Who Was Johnny Green? Preview

Impressive isn't it!

Peacock's Chimney was constructed in 1857 to provide updraught for the boilers at Peacock's Engine house. For two thirds of its height it was made of rock - with thinner brick towards the top. It was named after William Peacock, a South Australian Mining Association director.

To make way for the modern open-cut mine in the early 1970s, the chimney and engine house were demolished in 1971, but to the credit of the National Trust and local community, the stone from the original chimney was carefully dismantled and rebuilt here in 1971.

It is one of 11 sites confirmed as a State Heritage Place in 1980.

Johnny Green stands atop the reconstructed chimney. But who was he? Answer the challenge on the screen below to get your first clue.

What a view - but it wasn't always like this!

Burra was the largest metal bearing mine in Australia back in 1850. What you see now was once an underground mine site between 1845 to 1869 with long vertical shafts and horizontal tunnels going through the ground.

After 1869 until its closure in 1877, it changed to surface mining and lower grade ore was extracted. It was worked again off and on over time as a modern open-cut mine from 1970 to 1981 but it is now abandoned and has remained much as you see it now since 1981.

There is a sliding past/present image on a screen below the challenge which shows the changing appearance of the mine site over time!

The mine and the town of Burra, were added to Australia’s National Heritage List in 2017 for being of outstanding National heritage significance where Cornish mining technology, skills and culture were demonstrated to a high degree.

Did you see Johnny in the video? If you look closely, he is atop tall timber shears near a pump house. Can you think of a reason why he would be there? Take on the challenge on the screen below to get your next clue.

There's a lot going on here!

Ore dressing separates out the valuable copper minerals from the rock they are in. The ore from the mines went to a crushing house where a ten-stamp battery crushed the ore. The crusher was originally powered by a 12 metre water wheel using water pumped up from the mine shafts. After crushing, the ore was taken to sheds where it was broken up further by hand to reduce the lumps to a smaller size then jigged by hand to help separate the heavier copper minerals from the lighter waste rock. Boys and older men were often employed for this work.

The hand concentrated ore was then left in flat heaps on ore floors for samplers to determine what portion was copper mineral and so decide its value. It was then taken to the smelters for extracting the copper metal.

Later on, in 1870, a mechanised dressing tower was built to concentrate the lower grade ore coming from the surface workings.

Your next challenge awaits on the screen below!

What an impressive building!

Originally built in 1858, Morphett's Engine House contained a large Cornish pumping engine which removed water from the underground mine workings. It worked until 1877 when the underground mine ceased and remained in the engine house until removed for scrap in 1916.

Despite a fire in 1925 that gutted the engine house and the top timber of the shaft, the engine house timberwork was reconstructed, re-roofed and internally refurbished in 1986 as part of South Australia’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

It was confirmed as a State Heritage Place in 1980 and now serves as an interpretive centre on the Burra Passport.

Johnny stood atop the shears next to Morphett’s engine house from 1859 for the next 67 years. But why was he there? Time to take on another challenge and get another clue to help find the answer.

How to get into a mine (and out again)!

To reach the green malachite and blue azurite copper ore, miners sunk vertical shafts into the ground and dug horizontal tunnels (called drives) off them. They climbed down ladders and dug great caverns to reach the ore and all they had were the lights from candles on their hats to guide them. They broke up the rock using picks and gads and gunpowder. It was very dangerous work.

Sometimes to reach the shafts, a horizontal entry was dug from the outside to connect to a vertical mine shaft underground. This is called an adit and where you are now, the adit was a miner’s entrance way into Morphett’s shaft.

A copper price slump in 1867 saw underground mining cease. However, it was decided a few years later to convert to surface mining to recover ore from the previously un-mined sections, but this wasn’t entirely successful, and mining stopped in 1877. Since then a modern open-cut pit on the site of the original mine commenced in 1970 to recover low grade ore, but with the falling price of copper and increasing costs, this operation ceased in 1981 and the pit is now full of water to a depth of 50 metres.

Is there a link between Johnny and the adit? Take on the next challenge and get another clue to help find the answer.

An inspired leader!

Henry Roach was a miner from Cornwall who became Chief Captain of the Burra Mine. He was in charge from 1847 – 1867 and was paid the equivalent of $23.30 a month. He oversaw the erection of the Cornish engines and the mine’s overall operations. Roach's engine house was named after him and the effigy of Johnny Green was erected on top of its shears in 1849 at its opening.

The South Australian Mining Association offices and cottages overlooked the mine. There was a director’s boardroom, captains offices, accountant’s office and residential cottages for the Mine Chief Captain, the assay master, the mine doctor, the second, third and fourth mine captains and the chief engineer.

The re-sited headstone of Captain Roach is situated near the ruins of the offices and cottages. You will need to find it to answer the challenge on the next screen.

Was Captain Roach proud of Johnny being on the shears of his engine house? Take on the next challenge and you are just that little bit closer to finding the answer.

What an unusual building!

The Burra Mine powder magazine is the oldest remaining mine building in Australia.

By 1846, 100 barrels of gunpowder had been sent to the mine from England and a building was required to secure it safely. The magazine was built in 1847 for this purpose. It had an enclosed central structure with thick stone walls lined inside with sheepskin to lower the risk of a spark induced detonation and an arched stone roof to give it strength. A separate outer wall acted as a second barrier to reduce the impact from an explosion. It was built on a hill well away from the main mine area.

Gunpowder is a mixture of very combustible chemicals. It was used underground to blast rock which could not be broken by pick and gad. When the gunpowder was lit with a flame, it released a lot of hot gas and heat forcing the fine gunpowder outward, igniting more of it and causing an explosion.

Johnny could always see the powder magazine from his elevated positions at the mine site. Was this done on purpose? If so, why? There is another clue here to help you solve the mystery. Take on the challenge below to collect it.

In the context of Scotland English - bon accord means goodwill and good fellowship!

The Bon Accord mining lease was purchased in 1846 by speculators who presumed that the Burra Mine's rich ore lode would run further north and make similar profits. Mining commenced in 1846, but despite high hopes and extensive exploration, the same copper bearing seam could not be found, and the works were abandoned in 1849. However, in 1857 the Bon Accord Mining Company was formed and re-commenced mining in 1858. Workshops, offices and a manager’s house were constructed but once again operations were suspended in 1862 due to the failure to find any valuable ore and the company was wound up in 1864.

In 1908 a pumping station was erected on the main shaft and pumped water for the town until 1966.

Since 1977 the Bon Accord Mine Site has been owned by the National Trust. It is now a mining museum displaying different mining relics like a kibble (a mine bucket), information, photographs and memorabilia of the Burra copper mining area from 1845-1877.

I guess Johnny didn't bring the same luck, goodwill and fellowship to this mine as the Burra mine. Was that the real purpose of Johnny – to bring luck to the mine and its miners? Take on the next challenge and you are just that little bit closer to finding the answer.

A gaol right here in Burra - I wonder why?

The gaol was built in 1856. Life was tough for the miners. Disputes occurred on a regular basis, due in part to the excessive consumption of alcohol. During the hours of 5am and 11pm, miners as young as 12 could visit the hotels to enjoy a drink or two after a hard day at the mines. Their crimes varied from minor misdemeanours to serious crimes such as murder. Others were sentenced for deserting a ship and even for just using bad language.

With the mine closing in 1877 and Burra’s population declining, the gaol eventually closed in 1894 but after renovations, it reopened as a Reformatory for delinquent girls over 15 years old and operated until 1922. It is now under the control of the National Trust and was listed as a State Heritage Place in 2017.

Hopefully you now have many of the clues to finding out who Johnny was - but there is another one to collect on the screen below.

It's a real ghost town!

Hampton, established by Thomas William Powell, the postmaster and a shopkeeper in Kooringa was once a bustling village from the 1860s. It provided less expensive housing for the miners and their families and by 1866 over 30 dwellings, built from local stone sat beside a quarry.

Following the closure of the mine in 1877, Hampton transformed from a relatively busy village of the 1860s, to a poor and fairly run-down settlement, however it took another 50-60 years before the township was completely abandoned. Many of its original features are still evident though, but as the years went by, weathering of mortar between the stones in the walls caused them to collapse. The wood used in the supporting beams has rotted away too.

Sadly, Johnny couldn’t bring lasting good luck to the people of Hampton. I wonder what it really looked like back then.

What a large and interesting area!

Smelting of the copper carbonate ore began in 1849. The ore was first heated in very high temperature furnaces, oxidizing it to produce copper oxide. This was then mixed with carbon and superheated in other furnaces to reduce the copper oxide to copper metal expelling carbon dioxide gas in the process. Ironstone was used to form slag (a black, glass-like by-product left over after the copper metal has been separated from the ore). The copper metal ingots were originally carted by bullock wagons along the Gulf Road to Port Wakefield and put on barges and shipped to Port Adelaide.

Today the smelting works are represented only by their foundations, the manager's residence, the offices, and remnants of the stables and store.

Do you think Johnny’s influence ever extended to the smelters? The next challenge will take you a little bit closer to finding the answer.

Interesting accommodation - not listed on airbnb though!

With more than 1,000 men working above and underground at the mine, housing in Burra was at a premium. So, what does a miner do when they have nowhere to live?

Dig!

The steep banks of Burra Creek became dugouts, complete with rooms, chimneys and kitchens. The area was inhabited by cows, chickens and pigs and people. They provided accommodation for an estimated population of 1800. They were rent free; they were within the company town; and were permitted but frowned upon by the mining company. Most were clean, neat, cosy in winter and cool in summer fitted with verandahs and lean-to’s. But there was a downside too! Unsanitary conditions gave rise to outbreaks of typhus, smallpox and typhoid fever which killed many, including over 150 in 1850 alone. Many of these were young children.

In 1851, a flood drove the inhabitants from their dugouts destroying the structures and displacing the families, scattering their furniture and livestock and forcing the miners and their families from their free accommodation into rented cottages like those in Paxton Square. In 1860 the dugouts were virtually deserted. They were confirmed as a State Heritage Place on 24th July 1980.

Was Johnny a dugout dweller? Was he a miner or a mascot? The next challenge has another clue to help you discover the answer.

A brewery right here in Burra!

Built in 1873 the Unicorn Brewery consisted of a tall malting tower, cellars, offices, cooper's workshop, a steam engine and boiler to operate the pumps and a manager's residence.

The steps in brewing beer were: malting, mashing and fermentation of the key ingredients – grains (mainly barley), hops, yeast and water. But it’s complicated, requiring the right temperatures and the right combinations of ingredients to get it right. Ales and stouts were the most popular beers and were stored in massive forty-gallon or 180 litre hogsheads (or barrels) in seven large underground cellars. They were dark and cool and the constant temperature aided its preservation.

At its peak the brewery supplied beer to 25% of South Australia. However due to new licensing laws introduced at the turn of the 19th century, the brewery closed in 1902 and the buildings demolished for their stone. The cellars, storeroom, manager's residence and walls of the brewery block still remain though and have been recently restored.

Complete the challenges on the screens below and the answer you have been seeking will soon be revealed!