Longwood East Walk
Surveyed in 1851, (Old) Longwood, which is now Longwood East, was one of the older settlements between Melbourne and the Murray. It became an overnight stop for wagons and drays long before passenger coaches carved their routes into the ground between goldfields, regional centres and capitols.
Longwood East was an important place on the route between Melbourne and Sydney. It was a busy place during the goldrush as the turn off for the Jamieson Goldfields.
There was a police station and lockup. At the first school, teachers were paid by the parents. There was a Church. The Post Office and was the site of the telegraph repeater station that transmitted its first message in 1858. Cobb & Co changed horses at Longwood's Salutation Inn as their passengers refreshed.
Originally built in the 1840s of wattle and daub, the first of a number of local hotels was Salutation Inn. Built by William Beaton, it was near the intersection with the Ruffy Rd. Approaching from the hill above, drivers would blow a bugle to alert the Longwood Toll Gate Keeper, hence the name "Salutation". The Inn was later improved with bricks and mortar and eventually rented to a Mr Hamilton - after the larger Longwood Hotel supplanted it. Nothing of the Longwood Hotel remains. However, it is believed the lovely stair rails in today's White Hart Hotel came from there.
Miss Tubb held an ANZAC Service at the Memorial on Winding Creek every year.
Not a lot remains of the original old township. Put yourself in the shoes of the town's early residents to get a true feeling of the place and imagine what it might have been like.
Map of Route
Interactive Map
Points of Interest
1. Car parking
This is a very big car park for a small cemetery. The street name suggests it was left over space after the Freeway construction. There is plenty of shady room here beside the cemetery on Depot Rd.
2. Longwood Cemetery
Dating back to the 1850s there is a rich history here. The Cemetery Trust was established in the 1870s . Through a Government grant and fundraising they fenced the site in 1873.
3. Symon Street
Follow this dirt road around to Faithfull Rd for views of the Big Hill Nature Conservation Reserve (where there is another local walk).
4. "Trengoff" -Telegraph Station to Toll Gate Keeper's cottage, then early petrol supply
From 1858 this was the Telegraph Station. In August 1869 toll gates were legalised on the Sydney Road at Winding Creek, beside the cottage. After WWI petrol could be purchased from the front door.
5. St Helena homestead
Built by publican George Phillips, this building was meant to be "The Ham and Eagle Hotel". It never opened. It became a private residence named after Napoleon's home on Elba for the creek Willows.
6. Longwood Boer and WWI Memorial
In memory of the VC recipients and others of this district who fought and fell in the Boer War 1899 - 1902 and The Great War 1914 - 1918.
7. Sheet metal entry signs
A measure of community pride, every entrance to both Old and New Longwood is marked by prominent cut metal signs - this one provided by Landcare.
8. Salutation Villa
To the 1990s this was a Hamilton family property, once a store. In 1866 Andrew Hamilton rented Sydney Rd facing Salutation Inn renamed Robert Burns Hotel. In 1871 he bought Longwood Hotel next door.
9. Silos and shearing shed
These rustic silos and sheds make a great rural feature in their own right. However, being in Victoria and such a prominent and unobscured position you can't help but ask, public art anyone?
10. Callistemon Grove
Return to you to your start point via a dirt road loop. This section of roadside is planted with bottlebrush to create an impressive native hedge.
11. Thoroughbred country
Across the Longwood plains spread sophisticated thoroughbred horse stud and training properties. Private stables and tracks are an unmissable feature.
Access for Dogs:
Dogs are permitted on leash.
Location
10 Symon Street, Longwood East 3666 Map
Web Links
→ Longwood East Walk (Walking Maps)
