Name/TitleGreat Western Milling Company Collection
About this objectArtefacts in the archaeological record are often deposited by chance: having fallen into disuse, they are forgotten and buried by time and sediments. It is more unusual for the archaeological record to contain artefacts deposited deliberately with the future in mind; that is, however, the nature of this collection of objects associated with the Great Western Milling Company.
Of all Millthorpe’s institutions, only the railway is as closely associated with the prosperity of Millthorpe as is the Great Western Milling Company. Established in 1884 following a campaign by a union of farmers from Orange, Spring Hill, Spring Grove (now Millthorpe), Spring Terrace and The Forest, the flour mill at Millthorpe would grow to become one of the largest in New South Wales. The foundation stone bore the year – ‘A.D. 1884’ – and was laid over time capsule consisting of a pickle bottle containing two coins and a newspaper. Coins and newspapers are both readily dateable and symbolic of the commerce and business of the day. That these were selected for inclusion in a time capsule is a strong indication that it held, symbolically, the economic hopes and aspirations of the district’s farmers. Extremely well provenanced, the items were recovered from the site in 1975 and opened with great care by representatives of the Millthorpe and District Historical Society before an audience of more than 130 people (Central Western Daily, 5 May 1975).
The decision to locate the mill at Spring Grove was made at a public meeting (in Spring Grove) at which few of the Spring Hill residents were in attendance. A large portion of land from the Orange Road to the Mill was purchased by the Directors, who named the surrounding streets – Hawke, Unwin, Pearse, Stabback, Crowson and Pilcher - after themselves.
The mill was built at a total cost of £2,368. Driven by steam, it originally produced flour under the brand ‘Waratah’ – a flower noted for colour and strength (Nesbitt 1988: 25). Sold in 1962, the mill was for a time converted into a potato processing plant and later a timber truss factory. Today the site is occupied by the Wood Blind Factory.
It is apparent from the artefacts contained in this collection that the original proponents of the Great Western Milling Company had a long- term view of their mill. The naming of the streets leading to the mill, the emphatic A.D. date on the foundation stone, and the deposition of a time capsule strongly indicate that these entrepreneurial farmers were thinking about posterity as well as prosperity. Taken alone, the pickle jar, the coins, and the sodden and now lost newspaper, would have little more than curiosity value. In association, however, the items speak to the aspirations of the district’s early inhabitants and to the assertive, optimistic, self-confident philosophy of the Victorian period. An historically and socially valuable collection, with strong provenance and interpretive value, these artefacts are together assessed as being highly significant parts of the heritage of the Millthorpe community.
