Serpentine
Rural centre in wheat and stock district
Serpentine is a rural centre graced with shady
green pepper trees and eucalypts and some
pleasant homes and gardens. It is situated in a
district given over to wheat and stock and is
located 201 km north-west of Melbourne and 51 km
north-west of Bendigo on the Loddon Valley
Highway. There is a general store, an hotel and
a roadhouse.
The first European in the area was Major
Mitchell who viewed the Loddon River plains in
1836 during his Australia Felix expedition. He
wrote of "the open grassy plains, beautifully
variegated with serpentine lines of wood". The
reference is to the stands of red-gum which grow
beside, and hence follow the snaking course of,
the waterways. The epithet was transferred to
Serpentine Creek and hence to the 'Serpentine'
run (90 000 acres), taken up in 1843. The entire
area was initially tied up in four large
holdings, of which 'Serpentine' was the largest.
They were used for the grazing of sheep and the
only occupants were shepherds, station hands and
overseers.
However, the Victorian Land Act of 1862
opened the area up to selectors who were able to
take up 320-acre allotments. The large holdings
were soon broken up and grazing replaced by
wheat farming as selectors moved into the area
from the western district of Victoria and the
Riverina of New South Wales.
The need for centres of trade and business
arose and Serpentine emerged on Serpentine
Creek, an offshoot of the Loddon River. It was
initially a bullock driver's camp and a changing
place for a coaching company, although a post
office had been located on the site since 1848.
Burke and Wills and John King allegedly passed
the townsite in 1860 on their expedition to the
Gulf of Carpentaria. King, then a celebrity, was
one of the Cobb & Co passengers to pass through
Serpentine the following year after the failure
of the expedition.
The first allotment of the townsite was
granted in 1863. At that time there was an inn,
Cobb & Co stables, a log cabin and a bark hut.
There was plenty of through traffic as the
township was located on a major stock route
connecting the Riverina of New South Wales, the
Western District of Victoria, and the markets of
southern Victoria.
The site became known by its present name at
that time. When it was surveyed in 1866
officials bestowed the name of Janiember but
local usage was already too strong and
Serpentine remained the name of choice.
Land sales proceeded at Serpentine in 1867.
At that time it was still a staging post with no
more than 30 inhabitants - a storekeeper,
publican, postal officer and the caretaker of
the stockyards, along with shepherds and farm
hands.
East Loddon had been proclaimed a road
district in 1864 and a hall was constructed as a
meeting place in 1867-68. The shire was
proclaimed in 1871 and the hall became the
council offices. It also served as a centre for
social activities and a meeting place for
Presbyterians, Anglicans and, briefly, for
Catholics. It was demolished in 1969.
In this way Serpentine became the
administrative centre of the East Loddon Shire,
rendering its survival beyond doubt. The local
area also benefited from a plentiful supply of
water and supply channels were established in
the early 1880s. They allegedly constitute the
earliest water supply system in Victoria. Later
they became the basis for an extensive
irrigation system.
On 27 August 1920 an event known as an Aerial
Derby started at Serpentine. This is recognised
as Australia's first official air race. Hugh
Victor McKay (1865-1926), born at nearby
Raywood, was the inventor of the Sunshine
Harvester which, in 1885, became the first
harvester to enter commercial production. The
father of famous cricketer Bill Ponsford
(1900-1991) was a landowner in the district
before moving on to Melbourne.
The Loddon River is an attraction for
anglers.
Things to see:
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Cadzow's Museum and Gallery
There is a small museum devoted to local history
at Cadzow's Pottery and Craft Gallery on the
Echuca Rd, 4 km east of town. The gallery is
open from 10.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Friday to
Monday and, in the school holidays, every day
except Wednesday. It sells pottery, woodwork,
soft toys, needlework, paintings by local
artists and dried lavender, tel: (03) 5437 8261.
Historic Woolshed
The importance of wool in the early days of the
district is apparent in the form of the historic
woolshed at 'East Loddon' Station. Thought to be
the largest ever built in Australia, this
28-stand structure is 56 metres long and 22
metres wide. The building was commissioned by
noted inventor and pastoralist John Ettershank,
it was built of brick in 1871 and can be found
in Longs Rd, although it is currently private
property.
