DAVIS ROAD BASALT PLATFORM
455 DAVIS ROAD TARNEIT, WYNDHAM CITY
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Statement of Significance
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DAVIS ROAD BASALT PLATFORM - 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.
DAVIS ROAD BASALT PLATFORM - Interpretation of Site
The platform was located within an open field strewn with basalt floaters and situated 1.97 kilometres northwest of Cowies Hill, an old eruption point. It did not correspond to any other features such as homesteads or dwellings. It has possible rural farming associations such as a haystack foundation.
DAVIS ROAD BASALT PLATFORM - Archaeological Significance
The site has low archaeological significance.
DAVIS ROAD BASALT PLATFORM - Historical Significance
The site is representative of late 19th century pastoral activity in the region.
Heritage Inventory Description
DAVIS ROAD BASALT PLATFORM - Heritage Inventory Description
Davis Road Basalt Platform is located within a ploughed field on a gentle rise on Davis Road, approx. 500 m north of Leakes Road Tarneit.
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DAVIS ROAD BASALT PLATFORMVictorian Heritage Inventory
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