House Cleaning Services in Patterson Lakes

After the melting of the last great ice age, sea levels were 1–2 metres higher than today. When sea levels subsided to their current levels, fresh water from the Dandenong Ranges flowed into low-lying regions. Carrum Carrum Swamp, an extensive coastal wetland, was created, encompassing an area some 5,000 hectares from present-day Mordialloc to Frankston and inland towards Dandenong.

Prior to European discovery, the Patterson Lakes area was populated by Indigenous Australians known as the Kulin people. Inhabitants in the area were from the Bunurong language group, of the Mayone-Bulluk clan. Both the Mayone-Bulluk and Ngaruk-Willam clans would meet in the area of Dandenong often to hold ceremonies and trade. These gatherings were often attended by guests from other Bunurong clans or from neighbouring tribes, such as the Wathaurung and the Wurundjeri clans from the Woiwurong. As with most indigenous people of the world, Mayone-Bulluk cultural, ceremonial and spiritual life was dictated by the seasonal availability of natural resources. Through thousands of years of observation Bunurong People were able to predict the availability of their seasonal resources by certain changes in plant growth and animal behaviour.

Europeans first set foot in nearby Frankston as early as 1803, thirty-two years before the founding of Melbourne (the first major European settlement in the then Port Phillip District). A commemorative plaque near the mouth of Kananook Creek marks the location of where Charles Grimes and his party went ashore searching for fresh water, and met with approximately 30 local inhabitants.

Early development was hampered by poor soils, distance from the Melbourne city centre, and the existence of a major swamp occupying much of the area between Mordialloc and Seaford.

In 1866 the Carrum Carrum Swamp was surveyed and the land between Mordialloc Creek and Keast Park in Seaford was divided into 18 allotments and sold by auction for around three pounds per acre. In 1871 the government opened it for selection. The swamp was an impediment to the settlers and there was much discussion on how to reclaim the land, the first contracts for drainage works commenced in 1873. Attempts to reclaim the lower swamplands were ineffective. In 1876 it was decided to cut a 10-metre wide channel to Port Phillip Bay. It was to be known as ‘Patterson Cut’ and had been named after a State Parliamentarian – the Hon. J.B. Patterson. In 1876 the area that is now occupied by Patterson Lakes was owned by Kate and Henry Woodward,(HRW Woodward and Sons) who used the area for holding pastures for livestock. In the early 1970s some 200 acres of this area was subdivided by the Woodward family into Melbourne’s first subdivision around artificial lakes. Other occupants of the area were the Priestly family who had landholdings either side of the Patterson River and ran a marina just east of what is now Pier One Drive. The Fitzgerald family ran a horse riding centre on the north-east corner of Thompsons Road and Old Wells Road on land that is now owned by Melbourne Water. The Walker family also owned some of the southernmost land bordering Eel Race Creek at one stage.

The suburb of Patterson Lakes was to be located in Carrum on what was originally part of the Carrum Carrum Swamp. The Carrum Carrum Swamp was drained in 1879 when the Patterson Cut, and other drainage measures were undertaken to prevent flooding of the Eumemmering Creek, which overflowed into the Carrum Carrum Swamp. The mouth of the Patterson Cut was mostly only open during the winter months, so heavy spring and summer rains often caused flooding to properties on the edge of the swamp area. Flood damage as far north as Edithvale often occurred. The only remnants of the Carrum Carrum Swamp now form the Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands (a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance.)