This old stamp battery site on Belgian Reef features a rare surviving set of wooden mortar blocks. Half are still standing in their concrete setting, the rest have fallen and scattered about. Machinery footings and a large mullock heap are located alongside the battery stumps.
This battery site lies in the bush off Belgian Track between Dunolly and Goldsborough (see map above for exact location), and is set roughly half way between the nearby Perseverance open cut and an old Chilean mill site which lies right by Belgian Track.
The Belgian Reef was opened and rushed in the mid 1850s, and the first crushing batteries were installed towards the end of the decade. The remains of the battery on site today are thought to have been erected in the 1890s.
Where else can you see wooden mortar blocks?
You can view other sets of wooden mortar blocks at the
Great Sandstone Mine in Llanelly and at the Spring Gully Co. mine in the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park. The two ten-head stamp batteries at
Victoria Hill in Bendigo sit on wooden blocks too, and are well worth checking out.
More stamp batteries to check out in the Victorian Goldfields
Six head battery on display in Blackwood VIC
Some other remnants of battery sites to check out throughout the Victorian Goldfields:
Some other (complete) stamp batteries to check out throughout the Victorian Goldfields:
PROSPECTORS AND MINERS ASSOCIATION VICTORIA
Established in 1980, the Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria is a voluntary body created to protect the rights and opportunities of those who wish to prospect, fossick or mine in the State of Victoria, Australia.
You can support the PMAV in their fight to uphold these rights by
becoming a member. You'll also gain access to exclusive publications, field days, prospecting tips, discounts and competitions.
BBQ
Dunolly
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