The Forests of Warburton - a Pictorial Heritage - 1853 to 2012

1907 to 1922 - Robinson's Mill No. 1

Home
Scope
1853 - Beginnings
1885 to present day - Dee Valley Mills
1889 to 1919 - Mills in the Wesburn and Old Warburton area
1890 - Roads to the Forests
1901 to 1964 - The Warburton Railway
1902 to 1906 - Anderson's Mill
1902 to 1939 - East Warburton and Onwards
1903 to 1907- Robinson's Mill No. 1
1905 to 1949 - Tramways of the Mills
1905 to 1928 - Parbury's Brookfield Mill
1906 - Wondwondah Estate and the Adventist Church
1907 to 1913 - Richards Mill
1907 to 1922 - Robinson's Mill No. 1
1908 to 1922 - Robinson's No 2 Mill (Cement Creek)
1909 to 1916 - Hermon's Mill (La La Estate)
1909 to 1949 - The Warburton Steam Railway
1911 to 1915 -The O'Shannassy Aqueduct and Weir
1915 to 1973 - Brimbonga Seasoning Works - East Warburton
1918 to 1925 - Sunnydale Mill, East Warburton
1919 to 1920 - Slocum and Walker's Mill
1920 - From the Bush to the Bungalow
1922 to 1932 - Enterprise Mill (La La)
1925 - Family Snow Trip to Mt Donna Buang
1932 to 1937 - Horner's Mill
1938 to 2000 - Tuckman's Mills
1950 - Welcome Back to Warburton
The Donna Buang Range
Timeline
Epilogue
Bibliography
The Author's Personal Websites

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Site of Robinson's Mill No. 1

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c1920 - Robinson's Mill No.1

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2012 - Robinson's No.1 Mill - Aqueduct Crossing (author's photo)

Robinson’s No. 1 Mill – 1908 to 1927

In 1908, the Wonwondah Mill was shifted to a new location, on William Pickersgill’s large property, about two km east of central Warburton. It was next to the Rocky Creek. Timber was carried from the Mill to the railhead at La La along an extension from the line originally built to the former Wonwondah Mill. This line was along the river frontage from the Wonwondah Bridge.

 

This new Mill became known as Robinson‘s No. 1 Mill.

 

Logs from the slopes of Mts Victoria, Donna Buang, and the Cement Creek areas were brought down the mountainside on a tramway. This crossed the Mt Donna Buang Rd and  the O’Shannassay Aqueduct over a cement bridge, entering the Pickersgill property, then continued downhill to the Mill works. From there, the sawn logs were carried on a tramway to the La La wide-gauge rail head.

 

This bridge survives go the present – it is about 100 metres east of the entry point to the O’Shannassy Aqueduct Trail, off the Mt Donna Buang Rd.

 

The Pickersgill property is now privately owned – satellite imaging shows the remnants of old foundations marking the Mill area, which is cleared land. The Yarra-Silvan underground pipeline passes east to west under the property, with the route protected by a wide firebreak.

 

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2012 - PIckersgill sign on Aqueduct (author's photo)

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MMBW Map of 1933 showing Mill site abd logging tramways

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