Toolern Creek History
Toolern Creek (originally
named Pennyroyal Creek in the 1830s) is a tributary
of the Werribee River and is in the Shire
of Melton, Victoria, Australia.
 Toolern
Creek starts its journey in the hills at Toolern
Vale about 15km north of
Melton Township. It passes through the volcanic
plains on the west of the volcanic cone of Mt
Kororit. It runs along the eastern edge of Melton
Central and Melton South. Eventually joining
the Werribee River near Exford 5km from Melton
South.
Along the Toolern Creek
are many river red gums and features such the
Melton Valley Golf Club, Hannah Watts Park,
sporting reserves, Town Centre Park and the
The Willows (1855) historic homestead. A walking
and bike track runs along much of the creek
from the Golf course to Blamey Drive in Melton
South.
Prior to European settlement
the Toolern Creek area was inhabited by the
aboriginal people known as Wurundjeri. Their
spoken dialect was Woiwurung. The Kurung-jang-balluk
clan of the Wurundjeri tribe were hunting and
roaming the plains near Toolern Creek and Werribee
River at the time of first European settlement.
A number of historical recordings by people
such as Hume and Hovell (1824) and John
Batman (1835) record aborignal activity,
plant and animal life on the plains west of
what was to become Melbourne. The Pyke
Brothers settled on the banks of Pennyroyal
Creek in 1839. For more information see a Brief
History of Melton.
Various groups and the
Shire of Melton have worked to improve the Toolern
Creek environment through revegetation initiatives
such as tree planting to improve habit, water
quality and combat soil erosion.
You can read the free
e-book "Journey
of Discovery to Port Phillip Bay" by
Hume and Hovell in text format to find interesting
information from their diaries from Sydney to
Corio Bay.
John Bentley (2006)
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