Historical information

Dight’s Falls in Studley Park is an artificial weir built on a natural rock bar across the Yarra. The weir was built in the 1840s to provide water to the ‘Ceres’ flour-mill, one of the first in Victoria. The falls were later to become known as Dight’s Falls after the owners of the mill. Later, a pumping station was built on the Kew side of the river, which pumped water uphill to a reservoir in Walmer Street that provided water to the Melbourne Botanical Gardens and to Albert Park Lake. The area around Dight’s Falls was and is frequently used for recreational activities.

Significance

Dated postcard allowing one to analyse the form of the Falls in 1911

Physical description

Colour postcard, of Dight's Falls on the River Yarra between Kew and Fairfield. The photograph is taken looking upstream towards the Falls from the Kew side, from the embankment in the vicinity of the Pumping Station.

Inscriptions & markings

Obverse: "Dight's falls, Kew"
Reverse: "Printed in Great Britain
Writing in ink on Reverse: "31/3/1911 / To dear Nell with best wishes for a happy birthday from your old friend Eve / [Addressed to] "Mrs N Dunn, Prahran"
Franked Victorian 1d stamp on Reverse top right