Camp Waterman
A history of the site of Kadampa Meditation Centre.
Camp Waterman has been used to benefit the community for many years. From the mid 1930s the Waterman family welcomed disadvantaged children to their property for holidays before donating the land to a Christian Church in 1944. The family offered the land as a memorial to William Waterman, their son, who went as a missionary to China and died there.
The camp has come a long way since the early days when campers would have to sleep on straw mattresses with no access to running water or other facilities.
Most of the current buildings at Camp Waterman were constructed following the 1960s bushfires. These destroyed the previous buildings which had been constructed Mr Waterman himself. Camp Waterman is one of a number of youth and other camps established in the bush areas of Yarra Ranges Shire during the 1940s.
A great place to get away from it all
In the early days the Camp was run mainly as a Christian camp but in the last decade or so the camp has been used for a variety of different activities.
Most recently the camp has been used by various groups for several purposes these include weddings, sporting functions, orchestral recitals, meditation retreats, seminars, youth camps, backpackers accommodation and family getaways.
The local community have warmly welcomed us into the neighbourhood and are pleased to see that Camp Waterman will continue to be used in the same way it has been for many decades.