Historical and Other Notes

 BARWON PAPER MILL COMPLEX On the north side of the river is the Barwon Paper Mill. This mill which is substantially intact , was constructed in 1876 and first came into operation in 1878. The mill produced many kinds of paper during its industrial lifetime which ended in 1923. From approximately 1929 until 1941 the buildings were used by the Hydro Ice Company as cool stores and the manufacture of ice. Since that time they have been put to various uses and at present are privately owned and contain a number of small factories.       To provide power for the original Paper Mill, a water race was constructed, sometimes through solid rock, from a point now known as Baum's Weir, downstream for a distance of approximately 1100 metres, to the Paper Mill. The walls of the water race were lined with locally quarried bluestone and the same material was used for the construction of the Mill. The Victorian Heritage Register (1999) affirms… The Barwon paper mill complex, c...

  The Royal Arthur Gold Mine.   The Fryerstown neighbourhood is perhaps one of the most tantalising areas in the whole Castlemaine mining district, and Glenluce, where the Royal Arthur mine is situated, has made and lost many fortunes. The reefs are so often rich when small, and worthless when large, besides getting lost in country disturbances, that there is no knowing what the worth of a mine is. The Royal Arthur is being floated to acquire the 42-acre leaseholds of Messrs. Miller Brothers at Glenluce. Mr. R. L. Nankivell, mining surveyor, Maldon, reports that three distinct lodes pass through the ground, known as the Tubal Cain, Cox's and the Liverpool reefs. About a year ago Messrs. Miller sunk a shaft 18ft. deep on the underlay of a surface reef. At 4 feet down the quartz stringers formed into a solid reef 4ft. wide, between well-defined walls, but it narrowed rapidly to two feet. The first crushing from the shaft of 7 tons yielded 30oz. gold, and the second of 6 tons...