An Adze is versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the sharp cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. The wooden handle of this adze is shaped like an axe handle and the blade also has a slight curve. They are used for smoothing or carving wood such as sleepers An adz, with its long handle, cuts with the grain, and the nature of the chips is different from an axe. While they have a similar shape, they should never be confused with a hoe used or mattock for agriculture and horticulture.Carpenter's adze or cutting adze The tapered eye in the adze and tapered handle end forces the head to tighten when swung; but enables removal of the head for sharpeningtimber tools

An adze is an ancient and versatile cutting tool and has been in use for thousands of years. Adze are similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. They have been used since the Stone Age. Adzes are hand tools used for smoothing or carving wood. The subject item was made by Ward & Payne of the Limbrick Works at Hillsborough, Sheffield England manufacturers of hand-forged tools. Their trademark registered in 1850 was a Letter "W" & "P" stamped into the steel. The firm was established by David Ward (1767-1822) in 1803 the company became David Ward & Sons, in 1837 after Ward's son Edward joined the firm. In 1845 Henry Payne the founder's son-in-law became a partner but died in 1850 after which the company reverted to the Ward family. The business then concentrated on making carving tools, chisels and gouges. In 1882 David Ward's grandson David Ward Jr. (1835-1889) purchased land and built a factory at Sheffield North known as the "Limerick Wheel". For a time Wards operated from both 106-114 West Street Sheffield and at Limbrick Road, Hillsborough on the river Loxley. By 1911 they had expanded into making spades, forks, sheep shears and many other types of edged tools including drills and wood planes. In 1967 Wilkinson Sword purchased all the company's share capital and continued to sell Ward & Payne tools until 1970 when a fire burned the factory down and housing development was built on the site.The subject item is significant as it gives a snapshot of the technological development of sailing ships and their operation before steam-powered vessels took over around the world. Tools such as the subject item demonstrate the traditional craftsmanship and skill of the shipwright and the aesthetic quality of the timber ships designs of the time. Adze with wooden handle curved painted green with patent number and maker's name inscribed on inside curve of blade. Inscribed "Patd 561 Ward" "2w". flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, smoothing tool, hand tool, carpenders tool, adze, coopers tool, woodworking tools

Adzes are used for smoothing or carving wood in hand woodworking. It is similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle. It is used chiefly for shaping wood.A square ended adze that has a thin arched blade set at right angles to the wooden handle. The handle is not original.wood-working-tool adze carpentry

Axes and Adze are hand-held tool used for shaping and carving wood. Axes are designed for chopping and cutting, while adzes are designed for smoothing and shaping. Both tools have a similar shape and consist of a head attached to a handle. An adze is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel.Used by woodworkers in the Kiewa ValleyA cast steel tool similar to an axe, with an arched blade at right angles to the handle, used for cutting or shaping large pieces of wood.adze, hand tool for woodwork, axe

Hand Adze, No 4 marked 24.5cm blade x 8.5cm handle 20cmflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, hand adze, adze

Adze flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

An adze is an ancient and versatile cutting tool and has been in use for thousands of years. Adze are similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. They have been used since the Stone Age. Adzes are hand tools used for smoothing or carving wood.The adze has been used for centuries for cutting and shaping wood. It is a maritime tool, as well as being used in other trades. This adze is an example of that tool.Tool; long wooden curved handle with a heavy shaped head, similar to an axe. Inscriptions are on the blade. Made in England.Stamped; "38" & "2" " Made in England"flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, axe, adze, ship's adze, tool, hand tool, wood working tool, cutting tool

Adze blade 70mm handle 200mm. Handle has nut & bolt screwed No 2 markedflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

Used in the 19th century.A long bladed forged steel adze head. It was used by woodworkers for cutting and trimming rough wooden planks and shaping and smoothing wooden surfaces in the late 19th century.woodworking tools, steel, froes, cleaving axes, axes, cutting tools, hand axes, adzes

Used in the 19th century.A wide bladed forged steel adze with a smooth curved wooden handle. It was used by woodworkers for cutting and trimming rough wooden planks and shaping and smoothing wooden surfaces in the 19th century.woodworking tools, steel, froes, cleaving axes, axes, cutting tools, hand axes, adzes, wood

An adze is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes are used for smoothing or carving wood in hand woodworking, and as a hoe for agriculture and horticulture. Two basic forms of an adze are the hand adze (short hoe) a short handled tool swung with one hand and the foot adze (hoe) a long handled tool capable of powerful swings using both hands, the cutting edge usually striking at foot or shin level. Mathieson & Sons Maker: In 1792 John Manners had set up a workshop making woodworking planes at 14 Saracens Lane Glasgow. He also had employed an apprentice Alexander Mathieson (1773-1851). But in the following year at Saracen's Lane, the 1841 census describes Alexander Mathieson as a master plane-maker now at 38 Saracen Lane with his son Thomas Adam working with him as a journeyman plane-maker. Presumably, Alexander must have taken over the premises and business of John Manners. Now that the business had Thomas Adam Mathieson working with his father it gradually grew and became more diversified, and it is recorded at the time by the Post-Office Glasgow Annual Directory that by 1847-1848 Alexander Mathieson was a “plane, brace, bit, auger & edge tool maker” In 1849 the firm of James & William Stewart at 65 Nicolson Street, Edinburgh was taken over and Thomas was put in charge of the business, trading under the name Thomas A. Mathieson & Co. as plane and edge-tool makers. Thomas's company went on to acquire the Edinburgh edge-tool makers “Charles & Hugh McPherson” and took over their premises in Gilmore Street. In the Edinburgh directory of 1856/7, the business is recorded as being Alexander Mathieson & Son, plane and edge-tool makers at 48 Nicolson Street and Paul's Work, Gilmore Street Edinburgh. The 1851 census Alexander is recorded as working as a tool and plane-maker employing eight men. Later that year Alexander died and his son Thomas took over the business. Under the heading of an edge-tool maker in the 1852/3 Post-Office Glasgow Annual Directory the firm is now listed as Alexander Mathieson & Son, with further entries as "turning-lathe and vice manufacturers". By the early 1850s, the business had moved to 24 Saracen Lane. The directory for 1857/8 records that the firm had moved again only a few years later to East Campbell Street, off the Gallowgate area, and that through further diversification was also manufacturing coopers' and tinmen's tools. The ten-yearly censuses report the firm's growth in 1861 stating that Thomas was a tool manufacturer employing 95 men and 30 boys; in 1871 he had 200 men working for him and in 1881 300 men. By 1899 the firm had been incorporated as Alexander Mathieson & Sons Ltd, even though only Alexander's son Thomas appears ever to have joined the firm so the company was still in his fathers' name. In September 1868 Thomas Mathieson put a notice in the newspapers of the Sheffield & Rotherham Independent and the Sheffield Daily Telegraph stating that his firm had used the trade-mark of a crescent and star "for some time" and that "using or imitating the Mark would be proceeded against for infringement". The firm had acquired its interest in the crescent-and-star mark from the heirs of Charles Pickslay, the Sheffield cutler who had registered it with the Cutlers' Company in 1833 and had died in 1852. The year 1868 seems also to be the one in which the name Saracen Tool Works was first adopted; not only does it figure at the foot of the notice in the Sheffield press, it also makes its first appearance in the firm's entry in the Post-Office Glasgow Annual Directory in the 1868/9 edition. As Thomas Mathieson's business grew, so too did his involvement in local public life and philanthropy. One of the representatives of the third ward on the town council of Glasgow, he became a river bailie in 1868, a magistrate in 1870 and a preceptor of Hutcheson's Hospital in 1878. He had a passion for books and was an "ardent Ruskinian". He served on the committee handling the bequest for the setting up of the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. When he died at Coulter Maynes near Biggar in 1899, he left an estate worth £142,764.  The firm of Alexander Mathieson & Sons was one of the leading makers of hand tools in Scotland. Its success went hand in hand with the growth of the shipbuilding industries on the Firth of Clyde in the nineteenth century and the emergence of Glasgow as the "second city of the Empire". It also reflected the firm's skill in responding to an unprecedented demand for quality tools by shipyards, cooperages and other industries, both locally and far and wide.Hand Adze or Cooper's adze No 4 A Mathieson & Sons Glasgowflagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, adze mathieson & sons, cooperage tools, woodworking, barrel making, working timber, joiners tools, carpenters tools

A hand held tool used for vigorously shaping timber with a blade horizontal to users grip2 Gill Pin....gis? Mill Warranted FAI 27tools, adze, boat building

An Adze is versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the sharp cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. The wooden handle is straight and the blade has a slight curve. They are used for smoothing or carving wood such as sleepers An adz, with its long handle, cuts with the grain, and the nature of the chips is different from an axe. While they have a similar shape, they should never be confused with a hoe or mattock used for agriculture and horticulture. Adze - smalltimber tools

Used in the 19th century.A wide bladed forged steel Cooper's Adze head with a curved blade. There is no handle. At the opposite end there is a hammer shaped head. It was used by woodworkers for cutting and trimming rough wooden planks and shaping and smoothing wooden surfaces in the 19th century.woodworking tools, steel, froes, cleaving axes, axes, cutting tools, hand axes, adzes

An adze is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes are used for smoothing or carving wood in hand woodworking, and as a hoe for agriculture and horticulture. Two basic forms of an adze are the hand adze (short hoe) a short handled tool swung with one hand and the foot adze (hoe) a long handled tool capable of powerful swings using both hands, the cutting edge usually striking at foot or shin level. Mathieson & Sons Maker: In 1792 John Manners had set up a workshop making woodworking planes at 14 Saracens Lane Glasgow. He also had employed an apprentice Alexander Mathieson (1773-1851). But in the following year at Saracen's Lane, the 1841 census describes Alexander Mathieson as a master plane-maker now at 38 Saracen Lane with his son Thomas Adam working with him as a journeyman plane-maker. Presumably, Alexander must have taken over the premises and business of John Manners. Now that the business had Thomas Adam Mathieson working with his father it gradually grew and became more diversified, and it is recorded at the time by the Post-Office Glasgow Annual Directory that by 1847-1848 Alexander Mathieson was a “plane, brace, bit, auger & edge tool maker” In 1849 the firm of James & William Stewart at 65 Nicholson Street, Edinburgh was taken over and Thomas was put in charge of the business, trading under the name Thomas A. Mathieson & Co. as plane and edge-tool makers. Thomas company went on to acquire the Edinburgh edge-tool makers “Charles & Hugh McPherson” and took over their premises in Gilmore Street. In the Edinburgh directory of 1856/7, the business is recorded as being Alexander Mathieson & Son, plane and edge-tool makers at 48 Nicholson Street and Paul's Work, Gilmore Street Edinburgh. The 1851 census Alexander is recorded as working as a tool and plane-maker employing eight men. Later that year Alexander died and his son Thomas took over the business. Under the heading of an edge-tool maker in the 1852/3 Post-Office Glasgow Annual Directory the firm is now listed as Alexander Mathieson & Son, with further entries as "turning-lathe and vice manufacturers". By the early 1850s, the business had moved to 24 Saracen Lane. The directory for 1857/8 records that the firm had moved again only a few years later to East Campbell Street, off the Gallowgate area, and that through further diversification was also manufacturing coopers' and tin men's tools. The ten-yearly censuses report the firm's growth in 1861 stating that Thomas was a tool manufacturer employing 95 men and 30 boys; in 1871 he had 200 men working for him and in 1881 300 men. By 1899 the firm had been incorporated as Alexander Mathieson & Sons Ltd, even though only Alexander's son Thomas appears ever to have joined the firm so the company was still in his fathers' name. In September 1868 Thomas Mathieson put a notice in the newspapers of the Sheffield & Rotherham Independent and the Sheffield Daily Telegraph stating that his firm had used the trade-mark of a crescent and star "for some time" and that "using or imitating the Mark would be proceeded against for infringement". The firm had acquired its interest in the crescent-and-star mark from the heirs of Charles Pickslay, the Sheffield cutler who had registered it with the Cutlers' Company in 1833 and had died in 1852. The year 1868 seems also to be the one in which the name Saracen Tool Works was first adopted; not only does it figure at the foot of the notice in the Sheffield press, it also makes its first appearance in the firm's entry in the Post-Office Glasgow Annual Directory in the 1868/9 edition. As Thomas Mathieson's business grew, so too did his involvement in local public life and philanthropy. One of the representatives of the third ward on the town council of Glasgow, he became a river Bailie in 1868, a magistrate in 1870 and a preceptor of Hutcheson's Hospital in 1878. He had a passion for books and was an "ardent Ruskinian". He served on the committee handling the bequest for the setting up of the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. When he died at Coulter Maynes near Biggar in 1899, he left an estate worth £142,764. The firm of Alexander Mathieson & Sons was one of the leading makers of hand tools in Scotland. Its success went hand in hand with the growth of the shipbuilding industries on the Firth of Clyde in the nineteenth century and the emergence of Glasgow as the "second city of the Empire". It also reflected the firm's skill in responding to an unprecedented demand for quality tools by shipyards, cooperages and other industries, both locally and far and wide.Coopers Adze steel with wooden handle No 194 A Mathieson & Sons Glasgowflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road

This Item is part of the Thomas Caine Collection owned by National Trust of Victoria.Adze - head only

8456.1 - Metal head od adze; wide, flat blade, with ovoid ring for where the handle would be secured, the opening oriented perpendicular to the blade.

Used in the 19th century.A curved wooden handled adze with a forged steel head which has a wide cutting blade and a small 5cm steel knob on top. It was used by woodworkers for cutting and trimming rough wooden planks and shaping ans smoothing wooden surfaces in the late 19th century.woodworking tools, wood, steel, froes, cleaving axes, axes, cutting tools, hand axes, adzes

Wayne Alfred is a member of the Namgis Tribe of the Kwakwaka'wakw people. As a master carver he has an extremely high level of carving skill and knowledge about his peoples cultural objects, customs, tribal stories and legends. The Totem Poles of the North Pacific Coast in British Columbia and Alaska are traditionally carved out of red or yellow cedar, which has a spiritual and practical purpose. The wood was known for its durability, its resistance to rotting and the inner bark was utilised in ropemaking, clothing, hats, baskets and so forth. The Kwakitul People consider the cedar tree to be among the most sacred of all things provided by the Creator. They believed the Cedar tree to be the axis of the world and a pathway to the upper world. The wood is shaped using implements such as adzes, axes, chisels, carving knives, and chainsaws. Misinterpreted as Gods and idols to be worshipped, totems usually serve six purposes, such as a house pillar for support, a memorial or mortuary pole to commemorate (and house) the deceased, a potlatch pole (used for important traditional indigenous celebrations), a ridicule pole used to shame and a heraldic or family crest pole. Characters and symbols on these totem poles usually display family crests, history, wealth, social rank, inheritance, and privilege, as well as animalistic imagery derived from native animals and mythological creatures. Their sequence are indicative of past family events, ancestors, myths, and heraldic crests, with the bottom figure usually being the most prominent. In this work the 'thunderbird' is symbolic of power, strength and of ancestory. The Commonwealth Games Totem Pole was presented to the people of Nillumbik on behalf of the Canadian Government in recognition of Melbourne as the hosts of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games Team in 2006. Carved in cedar wood, this totem pole incorporates bold cuts and colours (such as red and green) offset by strong black. A relative degree of realism is used to depict the alligator located on the bottom of the pole, a man and a 'thunderbird'/eagle located on the top. With protuding element. No inscriptions. Bold cuts used to outline the characters and symbols as well as decorative and stylised features all over the pole. public art, kwakwaka'wakw, namgis, alfred, north pacific coast, british columbia, canada, totem pole, carved, commonwealth games, melbourne festival, cedar

The interviews were recorded in 2000 by Bronwen Gray and Alan Young for the production of Unreserved, Stories from Truganina Explosives Reserve, animated stories from past residents, workers and interested people of the Reserve (subject to copyright 2004). Edgar James (Jim) Melmoth began work at the Truganina Explosives Reserve at age 19 (1952) as part of the maintenance crew – painting, tram line maintenance, storm damage clearance. He helped build the pier extension and the water tower. In this interview he describes some incidents and some amusing stories of the clysdale horses. A primary source of information on memories of the Truganina Explosives Reserve and Altona,VictoriaDigital copy of original cassette recorded in 2000 and digitised in 2018hobsons bay city council, explosives, air raid shelters, altona pier, brown coal, camouflaged fences, world war two, gelignite, horse drawn wagons, clysdale horses, lighters, williamstown, upton street altona, water tower, adze, john gates, public works department, explosives pier, cherry lake, altona, altona meadows, lennie finley

Mudbrick cottage, heritage listed, Lillies on Brougham Street Peter Garner Mud Brick Studio Victorian Heritage Database Listed https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/55317 From Shire of Eltham Heritage Study (Bick 1992) Cultural Significance: Constructed by Peter Garner when he was just 16 years old, this studio exemplifies the highly creative structures erected in the Shire of Eltham during the I960s and 1970s and the social movement behind them, both of which Eltham is well known for. The Garner studio is one of the two finest small examples of these structures anywhere in the Municipality and is distinguished by the quality of its fittings, also all designed and made by Peter Garner. Sharing the common use of mud brick and second-hand materials, these structures reflect the physical involvement (and individual creativity) of their owners, often, as in Garner' s case, through building the building and making all of its fittings and artworks. The tree branch framed spiral stair and wrought metalwork are particularly fine. History: Arthur F. Munday who was associated with the Montsalvat Artists' Colony, subdivided a property bounded by Maria Street (now Main Road) and Brougham Street in 1964. The largest portion, three acres of land facing Brougham Street in Lot 2, was sold to Leslie and Lenore Garner. A sketch in Lodge Plan 65141 drawn at the time of the subdivision showed that the southern part of the land was subject to flooding. By 1967 a brick house with an iron roof and outbuildings had been constructed for the Garners and Peter Garner's separate studio followed in 1969. DESCRIPTION: Studio Style Eltham style. Design unique. Plan rectangular; living room occupies northern two thirds, with kitchen in remainder and bedroom on top of the kitchen. A store adjoins the kitchen. Single storey with attic bedroom; living room has a cathedral ceiling. Walls adobe (solid single skin mud brick), bluestone chimney. Roof gabled with eaves, corrugated iron clad. Features are the modest size, living room into which the front door opens directly, exposed mud brick walls internally, fireplace, most unusual spiral stair and small gallery off the bedroom, herringbone brick floor, log faced internal doorway that separates kitchen and living room, timber lined ceiling, exposed truss, the various second-hand windows and their placement and the outbuilding. Also the kitchen doorway, adzed table and benches, fireplace high relief metal panel and other art works are features and all were presumably made by Peter Garner, following the ethic of the time. The present owner has advised (4 May 2025) the spiral staircase was removed prior to their taking possession of the property.david taylor collection, eltham, 62 brougham street, peter garner adobe studio

Mudbrick cottage, heritage listed, Lillies on Brougham Street Peter Garner Mud Brick Studio Victorian Heritage Database Listed https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/55317 From Shire of Eltham Heritage Study (Bick 1992) Cultural Significance: Constructed by Peter Garner when he was just 16 years old, this studio exemplifies the highly creative structures erected in the Shire of Eltham during the I960s and 1970s and the social movement behind them, both of which Eltham is well known for. The Garner studio is one of the two finest small examples of these structures anywhere in the Municipality and is distinguished by the quality of its fittings, also all designed and made by Peter Garner. Sharing the common use of mud brick and second-hand materials, these structures reflect the physical involvement (and individual creativity) of their owners, often, as in Garner' s case, through building the building and making all of its fittings and artworks. The tree branch framed spiral stair and wrought metalwork are particularly fine. History: Arthur F. Munday who was associated with the Montsalvat Artists' Colony, subdivided a property bounded by Maria Street (now Main Road) and Brougham Street in 1964. The largest portion, three acres of land facing Brougham Street in Lot 2, was sold to Leslie and Lenore Garner. A sketch in Lodge Plan 65141 drawn at the time of the subdivision showed that the southern part of the land was subject to flooding. By 1967 a brick house with an iron roof and outbuildings had been constructed for the Garners and Peter Garner's separate studio followed in 1969. DESCRIPTION: Studio Style Eltham style. Design unique. Plan rectangular; living room occupies northern two thirds, with kitchen in remainder and bedroom on top of the kitchen. A store adjoins the kitchen. Single storey with attic bedroom; living room has a cathedral ceiling. Walls adobe (solid single skin mud brick), bluestone chimney. Roof gabled with eaves, corrugated iron clad. Features are the modest size, living room into which the front door opens directly, exposed mud brick walls internally, fireplace, most unusual spiral stair and small gallery off the bedroom, herringbone brick floor, log faced internal doorway that separates kitchen and living room, timber lined ceiling, exposed truss, the various second-hand windows and their placement and the outbuilding. Also the kitchen doorway, adzed table and benches, fireplace high relief metal panel and other art works are features and all were presumably made by Peter Garner, following the ethic of the time. The present owner has advised (4 May 2025) the spiral staircase was removed prior to their taking possession of the property.david taylor collection, eltham, 62 brougham street, peter garner adobe studio

Originally built by John Hill, a shoemaker at Kangaroo Ground around 1878. In the late 1970s when our Society was the Shire of Eltham Historical Society, an offer was made to the Society regarding use of an old cottage at Christmas Hills. The cottage sat beside Watsons Creek just outside the then Shire of Eltham but following municipal restructuring it now lies within the Shire of Nillumbik. For various reasons the offer ultimately lapsed. At that time some research on the cottage was carried out for the Society by Keith Chappel as part of a larger research project that he was doing. Keith’s notes were taken from Lands Department records and showed that the property was the subject of a permissive occupancy of Crown land comprising the creek reserve. In 1903 a Miner’s Right of one acre in area was granted to Edwin Samuel Birch. In 1907 Birch applied to purchase this land but was unable to because it was part of the creek reserve. The documents show that the cottage existed at that time. Upon Birch’s death in 1932, his daughter, Honor Mary Birch was granted a permit to occupy the residence. Honor Mary Birch, known as Nora, was born 1900, the daughter of Edwin Samuel Birch and Honor (nee Young). In 1939 she married George Henry Williams (aka Henry). Honor died 8 July 1976. Her siblings were Margaret Martin (dec), Bert Birch and Brigidene Brinkkotter. In her will she gave and bequeathed “all the improvements on the land held by me at Christmas Hills under Permissive Occupancy from the Department of Land and Survey consisting of the house property thereon and all the contents of the said house to my nephew Brian Joseph Martin of Christmas Hills aforesaid farmer”. The will described the property as a four room, five square house, about 100 years old with enclosed verandah, including kitchen, combined lounge dining room, bedroom and store room; built of ‘bush slabs’ with a corrugated iron roof. A dairy had been erected in 1935. After her death, the property was acquired by the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works in 1978. The property is listed on the Victorian Heritage Database HO200-Hill, later Birch farm complex, 945 Eltham-Yarra Glen Road, Watsons Creek and described as: The house has a steep but simply gabled roof form clad with corrugated iron, vertical adzed hardwood slab front wall construction, split palings to the gable ends; rubble freestone chimney at one end (with added gsi flue), pole-framed Graeme Butler & Associates, 2006: 101 Shire of Nillurnbik Planning Scheme Amendment C13 Heritage Assessments verandah (rebuilt?); six-pane double-hung sash windows; T&G bead-edge boarded ledged & braced door; and paling clad rooms added at verandah ends. A slab-clad large fireplace is at the north corner of the house, with a gsi upper cladding added and an internal lining of rubble stone. The rear facade is different construction, being drop-slab, and sits beneath a rear skillion addition to the main gabled form: this may be more recent construction. The house appears to have been once set up for public display and may have been recreated in part for that purpose. Outbuildings are reached by a track along the east side of the house, including what may have been a creamery (typical standard inter-war design clad with corrugated iron and lined with 1938 Lysaght Queens Head Australia galvanised sheet iron) and a paling clad gabled out-house. Timber outbuildings of differing eras are to the north-west of the house, with pole framing and paling infill construction and Redcliffe brand corrugated iron. Post and rail (front) and split paling (rear) fence remnants line the front boundary. Pepper trees part of house yard landscape49 born digital images (includes one panoramic stitch and nine frames from drone video)birch cottage, christmas hills, early settlers, edwin samuel birch, honor mary birch, john hill, watsons creek

Born: 1812 at Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland Baptised: Arrived: 26 January 1842 per "Robert Benn" from Greenock, Scotland Church Registers: Presbyterian Baptisms Campbellfield 1842 Church Registers: Presbyterian Burials Melbourne 1840-1842 Church Registers: Presbyterian Burials Melbourne 1843 Married: 17 August 1841 at West Colinton, Edinburgh, Scotland to Williamina Anderson Died: 24 December 1867 at Kangaroo Point, Moreton Bay, Queensland Buried: 25 December 1867 at Paddington Cemetery, Brisbane, Queensland "As the European population grew, settlement outside Melbourne developed, and the Colonial Committee of the Church of Scotland sent out more ministers. The second to arrive was the Rev. Thomas Mowbray, on January 28th 1842. He almost immediately settled in Campbellfield, called by a small congregation brought into being largely by the work of people such as Neil Campbell, Dr Wilson and George Somerville. Mr Campbell donated five acres of land to the Presbyterian Church for the purposes of building a church, a school-house and a manse. No pictures or clear description of the church that Mowbray built on the site. One source described it as being “built of logs and roofed with imported shingles”, another said it was “shingle-roofed wattle and daub”, and still others mention “rough adzed beams” and a “bark roof”. No trace remains on the site now. Yet while it may have been “so low that people had to stoop to enter”, it is certain that the building was erected with great pride and it was with much excitement that regular, well-attended worship services began on the present Campbellfield site with its dedication on May 8th 1842. An early colonist recollected that over the next two and half years Campbellfield developed into “an important charge, with many influential and wealthy adherents”. The first meeting of the Presbytery of Melbourne was held on June 7th 1842, with the Revs James Forbes, Thomas Mowbray and Peter Gunn, with Dr David Patrick (Elder) . Their first priority for action was public education. At their second meeting on September 6th it was reported that “schools which had been established by Mr Forbes in Melbourne were well attended and efficiently taught; also that schools were connected with the congregations at Campbellfield, Geelong and Portland.” The official history of Presbyterianism in Victoria , written in 1888, says of Mowbray: He was a man of high scholarly attainments, took special interest in the cause of education, and was a preacher of superior ability. His useful and acceptable labours were very much confined to the district in which he was settled. By reason of infirm health he was unable to undergo the fatigue of long excursions into the interior. But his labours were highly appreciated at the school which he originated and superintended sustained a good reputation. No official public records can be traced pertaining to Mowbray’s school. There may be a simple reason for this, and it is suggested that it has to do with the rifts in Presbyterianism which culminated in the Great Disruption in the Church of Scotland in May of 1843. The same divisions were by then already reflected in Victoria. Clergy from both ‘sides’ came to Australia and the main criterion for categorising them as Presbyterians of the Established Church of Scotland or Free Presbyterians was their acceptance or non-acceptance of state aid. Mowbray remained neutral in the 1846 Assembly-level wrangling and, although there is no evidence to support this contention, he may well have struggled to maintain his school with local resources rather than accept Government money; hence the lack of Government records. Unfortunately Mr Mowbray’s health declined rapidly and in answer to a call from Sydney on the 3rd of December 1844, he left Campbellfield on Boxing Day in 1844. Later he established the Presbyterian Church in Queensland, with the Ann Street Presbyterian Church being established in 1849." Quoted from "Scots Church Campbellfield—A Brief History" (ed. Robert Renton), 2nd Ed. 2017, pp. 2–4.Head and shoulders portrait (drawing) of Thomas Mowbray by E PowellChurch & Nation 10/8/1988 p32; Rev. Thomas Mowbrayrev. thomas mowbray; ordained 1841 church of scotland. served at campbellfield (scots) 1842, sydney 1844, moreton bay 1847 qld. pioneer of the presbyterian church of queensland