CHINESE CAMP

PIONEER CEMETERY, 14 LOWER NINE MILE ROAD STANLEY, INDIGO SHIRE

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Victorian Heritage Inventory

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • History

    CHINESE CAMP - History

    The history of the land on which the site is located is part of the broader history of mining within the greater Ovens district during the mid 1850s and 1860s (Bannear 1999, Freeman 1999, Craig 1987, O'Brien 2005, Williams 1994).

    In brief, Stanley is a small town approximately 9km from Beechworth in Victoria noted for its fruit orchards, nut farms and, later, timber industry. It was formerly known as Snake Gully.

    An 1858 map of the township shows that the centre included a school, several stores including the extant Wallaces Store, as well as several hotels; some of which continue to be in existence (i.e. the Star Hotel). The Post Office opened on 1 October 1857 as Nine Mile Creek and was renamed Stanley the next year.

    The town population included a significant population of Scottish (O'Brien 2005) and Chinese miners (Craig 1987). The shire's heritage study notes that in 1855 there was a Chinese Camp organised with 50-100 tents on the site reserved for the Roman Catholic Church (Freeman 1999:36). Most of these men would have been working as alluvial miners and sinkers and persisted in the area throughout the 1860s. In his assessment of the historical mining sites on the Beechworth goldfields, citations for Chinese are common throughout the period. For example:

    - Chinese population of Stanley/Nine-Mile increasing, 1860 - 1,086 Chinese, as against 500 in Yackandandah division.

    - Nine-Mile not a diggings for dry sinkers (1860) - 'without water and plenty of it nothing can be done. The only part of the population who may be termed dry sinkers are the Chinese; but such a very slight amount of gold remunerates them, that they must be put down as an exception'

    http://www.heritage.vic.gov.au/admin/file/content2/c7/Beechworth.pdf

    Interpretation of Site

    CHINESE CAMP - Interpretation of Site

    The site comprises a widely dispersed artefact scatter of 19^th Century material, generally representative of domestic waste. Most of the material is highly fragmented, characteristic of multiple episodes of dispersal, and while the rubbish is likely to be local, it is typically likely to represent a conflation of events. The general absence of Chinese types of pottery and glass does not concur with the presence of Chinese in the area. However, given the area is also highly exposed, at least some of the assemblage may have been already collected and taken away from the site.

    No features were noted within the Church grounds proper, which are now part of a private allotment. The absence of building material around the site suggests that the potential for further sub-surface remains of buildings is low. It is a pattern, therefore, generally consistent with ephemeral mining camps, and given the signage and location, not entirely inconsistent with the presence of a cemetery.

    Archaeological Significance

    CHINESE CAMP - Archaeological Significance

    The site is significant as a potential 19th Century cemetery and mining settlement - possibly associated with one of the more common ethnic groups on the Victorian goldfields at the time.

    As the rate of development around Beechworth and Stanley has increased, most 19th Century camps have been destroyed. Artefact scatters within townships are scarce and early cemeteries are few. Most importantly as a result of further assessment - comprising historical research, archaeological survey and perhaps careful excavation - will help to identify the function of the site. More broadly, it may add to the range of information regarding the social and domestic lives of miners during this period. As a potential location of a former Chinese settlement, the site may also add to the corpus of information regarding Chinese settlement in the north east, particularly after the goldrush of the late 1850s.

    Historical Significance

    CHINESE CAMP - Historical Significance

    The site is significant due to its association with the 19th Century mining in the north east.

    Heritage Inventory Description

    CHINESE CAMP - Heritage Inventory Description

    A substantial artefact scatter - comprising 19th Century ceramics and glass in the location of the former Chinese Camp and Catholic Church Reserve at Stanley. Ceramics noted include blue willow, Asiatic pheasant, other blue transfer, low blue, blue glass, black glass and hand finishes. No moulds visible anywhere near the location of the scatter, but the church land has been levelled and there has been some excavation in church grounds for utilities. No structural features are visible, although mine workings, including races, surround the land. A nearby sign marks the site as being the location of a cemetery.
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