CLONBINANE THE GOLD MINING TOWN
GOLD MINING AT SUNDAY CREEK, CLONBINANE
Clonbinane History
16 kilometres upstream on Sunday Creek is the selection known as Clonbinane Park. McKenzie owned the property, and it was not long before the area was known as Clonbinane. Among the early settlers to this pristine valley were Jenkins, Smedley, C. Ryan, Burne, Teakle, Sherlock and Mrs Kenny.
Ryan Brothers (No relation to above C. Ryan) had found alluvial gold in Sunday Creek. This was before 1880, instead of finding their misplaced horses they found what was described as a reef of gold. This turned a quiet rural setting into a place of great activity as people arrived to make their fortune.
This was the start of the Clonbinane township and the 140-year history of gold mining in the area.
It was not only Clonbinane that started to boom. Reedy Creek diggings commenced a decade earlier and by 1872 there were 60 miners and their families living in Reedy Creek. By the time Clonbinane was popular, Reedy Creek had a population of hundreds including many Chinese. There were many goldfields throughout the forest over the years. Some were small villages that only lasted whilst gold was being found. Some of these are-
Germantown (On Blackmans Creek)
Leviathan
The Tonsil
Wild Dog Gully (Cope)
Strath Creek
Diggers Gully
The Ryan brothers dug shafts and a tunnel; however they were hampered by water entering the shafts. This limited the depth to which they could dig. They used a water wheel to drive their ore battery and diverted water via a water race for 2.4 kilometres from the upper sections of Sunday Creek.
The Golden Dyke
A company named the Golden Dyke took over the mine and sank a shaft on the same site. Up to date machinery enabled them to pump water from the mines, which reduced some of the issues with flooding. A shaft was sunk to 210 metres with five drives, one being 1.6 kilometres in length.
The early stages of the mining development at the Golden Dyke attracted many miners, mainly due to their reputation of paying well. It did not take long before a village formed filled with wooden huts and houses. There was a hotel, a wine shanty, sly grog shop, a billiard parlour, two stores, Searle’s Butchers and a post office. Mail came via Wandong. The first state school was formed, No.1653. It had an attached teacher’s residence. The school was the centre of the community and used for most events including entertainment and church services. The school was about two kilometres from the village near today’s Smedley Lane. It was later moved to a site in Clonbinane Road, near Hibberds Lane. When you drive down Clonbinane Road you may notice the Elm trees on the east side before you reach Hibberds Lane.
Social events and music nights were popular. Mr Robinson of Glenburnie Park (Near Spur Rd and the original Magpie and Stump Hotel) generously hosted an annual picnic for the school children and their families. The school was not a small rural school, it boasted an attendance of 68 children.
Clonbinane was also a sporting town providing tennis, football and cricket teams. The big annual event was the sports meeting. These annual events were very popular in the country and Strath Creek managed to continue the tradition for many years.
The Golden Dyke was in full swing when another mine was established. The Apollo when opened proved to be unprofitable as was a third mine named The Christina. It was located on the west side of Sunday Creek. Both these mines have been opened and closed several times over history in search of gold as well as antimony. It is not only gold at this location, but Antimony is also mentioned in the Kilmore Press article of 1894. The need for antimony in WW2 kept the Apollo Mine busy and the processing was conducted at Costerfield. However, worked ceased without any substantial results as the war ended and priorities were elsewhere.
1904 Closure of the Golden Dyke
The closure of the Golden Dyke forced miners to move away in search of other work. The adjoining mining lease was held by R. Teakle and after WW1 was selected by Charles Smedley (Born 26/3/1891).
Photo: Christina mine
Source: Thanks to Di Vidal for information on Clonbinane. Article from the Friends of Disappointment Facebook page.
Now in 2024 we are seeing a resurgence of the gold mining era at Clonbinane. A gold mining company called SXG has purchased a parcel of land that included many of the old mines and are currently carrying out exploratory drilling to ascertain the amounts of gold and antimony left behind by the old miners and if these deposits are commercially viable.
It may be some time before the results of these explorations are known but so far the indications have been promising. And so, perhaps Clonbinane may again see the times of old repeated in a much more modern way. One can only feel for the old time miners who worked so hard and so nearly reached the “Pot of Gold”