Cultural Heritage

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Chinese & German Goldminers.

Eugene von Guerard's The Valley of the Ovens River 1866-68, highlights the alluvial gold mining that occurred in what is today the Germantown Streamside Reserve. In the foreground is a water-race, evidence of the of sluicing process used to extract the gold from the alluvial deposits.  A snow-covered Mt Feathertop can be seen in the background. In the 1800s there were mostly Chinese and German gold miners living and working in what is now the Germantown Stream side Reserve. Today the landscape displays the obvious signs of an era in which there was significant disturbance to the environment from mining activity. Walking along the numerous tracks one can see stone walls that could have once been been used for water races, and tail races. There are also cobble and tailing heaps and sluicing pits. There is evidence that indicate possible sites for waterwheels, hydraulic elevation structures and alluvial rock processing sites. The remains of building foundations are scattered throughout the Reserve and there is an abundance of historical artifacts that were used for domestic and mining purposes.