WARBY FALLS WOOLSCOUR
WARBY FALLS TRACK TAMINICK, BENALLA RURAL CITY
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Statement of Significance
This record has minimal details. Please look to the right-hand-side bar for any further details about this record.
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WARBY FALLS WOOLSCOUR - History
ExplorationThe plains surrounding the Warby Ranges were occupied by Aboriginal people from the Waveroo Language Group or tribe. The local clan, Pallengoillim, were described as belonging to the Ovens tribe by G.A. Robinson and others. The clan's head man was Weeng.er.bil and had met Robinson, the Protector of Aborigines in the Port Phillip District in the early 1840s (Wesson 2000:70).
Both Hume and Hovell and Major Thomas Mitchell, would have passed near this area in 1824-5 and 1835-6 respectively. They found plains of rolling grassland and woodland which were enticing to squatters wanting to take advantage of grazing land for their ever growing flocks of sheep. Mitchell gave the country on the Ovens River the name Oxley's Plains and the hills to the south, Futter's Range. A tree on the Ovens River at Wangaratta supposedly marks his camp site on the return journey of his Australia Felix expedition.
Settlement
The first to follow the Major's Line into his Australia Felix were George and William Faithful who had a number of servants killed by Aborigines and were driven off their run at Bontherambo. Many more Aborigines were killed in subsequent fights and massacres.
The first permanent white settler in the Warby Ranges was Ben Warby (after whom the park and range is named) who had established his pastoral run by 1844. His Taminick Plains Run (No. 110) was gazetted on July 26 1848 with an original area of about 23,000 acres. The run extended from just north of Glenrowan for most of the length of the Warby Ranges, to Gnarite Creek with Killawarra Run to the north and Springs B to the south. Taminick Plains was licensed 12 months prior to the New South Wales Orders-in-Council in October 1847, to Ben Warby.
From 1 June 1858, the Licence was in the name of Benjamin Warby Junior, but was transferred to Evan Evans on 7 July 1871. There followed a period of instability with the run being left out of Lists of Published Rents for December 1873, then transferred to the Bank of New South Wales, suggesting theinsolvency of Evans, and then to William Newcomen of Glenrowan on 5 May 1876 (Spreadborough and Anderson 1983:71).The local tradition has it that Ben Warby constructed the wool scouring plant as well as the weirs and race, fed with water from Warby Falls. This would suggest that the weirs would have to have been commenced before 1875, when the property had passed from Warby to Evans. The current landowner, Cliff Booth is quite clear on this point. According to him, the site was definitely a wool scour, and included a shearing shed beside the creek. Cliff also has said that the circular pit is a sheep dip in which sheep were treated for ticks. The shearing shed had been demolished and little sign remained of the scouring plant by the time Cliff was old enough to have reliable personal recollections. Cliff is now 83, so the shearing shed is unlikely to have survived beyond 1920 or so.
As there was only 25-30 years between the Warby and Booth ownerships with one short and one long occupier between, it is plausible that the historical associations were passed down accurately.
Evan Evans also had the adjoining Ovens Crossing Place run from March 1872. Taminick Plains appears to have originally been part of the Ovens Crossing Place (also known as Wangaratta and Junction). Taken up as early as 1837-8 and held by William Clark (Billis & Kenyon 1974:262).
WARBY FALLS WOOLSCOUR - Interpretation of Site
The site was utilised as a wool scour.
WARBY FALLS WOOLSCOUR - Archaeological Significance
The site has high archaeological significance.
Heritage Inventory Description
WARBY FALLS WOOLSCOUR - Heritage Inventory Description
Sheep Wash:The sheep wash is located just outside of the park in the Booth Family's property. Positioned on gently sloping ground on the north side of the creek in cleared farmland, the features include a circular brick lined pit, a levelled area with brick remains, several channels and postholes.
The water race passes about three metres to the north of the sheep wash and at a higher level, with two channels running down the slope, one into the circular pit, the other to a level area four metres to the west. The channel is about half a metre wide at this point and is earth formed with no evidence of the stone lining seen upstream. There is no evidence of it extending further downstream ether.
The circular pit is 2 metres diameter and about 1.4 metres deep. It is lined on the sides and base with hand made sandstock bricks, rendered over with a hard lime mortar. A similarly constructed ramp extends to the west, rising to ground level in about two metres. Postholes on the south side indicate the location of possible sheep pens. Two recesses about 10 cm wide and 5 cm deep extend up the south side of the circular pit and correspond to the location of the postholes.
The second feature comprises a brick paved area about four metres diameter with remnants of a brick wall or foundation along the north side. Soil has washed down the slope obscuring much of the feature. A separate earth channel can be traced from the south side of this feature heading south to join an east-west channel which discharges into the creek. This system is clearly the overflow for water from both the wash pit and the brick feature.
There are very few other artefacts in the area. A single, thick green bottle base was noted along with some small pieces of rusted sheet metal near the brick feature.
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WARBY FALLS WEIR AND RACE COMPLEXVictorian Heritage Inventory
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WARBY FALLS WOOLSCOURVictorian Heritage Inventory
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TAMINICK SPOT MILLVictorian Heritage Inventory
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