PLACES OF INTEREST
The historical sites mentioned here are within a few minutes walk of the Trentham shops, and will be of interest to children as well. But they are only a start. If you’d like to spend a bit longer, you’ll find a planned walk that takes you to 24 historical sites, in our booklet ‘Take a Walk around Trentham’
1. Dr Gwen’s Clock
On High Street, in the heart of the town and visible from all the shops, is the clock dedicated to Dr Gweneth Wisewould, Trentham’s doctor for over thirty years (1938 to 1972). Behind a rather gruff exterior, ‘Dr Gwen’ cared for the people of Trentham with great skill, devotion and kindness. After her death, Trentham born sculptor and designer Stanley Hammond MBE (1913 – 2000) designed the clock, which was constructed and erected by local residents.
2. The High Street Shops
Still on High Street, you’ll see two large decals on the bakery windows (the double storey building just near Gwen’s Clock), showing the history of the building and how High Street looked in 1910. It is interesting to compare these photographs to the street around you today to see how people’s lives have changed, but also what has been retained.
High Street c 1900
View to east, High Street, c 1920s
3. The Old Police Station precinct
3 Camp St, Trentham
Directly behind the shops (to the south) the Old Police Station (OPS) precinct is our headquarters and full of interesting buildings, especially if you have children with you. At the front is the two-roomed police station (office and sleeping quarters combined). The original building dates from 1866. Behind the station, under the protective roof, you’ll find the last pioneer era pre-fabricated double cell (of rod and slab construction) still surviving in Victoria. You can see how the rod and slab construction made it impossible for inmates to escape!
Next to that are the stables. Police horses were important to local policing and Trentham was the last Victorian police station to have its own horse. Just beyond is the single portable cell, which somehow managed to house seventeen men one memorable – and very hot - night in 1879.
This whole precinct is open most weekends in the warmer months. Inside the police station are numerous early policing exhibits, and inside the single cell you’ll see carvings made by inmates, who made their feelings freely known!
You’ll find our open days listed here.
4. The Eucalyptus Boiler
Just metres up from the OPS, on the corner of Camp and Market Street (in the gardens surrounding our swimming pool) you’ll see a large and rather rusty boiler. As a timber town, Trentham produced many affiliated products, including eucalyptus oil and charcoal. Eucalyptus oil was distilled from eucalyptus leaves, which were boiled in huge boilers like this, which were located in the forest. Eucalyptus oil is still used today, mainly for medicinal purposes, including as an inhalant for the blocked noses of colds and flu.
5. The Trentham Railway Station
Victoria Street, Trentham (opposite Market Street)
Today a tourist attraction with many original features, Trentham’s railway station opened in 1880 as a hardworking hub, providing access to Melbourne for the district’s produce, including firewood, timber, chaff, potatoes, peas, oats, bran, hides, hay and fruit.
Up the line from Melbourne came mail, newspapers and visitors, providing Trentham with greater access to news and ideas from the outside world, as well as the financial boost from the many people bound for the Trentham Falls. Railway access consolidated Trentham’s position in the locality.
6. The Trewhella Foundry
Victoria Street, Trentham
A few hundred metres west along Victoria Street from the railway station are the remains of the Trewhella Foundry. From the end of the nineteenth century and throughout much of the twentieth, Trentham’s Trewhella family manufactured a range of implements designed for the removal of trees, stumps, rocks and for saw milling (such as grubbers, jacks, winches, stump pullers etc.) that were exported across the world: Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, America, Africa – the list went on. Trewhella products were even hard at work on the Royal estate at Windsor.
The name ‘Trewhella’ became as closely linked to jacks, as Singer was to sewing machines. Their reputation was built from the quality of their design, engineering and construction. In the 1950s the foundry was the largest private employer of men in the district (more than seventy), thereby supporting many of Trentham’s families and shops. Today, only a few structures stand on the site of this once-famous foundry
7. The Cemetery
Many people love wandering around historic cemeteries, or just sitting quietly. Trentham’s cemetery is a very attractive ten-minute stroll along Cosmo Road from High Street. The first official burial occurred in June 1870 – Isaac Bennett, who was killed by a falling tree. If you’re looking for someone, you’ll find the names of all people interred listed under the shelter. There are also toilet facilities and peaceful places to sit.
Join us —