HO124 - Grave, Ruin & Archaeological Site, Former Greenhills Pastoral Station
36-49 O'Connell Avenue TOOLERN VALE, Melton Shire
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Statement of Significance
The grave, ruin and archaeological site associated with the former Greenhills pastoral station, situated at 36-49 O'Connell Avenue Toolern Vale, are significant for their association with the early pastoral and social life of the historically important Greenhills station, and their potential to provide information that might contribute to the understanding of early pastoral life and practices in Melton and Victoria. Historically, Greenhills was one of the first pastoral runs and European settlements established in the Shire of Melton. These places are the only known surviving buildings and works dating to the early (mid nineteenth century) era of the property.
The grave, ruin and archaeological site associated with the former Greenhills pastoral station, situated at 36-49 O'Connell Avenue Toolern Vale, are historically significant at a LOCAL level (AHC A4, B2). Greenhills was a noted early Victorian pastoral property established by John Hunter Patterson, prominent pastoralist and member of the early Port Phillip community, and Victorian MLA and Treasurer in the 1850s. Established very early in 1837, Greenhills was one of the first and largest (40,000 acres) runs in the district, and in 1841 the largest population centre in the present Shire of Melton. The station became the basis of the road system and early settlement of the Toolern Vale district, which was initially named after the station. The property was also associated with prominent identities:- John Batman's daughters Eliza and Adelaide who married the station's Collyer brothers; Cr A Macintosh, the first President of the Melton Roads Board; Cr Walter Browne, JP; and other pioneering pastoralists in Victoria's history including George Hyde and George Urquhart.
Although the person whose remains lies in the grave is thought to have been a young woman who died in the late 1840s or early 1850s, her identity remains a mystery. The oldest and most enduring story is that it contains the remains of a Miss Batman, one of John Batman's daughters; another that it was a governess, perhaps a Miss Bateman (sic), who pined away waiting for her sailor love to return; another that it was a Miss Collier (sic], a friend or relative of an early station owner. It is representative of the many unmarked graves on the original Greenhills station, and in the area, which remain part of Toolern Vale lore, despite their location being all but forgotten, and their occupants (Aboriginal people, station workers, a government land surveyor, and returning diggers) only generally known.
The grave associated with the former Greenhills pastoral station, situated at 36-49 O'Connell Avenue Toolern Vale, is socially significant at the LOCAL level (AHC G1). The grave has always been a part of the Toolern Vale community's lore, and life, its repair having been tended to by both the station owners and the community over the years. Its current state reflects the 'heavily fenced in' grave as it was in the early twentieth century. It was identified as a place of heritage significance to the local community in a community forum held as part of this heritage study.
The ruin and archaeological site associated with the former Greenhills pastoral station, situated at 36-49 O'Connell Avenue Toolern Vale, are scientifically significant at a LOCAL level (AHC C2). They have the potential to provide information regarding early pastoral practices, in particular sheep-washing, that would contribute to a wider understanding of the pastoral industry in the Shire of Melton and Victoria. Overall, the grave, ruin and archaeological site associated with the former Greenhills pastoral station, situated at 36-49 O'Connell Avenue Toolern Vale, is of LOCAL significance.
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HO124 - Grave, Ruin & Archaeological Site, Former Greenhills Pastoral Station - Physical Description 1
Physical Description -
The main Greenhills homestead and associated buildings, gardens, and potential archaeological sites, are situated in 1260-1398 Diggers Rest to Coimadai Road Toolern Vale, Citation 55. Since the subdivision of O'Connell Avenue, the grave, putative sheepwash, and ruins of a cottage, are now on a different address: 36-49 O'Connell Avenue Toolern Vale.
The place includes an unknown grave that has been tended over the years, and the present timber picket fence probably dates to the early 1970s. The four corner posts may be older,[1] but the current state of the fence does not match a description of an earlier one.
About 40 metres east, beside 'Hangman's Gully', is a site comprising large 'flagstones' (non-local stone), a drainage channel and pit, scatter of handmade bricks, and ruins of stone fireplace, that could be an 1847 sheepwash reputed to remain on the site.[2] (Note: one informant has a memory of a c.8 m. diameter stone wall being the 'sheepwash'; it is possible that the present site has been degraded in recent decades.[3])
Just across the gully is the ruinous remains of the shearers quarters, another rare early remnant of this important pastoral property. It is a large (c.10m. x 4.5m.) masonry (bluestone, local sedimentary stone, and handmade brick) building. Although one corner of this building is about 2 m. high, most of it appears to have been pushed over, and is c.0.5 metres high. This building had a roof mid twentieth century, and was intact to its gables c.1980. It 'survived' the fires that virtually wiped out nearby Toolern Vale.
[1] Mr John Beaty, personal conversation, 8/5/2002
[2] Shire of Melton Heritage Study, Stage One: Community Workshop, 7/9/2001
[3] John Beaty, personal conversation, 8/5/2002
HO124 - Grave, Ruin & Archaeological Site, Former Greenhills Pastoral Station - Historical Australian Themes
Shire of Melton Historical Themes: 'Pastoralism', 'Community'
HO124 - Grave, Ruin & Archaeological Site, Former Greenhills Pastoral Station - Integrity
Integrity -
Grave: Continuously upgraded renovated.
Reputed Sheepwash: Unknown.
Building/cottage: Unknown (presumed Fair).
HO124 - Grave, Ruin & Archaeological Site, Former Greenhills Pastoral Station - Physical Conditions
Physical Condition -
Grave: Good.
Reputed Sheepwash: Archaeological Site.
Building/cottage: Ruinous.
Heritage Study and Grading
Melton - Shire of Melton Heritage Study phase 2
Author: David Maloney, David Rowe, Pamela Jellie, Sera Jane Peters
Year: 2007
Grading:
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