Friends of Westgarthtown
Westgarthtown is an historic 19th Century German/Wendish
farming settlement 16 kilometres north of Melbourne, located in
the suburbs of Thomastown and Lalor. Established on 640 acres
(240 hectares) in March 1850, Westgarthtown celebrated its 150th
Anniversary in 2000.
Westgarthtown was named after William Westgarth, who had assisted
the Germans and Wends to emigrate to and settle in Victoria. Using
the most readily available material — bluestone — the
German/Wendish settlers at Westgarthtown soon erected a Lutheran
Church and School, numerous farmhouses and accompanying barns,
stables, milking sheds and dairies. All were located on neatly
laid out properties, bordered and divided by seemingly endless
stone walls. Even the roads and yards were paved with stone.
Westgarthtown’s bluestone heritage today consists of many
bluestone buildings and structures, all of which have been protected
by Heritage Victoria by inclusion on its Heritage Register www.heritage.vic.gov.au
These include:
-
Australia’s oldest operating Lutheran Church (1856)
and and adjoining stonewalled cemetery (1850)
-
Ziebell’s Farmhouse (1851)
-
Wuchatsch’s and Maltzahn’s Farmhouses (1850s)
-
Siebel’s Farmhouse (1860)
-
Graff’s Farmhouse (1873)
-
Various outbuildings at Graff’s, Wuchatsch’s and
Ziebell’s Farmhouses.
The Friends of Westgarthtown Inc was formed in 1995 to bring
together those who care for Westgarthtown and its unique architectural,
historical, cultural, landscape and environmental assets. The
group consists of descendants of original German and Wendish settlers,
local residents, German born Australians and other interested
people such as historians, architects, teachers.
Should you wish to join the Friends of Westgarthtown, please
write to us at PO Box 95, Thomastown, Victoria 3074. Membership
is $10 per year for individuals and $15 families. Concession rates
are $5 individual and $10 family.
In 1999 the Victorian German Teachers Association (AGTV) produced
a Westgarthtown Trail Folder for use by German language students
http://www.trinity.vic.edu.au/agtv/pjcts/wtown.htm
Other references:
Westgarthtown (1998) by Robert Wuchatsch and David Harris.
Westgarthtown, the German Settlement at Thomastown (1985) by Robert
Wuchatsch.
From Hamburg to Hobsons Bay (1999) by Thomas Darragh and Robert
Wuchatsch.
