Rally to keep historical horse-drawn vehicle collection

A Beechworthian passionate about retaining the town’s history led a rally of some 40 people to save a historic horse-drawn carriage collection on Sunday. Sharon Gray walked with the group from Beechworth’s former post office and iconic heritage building to the refurbished and empty goods shed in the Old Railway Station precinct. Ms Gray said she was drawn to the carriages’ plight when hearing they were to be relocated away from Beechworth by the National Trust’s Victorian branch. “Beechworth is a historical town, and the carriages have been a big part of our history, especially in the gold rush times, and a lot of tourists come to Beechworth,” she said. “It would be very sad and a big gap in our history if the carriages were dispersed out of Beechworth. “I’ve been pleased to see such a good turnout today for support and to save our Beechworth historical carriages. “People have come along in period costume and we've had the Beechworth History and Heritage Society (BHHS) to help provide an update to the community. “ BHHS president Jamie Kronborg updated the crowd with the horse-drawn carriages’ history and ongoing location shifts around town without a permanent home. Mr Kronborg said professional and prominent North East historian Jacqui Durant regarded the collection to be the most significant one in the nation given its size and breadth of horse-drawn vehicle examples. “Beechworth’s Historic Carriage Collection has been held in Beechworth by the Victorian branch of the National Trust of Australia for almost 60 years,” Mr Kronborg said. The original collection of 23 carriages comprised donations from local farming families and loans from private owners. Mr Kronborg said it was proposed around eight to 10 horse-drawn vehicles would remain in Beechworth, with the rest either returned to lenders or relocated to Victorian National Trust properties. “This means the collection has been almost halved in size and the vehicles that will stay will have a direct association with Beechworth and other North East and Border communities,” he said. These include a Beechworth-built hearse and an omnibus or 'drag' that once operated a passenger service between Beechworth and Stanley. Mr Kronborg said Indigo Shire Council and the National Trust in October 2022 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) when the collection was to be moved from its last exhibition place, at the former Billson’s Brewery, to a temporary storage site on Beechworth’s outskirts. Council had committed to explore temporary housing options in the short term and potential collaborations with the Trust in any activation stage. “The MOU also stated the council would not provide funding, capital works, infrastructure investment or staffing support for the collection,” Mr Kronborg said. “This removed the council from any operational role in the collection's future.” Mr Kronborg added the MOU further recorded that both parties had ruled out the use of Beechworth's railway goods shed as a permanent home as it could not house the entire collection or more than 20 horse-drawn vehicles. Now that the collection has reduced in number, Mr Kronborg said BHHS had met with and was encouraging the council to allow the empty goods shed to be used as temporary housing for the horse-drawn vehicles. “Local planning regulations allow the goods shed to be used for storage,” he said. “This could occur while BHHS develops a community-led, long-term solution for the smaller collection’s storage, protection, preservation and public presentation. “Our goal is to interpret the collection in ways that enable the fundamental story of the horsepower that carried Beechworth’s gold rush and drove later development to be told.” Mr Kronborg said a fresh interpretation of the horse-drawn vehicles, which include a piano box buggy made by Albury coach-builder James Higgins in 1907, a spring dray and sulky, also aligns with the Victorian Goldfields bid for UNESCO World Heritage listing in which Indigo Shire Council is a partner of. “BHHS sees this collection as a huge opportunity to tell the story of the role of the horse in a tangible way in Beechworth and the North East,” he said. The BHHS president said positive discussions are underway with the National Trust and council.

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