Interesting Discovery in Wombat Forest

During the process of creating maps for the Circuit Walks Around Daylesford booklet, an upcoming Great Dividing Trail Association publication in collaboration with Daylesford Community Bank, it was noticed that a road reserve crossed the area north of the one kilometre cutting on the former North Creswick-Daylesford railway. No road exists there in 2020 so its history was investigated.

In October 1894 a surveyor by the name of J Goodwin produced a plan which now shows why the road reserve was there. Dotted through the bush were several buildings contained within fenced enclosures, probably being dwellings. Access to them would have been along a track in the road reserve. There was also a bridge over Rocky Lead Creek. If you look closely at the lower image, you will notice the location of a spring which probably explains why three dwellings were situated here.

As it follows the route of the former railway, the Goldfields Track passes close to several of these sites, but any evidence of their past existence would have been destroyed by bushfires in the intervening years. However, I expect that some of the more curious of our members might want to do some exploring in due course.