The Yarra Track is the former name of the

gold fields Gold Fields Limited (formerly The Gold Fields of South Africa) is one of the world's largest gold mining firms. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company is listed on both the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the New York Sto ...

road from

Healesville Healesville is a town in Victoria, Australia, 52 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Healesville recorded a population of 7,589 in the 2021 census. He ...

to the

Woods Point Woods Point is a small town in Victoria, Australia and is located on the banks of the Goulburn River. At the , Woods Point and the surrounding area had a population of 37, down from 94 in 2006. History The town began as a general store built b ...

and Jordan Goldfields, 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.

History

A direct route via the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stre ...

and the Great Divide was discovered by Reick in September 1862 and became known as the Yarra Track. Early in 1863, the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

decided to construct a road along the route. Its original width varied between , and was designed to accommodate horse-drawn vehicles. This Track involved the climbing of the

Black Spur The Black Spur is a road between the towns of Healesville and Narbethong in Victoria, Australia. It is also known as Black Spur Drive and is part of the Maroondah Highway. Location The Black Spur is located about 60 kilometers North-East of ...

, descent into the Acheron Valley, and then through Marysville to the Cumberland where it followed the existing route. The old route through Paradise Plains subsequently dropped out of vogue. In 1865, the first drays and wagons reached Woods Point via the Yarra Track, but they could only get through during the summer months. The Yarra Track shortened the trip to Woods Point from Melbourne to a little over , compared with via Jamieson.

Clement Wilks Clement Wilks (15 February 1819 – 2 May 1871) was a notable civil engineer and architect in colonial Victoria, Australia. Early days Clement Wilks was born at Peckham Rye, Surrey, 15 February 1819, the youngest son of the Rev. Mark Wilks, of ...

, an engineer with the Victorian Department of Roads and Bridges, was a member of the Yarra Track Committee responsible for building this coach and dray road, designing a number or small bridges and culverts including the

Wilks Creek Bridge Wilks Creek Bridge is a former timber and bluestone road bridge on the Yarra Track, located just off the Black Spur route, between Narbethong and , Victoria, Australia. It was built in 1870 to the design of colonial Public Works Department engi ...

,National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Register: B6439
/ref> on the Marysville Road, and the Big Culvert.National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Register: B5804
/ref> Two main construction camps were established in new localities on the Yarra Track at Healesville and Marysville. These were surveyed as towns to serve as base camps for construction teams and as staging towns when the coach route was completed. Marysville was founded and surveyed in August, 1864. Healesville was surveyed in September 1864, which resulted in the deviation of the settlement at New Chum. Healesville was at the furthest point coaches could travel along the route from Melbourne. From there, a packhorse track climbed through the mountains to the diggings. Shanties were built every five or six miles from New Chum to the diggings. Accommodation houses and stores were strung along the rest of the road. The Black Spur section became a popular tourist destination and sought after location for notable early photographers in Victoria, such as

Nicholas Caire Nicholas John Caire (28 February 1837 – 13 February 1918) was an Australian photographer. Caire was born in Guernsey, Channel Islands, to Nicholas Caire and Hannah Margeret. As a boy Caire spoke French found he had a passion for photography th ...

and

J. W. Lindt John William Lindt (1845–1926), was a German-born Australian landscape and ethnographic photographer, early photojournalist, and portraitist. Early life and arrival in Australia Johannes Wilhelm Lindt (often referred to in the literature sim ...

. In 1916 a bus service was introduced, taking travellers over the route in two twelve-seater Buick

charabanc A charabanc or "char-à-banc" (often pronounced "sharra-bang" in colloquial British English) is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It has "ben ...

s. The journey from Melbourne took four and a half hours.

References

Bibliography

* Thomas, Ann. ''The last of the Yarra Track stopping place''. Marysville, 1983. * Thomas, Ann. ''Wilks Creek Bridge at Marysville, Victoria''. 1993.

External links

* * * *{{cite web, url=http://www.marysvilletourism.com/things_to_do/cambarville-trails/, title=Cambarville Trails, work=Marysville Tourism, publisher=Marysville Triangle Business and Tourism Inc, date=2020 History of Victoria (Australia) Roads in Victoria (Australia) Yarra Valley

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links