The Ringwood Miner’s Cottage, a reminder of Ringwood’s history with antimony mining, was tragically destroyed by arsonists on the 20th of November.
The Maroondah Journal has reported on the aftermath of the cottage’s destruction and council’s efforts to date:
Mayor Alex Makin said discussions between the council and the historical society would take place early next year.
Maroondah Council will be considering options to restore the cottage in consultation with the Ringwood and Croydon Historical Societies. This will ensure that any replacement to the cottage is relevant to Ringwood’s history, as well as being prominent and accessible to the wider community.
“These discussions will also consider the location of the building to ensure it has greater viability and accessibility. Unfortunately there’s little that remains of Ringwood’s history and it’s therefore critical that we have some ability to recollect and remember the past.”
It is imperative that Ringwood’s history is accessible to the wider community so that we can appreciate our local history.
“The destruction of the miner’s cottage demonstrates the need for our community to assess the values we hold and to demonstrate that unacceptable and destructive behaviour will not be tolerated.”
We have the right to expect that our history will be valued by everyone within our community. Discussions need to be started around civic pride so that we can demonstrate that such behaviour is not acceptable within our community.
They say out of a tragedy, sometimes, good things happen. The Mayor’s statement that “Unfortunately there’s little that remains of Ringwood’s history..” is not correct, in that the Ringwood & District Historical Society’s archives have over 10,000 photographs, 20,000 articles and references, 600 newspapers dating from the 1920s, and numerous plaques, presentations, memororabilia, oral histories and other items of great historical significance. Overall, close to 60,000 items.
The Society is extremely proud of this collection, which is stored in a fire-proof and humidified environment, unfortunately in a small room which is rapidly running out of space. It is also one of Victoria’s oldest historical societies and very few can boast of possessing such a huge and relevant collection.
The regrettable aspect is that the Society does not have the public space or forum to display any of these items, nor can create professionally designed historical displays for school children, tourists to Ringwood and our local community. We present, in a year, nearly one hundred talks to local organisations, and have an active presence on community radio and newspapers, as well as 10 meetings annually.
Back in 1987, we formulated a move to build a miner’s cottage, researched on original designs from our archives. We convinced the Ringwood Council to go into partnership to build and maintain it. A similar enterprise went towards the erection of the poppet head. Both of these were never meant to show the full extent of Ringwood’s vaste history but only a small representation of early mining conditions.
Since then we have gone through the destruction of the hut twice, including all the contents, and the poppet head. These items did not have any fire-proofing devices, nor were under security monitoring. Both these were targets every summer and there were dozens of unsuccessful attempts to destroy them. It is obvious that the Lake is not a good location.
There comes a point in time when the investment of the cottage is not worth the gain, especially as there are more attractive and more secure options. Certainly other historical societies have progressed, such as Schramm’s Cottage in Doncaster, Ambleside Homestead at Knox and Schwerkolt Cottage and Museum Complex at Mitcham. These venues attract considerable interest and it is typical that the average visit is between 1-2 hours. Great for local tourism. The Ringwood Miner’s Cottage average visitation time is 1-2 minutes.
We learn by tragedy. We learn, from history, not to do those things that do not have a favourable outcome. Some of our councillors have have intimated that they would like to see the cottage rebuilt. I suspect they have good intentions but have not addressed the full extent of options.
Whatever happens with the talks with the Society and Council in the next few months, the best result is to have a facility that the people of Maroondah can be proud of, which will attract considerable tourism and will engage our up and coming citizens to an appreciation of Ringwood’s very important heritage.
Hi Russ,
Thanks for your comments. You’re right in regard to the society’s collection and and I should have my comments – I was inferring that little of Ringwood’s physical history remains (even if a lot of it was a replica), which I believe we need to cherish particularly given the redevelopment that is being undertaken in Ringwood.
I do agree that we need a building that can publicly house the Historical Societies extensive archives and one that can become a drawcard for tourism in the area. The solution may not necessarily be another miner’s cottage but I am keen for the community, as well as Council and the Society, to have this discussion so that the issue remains important to us within Ringwood and Maroondah.
There is certainly an opportunity for the Historical Society and Council to transform this tragedy into a positive outcome so please do let me know the thoughts of the Society so that we can deliver the best for our community and the best for our heritage.
Thanks,
Alex