CHINESE PIG OVEN

RJ SPUR TRACK JERICHO, BAW BAW SHIRE

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Victorian Heritage Inventory

Statement of Significance

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  • History

    CHINESE PIG OVEN - History

    Heritage Inventory History of Site: In 1864 (three years after the Jordan goldfield was rushed) the population of Jericho was 400 Europeans and 95 Chinese. Eight years later, the European population of the district was on the decline: they were 'gradually making way for the Chinese' who were, at that time, occupying most of the old creek claims on the Jordan. 'The ground that was considered worked out by the lucky ones ten years ago,' wrote the mining registrar, 'will continue to pay a low rate of wages for re-working, by the more industrious though less fortunate miners, for many years to come.'The only sizeable Chinese settlement on the Jordan goldfield, of about 200 people, was located on the Jordan River between Red Jacket and Jericho. A joss house was established and several unmarked graves of Chinese are said to exist in the cemeteries at Jericho and Red Jacket.The ovens were used by the Chinese to roast entire pigs on feast days. A fire would be lit in the base of the oven and fed from the opening at the base, then large stones would be lowered and allowed to become red hot. A whole pig would be lowered onto the stones and a brass or metal covered placed over the opening until the meat was thoroughly cooked.Two ovens originally existed and were unearthed during sluicing operations in the late 1940s. Tins full of Chinese coins were found buried near one of the ovens. One of the ovens has since been destroyed by roadworks. The other was again hidden by undergrowth until its rediscovery in the 1970s. Officers from the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works reported that the site had deteriorated by the late 1980s.Chinese pig ovens have been recorded on goldfields in Tasmania, north Queensland and the Northern Territory, but this is the only site of its type identified in Victoria. References: Mining Surveyors' Reports (Jericho Division), June & September 1872, June 1873 Steenhuis Supple et al, M21 Tomlin, Bosa & Chamberlain, pp. 99-100

    Heritage Inventory Description

    CHINESE PIG OVEN - Heritage Inventory Description

    The Chinese pig oven is a round structure made of earth and rocks. It is open at the top and has a small opening in the base.

    Heritage Inventory Significance: National EstateScientific significance - because of its rarity and as the only site of its type known in Victoria.Social value - as rare evidence of Chinese occupation and ceremonial life on the goldfields.

    Recorded by: Tomlin et al Date Recorded: 1979

    Site visit by R.Paoletti 2012: Dense vegetation growth and blackberry thickets conceal large parts of this site, however, the chimney is still recognisable and access is relatively manageable.
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  • JORDAN RIVER DIVERSION TUNNEL

    

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  • UNKNOWN FATHER & SON GRAVE

    

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  Jericho

  30/01/17

  CHINESE PIG OVEN