Clematis is a town in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, 42 km south-east from
Melbourne's central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
, located within the
Shire of Cardinia
The Shire of Cardinia is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, in the south-east of Melbourne between Western Port and the Yarra Ranges on the outskirts of Melbourne. It has an area of 1,283 square kilometres, and had a population of ...
local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
. Clematis recorded a population of 352 at the
2021 census.
The town consists of a fire station, a pub,
Pubs In Clematis, Accessed December 17, 2008
/ref> a railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
, a small hall and two shops. Clematis was featured in the 1978 Australian TV movie "The Death Train
''The Death Train'' (alternately titled ''Death Train'') is a 1978 Australian made-for-television horror thriller filmEd. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p42 directed by Igor Auzins, and starri ...
", starring Hugh Keays-Byrne
Hugh Keays-Byrne (18 May 1947 – 2 December 2020) was a British-Australian actor and film director. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was best known for playing the main antagonist in two films from the ''Mad Max'' franchise ...
.
History
Clematis was first settled in the 1860s at the south eastern end of the Emerald goldfields, where the road from the goldfields to Emerald met the road from Melbourne and Dandenong. The area of the township was subdivided in 1902 as Paradise Valley (the name of which is retained in the town's Paradise Valley Hotel). The Clematis railway station (located behind and well below the hotel) was opened at the same time and given the name of Paradise Valley, shortened to Paradise in 1908, and then finally changed in 1921 to Clematis.
With the blockage of the Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Narrow-gauge railway by a landslide between Selby and Menzies Creek in 1953, with its summer holiday traffic which the area had come to depend on (with its numerous guest houses), following the exhaustion of the timber resources during the Second World War, and the subsequent closure of many sawmills, declined. The railway was reopened by the Puffing Billy Preservation Society through Clematis to Emerald in 1965. However, Clematis station with its loop siding is primarily used for loading timber for the railway's locomotive fleet and only stops for passengers when requested.
The construction of the Cardinia Reservoir
Cardinia Reservoir is an Australian man-made water supply saddle dam reservoir (water), reservoir. The water store is located in Emerald, Victoria, Emerald–Clematis, Victoria, Clematis–Dewhurst, Victoria, Dewhurst in south-eastern suburbs of ...
, flooded, or otherwise displaced over half farming land area of the Clematis township and as a result the township further declined after 1965.
Clematis Post Office opened around 1907 and subsequently closed in 1978, with its services transferred to neighbouring Emerald, Victoria
Emerald is a town in the Greater Melbourne area of Victoria, Australia, 44 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shires of Cardinia and Yarra Ranges local government areas. Emerald recorded a population ...
and, along with it, a postcode change from 3159 to 3782.
Clematis Fire Brigade
Clematis Fire Brigade is a brigade of the Country Fire Authority
The Country Fire Authority (CFA) is a volunteer fire service responsible for fire suppression, rescues, and response to other accidents and hazards across most of the state Victoria, Australia. CFA comprises over 1,200 brigades organised in 21 ...
providing a volunteer
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
fire fighting
Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter.
Firefighters typicall ...
service for over half of Cardinia Reservoir
Cardinia Reservoir is an Australian man-made water supply saddle dam reservoir (water), reservoir. The water store is located in Emerald, Victoria, Emerald–Clematis, Victoria, Clematis–Dewhurst, Victoria, Dewhurst in south-eastern suburbs of ...
. It was formed in 1936 and celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2006. The brigade attends approximately 100 emergency calls per year. Since the brigade's formation it has fought most major blazes across Victoria, including the Ash Wednesday fires
The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia on 16 February 1983, which was Ash Wednesday. Within twelve hours, more than 180 fires fanned by hot ...
. The brigade has also fought major blazes interstate in New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
. The brigade trains on Wednesday evenings from 7:30 p.m. and new members are always welcome.
See also
* Shire of Sherbrooke
The Shire of Sherbrooke was a local government area about east of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1963 until 1994. Its largest population centre was the town of Belgrave.
H ...
– Clematis was previously within this former local government area.
* Clematis railway station
References
External links
Clematis Fire Brigade Protecting the Community For Over 70 Years
{{melbourne-geo-stub
Shire of Cardinia