VORTEX FLOUR MILL

28 FLOUR MILL LANE RIDDELLS CREEK, MACEDON RANGES SHIRE

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Victorian Heritage Inventory

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • History

    VORTEX FLOUR MILL - History

    SiteCard data copied on 03/12/2024:The James McKenzie Milling Company was formed in 1866 by a group of local investors to erect a mill on Riddells Creek at the end of Flour Mill Lane Riddells Creek. The mill was of three storeys built in bluestone with a water race cut into the steep slope of the hillside for about 700 metres to a weir on Riddells Creek. This provided a fall of 30 feet for the turbine plant. This was perhaps the ultimate development of water mill technology in the nineteenth century, employing James Thompson’s Patent Vortex Turbine of 20 horsepower, which was said to be capable of operating all year. The patent dates from 1852, and so was cutting edge technology at the time. However, an auxiliary “Allen” horizontal steam engine with 8 inch cylinder and 24 inch stroke was also provided. H Glendining appears to have been a silent partner while McKenzie was the head miller. The mill produced both wheat flour and oatmeal. The mill fell into disuse when the Lancefield Railway diverted local grain to other mills, A fire in 1874 gutted the mill. George Miller was owner and was forced insolvency as a result and the mill was sold. Robert Gerrand was also associated with the mill, possibly as its designer. He was born in 1830 at Kirkcudbright, Scotland, migrated to Australia with his parents who settled in Smeaton and Rushworth. Gerrand died in 1920 at Kerang. William Corrie purchased the mill and rebuilt it as a flock mill, producing stuffing from old rags. Corrie installed a dynamo driven off an auxiliary shaft from the turbine to provide electric light. Corrie relocated his business to Melbourne in 1882, with the mill passing to the Northern Freehold Investment Company. It was then purchased by Otto Julius Mueller in 1899 who repaired and refitted the mill under the new name ‘Mount Macedon Mills’. A flood in 1909 damaged the weir but Mueller continued operations until 1918, when the mill was sold again it was demolished around 1923 and the stone was used to rebuild Catherine Maslin’s house ‘Prez’ (now named Bundaleer) at Gisborne.

    Interpretation of Site

    VORTEX FLOUR MILL - Interpretation of Site

    Footings and floor areas of the mill indicate structure over an area of about20 by 20 metres partly cut into the slope of the valley. The turbine installation is marked by a deep stone lined pit, and the milling floor can be surmnised from the position of the turbine. Numbers of small artefacts including domestic glass and ceramics, metal structural and machinery components and other material have been uncovered by the owners.

    Heritage Inventory Description

    VORTEX FLOUR MILL - Heritage Inventory Description

    The mill site retains substantial stone footings and other features within the garden of a modern house.. The Vortex Mill has an unusual configuration due to the power source coming from an early turbine installation. The mill was demolished and fill placed over it, but a substantial part has been cleared of debris by the owner exposing the foundations, floors and parts of building walls of a bluestone structure measuring 11 by 7 metres. The 3 metre square footing and pit marks the turbine tower on the east side and the brick boiler setting and chimney foundations extend a further 5 metres to the south. The race can only be traced in part, but is also evident in aerial photos, running along the south bank of the creek for over a kilometre to a knickpoint created by lava flows on the creek to the west.
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