One of a Kind - the Kirth Kiln

By Kate Davis - Casey Cardinia Libraries.

Kurth Kiln Regional Park, just north of Gembrook, is one of the most popular park areas in the region for its impressive array of walking trails, camp sites and picnic areas. The park encompasses 3,500 hectares of land and has close to 50 walking tracks that spread over 100 kilometres (1). The park sits on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung country.

The history of the park is deeply embedded in Gembrook’ s strong timber history. For many years, the area was home to timber harvesting and milling alongside tin, lead, and gold mining. Saw milling was the lifeblood of Gembrook from the 1880’s to the 1930’s, with over 50 mills running in the area during that time (2). This industry boomed until the Black Friday bushfires of 1939. Read here to find out more about the local timber industry in Gembrook.

The park itself is named after the historic kiln situated at its heart. The name Kurth comes from the creator of the kiln, Dr. Ernest Edgar Kurth. Dr. Kurth had a Doctor of Chemistry from the University of Tasmania (awarded in 1934) and was studying alternative sources of motor fuel, such as shale oil and wood, to help make Australia less dependent on overseas fuel sources (3). This was particularly pertinent at the beginning of World War Two, with petrol rationing introduced in October 1940 and motorists using petrol only allowed to drive 1300 kilometres a year by 1942 (4). 

Kurth Kiln site – the kiln itself is the tall brick structure on the left.

Simultaneously, Dr. Kurth had invented a revolutionary new design for a continuous charcoal kiln; wood added at the top, charcoal extracted at the bottom, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The charcoal would be cooled for safe extraction by a series of waterpipes. This design was approved by government and a full-scale kiln was commissioned by the Forests Commission of Victoria (5) in 1941 and was built on Tomahawk Creek (6).

This area was selected as the ideal site for the kiln because of its water and timber availability, and the sloping land. The kiln required 9,100 litres of water per day to ensure its cooling systems were effective and used 103 cubic metres of timber per week. The sloping land made it much easier to load the wood into the top of the kiln (7). On March 18, 1942, a trial of the kiln began. During this trial, the Kurth Kiln produced three tons of charcoal every 24 hours, from 21 tons of wood. This process was faster and less-labour intensive than any other methods used at the time and the charcoal created in the kiln was of a consistent quality, free from contamination (8).

Kurth Kiln site. I believe this image was taken from the right of the structure pictured in the first image. It shows the natural slope of the land.

 1943 brought the easing of petrol rationing, and the Kurth Kiln was shut down (9). The site was unused for the remaining war years. Between the years of 1946 and 1963, the site was then used as a forestry camp for the Forests Commission of Victoria, housing some 80-100 men in ‘masonite’ huts that had been purchased from the army. These huts were approximately 15 feet (4.5 metres) by 12 feet (3.6 metres). Several huts were then lost in a bush fire in 1963, during which the site had become a firefighting base, and others were modified as forestry operations were scaled down (10).

In the 1980’s, the site was developed into a picnic area. At the time, 2 huts were dismantled and the materials used to rebuild one of the existing huts. Today there are only 4 huts left. One of these rebuilt huts was designated as a caretaker’s residence, which was occupied by a Mr. Ron Thornton in 1985. He had been an avid visitor of the site since the early 1980’s, and took up the unofficial caretaker position until his death in 2000. The huts are now only used by students and volunteers performing environmental project work in the park (11). 

 

Kurth Kiln site. This image looks to have been taken from the back of the structure in the first image. Here we can see the wall of the kiln on the right, and what appears to be a well. Water in this well would have been pumped through the pipes in the kiln, to cool the charcoal.

Historical Significance

In 1993, the park was officially named Kurth Kiln Regional Park by the Land Conversation Council (12).

In 2002, Parks Victoria commissioned a heritage action plan for the site and in 2008 the Kurth Kiln and its historic buildings were added to the Victorian Heritage Register; number H2012 (13). The kiln is also included in the Heritage Inventory of archaeological sites maintained by Heritage Victoria; number H8022-0013 (14).

In 2008, a report was commissioned on the historical significance of the site. With its heritage collection of 1300 catalogued objects from the original site, including everything from nuts and bolts to machine tools and larger fittings, it was determined that the sites significance lies in its ‘ability to demonstrate the representative tools machinery and artefacts of the 1940s and 50s as related to both charcoal production and general forestry activities in Victoria’ (15). The author of this report, Gary Vines, remarked that the collection of items at the site ‘demonstrate a way of life that has since disappeared, and reflect on the slower pace and closer community ties of the time and place’ (16).

As the title might suggest, the Kurth Kiln is one of a kind; it was the only kiln of its type erected in Victoria (17). The Kurth Kiln site gives a glimpse into the experience of charcoal refining and forestry work during the mid-to-late 20^th century. It also demonstrates a great invention that was a direct result of the experiences of World War Two in Australia. This kiln likely would not have existed had it not been for the fear of fuel shortages. Development of the site also meant it could then be used as a base for forestry works and even firefighting efforts around Gembrook. The survival of this site and its many uses over the years makes the Kurth Kiln heritage area incredibly significant for the history of Gembrook.

The Friends of the Kurth Kiln group was established in 1999 and are the group responsible for the maintenance and running of the park to this day, including the running of the Kurth Kiln Heritage Festival, since 2003 (18).

You can find out more about Kurth Kiln Regional Park from Parks Victoria and find out more about the Kurth Kiln site on the Friends of Kurth Kiln website.

Want to know more about the history of Gembrook? Look at our other blogs posts here!

 

Footnotes

1- A. Klink, & U. Klink, ‘Walking for Pleasure in Kurth Kiln National Park’, Friends of Kurth Kiln, p. 7; p. 11; p. 9, 2016.

2- Ibid, p. 7.

3- Ibid, p. 99.

4- Friends of Kurth Kiln, ‘Friends of Kurth Kiln – About [webpage]’, Parks Victoria, para. 1, n.d., https://www.friendsofkurthkiln.org.au/about.html

5- A, Klink & U, Klink, p. 99; p. 100.

6- Friends of Kurth Kiln, ‘Friends of Kurth Kiln – Timeline [webpage]’, Parks Victoria, para. 2, n.d., https://www.friendsofkurthkiln.org.au/timeline.html

 7- Friends of Kurth Kiln, ‘Friends of Kurth Kiln – About [webpage]’, para. 2-3.

8- A, Klink & U, Klink, p. 100

9- Friends of Kurth Kiln, ‘Friends of Kurth Kiln – Timeline [webpage]’, para 4.

10- G. Vines, ‘Kurth Kiln Collection – assessment of significance [report]’, Biosis Research Pty Ltd project no. 6473, p. 3, 2008, https://auklanddrive.org/Kurth%20Kiln/Storage/7083%20Kurth%20Kiln%20report.pdf

11- Friends of Kurth Kiln, ‘Friends of Kurth Kiln – Home [webpage]', Parks Victoria, para. 1-2, n.d., https://www.friendsofkurthkiln.org.au/

12- Friends of Kurth Kiln, ‘Friends of Kurth Kiln – Timeline [webpage]’, para 10.

13- A, Klink & U, Klink, p. 100

14- Friends of Kurth Kiln, ‘Friends of Kurth Kiln – About [webpage]’, para. 7.

15- G. Vines, p. 24-25.

16- Ibid, p. 25.

17- Ibid, p. 3.

18- A. Klink & U. Klink, p. 101.

 

Images (in order of appearance).

Shire of Pakenham, ‘Kurth Kiln Gembrook 3’, 1980s – pre-December 1994, Shire of Pakenham scanned slides, https://cclc.libsvic.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/search/asset/267145/0

Shire of Pakenham, ‘Kurth Kiln Gembrook 1’, 1980s- pre-December 1994, Shire of Pakenham scanned slides, https://cclc.libsvic.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/search/asset/267143/0

Shire of Pakenham, ‘Kurth Kiln Gembrook 2’, 1980s – pre-December 1994, Shire of Pakenham scanned slides, https://cclc.libsvic.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/search/asset/267144/0