|
| Just beyond
Croydon lies the Dandenong Ranges
National Park with its gardens and
bushwalks |
Croydon
Melbourne suburb in Dandenong foothills
Croydon is an outer suburb of Melbourne located
at the foot of the Dandenongs, 32 km east of the
city centre. The Maroondah Highway runs through
the suburb, en route to Lilydale.
The Croydon district was once utilised by
both the Wurrundjeri and Bunurong tribes and
they continued to use the flats for hunting in
the early days of European settlement. However,
they were soon dispossessed by the white
settlers and ended up at Coranderrk Aboriginal
station (see entry on Healesville) courtesy of
John Green who lived at Brushy Creek (now
Croydon North).
An earlier figure in the annals of local
history was William Turner who established the
first cattle station in the area in 1837. Others
pastoralists followed in his wake. At that time
the district was known as White Flats due to the
impression created by the proliferation of the
plant Danthonia Pallida on the level terrain
which was surrounded by dense forests. It was
later called South Warrandyte.
The general economic depression hit the area
hard in the early 1840s with many boiling down
their sheep for tallow. However, at least one
local did benefit from the straitened
circumstances by manufacturing tallow casks from
blackwood.
Hugh O'Rourke built a ten-room wooden house
at Brushy Creek in 1855 which he turned into the
Brushy Creek Hotel. The locality was surveyed in
1855 and it was proclaimed a township in 1860.
It was a stopping place en route to the
goldfields. Some shops emerged, along with a
post office (1860) a Presbyterian and an
Anglican church, a school and a wine shop known
as the Dew Drop Inn. The hotel became the site
of local dances and horse races were later held
adjacent.
The Mt Dandenong Road was constructed through
present-day Croydon in 1857. It was, at the
time, known as Sawmill Road (as it lead to a
sawmill on Olinda Creek) and the Maroondah
Highway was surveyed in 1860. Closer settlement
proceeded from the late 1860s and land at
Croydon was first surveyed in 1868. The
Wesleyans operated a church in the Croydon area
in the 1870s and this was sold to the Anglicans
in 1880.
However, the real birth of what is now the
urban settlement of Croydon commenced when the
railway passed through the district in 1882. The
station was initially named Warrandyte, even
though Warrandyte was a separate and
well-established goldmining area 10 km further
north. This created confusion and, in 1884, a
local landowner suggested the name Croydon after
the English town which was his wife's
birthplace.
At this time the land which is now the centre
of Croydon was still essentially bushland with
some outlying farms and sawpits exploiting the
area's timber resources. However, with the
arrival of the railway, interest in the area
began to accelerate and James Hewish bought up
land along Main Street, establishing a home, a
general store, a newsagency, a butcher's, a wine
saloon and an orchard. His son opened a timber
business on one of the allotments and others
began opening stores and services. At this time
an Aboriginal family lived in a cottage in Main
Street. In subsequent years David Mitchell, the
father of Dame Nellie Melba, purchased the
original butcher's shop.
In 1888 the 'Guide to the Upper Yarra'
described Croydon as a 'new and fast-rising
township'. A Church of Christ and a school
opened at Croydon that same year . Hewish
created a bowling green c.1900. In 1907 a
Presbyterian church was built and the Prince of
Wales Hotel (1886) was disassembled from its
original site elsewhere in the district and
reconstructed in Croydon. It burned down in 1915
and was replaced by a brick hotel that same
year. The Croydon Hall was erected in 1908, the
first banking agency opened in 1909 and a
Catholic Church was established in 1913.
Croydon was proclaimed a town and gazetted in
1912. After World War I many subdivisions were
made and the area began to grow. Many orchards
were established on the new plot, along with
dairy and poultry farms. However, it was after
World War II that the district really boomed.
Several factories and other industries opened
providing work for returning servicemen. The
population rapidly increased and Croydon became
a municipality in 1961.
It also became home to a large undercover
market which now features the country's largest
mural depicting the area's history. It is held
in Kent Ave.
Things to see:
![[Top of page]](smlArrow.gif)
Historical Society Museum Display
The local historical society have a display of
artefacts and information relating to local
history in the foyer of the local library which
is located in Civic Square. It is open Mondays,
Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10.00
a.m. to 4.00 p.m.
Wyreena Community Arts Centre
The Wyreena Community Arts Centre is located at
13 Hull Rd in Croydon. The complex is based
around two historic homes and gardens,
incorporating an art gallery, craft shop,
artists' studio, community radio station and
tearooms. It is open weekdays from 9.00 a.m. to
5.00 p.m. and Sundays from 1.00 p.m. to 4.00
p.m., tel: (03) 9725 4611.
Warranwood Reserve
Warranwood Reserve is a flora reserve with
walking tracks. To get there head north off the
Maroondah Highway along Plymouth Rd for about 2
km then take the turnoff on the right into
Kalinda Rd. The reserve is on the left, or
western, side of this road, tel: (03) 9871 0222.
Yarra Valley Hills Winery
To get to the Yarra Valley Hills Winery,
continue on along Plymouth Rd. It soon veers to
the right as Wonga Rd (bound for
Warrandyte). Delaneys Rd heads off Wonga Rd,
to the right. The winery is at no.4. The cellar
door is open from 10.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. on
weekends. The restaurant is open for dinner from
Thursday to Sunday and for lunch on Saturdays
and Sundays, tel: (03) 9876 5885.
Warrien Reserve
Warrien Reserve is a recreational area with
bushwalking tracks, a picnic area, toilets,
barbecue facilities and parking. Just turn off
the Maroondah Highway into Warrien Rd at Croydon
North. The reserve is to the left, tel: (03)
9724 3333.
Hochkins Ridge Reserve
Continue north-east along the Maroondah Highway
for a short distance, turn left into Exeter Rd,
then right into Lyons Rd and left into Holloway
Rd. Hochkins Ridge Reserve is to the left. It is
another flora reserve with bushwalking tracks,
tel: (03) 9871 0222.
Gumnut Village
Gumnut Village is a combination
nursery-gallery-craft shop-gift shop-education
centre. The substantial nursery is devoted
exclusively to Australian natives and the
Austraflora Gardens incorporates a cottage
garden, a mudbrick rotunda, fern and rainforest
gardens, picnic areas, rockpools, waterfalls,
container gardens, planter-boxes, and both
formal and informal gardens linked by gravelled
pathways. The gift shop sells exclusively
Australian handmade products. There is an
educational auditorium with an audio-visual
presentation on the conservation of the natural
environment (for school groups), a mural of May
Gibbs characters, a gallery of Australian crafts
(glass, wood, ceramics, sculpture, weaving,
furniture and painting) and a teahouse.
To get there, head east on the Mt Dandenong
Rd then turn left onto Durham Rd . At its end
continue east on Cambridge Rd then turn left
into Belfast Rd, tel: (03) 9728 8277
