Citation report - Victoria's Planning Schemes

Description
The railway cutting extends for 800 metres between Coventry Street and Bridport Street, corresponding,
approximately, to the portion of railway line between what are now the South Melbourne and Albert Park
light rail stations. The cutting is crossed at Dorcas Street, Bank Street and Park Street by three bluestone
bridges of identical design. Each of these comprises, at the lower level, a central segmental-arched opening
with rock-faced voussoirs, flanked by smoother battered piers, and thence by rock-faced abutments. The
upper level, with smoother ashlar masonry, is delineated by two projecting courses of smooth-faced
stonework. On the inside of this wall, facing the road, the stonework has a bush-hammered finish with a
smooth border, and there are some iron spike railings. The bridge closest to South Melbourne station also
has an engraved panel bearing the name of the original engineer, William Elsdon, and the date 1857.
The steeply sloping sides of the railway cutting are grassed, and there are also a number of mature pepper
trees (Schinus molle, a ubiquitous element along railway reserves such as these) and other plantings. A
number of buildings have been erected alongside the railway cutting, variously fronting Ferrars Street or
Ferrars Place. The scout hall, on Ferrars Place near Bridport Street, is a utilitarian red brick structure with
buttress-like brick piers and a broad gabled roof. The premises of the South Melbourne Cycle Club at 335-
337 Ferrars Street is a red brick building, apparently of Edwardian or inter-war vintage, which is enlivened by
rendered stringcourses, scotia cornices and flat-arched windows with steel-framed casement sashes. There
is also row of townhouses, of quite recent origin, at 339-349 Ferrars Street.
History
The first railway line in the present-day City of Port Phillip, and also the first public steam train service in
Australia, was the 2¼ mile (3.6 kilometre) link between Sandridge Pier to Flinders Street, which was laid out
from 1852 by the Melbourne & Hobson’s Bay Railway Company. This opened on 12 September 1854 and
such was its success over the next twelve months that the company, having returned an eight percent
dividend to its shareholders, decided to erect a branch line to St Kilda. A public meeting was held in
December 1855 to consider possible routes; A proposal to locate the line to the south and west of the hill
was rejected by residents, who considered that it would hinder their access to the beach, and it was
subsequently decided that the line should be on the east of the hill, along Moray Street. Early the following
year, this option was also dropped when a select committee deemed it too expensive. Instead, it was
decided that the new line should neither follow the east or west of the hill but, rather to extend through the
centre of it, parallel to Ferrars Street.
Construction of the branch line commenced in Spring 1856, with 200 workmen under the direction of the
company engineer, William Elsdon, who had replaced its original engineer, James Moore, in December
1854. The new line turned off the main Sandridge railway soon after the Flinders Street terminus, extending
3 miles (4.8 kilometres) to a purpose-built station building on Fitzroy Street. Completion of the project was
delayed due to difficulties with the original contractor, who was eventually replaced by another from Sydney,
and the new line opened on 13 May 1857. Over the next few years, the Melbourne & Hobson’s Bay Railway
Company upgrading both of its lines, which included the duplication of tracks and the opening of new
stations. On the St Kilda branch, stations were opened at Emerald Hill (now South Melbourne) in September
1858, and at Butts (now Albert Park) in November 1860.
Thematic Context
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
The railway cutting at South Melbourne can be compared to a small number of similar cuttings in the inner
metropolitan area. In terms of its early date, it is most comparable to the cutting that runs between Windsor
Station and Alma Road, East St Kilda. The railway line between Windsor and North Brighton opened on 19
December 1859, being part of a longer route to Brighton Beach that was laid out by the St Kilda & Brighton
Railway Company, in several stages, from 1858. The cutting, which is approximately 600 metres long,
bisects Alma Park and includes the road bridges at Chapel Street and Dandenong Road. The cutting retains
some historic infrastructure, including red brick bridges and retaining walls (within the City of Stonnington),
while the portion through Alma Park (within the City of Port Phillip) is delineated by rows of mature pepper
trees. While this cutting is clearly of some aesthetic and value, it is of a curving form and thus lacks the
continuous vista qualities that are so strongly evident at South Melbourne. A second cutting, in the portion
between Hotham Street and Elsternwick Station, is straighter but shorter (about 500 metres), and this is
located within the City of Glen Eira.
Other railway cuttings in the inner suburbs also tend to be of curved profile, and are generally shorter, and of
more recent origin, than the example at South Melbourne. The cutting between Brewster Street and
Glenbervie station in Essendon, which dates from 1872, is about 500 metres long and is also of a gently