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SPECIMEN GULLY SITE 3 - BARKERS CREEK
SPECIMEN GULLY ROAD BARKERS CREEK, MOUNT ALEXANDER SHIRE

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Victorian Heritage Inventory

SPECIMEN GULLY SITE 3 - BARKERS CREEK

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Statement of Significance
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Statement of Significance

The quarrying of stone, gravel and sand for building and construction purposes was widely carried out on all Victorian goldfields. Some localities become notable for a particular material, such as granite and slate. The first gold discovery in the Mount Alexander district was made by John Worley and Christopher Thomas Peters at Specimen Gully in July 1851. Subsequently, the gully was extensively worked for both alluvial and reef gold. Stone quarrying was undertaken in the gully from the late 1850s, with the original slate flagstone quarry being situated quite close to Worley and Peters' claim. The original quarry was extensively worked for more than 40 years. By 1870, it was by far the largest producer of flagstone in Victoria. The stone obtained was found to be highly suitable for paving and was widely used throughout Victoria and in the streets of Melbourne. The belt of the valuable flagstones was about 23 feet wide, and was worked at intervals for a length of 20 chains (400 metres). At the south end, a fault broke up the rocks, rendering them of little value. At its deepest point, the quarry was sunk to a depth of 220 feet (67 metres). When abandoned at about the turn of the century, the quarry filled with water to within 30 feet of the surface. In its heyday, the quarry was equipped with a 25-horsepower engine, a planing and sawing plant, and a railway siding.

The Specimen Gully Flagstone Quarry is of historical, archaeological and scientific importance to the State of Victoria.

The Specimen Gully Flagstone Quarry is historically important, as one of the State's major nineteenth-century stone quarries.

The Specimen Gully Flagstone Quarry is scientifically important for its illustration of nineteenth century quarrying technology. Despite being partly filled, the quarry remains a fine representative of the State's early stone quarrying industry. The quarry plays a special role in the district, as an early artefact of an industry that continues in the district today.

[Source: Victorian Heritage Register]

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