sawmilling enterprises in the Far North region included Cairns Timber Limited, Lawson and Sons, and JM Johnston. [9]
\nThe timber industry was accompanied by closer settlement, as farming usually commenced after land was cleared by logging; although before the 1884 Crown Land Act introduced royalties on timber, it was easy for timbergetters to select land, extract the timber and then forfeit the selection. The forestry industry was second only to mining as a cause of settlement in the Far North. In Mount Molloy, the dairy farming that followed timber extraction enabled the town to survive the failure of mining.
\nDue to Mount Molloy Ltd's new found interest in the timber industry, in December 1907 Anthony Linedale, one of the directors of the company, corresponded with the Director of Forests, Queensland Department of Public Lands, about the activities of Mount Molloy Ltd and its timber requirements. He noted that the company employed 173 men at the mine, 124 men at the smelters and refiners, 17 officers, 18 teamsters, 10 wood-getters, 19 men at the Biboohra railway yard and 320 men building the Molloy railway. That month the Director of Forests recommended that 10,000,000 superficial feet (1 super foot is a volume of timber representing 2360 cm3) be sold without competition to Mount Molloy Ltd, over 5 years, with a minimum removal of 30,000 super feet per month; the royalty to be a 25 per cent advance on the minimum royalties prescribed by the timber regulations for that district. [10] The timber concession covered 16,000 acres (6474.97 hectares) of Crown land north of Mount Molloy. On 6 March 1908 an agreement on the concession was made between Mount Molloy Ltd and Alexander Patrick Cameron, Land Commissioner for the district of Cairns, with royalties to be paid each month from June 1908. One condition, which Mount Molloy Ltd later regretted, was that all timber cut had to be sawn within Queensland. The inability to export logs later led to kauri logs being stockpiled at Mount Molloy.
\nHowever, the right to cut timber meant that the new railway at least had something to transport, as the smelters had closed by the end of 1908 for lack of ore, and the mine itself closed in late 1910. [11] The 5 year timber concession allowed Mount Molloy Ltd to stay afloat, and in the company's report for the half year to 31 December 1908, presented in April 1909, it was stated that contract teamsters were hauling timber from the company's concession. In addition, a bullock team, two horse teams and a traction engine were under company control. The timber extracted included hickory, cadagi, kauri pine, and red cedar; over 2 million super feet of logs were delivered to the depot, while 882,574 super feet were despatched by rail during the half year.
\nThe report also noted that the Rifle sawmill (probably the small sawmill near the smelter) had been working intermittently on local orders. As it was not located on the railway, it was not suitable for cutting accumulated stock. A sleeper mill (for producing railway sleepers) had also been put down 'on a branch line of 10 chains (200 m), leaving the main line near the western point of the triangle, and traversing the south easterly end of the Works Site Ridge'. [12] As the turning triangle (and the town's first railway station) was once located just east of Vains Close in Mount Molloy, and a 1914 survey map shows a siding running to the site of Johnston's sawmill, the sleeper mill was probably located where Johnston built his sawmill.
\nIt was also reported in April 1909 that the company had acquired the Granite sawmill at Mareeba, with the plant taken on lease for one year, with the option of purchase or an extended lease of 4 years or more. According to the company's next half-yearly report (presented October 1909), the Mareeba sawmill drew nearly all its log supplies from Mount Molloy.
\nAs timber felling and sawmilling had provided the capital to continue the company's mining operation, the approaching end of Mount Molloy Ltd's 5 year timber concession meant that the company went into liquidation on 3 March 1913. Despite the expiry of the original timber concession the liquidators (including John Moffat from December 1915) were allowed to continue cutting timber (excluding cedar) from December 1913, up to the 10 million super feet agreed to in 1908, or until the government purchased the railway to Mount Molloy. [13]
\nA government purchase of the railway from Biboohra to Mount Molloy had been looming for some time. In 1910 Moffat had approached the Queensland Government, asking for £40,000 (the line had cost about £46,600); and in late March 1913, a deputation of Mount Molloy locals to the Railway Commissioner pointed out that if the line was torn up as a result of the company's liquidation, it would be disastrous for those who had already settled in the vicinity. In the end, Moffat received £17,500, the government taking over the line on 1 March 1917 under the Mount Molloy Railway Act 1917. At this time the extension on the timber concession ended. The government also took over the Chillagoe Company and its assets in June 1919.
\nAlthough Mount Molloy Ltd had failed, another enterprise based on timber saved Mount Molloy from extinction. John Michael Johnston, born in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1884, had worked in sawmills in Northern Europe, Canada and New Zealand before he moved to North Queensland. After a period of prospecting, he returned to sawmilling, first at Innisfail, then Tolga, before going into business on his own behalf at Ravenshoe. [14] On 15 January 1914 the Cairns Post announced that Messrs Polentz and Johnson (sic-Johnston) had purchased the Mount Molloy sawmills, and intended 'to start operations shortly'. Advertisements later that year for the Mount Molloy Saw and Planing Mills of Johnston and Polentz noted that sawn hickory was their speciality. Some years later it was reported that Johnston had taken over what remained of the sawmill machinery in the town and had renovated it. [15]
\nAs the sawmill was only very small when Johnston took it over, [16] the surviving boiler and steam engine equipment at the site of Johnston's sawmill was probably installed between 1914 and 1938. A photograph from circa 1938 shows that the surviving equipment was already in place: the Marshall steam engine and boiler were under separate open-sided sheds, the boiler's brickwork was painted white, and the Walkers steam winch was operating a stiff leg derrick crane. At this time the brick chimney base was shorter and located closer to the boiler. [17] The chimney appears to have been in its current position by 1954.
\nThe Marshall steam engine was the main driving engine for the saws in the mill, running a flat belt from its flywheel. It, along with the other steam engines in the mill, was powered by the Stirling boiler, which was fed with timber off cuts. The Stirling boiler was a water-tube boiler, in which the water to be heated was contained within tubes, with fire passing around the outside-in contrast to fire-tube boilers, which had fire passing through tubes which were surrounded by water. The water-tube type was favoured for larger boilers for safety reasons. Stirling water tube boilers were at their most popular in the early 1900s; many of the 30 or so installed in Victoria between 1904 and 1912 were large boilers for electrical power generation or larger manufacturers. Most activity regarding Stirling boiler installation in Queensland, based on newspaper advertising, appears to be between 1900 and 1914, and the Agent for Queensland in 1903 was Norman M Bell.
\nThe Mount Molloy boiler is of the 'W' type, with three steam drums at the top and two water drums at the bottom, joined by tubes. However, the additional steam drum at the top is not a standard feature; nor is the metal furnace area at the front. The additional steam drum was un-fired (not directly connected to the steam-raising part of the boiler), so the boiler could still be considered to be of the five-drum type; the extra drum may have been necessary to maximise steam to the engine while a cut was being made along a log. The boiler's dimensions are 8 feet 10 inches (2700 mm) wide; 20 feet 11 inches (6300 mm) long and 19 feet (5790 mm) tall. This corresponds with the Stirling boiler size 1W.
\nIn September 1916 the Cairns Post reported that Johnston had his new hardwood mill going, and that sawn timber was being despatched on the railway. In 1917 the paper reported that the sawmill was the 'mainstay of the place [Mount Molloy] as regards employment'. [18] However, logs could not be hauled to the sawmill in the wet season, and a railway extension to the north was required to keep the mill working all year. By late 1917 two sawmills were operating in the district, cutting timber from Crown lands. [19] The second sawmill was probably also Johnston's, as it was reported in May 1918 that he had a sawmill 8 miles from Mount Molloy, on the edge of the scrub. [20]
\nIn 1920 the government began a 7 mile extension of the railway to the north, to facilitate further timber felling and closer settlement (the land north of Mount Molloy being better quality than that between Biboohra and Mount Molloy). A new railway station was built at Mount Molloy, to the north-east of the old station, and the old line towards the smelter site was left as a spur line for the use of Johnston's sawmill. The railway was opened to Rumula in December 1926, but it was never extended to Port Douglas, as some settlers had hoped. This could have provided an alternative route to the coast if the Kuranda section of the Cairns railway was again blocked, as it had been in early 1911.
\nBy March 1930 Johnston's sawmill ran 12 months of the year and enjoyed 'practically a monopoly' in the supply of butter boxes and fruit cases in the north of Queensland. [21] Johnston added to the Mount Molloy sawmill up to 1926, around which time he moved to Stratford, [22] where he had built another sawmill in 1921. In the late 1920s the workforce at the Mount Molloy sawmill dropped from about 100 men to 60.
\nAfter Johnston moved to Stratford, WJ Colley became the manager at Mount Molloy and he purchased three trucks and several caterpillar tractors for use in the bush. This may have offended somebody, as on the early morning of 17 September 1930 the front end of one 5 ton timber hauling Benz Mercedes lorry was blown apart with explosives, damaging nearby houses.
\nIn 1931 the Minister for Lands, WA Deacon, visited Mount Molloy and expressed surprise at finding such an up-to-date sawmill situated behind the poor land that lay between Biboohra and Molloy. However, early on 14 June 1932 a fire near the boiler spread away from the engine and main block, damaging the repair workshop at the mill. In August 1932 the mill employees were notified that their jobs were terminated, and that they had to apply to Mr WJ Colley to be re-engaged. A new private company, Molloy Sawmills Pty Limited, was registered under the directorship of JM Johnston, W Marlay and WJ Colley. Johnston still owned the mill, but leading employees were given a share in the business so they would have an incentive to look after its interests.
\nJohnston was still the owner of the Mount Molloy sawmill when it burnt down on 31 January 1934, William J Santowski being the manager at the time. It was reported that 'One 350 h.p. boiler was in the destroyed building, also one Sandycroft steam engine; one twin circular log breaking down plant, four saw benches, one planing machine, saw-dust carriers, belting, shafting and pulleys and other tools of various descriptions, 29 circular saws, one log rolling winch, two saw sharpening machines, three cross-cut sawing machines'. [23] However, the employees were able to protect the boiler, main engines and pumping plant from serious damage. There were also two other planing machines in a separate building that was not destroyed. Prior to the fire Johnston had purchased machinery for a new sawmill at Shipton's Flat near Cooktown, and after the fire he placed some of the machinery at Mount Molloy. He claimed that the latter was a paying proposition and a very essential part of his organisation. It was also essential to have the mill at Mount Molloy, as most hardwood supplies came from there.
\nYet another fire occurred on the night of 12 September 1938, in the planing building. As a result, Johnston used the planing facilities at his Stratford sawmill until the sawmill at Mount Molloy was repaired. After Johnston died in Cairns on 1 May 1943, it was stated that he was 'one of the best known men in north Queensland'. [24] After his first sawmill at Ravenshoe, he had developed a string of Johnston mills, including at Mount Molloy, Stratford, Mareeba, Millaa Millaa, Bloomfield River and Shipton's Flat.
\nBunning Bros purchased Johnson's Stratford and Mount Molloy mills in the late 1940s or early 1950s (although a 1991 Deed of Grant for the land on which the sawmill steam plant stands was made out to JM Johnston Pty Ltd) and Rankine Bros purchased the Mount Molloy sawmill in the early 1960s. Electricity from the grid had arrived at Mount Molloy in 1956, and from 1968-86 Rankine Bros operated an electric sawmill at Mount Molloy, close to Johnston's original sawmill site. In 1988 the World Heritage Listing of the Wet Tropics area between Townsville and Cooktown terminated logging on Crown land, forcing timber workers to seek alternative forms of employment. The electric sawmill, minus its machinery, still stood in early 2011, along with a small office building which may have been relocated from elsewhere on the old Johnston sawmill site (both outside the heritage boundary).
\nA final fire destroyed Johnston's sawmill in 1963, and this time it was not rebuilt. The railway to Mount Molloy closed on 30 April the following year. In 1973 a timber shed still existed around the boiler, along with a small shed over the Walkers steam winch, and the derrick crane was still extant. Another shed existed to the southeast of the steam engine, set at a lower level. The buildings and the crane have since been removed. Two other steam engines that were present in 1973 are no longer on site - a Tangye, Birmingham single cylinder vertical engine and a Thompson & Co., Castlemaine, Victoria, single cylinder horizontal engine no.242 (earlier used by Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company). A Pickering type governor was also present in 1973 on top of the Marshall steam engine, but this has since been removed.
\nAlthough Johnston's Mount Molloy sawmill buildings no longer exist, the sawmill's steam plant survives as a highly visible and evocative reminder of the time when the timber industry was a mainstay of the North Queensland economy.
","criteria":"Steam engines were once a common form of power generation in Queensland sawmills, and in-situ examples of stationary steam engines and their associated boilers on sawmill sites are now rare throughout the state.
The Stirling water tube boiler and its blow down tank, the Marshall steam engine and Walkers steam winch are substantially intact and still demonstrate the arrangement of this type of equipment within a steam powered sawmill.
The use of large Stirling water-tube boilers and stationary compound steam engines was also rare in sawmills, which generally used single-cylinder steam engines or portable steam engines, and this example may be unique in Australia.
|During his lifetime JM Johnston, whose businesses were active during the early 20th century expansion of the timber industry in the Cairns region, was a well-known figure in the North Queensland sawmilling industry. He established mills at Ravenshoe, Mount Molloy, Stratford (Cairns), Mareeba, Millaa Millaa, Bloomfield River and Shipton's Flat near Cooktown.
|The remaining plant of the JM Johnston sawmill is a highly visible landmark, located on a raised corner on the main road into Mount Molloy from the south. The evocative relics are often photographed by passing tourists.
|The steam plant at the site of JM Johnston's sawmill in Mount Molloy, as part of a large and long-lived sawmill operation, is important in demonstrating the existence of the timber industry in North Queensland prior to World Heritage listing of the Wet Tropics in 1988. The presence of large tracts of rainforest and the spread of railways in the Cairns hinterland ensured that in the early 20th century the region became the main sawmilling area outside South East Queensland and the timber industry was second only to mining as a driver for North Queensland's economic development.
Johnston's sawmill, built on the site of a smaller sawmill linked to the earlier copper mining activities at Mount Molloy, operated from 1914 to 1963 as a permanent town-based mill, which enabled the town of Mount Molloy to survive the failure of mining.
The place also demonstrates the importance of steam power to sawmilling operations in Queensland, prior to the widespread availability of electricity.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion B | Criterion H | Criterion E | Criterion A","criteria_definitions":"The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":null,"place_ref":650081,"name":"Kuranda Fig Tree Avenue","alternate_name":"Avenue of Ficus Microcarpa and Ficus Obliqua trees","street_address":"Coondoo Street","suburb":"KURANDA","lga":"MAREEBA SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"2018-07-27","description":"Kuranda is a small town on the Barron River in the Atherton Tableland surrounded by rainforest hinterland approximately 19km northwest of Cairns in Far North Queensland. The Coondoo Street fig trees span the 430m length of the street between Arara Street and Therwine Street and are located on both sides, forming an impressive avenue effect when viewed along Coondoo Street due to their curtain roots, substantial trunk, and overarching canopies.
\nThere are 27 mature fig trees of the varieties: Ficus Microcarpa, the Small-fruited Fig (9); and Ficus Obliqua, the Small-leaved Fig (18) – refer Boundary Map 2. Both varieties are strangler figs and. The trees range in height from 13m to 30m, with the majority reaching close to 20m and above. Many of the trees have extensive aerial roots which stretch from the branches to the ground creating a curtaining effect. The circumferences of the trunks vary, from 2.7m to 19.6m. The canopies of the trees spread out over the street creating a shaded passageway over many sections of the street. The spread of the canopies vary in size from 9m to 26.5m with the majority stretching over 16m.
\nFeatures not of state-level cultural heritage significance include:
\nKuranda is a small hinterland town approximately 19km northwest of Cairns in Far North Queensland. The avenue of mature fig trees which line the main street of Kuranda, Coondoo Street, were planted by the Woothakata Shire Council in the early 1930s to beautify the street and enhance the town’s appeal to visitors. The trees were planted at a time when Kuranda was experiencing exceptionally high tourist numbers. Kuranda was, and continues to be, one of Queensland’s most popular tourist towns.
\nPart of the traditional land of the Djabugay speaking people, Kuranda was surveyed in 1888 in anticipation of development which would accompany the arrival of the railway [QHR 600755]. Kuranda, situated at the top of the Macalister Range, became the principal station after Cairns when the line opened in 1891 and remained so until the railway extended to Atherton in 1903.[1]
\nThe line encouraged agricultural development and by the 1890s several farms had been established in the area. Large amounts of timber were hewn and provided the early settlers with an income; coffee was grown for a time and there was also dairying and cattle grazing.[2] A small township began to develop close to the railway station and by 1895 was described in the Post Office Directories as the “centre of a large agricultural district with rich alluvial scrub soil. A favourite resort for tourists and others visiting the Barron Falls”.[3]
\nThe railway proved to be the impetus for tourism to flourish at Kuranda. Travellers from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne came to Cairns by ship and caught the train to Kuranda.[4] The renowned scenic qualities of the railway led to the recognition of the area’s tourist potential. Marketed in the south as a winter destination, the tourist season in the Cairns region generally stretched from May to October, which avoided the cyclone season.[5]
\nThe Kuranda railway station stood between the Barron River and the small settlement of Kuranda at the rise of the hill and by 1888 the road from the railway station up to the township was called Coondoo Street. This street swiftly became the town’s high street.[6] By 1895 Kuranda could boast the railway station, provisional school, butcher, stores and the Kuranda Hotel. [7] In 1910 the small community opened the School of Arts hall in Coondoo Street.[8] From 1920 Kuranda was part of the Woothakata Shire.[9]
\nBy the early 1910s Kuranda had become one of Queensland’s most popular tourist attractions, with many visitors arriving by rail daily.[10] The completion of the Brisbane-Cairns railway link in 1924 (called the ‘Sunshine Route' from 1929) provided another option for reaching Cairns.[11] This also meant an increase in tourist numbers to Kuranda.[12]
\nThe main attraction that brought tourists to Kuranda was the Barron Falls, described as early as 1885, “in flood time the Barron Falls throw even immortal Niagara into the shade”.[13] The train line from Cairns to Kuranda took tourists past the falls, where the train would stop and passengers were able to walk along the bridge to view the falls.[14] From here it was only a short 1.5 mile (2.4km) ride to Kuranda Station.
\nOnce at Kuranda, several other attractions had been established to take advantage of the flow of tourists; two rainforest parks, the ‘Fairyland Tea Gardens’ (1914) and ‘The Maze’ (1923) were situated across the Barron River where tourists were taken over by punt.[15] Another popular attraction was Frederick Pankhurst Dodd’s entomology collection. Popularly called ‘the Butterfly Man of Kuranda’, Dodd began showing his extensive collection of butterflies and insects to the public from his home on Coondoo Street in 1910 for a small fee, leaving visitors “amazed at their wondrous beauty, and altogether at the vastness and variety of the collection placed before us”.[16] This collection was to prove to be one of the most important in the country and was donated to the Queensland Museum after Dodd’s death in 1937.[17]
\nA picture theatre opened in 1923 and in 1928 a bridge was built over the Barron River which connected the town with tourist attractions on the other side of the river.[18] In 1926 the Cairns Range Road, renamed Gillies Highway in 1934, was opened, providing vehicle access to Yungaburra and Atherton from Gordonvale.[19] The construction of the Barron Falls Hydro-electric Power Station (1932-35) attracted more tourists and provided the town with electricity.[20]
\nSeemingly unaffected by the harsh economic climate caused by the Great Depression, visitor numbers to Kuranda peaked in the early 1930s; Kuranda had become the ‘winter playground of the Southern tourist’ with visitors flocking to the small town for either day trips or for longer holidays .[21] In 1932 it was reported that the Queensland Tourist Bureaus in Melbourne and Sydney were experiencing record levels of bookings and the shipping companies conveying the tourists up the coast were also solidly booked. To cater for this demand, the winter tourist season in this year, which usually began in May, was officially started in April. [22]
\nIn the 1920s and 30s a series of promotional booklets were published by the Queensland Government’s Tourist Bureau, encouraging southern and overseas visitors to North Queensland. Titles such as ‘North Queensland: Australia’s Richest Territory’, ‘North Queensland: The Cream of the Continent’, ‘Winter Tours in Queensland’ and ‘Queensland is Different’, celebrated the major attractions in the region.[23] As one of the region’s most popular tourist destinations at this time, Kuranda was featured widely in these publications. Evocative descriptions of the village included phrases such as “the gardens glitter with colour and brilliancy” and “the varied beauty of the little tourist township among the clouds … offers a charming introduction to the magnificent scenery on the … Tablelands”.[24]
\nAdding to this experience was the Kuranda Railway Station which featured award winning gardens. By 1931 it had won the annual Railway Department’s station garden competition nine times.[25] The station’s reputation as a regular winner also contributed to the town’s appeal as a tourist attraction and in 1931 it was stated in the Brisbane Courier “that is why Kuranda railway station is winning for itself a world-wide reputation, which ultimately must benefit Queensland”.[26]
\nAmid this activity, a local councillor, Robert James Bartley, recognised the potential for the main street of Kuranda, Coondoo Street, to be one of the most attractive in the Cairns region. When tourists arrived at Kuranda they were greeted by the stunning gardens of the railway station. As they walked up the hill to Coondoo Street, it was envisaged that this scenic greenery be continued through the small town.
\nThroughout the 1920s and into the 1930s, principles of town planning, influenced by the ‘Garden City’ and ‘City Beautiful’ movements, began to be adopted by some local councils in Queensland.[27] Street-tree planting was a part of this as a way of enhancing the urban landscape as well as providing shade, particularly in the harsh Queensland summers.[28] The Main Roads Commission envisaged the benefit of planting avenues of trees along main roads across Queensland in the interwar period. The motor car had become more accessible and affordable to many and the potential for the State to benefit from these tourists was recognised by the Commission which implemented a scheme to not only improve the roads, but to also beautify them with street-tree plantings[29] In North Queensland, trees were planted along the Cook Highway between Cairns and Mossman in the early 1930s.[30] In 1932, the importance of street-tree planting in a town planning context was emphasized in the Architectural and Building Journal of Queensland, which stated “the planting of trees in streets should be vigorously and systematically undertaken, for nothing relieves the often monotony of street lines and gives such a sense of rest and refreshment as the appearance of a beautiful avenue of trees”.[31]
\nIn June 1931 the Cairns Post reported that “Mr J. Bartley, Councillor Woothakata Shire, has finalised arrangements for the planting of a row of trees on each side of the main street in Kuranda”.[32] The varieties chosen were two types of figs, the Small-fruited Fig, Ficus Microcarpa, and the Small-leaved Fig, Ficus Obliqua. Both varieties were strangler figs. The third variety chosen was the African tulip tree (Spathodea Campanulata) due to its floral display when in bloom. These varieties were considered to thrive in a tropical environment such as Kuranda. Frederick Dodd, ‘the butterfly man of Kuranda’, donated the African tulip trees as the flowers were attractive to butterflies.[33]
\nBy July 1931 tree guards and holes for the trees had been installed along Coondoo Street, with the Northern Herald reporting “a further step forward in the beautification of Coondoo Street is the completion of the erection of the tree guards and the digging of holes ready for the planting of the trees”.[34] The plantings had been completed by September 1931 and Councillor Bartley was congratulated for his foresight.[35] The trees, planted along the full length of Coondoo Street, between Arara and Therwine streets (430m), thrived in Kuranda’s tropical setting. Residents of Kuranda began to complain to the Woothakata Shire Council about the need for the trees to be pruned as they had begun to overhang the footpath and caused pedestrians inconvenience. It was requested that the work be carried out before the start of the tourist season. The work was eventually completed in August 1937. [36]
\nDuring World War II organised tours in the Cairns region ceased.[37] Urgent road works had been carried out on the Cairns to Kuranda road by mid-1942 to provide decent vehicular access to the Atherton Tableland for the military. Prior to this the road was little more than a rough track. [38] This was to prove to be a boon for Kuranda in the postwar years as it allowed visitors to drive up to the Barron Falls rather than having to rely on the train.[39]
\nImmediately following the end of the war, Kuranda was once again one of the major tourist attractions in North Queensland. In 1946 it was reported that visitor numbers equalled those of the late 1930s.[40] The Tourist Bureau offered organised tours and in 1949 the ‘Tropic of Wonderland Tour’ was reportedly heavily booked[41] and other tours such as the ‘Grand Tour’ were advertised in full colour advertisements in national magazines such as the Australian Women’s Weekly.[42]
\nIt is unclear when the African tulip trees were removed, but this may have been a result of one or numerous cyclones that frequently damaged the township.[43] Several of the trees were also removed for road improvements in 1949.[44] A succession of aerial photographs ranging from the early 1950s to the 1980s demonstrate the trees’ strong contribution to the townscape. The trees in the 1950s were clearly large and numerous along both sides of Coondoo Street. By the 1980s through to the late 1990s the figs had matured further and their expansive canopies and large trunks created an impressive tree-scape along the main street.[45]
\nVisitor numbers to Kuranda by rail reflect the ongoing popularity of the town as a tourist attraction, with 37,350 passengers in 1967, 47,200 in 1970 and 105,316 in 1980.[46] In 1995 a major attraction, the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, was completed, travelling from Cairns to Kuranda over the rainforest and Barron Falls. The Kuranda terminal is located close by the railway station, ensuring the thousands of visitors to the town continue to walk up the hill and into Coondoo Street via Bartley’s tree-lined streetscape.[47]
\nIn the late 1990s Coondoo Street underwent a major revitalisation project by the Mareeba Shire Council. Low stone and concrete walls were constructed around the mature fig trees for protection and aesthetics, a reflection of the value the community and visitors place on the trees. Other landscape features were installed at this time including garden beds, pavement treatment and street furniture.
\nThe Kuranda Fig Tree Avenue, planted in 1931 as a civic beautification scheme by the local authority, retains 27 mature trees. The avenue continues to be an important element of the streetscape, valued by the local residents and visitors alike. The trees contribute to the character and tropical beauty of the street and are often photographed by visiting tourists.
","criteria":"The Kuranda Fig Tree Avenue (established 1931) is important in demonstrating the development of tourism in Far North Queensland in the interwar period. Planted to beautify the main street of the town, the avenue illustrates the intention of the local authorities to enhance the tourist experience in Kuranda, which was a major attraction at both a state and national level.
\nThe avenue of fig trees are a good representative example of a civic tree planting scheme of the interwar period, a time when town planning principles were being adopted throughout Queensland by local and state government authorities, in particular the beautification of civic spaces.
|Kuranda Fig Tree Avenue, an avenue of mature fig trees lining the main street of Kuranda, is important for its contribution to the streetscape and for creating a sense of shaded tropical beauty. Intentionally connected to the celebrated tropical gardens of the Kuranda Railway Station, the canopies of the trees create a physical and visual tunnelling effect along many parts of the street and contribute to Kuranda’s distinctive tropical character. The expansive trunks of many of the trees and the extensive aerial roots which stretch from the branches to the ground are often photographed by visiting tourists. The avenue of trees are significant for their scenic and landmark qualities.
|Planted in the early 1930s through the efforts of local council and community benefactors, the avenue of fig trees is valued by residents throughout the Atherton Tablelands and Cairns districts and by the large numbers of visitors to the town as an important signature of the Kuranda townscape. The trees have been valued by the community and visitors since the 1930s.
","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"} ]}