AUSTRALIAN HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 4, 1986 The History and Archaeology of the North British Mine Site, Maldon, Victoria CHRISTOPHER J. DAVEY In this paper, Christopher Davey who is a Senior Lecturer at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, explains the historical and technological significance of the North British Mine Site and describes the archaeological work undertaken there. The features remaining at the site which represent a range of technologies are discussed, and their history is considered. The site is particularly important for the well preserved series of quartz roasting kilns. LOCATION AND HISTORY features at the site were identified before the start of work. The excavation, therefore, was not so much directed at the investigation of the mining technologies once at the site, as it was focused on the attainment of a coherent set of structures to interpret and an understanding of the changes that occurred at the site during its seventy years of operation. Historical research was undertaken by consulting Mines Department records, newspapers, company records and the 1929Sale at Auction Catalogue. These provide a good history of the mine, although there are some significant gaps and some ambiguities which still require elucidation. DH86 SYDNEye e Bendigo 6\) Maldon N.S.W. N + Tambar oor a e lID Clunes Fig. 1: Location of places mentioned in the text. The mine site is located 2 kilometres south-east of the central Victorian town of Maldon, on the Parkins Reef Road. Parkins Reef, on which the mine was situated, runs south from Mount Tarrangower and was discovered in 1855,2 two years after the alluvial ground in Maldon was first worked.' Maldon did not have outstanding alluvial gold but for a period in the 1860s it rivalled Bendigo for the number of quartz-mining companies. Parkins Reef had many claims on it and in 1860 they were amalgamated to form two companies. One of these, the Parkins Reef Quartz Mining Association; failed because of insufficient capital after only four years,' and was purchased The excavation of the North British Mine Site at Maldon, Victoria, was conducted over a total of three weeks in 1984 and 1985 by volunteers and by workers employed with Commonwealth Employment Programme funds. Peter McCarthy of Ballarat College of Advanced Education (now of James Askew and Associates) and the author supervised the work. Additional support was given by the Surveying Department of Ballarat College of Advanced Education, which assisted in completing a site survey, and by the Surveying Department of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, which undertook a photogrammetric survey of the kilns. Work on the site was instigated by the Ballarat Land Management Section of the Lands Department (now Ballarat Region, Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands), who provided good assistance in all the work at the site. The Victoria Archaeological Survey also helped by providing some excavation equipment. The North British Mine is one of many abandoned mine sites in Victoria but it is distinguished by a considerable list of attributes not matched by any other site in the State. The foundations are fairly complete and there are still timber engine bearers on some of them. The types of foundation also vary, representing a full range of Victorian quartz-mining activities and technologies. The history of the mine spans a seventy-year period, so that the site is representative of the rise and fall of the gold-mining industry in Victoria. The mine was not owned by a public company, as was normally the case, but by one of Victoria's three eminent mining magnates of the nineteenth century, Robert Dent Oswald. He began mining at Parkins Reef in 1858, soon after it was discovered, and eventually acquired the mine which he named the North British. He exercised personal supervision of the mine for nearly. thirty years, until he died partly, it was said, as a result of an accident he had in the battery of the North British Mine. So there is also a personal dimension to the site. The relics themselves are aesthetically pleasing, being of slate and brick. The site is easily accessible to tourists and is on the outskirts of Maldon, a town of historic significance on the tourist circuit (Fig. 1). Immediately opposite the mine site is Carmen's Tunnel, a mine now open to tourists and where there are mining displays. The North British Mine Site, therefore, is not only an excellent opportunity for historical and archaeological research but also a prime location for the interpretation of such a site for the public. The methodology adopted at the site has been described elsewhere.' The excavators are both mining engineers with Victorian gold-mining experience and the author also possesses archaeological training and experience. As a result, most 51