Yan's Chimney

Yan's Chimney

Kiandra is literally one old house, a Court House which is used to store equipment, some ruins and enough memories to bring the whole cold and lonely valley alive. In its heyday it was a true gold rush town which rose and fell in less than a year. At its height it attracted over 10 000 men, women and children and saw the construction of banks, hotels and the usual services required by such a large population. In less than a year most of the gold was gone and the population was reduced to a 200-300. A hundred years later it was a ghost town.

Kiandra’s moment of glory occurred in a few months from 1859-1860. The rush broke out after payable gold was discovered by David and James Pollock (two men who had been bringing their cattle to graze on the summer pastures in the area for some years) in what became known as Pollock’s Gully in November 1859. People came from all over Australia and what had once been isolated grazing country suddenly became a boom town.

What is left of Kiandra is located on the Snowy Mountains Highway. It is an indictment of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service that many of the old buildings were burnt or bulldozed by the service in an act of extraordinary historical vandalism. Not surprisingly it is hard to find anyone in the Snowy Mountains area who has a kind word to say about Parks and Wildlife.

All that is now left of the old township is the courthouse, Matthew’s Cottage and some ruins, inlcuding this chimney which was once Yan’s Store.

Yan's Chimney belongs to the following groups: