The Afton Street Conservation Reserve is situated along the middle reaches of the

Maribyrnong River The Maribyrnong River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the northwestern suburbs of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria. Course The Maribyrnong River draws its headwaters from near Mount Macedon within ...

Essendon West Essendon West is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Moonee Valley local government area. Essendon West recorded a population of 1,559 at the 2021 census. ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. It lies within the

City of Moonee Valley The City of Moonee Valley is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, on Wurundjeri, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country. It comprises th ...

and is 17 hectares (42 acres) in area.

History

This area was a significant site for the

Wurundjeri The Wurundjeri people are an Aboriginal peoples, Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language, Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the traditional owners of the Yarra River Valley, covering much of the present location of ...

indigenous people, who used the

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

silcrete Silcrete is an indurated (resists crumbling or powdering) soil duricrust formed when surface soil, sand, and gravel are cemented by dissolved silica. The formation of silcrete is similar to that of calcrete, formed by calcium carbonate, and ferri ...

outcrops An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...

of this area to make

stone tools Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a c ...

. The area was also rich in food and other resources. In the mid-1800s this area was owned by pastoralist John Aitkin. In the late-1800s and early-1900s, the northern end of the site was quarried for sand, which significantly changed the topography of this area in ways that are still visible today. The Maribyrnong Sand Company was set up in the early 20th century to transport the sand by barge downriver to the then-industrial suburbs of Footscray and

Yarraville Yarraville is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Maribyrnong local government area. Yarraville recorded a population of 15,636 at the . Yarraville i ...

, for use in the production of glass, concrete and ceramics. In the 20th century, the site was part of the

Defence Explosive Factory Maribyrnong Defence Explosive Factory Maribyrnong is a heritage-listed military installation and former munitions factory at Cordite Avenue, Maribyrnong, Victoria, Maribyrnong, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It was added to the Australian Com ...

. Because the rest of the defence site was on the other side of the river, a bridge was built to connect the area to the main part of the site. This "military bridge" no longer exists but part of its abutment can still be seen in the conservation reserve. The bridge was used to transport munitions to the site for their storage, testing and disposal. The topography of the site was further altered by the construction of the North West Sewer later in the 20th century; spoil from which was spread over the southern part of the reserve. Caves in the northern part of the reserve that had been filled in with earth were observed by researchers in 2005. Anecdotally, these caves were used for munitions testing. The possible future excavation of these caves, together with sub-surface testing of other areas of the reserve, has been recommended to further investigate the indigenous occupation of this area. The conservation park was purchased by Moonee Valley City Council in October 2003 for AU$900,000.

Planning

A master landscape plan was issued for the site and won a number of design awards.Press Release: Annette Warner Wins Award For Outstanding Achievement In Design
, ''Hassell'', 25 August 2006 The plan emphasises conservation and recreational use of the park.

Flora and fauna

*Two areas of Western Basalt Plains Grassland *25 regionally-significant species of indigenous plants *potential habitat and occurrence of the nationally significant Striped Legless Lizard *areas of valuable native fauna habitat including five ‘birds of prey’ using open

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

areas, small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

birds including thornbills and silvereyes using the shrub layer and waterbirds using the riparian fringe

Gallery

File:Afton Street Conservation Reserve.jpg, The reserve (raised land) as seen from Prospect St, West Essendon File:Afton street reserve showing remains of caves and MRL across Maribyrnong river.jpg, The reserve showing remains of caves (left) and the defunct

across the river

References

{{coord, 37, 45, 26.50, S, 144, 52, 59.76, E, display=title Parks in Melbourne City of Moonee Valley