BURIED TREASURE -

Sam Chalwell died on November 1st 1965 but he left behind an enduring mystery that tells of shipwrecks and buried gold.

Sometime after moving from Victoria to East Rockingham, Sam met a man named Harry McCoy who told Sam that there was enough gold buried in East Rockingham to drive a man mad and that it would be found under a circle of stones.

The treasure was said to have originated from the plunder of Lima but the source of the tales is unclear as are the origins of Harry McCoy.

While hunting for rabbits in the Naval Base area, Sam discovered a cave. The entrance was barely large enough for a man to crawl through but he managed to squeeze inside. A short tunnel led to a open space large enough to stand in with a flat sandy floor. It was here that Sam discovered metal platters and various objects stacked against the cave walls. he had no light so could only use a sense of touch to identify what he found.

Because of the difficulty of the crawl he could not bring any items out and for whatever reason he seems to have forgotten the location of the cave and never managed to find it again.

While digging a well on his property Sam dug up what he thought was gold. It turned out to be mica but Sam was convinced that somewhere close by was a hoard of buried gold.

Sam met a 'gold diviner' who found a spot where he claimed gold would be found and Sam started digging. He continued digging at that site for 2 months and despite making a large hole, no gold was discovered.

While doing some stone quarrying on his property, Sam discovered what appeared to be a pattern of stones laid out on the ground. As Sam uncovered more of the stones it became clear that they were laid out in the shape of a man. He became convinced that they were a sign of some sort that would lead him to hidden treasure.

Sam removed the stones and began excavating beneath them. Another layer of stones was found and he kept digging until he reached the water table at which point he had to abandon the hole.

One of the stones uncovered had a six pointed star engraved on it but the meaning of this has never been determined.

The story of the stone figure appears to be more than just folk-lore as it appeared in the Western Mail on August 25th 1949.

Sam died without uncovering his buried treasure and his property at lot 777 Day Road, East Rockingham has managed to retain its secrets.

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