About The
Mill
Located in Smeaton, an area well known for it's fertile
volcanic soils and goldmining past the Mill was built in two sections.
Construction for the five storey flour Mill commenced in
1861, and was operational within 6 months. The Oat section of the Mill was completed by
the following harvest.
Outbuildings such as the stables, grain store and bluestone
office were added later as the operation expanded. , where the early pioneer Captain
Hepburn also operated a flour Mill
The water wheel was developed from designs by John Smeaton
and the patterns cast locally in Ballarat at Hunt and Opie's Victoria Foundry.
Water was leased from Hepburn Lagoon, about 5km from the
Mill, then released into Birch Creek before being channelled into the water race to turn
the huge wheel.
The amount of water required depended on what product was
being processed. The person operating the release gates at Hepburn Lagoon would be asked
to release 'half oats water' or 'full flour water' for the shift's operation.
The Anderson Family
The Anderson brothers arrived on the goldfields from Scotland
in 1851. After success as diggers on the Goldfields they became sawmillers, supplying
timber for the gold industry from their Wombat Forest sawmills. In 1862, with money
generated from the gold and timber industries, Anderson’s Mill was built in order to
tap into the local agricultural and population boom. The building was designed by John
Anderson, who had trained as a millwright in Scotland. The height of the building
reflected the need to use gravity in the milling process, the siting to utilise the water
from Birch Creek. The Anderson family owned and operated the Mill for all of it’s
working life, almost 100 years. |
The End of an Era The Anderson's had worked the mill through boom times, depression and war.
But despite its impressive beginnings, the prosperity of the Mill was short lived. New
railway lines missed Smeaton and the centre of wheat gradually shifted north and west.
Wide annual variations in wheat harvests also made it difficult for small scale local
millers to obtain regular supplies.
Anderson's had
built this place ... had guided its destinies and worked on it .. had lived beside it,
never out of sound of its moving parts.
Creswick Advertiser, April 1939
After closing in 1957, most of the machinery was sold for
scrap. For almost twenty years the building began to gracefully decay. In 1974 it became
one of the first buildings to be included on the Historic Buildings Register. Much needed
repairs were made and mill was finally purchased by the State Government in 1987.
Restoration then began in earnest to preserve the history and beauty of the mill.
What you see today is the culmination of hard work and
dedication from conservation professionals, local groups and government departments
involved in the restoration program. |
