Gold rush-era pubs, early settler cottages, old parishes and a ‘lunatic asylum’ are all relics of the past around Diggers Rest and Sunbury, that make for fertile exploring grounds for amateur archaeologists.
Armed with a metal detector and a nous for Google Maps research John Burgess has spent the last decade unearthing artefacts of the areas early history.
Mr Burgess said he is motivated by seeking the unknown, and keeping history alive.
“It’s just great to see some of the things they built without modern materials, modern machinery, they did it better than us and they did it with half the stuff we’ve got which is quite impressive,” he said.
Some of Mr Burgess’ most valuable relics include an iron weight with a silver Queen Victoria inscription, used for weighing gold, a silver smoking pipe, and a black glass bottle Mr Burgess believes dates back as far as 1880.
His most recent curious find was a landman’s diary he discovered in what he believes was a cottage of John Aitken.
John Aitken, originally a Scottish farmer, was one of the first European settlers in Victoria and the first in the Gisborne-Sunbury area.
Mr Burgess found the ruins of the cottage between Diggers Rest and Toolern Vale, the diary was found in the last remaining covered area of the shack, open and ready to be used. It contained ledgers about sheep and cattle stock.
Mr Burgess said his archaeological surveys feed his passion for local history.
“I definitely encourage people to have a go, it’s quite addictive once you do start doing it,” he said.
