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CHAPTER 5
Dry-stone walls and water wheels:Managing water in colonial South Australia
Pam Smith
HE TITLE OF THIS BOOK, Valleys of Stone, was inspired by the many stone-lined water channels,Twells, dry-stone walls and the archaeological evidence of a variety of nineteenth century
structures used to manage water sources on the western face of the Mount Lofty Ranges. Water
and stone, two naturally occurring resources found in abundance in the Mount Lofty Ranges, were
essential for the economic development of the new colony of South Australia and the construction
of stone irrigation and water management systems during the first decades of the colony ensured
that water from the many permanent springs was controlled. Many of these irrigation systems
continued to be used well into the twentieth century, although the lower prices of iron pipes in the
latter half of the nineteenth century and improved technologies for storing and reticulating water
70 Valleys of Stone
ensured the gradual replacement of water-races and stone channels for irrigation.
Most colonists emigrated from Great Britain and of those who took up market gardening and
horticulture few had any previous experience in irrigation and water conservation technologies.
The small acreage under irrigation in England in the nineteenth century flooded grasses in water-
meadows to increase yields of cut grass for hand-feeding livestock. In 1876 it was estimated that the
extent of water-meadows in England was not more than 100,000 acres, mostly confined to the south
and west of the island (Chambers Encyclopaedia 1876:249). In England, it was the need to drain the
land of water and so to expand the area available for agriculture that was a priority. Williamson
(1996) in his discussion of the evolution of the English landscape refers to the introduction of the
ceramic or terracotta pipe for underground drainage in wetlands such as the Fens in the 1840s as
one of the major technological changes of the nineteenth century.
Some early colonists arriving in South Australia may have read John Morphett’s 1836 report
and arrived with an expectation that supplies of water would be well in excess of their needs and
similar to those of their homeland. Morphett, who accompanied Colonel William Light, the
Surveyor-General, reported more than favourably on the water resources of the western hills face:
Mount Lofty bears nearly east, and the whole of this side of the range is intersected with gullies, ravines and watercourses, of the deepest kind, bearing evident marks of being acted on by powerful torrents. All of the hilly countryalong the coast has a similar character, but in no place is it so conspicuous as here. The facilities for damming up,and the creation of water power, are greater than I have seen in any country in an equal area…
Morphett 1837:12, cited in Martin, R. 1996:17
Ten years later the Emigrants Friend or Authentic Guide to South Australia provided colonists with
a contrasting description of the situation on the plains:
… the river water in Adelaide … is of course, salt, and all the water available for drinking and for domestic purposes, isobtained either by catching the rain water, or from deep wells…
1848:9
The South Australian climate differed considerably from the cooler and wetter climate of Great
Britain and central Europe. Although the hills streams flooded in winter, their permanent springs
were the main water source during the long dry summers.
Advice on market gardening and horticultural practices appropriate for the Australian climate
was readily available from the earliest days of the colony and drew on fifty years of experience
in the eastern colonies where the ‘scorched earth of a drought would seldom let rain penetrate
more than an inch’ and the retention of moisture in the soil was essential (Cunningham 1841:11).
Market gardeners, horticulturalists and farmers settling in the steep-sided valleys of the Mount
Lofty Ranges found that it was necessary to adapt the technologies and knowledge they brought
with them to a very different environment. The long dry summers and infrequent torrential rains
demanded at least two significant technological adaptations. It had been quickly recognised that
the narrow, fertile west-facing valleys of the ranges provided the best environment for growing the
supplies of fresh fruit and vegetables for the rapidly growing city. In the era before modern pumps
Dry-stone walls and water wheels 71
the many permanent springs in the valleys provided the only reliable sources of water at the end of
the long dry summers. This water was conserved in chains of small dams and in wells and stone
water storage tanks constructed along creek lines and a variety of irrigation and water storage
technologies were implemented and are described in the case studies below. These conservation
measures and the increased use of water resulted in an unpredicted depletion of water resources
within the first fifty years of the colony, as described by E.H. Hallack in 1893:
Of the creeks between the Sturt and the Torrens there are six which start from the western slopes of the Mount LoftyRanges. In the early days their waters used to run through the Adelaide Plains for the greater part of the year. Boysbathed in them and children gathered flowers from their shady banks long before many of the present suburbs weredreamt of. But since the development of the hills gardening industry the sight of a running stream for more than fourmonths in the year is a novelty, and what used to mark the confines of running brooks are now ugly, open channels…
Observer 6 May 1893:9
These essential conservation strategies, however, exacerbated competition for water resulting in
frequent disputes over water rights (pers. com. Geoffrey Bishop and Andrew Tilley). Letters to the
Editor, similar to the following complaint, appeared regularly in Adelaide newspapers during the
second half of the nineteenth century:
For the last two or three years the people of Norwood and Kent Town, through whose land the creek (called I believe,First Creek) used to run at this time of year, have had to deplore its premature dribble and final exhaustion… FromHowitt’s Mill downwards, the water is dammed up by one and another until the immense evaporation of summerexhaust its overflow, and what might and ought to be a blessing to thousands is monopolized by a few without let orhindrance. One gentleman, whose name I need not mention, dams up the water after it leaves the mill until the floodirrigates a large piece of land, and insures him a fine crop of grass or grain, when others not so favoured are parchedup…another irrigates his nursery garden, and is by this means enabled to grow vegetables of fine quality oncomparatively poor soil, swells his horticultural production and enjoys a fine bath whenever he pleases…
Register 2 February 1856
The second essential technological adaptation was in response to the severe flood cycle.
Destructive torrential downpours occurred infrequently and up to 25 or 30 years apart and
flood management skills were learned through years of experience and loss of investments. It is
estimated that 94% of houses in the study area built between 1836 and 1970 were within 150 metres
of a creek and 61% were within 50 metres of a creek (refer to the Hills Face Heritage GIS Database).
Most of these cottages were the homes of market gardeners, orchardists or farmers. For example,
the Newman family abandoned their extensive horticultural enterprise in Water Gully after seventy
years in 1932. They had struggled following two floods in 1913, one in the autumn and one in the
spring, in which six glass houses were damaged and a ten-foot wall, a 400-gallon tank and between
4,000 and 5,000 pot plants were swept away (History of Water Gully). This family had migrated
from Germany and had constructed their home and extensive hothouses and industry-related
infrastructure along the creek. People gradually learnt to anticipate these events and accommodate
to them. Protective retaining walls were built along the tops of agricultural terraces and industry-
related infrastructure and access tracks were constructed on hillsides rather than on the floor
of the valley.
72 Valleys of Stone
Approximately 113 nineteenth century
stone features associated with water manage-
ment were documented during heritage surveys
and entered into Adelaide’s Hills Face Heritage
GIS Database. These features are categorised by
type in Table 5.1.
The GIS data base has also enabled us to
interpret the spatial patterns of water-related
infrastructure within the colonial landscape, to
calculate their distance from water sources and
their relationships to each other. All of this
information has been brought together in this
chapter to reconstruct examples of mid-
nineteenth century water management systems
and to interpret examples of relict landscapes
that demonstrate how water from rainfall and
permanent springs was harvested and used
for irrigation.
COLONIAL TECHNOLOGIES
Most Adelaidians are familiar with the solid
FEATURE TYPE ESTIMATED DATE NO.
Stone lined water 1836-1900 11channel – former creek
Drain or channel 1836-1870 12– fragments only 1870-1900 2
unknown 1
Stone dam wall or weir 1836-1870 51870-1900 5unknown 4
Stone irrigation 1836-1870 9channel/water race
Well 1836-1870 111870-1900 21unknown 13
Tank/tank stand 1836-1870 101870-1900 5unknown 2
Water wheel 1836-1870 2
stone-lined channels that now carry the waters of First Creek through Waterfall Gully, Third Creek
in the vicinity of Norton Summit, Fifth Creek along the Montacute Road and the upper sections of
Brownhill Creek – to mention only a few examples. But few people are aware of the network of stone
structures along the smaller tributaries or the extent of irrigation systems and retaining walls in the
narrow valleys.
Unlike the dry-stone walling used to construct fences and farm buildings, most examples of dry-
stone walling used in water management structures were constructed as random, or uncoursed,
walling using undressed or minimally dressed stone. It has been suggested that the stone walls of
the Adelaide Hills are the legacy of Scottish immigrants, but there is no evidence to support such a
regional influence. The heritage surveys of the Hills Face Zone included properties that were settled
by colonists from all areas of Great Britain, Ireland and from several regions of Europe and each
family group introduced their local skills in stone masonry into the colony.
Irrigation systems
Technologies for water irrigation and water storage evolved soon after humans first cultivated
crops. Irrigated crops made it possible for small settlements in marginal and inhospitable
environments to be transformed into centres of significant population growth and economic
Table 5.1Stone features related to water managementin the Hills Face Zone dating from 1836to 1900.1
Dry-stone walls and water wheels 73
development. Archaeological evidence for what is believed to be the oldest irrigation system to
support a major population centre was documented at Eridu, Mesopotamia. This centre has been
located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and is dated to 7400BP.
The climate of the early agricultural regions was hot and dry and can be likened to the climate
of colonial South Australia. As with these first cities, the economic development of colonial
Adelaide also depended on sound water management practices. Nineteenth century technologies
had changed little since the irrigation methods developed in Mesopotamia and later along the Nile
Valley in Egypt from approximately 4800BP. Peter Cunningham, Surgeon R.N., author of Hints for
Australian Emigrants (1841) was well travelled and recorded and published agricultural methods,
including irrigation systems, that he felt were suited to the Australian environment. He provided
details of nine different irrigation systems he observed in the Mediterranean and in Peru and Chile
(Cunningham 1841). The irrigation methods in use in the Mediterranean region had been
introduced into Lombardy, the south of France and Spain during their occupation by the Roman
Empire two thousand years earlier and had changed little since that time (Chambers’ Encyclopaedia
1876:641).
Cunningham recommended nine models of irrigation systems which he illustrated and
described in detail. Each model was designed to manage water in a particular situation or to water a
particular crop. For example:
‘A’ represents the mode of laying out vineyards, orange, and other fruit groves, and consists of a series of hollows for theplants, with shallow connecting channels between, the irrigating water filling each series of hollows in succession, untilthe whole of the field has been irrigated…
‘B,’C’ represent a series of ridges and furrows (like those of the turnip and potato husbandry) with alternate spursshooting out from each ridge, the openings at the ends of which are successively closed by spades of earth … Indian corn,potatoes and various kitchen vegetables, are grown in these ridges in Chili and Peru.
‘D’ represents an aqueduct leading from the tank to fields below, and other aqueducts are shown leading laterally tofields in these directions … when water is raised by a wheel, they (the embankments) are usually of wood or stone…
Cunningham 1841:94-102
Water races were common and essential components of irrigation systems on the many hills
market gardens and orchards and comprised both small in-ground channels and wooden pipes.
The fate of wooden pipes was described in 1876 in England as follows:
Formerly wooden pipes were extensively used for conveying water and for draining; but so great an improvement hasbeen effected of later years in the manufacture of metal and earthenware pipes that they have become exceedingly rare,and will soon disappear
Chambers’ Encyclopaedia 1876 VII:553
Only hints of these colonial irrigation systems were, however, described by nineteenth century
chroniclers of horticultural endeavours. E.H. Hallack (Hallack 1987) referred to irrigation systems,
but provided few details (see his descriptions from the Brownhill Creek catchment in the Adelaide
Observer 13 May 1893:3).
Ebenezer Ward (1862) described crops and landscapes in the Adelaide Hills and plains in the
74 Valleys of Stone
mid-nineteenth century, but he made only
fleeting references to irrigation systems. For
example, when describing Sunnyside2 , the
residence of the Hon. William Milne MP, this
is the only information provided:
Mr Milne has already found a means of irrigating hisvines to an extent which, combined with the naturalwinter soakage, he considers sufficient for the purpose.On the highest portion of his vineyard he hasconstructed a reservoir into which the storm water fromthe higher hills is conducted by races cut at their base,and the water is afterward disseminated over thevineyard by surface drainage…
Ward 1862:26
Irrigation systems such as these were also
the first water management features to become
Figure 5.2A square cut into the top of a waterfallprovides evidence of a timber water race.
SOURCE Andrew Tilley, Brownhill Creek catchment
redundant when iron water pipes became readily available from the 1860s and open water races
quickly disappeared from the landscape.
Archaeological evidence of irrigation systems using stone lined channels and water races has,
however, been identified. This evidence varies from a scatter of stone providing a hint of what had
once been there, to extensive relict landscapes that were able to be reconstructed and interpreted by
the Hills Face Zone Cultural Heritage Project. Two such landscapes that remain almost complete are
described in the chapter Two Nineteenth Century nurseries of the Adelaide Hills, and three slightly
more subtle relict landscapes are described below. By reconstructing these historic landscapes we
know that wooden pipes were used in conjunction with in-ground races and, in particular, where
there was a rock face or the terrain was steep and it was not possible to trench an in-ground race
(pers. com. Andrew Tilley and Ken Preiss).
No extant wooden pipes were identified, although evidence of the locations of two was recorded
during field surveys. Figure 5.2 shows a square cut at the top of a waterfall. It is believed that a
wooden pipe conveyed water from here, across a rock face, to an extant in-ground water race that
led to a small dam (see the chapter, Brownhill Creek and the Tilley family, this volume).
In this example water from the dam was then gravity fed to crops growing in the flat valley floor
downstream. The second evidence of the probable use of a wooden pipe was at the Eagle Terraces,
described below. Remnants of an in-ground water race that carried water from Chambers Gully,
above the Waterfall Gully Road, to Dr Wyatt’s garden also remain visible today.
Dry-stone walls and water wheels 75
Water channels
Travellers through the Adelaide Hills today
barely notice that the meander of almost every
creek has been straightened and the course of
the water determined by dry-stone walling.
Dry-stone walls line the many water channels
constructed along sections of almost every
valley surveyed. The channels were constructed
on one side of the valley floor and the creeks
were diverted through them. This was an
important water management strategy. It
moved the creek to one side of the valley,
allowing the fertile flood plains to be used for
crop production. Channels were frequently
used in conjunction with irrigation systems.
Stone channels were also necessary to
control creeks along the major valleys in order
to construct all-weather roads. For example,prior to the ‘straightening’ of Fifth Creek, the market gardeners living in Montacute had to cross the
creek twenty two times in order to reach Campbelltown on the plains and the road was frequently
impassable during winter.
Sluice gates
The flow of water along the irrigation channels was frequently controlled by small sluice gates.
These varied in their construction from a complex lifting system to one or two large stones placed
across the channel. Several examples of sluice gates were recorded in conjunction with irrigation
systems. Those that have survived have been the stronger, more recent sluice gates that included
concrete in their construction and are located on the main creek channels. Examples recorded by
field survey included those along Ellison Creek and Tilley’s Gully in the Brownhill Creek catchment,
First Creek, Field River and Walker’s Creek.
Water management systems were also essential for mines and quarries. The best example of
large stones having been used to control water flow was recorded at the water storage system above
the Delabole Quarry, Willunga (pers.com. G.Inglis). Large slates were used and although the largest
slates have been pilfered, it is still possible to see where they had been inserted into the slate-lined
water channel.
Terracing
Terracing is widely used throughout the world for cultivating crops on hillsides and it was predicted
at the commencement of the heritage surveys that evidence of terracing would be found. Terraced
Figure 5.3Iron sluice gate along Walker’s Creek,Shepherds Hill Reserve.
SOURCE HFZCHP 2003
76 Valleys of Stone
hillsides collect soil and nutrients eroding from above, they hold water and they prevent erosion –
particularly when stabilised by dry-stone walling. When terracing is used in conjunction with
irrigation systems, such as in the example of the Eagle Terraces, described below, they provide ideal
situations for growing a variety of crops, as described by Cunningham:
…terraces are formed by a series of dry-stone walls of sufficient height to secure a broad belt of ground for cultivation, bythrowing downward the earth from the portion of the hill above the terraces, the latter consequently rising from thebase to the top of the hill, like steps.
Cunningham1841:43-44
The heritage surveys of hillsides undertaken for the Hills Face Zone Cultural Heritage Project,
including those noted for their orchards and market gardens such as at Norton Summit, Montacute
and Brownhill Creek, revealed less use of terracing than had been predicted. Where relict terraces
were identified there was little use of stone retaining walls in conjunction with the terraces.
The evidence of these terraces also varied. Many had almost vanished after one hundred and
fifty years of weathering and were best seen in the late afternoon or early morning, whilst others
were identified from the 1936 aerial photographs. For examples see Two Nineteenth Century
nurseries of the Adelaide Hills, this volume, and Pinkerton’s Gully (Fenton and Fenton 2005:17).
Where stone retaining walls were identified in conjunction with agricultural terraces they were
generally small in area.
Wells and water storage tanks and cisterns
Many wells and water storage tanks were documented throughout the study area. The highest
concentrations of water storage tanks along water courses were in market garden areas where, it is
believed, there were a number of natural springs in the nineteenth century. These are located on the
Hills Face Heritage GIS Database.
The greatest concentrations of water storage tanks, wells and dams were recorded below
Waverley Ridge, the headwaters of the four main tributaries of Brownhill Creek and in Water Gully
where Mr Newman had his nursery. Although much of Norton Summit was outside the survey area,
a number of water storage tanks and cisterns were recorded along Third Creek and its tributaries,
for example, at Grove Hill (see Piddock, this volume) and at Mr Emery’s Garden. Seven examples of
tanks constructed from Willunga slate were also recorded. Six were close to Willunga and the other
was at Grove Hill.
Wells were also common and important water sources in the central ranges, but it was mainly
along the Onkaparinga and at Willunga Hills that the colonists appear to have depended on wells
for water supplies. Here also, fewer cottages were concentrated along the creek lines and there was
insufficient spring water to sustain commercial market gardens and orchards. The many large
stone-lined wells are dotted on the hillsides rather than along creek lines and were usually
associated with the cottages or with the ruins of stone sheep enclosures.
Dry-stone walls and water wheels 77
Figure 5.4An example of a slate water tank recorded onprivate property, Willunga.
SOURCE HFZCHP 2004
Water wheels
Water wheels were essential components of
irrigation systems along creeks in the Adelaide
Hills and were used for lifting water into
irrigation channels. Few now recall that Gawler,
north of Adelaide, was a centre for small
foundries manufacturing a multitude of
agricultural implements during the nineteenth
century, including water wheels, but no records
have been identified of how many water wheels
were built or where they were located (pers.
com. G. Fenton).
The ability of a culture to harness energy is
regarded by many, particularly anthropologists, as a measure of technological advancement.
The first vertical water wheel is believed to have been in general use from, approximately, 200BCE
until the Industrial Revolution when coal power replaced water power as the main energy source in
industrialised countries (Reynolds 1983:4). In fact, Leslie White, noted American anthropologist,
contended that the development of social and ideological elements of a culture was closely
related to technological development, and in particular, the ability to generate energy
(White 1949:362-393).
For a short period only, from c.1750 to c.1850, the Industrial Revolution provided the
technology for the manufacture of iron water wheels, and both water wheels recorded here were
made from iron alone. Only one of these was used for irrigation and was identified during the
heritage surveys of the Hills Face Zone. It was recorded on private property along First Creek and is
possibly the only remaining water wheel of its type in South Australia.
It is a vertical overshot water wheel fitted directly onto the side of the water channel by a shaft.
The simple design does not incorporate gears and the metal vanes are sloped to receive water from
above.
A second and historically significant water wheel was recorded on private property on Sixth
Creek at Castambul (Fenton and Fenton 2005:27). Again, it is probable that it is the last remaining
water wheel of this type in South Australia. It was used during a brief period to harness water power
for the engine used to cut timber for the construction of the Gorge Road along the River Torrens.
This is a larger vertical water wheel also manufactured entirely from iron. It is more complex than
the water wheel on First Creek and lifted water from a concrete water race constructed parallel with
Sixth Creek.
78 Valleys of Stone
Figure 5.5A small iron water wheel on First Creek,Burnside.
WATER AND THREECOLONIAL LANDSCAPES
The Eagle Terraces
The Brownhill Creek catchment was quickly
identified by the colonists as one of the most
fertile of the networks of valleys with permanent
water close to Adelaide. The area is defined by
Waverley Ridge, Crafers to the east, the South-
Eastern Freeway to the north, the Adelaide Plain
to the West and Sheoak Road, Belair, to the
south and within its valleys some of the best
examples of nineteenth century water management technology are found.
The historic market gardens along Brownhill Creek are well known, but the colonial market
garden area at the headwaters of Ellison Creek and Brownhill Creek below Crafers was also highly
regarded during the nineteenth century. There appear to have been many permanent springs
in this area that contributed to the quality and quantity of water and Ellison Creek was considered
to be one of the most reliable sources of permanent water (see The Mitcham Water Works 1879-1930,
this volume).
The following description by Hallack in 1893 is of an orchard and small vegetable garden along
Ellison Creek owned by Mr John Mack, the Secretary of the S.A. Market Gardeners’ Co-operative
Society and the Market Gardeners’ Horticultural Society:
The area under cultivation, taking the undulating character of the country into consideration, does him great credit …There is also a spring on the southern slope of the hill, the water from which is used for tomato plots in the spring andvegetables in the autumn. Heavy crops of the latter are invariably obtainable by Mr Mack, the systematic use of all kindsof manures being undoubtedly the secret of his success as a grower…
Observer 13 May 1893:3
All available evidence supports our belief that this description was of the Eagle Terraces, the
name given by this project to a small area of terraced hillside over-looking the former Mack
property, Mount Eagle. These terraces represent one of the best examples of a mid-nineteenth
century irrigation system identified in the study area, a system which was supplied with water from
a small spring on the southern side of the valley. Included in this relict colonial landscape are
terraces cut into the hillside, a stone retaining wall, a drain and a water race. Both carried water to
the terraces from a spring that continues to flow at the end of summer.
The Eagle Terraces were identified during a heritage survey requested by the Office of
Recreation and Sport during the redevelopment of the former Eagle Quarry as a mountain bike
park. They are located on Section 304 (Title volume 5407 Folio 605) and are shown in two aerial
photographs and on the Hills Face Heritage GIS database (Figure 5.6). The aerial photograph from
1936 was taken before extensive quarrying destroyed much of the adjacent landscape and reveals a
Dry-stone walls and water wheels 79
house and orchards in the valley along Ellison Creek. The Eagle Terraces (highlighted) are on the
southern side of the valley. The larger map illustrates the same area today, with the Eagle Quarry on
the right hand side of the image and the Eagle Terraces in the middle. The house is now buried
under sediment eroding from the quarry and the area below the terraces is overgrown with dense
thickets of blackberries. The heritage survey of Section 304 is fully documented in Smith, Piddock
and Pate 2004:8-15.
Prior to 1963 Section 304 comprised Sections 922, 935, 946, 947 and 1287. Title searches and
the archaeological evidence indicate that this was once a significant market garden and orchard
area, although there is little evidence of this activity today. Section 922 was granted to Mr Stephens
in 1850 who built a stone house which he named the Eagle’s Nest. The property was purchased by
Figure 5.6GIS map of the Eagle Quarry showing the survey area, contour lines and the location of theEagle Terraces. Inset:1936 aerial photograph.
Source R. Keane, GIS consultant
80 Valleys of Stone
My uncle Arthur Mack haswritten for me the followingexcellent description of thefamily property near the Eagle-on-the Hill.
The property known as MountEagle consisted of 80 acresincluding 14 acres of richagricultural soil, the remainderbeing hillside land good forgrazing and fruit growing. Therewere permanent springs and acreek which flowed through toBrown Hill Creek nearMitcham. Also interesting werereminders on the property ofpast history in several shaftswhere silver ore was oncemined, not successfully by allaccounts… Although myparents left the property it did not pass out oftheir possession. One or other of my brothersworked it until 1925 when I bought it from myMother. I sold out to G. Kuhlmann in 1932.
In 1974 in the company of my cousinBonny (christened Muriel Mack, daughter ofAlf Mack) I visited Mount Eagle. We werewell received by the wife of the presentowner and were delighted to find that thekitchen part of the original Mack home hadbeen preserved by being incorporated in amodernised house. The original walls werethick, apparently built from rough stones (outof the creek?) and plastered over. The plasterby now stays in place only with difficulty.Nearby was the original dairy, looking its age,despite the addition of electric lighting, andstill in use! My mother must have milkedmany a cow in this old dairy. The mostmodern touch to the property that we sawwas a neat blue-tiled swimming pool besidethe creek where the Mack children musthave splashed about in the old swimminghole (I took photographs of the house andthe old dairy).
Ancient cherry trees still survived on thesteep slopes visible through the kitchen
Figure 5.7The Dairy, Mount Eagle 1974.
SOURCE Courtesy of Joy McDonald
The Mack family of Mount Eagle
window. Across the creek I saw wherewooden fluming was used to bring waterfrom up the valley somewhere to water fruittrees or vegetables on the gentler slope. Atunnel of the old silver-lead mine still existed(Uncle Arthur recalled that as boys they usedto hide in this tunnel for boyish purposes).The track down to the house from the mainroad was steep, even though very twisted tofollow the contours and obviously verysubject to wash-aways. It must have meantterribly hard work for horses to pull loads upthe steep grades.
Still on the property but up on a levelwith the main bitumen road stands todaya weatherboard house. Uncle Arthur ownedthis. He said it was originally down in thevalley but that when he bought the propertyhe had it removed in sections and re-erectedin its present position. The houseis now almost hidden from the main roadby trees…
Extract from Thorpe, Claude, n.d. The ThorpeFamily in South Australia 1840-1930 and Beyond.
Courtesy of Joy McDonald
Dry-stone walls and water wheels 81
Mr Homersham the following year. The adjacent Mount Eagle was established by John Mack during
the 1880s in the valley to the south of the Eagle’s Nest. It was described as extending across the
northern tributary of Brownhill Creek (now referred to as Ellison Creek). At the time of Hallack’s
visit the orange orchard contained 1,000 healthy trees and there was an apple orchard with
strawberries growing between the rows of trees (Adelaide Observer, 6 May 1893:9).3
Other sections along Ellison Creek were granted to John Grainger, also in 1850. Grainger leased
Section 1287 and most other Sections downstream to Samuel Ellison in 1853. Ellison gave his name
to the valley and is known to have been in the area prior to 1844 where he had a dairy and grew
wheat, barley and potatoes (pers. com. Roger Grigg). He built his home on Section 1004 and is also
thought to have had a small market garden, although no evidence of either the house or his market
garden has been identified.
The next lessee of the Sections along Ellison Creek was John Mack from the 1870s (City of
Mitcham 1979; Brownhill Creek and the Tilley Family, this volume). Mack is known to have also
irrigated a small market garden in the lower valley with water from the Grainger Mine in the 1870s
and he purchased Section 1287 in 1885, although the Certificate of Title was issued in 1887 (City of
Mitcham 1979).
During 2004 two archaeological field surveys identified and documented the Eagle Terraces and
the area was later surveyed using a total station. The first element of the irrigation complex to be
identified was a wet area where a small creek ran across the pathway. Although we did not recognise
the significance of this at the time, it was noted that this was possibly a permanent water source
given that it was late summer and the water was still flowing. The series of seven narrow
agricultural terraces covered by regenerating Acacia and Eucalypt species were then recorded a
short distance beyond the spring.
Following the second survey it was recognised that the Eagle Terraces comprised a significant
historic site and that we had documented a colonial irrigation system constructed without metal
pipes. Each feature is identified below. Figure 5.8 shows a reconstruction of the Eagle Terraces
complex as we believe they were constructed in the mid-nineteenth century, with the more modern
track removed. A 3-dimensional view of the terraces is illustrated in the bottom left image and the
image at bottom right locates the Eagle Terraces within the Brownhill Creek catchment.
The terraces
The terraces followed the contours on the north-east facing slope and each terrace was between
50 m and 60 m long. The width of the terraces ranged from <550 mm at terrace 1, to 1200 mm at
terrace 6. Terrace 1, the uppermost and narrowest terrace, was the only one supported by a dry-
stone retaining wall. It is possible that the lower slopes closest to the creek had also been terraced,
but we found the area was inaccessible with dense thickets of blackberries. A walking track,
probably an earlier cart track, had been cut across terrace 5 and incorporated terrace 6 at the
north-western end.
82 Valleys of Stone
Wall and drain
The terraces were protected from heavy water runoff by a substantial dry-stone wall and a drainage
ditch above terrace 1. The wall and ditch ran the full length of the terraces with a downhill incline at
either end. Both the wall and the drain were 104 m long. The south-eastern end terminated in a
small steep gully, as does the irrigation channel which approaches the same gully from the opposite
direction. The wall has collapsed at several points and is in a fragile condition. It was constructed as
coursed stonework, although it is not of a high quality and appears to be random in some sections.
The original dimensions of the stone wall were < 300 mm thick, that is two courses of stone, by
< 950mm high. The dimensions of the ditch are < 500mm deep and < 1000 mm wide.
Figure 5.8A 3-dimensional image of the Eagle Terraces c.2005 and a reconstruction of the Eagle Terraces.
SOURCE R. Keane, GIS consultant
Dry-stone walls and water wheels 83
Water race
A water race, or in-ground channel, carried
water from the spring to the terraces. On the
northern side of the channel is a stone retaining
wall with stones laid on edge rather than flat
(the usual method for constructing a retaining
wall). This method of stone wall construction
had previously been identified by Andrew
Tilley (in Brownhill Creek and the Tilley Family,
this volume) as the side of an early stone
irrigation channel. After many years that water
race had filled with sediment and now appeared
Figure 5.9Terraces 4 and 5, showing the wider terrace 5,view 305°.
source HFZCHP 2004
to be a pathway. The same had occurred in this instance.
The excavation of the water race is described in the survey report (Smith, Piddock and Pate
2004:14). The excavation confirmed that this had been an in-ground water race and that it had later
filled with sediment.
The water race itself had been dug along the northern edge of a narrow terrace that had been
cut into the hill and a dry-stone retaining wall had then been constructed by placing the stones in a
vertical position. The terrace along which the water race had been excavated almost followed the
contour, but had sufficient fall for the water to flow downhill over a long distance.
The excavation exposed 1 m of a race 250 mm wide x 450 mm deep which had been filled with
water-borne sediment. The sediment was light brown to pink and clearly differed from the
surrounding soil matrix of olive brown. This race had been used to transport water for irrigation
from the spring to the agricultural terraces. The presence of decaying fragments of Xanthorrhoea
sp. in EU4 supported our conclusion by confirming that this had once been a wet environment.
Overall, the water race was 37 m long and 250 mm wide. The western end of the race
terminated in a small gully. The end of the race is on the same contour as the south-eastern end
of the dry-stone wall, but on the opposite side of the gully. Stone work associated with the water
reticulation system had been disturbed and it was difficult to reconstruct, although a former
Cross-section of the excavated water race, Eagle Terraces
Surface priorto excavation
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
○
○
○
○
○
○
150mm Stone wall
Embankment
EU1EU2a
EU3 EU2b
EU2c
1000 mm
EU4 250 mm wide x450 mm deepchannel
{
84 Valleys of Stone
irrigation race down the gully is occasionally marked by a straight row of stones. The water drained
from the up-hill side of the dry-stone wall would also have flowed into this gully and increased the
volume of irrigation water available.
The eastern end of the water race terminated close to the spring, although 8-10 m between
the end of the channel and the spring was not able to be identified. It is probable that the water
once had flowed down a small gully adjacent to the spring, which is now dry. This is consistent
with all other springs in the region that have slower flow rates than in the nineteenth century
(Patawalonga and Torrens Water Catchment Management Board 1998). The terrain in this location
is also a little steeper than elsewhere and the underlying rock is exposed. In these situations it was
common to use timber channel or timber pipe (Chambers’ Encyclopaedia 1876 VII:553).
Elements of the irrigation scheme that are missing are the smaller stone channels linking
the water flowing from the main water race to the terraces and the possible timber race linking
the spring and the in-ground water race, a distance of 8-10 m. The reconstruction of this water
reticulation system is based on our research into early colonial irrigation systems that utilise
contours and which also used timber races, particularly across rock faces (Cunningham 1841; pers.
com. A. Tilley).
The spring
The spring, described by Hallack in 1893 and quoted above, was the source of water for the
irrigation system. The spring today is surrounded by dense vegetation and is inaccessible.
A Xanthorrhoea sp. was the dominant plant and decaying fragments of the same species were
identified at the bottom of EU2c during the excavation of the stone channel (Kraehenbuehl 1996).
Although we cannot say positively that it was a permanent spring, it is likely that it had been in the
past. An extensive irrigation system depended on the spring to supply water at the end of summer
when it was most needed and although it was not observed at the end of summer, the spring was
certainly producing sufficient water to keep the adjacent soil wet and boggy in November.
The Eagle Terraces complex is a rare example of an early colonial landscape in which
agricultural terraces complete with a dry-stone-wall drainage system and irrigation system have
survived for, probably, up to one hundred and fifty years. This is largely an outcome of the
protection afforded by the Hills Face Zone legislation and the location of the Eagle Terraces within
the buffer zone around the Eagle Quarry.
The three-dimensional model of the terraces as they were recorded by total station illustrates
how water was collected from both the spring and from the ditch behind the stone wall. Both water
sources supplied water to the small gully at the south-eastern end of the terraces and the water was
drained onto the terraces.
Through this project we also developed a model that predicts that colonial market gardeners
and horticulturalists preferred the north facing aspect for orchards and agricultural terracing, and
that they most favoured the north-east facing aspect. This is discussed in greater detail in the
Dry-stone walls and water wheels 85
chapter What Lord Kitchener and the crew of the Coromandel saw, this volume, and is confirmed on a
GIS generated slope and aspect image.
It is strongly recommended that the Eagle Terraces be preserved as a rare example of an early
colonial system of agricultural terracing and irrigation system. We believe that the Eagle Terraces
satisfy the ICOMOS criteria for assessing heritage significance (Marquis-Kyle and Walker 2004).
This agricultural complex provides a rare insight into the technologies used in agricultural
irrigation, terracing and drainage in the mid-nineteenth century. Over three years this project has
undertaken over forty heritage surveys across the Hills Face Zone. All of the above observations
confirm the historical significance of the Eagle Terraces.
Mr Hodge’s ‘Small Garden’
William Hodge purchased 120 acres along the southern tributary of Ellison Creek in 1872. His new
holding, Section 451, Hundred of Adelaide, included a well-watered, fertile valley with a large
swamp which he drained for his highly productive market garden. He had emigrated to South
Australia with his family from Cornwall and prior to his marriage had lived in Mitcham. In 1865, at
age 28, he married Rosa Kinsman and they lived first in Coromandel Valley prior to purchasing
Section 451 where he and his family lived for almost fifty years and became well-known market
gardeners. In 1920 they moved from the Adelaide Hills and purchased market gardening land at
Underdale where they continued growing celery on what is now Underdale School. Andrew Tilley
reported that his family, who lived in an adjacent valley, used to grow a variety of celery called
Hodges from seed given to them by William Hodge. William and Rosa had three sons and five
daughters and all daughters married into other market gardening families from Brownhill Creek
(pers. com. A. Tilley).
Again, we are grateful to E.H. Hallack for providing the following description of William
Hodge’s market garden as it appeared in 1893:
Mr Hodge’s garden of four acres is situated at the bottom of a steep gully to the north of the house, and the walk to andfrom it constituted what is termed in sporting parlance, ‘a pipeopener’. The portion of the garden to which the pathwayled us is small as compared with that lower down in the main gully and its name, Broad Swamp indicates what it wasbefore it was cleared of tea tree etc. It was purchased twenty years ago and a considerable amount of money wasexpended before it was possible to plant it. The soil is of the very best description, consisting of beautiful black, sandyloam, which has been proved to be 16 ft in depth in many places. Its greatest width is 4 chains and it goes without sayingthat vegetables grow to perfection. Sometimes three crops, but always two, are produced annually. There is anabundance of water and 2,000 feet of piping is used for running it from four dams and all the plots are drained byunderground stone drains.
Adelaide Observer, 6 May 1893:9
Now, 110 years later, little remains of the Broad Swamp market garden as the swamp has once
again reclaimed the land. The valley is now filled with reeds and blackberry bushes and it proved
impossible to identify the reported underground stone channels. It was, however, with delight that
we found that the Small Garden, as we now call it, above Broad Swamp contained a number of
irrigation features constructed from dry-stone walling. The Small Garden is in a small, steep north-
86 Valleys of Stone
south valley that opens into the main valley and
as Hallack described metal piping in use at
Broad Swamp, it is possible that the Small
Garden had been developed prior to its
purchase by Hodge as no metal piping was
identified.
Today the property continues to be
privately owned and an informal heritage
survey was carried out at the end of summer,
2005, in company with the owners. The dry
relict landscape provided an example of the
tenacity of these settlers and the physical effort
they must have expended in order to irrigate
Figure 5.10View over Mr Hodge’s Garden.
SOURCE HFZCHP 2005
and grow crops along what is now a dry, steep and insignificant valley.
A small creek was channelled into a small holding dam, with a dam wall constructed from flat
slatey-shale. The water from the natural creek line was then diverted into a straight dry-stone wall
channel or water race typical of nineteenth century stone-lined water control systems identified
throughout the study area. The water source must have been a natural spring at the southern end
of the valley and a small dam full of water was passed near the top of the hill. Two rusting metal
drums were recorded partly embedded along the dry creek line and these appear to have been used
as additional water storage containers above the small dam in the floor of the valley.
The small dam at the southern end of the valley was identified only by an 8.5 m dry-stone
retaining wall constructed at a right angle across the valley. The dam itself had filled with sediment
and appeared as a flat surface level with the top of the dam wall. The stone wall of the main water
channel ran the length of the valley along its eastern side and linked the eastern side of the dam
with the lower valley and a natural spring and small reservoir that was inaccessible. This channel
had been constructed according to the method described above. It was on one side of the valley
floor and the meander had been removed from the creek which had been diverted into the stone
channel. This had left most of the fertile valley floor available for growing crops. The flow of water
into the channel must have been controlled by a large stone or small sluice gate, but no such
structure was found.
Unfortunately, the end of the stone channel disappeared into dense weeds that could not be
penetrated. The northern end of the valley where it opened into the main valley was watered by a
natural spring and by a second small dam. Adjacent to this was the ruin of a square stone structure,
possibly an animal shelter or storage area.
Along the western side of the valley were several dry-stone retaining walls of varying sizes, some
of which had been damaged. These walls supported narrow agricultural terraces and narrow cart
Dry-stone walls and water wheels 87
tracks that traversed a hillside with a slope of
approximately 45°.
This irrigation system reflects a time when
people laboured hard to reap small rewards.
The retaining wall of the smallest terrace cut
into the side of the valley was only 2600 mm
long and 780 mm high and it seems as though
every effort had been made to utilise all of the
water that must once have flowed through the
narrow valley and all of the available land.
Although the Small Garden is a small and
damaged example of an irrigation system using
dry-stone walls, it is also a now rare example of
Figure 5.11The small stone dam wall at the southern endof the valley.
SOURCE HFZCHP 2005
early colonial market gardening technology.
Mr Emery’s Garden
Emery’s Garden was located along a small tributary off Third Creek in a little known valley that
once supported an extended family and a large market garden and orchards. The valley runs
between Norton Summit and Teringie and is now a part of the urban environment of Teringie
Heights (see Figure 5.12).
Despite encroaching urbanisation, the upper valley above Valley Drive retains an ambience that
is remote and a romanticism reminiscent of its colonial history. Emery’s Garden today is tended by
an Italian market gardener and the smell of damp rich black soil and the assortment of herbs and
vegetables makes it easy to visualise how it must have appeared a century ago.
No documented history of the valley has been identified and much of the historical information
is based on conversations that took place between local residents and Mr Claude Emery before his
death in the early 1980s.
It is believed that his ancestor, Mr Joseph Emery, settled in the fertile valley after he jumped
ship at Port Adelaide in 1848.
A search of titles for Part Sections 914 and 915 revealed that the Emery family had resided in the
valley between 1882 and 1962. Part Section 915 was purchased by Joseph Emery in 1882 and Part
Section 914 was purchased in 1890 (Lands Titles Office, Adelaide). Joseph Emery’s occupation is
given as ‘mason’, previously from New Woodforde. This supports the family history that he had
lived in the area since first arriving in the colony.
The descendants of Joseph Emery continued to occupy and farm in the valley for the next 80
years. They constructed at least two substantial stone houses, several stone cottages, farm-related
infrastructure and a complex irrigation system. According to the oral history, sailors who deserted
their ships during the 1840s were welcome in the remote valley and several sailors are reputed to
88 Valleys of Stone
have stayed for several years and worked for
both Emery and his neighbours. It is probable
that they lived in single-roomed cottages built
from the distinctive local sandstone and the
several houses built from the same stone in the
Teringie area are reputed to have been built
by them.
The archaeological evidence of occupation
by the Emery family is scattered throughout the
valley. The locations of the two stone houses,
two smaller cottages, several farm buildings
and elements of the water management system
Figure 5.12Map of the Teringie subdivision showingEmery’s Garden, 1917.
SOURCE Adelaide Hills Natural Resource Centre
were identified through a field survey of the valley.
The irrigation system
Even now, when we know that water supplies from the many natural springs in the hills face
have been depleted, water continues to flow along this creek at the end of summer. This is surely
an indication that the supply of permanent spring water during the nineteenth century must
have been more than sufficient to sustain those who settled in the valley and their agricultural
enterprise. Although the smaller stone water races through which water was channelled along
the contours of the valley have almost disappeared, the main water channel remains. Again, this
is typical of early colonial irrigation systems within the study area. The meander was removed
from the creek and the water diverted through a stone-lined channel on the southern side of the
valley to allow the valley floor to be cultivated. Harold Clisby, who purchased the valley from R.M.
Williams (who had purchased it from Claude Emery’s estate), recalled that the stone water races
were in situ at that time. Over the past fifty years many of the stones from water races and the
houses have been recycled or buried, both by Clisby and the owners of adjacent properties (pers.
com. Harold Clisby).
Figure 5.13The Emery House, date unknown.
SOURCE Gerald Marsson
Four stone water storage structures were
recorded along the main water channel. The
largest was a rectangular stone water tank
located close to the upper boundary of the
property and approximately 500 metres above
the garden. It was reached by climbing what is
now a weed infested steep slope. Elements of a
well-formed track were occasionally
encountered following the creek and sections of
the track were supported by substantial dry-
Dry-stone walls and water wheels 89
stone walling. The width of the stone walls of
the tank was 280 mm and the tank was
approximately 2275 mm x 4000 mm, although
the vegetation made accurate measurement
difficult and the wall had collapsed in several
places (see Figure 5.14).
A second stone and cement storage tank
was recorded along the creek below the upper
tank and adjacent to the present garden. This
structure has been damaged in recent times –
possibly by a back hoe attempting to free the
flow of water. The dry-stone walls lining the
creek are most visible along this section.
Figure 5.14The water tank located aboveEmery’s Garden.
SOURCE Hills Face Zone Cultural Heritage Project 2004
Figure 5.15Ruin of the Emery House, 2004.
SOURCE Hills Face Zone Cultural Heritage Project
Proceeding downhill in a westerly direction, the third water storage structure is a stone-lined well
which remains in excellent condition and has now been incorporated into a garden on private
property. The fourth water storage structure is a square stone and cement tank in the creek bed
along Valley Drive which contains a metal drum, probably used to store or transport water.
The houses and cottages
It was a surprise to be shown the main Emery ruin (Figure 5.15), cut into the side of the hill and now
covered by creepers and shrubs. This had been a substantial house constructed from hand-cut
sandstone blocks and, according to the oral histories recorded with Claude Emery, had been
constructed soon after Joseph’s arrival in the colony. Although he did not own the land at this time,
he may have rented from the first owner, Alexander Henderson, confectioner of Adelaide.
It was impossible to identify all architectural features of the house during the field survey, but it
is known that many cut sandstone blocks were removed and it is probable that there are
foundations and features yet to be identified (pers. com. Harold Clisby). Additional funding will be
required to conduct a detailed archaeological investigation of this site.
A second stone house, dated to the
Victorian era from an historic photograph, was
constructed by the Emerys at what is now the
junction of Valley Drive with the new Norton
Summit Road. Although the house was
demolished in the late 1960s its location
continues to be marked by a small ruin,
probably an outbuilding, cut into the hill. The
locations of two cottages constructed from
hand cut stone are also known. One is a single
90 Valleys of Stone
room structure located 50 m uphill from the
main house. The walls of this structure remain
standing and, despite the lack of a fireplace and
chimney, the windows and doorway are those
of a cottage rather than a farm outbuilding. The
sandstone used in its construction is known
locally as ‘black’ stone because of its unusual
dark colour (pers. com. Harold Clisby and
Gerald Marsson). The footings of a similar
stone structure were uncovered when a garage
was being built at one of the newer houses on
the northern side of the valley, but no evidence
of this structure remains.
Along the southern side of the valley is a
Figure 5.16Claude Emery built this house for his wife’sparents at the western end of the valley. Theview is looking east up the valley; the Emeryhouse can be seen in the distance. C.1920s.Valley Road now runs through this valley.
SOURCE Peter Ross
substantial stone structure interpreted as having
been a farm building, such as a stable or barn. All that remains is the rear wall benched into the
southern hillside, part of a side wall and a cobble stone floor. The remaining wall is 2,330 mm high
x 6,270 mm long. The depth of the building was approximately 2,050 mm, estimated on the
remaining floor and the ruin of the side wall. This structure is on private property and is associated
with historic cart tracks and both historic and recent dry-stone retaining walls, the most recent
being constructed by the present owners from stone found on the property.
The tracks
Access tracks in such irrigated Hills valleys usually followed the ridges or were high above the valley
floor. There is evidence of two main access tracks into Emery’s garden on both the northern and
southern sides of the valley. These are indicated on the map above. The track on the southern side
that now passes through private property had substantial dry-stone retaining walls, although they
have been added to and it is now difficult to identify the old stone walls from the new ones.
The northern side of the hill is now a housing estate and the track on the northern side of the
valley is apparent only at the point where it accesses the main Emery house ruin and the single-
roomed cottage, although it would have been continuous with both the substantial track up the
valley and the southern track. The track leading toward the head of the valley was followed as far as
the large stone tank, although it possibly continues to the head of the valley. Although the track
hasn’t been used for many years and much of it is overgrown, it was once a well-used route into the
valley with several sections of substantial dry-stone retaining walling.
The historical evidence of colonial settlement in this valley, both oral and archaeological, has
identified a settlement dating from the first decades following the proclamation of the colony of
South Australia. The buildings, tracks and water storage structures date from the century of
Dry-stone walls and water wheels 91
occupation by the Emery family and today they provide a rare insight into a colonial settlement. The
survey of the valley on which this report is based documented only the obvious surface features and
it is felt that a great deal more could be learnt from a thorough survey of the valley and excavation of
the main Emery ruin.
DISCUSSION
It is well known that technologies for controlling the flow of water date from the earliest civilisations
and have enabled people to colonise environments that would not otherwise have sustained them.
This study of water management systems in Adelaide’s Hills Face Zone is a small chapter in the
ongoing story of how the world’s population has learnt to control their supplies of water – once
believed to have been inexhaustible. Of the 113 colonial water management structures recorded on
the Hills Face Heritage GIS Database, the three case studies in this chapter have provided insights
into how European and English water management technologies were adapted to a new
environment in order to provide essential supplies of food to the rapidly growing colony. Gradually,
however, the water supplies diminished as the population and the demand for fruit and vegetables
grew. Most of the small holdings in the narrow valleys became unviable and, once the use of
technologies for pumping underground water became widespread and transport infrastructures
improved, most market gardeners and horticulturalists moved to broad acres on the Adelaide Plains
or along the River Murray. This exodus from the hills face resulted in the landscape we see today.
The number of recreation and conservation parks increased and the 1967 Hills Face Zone provisions
of the 1962 Metropolitan Development Act protected the environment from intensive development.
Importantly, the water management structures described above were also protected in what has now
been identified as a significant colonial landscape.
The many people who now follow the walking trails through the parks along the Hills Face
cannot have failed to notice the archaeological evidence of these activities, the many straightened
creeks lined with dry-stone walling and the occasional stone tank or well in a creek bed, but never
before have these been recorded and interpreted as meaningful inter-related features within an
archaeological landscape.
Today we are still learning from the experiences of these colonists. The soils on the steep hillsides
proved to be thin and, once cleared of trees, much of the fertile top-soil was depleted and became
eroded sediment. The apparently abundant supplies of water from the many springs have also
greatly diminished over the past century and there is a great deal more to be understood. An
outcome of the Hills Face Zone Cultural Heritage Project was a recommendation that the region
should be protected by heritage legislation as it includes many significant relict landscapes such as
those described above.
92 Valleys of Stone
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people contributed to this chapter, including thosewho assisted with the field surveys and the archaeologystudents who undertook associated research projects.Matt Schlitz, Robert Keane, Chris Bender and RichardSmith surveyed and excavated the Eagle Terraces. GeraldMarsson spent many hours assisting with the researchinto Emery’s Garden and Peter Ross provided manyphotographs. Andrew Tilley, Roger Grigg, Harold Clisby,Gwen and Don Fenton, Joy McDonald, Evelyn and PeterWhite, John Mack, Ken Preiss and Maggy Ragless and thestaff at the Mitcham Heritage Research Centre alsocontributed valuable information that made this chapterpossible.
NOTES
1 These figures are from the areas surveyed only and donot represent the whole Hills Face Zone or include themany small fragments of evidence, such as in MrEmery’s garden, described below. The survey concludedat 1936, but the years between 1900 and 1936 are notincluded as most structures from this period usedmaterials such as concrete rather than stone.
2 Sunnyside estate has now been subdivided. It waslocated in what is now Beaumont and extended acrossthe slopes of the Hills Face Zone.
3 The Eagle’s Nest was destroyed by the fires of AshWednesday 1983 and the former market garden wasabsorbed into the Eagle Quarry during the 1950s and1960s. The former Eagle Quarry and its buffer zone (theformer Section 1287) are now being revegetated andsections of the land are being developed by the Office ofRecreation and Sport as a mountain bike park.
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