How Chilling Works Road got its name
The Chilling Works Road connects the Milvale (Temora) Road with the Henry Lawson Way (Grenfell Road) crossing the railway line at the Burrangong Siding.
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It was called Chilling Works Road as a Chilling works was built here in the early 1890’s.The road joins the Milvale Road at Poverty Gully, crosses Burrangong Creek and the Demondrille to Blayney rail line and meets the Henry Lawson Way at the Maimuru Rail Siding.
The site of the works was beside Burrangong Creek past where Forbes Lane meets the Chilling Works Road on land now owned by the Donges family.
When the operation closed down the buildings were sold for removal and the land sold by auction , nothing remains of the old freezing works except possibly some concrete slabs.
Nearby, and on both sides of the railway line, is evidence of extensive gold sluicing which was carried out in the area during the latter part of the gold rush period. New Zealand Gully runs into the Burrangong Creek In this area.
It had been suggested that a meat chilling works should be established at Young to handle the increasing sheep and lamb population.
In 1891 when a meat chilling engineer, Robert Hudson, was visiting Goulburn he was invited to come to Young and address a community meeting of local representatives of the pastoral, agricultural and professional fraternity of Young and district .
As a result a group was formed called The Young and District Meat Export and Storage Company on September 5, 1891, and an interim board of directors was appointed.
It was decided at the first meeting to obtain a site and call tenders to erect a works capable of handling 600 sheep a day.
This was found to be too costly and it was decided to erect a works capable of handling 300 per day and to cost £3500. This building was completed and chilling commenced in 1893.
The operation was on a 30 acre site with a railway siding which was situated between the Burrangong Railway Siding and Maimuru Siding.
The company began operation handling 2000 carcases a week, this was increased quickly to 4000. Freezing of sheep and cattle was not as profitable as first expected. With the rabbit plague in full swing at the time it was decided to turn to freezing rabbits for export and this had good results.
In 1909 the works reopened to freeze lambs for export but eventually got into financial difficulties and were acquired by the Pastoral Finance Association.
This group conducted business for a few years and then closed. It was then leased by the Country Freezing Works to freeze rabbits, turkeys and fat lambs. Rabbit numbers decreased and this eventually brought about the closure of the business in 1923.
The information regarding the Meat Chilling Works in this article was sourced from “Rich Earth” by William A. Bayley, History of Young and the Shire of Burrangong