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COBBLERS GULLY QUARTZ ROASTING SITE
CASTLEMAINE HISTORIC RESERVE AND OLD COACH ROAD CHEWTON, MOUNT ALEXANDER SHIRE

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Victorian Heritage Register
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Statement of Significance

The Cobblers Gully Quartz Roasting Site consists of the remains of small quartz roasting kiln. Below the kiln are some largely buried foundations, including a circular feature which may be the site of a Chilean Mill. The tailings associated with the foundations are very coarse. There are several carting tracks associated with the site. The site is perhaps very early, possibly dating to the mid 1850s.

The Cobblers Gully Quartz Roasting Site is of historical, scientific and archaeological importance to the State of Victoria.

The Cobblers Gully Quartz Roasting Site is historically and scientifically important as a characteristic and well preserved example of an important form of gold mining. A necessary preliminary to early quartz crushing was the roasting of the rock in a kiln. Roasting 'softened' the quartz, making it brittle and easier to crush. It was also used to 'burn off' other minerals which hampered the retrieval of gold. Quartz roasting was widely carried out on most goldfields from the 1850s, but by the 1860s improvements in crushing technology largely discredited the process. Evidence of this metallurgical process, such as the Cobblers Gully Site, is extremely rare in the State of Victoria.

The Cobblers Gully Quartz Roasting Site is archaeologically important for its potential to yield artefacts and evidence which will be able to provide significant information about the technological history of gold mining. This would especially be so if the site did date from the mid 1850s and the circular feature proved to be a Chilean Mill.

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    • Permit Exemptions

      COBBLERS GULLY QUARTZ ROASTING SITE - Permit Exemptions

      General Exemptions:

      General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.

      Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.

      Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.

      Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions.

      Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.

      Specific Exemptions:

      General Conditions:
      1. All exempted alterations are to be planned and carried out in a manner which prevents damage to the fabric of the registered place or object.
      2. Should it become apparent during further inspection or the carrying out of alterations that original or previously hidden or inaccessible details of the place or object are revealed which relate to the significance of the place or object, then the exemption covering such alteration shall cease and the Executive Director shall be notified as soon as possible.
      3. If there is a conservation policy and plan approved by the Executive Director, all works shall be in accordance with it.
      4. Nothing in this declaration prevents the Executive Director from amending or rescinding all or any of the permit exemptions.
      Nothing in this declaration exempts owners or their agents from the responsibility to seek relevant planning or building permits from the responsible authority where applicable.
      No permits are required for the following classes of works provided they are carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Conservation Plan For Historic Mining Sites prepared by David Bannear in 1996.

      * Mineral Exploration
      * Fire suppression duties
      * Timber production
      * Weed and vermin control
      * Public safety
      * Rehabilitation

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