Castlereagh Flour Mill Site

Item details


Name of item:	Castlereagh Flour Mill Site
Type of item:	Archaeological-Terrestrial
Group/Collection:	Farming and Grazing
Category:	Flour Mill
Location:	Lat: S31° 42.616’ Long: E148° 39.178’
Primary address:	Warren Road, Gilgandra, NSW 2827
Local govt. area:	Gilgandra
Hectares (approx):	2.195

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
Warren Road	Gilgandra	Gilgandra			Primary Address

Statement of significance:


	The Castlereagh Flour Mill was one of two flour mills constructed and operated by Murdoch McLeod Pty Ltd and later became part of the Gillespie Flour Milling group. It was specifically constructed to mill the prime hard wheats grown in the Gilgandra district and was one of the last Gillespie mills operating in New South Wales. The mill was also an important element of the industrial development of Gilgandra. The former Castlereagh Flour Mill is representative of flour mills constructed in regional towns during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also representative of the agricultural development of the Gilgandra district during the early 20th century. It has local historical and historical association significance, and representativeness.
	Date significance updated: 25 Aug 08
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Designer/Maker:	Henry Simon Ltd
Builder/Maker:	Mr Dunkley of Wellington
Construction years:	1909-1965
Physical description:	The Castlereagh Flour Mill site contains the ruins of the flour mill, including the mill’s brick footings and brick chimney, the weatherboard clad office building and a group of corrugated steel wheat silos with gable roof.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	The site is considered to have moderate archaeological potential.
	Date condition updated:25 Aug 08
Modifications and dates:	Electrification of mill operations - 1959 Installation of corrugated steel wheat silos – 1965 Destruction of the mill building by fire - 1997
Further information:	List on Local Environmental Plan Heritage Schedule. The ongoing management of the site should focus on ensuring the integrity of the archaeological remains of former buildings and creating an archival record of the site. The structural integrity of the chimney should be assessed by a qualified professional.


Current use:	Ruin
Former use:	Flour Mill

History

Historical notes:

Construction of the Castlereagh Flour Mill was commenced adjacent to the newly constructed Gilgandra to Coonamble railway line in 1909. The mill was purpose designed by milling engineers Henry Simon Ltd to incorporate the Henry Simon milling system and was possibly constructed by Mr Dunkley of Wellington. Henry Simon patented a modern steel roller flour milling process in 1880 (Mudford 1989:27). The Castlereagh Flour Mill and Wellington Flour Mill were operated by Murdoch McLeod Pty Ltd in partnership with Gillespie Bros. & Co (Offner 1975). The Gilgandra mill was designed to mill the district’s Premium (Prime Hard) wheat grades for blending with other wheat varieties for export (Mudford 1989:27). It operated as a subsidiary of the Wellington Flour Mill (Mudford 1989:29).

The mill building was a small two-storey brick structure with a skillion roof and a single storey skillion-roofed structure clad in corrugated iron. When constructed the mill’s boiler was located in a corrugated iron clad annex on the southern end of the mill and was vented by a tall steel stack. This annex and stack were later replaced by structures built in brick. A separate weatherboard clad office was constructed to the east of the mill and storage sheds along the railway alignment. (Mudford 1989:27)

Extensions and modifications to the mill during its operational life included the re-construction of the boiler house in brick and the erection of a canopy over the railway loading dock. Nine 60 ton silos were constructed from Cypress and Oregon timbers in 1952 and 1953. Grain from these silos was fed to the milling area by augers. ‘In 1965 four steel silos were constructed using a very heavy gauge steel from World War Two fuel tanks transported to Gilgandra from the Pacific Islands’. (Mudford 1989:27) The mill also had large, wooden-framed wheat sheds capable of holding 80,000 bags of wheat (Mudford 1989:28).

From its opening in 1910 until the 1950s the mill was powered by a Tangye horizontal steam engine. Steam for this engine was provided by a wood burning Cornish boiler. (Mudford 1989:30) An electric motor was relocated from the Narromine Flour Mill after that mill’s closure. This initially replaced the steam engine and boiler but burnt out after several months’ operation, necessitating the return of the boiler and steam engine to service. The mill was finally electrified in 1959. (Mudford 1989:31)

The Castlereagh Flour Mill closed in November 1974 (Mudford 1989:46). The mill’s buildings and silos subsequently hosted a produce business until they were destroyed by fire in 1997. When recorded in 2008 the mill site contained the fire damaged former office building, footings of the brick mill building, the brick smokestack and 1965 steel silos.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Agriculture-Activities relating to the cultivation and rearing of plant and animal species, usually for commercial purposes, can include aquaculture	(none)-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Industry-Activities associated with the manufacture, production and distribution of goods	(none)-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	The Castlereagh Flour Mill was one of two flour mills constructed and operated by Murdoch McLeod Pty Ltd and later became part of the Gillespie Flour Milling group. It was specifically constructed to mill the prime hard wheats grown in the Gilgandra district and was one of the last Gillespie mills operating in New South Wales. The mill was also an important element of the industrial development of Gilgandra. It has local historical significance.
SHR Criteria b) [Associative significance]	The mill has direct associations with Wellington based miller and entrepreneur Murdoch McLeod. It has local historical association significance.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	The former Castlereagh Flour Mill is representative of flour mills constructed in regional towns during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also representative of the agricultural development of the Gilgandra district during the early 20th century.
Integrity/Intactness:	The place has a little integrity.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Local Environmental Plan	Gilgandra Local Environmental Plan 2011	A97	09 Dec 11
Heritage study

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
Gilgandra Shire Community Based Heritage Study	2008		Ray Christison	Ray Christison	Yes
Gilgandra Shire Community Based Heritage Study	2008		Ray Christison		Yes

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written	Mudford, C & J	1989	'Clocking On' with Murdoch McLeod and the Castlereagh Flour Mill
Written	Offner, R	1975	The Flour Mill - Gilgandra

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Local Government
Database number:	1590011

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