Mill Park dates back to 1841 when George Coulstock named his farm Mill Park after a water driven mill he had begun to build on the Plenty River.
George grew wheat, winning a prize in the first Agricultural Show in 1842.
Coulstock died that same year, leaving the mill unfinished. The business was sold to John Brock. The area then became known as Janefield, a village where Mill Park and other farms were located.
In 1848 the mill was leased to Peter Hurlstone who refitted in order to have twice the capacity of the nearby Carome Mill. It is thought that the Plenty Mill gristed what for local farmers at an agreed price per bushel, small production volume avoiding the need for the mill to store large quantities of what and flour.
The mill closed in 1862 due to water supply problems.
Henry Miller acquired a 640 acre section of Coulstock’s farm which he developed into an estate.
Janefield was the village where Mill Park and various other farms were located. During the early 1850s, Janefield consisted of the Plough Inn, a post office, blacksmith’s shop, church, school and the mill. The mill had closed by the late 1850s but a fine bluestone Presbyterian Church was built in 1861.
The Morang Roads Board had also installed a tollgate near the Plough Inn to raise funds from travellers using the Upper Plenty Road, as it was then known. Today it is named Plenty Road.
By the late 1870s Millers Mill Park Estate had grown to over 3000 acres.
The district remained a rural community till the 1970s when the development of the Mill Park Estate began.
Want more? read Andrew Parkins’ Coulstock’s Mill Research Report
Image: Coulstock’s Mill, Janefield, 1855 by J.B. Henderson from National Library of Australia
