Industrial Ruins, Macleay Island facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Industrial ruins |
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Industrial Ruins, south end of Macleay Island, 1997
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| Location | Cliff Terrace, Macleay Island, City of Redland, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1840s - 1860s (mid-19th century) |
| Built | c. 1869 - c. 1871 |
| Official name: Industrial Ruins, south end of Macleay Island | |
| Type | state heritage (archaeological) |
| Designated | 6 April 1998 |
| Reference no. | 601062 |
| Significant period | 1869-1871 (fabric, historical) |
| Significant components | flue - underground, wall/s - retaining, slipway, fire box, machinery/plant/equipment - manufacturing/processing, road/roadway |
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The Industrial ruins are a special heritage-listed archaeological site on Macleay Island in Queensland, Australia. These ruins are what's left of an old sugar mill and possibly a salt works. They were built around 1869 to 1871. Today, they are protected as part of the Queensland Heritage Register.
Contents
Discovering the Past: History of the Ruins
The Industrial Ruins are believed to be connected to a sugar mill that started on Macleay Island in 1869. There might have also been a salt works nearby. Even though we don't have detailed descriptions from that time, records show that a sugar mill was built in 1869. By 1871, both a sugar mill and a salt works were operating on the southern part of Macleay Island. However, it seems they might have stopped working by 1874.
The old boiler you can still see today was likely used in the 1860s or 1870s. This type of boiler, called a Cornish boiler, was common back then but became less used by the 1880s. This helps us guess that the ruins are indeed from the sugar and salt production of the late 1860s and early 1870s.
Sugar Farming in Early Queensland
In the late 1860s, growing and making sugar in Queensland was still quite new. The main areas for sugar were around Tingalpa, Cleveland, and the Redland Bay region. Macleay and Russell Islands had similar red clay soil to Redland Bay. They also had the advantage of being free from frosts, which was good for sugar cane.
Many small sugar mills were built on the mainland. They used a simple method to make a coarse, dark brown sugar. Later, in the mid-1870s, a more expensive system was introduced that made finer white sugar. Also, more sugar was being grown in other parts of Queensland. Because of this, sugar farming in the southern areas, including the Bay islands, slowly decreased. By the 1880s, farmers on Macleay Island were mostly growing bananas, fruits, and vegetables instead of sugar.
The Campbell Family's Sugar Venture
Not much happened on Macleay Island until 1865. That's when the Campbell family, from Redbank, leased land there to grow sugar and coffee.
John "Tinker" Campbell was an important figure in early Queensland. He had been involved in farming and business. After some financial difficulties, he and his children decided to focus on growing sugar in southern Moreton Bay. His son, Frederick Foster Campbell, had already started farming at Redland Bay.
In 1865, John Campbell's youngest son, Robert Perkins, leased the southern half of Macleay Island. His daughter, Rebecca Elizabeth Owen, leased the northern quarter. Later, Rebecca leased more land, covering the entire northern half of the island. John Campbell and another person also leased land on Russell Island.
It's thought that Frederick and Robert Campbell were the ones who set up the sugar farms on Macleay and Russell islands. By 1868, Robert Campbell was farming on Macleay Island. John Campbell himself moved to Macleay Island in early 1868.
By late 1868, John Campbell had about 40 acres of sugar cane on Macleay Island. Rebecca Gosset (his daughter, formerly Owen) had 20 acres. At this time, the sugar cane from Macleay Island was probably crushed on a special floating mill called the Walrus. This mill moved around the southern Bay.
Building the Sugar Mill
In 1869, the Campbells worked with a Brisbane company, J & G Harris, to take over the lease of southern Macleay Island. John Campbell was still living on Macleay Island and looking after the sugar farm. He had recently helped 44 workers from the Pacific Islands return home after their three-year contracts ended. These workers had come from islands like Erromanga, Sandwich (now Efate), and Tanna, which are now part of Vanuatu.
By October 1869, John Campbell had almost finished building a sugar mill on Macleay Island. It's not completely clear if the Campbells or J & G Harris paid for the mill. By the end of 1869, he had 65 acres of sugar cane and a working mill. The same amount of land was used for sugar in 1870.
An old description from 1885 talks about the improvements John Campbell made on the southern half of the island. It mentions his house, a large fruit and flower garden, and a complete setup for boiling sugar and making salt. It also describes a well and a fish trap at the end of a jetty.
Changes and Decline
Around 1870, after the southern half of the island was transferred to J & G Harris, John Campbell moved to the northern end of Macleay Island. There, he looked after his daughter's leased land and started a castor oil farm. After his daughter passed away in 1872, her husband transferred her Macleay Island lease to John Harris. The Campbell family might have left the island around this time.
In August 1870, J & G Harris bought the southern half of Macleay Island outright. In April 1871, the sugar farm was put up for sale. It included 640 acres of land, 40 acres of sugar cane, a furnished house, other buildings, a sugar mill with a 4-horsepower engine, and a salt works. Workers from the Pacific Islands were still on the farm. In October 1871, the farm was sold to Arthur Cumming Biddle from London.
The farm was again put up for sale in February 1874. At this time, 50 to 60 acres were under sugar cane. The description mentioned a 10-room house, cottages for workers, stables, a wharf, a stone store, and a large underground water tank. However, there was no mention of a sugar mill or salt works. This suggests that by then, Macleay Island's sugar cane was being crushed on the mainland. The farm didn't sell in 1874 and seems to have been left to decline.
Later, Macleay Island was divided into many smaller plots for homes and farms. The land where the industrial ruins are located was bought in 1886. No records show any other industrial use of this site after that time. This supports the idea that the ruins are from the sugar farm established in the late 1860s and early 1870s.
What the Ruins Look Like Today
The industrial ruins are found at the southern end of Macleay Island. They are on the shore, just above the high-water mark, at the bottom of a steep, wooded hill. You can see parts of several stone structures from Moreton Bay. It's a very scenic spot.
The site includes:
- A stone structure: This might be the stone store mentioned in old advertisements. You can see the foundations of the walls and parts of a stone floor. Some of the east wall is still standing, made of rough stones held together with mortar. The south and west walls have been worn away by waves.
- A possible stone retaining wall: This runs along the foreshore in front of the "store."
- Another stone structure: Remnants of a smaller stone building are found to the west of the main "store."
- A stone fire-box: This is less than a meter north of the stone "store." It's built into the side of the hill and is about 8 meters long and 3 meters wide. It's made of rough stones, but some larger stones are more carefully cut and might have been reused from another building. The fire-box was open on one side for lighting fires under the boiler.
- A Cornish boiler: The metal shell of an old Cornish boiler, from the 1860s or 1870s, is still in the fire-box. It's about 160 cm (about 5 feet) wide and 680 cm (about 22 feet) long.
- An underground flue: This stone-lined tunnel leads from the fire-box up the hill for about 14 meters to an open dip in the ground. This dip was likely the base of a brick chimney.
- An old road: An early road, partly supported by stonework, winds down the steep hill to the boiler site.
- A timber slipway: You can see this wooden ramp only at low tide, near the stone "store." It was used to pull boats or goods out of the water.
- Possible winch tracks: Near the slipway, there are two deep parallel grooves, about 1.5 meters apart. These might be the remains of a system used to pull things up the hill, possibly with a winch.
It's not known if the stone used for these buildings came from Macleay Island itself, as no obvious quarry has been found nearby.
Historical records suggest that John Campbell built a jetty or wharf in the late 1860s, which had a fish trap at its end. This jetty was probably near the boiler site. You can still see the remains of two posts near the slipway, which might have been part of this old jetty.
Why These Ruins Are Important: Heritage Listing
The Industrial Ruins on Macleay Island were added to the Queensland Heritage Register on April 6, 1998. This means they are considered very important to Queensland's history and culture.
Showing Queensland's History
These ruins, including the stone store, retaining walls, fire-box, boiler, flue, old road, and slipway, are linked to the sugar farm started on Macleay Island in the late 1860s. At that time, sugar farming in Queensland was still new and experimental. The ruins show us how early farming and industry developed in Queensland, especially in the southern Moreton Bay area.
A Rare Find
The Cornish boiler found here is one of the few of its kind still existing in Queensland. These boilers were common in sawmills and sugar mills in the 1860s and 1870s, making this ruin a rare example of that old technology.
Learning from the Past
With more research and study, these ruins could teach us a lot about Queensland's history and early industrial methods. They have the potential to reveal important information about how things were made and done back then.
Beautiful and Appealing
The old stone ruins, combined with the beautiful bay and overgrown plants, create a special and attractive place. Its location overlooking southern Moreton Bay and nearby islands gives it a strong visual appeal. People have been drawn to explore these ruins for over a century.
Important to the Community
For the people living in the southern Moreton Bay islands, these ruins are a strong link to their local history. The site has also been a well-known landmark for boaters in Moreton Bay since the late 1800s.
