EVANSDALE FARM COMPLEX
678 BOUNDARY ROAD TRUGANINA, MELTON CITY
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Statement of Significance
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EVANSDALE FARM COMPLEX - History
The first one hundred years of post European settlement history in what is now known as the Wyndham City area can be divided into two distinct periods. The first, spanning from 1835 to the 1890s when it was a squatter pastoralist dominated community, and the second, from the 1890s to the 1930s when it was a community evolving from pastoralism to closer settlement.
In Truganina the land was simply not suitable for small-scale agriculture based on very small farms. As a result grazing remained the dominant activity. Grazing methods during the period of licences, leases and grass rights, basically involved shepherds being employed to watch sheep during the day and pen them in sheep folds during the night to prevent depredation by dingoes and extreme weather-related losses.
Shepherd huts were constructed at points of vantage and adjacent to reliable water. The shepherds also had the role of circulating the stock around the estate. A single shepherd could have anything from 400 to 1000 animals in his care. Following land sales in the early 1850s, pastoralists were given greater incentive to improve their properties. Fencing to prevent stock straying onto roads and other properties became necessary, particularly as the gold rushes resulted in shortage of labourers to watch sheep. By 1859, about one quarter of the parish of Truganina was fenced . This is likely to have been typical of the rest of the region. The fences made a distinctive grid pattern across the plains, reflecting the simple one mile squares into which the flat country had been surveyed.
EVANSDALE FARM COMPLEX - Interpretation of Site
The site comprises a series of single storey buildings and features that are representative of several phases of occupation. Buildings include a bluestone cottage with a weatherboard extension to the east; a bluestone men's quarters and stables; and a 1920s dairy. Features include: remnants of dry stone walling and modern sundry sheds.
The bluestone men's quarters appears to be the first residence. It is a dressed and randomly coursed bluestone construction comprising three small rooms to the north, with an open section to the south comprising stables. To the east, a cottage is similarly of random course bluestone construction, with a shingle roof. Internally it comprises seven rooms with the layout and masonry coursework of the cottage suggests it was constructed in stages.
Both bluestone structures are early in date (c. 1850-60s) which corresponds with the purchase and settlement of the property by Samual Evans in 1854. The weatherboard east extension is connected to the bluestone cottage via an entrance vestibule two roomed house. Internally it comprises two rooms and features ceiling plaster roses and timber mantelpieces. It has a construction date of c. 1880s with the bullnose verandah dating to the 1890s -early 1910s. The second stables building northeast of the men's quarters appears to date from the late C. 19th. The remaining timber buildings are likely to date early to mid C.20th.
Other possible historic features are the strewn basalt boulders to the west. The features to the east of these boulders that are visible on aerial mapping are modern refuse that hold no historic value or interest.
No other historic features/ buildings were noted during the ground survey.
EVANSDALE FARM COMPLEX - Historical Significance
The site is representative of the rural development of the local area. The property was purchased by the Evans family in the 1850s and continually occupied by the same family until 2009. It is a collection of buildings that demonstrates several phases of architectural developments beginning in the 1850s up until the early 20th century. The random coursed bluestone structures and shingled roofs are from the earliest phase and as such are of particular interest.
EVANSDALE FARM COMPLEX - Archaeological Significance
A ground survey located in situ domestic and farming structures on the site. No previous archaeological excavations have been conducted on the site.
To the east of the Victorian extension remnant fencing and fruit trees suggest a possible orchard or garden area. Inside the bluestone and Victorian structures surface deposits included lino fragments, broken modern glass and collapsed timber flooring. The external surface along the perimeters of the structures had poor visibility due to high grass.
There is moderate potential for sub surface archaeological features and deposits to exist within the site. These could include other structural features and artefacts relating to the domestic and farming activities
Heritage Inventory Description
EVANSDALE FARM COMPLEX - Heritage Inventory Description
The site comprises a series of single storey historic structures and associated features representing several phases of occupation.
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EVANSDALE FARM COMPLEXVictorian Heritage Inventory
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