Davis Park Heritage Area (Tarneit)

The remains of a blue stone cottage built by the Davis family in the 1850s lies in this area. There used to be a cellar, dairy, irrigation channels, wells and more. There are a number of information boards to bring the site to life.

Numerous features of the former homestead have been dated to the 1850s and walking around the Heritage Area today you are able to see the reconstructed remains of some of the components of this homestead area including:

1. The remains of the bluestone walls of the homestead.
2. The site of a rock fill or well
3. The remains of bluestone paving
4. The remains of brick paving
5. A tank stand
6. A bluestone wall
7. A brick well

Some information panels include the following background.

Looking Back in Time - If you were standing here in the late 1830s - a time when Melbourne was barely a shadow of the marvellous city it was to become - you would have been surrounded by wide grassy plains, dotted with sheep, wooden huts and early pioneers. The fertile volcanic plains of Werribee attracted settlers to the area and sheep grazing was the most popular use for land during the nineteenth century.

Between 1838 and 1854, the government divided and auctioned off large sections of land all around Victoria. This district was officially named the Village of Wyndham and it was part of the County of Bourke.

Edmund Davis, an English immigrant, purchased this very piece of land from the government in February 1854. He and his family lived and worked here and their story is typical of the many pioneers who settled in this area.

The Ruins - Today, the ruins of several original structures, including the foundations and walls of a bluestone homestead dating back to the 1850s, can still be seen at Davis Park. According to the Davis family, Septimus and Lucy's son Henry built a bluestone homestead tor his parents, which he completed in 1858.

The ruins reflect the early agricultural use and settlement of the land. Archaeologists have discovered that the ruins in the area include the foundations oi a dairy complex, a cellar, irrigation channels, bluestone abutments of a bridge, bluestone wells, tank stands, parts of a brick chimney and hearth, and bluestone paving. These ruins are real and physical reminders of the pioneering efforts of the Davis family and link us firmly to the history of this land.

The Davis Family - Davis Park is named after the Davis family who arrived in Melbourne from England in 1853. Septimus and Lucy Davis settled in Wyndham in 1854 when one of their eight children, Edmund Davis, purchased 150 acres of land for the sum of 414 pounds, 3 shillings and 9 pence. By 1880, the Davis family property grew from the original 150 acres - which includes the area currently known as Davis Park - to over 600 acres.

Brothers George, Edmund and Henry Davis were joint title holders of the Davis family land. Although records show that the brothers sold their land to a Hawthorn 'gentleman' in 1890, the Davis family and their descendants continued to live and work here until the early 1940s.

50m away is a shaded BBQ plus two unshaded tables.

Davis Park Heritage Area (Tarneit)

Photos:

Location

Web Links