Historical information

This photograph shows a piece of gold mining equipment identified as a mine winch, possibly an air winch cylinder of 1870s RG Ford's Patent design. Throughout the history of mining for gold and other precious materials, the windlass or winch (pictured) was used to bring up buckets full of soil from the bottom of a mine. This soil was then searched for gold/metals before being relocated to a different area. Due to the size and complexity of this particular piece of equipment, this winch may have been used to raise and lower mine carts to the entrance of the mine (often used in coal mining) and could have been used in raising cages up and down (acting as elevators) containing miners if the mine was particularly deep. The actual use of this particular item in the Beechworth locality is undocumented but these are some possibilities based on the use of these pieces of equipment in other mining locations.

Mining can have a largely detrimental impact to the environment and therefore, the study of machinery like the one depicted in this photograph can help researches to reconstruct the methods and technologies used in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This particular item appears to have been removed from it's original site where it would have been used to assist with mining. It is possible that this photograph has been taken for recording purposes or as part of a machinery exhibition.

Prior documentation records that this piece of equipment had connections to the Rocky Mountains Mining Company. Today, the Rocky Mountains Gold Mining company is famous in Beechworth for having been instrumental in the creation of the Rocky Mountain tunnel. Construction for this tunnel began in 1859 when a group of 12 men blasted a 400ft long tailrace though the rock beneath the town of Beechworth. Today, the 800ft tunnel, completed in 1871, is a popular tourist attraction but during the decades of gold mining, the purpose of this tunnel was to divert water away from the main sluicing operations so miners could better access gold and precious materials. The tunnel was used for this purpose for many years, later becoming useful for the Zwar Brother's tannery and currently as an outfall drain for Lake Sambell. This area continued to be mined until the early 1900s. The period when this item was in use is unclear but it is estimated to have been in the 1870s based on the design and appearance of the image. The gold works at the Rocky Mountain Tunnel closed in the early 1920s but the impact of mining remains in Beechworth today and therefore the study of photographs like this one which contain mining equipment can further understanding of mining in this region.

Significance

This photograph has historic and research potential for study on the gold mining of the Beechworth region and types of equipment used to locate gold after the initial gold rush of 1853-1854 which resulted in the discovery of the surface gold and required miners to dig deeper to access precious metals. The clarity of the photo, and its good preserved condition, means it can continue to be used for research. This photo is part of a collection of six photos all within the Burke Museum Collection which depict mining equipment.

Physical description

Square black and white photograph on card.

Inscriptions & markings

7793.1