Buchan Heritage Group
The Buchan Heritage Group operates out of the historic butter factory, which it is currently restoring in accordance with Heritage Victoria guidelines. Special displays are also featured in the Butter Factory at Easter and Christmas. The group’s archives include audio recordings of community forums on the history of different localities in the Buchan district.
Local attractions:
• Butter Factory c1906
• Buchan Caves (heritage listed)
• Suggan Buggan school house c1865
• Customs House site north of Suggan Buggan
• Black & Allen Survey Line, Victoria-NSW border
• McKillops Bridge 1933
• Murrindal Bridge 1927
• Little River Falls
• Historic High Country locations
Buchan Butter Factory is significant historically at a local level. It may be significant architecturally at a higher level if further research is undertaken. It is a prominently situated building of poured or reinforced (pise?) concrete with a variety of roof styles immediately visible from the Caves Road bridge over the Buchan River on the north side of the town. Built in 1921 to replace an earlier milk processing plant, its site on the edge of the river beside rich grazing flats is a typical location for many Gippsland dairy industry buildings.
It contains many of the elements of early industry architecture, the ventilated ridge roof, cellar dug into the adjoining hillside with elevated platform to ease unloading problems but the materials used, predominantly pressed concrete, are unusual in butter factories.
Later additions follow the 1930’s industrial proforma of saw tooth or gable roofing lines. One of many Gippsland cooperatives which quickly moved into private ownership its erratic trading history, in spite of producing prize winning products, is typical of many similar Gippsland butter factories.