The Stone kerbing, channels and footbridges of Charters Towers is a heritage-listed group of water infrastructure at various locations in Charters Towers City, Millchester, Queenton, and Richmond Hill throughout Charters Towers, Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from to 1930s. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 7 February 2005.
History Charters Towers was a principal gold mining centre from 1872 to 1907 and by 1901, it was Queensland's second largest town. The stone kerbs and channels are significant in highlighting the areas of the town that were settled during the town's mining heyday. Most of the early granite kerbing and channeling at Charters Towers was constructed between and . Particularly fine examples of this work are evident with the original one square mile of the municipality, namely: Hodgkinson, Church, High, Lee, Bow, Anne, Mary and Deane Streets.
The early granite kerbs and channeling form a unique pattern of drainage that directs water through and out of the town. The early work directed storm-water into Mosman, Deane and St George Creeks. As the creeks themselves were stone-pitched to form drainage channels and then bridged, some of the land was re-claimed and buildings were constructed nearby. The most impressive example of this is the Deane Street kerb and channeling, which directs most of the water out of the city centre.
The masonry work was carried out by either day labour or by contractors. The stone was reportedly quarried nearby, but its exact location is yet to be determined. The network of footbridges that remains in the city today provides details of how early residents of Charters Towers made their way around the city during the wet season, from house yards, across footpaths, over kerbs, channels, and streets to gain access to all parts of the city for work and pleasure.
Gold was discovered in Charters Towers late in 1871 by Hugh Mosman and his 12 year old Aboriginal servant known as Jupiter Mosman, George Clarke and John Fraser. Their claim was registered at Ravenswood in early 1872 and the Charters Towers Gold Field was proclaimed on 31 August of that year. Settlement followed quickly with the arrival of other diggers eager to peg out their own claims, millers and small business operators. As the mines burrowed deeper and deeper into the granite, the small owner-operator mines were replaced by big companies employing wage miners.
Charters Towers was proclaimed a municipality on 21 June 1877 with its first Mayor and aldermen elected two months later. Only a small municipality, it embraces one square mile centred on Mosman Street. Much on the land within the municipality was unsurveyed and was occupied for residential purposes under Miners' Rights. Business life centred on the grid pattern of Gill, Deane, Bow, Ryan, Hodgkinson, Church, Åland, School and in particular, Mosman Street. In the early 1880s committees were in place to oversee council activity and make recommendations including an Improvement Committee. During this boom period many of the initial timber buildings were replaced by more substantial and impressive structures. Several civic improvements were undertaken by the Council including the construction of a water supply system from the Burdekin River, the development of the city's drainage system (i.e. storm-water kerbs, channeling and drains), the construction of footpaths, "metalling" of roads and the erection of bridges over creeks in the city.
By January 1884 a bridge was constructed over Hospital Creek, on a road leading from Charters Towers east to the railway station at Queenton. The contract for these works was won by Mr Walker who stabilised the creek with dry stone masonry and constructed a timber bridge over it. The bridge is reported to have been of great benefit to travelers on the Queenton Road.
In March 1884 the Charter Towers Municipal Council's Foreman of Works, Mr Hugh Swann, reported on the improvements works to roads in the town. Works nearing completion included: the clearing of the road in preparation for "metalling" and undertaking drainage work to the bridge and approaches near Plant's Day Dawn mine in Rutherford Street; repairing part of Elizabeth and other streets, forming part of Mary Street to carry part of the channel water and storm-water from Mosman Street; procuring material and repairing footpaths throughout the city; and repairing the Municipal's portion of Mosman Street that had been previously damaged by water from Plant's Day Dawn.
In September 1884 the Municipal Council's Improvement Committee supervised the construction of the Deane Street improvements works, including construction of a bridge at the intersection of Gill and Deane Street. The Foreman of Works, Mr Hugh Swann, initially suggested that Deane Creek should be considered the principal line for the main drain or sewer, as it drains two thirds of the municipality. However, the Council approved his second recommendation in which the creek was formed into a road with the middle of the street formed high as a carriageway, with footpaths, and stone pitched side channels pitched very wide and deep to create a large water-way. At the intersection of Gill Street a bridge was constructed across the creek that allowed the water in the two side channels to pass under it. The bridge was completed by the end of September 1884. The bridge decking was covered with metal to improve access on to the bridge. The two deep and wide channels in Deane Street were continued below the Gill Street intersection to Lissner Park. The successful crossing of Deane Creek provided for the development of the eastern end of Gill Street, which became the main street for commercial activity in Charters Towers.
There is one reported fatality involving the deep channel in Deane Street. In April 1886, an inquiry was held into the death of Annie Garvan who drowned when she was washed down channeling in Deane Street. Inquiry witness, Sarah Ball, reported that earlier that evening Annie Garvan, a neighbour often seen "under the influence of drink", had begged her for money to buy beer despite being already "quite stupified with drink". On being refused, Garvan said she was heading into town. Ball said that heavy rain started about an hour afterwards. Garvan is believed to have walked out of Jackson Lane into Deane Street where she lost her balance due to the force of the water running down the channel, reportedly two-feet deep at the time. The witness to the tragic accident, Alfred Rule, reported that the woman's body was carried down the channeling along Deane Street. At the inquiry he stated that he tried three times to rescue the woman before her body passed under the footbridge leading to the yard of the Bank of Australasia then under the "big bridge" (presumably the Gill and Deane Street bridge). Her body traveled the full length of Deane Street, past the Defiance Mill, and was found about 100 yards from the main creek.
On 25 October 1884 the Charters Towers Municipality was again calling for tenders for the erection of a bridge, this time over Mosman Creek in Mary Street. Tenders closed at 8 p.m. on Tuesday 4 November. It is not known who won the tender to do these works.
In November 1889 the Municipal Council erected a bridge over the creek below the Show Grounds. The works were supervised by the council's Foreman of Works, Mr Hodges. The contract was let to John McCourt. The masonry work in the creek described as very solid and strong, was laid using the hard bed rock for foundation. The timber bridge was constructed of hard wood. At the time it was constructed the Show Ground Bridge was described as the best bridge ever built in Charters Towers. During the wet season the new bridge provided residents who lived on the north-west side of the Charters Towers access to the commercial centre of the city.
By 1899, the Town Clerk, Mr Henry B Walker, in his Annual Report to Council reported that a variety of civic works had been undertaken during the year to enliven the character of Charters Towers, with the priority being road and pedestrian access. At the same meeting, Mayor Benjamin reported that work undertaken by the municipality in 1899 included parts of High, Mary, Mexican and Stubley Streets being stone kerbed, channeled, and tarred and footpaths formed. He stated that this work added to previous works of the same nature that had already been undertaken throughout much of the town.
As the population of the town waned following the end of the mining boom in 1907 many areas of the town were abandoned however the stone kerbs, channels and footbridge at Charters Towers continued to be maintained by the Charters Towers City Council. During the Depression of 1929 the Charters Towers City Council conducted maintenance work on the Gill and Deane Street intersection. The date 1929 is etched in the concrete. A number of the timber footbridges in Charters Towers were also replaced at this time with pre-stressed concrete. In 1990s the Council widened Deane Street, north of Gill Street, with no effect on the nature of the open channels. A steel safety fence replaced the original timber structure. It is not known when the original timber bridge was replaced.
Over time the street level in Charters Towers has raised and some areas of stone kerbs and channeling are now barely visible underneath soil and grass cover. In recent years new areas of stone kerbing and channeling have been identified. For instance, during the conservation works at the Venus State Battery in 2002 a section of early granite stone kerbing and channeling was uncovered in Jardine Street at the entrance to the Battery. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a similar section of early granite stone kerbing and channeling was uncovered at the base of Towers Hill.
In recent years the Charters Towers City Council has undertaken a program to repair the early granite kerbs and channeling at Charters Towers. For example, in 2003, a section of early dry stone granite kerbing on the northern side of Mosman Street, between Jane Street and Deane Street, was "capped" with another layer of granite stones. The stones were laid on top of the original granite kerbing using concrete. The new section of kerbing is easily distinguished from the original section as the stones have been set into concrete, similar to laying bricks, rather than using the traditional method of dry stone wall.
A section of Anne Street, between Boundary Street and Vulture Street, in which the early granite kerbing and channeling had been removed and replaced with eight concrete "Besser" blocks, was reconstructed with granite kerbing and channeling in August 2004.
Description
The early kerbing and channeling at Charters Towers is constructed of granite, an igneous rock of coarse grain and consisting essentially of quartz together with feldspars and a mica. Granite is an excellent building stone because of its hardness and resistance to erosion.
The early granite kerbs and channeling at Charters Towers is constructed as dry stone masonry. It is visible in a number of streets throughout the city, with the boundary being from Hackett Terrace in the north, Jardine Street in the east, Daydawn Road in the south and Oxford Street in the west.