THOMSON RIVER MINE SHAFT & ADIT

WALHALLA ROAD RAWSON, BAW BAW SHIRE

All information on this page is maintained by Heritage Victoria. Click below for their website and contact details.

Victorian Heritage Inventory

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • History

    THOMSON RIVER MINE SHAFT & ADIT - History

    The history of the Thomson River Mine Shaft and Adit is unknown, but general accounts of early gold mining on the Thomson River are given in the next section, 12. Sluice Workings, North Zone, Horseshoe Bend. The workings identified with the Heritage Inventory entry were done after the last of the lower sluicing works in the vicinity of Horseshoe Bend were completed. This is because the adit-level bench cuts off the main water race that supplied water to the North Zone sluicing works and downstream sluicing operations in the vicinity.

    Heritage Inventory Description

    THOMSON RIVER MINE SHAFT & ADIT - Heritage Inventory Description

    Mine shaft and adit.Heritage Inventory Significance: Local Updated June 2022- The history of the Thomson River Mine Shaft and Adit is unknown, but general accounts of early gold mining on the Thomson River are below: The history of the Horseshoe Bend diggings is unknown, but the workings can be understood in the general accounts of gold mining on the Thomson River. The diggings were mentioned in the Mining Surveyors’ Reports of March 1864, following the first rush to the river in early 1864. The report was a good one, with numbers of miners increasing and good wages being made. In 1870 the diggers struck a lead on the river, near the Thomson River Bridge. Payable results were obtained. By mid-1872 alluvial mining in the district was said to be confined to scattered miners, getting fair returns. In 1877, the bed and banks of the Thomson River were reported to be providing a fairly good living for the miners. The following year creek and river sluicing in the district increased and several parties on the Thomson River were making better than wages. The number of miners on the river increased again in 1879. The Mining Surveyor reported in 1880 that “alluvial mining consists wholly of creek and river mining”. In 1885 the Surveyor reported an increase in alluvial gold production in the district owing to systematic sluicing of the bed of the Thomson River by several parties. Between 1885 and 1887, three companies were sluicing the Thomson River. Reference: Summarised from history contained in Historic Heritage Survey: Horseshoe Bend Gold Mining Area, LRGM – Services for West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority, 2010. The workings identified with the Heritage Inventory entry were done after the last of the lower sluicing works in the vicinity of Horseshoe Bend were completed. This is because the adit-level bench cuts off the main water race that supplied water to the North Zone sluicing works and downstream sluicing operations in the vicinity.
• Location map
• Explore related places
  • Show:
    -- select -- Nearby Places

  • 
    THOMSON RIVER DIVERSION TUNNEL SITE

    

    Victorian Heritage Register H1990
  • THOMSON RIVER TAIL RACE/DIVERSION TUNNEL

    

    Victorian Heritage Inventory
  • EVANS BROTHERS LIMEWORKS

    

    Victorian Heritage Inventory
• Public contributions