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Owned by the Wurundjeri people
The Wurundjeri people are the traditional landowners of the area around Dights Falls. They used Dights Falls as a natural crossing place. The junction of Merry creek and the Yarra river was used as an important meeting place, where they held marriages, dispute resolution, trade and other ceremonies. The two rivers provided a lot of sustenance in the form of fish and animals. The area remains an important spiritual place for the Wurundjeri people to this day. -
Charles Grimes explores the Yarra River
In 1803 Charles Grimes led his survey party on a river expedition to Yarra Falls (Dights Falls), reporting unfavourably on the likelihood of settling there. Charles Grimes is believed to be the first European to explore the Yarra River. -
Melbourne was settled
Melbourne was eventually settled in 1835. Land was sub-divided and the first public land sales were held shortly after. -
John Dight purchases land
In 1839, John Dight purchased a Melbourne block which included 26 acres of land along the Yarra River. The cost was 481 pounds ($784.15). He bought this at the Port Phillip land sales held in Sydney. -
John Dight moved to Port Phillip
Dight was in the business of flour Milling and had a mill in New South Wales called ‘Ceres’. In April, 1840 he decided to leave to go to Port Phillip and he notified his customers through The Sydney Herald, that he would be leaving. -
The first weir at Dights Falls was built
The first steam powered flour mill was constructed in Melbourne. Shortly after Dight built a water powered mill from bricks. Dight used the Yarra river to power his mill. The water flow pushed an undershot water wheel making it turn. In order to regulate flow or to ensure the flow of the water when river levels were low, Dight constructed a rough stone weir. -
The Dight family sold their property
The Dight Family’s mill and land along the Yarra changed hands a number of times in the mid to late 1800s. In 1864 the Dight family abandoned flour milling and sold their property to Edwin Trennery in 1878. Trennery later subdivided the land. -
Dights mill was bought
The original mill on the river bank remained unoccupied until 1888. In 1888 Flour millers Gillespie, Aitken and Scot (otherwise known as the ‘Yarra Falls Roller Flour Mills’) constructed a new mill and associated buildings at the site. The mill race was rebuilt in the same position with bluestone blocks from Dight’s old mill building. The enterprise was sold in 1891 to the Melbourne Flour Milling Company. -
The mill was destroyed by a fire
In 1909 the mill changed hands for the final time before it was destroyed by a fire. You can still find the mill race ruins at Dights Falls to this day. -
The weir was rebuilt
The first ever reconstruction of the weir occurred in 1918 when part of the timber weir washed away in the flood. The Minister of Public Works declared that the weir would be rebuilt. -
2nd rebuild of the weir
There was a violation of the weir that prompted a weir rebuild and 1.5 tonnes of rock was found broken off the edge of the weir. -
Rock fishway was constructed
Because the location of Dights Falls is at the bottom of the Yarra River basin, it is one of the most significant in-stream barriers to native fish passages in Victoria this is leading to native fish populations reducing. In 1993 a rock-fishway was constructed to help the fish move between saltwater and freshwater rivers, but this rock fishway has proven to be largely ineffective and fish numbers continued to reduce. -
A new and improved fishway was constructed
The construction of the fishway project begun in November 2010, but due to the weather conditions it was only complete in November 2012. Dights falls is considered to be one of the most significant in-stream barriers to native fish passages in Victoria. By making the new fishway the native fish were able to be back to their original breeding cycle and fish numbers were able to rise.
