A day at Day’s for Mother’s Day

It was the first time we had visited this beautifully preserved 19th-century flour mill out there in its original state in an authentically rural setting, which really helped set the scene to imagine what life was like in the 1800s.

The land was purchased by William and Ann Day (from Kent in south-east England) in 1865 and, shortly after, the couple built a flour mill on the property.

Unfortunately William died during a tragic accident involving a bullock and a fence in 1872, leaving his capable wife to run the farm and mill until 1891, when she retired and handed over the running of it to the oldest of her seven surviving children (from nine), Joseph.

A.J. for Joseph can be found etched into the mailbox at the Gatehouse at the property’s entrance, while his and more of the other children’s names are graffitied on the walls inside the dwelling.

The three-storey mill is certainly the main drawcard, as everything is as it was when it was a working affair, but equally impressive if you’re into historic architecture and antiquities is the partially furnished two-storey residence with full second-storey cast iron balcony for sweeping views of the surrounding land.

Inside the house, you can see the hand-stencilling and marbling on the walls, which were added in 1910, commissioned by Joseph (the oldest of the Day children) nine years before his death.

Surrounding the mill and home on the now four-hectare property are many more noteworthy outbuildings to explore, including horse stables, a milking shed and dairy, a shearing shed, pig pens and chicken runs, as well as a butchery, blacksmith’s complex and chaff shed.

There is old farming equipment to look at, an early water tank tower and a charming wooden gypsy caravan that was used as portable accommodation around the once much larger farm when family members were working on site a substantial distance from the main residence.

The mill itself stopped operating commercially in the 1880s, due to advances in milling technology the Day family chose not to adopt, and the fact that another mill had been built right next to the train station, making it more convenient to transport to Melbourne than from the Days’ more remote location.

The Days would still mill occasionally for their neighbours on request.

Parks Victoria maintains this remarkable property on a government allowance of just $5000 a year.

A staffer tells me it took her team two full weeks to ready the property for this year’s annual open day, and that was just to get it “safe and legal”.

She said as she looked around there was plenty more they would have liked to have done if they had the resources available.

But I can imagine five grand doesn’t go far, and as one other visitor pointed out when he overheard our conversation “it probably doesn’t even cover the cost of lawn-mowing”.

Nevertheless, Parks (and Mother Nature) put on an amazing day for families, with a market, food stalls and a food court on the (freshly mown) grounds, with old-fashioned games of quoits, croquet and skittles for families to engage in for free off to the side, as a steady stream of vehicles made its way down the unsealed road towards the property all morning long.

If you’ve never spent a day at Day’s, keep it in mind for Mother’s Day next year.

While there might only be one open day a year for the general public, the historic site is open by appointment for community groups all year long.

* If you would like to get involved in a Friends of Day’s Mill Group, contact Parks Victoria on 13 19 63.