Cams Top Place Traditional Cache

It can be visited without walking, but under some conditions, climbing out via Murdering Spur track (and via Danes) can be difficult. Several creek crossings will be required, and the best access may be via Wild Horse track. (which can itself be fairly rough at times).

Why visit this site?

1. Reasonably easy access, no walking, Traill's mine beside the track.

2. “ Camms Top Place”, is the remains of a homestead on the Wentworth. It is recorded that the son of Robert Camm, Denis, “a stockman raised in the Wentworth Valley”, died at Passchendale, with mates and whose tribute appears as an article in The Age, Oct 14 , 2007 entitled “The Dargo 10, a sacrifice forged on Flanders fields” The Camm's (later?) had a home at Dargo, and a lease of 205 acres was recorded on the Wentworth. I believe that this home was on that lease.

3. Camms Top Place is also a fine example of a homestead that included local materials, hand adzed posts and timbers. Sadly now in disrepair, with the remains of the blacksmith's shop nearby.

4. Walk a small portion of the original Omeo to Dargo bridal track. All along this track, especially as it follows Tucker creek, you can fined remains of chimneys, indicating many permanent residents along this lonely road. It is where Danes track meets Murdering Spur Track. Remember, this is isolated and dangerous country. Plan accordingly. Access/exit tricky after rain.

Almost beyond preservation, but a tribute to the Camm family, and to Australian cattlemen in general

BUILDER:- Richard Camm

This house or hut is located at what was known as allotment 5 parish of Kalk Kalk in the County of Dargo. The old County of Dargo plan shows it at Allot 10 (981 acres) and 10A. The Register of Applications, Omeo (Occupation Branch), under section 32 of the 'Land Act 1884', gives Application Number: 1479, registered in 1887 and made by John O'Reilly of Dargo. A lease was issued in 1888. Another application for this land was made in 1901 by Richard Camm, of Dargo, of land that had since been reclassified as 3rd class, after being abandon. The lease was issued in 1903. In another application in 1908, Mary Camm, a Dargo married woman,l applied for Allot 3 Sec 44 (750 acres) in the parish of Birregum.

When Richard Camm (1868 - 1934) came to this region in the 1880s he was in his early 20s. His reason for coming is thought to be associated with mining. He married a local girl, Mary Connolly, daughter of Denis Connolly and Margaret (nee Scott), on the 1st of June 1893 at Coongulmerang and both started their residence at Dargo. Richard was aged 25 and a labourer. He stated that he did not know his father's occupation nor his mother's name. Mary 24 and listed as a lady. Richard and Mary had ten children all born between 1893 and 1911 and registered in Dargo.

Richard selected land here and Mary had another block closer to Jones, known as Camm's Main Flat. He was listed as a grazier in 1902 and is known to have grazed cattle as well as dealing in horses. Richard and Mary first moved into a primitive hut, situated below the present structure (O'Reilly?). The only remains of this early hut are a dry stone river-rock chimney and a big stone threshold slab that denotes the position of the door. The house construction date is unknown but the wall paper appears to be from the Edwardian era.

Although now Camm's Top Place seems remote, when Richard and Mary settled here there was quite a community in the surrounding area. John Strobridge was a neighbour, having selected land to the east. Just four miles south on the junction of the Wentworth River and White Horse Creek was McLauchlin's Hotel, owned and operated by Mrs Joy McKenna in the 1890s; she later sold it to Mr T Sims who held it when it was destroyed by fire in1904

The Camm family abandon the house prior to Richards's death in 1934. Mary returned to Dargo, where she died in 1949. Like his neighbour John Strobridge, it is possible that Camm worked on the Jimkee Water Race to supplement his income, as local folklore states that a water bailiff lived at the house, working on the race that supplied water to Cassilis.

All the furnishings were still in tack in the mid 1960s, including a gun above the door. It is unknown if these were abandon by the Camm's or if someone else resided there after they left. The graffiti on the walls starts c1972, which would indicate that the site was kept secluded and people didn't start accessing it until then. This house is near to a century old and has remained secluded in the wilderness, away from the public eye and the history books - a gem.

The house appears to have originally had a shingled roof that has since been replaced with galvanised sheet iron, branded Lysaght Queens Head - Special Flat (imported).

The Lysaght family began producing galvanised products in 1857 at their factory in Bristol, England. During the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century the company exported considerable amounts of galvanised sheeting and wire to Australia. John Lysaght (Australia) Limited was established in 1918 and production began in 1921 at Newcastle. In 1936 the AI&S sheet mill at Port Kembla was purchased from BHP Pty, Ltd. The mill was closed down when Lysaght's Springhill works were opened in 1939. The company purchased Commonwealth Rolling Mills Pty. Ltd. in 1946.

The Jimkee Sluicing Co. (English Co.) was formed to work the alluvial bed of Long Gully and Swift's Creek. The lease of 185 acres comprised four mile from Warden battery at Cassili to Chinamen's Crossing below Tongio West, where alluvial deposits had been worked since 1851 (estimated 75,000 oz obtained, to 1890). The water supply had always been a problem so the water race from Wentworth River was commenced in 1899, being longest privately constructed water race in Victoria. The total length of the race reserve 58 miles 38 chains of pipeline at Tongio West. Completed in 1900 it cost 14,000 pounds, rather than the 4,000 pounds originally estimated, and the claim was dredged from 1901. The race provided insufficient supply of water and the dredge was unsuitable and inadequate for the type deposit to worked. Instead of water race problems with chlorination process in 1902, changed to a new process after Jimkee race closed down, sank water shaft and pumped to battery, mine closed in 1903.

In 1918 Tangio Dredging Co. cleaned out and repaired Jimkee water race that taps headwaters of the Wentworth River, this allowed continuous dredging throughout the year, which continued until c1923.

Roof cladding:- corrugated iron, Lysaght Queens Head - Special Flat.

Camms Top Place is approached via Dane Track, which has some very steep pitches, many stones, large holes and major runouts. It is inaccessible except by high clearance 4WD vehicles. The steepest pitch is at the bottom of the spur, going down into the Wenthworth River, but the worst is going up Murdering Spur. The runouts are as steep as storm waves at sea. You drive bucking nose to sky, then nose to hole on the far side, in the lowest gear.

Camm's is a four paling clad hut or cottage, has a gable roof over the front two rooms, a skillion roof over the back. a hallway runs from the front rooms to the rear, and there was a fireplace in the main front room. The fireplace and its chimney have now collapse. There are large remnants of hessian backed wallpaper in the front two rooms, which have much graffiti, despite the remoteness of the site. The earliest date found in the graffiti was 1972.

The cottage is framed with adzed and pole section hardwood members, with the 90 x 70mm adzed studs set at 650mm centres. The paling cladding is 170 x 15mm while interior linings include both sawn and split lining boards, some pole section (eight varying from 100 to 200mm diameter) indicating former shingle cladding and the roof is now clad with galvanised sheet iron branded Lysaght Queens Head 'Special Flat' that appears to be imported.

Miles Lewis has noted of galvanised sheet iron and Lysaght: "A very large number of companies made corrugated galvanized iron, and will be discussed below but fewer made flat sheets for export to Australia, in 1881 Davis, Gospel Oak, Lysaght's Queen's Head and Redcliffe."

Lysaght corrugated iron was the 'Orb" brand, but this and other brands corrugated galvanised iron used in Australia will be discussed below. When their Queen's Head brand flat sheet appeared in Australia is unclear, but it was certainly by 1887. In 1907 the English Lysaght company was advertising locally its flat sheet galvanised iron, branded with a queen's head in a rectangle with the letters J, L, L, B in the corners, clockwise from the top left. By 1938 the letters of the Queen's Head brand were sh,own as L, N, W, L, with a figure such as '38' on the neck to indicate the year 81 and it is not clear weather this may distinguish the imported from the local product. Galvanised iron sheeting which is branded as being made from Elder Smith & Co of Adelaide, is properly also by Lysaghts, as the decorative border is similar to that of the Queens Head brand.

Remnants of a kitchen garden can be made out at the back of the building. This hut is in a very beautiful treed river valley which retains a high degree of remoteness, trees include blackwood, manna gum, red box, long leaf gum, yellow box with some red stringy barks and native grasses

The house is in poor condition. Decay is evident in the skillion roof at the rear, both rear doors, the floor boards of both rear rooms, all wall cladding boards and coverings and external timbers, especially on the east wall, which is becoming skeletal.