T A H C N
CHEWTON DOMAIN SOCIETY (INCORPORATED)
Reg. No. A0034364L P.O. Box 85, Chewton, 3451.
O T W E H
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www.chewton.net
Published on the 1st of each month
Issue 185
July, 2014.
Heritage - ours to protect? It was a conversation in the Red Hill that started it. Had I seen the heritage stone wall along Forest Creek behind the fire station lately? Worth a look I was told. The history of the wall is well documented in the former Metcalfe Shire Heritage Study. The re-alignment of Forest Creek away from the rear of the buildings lining the Pyrenees Highway retained the original buildings and the line of the road. The retaining wall indicates the need to restrict Forest Creek to a defined course in the face of a demand for gold and water which had earlier led to the removal of much of the creek bank. The extension and solid construction of the walls are a reminder of the 1889 flood when the creek swept past an earlier retaining wall, trapping two men in the Francis Ormond mine. This was Chewton’s worst mining disaster and, since little else now remains of the Francis Ormond mine, the wall is the only significant built reminder of the disaster. J. W. Sparks worked for the Chewton Borough Council from 1863 to 1908 and was employed as a qualified engineer and surveyor from 1879. In 1880 he was directed to erect a retaining wall in order to divert Forest Creek. The reason for this is explained in Spark’s Autobiography, “Forest Creek had long been a source of great trouble to the residents of Main Street especially at the back of those living on Main Street from Mount Street to the Francis Ormond, washing away large quantities of land at the rear; and strong influence was brought to bear in order to obtain a grant for the purpose of diverting the creek through the rock near Walkers residence.”
The stone wall built to separate Chewton from the Forest creek floodwaters, the section that is collapsing and the earth cracking above the collapse.
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