Historical information

The newly constructed Diamond Creek Trail from Diamond Creek to Wattle Glen completed in February 2021 winds past these apple trees that possibly lined the entrance to the Greenhills property

From Jean Verso, Nillumbik Historical Society, 15 April 2021

William Wandless Herbert bought the surrounding 100 acres in 1852. He was a native of Northumberland and the Scottish Borders who arrived in Melbourne in 1847.

The house on the top of the mound would have been built not long after he bought the land; the farm was named "Greenhills". He married Elizabeth Wilson, daughter of John Wilson who had been in Diamond Creek since about 1846. Their first child was born in 1854 so there would be some form of dwelling from about that time. They had eight children who all survived to a good age. His will describes the house as part stone and part wood and of four rooms. Nillumbik Historical Society (NHS) believe it was one of the earliest if not the earliest house, in this part of the district.

The remains of the stone house foundations are on top of the mound (photos on the VHD page) and the barn walls are on the north and to the east side of the mound. NHS is not sure how much or which part of the surrounding area was covered by the barns but they were large enough to hold dances after the race meetings that were held in the late 1880's on the adjacent creek flats.

It would make sense with the lay of the land that they covered some of the ground to the north and east and used for farm storage, packing sheds for their apple and pear orchards and also for supporting the Nillumbik Gold Mine the family worked to the north up the gully. The path that comes down the gully and runs into the trail goes past the mine site which was on the west side of the gully a couple of hundred metres up from the flats.

Heritage Victoria link for the site - https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/12203

Physical description

6 images - born digital