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Expedition to Dights Falls
Charles Grimes led his party on an expedition to Dights Falls, reporting it was a bad place to live in. -
Melbourne was settled
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Buying land
John Dight bought 26 acres of land along the Yarra River for £481 -
Leaving for Port Phillip
Dight was already in the business of flour milling and had a mill in New South Wales called ‘Ceres’. He told his customers through The Sydney Herald that he was leaving to go to Port Phillip. -
First steam powered flour mill
The first steam powered flour mill was made in Melbourne. Dight built his water powered mill, soon after, from bricks. He used the river to power his mill: Water flowed upstream to turn a water wheel. Dight also constructed a stone weir. -
The Dight Family stopped flour milling
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The Dight property was sold to Edwin Trennery
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Building on the land
Flour millers Gillespie, Aitken and Scott, or ‘Yarra Falls Roller Flour Mills’ made a new mill and buildings at the site. -
Rebuilding the mill race
The mill race was rebuilt and was sold to the Melbourne Flour Milling Company. -
The Mill Destroyed
The mill changed owners then it was destroyed by fire. The mill race and ruins of the mill can still be found at Dights Falls today. -
Some of the weir washed away in flood waters
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A breach of the weir
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Rain damages the mill
Heavy rainfall washes away or damages most of the timber decking, walling and rock fill. -
Concreted Over
The timber piles were concreted over, replacing the timber deck and resulting in the weir structure that we see today. -
A Rock Fishway
Melbourne Water constructed a rock fishway to allow fish to move around the weir, noticing the weir was a barrier to fish migration. -
A New fishway was built
