Surrey Dive

Surrey Dive created by Ray Peace

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Summary

This short walk follows the former route of a 5' 3" gauge industrial railway, or tramway, that served the former Box HIll brick works in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

Description

The hulking outline of the former brick works still competes with the more recent structure on the south side of Box Hill. The Hoffman-type rotating brick kiln opened in 1886, and had a capacity of 240,000 bricks per day. Clay for the bricks was extracted from the clay pit which later filled with water and became the famous 'Surrey Dive'. The brick works had a checkered working history before final closure in 1988. Box Hill's swimming hole was officially opened in 1906, and finally closed during the drought year of 1968. The clay pit was extensively landscaped in the 1980s. The tramway was of 5' 3" broad gauge, with iron rails, an internal combustion motor operating on it, and moved bricks from the works to a siding at Box Hill station. The tramway had a short working life, being out of use by 1905

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Points of Interest

1. Box Hill shopping centre

This shopping centre constructed in the early 1980s has obliterated all traces of the former Box Hill station. The tramway crossed Carrington St through the centre of this roundabout

2. Tramway

This footpath follows the alignment of the former tramway. All earthworks have long since vanished due to extensive re-modelling. A 1905 map shows an embankment along what is now Surrey Drive

3. Surrey Dive

In its days as a swimming hole, the Surrey Dive had a fearsome reputation, and was the scene of several drownings. Today the scene is more placid, with model boats gliding across the water

4. Box Hill brick works

Proposals to demolish the derelict brick works have been rejected as this is one of the few Hoffman-type rotating brick kilns surviving in Australia. However, neglect and vandalism have taken a toll