Tag:murchison
Located in Murchison South, Victoria, Days Mill is a well-preserved steam-driven flour mill with a rich history. It’s also considered the best-preserved flour mill from the 19th century in Victoria. The property spans four hectares of land in the Goulburn Valley, south of Murchison, and includes the mill, a residence, and farm buildings. The mill contains all the original milling machinery in its original setting, just 150 km north of Melbourne.
History
Days Mill was established in the late 1850s by William and Ann Day, migrants from England. William ran the flour mill, a bush sawmill, and a punt on the Goulburn River. Ann also ran the local store. In August 1870, William was thrown against a fence by a cow suffering severe injuries to his legs and arms. He never fully recovered from this accident and died in 1872.
After her husband, William passed away, Anne was left to care for her seven children, aged 5 to 19. Thankfully, William’s estate was worth more than £5,000, which provided Anne with financial security. From 1872 to 1891, she successfully managed the farm and the mill, making it one of the most advanced properties in the area. Through a collection of letters, it’s evident that Anne was a capable and determined woman excelling in the male-dominated Victorian business world. Her letters document her struggles with poor selectors and her endeavours to sell flour in the Melbourne market. They also shine a light on her disputes with tardy agricultural machinery manufacturers and her efforts to sell her farm’s produce at a reasonable price in Melbourne.
By 1870, traditional rural mill stone operations were being displaced by new iron roller technology. This led to the cessation of the mill’s commercial operation in the late 1880s. Anne Day, who had been farming and storekeeping, retired and passed on the reins to her eldest son, Joseph. The property then functioned solely as a farm, with Joseph occasionally grinding chicken feed for his neighbours. In 1910, Joseph extended the size of his farm by acquiring an additional 320 acres. Meanwhile, his younger brother, Henry, acquired 244 acres.
The Buildings
The exact date of the residence’s construction remains unknown. However, the Day family believes the kitchen area was built around 1865, which coincides with the mill’s construction. The two-story house featured a cast iron verandah and was constructed later. The interior walls are adorned with hand-painted stencils and marbling that date back to 1910.
The Mill complex includes a complete collection of farming and flour milling equipment from the nineteenth century. Entering the property, past the gatehouse, down a long driveway lined with peppercorns and pine trees, brings you to a two-story brick house beside the three-story brick mill. In addition, a granary annex with a two-story surrounding veranda was constructed around 1905.
The mill operated using a unique early E T Bellhouse steam engine connected to a Cornish boiler that is still fully functional. There are also several other buildings, such as a stable, chaff shed, blacksmith, butchery, dairy, shearing shed, milking shed, piggery, and chook shed. The original machinery and equipment have been preserved. These include three under-driven millstones, grain and meal elevators, a bolting reel, an air leg aspirator, a sack hoist, and other equipment.
Heritage listed
The Day family owned the Days Mill until 1985, after which the Department of Conservation Forests and Lands acquired it. Since 1996, the Days Flour Mill Complex has been under the management of Parks Victoria. Visiting the mill complex by appointment or during special events held throughout the year is possible.
The Days Flour Mill Complex is a remarkable representation of the milling techniques commonly used in the 19th century. It consequently has earned a spot on the Victorian Heritage Register. The Victorian Government’s Living Heritage Program in 2018/2019 granted it $500,000. This funding allowed significant conservation efforts on the Mill, Gatehouse, and Residence buildings. Reconstruction and repair of the roof, brickwork, windows, chimney, and Pulley House were also made possible by the grant.
Days Mill is located on Day Road, Murchison
My Travel Buddy had heard about a just completed water tower painted by Cam Scale and Andrew Davis. A big bonus it was only about a short trip from home. So enjoying the first dry day after a week of endless rain, we headed up to Tatura and Murchison.
Tatura
The pretty little town of Tatura is an easy 20 mins from Shepparton via the Midland Highway. Tatura has a strong wartime history and a German war cemetery. The graves of 351 German civilians who died during internment in WWI and WWII are located in the cemetery. The seven camps housed German civilians (deemed ‘enemy aliens’) and prisoners of war during WWII, with the camps spread through Tatura, Murchison and Rushworth. We planned to photograph the new water tower – and visit the wartime museum. Unfortunately, we were there around 11 am, and the museum didn’t open until later.
Situated in the main street and easily seen from the Bendigo and Shepparton approaches is the water tower featuring General Sir John Monash. An engineer and soldier, Sir John is credited as one of the architects of the Allied victory in WW1. He designed many structures around the region – including the water tower he now graces, built in 1912. It is the earliest surviving example of a reinforced concrete tower of this design in Victoria.
Tatura Memorial Garden
While in Tatura, we visited the Robert Mactier VC Memorial Garden, home to a statue commemorating Tatura born Private Robert Mactier for his “conspicuous bravery at Mont St Quenton, France” on September 1st 1918. Robert charged a machine gun nest and killed its six crew. He then charged two other machine guns, killing more squads and causing 40 enemies to surrender. He was then killed by fire from a fourth machine gun and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery.
Murchison
Thirty-five kilometres south of Shepparton and 145 km north of Melbourne is Murchison. It is smaller than Tatura but full of charm with lovely old homes and buildings, and it sits on the Goulburn River. In 1853 gold was discovered. So a town sprung up in 1854, named after Captain John Murchison, who surveyed it in 1854.
Due to the healthy river trade from paddle steamers, Murchison at one time boasted six hotels, several general stores, two flour mills, a post office, a sawmill, a cordial factory, two blacksmiths. In 1878 the Kelly gang briefly took over the Murchison Police Station as their base.
War Camps
Between 1940 and 1947, the seven camps housed 10,000 to 13,000 people. Four camps were for civilians, and three were prisoners of war.
In the late 1930s, thousands of refugees – either Jewish or those politically opposed to the Nazi regime fled to Britain for sanctuary. At the outbreak of WWII in one of Britains most deplorable acts. The British Government rounded the german and Italian refugees up as possible enemy spies. They then put them on a ship bound for Australian internment camps at Tatura and Murchison. The ship, the HMT Dunera, had a capacity of 1600 souls – however, the British Government crammed 2000 on it.
After a 57-day journey in appalling conditions, during which the ship was hit by a torpedo, the internees’ eventual arrival is regarded as one of the greatest influxes of academic and artistic talent to have entered Australia on a single vessel. Among those on the Dunera were Franz Stampfl, who helped coach the athlete Roger Bannister to the world’s first sub-four minute mile and Anton Walter Freud, grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud
BBC
Moooving Art
In 1999 the Shepparton’s Marketing Committee introduced Merry Moos for a Christmas campaign. This proved to be so successful it was decided to expand the concept into Moooving Art (rather like how the silo art trail took off). The Shepparton council provided the 3D cows and invited emerging artists to paint them. A ‘herd’ of 90 cows dotted in parks, playgrounds and gardens around the district. We are now on a mission to find them all 🙂 We subsequently found two at Tatura and four at Murchison. There are many more in Shepparton – which is where we plan to head next.
The Moooving art exhibition pays homage to the strength of the dairy industry in the Shepparton region. In 2018, Trip Advisor awarded a Certificate of Excellence in Greater Shepparton’s Moooving Art attraction.