It is a short creek, less than 35 miles long. "Rivulet" means a small stream of water and the Winburndale stream is certainly that.

It starts below Napoleon Reef and eventually flows into the Macquarie River.

The area really came to the notice of many when gold was found by a prospector cutting over to the Turon River to prospect for gold.

He found his gold on the Winburndale Creek about five miles below Brucedale, the residence of W.H. Suttor.

He decided to keep his find quiet, but the news got out when the Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal reported in October 1851 on the "very promising diggings that had been discovered in the lower portion of the Winburndale Creek".

The newspaper went on: "There are about a dozen people at work, who are procuring a coarse description of gold in considerable quantities. Mr. Suttor, who has recently visited the place, informs us that the men were procuring more or less out of every bucket of earth. From appearances, he had no doubt that gold would be procured there in as greater quantity as at the Turon."

With the location of gold on Winburndale disclosed, the diggings gradually assumed greater importance.

One gentleman who had considerable practical experience described the country as the "Turon in miniature" and spoke confidently of the prospects of the place.

A year after the initial story. the Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal reported that most of the diggers were doing well.

In some of the more fortunate instances, as much as 4 or 5 ozs. of gold was being procured daily.

The parties at work were scattered over a large tract of land, the intermediate areas having been only very imperfectly explored.

They went on: "The truth with regard to our auriferous lands is, that we have either too much space or too little population and until supplied with the latter very necessary commodity, either by direct immigration or the overflowings from the Victorian diggings, we shall never know the extent of our gold fields or the probable amount of wealth they contain. One point has turned out very well on the Winburndale diggings, several of the claims having remunerated the parties working them with 3 and 4 ozs. per day for some time."

The reporter was told that the gold was becoming exhausted.

He concluded that as a matter of necessity, the gold country is more thickly occupied and the Winburndale diggings will probably produce a considerable amount of the precious metal.

Despite the prediction about the Winburndale Creek, it still had prospectors in the 1890s.

One area was situated near the bridge in front of Herbert Suttor's wool shed, and in the paddock surrounded by the two-rail fence on the right-hand side of the road.

The land had been prospected years ago, but was abandoned on account of the water. It was about 150 yards from Winburndale Creek.

It was thought that payable gold would be found in the deep ground and would be traced through the Brucedale estate.

Mr. T.A. Smith was the mining warden at Bathurst in 1894 and it was his responsibility to see that licensed prospectors filled up any holes to the satisfaction of the warden.

Prospectors had the right to take up a lease from one to 20 acres on their prospecting licence to look for alluvial gold.