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Waverley Heritage Trail

Waverley Heritage Trail

This is an extract from the leaflet of the same name, put out by WHS for the Australian Bicentennary in 1988.

  1. Commence at Glen Waverley library, at the corner of Kingsway and Bogong Avenue, Glen Waverley. Directory of historic markers (unveiled 1984). Plaque in plaza marking site of former Cook family cottage (unveiled Australia Day 1988).
  2. Gold Discoveries, 1893. Marker 17: Springvale Road, west side, north of High Street Road). Gold was first discovered near the Mountain View Hotel by a digger named James Bridge. Phillip Holland and his sons obtained gold from the reef near the hotel. The Mountain View Hotel, now modernised, has functioned since 1877.
  3. First European Settlers, 1839. Marker 2: High Street Road, south side, west of Dandenong Creek, near entrance to Napier Park. Thomas Napier, a skilled builder, became a squatter near the Dandenong Creek in 1839.
  4. Mount View State School is built on land which was previously Waverley common land and was purchased by Peter Gallagher c 1866.
  5. The Police Academy (south west corner of Waverley and View Mount roads). Originally Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Seminary, the foundation stone was laid by Archbishop Mannix in 1954. Acquired for the Victoria Police in 1972 at a cost of $2,232,000 with a further $403,000 spent adapting it for police use. On the west side of Lum Road, just south of Waverley Road, is a quarry used to obtain stone by the Begg Brothers. Stone from here was used to build St Matthew’s Anglican Church, Mulgrave.
  6. Jells Park (east end of Waverley Road). Now an MMBW Park; the land was first settled by Joseph Jell in 1849.
  7. The Mulgrave State School (optional visit). Marker 13: Wellington Road, north side, east of Garnett Road. Mulgrave State School was built on two hectares (five acres) close to the Dandenong Creek in 1901. This was the third school in the area. The first commenced in 1861, it was close to St Matthew’s, corner Wellington and Springvale Roads. In 1879 a small weatherboard cottage on the south side of Wellington Road was leased and used as a school.
  8. Automobile Club of Victoria Car Rally, 1905. Marker 19: Ferntree Gully Road, north side, east of Jells Road. At least 50 cars and motorcycles took part in the rally on the testing slope of Wheelers Hill. The steepness of this hill can be seen today although it has been cut down and widened.
  9. The Cheshire Cheese Hotel, 1864. Marker 7: Ferntree Gully Road, north side, west of Lum Road. This hotel was built from local sandstone and later became known as the Temperance Hotel. Lum Road was named after the family who built their wattle-and-daub home there.Mulgrave Presbyterian Church, 1891. Marker 16: Ferntree Gully Road, north side, west of Lum Road. The old church has been moved back twice because of a road widening and now forms a part of a modern complex.
  10. Glen Waverley Mechanics Institute. Marker 22: Springvale Road, west side, south of Waverley Road. After much community enthusiasm and physical effort, a recreation reserve was opened in 1908 and a Mechanics Institute Hall in 1909. Two front rooms were added in 1926 but the whole building was destroyed by fire in 1956 when it was being used as a temporary school room.Memorial Cenotaph and Gates. Outside central reserve, Springvale Road. Dedicated to the memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice during the wars since 1914, and to all who served their country. The pine tree is a direct descendant of the Lone Pine at Gallipoli.St Leonard’s Roman Catholic Church, original site 1913. Marker 23: Springvale Road, west side, south of Waverley Road. Built in 1913, the building was later moved in 1956, north, along Springvale Road to the site of the new St Leonard’s centre.
  11. The Blacksmith’s Forge, Black Flat, 1885. Marker 15: Springvale Road, east side, south of Waverley Road.Glen Waverley State School, 1880. Marker 14: Waverley Road, north east corner with Springvale Road. The first school was held in the Wesleyan Chapel (stop 12) which later became a state school. The new brick school with residence was built on this corner in 1880 and this building can still be seen. On the opposite corner was the site of an early General Store and Post Office.
  12. The Wesleyan Church, Black Flat, and Church School, 1868. Marker 9: Waverley Road, south side, west of Springvale Road, near the Bowling Club. The small weatherboard chapel built here in 1868 was the focus of community life and worship for many years until a new church was built in Springvale Road, at the of corner Kingsway in 1962.
  13. The Booroorung People. Marker 1: Waverley Road, north side, west of Montague Street. A tribute to the nomadic aboriginals, who were the original inhabitants. Acknowledges the original inhabitants of the current City of Monash – the Woi wurrung and Bunurong peoplesScotchman’s Creek. Further West along Waverley Road. A very pleasant walkway has been created along one of the creeks which were so important to our early pioneers.
  14. Old Shire Offices, Notting Hill, 1921. Marker 24: Ferntree Gully Road, south side, west of Blackburn Road. The foundation stone was laid in 1920 (the cost of the building was 1200 pound) and the offices were in use until 1955 when the growth of population demanded new premises in a central position in Waverley.
  15. Town Common, Waverley Road, 1861. Marker 6: Forster Road, west side, corner of Waverley Road. In addition to their own small farms the people looked to common land to provide extra grazing for their working animals. However, in the 1870s these blocks were sold and John Forster obtained the title to the common land at the corner Waverley and Forster Roads.
  16. Mount Waverley State School, 1906 (optional visit). Marker 21: Park Lane, west side, south of William Street. In 1905, on a two acre site donated by residents, the Education Department built a school. A new room was added in 1912 and from 1953 the population increased until there were 1141 children on the roll in 1968.The concrete roads around the area were constructed in 1929 for the Glen Alvie Estate, but the Great Depression stopped further development and no houses were built until 1946.Just west of Park Lane in Waverley Road you will pass a blue spruce which was planted by the late councillor John Marriot on Arbor Day 1921. The large gum tree is over 75 years old. The mail man from Oakleigh threw mail out at this spot.
  17. Scotchman’s Creek Run, 1840. Marker 3: Huntingdale Rd, east side, south of Waverley Road. John McMillan leased, in January 1940, five square miles of land around Scotchman’s Creek. This was later sold to a Dutchman named Van Amstel.Along Power Avenue you will see the first housing commission homes built on the Jordanville Estate in the 1950s.
  18. Waverley’s Bicentennial Project: Homes for the Elderly in Elizabeth StreetToll Gates, 1868. Marker 10: High Street Road, south side, east of Warrigal Road. The local Road Board was given a share of tolls from the district and much of this was spent in collecting and burning dead trees and logs which cluttered the tracks. Travellers tried to evade the toll gates by finding tracks around them. In 1874 an Act of Parliament decreed the gradual phasing out of all toll gates and those in High Street Road and Waverley Road were dismantled in 1876.On left past Vannam Drive is Ashwood College, an area originally farmed by John Jordan, first president of the Shire of Mulgrave.On the right at the corner of High Street Road and Cleveland Road are the Robin Boyd-designed reinforced concrete buildings which were originally built in 1954 as a supermarket and dwelling. Their unique design echoes the former Nissen huts at the now demolished Holmesglen Migrant Hostel.
  19. St Stephen’s Church and Common School, 1865. Marker 8: High Street Road, north side, west of Alice Street. This was the first church built in Waverley and is now the oldest standing church building in Waverley. It is built from hand-made bricks and contains a memorial window (1914-1918). This now known as St Stephens & St Mary following the incorporation of the St Mary’s Parish.
  20. “Waverley”, 1854. Marker 4: in reserve at south-east corner of Stephensons and High Street Roads. Dr Silverman, a Russian by birth, bought land at this corner for 760 pound. He later surveyed and subdivided his property, calling it Waverley.
  21. Tait’s Post Office and Store, Mt Waverley, 1905 (optional visit). Marker 20: Stephensons Road, east side, in Mount Waverley Shopping Centre. In 1905 on a trial basis, a mail bag was taken from Mrs Tait’s store each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Her two youngest daughters kept the store going until 1944 when the first brick shop was built.
  22. Mount Waverley Reservoir, built 1926. On the south side of High Street Road. The trees adjacent to the footpath were planted in memory of First World War soldiers.Mount Waverley Uniting Church (previously Methodist church), established 1887. The first building was destroyed by fire in 1942.Horticultural Hall, 1899. Marker 18: High Street Road, south side, corner Stewart Street. Built for the staging of horticultural shows, it became a focus for community life – concerts, dances, meetings, etc. Known locally as “Horty Hall”.
  23. Sir Redmond Barry’s Country Estate, Syndal. Marker 11: High Street Road, north side, west of Lawrence Road. From July 1869, Sir Redmond Barry planted fruit trees and vegetables on his estate thus becoming one of the pioneer orchardists in the area. The name “Syndal”, meaning sunny dale, was another of the legacies he left to Waverley.
  24. Tally Ho Hotel and Race Track, 1877. Marker 12: Highbury Road, south west, corner Blackburn Road. In 1871 a public house was opened next to the store on this corner and was named the Tally Ho Hotel in 1877. In 1890 the new owner expanded the hotel’s fruit garden into 10 acres of prime orchard. A race track was built near the hotel in 1898 and 2000 people arrived for the carnival in 1899.
  25. On the fringes of Waverley – East Burwood State School. North side of Highbury Road, east of Blackburn Road. Children from the other side of the road in Waverley were educated here.Tally Ho Boys Farm was established by the Central Methodist Mission in 1908. The land was purchased from the Hoadley family. Many people came to work here and later settled in Waverley.

Return to city offices which were opened in 1984. The first offices, which are adjacent to the present site, were built for the Shire of Mulgrave in 1955 and are now used by the Sheriff of Victoria.

List of Plaques in the Area
  • Footpath plaque at the corner of Charles and Portsmouth Sts. records the original subdivision of Waverley by Silverman in 1873.
  • Heaps more at plaques & markers