Nuggety Gully Water Race and Chinese Camp

Nuggety Gully Water Race and Chinese Camp
Nuggety Gully Water Race and Chinese Camp
	Stone retaining walls at Nuggety Gully, 2014 (mobile phone in lower left for scale)
Location	Mareeba Mining District, Lakeland, Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia
Coordinates	15°58′39″S144°55′58″E / 15.9776°S 144.9328°E Coordinates: 15°58′39″S144°55′58″E / 15.9776°S 144.9328°E
Design period	1870s - 1890s (late 19th century)
Built	c. 1878 - c. 1886
Queensland Heritage Register
	Official name: Nuggety Gully Water Race and Chinese Camp, Greasy Bill Creek water race, Prospect Creek Stone Walls, Star of Normanby Mine
Type	state heritage (built, archaeological)
Designated	21 October 1992
Reference no.	600426
Significant period	c. 1878-c. 1886 (fabric)
Significant components	terracing, shaft, water race, fireplace, mine - open cut, wall/s - retaining
	Location of Nuggety Gully Water Race and Chinese Camp in Queensland Nuggety Gully Water Race and Chinese Camp (Australia)

Last updated April 28, 2019

Nuggety Gully Water Race and Chinese Camp is a heritage-listed mining camp at Mareeba Mining District, Lakeland, Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. It was built from c. 1878 to c. 1886. It is also known as Greasy Bill Creek water race, Prospect Creek Stone Walls, and Star of Normanby Mine. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.^[1]

Lakeland, Queensland Town in Queensland, Australia

Lakeland is a town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. In the 2011 census, Lakeland had a population of 227 people.

The Shire of Cook is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland.

Queensland is the second-largest and third-most populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. To its north is the Torres Strait, with Papua New Guinea located less than 200 km across it from the mainland. The state is the world's sixth-largest sub-national entity, with an area of 1,852,642 square kilometres (715,309 sq mi).

History

Gold was first discovered "officially" in the West Normanby River area, southwest of Cooktown, in November 1874. The first official figures estimate that by the end of January 1875, over 600 men were on the field, many from Maytown. At this point no Chinese appear to have been allowed (by Mining Warden Phillip Sellheim) to enter the diggings. However, by February 1878, at least 200 Chinese were reported to be working the alluvials.^[1]

Normanby River river in northern Queensland, Australia

The Normanby River, comprising the East Normanby River, the West Normanby River, the East Normanby River North Branch, the East Normanby River South Branch and the Granite Normanby River, is a river system located in Far North Queensland, Australia.

Cooktown, Queensland Town in Queensland, Australia

Cooktown is a town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is located about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) north of Brisbane and 328 kilometres (204 mi) north of Cairns, by road. Cooktown is about 857 kilometres (533 mi) south of Cape York by road. At the time of the 2016 census, Cooktown had a population of 2,631.

Maytown was the main township on the Palmer River goldfields in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is now a ghost town within locality of Palmer in the Shire of Cook, having been active from c. 1874 to the 1920s. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 1 June 2004.

In May 1886 Mining Warden Howard Saint George visited the diggings and reported 34 Europeans working the reefs and thirty to forty Chinese employed exclusively in alluvial workings and in gardening. There were three gardens principally devoted to maize, for which there was a ready sale at the reefs.^[1]

In 1898 R. L. Jack, the Government Geologist, took a hurried look at the reefs long after most of the diggings had been abandoned. His map shows Chinese camps in the district but not at Nuggety Gully, between "Prospector's Gully" and the Star of Normanby reef. Therefore it is likely that the retaining walls and terraced camp site were constructed between 1878 (the heyday of early mining) and 1886.^[1]

Description

Nuggety Gully is a deep ravine with a dry rocky watercourse which drains into Prospect (originally Prospector's) Creek The place includes a series of stone-pitched retaining walls that extend intermittently along Nuggety Gully for a distance of 600 metres (2,000 ft) north of the Prospect Creek junction from co-ordinates 15.58.53 S - 144.55.54 E to 15.58.37 S - 144.55.56 E. The retaining walls are constructed predominantly on the western side of the Gully. On some bends they are constructed on both sides of the creek, and in two or more tiers. The narrowest sections of the creek between retaining walls are about 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) in width. The walls vary from 1 to 2 metres (3 ft 3 in to 6 ft 7 in) in height.^[1]

The Star of Normanby gold mine workings, comprising a small open cut and a caved shaft, extend across Nuggety Gully about 300 metres (980 ft) north of Prospect Creek and are in direct association with the retaining walls.^[1]

A Chinese settlement site is located on Prospect Creek at its junction with Nuggety Gully. The site comprises nine small earth terraces, several containing stone edging and two containing fireplaces. The larger stone fireplace or oven has recently been partially reconstructed and sticks have been placed across the top. This structure has been wrongly described in a nomination to the Australian Heritage Commission for entry on the Register of the National Estate as "a fort in which Chinese miners hid from attacking Aborigines and fired on them".^[1]

Heritage listing

Nuggety Gully Water Race and Chinese Camp was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.^[1]

The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.

The Nuggety Gully stone-pitched retaining walls and Chinese camp are significant in Queensland's history as the finest and most extensive surviving example of Chinese stonework.^[1]

The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage.

The direct associations of stone retaining walls, Chinese camp sites and conventional mine workings is exceptional.^[1]

The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland's history.

Further archaeological and archival investigation could yield information on the extent of Chinese activities and involvement in the Star of Normanby mine area.^[1]

The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.

The quality of the stonework is significant and it has remained intact due to the broken nature of the country and the difficulties in achieving vehicle access, discouraging subsequent attempts at remining.^[1]

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Nuggety Gully Water Race and Chinese Camp (entry 600426)". Queensland Heritage Register . Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.

Attribution

This Wikipedia article was originally based on "The Queensland heritage register" published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 7 July 2014, archived on 8 October 2014). The geo-coordinates were originally computed from the "Queensland heritage register boundaries" published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 5 September 2014, archived on 15 October 2014).

External links

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[qhr-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Nuggety Gully Water Race and Chinese Camp (entry 600426)". Queensland Heritage Register . Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.