Scarred Trees - Stratford, Gippsland, VIC

Located on a service road off the Princes Highway, two scarred trees are evident, both still living.  The service road can be found some 350 m north of the old railway bridge which crosses the highway – the service road follows the course of the old Princes Highway, leading to the site of the former road bridge at Stratford, in Victoria – though now inaccessible . . .

Scarred trees resulted from the removal of an entire slab of bark from a tree.  The process was exercised with great skill and care as a split sheet of bark was all but useless.  The trees remain forever scarred as the bark cannot regrow on the exposed sapwood.  The exposed sapwood will eventually weather, crack and erode, resulting the scarred trees that are still evident today.  Toe holds are also often still visible.  They were crafted to enable the Aborigines to climb to higher reaches for look-outs, to hunt possums or to collect bee hives.

The bark sheets had many uses such as the creation of bark canoes, shields, infant carriers, bowls , water carriers and Gunyahs (bark huts).

The tree with the larger scar would suggest the bark may have been used for a bark canoe or hut, whereas the tree with the multiple scars would indicate the bark was utilised for smaller purposes such as shields, infant carriers, bowls , water carriers.

Aboriginal Bark Canoe

Helpful Hints:

– Close proximity to Town Centre – obtain Directions here

– Car Parking available along Hobson Street

– Other Historical POI’s in Stratford 

– Museums

– History Tours

– Facilities available at Stratford