A significant geological feature in the area is the Barfold Gorge, a four-kilometre-long gorge which is up to 80 metres deep and has two waterfalls, basalt columns and a lava cave.[6]
History
For thousands of years, the Barfold area had been inhabited by the DjadjawurrungAboriginal people.
Consequently, Yaldwyn arranged a lease of about 60,000 acres of grazing land from the government in Sydney, for an annual fee of ten pounds. He named the run Barfold, after Barfold-under-Beacon, in Sussex, England, which was part of his estate there.
Coppock drove 4000 sheep from the Goulburn area to set up the run. The occupation of their land by Europeans was resisted by the Djadjawurrung, who regularly scattered flocks of sheep and killed them for food. That often led to harsh reprisals from the white settlers.
In June 1838, two assigned convict shepherds were found dead and 1200 sheep were missing. Coppock assembled a group of about 20 men from Barfold and nearby properties. The armed and mounted party tracked the Djadjawurrung to their camp in a gully now known as Waterloo Plains. The posse carried out a surprise night attack on the Djadjawurrung camp. When it was over, between eight and 23 Djadjawurrung were dead and others wounded. Two of the attackers sustained minor injuries.[7]
The Chief Protector of Aborigines in the Port Phillip District, George Augustus Robinson noted in his journal:
They fired from their horses; the blacks were down in the hole. They were out of distance of spears. One old man kept supplying them with spears and was soon shot. Great many were shot. Some other blacks held up pieces of bark to keep off the balls but it was no use. Some were shot dead with their bark in their hands.[8]
in 1839, Yaldwyn sold Barfold to Thomas Thorneloe, the managing partner of a syndicate including John Montagu and Sir George Arthur, a former Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land. Yaldwyn Road in Kyneton is named after him.
A Barfold post office opened on 1 November 1861, some distance to the south of the present township. It was renamed Langley in 1867 when a new Barfold office was renamed from Emberton, which had been open a few months. It closed in 1957, as did Langley in 1970.[9]
The Barfold sign now mounted on the public hall was originally the station sign at Barfold railway station, which was on the Redesdale railway line. The station opened with the line in January 1891, and closed with the line in 1954.[10]
^Clark, Ian D., ed. (2000). The journals of George Augustus Robinson, chief protector, Port Phillip Aboriginal Protectorate: Volume 1. Melbourne: Heritage Matters. ISBN1876404140.
