Lorne Timber Industry

The timber harvesting was probably the first industry to put Lorne on the map. Starting with Lorne’s first European settler William Lindsay ,who in 1849 was granted a Splitters license, so he could cut timber near Erskine river. From the 1850’s, for about a hundred years, people were sourcing high-quality hardwood timber from the Otways. As many as 400 sawmills operated in the Otways, processing logs of messmate, blue gums, mountain ash, to provide timber for the development of settlements in Victoria. By the 1860s the timber trade had declined and remained on a minor scale until 1904.

The story of the revival of this important Lorne industry is told by Norm Houghton in Sawdust and Steam: A Sawmilling History of the East Otway Ranges. One of the earliest turn-of-the-century mills near Lorne was the St. George No. 1 Mill, established in 1904 by the Armistead Bros. (Arthur, Ray, Jack and Walter). It was located 10 kilometres from Lorne near the top of the spur separating Henderson Creek from the St. George River. Access was by ‘a horse hauled wooden rail tramway from Lorne’

1919, Timber tramway back of Lorne. (LHS photo 2502)

Timber Tramway at Skid Hill, near Allenvale, Lorne. (LHS photo 1033)

1919, Lorne Sawmill. (LHS photo 2479)

Lorne timber workers. (L-R) Albert Worley, Eddie Clissold, Fred Alsop, Bobby Wallace, Jack Alsop, Mat Grigg, Nat Gould. (LHS photo 4623)

George river sawmill. (LHS photo 7011)

The ketch Erskine berthed at Lorne Pier, to load timber from the St George River mill.

: The Erskine, built in Geelong by High Bros.

: The ketch Erskine berthed at Lorne Pier, to load timber from the St George River mill.

: Timber tramway to St George River (LHS photo 4006B)

The original Pier was built in 1879 to aid the shipping of timber that was harvested in the Otways. In 1904 a tramway was built to transport timber, sawn at mills on St George River, to the Lorne Pier for shipping to Geelong and Melbourne. The tramway trolleys were horse drawn and ran on rough timber rails, skirting the steep hill below Teddy’s Lookout. The tramway ceased operation in 1934 due to ongoing shipping difficulties and the emergence of road transport as an alternative.

: Timber fellers 1920

: Tramway used to transport timber from the Otway sawmill to Lorne Pier

: Crawler tractor pulling log in the forest at the back of Lorne. (A.E. Jarratt glass negative original), (LHS photo 1542)

A.C.A Mill

In 1936, Armstead, Clissold and Allen formed the A.C.A. Mill on the Little Erskine River.

Benwerrin Mill

Benwerrin sawmill was owned by Erwin and Ted Babington. It was opened in 1936 and closed in 1989.

: Edward Babington Senior

: 1951, snow at Babington’s sawmill

St George No. 1 Sawmill

Timber tramway from Armistead (St George No. 1 sawmill) to Lorne Pier at Point Grey

: Wooden tramway, near St George River, use to transport timber to Lorne Pier

: Timber tramway from the St George River Mill, 1910

Henry’s Mill

: Henry’s mill, wooden tramline and steam winch

: Henry’s mill at Forrest, mud slide

: Henry’s mill (Forrest) log truck

: Inside Henry’s mill at Mt Sabine

: Old saw blade used as a tally board

: W. R. Henry’s mill

Timber boggy, South Lorne, 2025

Sources:

Lorne Historical Society Photo Archives
Greetings From Lorne by Leigh Hammerton
Will Beal, LHS Exhibition file
Lorne Independent November 2024, feature article by John Agar
Victorian Forestry Heritage
Farmland, Forest & Surf ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY, prepared By Dr Carlotta Kellaway with Context Pty Ltd (1998). Revised & Updated By Dr David Rowe, Authentic Heritage Services Pty Ltd July 2009
Sawdust and Steam: A Sawmilling History of the East Otway Ranges by Norm Houghton