Vol 2 Heritage Policy Citation Review - City of Greater Bendigo

City of Greater Bendigo, Heritage Policy Citations Project Lovell Chen, 2010 

Name House (former St Francis 

Xavier Catholic Church) 

Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

CF01 

Address 10 Mulvahil Road, Woodvale 1 Map reference VicRoads 44 D3 

Building type Private residence Survey date July 2010 (external 

inspection only, visibility 

restricted) 

Date of 

construction 

1935 Recommendation Include in the Schedule to 

the Heritage Overlay 

Significance The former St Francis Xavier Catholic Church built in 1935, is of local historical 

significance. 

Left: St Francis Xavier, date unknown, c. 1930s (Source: Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way 

it Was, Volume 1, p. 263). Right, North elevation, 2010. 

Left: East elevation; note red brick addition. Right: East elevation, from the Loddon Valley Highway. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). Right: Proposed extent of the Heritage 

Overlay, with the subject site shown as CF01. 

Intactness Good Fair Poor 

1


History 

Campbell’s Forest was named after Donald and Roderick Campbell, the first squatters on the Bullock 

Creek, who had taken up the ‘Weddikar Run’ before 1845, after which it was taken on by Messrs 

Nicholson and Thomas Myers. This partnership was dissolved on 23 July 1849, when the run was 

transferred to William and Thomas Myers. The population of the Campbell’s Forest area was never 

large: as late as the mid-1880s, it numbered less than 50. This more than doubled, however, when 

the area was opened up for selection in 1910. 2 

On 18 July 1873, two acres of Crown allotment 1A, section 4, Parish of Nerring, south of Campbell’s 

Forest, was set aside for the construction of St Francis Xavier Catholic Church. Patrick Donnellan, a 

farmer from Nerring and Patrick Graham, a Campbell’s Forest publican, were the local representatives 

for the Church. The first confirmation was held at the church in 1925. In 1935 the original church 

was replaced with the present structure. 3 

St Francis Xavier had a large and active congregation until the late 1940s, with a Sunday mass of 55 

in 1949, reflecting the presence in the district of the descendants of early Irish Catholic pioneers. 

Each year parishioners entered a float in the St Patrick's Day procession in Eaglehawk. The church 

was widely known for its annual balls and concerts, held in the Campbell's Forest hall. The 

congregation declined gradually from the 1950s. Father John Leahy presided over the last mass on 1 

February 1971. 4 

The building was sold to Des Clark of Bendigo on 17 February 1978 and subsequently to Kevin and 

Judith Smith in 1981. 5 In 1985 Peter Bray undertook works to convert it into a residence. 6 

Victoria’s Framework of Historical Themes 

Victoria’s themes and sub-themes: 

8.1: Maintaining spiritual life 

Description & Integrity 

(The following description is limited due to the restricted visibility of the building from the main road 

frontage, including restricted views of the side elevations, and of the rear.) 

The former St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, built in 1935, is a vernacular Gothic-influenced timber 

church with ‘bungalow’ and Arts and Crafts touches. It is located on a large allotment to the east of 

the Loddon Valley Highway. The original building is essentially T shaped in plan with a small gable 

ended porch to the front (north) and projecting transepts (or porches) at the south. Although adapted 

to residential use, the church retains its original nave and side and front porches. 

The aerial photograph included above indicates that additions have been added to both the east and 

west sides of the building, apparently enveloping (or partly enveloping) the original building 

elevations. The west addition(s) is not visible from the street, and views of the east addition are also 

limited, but some description is included below. 

The walls of the church are clad with bull nosed weatherboards and asbestos cement sheeting. The 

weatherboards are generally painted white, with the asbestos sheeting painted green. The timber 

framed windows are lancet-arched. It is possible that the original side walls associated with the east 

and west additions have been partially removed/penetrated to open up to the additions . 

A triangular window with six lights in a radial arrangement around a central glazed bullseye is located 

to the north gable end, over the front porch. The glazed bullseye features the lettering ‘HIS’ in 

leadlight work 7 ; the leadlight to the six surrounding lights have simple diamond patterns. 

The works to the east include a brick structure (wall) which begins at the front porch and continues 

along the east elevation. It may incorporate an enclosed outdoor space. The transept at the east end 

also appears to have been clad (or reconstructed) in brick. To the east side of the front porch an 

2


awning has been added, with a plain fascia; this cuts across the lancet window so that the top light 

reads as a curved triangle above the awning, and as a simple double-hung sash below. 

The ridge-mounted crosses, evident in the historic image above, have been removed. The origins of 

the church are remembered in a sign fixed to a timber board facing Mulvahil Road reading ‘St Francis 

Xavier Catholic Church’. 

Comparative Analysis 

The former St Francis Xavier Catholic Church is typical of many timber churches in small rural 

communities. These changed little in various respects between the 1870s and World War II, with 

most having a small or medium sized church facing the road directly in front and an open and informal 

landscape setting surrounding the building. Common elements include lancet windows, weatherboard 

walling, and timber roofs clad in corrugated galvanised steel. The Wesleyan Church at Poowong, near 

Korumburra in central Gippsland is very similar in its original form but is much earlier (1878; 

transepts 1890). 8 The former St Francis Xavier Catholic Church is also one of the few surviving 

timber churches in the City of Greater Bendigo. 

The distinct bungalow and Arts and Crafts touches are of interest and include the weatherboard 

walling set off with cement sheet and battens in the upper gabling, generating a half-timbered effect. 

Triangular windows are also employed as a motif in this church, either as fanlights to form lancets 

from otherwise double-hung sash windows in the porch and nave sides, or as complete triangles, 

either with a flat base, as over the porch, or equilateral (as in the front gable). 

Although chronologically quite late in use for this building (1935), not as successfully employed, and 

subsequently modified by adaptation works, the ‘bungalow’ and arts and crafts influences apparent 

here correspond with Lorne Presbyterian Church (1911) and Carnegie Methodist Church (1914), 9 

Mount Pleasant Uniting Church in Nunawading (1917), St George’s Anglican Flemington (1923), and 

Balwyn Church of Christ (1926). 10 The Campbell’s Forest church is also comparatively large, its 

volume being closer to suburban Protestant churches of the inter-war period. The Anglican Church in 

Marong (1871) has a similar curved triangle in its west gable. 

Assessment Against Criteria 

Amended Heritage Victoria Criteria 

Criterion A: Importance to the course, or pattern, of the City of Greater Bendigo’s cultural history. 

The former St Francis Xavier Catholic Church built in 1935, is of historical significance for its capacity 

to recall the religious life of the Catholic community in the area. The church had a large and active 

congregation until the late 1940s, a legacy of the presence in the district of the early Irish Catholic 

pioneers and their descendants. The site, south of Campbell’s Forest, was selected as the location of 

the Catholic place of worship as early as 1873. The present church was built in 1935, replacing the 

original structure. St Francis Xavier’s is also one of the more substantial historic properties remaining 

in the settlement of Campbell’s Forest and provides evidence of the settlement’s early twentieth 

century heyday. 

Criterion B: Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the City the of Greater Bendigo’s 

cultural history. 

The former St Francis Xavier Catholic Church is believed to be a rare surviving timber church building 

in the municipality. 

Criterion C: Potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the City of 

Greater Bendigo’s cultural history. 

N/A 

Criterion D: Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural places or 

objects. 

N/A 

3


Criterion E: Importance in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics in the context of the 

municipality. 

The former church, in its original form, was a well executed timber building in the vernacular Gothic 

mode, which successfully incorporated ‘bungalow’ and Arts and Crafts touches. However, the 

modifications to the building, to adapt it to residential use, have impacted on its original form, and 

also on some of the original detailing. While it is recognised that the church is one of the few 

surviving timber churches in the City of Greater Bendigo, the degree of alteration has detracted from 

the aesthetic significance of the building. 

Criterion F: Importance in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a 

particular period. 

N/A 

Criterion G: Strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, 

cultural or spiritual reasons. This includes the significance of the place to Indigenous peoples as part 

of their continuing and developing cultural traditions. 

N/A 

Criterion F: Special association with life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in 

the City of Greater Bendigo’s history. 

N/A 

Statement of Significance 

What is significant? 

The former St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, south of Campbell’s Forest, is a Gothic-influenced 

timber church that incorporates ‘bungalow’ and Arts and Crafts touches. Since the cessation of 

services at the church in 1971, the building has been adapted to a private residence, a process that 

has resulted in extensive alterations. The church was built in 1935, replacing an earlier place of 

worship on the same site. The previous church dated to 1873. St Francis Xavier’s is one of the more 

substantial historic properties remaining in the settlement of Campbell’s Forest and provides evidence 

of the settlement’s early twentieth century heyday. The property also demonstrates the religious life 

of the Catholic community in the area, which formed a large and active congregation from the 1870s 

until its gradual decline from the late 1940s. 

How is it significant? 

The former St Francis Xavier Catholic Church built in 1935, is of local historical significance. 

Why is it significant? 

The former St Francis Xavier Catholic Church is of local historical significance (Criterion A) for its 

capacity to recall the religious life of the Catholic community in the area. The church had a large and 

active congregation until the late 1940s, a legacy of the presence in the district of the early Irish 

Catholic pioneers and their descendants. The site, south of Campbell’s Forest, was selected as the 

location of the Catholic place of worship as early as 1873. The present church was built in 1935, 

replacing the original structure. St Francis Xavier’s is also one of the more substantial historic 

properties remaining in the settlement of Campbell’s Forest and provides evidence of the settlement’s 

early twentieth century heyday. The former church, in its original form, was a well executed timber 

building in the vernacular Gothic mode, which successfully incorporated ‘bungalow’ and Arts and 

Crafts touches. However, the modifications to the building, to adapt it to residential use, have 

impacted on its original form, and also on some of the original detailing. While it is recognised that 

the church is one of the few surviving timber churches in the City of Greater Bendigo (Criterion B), the 

degree of alteration has detracted from the aesthetic significance of the building. 

4


Recommendations 

The property is recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo Heritage Overlay. 

The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map, although the significant elements are 

confined to the original church building, an area of curtilage around the building (typically in the order 

of five to ten metres), and the front setback to the building from the road frontage. The various nonoriginal 

additions and alterations to the building are not significant. 

External Paint Colours No 

Internal Alterations Controls No 

Tree Controls No 

Outbuildings and fences exemptions No 

Victorian Heritage Register No 

Prohibited uses may be permitted No 

Incorporated plan No 

Aboriginal heritage place No 

Identified By 

Andrew Ward, 1998. 

References 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castleton Publishers, 2003. 

Ray Wallace, Shades of the Past: A History of Campbells Forest and Yarraberb, Back To Committee, 

1993. 

Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. 

Specific: 

1 

Address changed from Mulvahil Road, Campbell's Forest, Heritage Policy Citations 

Review, 2011. November 2011. 

2 

See, Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castleton Publishers, 

2003, p. 257, and Anon., Shire of Marong 1864-1964, unpaginated. 

3 


2003, p. 265. 

4 

Ray Wallace, Shades of the Past: A History of Campbells Forest and Yarraberb, Back To 

Committee, 1993, pp.52-54. 

5 

Pers comm., Kevin Smith and Ray Wallace (historian), November, 1992 

6 

Pers comm, Peter Bray, interview with Andrew Ward and Ray Wallace, June, 1998. 

7 

‘HIS’ (Iesous Hominum Salvator) is a monogram used by the Roman Catholic Church, meaning 

‘Jesus, saviour of man’. Catholic Encyclopaedia online, www.newadvent.org 

8 

Miles Lewis (ed, contrib), Victorian Churches, National Trust, Melbourne, 1991, p. 131, item 

307. 

9 

Miles Lewis (ed, contrib), Victorian Churches, National Trust, Melbourne, 1991, pp. 65, item 70 

(Carnegie); 156, item 405 (Lorne). 

10 

The bungalow influence on Melbourne Churches is outlined by C Hamann in ‘Architecture’, in 

Andrew Brown-May and Shurlee Swain (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Melbourne, Cambridge, 

Melbourne, 2006, p. 31. 

5


Name ‘Bob the Shepherd's Hill’ 

Address CA 4A Loddon Valley 

Highway, north of the 

intersection with Derby 

Road, Woodvale 1 


Marong Study 

CF2 

Map reference VicRoads 44 D3 

Building type N/A Survey date July 2010 

Date N/A Recommendation Not recommended for the 

Schedule to the Heritage 

Overlay 

Significance ‘Bob the Shepherd's Hill’ is not of local heritage significance, and is not 

recommended for inclusion in the Heritage Overlay. 

Looking south from the crest of ‘Bob the Shepherd's Hill’. 

Looking north towards ‘Bob the Shepherd's Hill’. 

1


Left: Aerial view, 2010, with the approximate area of ‘Bob the Shepherd's Hill’ indicated (City of 

Greater Bendigo). 


History 

Campbell’s Forest was named after Donald and Roderick Campbell, the first squatters on the Bullock 

Creek, who had taken up the Crown land ‘Weddikar Run’ before 1845, after which it was taken on by 

Messrs Nicholson and Thomas Myers. This latter partnership dissolved on 23 July 1849, when it was 

transferred to William and Thomas Myers. 2 The site known as ‘Bob the Shepherd's Hill’ in Campbell’s 

Forest, is a low rise in the landscape located approximately eight kilometres north of Eaglehawk. It 

was reputedly used by shepherds working the ‘Weddikar Run’, particularly during prolonged wet 

weather. Sheep grazing on the elevated ground were less susceptible to footrot than those kept on 

the lower-lying flats. The use of shepherds on the big pastoral runs declined from the 1850s with the 

advent of the gold rushes; the original runs were also gradually broken up (subdivided) and sold or 

leased in smaller allotments from the 1860s, through a series of land acts in Victoria. The name of 

the elevated site, as 'Bob the Shepherd's Hill' has survived in local memory. 3 



2.3: Adapting to diverse environments 

4.3: Grazing and raising livestock 


‘Bob the Shepherd's Hill’ forms a low wooded rise in undulating countryside approximately eight 

kilometres north of Eaglehawk. It is bisected by the Loddon Valley Highway. The area is partially 

located on road reserve and on private property to either side. To the west the land is largely devoid 

of trees and used as arable pasture; to the east it is lightly wooded. Expansive views are available 

from the hill to the south and east. No physical evidence of early shepherding practices has been 

identified. Local oral tradition suggests that the remains of a shepherd's hut may survive on the hill. 

However, this has not been confirmed and would require an archaeological survey and investigation to 

clarify. 

2



‘Bob the Shepherd’s Hill’ is an example of an ‘associative landscape,’ described by Heritage Victoria as, 

‘often intangible … [these] can be largely natural, apparently unmodified landscapes with associated 

cultural values’. 4 There are no directly comparable examples of landscapes in the municipality, as far 

as the authors of this citation are aware, which retain an acknowledged historical association with 

shepherding. However, given the presence of a number of pastoral runs in the region in the pre- 

1850s period, it can be assumed that elevated landforms generally would have been similarly used by 

shepherds, and run managers, to manage sheep flocks in wet weather. 


Amended Heritage Victoria Criteria (based on Heritage Victoria Landscape Assessment Criteria, 

updated January 2009) 


‘Bob the Shepherd's Hill’ is of historical interest as a landscape linked in name with the pre-gold rush 

era, when this area was associated with pastoral use and the old ‘Weddikar Run’. The low rise, 

approximately eight kilometres north of Eaglehawk at the south of Campbell’s Forest, was reputedly 

used by shepherds working the ‘Weddikar Run’ in wet weather. The name of the elevated site, as 

'Bob the Shepherd's Hill' has also, unusually, survived in local memory, although it is assumed that 

other local elevated landforms would have been similarly used by shepherds, and run managers, to 

manage sheep flocks in wet weather. 



The authors of this report are not aware of any directly comparable examples of landscapes in the 

municipality which retain an acknowledged historical association with shepherding. However, given 

the presence of a number of pastoral runs in this region prior to the 1850s, it can be assumed that 

elevated landforms would have been similarly used by shepherds and run managers to manage sheep 

flocks in wet weather. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

N/A 



N/A 




N/A 

3




N/A 


‘Bob the Shepherd's Hill’ is of historical interest as a landscape linked in name with the pre-gold rush 

era, when this area was associated with pastoral use and the old ‘Weddikar Run’. The low rise, 

approximately eight kilometres north of Eaglehawk at the south of Campbell’s Forest, was reputedly 

used by shepherds working the ‘Weddikar Run’ in wet weather. The name of the elevated site, as 

'Bob the Shepherd's Hill' has also, unusually, survived in local memory, although it is assumed that 

other local elevated landforms would have been similarly used by shepherds, and run managers, to 

manage sheep flocks in wet weather. 


The place is not recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay of the City of 

Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme. While the landscape element has historical interest, largely due to 

the survival of the name in local memory, the hill itself has no known physical remains associated with 

the shepherding or pastoral run history. It is also considered to be highly likely that there are other 

local elevated landforms which were similarly used to manage sheep flocks in wet weather. 

Identified By 


References 


Ray Wallace, Shades of the Past: A History of Campbells Forest and Yarraberb, Back To Committee, 

1993. 


Specific: 

1 

Address changed from Loddon Valley Highway (north of Derby Road intersection), 

Campbell's Forest, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 2011. 

2 


2003, p. 257, and Anon., Shire of Marong 1864-1964, unpaginated. 

3 

The name, ‘Bob the Shepherd’s Hill,’ was recalled by a number of elderly residents of the area 

during the heritage study survey carried out during the 1990s. Pers comm, Ray Wallace 

(historian), and Adam Mornement (Lovell Chen), 9 August 2010. See also, Ray Wallace, 

Shades of the Past: Campbell's Forest and Yarraberb, Campbell's Forest and Yarraberb Back-to 

Committee, 1993, p. 8. 

4 

Heritage Victoria, Landscape Assessment Guidelines, July 2002, updated January 2009. 

4


Name Sandstone dwelling Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 326 Maiden Gully Road, 

California Gully 

CG2 

Map reference VicRoads 607 M2 

Building type Private residence Survey date July 2010 


construction 

1920 (upgraded or rebuilt 

1941) 

Recommendation Not recommended 

for the Schedule to 


Significance The dwelling at 326 Maiden Gully Road is not of local heritage significance, 

and is not recommended for inclusion in the Heritage Overlay. 

Left: North elevation of no. 326 Maiden Gully Road. Right: Verandah. 

Left: West wall. Right: Recent sandstone structure to the west. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 


1


History 

California Gully was one of many early gold fields that supported sizeable tent populations during the 

initial rushes to Bendigo in 1851-52. Significant and more permanent development subsequently took 

place in the area between the 1860s and 1880s. However, with the decline of gold mining in the early 

1900s, and the advent of World War I (1914-1918), the 1930s Depression, and World War II (1939- 

1945), very little housing was built in California Gully until a new burst of albeit limited development 

of the area during the post-war years. 1 

City of Greater Bendigo rate books indicate that a dwelling at 326 Maiden Gully Road was built by 

1920. In 1933, the property was owned by the Carlton and United Breweries. Edward J Yates took 

possession the following year, when the net asset value (NAV) was £3. The NAV increased to £13 

pounds in 1941, suggesting that the property was significantly upgraded or rebuilt at that time. 2 

Edward Yates was a miner, working during the fading years of Bendigo's long period of quartz reef 

mining. The vernacular nature of the present dwelling, and the low cost of the locally available 

materials, suggest that the property was self-built. The rear of the property was damaged during the 

bush fires of 2009. 3 

The Yates family was well-known in the local area, and is also associated with the construction in the 

1930s of number 330 Maiden Gully Road.4 



4.5: Gold mining 

6.8: Living on the fringes 


The property at no. 326 Maiden Gully Road, which is believed to have taken on its present form in 

1941, is a single-storey gable roof bungalow-style dwelling built of local sandstone. It is located on a 

sloping site, within a large allotment. The sandstone walls are coursed, with red brick dressings to the 

openings and corners. The gabled roof is clad with corrugated steel sheet, painted green. The gable 

ends are clad in asbestos cement sheet, with strapping and a central fixed louvred vent, in the 

manner of a Californian bungalow. The street-facing elevation (north) is symmetrical with double 

hung windows flanking a central doorway. The timber door has two glass panels with a glazed 

highlight above. There is an elevated timber posted bull nosed verandah with central ladder frame 

frieze and fretted spandrels (framing the entrance). The floor of the verandah is rough concrete, and 

the brick base is in poor condition. 

The dwelling is in fair condition. 

There are a number of timber additions to the rear of the dwelling, incorporating a brick chimney. 

These were damaged during the 2009 bushfires. A large sandstone building, also with gable ends, of 

more recent construction (c. 1990s) is located to the west of the house. This appears to be a garage 

or store. It has a shallow pitched roof and a double-width timber door. Both structures are set back 

from Maiden Gully Road, behind an open garden. Vegetation, including a variety of mature and semimature 

trees are located around the property. 


The use of locally-available materials in the construction of self-built homes dates to the earliest years 

of settlement in the Bendigo goldfields. Surviving early examples include Tweedside, at 39 Crusoe 

Road, Kangaroo Flat (c. 1856), which was built of locally-made brick for a wealthy migrant, who also 

imported glass sheets for use in his new home. A more contemporary equivalent to the subject 

property, albeit built about ten years later and of mud brick and timber, is no. 330 Maiden Gully Road. 

This property is also believed to have been associated with, and built by, the Yates family. The 

bungalow style of the subject building is also of interest, being a comparatively late example of this 

style in the Victorian context. 

2





The sandstone building at 326 Maiden Gully Road, which took on its present form in 1941, is of some 

historical interest as a late example of a vernacular dwelling built at low cost with local materials by 

miner Edward Yates, a member of the Yates family, well known locally. Its construction maintains a 

long tradition of ingenuity and self-sufficiency established by miners during the early gold rushes of 

the 1850s. The building is also of interest as a property constructed at California Gully during the 

mid-twentieth century, a period of relatively limited construction activitiy coming comparatively late in 

the history of the area, and following the Depression and during World War II. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The sandstone building at 326 Maiden Gully Road is of some, albeit limited, aesthetic value as a 

modest property of vernacular construction that is substantially intact. Properties of similar 

construction, being self-built and using local materials, were relatively common in the Bendigo 

goldfields from the late-1850s, but the subject property is a late example. The bungalow style of the 

subject building is also of interest, being a comparatively late example of this style in the Victorian 

context. 



N/A 




N/A 



The property was upgraded or rebuilt in 1941 by miner Edward Yates. The Yates family was well 

known in the California Gully area. This association is of local interest. 

3



The sandstone building at 326 Maiden Gully Road, upgraded or rebuilt in 1941, is of some historical 

interest as a late example of a vernacular dwelling built by miner Edward Yates, a Yates family, well 

known in the California Gully area. Its construction maintains a long local tradition of ingenuity and 

self-sufficiency established by miners during the early gold rushes of the 1850s. The building is also 

of interest as a property constructed at California Gully during the mid-twentieth century, a period of 

relatively limited local construction activity. The building additionally has some, albeit limited, 

aesthetic value as a modest property of vernacular construction that is substantially intact. Similar 

properties were relatively common in the Bendigo goldfields from the late-1850s, but the subject 

building is a late example. The bungalow-style of the dwelling is also of interest but is a 

comparatively late example of this style in the Victorian context. The association of the dwelling with 

the Yates family is of local interest. 


The property is not recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay of the City of 

Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme. While the building has some historical interest and aesthetic 

value, these attributes of the property are not considered to be of sufficient significance to warrant 

inclusion in the Heritage Overlay. 

External Paint Colours 

Internal Alterations Controls 

Tree Controls 

Outbuildings and fences exemptions 

Victorian Heritage Register 

Prohibited uses may be permitted 

Incorporated plan 

Aboriginal heritage place 

Identified By 


References 



Specific: 

1 City of Greater Bendigo Community Profile, 

http://profile.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=134&pg=101&gid=240&type=enum 

2 Borough of Eaglehawk Rate Books: 1933, 1934-41, cited in ‘Stone House’ citation, Andrew 

Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. 

3 Pers comm, Neil Hunt (property owner) and Adam Mornement (Lovell Chen), 9 July 2010. 

4 Pers comm William Bice and Mrs Ray Bice (former owners of no. 330 Maiden Gully Road) and 

Ray Wallace (historian), 13 August 1998, cited in ‘Former Beale House’ citation, Andrew Ward 

et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. 

4


Name Beale House Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 330 Maiden Gully Road, 

Maiden Gully 1 

CG3 

Map reference Vicroads 607 M2 



construction 

1930s Recommendation Not recommended for 

the Schedule to the 

Heritage Overlay 

Significance The Beale House is not of local heritage significance, and is not recommended for 


Left: West elevation, partially obscured by foliage. Right: East elevation, partially obscured. 



History 

California Gully was one of many early gold fields that supported sizeable tent populations during the 

initial rushes to Bendigo in 1851-52. Significant and more permanent development subsequently took 

place in the area between the 1860s and 1880s. However, with the decline of gold mining in the early 

1900s, and the advent of World War I (1914-1918), the 1930s Depression, and World War II (1939- 

1945), very little housing was built in California Gully until a new burst of limited development in the 

area during the post-war years. 2 The cottage at 330 Maiden Gully Road is unusual in this context as it 

was built for its owner, Mrs Beale, during the Depression of the 1930s. 3 It is built of low cost, locally 

available materials, including mud brick and timber, reflecting the straitened economic climate of the 

period. Mrs Beale was a member of the Yates family, well known in the local area, and also associated 

with the property at no. 326 Maiden Gully Road. 

1






No. 330 Maiden Gully Road, built in the 1930s, is a double-fronted dwelling built of mud brick and 

timber on a sloping triangular site. It has a transverse gable roof, with gable ends, over the original 

(northern) component of the house. The walls to the north component are built of mud brick, with the 

gable ends clad in timber panels fixed horizontally. The walls and gable ends are painted. The roof is 

clad with corrugated sheet steel, painted; there is a brick chimney to the east. The timber posted bull 

nosed verandah is not original. Extensive foliage to the front garden inhibits views of the property. 

However the front elevation appears to be arranged symmetrically, with a central door flanked by 

windows. Additions (date unknown) are incorporated into the rear of the northern component; a 

skillion-roof is also attached to the rear of the original gable. 

The property appears to be in fair condition. 

There are several steel sheet-clad outbuildings/structures on the property, which are of recent origin. 


The use of locally-available materials in the construction of self-built homes dates to the earliest years 

of settlement in the Bendigo goldfields. Surviving early examples include Tweedside, at 39 Crusoe 

Road, Kangaroo Flat (c. 1856), which was built of locally-made brick for a wealthy migrant, who also 

imported glass sheets for use in his new home. A more contemporary equivalent to the subject 

property, albeit built about ten years later of sandstone and brick in the bungalow-style, is no. 326 

Maiden Gully Road. This property is also believed to have been associated with, and built by, the 

Yates family. The simple form and massing of the northern component of the subject building, with 

the transverse gable roof and symmetrical frontage, additionally harks back to earlier dwellings built 

throughout the goldfields. 




The mud brick and timber building at 330 Maiden Gully Road, built in the 1930s, is of some historical 

interest as an example of a vernacular dwelling built at low cost with local materials. As such, it 

maintains a tradition of ingenuity and self-sufficiency established by miners during the early gold 

rushes of the 1850s. The building is also of interest as a property constructed at California Gully 

during the Depression, a period of limited constructed activity. It was constructed by Mrs Beale, a 

member of the well known local Yates family . 





N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

2


The building at 330 Maiden Gully Road is of limited aesthetic value as a modest property of vernacular 

construction which retains its original front (north) building component. Properties of this nature were 

relatively common in the Bendigo goldfields from the late-1850s, although the subject building is a 

relatively late example of its type. The simple form and massing of the northern component of the 

subject building, with the transverse gable roof and symmetrical frontage, also harks back to earlier 

dwellings built throughout the goldfields. 



N/A 




N/A 



The property was built for Mrs Beale, a member of the Yates family, well known in the California Gully 

area. This association is of local interest. 


The 1930s mud brick and timber building at 330 Maiden Gully Road, is of some historical interest as 

an example of a vernacular dwelling built of local materials, which maintains a tradition of ingenuity 

and self-sufficiency established by miners during the early gold rushes of the 1850s. The building is 

also of interest as a property constructed at California Gully during the Depression, a period of limited 

constructed activity, for a member of the well known local Yates family. In addition, the building has 

limited aesthetic value as a modest property of vernacular construction which retains its original front 

(north) building component. Properties of this nature were relatively common in the Bendigo 

goldfields from the late-1850s, although the subject building is a relatively late example of its type. 

The simple form and massing of the northern component of the subject building, with the transverse 

gable roof and symmetrical frontage, also harks back to earlier dwellings built throughout the 

goldfields. The association between the property and Yates family is of local interest. 


The property is not recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay of the City of 

Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme. While the building has some historical interest and aesthetic 

value, these attributes of the property are not considered to be of sufficient significance to warrant 




Tree Controls 






3


Identified By 


References 



Specific: 

1 

Changed from ‘California Gully’, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 

2011. 

2 

City of Greater Bendigo Community Profile, 


3 

Pers comm William Bice and Mrs Ray Bice (former owners of no. 330 Maiden Gully Road) and 

Ray Wallace (historian), 13 August 1998, cited in ‘Former Beale House’ citation, Andrew Ward 

et al, City of Greater Geelong Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. 

4


Name Rosemundy House Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 15 Rosemundy Road, Epsom Map reference VicRoads 604 D6 

Building type Private residence Survey date June 2010 (external 

inspection only) 


construction 

Built in multiple phases from 

1858 

Recommendation Include in the Schedule 

to the Heritage Overlay 

Significance Rosemundy House is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Left: John Goyne’s factory (demolished), undated (Source: Nola Aicken, present owner of the 

property). Right: South elevation of Rosemundy House, with the scullery, c. 1858 at centre, the 

‘gold office’ at right and the west wing, c. 1890s, at left. 

Left: East elevation, the verandahed component at left dates to c. 1867, the facetted bay window to 

the 1890s and the north wing, at right, to 2007. Right: West elevation, 1890s. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010 (City of Greater Bendigo). Right: Proposed Heritage Overlay map. Note, the 

extent of the property boundary and the heritage overlay are indictive only. 

E1 

1



History 

John Goyne (1826-1907) was a Cornishman, born at Rosemundy, St Agnes. He was working as a 

miner by at least the age of 15, and in 1847, he married Catherine Letcher of Truro. 1 In 1853, when 

Goyne departed for the Australian colonies, the couple had four children. It would be 14 years before 

the family was reunited, in Epsom, north of Sandhurst (Bendigo). 2 Goyne followed the diggings from 

Creswick to Ballarat and then to Bendigo. By 1858, he had raised sufficient funds to establish the 

business that later made his fortune. Goyne had noticed that the established process of passing goldbearing 

quartz through gauze wire gratings was inefficient, resulting in significant loss of gold. These 

gratings contained 36 small punctures per square inch. Goyne developed a system that could create 

49 punctures per square inch; the process was ultimately refined to achieve 290 punctures per square 

inch. Manufacture of these quartz stamper components, in the factory on his Epsom property, grew 

into a business that thrived from the 1860s until the 1890s, when quartz reef mining began to slow. 3 

During this period Goyne received orders for his components from all the gold-producing Australian 

colonies, as well as New Zealand, South Africa and Batavia (Indonesia). 4 

The weatherboard factory (see page 1) was located to the south-east of the present house; it was a 

substantial structure comprising flanking bays projecting from a central double-height volume, with a 

tall circular brick chimney at the rear. The factory has been demolished. Goyne’s original house (built 

c. 1858) was a small brick construction at the south of the present house, now known as the scullery. 

As the business prospered, Goyne sent for his wife and children (arriving in 1866 and 1867 

respectively), and the house expanded to the north, with a passage leading from the scullery, 

providing access to bedrooms and reception rooms. At this time, the principal presentation of the 

property was oriented to the east, facing the Bendigo Creek. At its height the property comprised 

eight hectares (20 acres), of which six acres were orchards. 5 As well as the main house, built 

structures at the estate included a laundry, stables (also demolished) and a ‘gold office’. The latter is 

still extant and is assumed to have had an administrative function associated with the factory 

operation, rather than a role involving the storage or holding of gold, or perhaps even a 

household/domestic role, although that would run contrary to its name. Public gold offices or subtreasuries 

were established by the Government across the Victorian goldfields, for the safe storage of 

gold in transit. The building on the subject property was unlikely to have served this purpose, unless 

gold processing (such as quartz crushing) or some form of gold handling occurred here. 

John Goyne was a prominent member of the local community. He was elected to the Huntly Shire 

Council in 1881, becoming shire president in 1883 and 1895. In total he served as a councillor for 15 

years. During the later years of the nineteenth century, and into the twentieth century, Goyne’s son 

Davey took an increasingly active role in running the factory. 6 Davey’s house survives at number 131 

Goynes Road. 




5.2: Developing a manufacturing capacity 

5.3: Marketing and retailing 

6.5: Living in country towns 


Rosemundy House, built from 1858 for John Goyne, is located on Rosemundy Road, to the east of 

Goyne’s Road. The large, asymmetrical allotment comprises a substantial and evolved single-storey 

Italianate red brick and stuccoed house to the west, a freestanding ‘gold office’ and outbuildings to the 

east. A depression between the house and outbuildings, which was the site of the former factory, is 

used as a barbeque/seating area. 

The earliest part of Rosemundy House, forming the south wing, is a small red brick construction, 

rectangular in plan with a gable roof clad with corrugated galvanised sheet steel, crude barge boards 

2


and a simple face brick chimney at its west end. There is distinctive post-supported convex verandah 

to the south elevation. Between 1858 and 1867 this was John Goyne’s principal residence. A 

relatively recent infill connects the 1858 component (known as the scullery) to the main component of 

the residence to the north, built in 1867 with additions in the 1890s and 2007. 

The main component of the building has a hipped roof in corrugated galvanised steel, with steel finials 

and cream bricks to the chimney corbels. Its principal presentation is to the east, facing Bendigo 

Creek. This east elevation, L-shaped in plan, comprises a recessed timber-posted verandah, with 

elaborate cast iron lacework, and a projecting bay to the north. The projecting bay, which provided a 

formal reception space, is believed to date to the 1890s and has facetted windows with elaborate, 

classically-inspired moulding surrounds. Internally, the space survives with a high level of integrity. 

The original west elevation of the 1867 addition has been enclosed by a symmetrically-composed west 

wing, also believed to date from the 1890s, with hipped roof and full-width verandah supported by 

metal poles with an elaborate cast iron lacework frieze. There is a central door with fanlight and 

sidelights, although the door itself is modern, and a flanking pair of double hung sash windows. The 

2007 addition to the north is a long narrow wing, with a facetted north window. The addition 

continues the red face brick, hipped roof form and generally Italianate character of Rosemundy House. 

The ‘gold office’ to the east of the house is a single-storey construction built of red face brick. 

Although on a tight rectilinear footprint the building achieves a sense of verticality. The gable roof is 

clad with corrugated galvanised sheet steel. There is an external chimney breast to the south, and an 

addition (WC?) to the north. The face brick chimney stack is surmounted by dog tooth brickwork and 

a two-course cornice. The north gable has decorated barge boards, a gable cross-bar, a square 

timber vent and timber finial. The timber work is generally in poor condition. The date of the building 

has not been established 

To the north, east and south there is a generous garden, with open fields to the east and the creek 

beyond. The footings of the former stables, a two storey timber building, are to the north of the 

house, and a cellar is to the west of the scullery (the 1858 part of the house). A gable roofed 

outbuilding with bush pole frame and timber slab walls is also located to the west of the allotment. 

The open setback and turning circle to the south is of recent origin; it is believed that the property 

was originally accessed from the north. Some machinery related to the factory, including a large 

boiler, survives at the site. 


In the co-location of a residence and factory at a site established from the 1850s, Rosemundy House 

compares with Symbester House at nearby Eaglehawk Flat. In both cases, the factory has been 

demolished. However, the survival of the ‘gold office’ at Rosemundy House is also an unusual 

element, in combination with the residence and former factory site. Architecturally, the evolved 

dwelling at Rosemundy House demonstrates John Goyne’s growing wealth and status. An evolved 

building of this nature is not uncommon, and in this instance the high degree of intactness of the 

different building components helps to distinguish the property. The earliest (1858) component is a 

humble red brick building with limited architectural pretension, typical of goldfields buildings of the 

1850s. The 1867 and 1890s additions are essentially Italianate in character but of far greater scale 

and substance. 

Assessment against Criteria 



Rosemundy House, an essentially Italianate residence at Epsom built in stages from 1858, is of 

historical significance. It was built by the successful miner turned stamper component manufacturer, 

John Goyne (1826-1907). The site, adjacent to Bendigo Creek at Epsom, was originally developed 

with a timber factory and a small red brick dwelling to its east; the factory has been demolished, but 

the original 1858 dwelling survives (as the scullery). The expansion of Rosemundy House in 1867 and 

again in the 1890s reflects Goyne’s growing commercial success and social status. The 1867 addition 

also provided accommodation for Goyne’s family, with whom he was reunited after a long separation. 

3


At its height, the estate extended for over eight hectares, and included a substantial orchard and twostorey 

stables, of which the footings survive. In the combination of private residence and factory at a 

single property, Rosemundy House demonstrates a particular way of life on the goldfields, where it 

was not uncommon for a residence and place of work to be co-located. The survival of the free 

standing ‘gold office’ is also an unusual element, which enhances the significance of the property. The 

association with John Goyne is additionally significant, as he was a prominent and respected member 

of the local community, a councillor for 15 years from 1881, and president of Huntly Shire in 1883 and 

1895; his local importance is also reflected in the naming of ‘Goyne’s Road’ directly to the east. His 

son, Davey, continued to manage the factory after John’s retirement. However, business slowed from 

the 1890s, with the decline of quartz reef mining. 

Criterion B: Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the City of Greater Bendigo’s 


N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

Rosemundy House, built from 1858 with additions in 1867, the 1890s and 2007, is of 

aesthetic/architectural significance. It is a substantial evolved dwelling set within a generous garden 

setting. The earliest (1858) component is a humble red brick building with limited architectural 

pretension, typical of goldfields buildings of the 1850s. The 1867 and 1890s additions are essentially 

Italianate in character, and of greater scale and substance. All of these elements are substantially 

intact to their periods of construction and reflect John Goyne’s growing commercial success and social 

status. The interiors of the principal formal spaces survive with a high degree of integrity; the 2007 

addition is sympathetic in scale and style. The ‘gold office’, although modest, is also of significance 

and if it proved to be an original gold storage/handling facility it would be a rare surviving building 

type on a private property. Its simple detailing and vertical proportions are distinctive; its visual 

relationship with the main house and former factory site is additionally an aspect of its significance, 

emphasising its original role within the property. The property overall is further enhanced by the 

substantial garden setting, with open fields to the east. 



N/A 




N/A 



4


Rosemundy House is significant for its association with John Goyne, a successful industrialist who was 

a prominent and respected member of the local community, being a councillor for 15 years from 1881, 

and president of Huntly Shire in 1883 and 1895. 



Rosemundy House is a substantial and evolved single-storey Italianate red brick and stuccoed house. 

It was built in multiple stages from 1858. As originally built, a weatherboard factory was located to 

the east of the house. The factory was used for the manufacture of the quartz stamper components 

that made Goyne’s fortune. A depression to the east of the house indicates the location of the factory. 

Goyne’s original house was a small brick construction at the south of the present house, now known 

as the scullery. As his business prospered, the house was expanded to the north, with a passage 

leading from the scullery providing access to bedrooms and reception rooms. At its height the 

property comprised eight hectares (20 acres). As well as the main house, built structures included a 

laundry, stables (also demolished) and a ‘gold office’. The latter is extant and is assumed to have had 

an administrative function associated with the factory operation, rather than a role involving the 

storage or holding of gold, or perhaps even a household/domestic role. 


Rosemundy House is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


Rosemundy House at Epsom, an essentially Italianate residence built in stages from 1858, is of local 

historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. Historically (Criterion A), Rosemundy House was 

established by the successful miner turned quartz stamper component manufacturer, John Goyne 

(1826-1907). The property was originally developed with a timber factory (since demolished) and a 

small red brick 1858 dwelling to its east, which survives as the scullery to the enlarged residence. 

The expansion of Rosemundy House in 1867 and again in the 1890s reflects Goyne’s growing 

commercial success and social status; the 1867 addition also provided for Goyne’s family with whom 

he was reunited after a long separation. At its height, the estate extended for over eight hectares, 

and included a substantial orchard and two-storey stables, of which the footings survive. Rosemundy 

House is also significant for the combination of private residence and factory/place of work at a single 

property. The survival of the free standing ‘gold office’ is also an unusual element, which enhances 

the significance of the property. The association with John Goyne is additionally important (Criterion 

F), as he was a prominent and respected member of the local community, a councillor for 15 years 

from 1881, and president of Huntly Shire in 1883 and 1895. His son, Davey, continued to manage the 

factory after John’s retirement, although business slowed from the 1890s with the decline of quartz 

reef mining. 

Rosemundy House is of local aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E). It is a substantial 

evolved nineteenth century dwelling set within a generous garden setting. The earliest (1858) 

component is a humble red brick building with limited architectural pretension, typical of goldfields 

buildings of the period. The 1867 and 1890s additions are essentially Italianate in character and of 

greater scale and substance. All these elements are substantially intact to their periods of 

construction. The ‘gold office’, although modest, is also significant. Its simple detailing and vertical 

proportions are distinctive; its visual relationship with the main house and former factory site is 

additionally an aspect of its significance, emphasising its original role within the property. The 

property overall is further enhanced by the substantial garden setting, with open fields to the east. 



The recommended extent of the Overlay is indicated in the map above, with the significance 

concentrated in the evolved main residence, ‘gold office’ and sites of former buildings such as the 

factory and stables (see below for potential archaeological value), with a curtilage to the structures 

and the garden setting. The evolved nature of the residence is also important with the nineteenth 

5


century additions being significant components of the dwelling. The original face brickwork of the 

historic buildings should remain unpainted. The current vehicle turning circle and driveway and the 

2007 additions, although sympathetic, are not original or early and hence not significant elements. 

No detailed investigation of the footings and remnants of the factory or stables building has been 

undertaken, and further survey would assist in clarifying if these elements are of archaeological value. 

The gable roofed outbuilding with bush pole frame and timber slab walls has also not been 

investigated in detail and may be a significant element. Clarification of the original construction and 

use of the ‘gold office’ would confirm if this building is in fact a rare building type on a private 

property. 




Outbuildings and fences exemptions Yes 





Identified By 


References 


Specific: 

1 

Nola Aicken, ‘John Goyne 1826-1907),’ unpublished paper, citing details of the British census 

of 1841 and 1851 

2 

Nola Aicken, ‘John Goyne 1826-1907),’ unpublished paper. 

3 


4 

Nola Aicken, ‘John Goyne 1826-1907),’ unpublished paper, see also W.B. Kimberly (ed), 

Bendigo and vicinity: a comprehensive history of her past, and a resume of her resources ; 

together with the biographies of her representative pioneers, public, commercial and 

professional men, F W Niven & Co, Melbourne, 1895. 

5 


6 

Pers comm, Nola Aicken (present owner), and Adam Mornement (Lovell Chen), 23 June 2010. 

6


Name Former Weighbridge Hotel Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 12 Lockwood Road, Kangaroo 

Flat 

KF02 


Building type Shop Survey date June 2010 (external 



construction 

1875 Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance The former Weighbridge Hotel is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: South and east elevations, Lockwood Road and Dunlop Lane respectively, c. 1980s (Source: 

Ruth Hopkins, Moving Forward, Looking Back: the History of the Marong Shire, 1985, p. 59). 

Right: South and east elevations (2010). 

Left: Detail of south elevation. Right: Rear (north) elevation. 

Left: Aerial 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo); the non-original western section of the building 

is evident. Right: Proposed Heritage Overlay map. The Weighbridge Hotel is shown as KF02. 


1


History 

The first publican’s licenses in Kangaroo Flat were granted to William Gunn and James Jamieson on 9 

August 1854. 1 Gunn’s Glasgow Arms Hotel (established shortly afterwards and now demolished), 

located at the corner of Station and High streets, was a Kangaroo Flat landmark. The former 

Weighbridge Hotel (subject building), whose name relates to the former public weighbridge opposite, 

was built in 1875 by Henry Alger, the previous owner and publican of the Crown & Anchor Hotel at 

Lockwood. 2 The building was located in Kangaroo Flat’s historic commercial core. The Weighbridge 

Hotel was also one of nine hotels in Kangaroo Flat included in the Liquor Register of Licensee renewals 

granted at the Court of Petty Sessions in Sandhurst on 22 December 1884. The township of Kangaroo 

Flat was proclaimed in 1886. Robert Slessar was the licensee at that time. 3 In 1907-08 the licensee 

was G Brooks, 4 and in 1910 the Licenses Reduction Board presided over its closure, the owner being 

paid £200 in compensation and the occupant £45. 5 The property is presently used as a barber’s shop. 



5.6: Entertaining and socialising 

5.8: Working 


The former Weighbridge Hotel is a single-storey brick building located at the corner of Lockwood Road 

and Dunlop Lane in Kangaroo Flat. It is constructed to the south and east property boundaries (zero 

setbacks). The west portion of the building (shops) is of recent origin. 

The former Weighbridge Hotel itself has a chamfered corner entry bay, with door. There is another 

door to the south elevation, which is flanked by two windows. There are a further three windows to 

the Dunlop Lane elevation. All the window and door openings in the original hotel component to 

Lockwood Road and Dunlop Lane appear original or early, while later openings have been made to the 

rear (north) elevation. The window to the east of the corner entry door is a double hung sash, with 

two panes to each sash. The upper panes are framed by a moulded and arched timber plate, 

suggesting that it may be earlier than the other window openings, which are double hung timber 

framed sashes with cambered headers. The original hotel walls are built in a variant of English bond 

with one header course for every three stretcher courses. The bricks walls are overpainted. 

There is a stepped parapet to the south and north elevations, with a bracketed projecting course of 

headers surmounted by stretcher bricks, topped by a further course of headers set back. The parapet 

continues to the recent addition to the west. Behind the parapet, and with generally limited visibility, 

is a galvanised steel-clad pitched roof (to the original hotel component). There are three chimneys, 

including two mounted flush with the five step parapet rear wall. This suggests that this south 

elevation and the roof it screens were alterations, possibly of the period c.1900-20s. The timberframed 

skillion-roofed verandah to the south (front) elevation facing Lockwood Road is of recent origin 

A skillion roofed rear addition to the original hotel, evident in the c. 1980s image (see page 1), has 

been demolished. The rear yard is paved in asphalt. The property appears generally to be in sound 

condition. 


In its combination of a brick-patterned and then recessed parapet with a corner entrance and 

cambered head double-hung sash windows, the former Weighbridge Hotel parallels other hotels in the 

area, including: the now demolished Windermere Hotel, also in Kangaroo Flat, which had a chimney 

attached to its parapet as with the rear parapet here; 6 Gunn’s Hotel at the High and Station street 

intersection (demolished); 7 the former Liverpool Arms Hotel at Kangaroo Flat (W6); and the former 

Royal Hotel at Woodvale (W1). 8 More generally, the low spreading proportions and chamfered corner 

typify historic goldfields hotels. These goldfields hotels lso differ from proportionally similar singlestorey 

hotels in, for instance, the Port Fairy or Port Albert districts in having parapet frontages. 9 The 

2


distinctive parapet treatment with recessed upper courses and dog-tooth or detail brickwork is also 

common to hotels and shops in the Kangaroo Flat area and is something of a local signature. 

Assessment against Criteria 



The former Weighbridge Hotel (built 1875), at the corner of Lockwood Road and Dunlop Lane in 

Kangaroo Flat, in the town’s historic commercial core, is of historical significance. It is an example of 

a hotel built during the early years of the development of Kangaroo Flat, prior to its proclamation as a 

township in 1886. The former hotel also survives as one of nine hotels in Kangaroo Flat included in 

the Liquor Register of Licensee renewals in December 1884. The name recalls the weighbridge which 

was historically located opposite the property, now demolished. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

The former Weighbridge Hotel retains some of the principal characteristics of historic single-storey 

hotels in the area. These include the low proportions, chamfered corner entry bay and cambered head 

double-hung sash windows. 


municipality. 

The former Weighbridge Hotel is of aesthetic/architectural significance. It is a surviving hotel of the 

Victorian period which is similar in its low proportions and chamfered corner, and details including the 

brick-patterned and recessed parapet, and cambered head double-hung sash windows, to a number of 

historic hotels in the former Rural City of Marong, and the goldfields region more generally. The 

distinctive parapet treatment with recessed upper courses and dog-tooth or detail brickwork is also 

common to hotels and shops in the Kangaroo Flat area and is something of a local signature. 



N/A 




N/A 

Criterion H: Special association with life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in 


N/A 

3




The former Weighbridge Hotel is a single-storey brick building located at the corner of Lockwood Road 

and Dunlop Lane in Kangaroo Flat. It is constructed to the south and east property boundaries. The 

west portion of the building (shops) is of recent origin. The hotel was constructed in 1875. Its name 

relates to the former weighbridge opposite. The building has a chamfered corner entry bay, with 

door. There is another door to the south elevation, which is flanked by two windows. There are a 

further three windows to the Dunlop Lane elevation. All the window and door openings in the original 

hotel component to Lockwood Road and Dunlop Lane appear original or early, while later openings 

have been made to the rear (north) elevation. The original hotel walls are built in a variant of English 

bond with one header course for every three stretcher courses. 


The former Weighbridge Hotel is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The former Weighbridge Hotel (1875) is historically significant (Criterion A) as an example of a hotel 

built during the early years of the development of Kangaroo Flat, prior to its proclamation as a 

township in 1886. The former hotel also survives as one of nine hotels in Kangaroo Flat included in 

the Liquor Register of Licensee renewals in December 1884. The name recalls the weighbridge which 

was historically located opposite the property, now demolished. The former hotel is also of 

aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E). It is a surviving hotel of the Victorian period which is 

similar in its low proportions and chamfered corner, and details including the brick-patterned and 

recessed parapet, and cambered head double-hung sash windows, to a number of historic hotels in 

the former Rural City of Marong and the goldfields region more generally. The distinctive parapet 

treatment with recessed upper courses and dog-tooth or detail brickwork is also common to hotels 

and shops in the Kangaroo Flat area and is something of a local signature (Criterion D). 


The property is recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay of the City of 

Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme. The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map, with the 

focus of significance on the original hotel component. The western addition to the building (modern 

shops); the non-original verandah; and the rear yard are not elements of significance. In preference, 

the external paintwork should be removed, and the original face brick presentation of the building 

returned. The advice of a heritage practitioner should be sought prior to undertaking these works. 

Further investigation is required to determine the original verandah form (if any). 









Identified By 


4


References 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo; Its Environs; The Way It Was, Crown Castleton, Bendigo, 2003. 

David Horsfall (ed), Kangaroo Flat, A History, Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back to Committee, 1993. 


Specific: 

1 

David Horsfall (ed), Kangaroo Flat, A History Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back To 


2 

Alexander Sutherland, Victoria and Its Metropolis: the colony and its people in 1888, 

Melbourne, 1888, cited by Gordon and Shirley Roberts in ‘The Search for the Crown & Anchor 

and the Mystery of Happy Jack,’ unpublished paper, provided courtesy of City of Greater 

Bendigo. 

3 


Committee, 1993, pp. 82-3. 

4 Sands and McDougall, Bendigo, Suburban, and District Directory for 1907-08, cited in ‘Former 

Weighbridge Hotel’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study 

(Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. 

5 


Committee, 1993, pp. 82-84. 

6 Wesley Hammill and Dorothy Wild, Photographic History of Kangaroo Flat, private publication, 

Kangaroo Flat, 1994, volume 2, not paginated. 

7 David Horsfall (ed), Kangaroo Flat, A History, Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back to 


8 Ken Arnold, Bendigo; Its Environs; The Way It Was, Crown Castleton, Bendigo, 2003, p. 74-5, 

see also pp. 256-7. 

9 Compare examples illustrated in The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1981: these 

include the former Derwent Hotel in Port Albert (p.3/122) or the Merrijig Inn and Caledonian 

Hotel at Port Fairy (pp. 3/110-111). 

5


Name Former Liverpool Store Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 10 Lockwood Road, Kangaroo 

Flat 

Building type Premises of the Y Service 

Club (YMCA) 


construction 

Believed to have been built in 

the 1860s 

KF03 


Survey date June 2010 (external 




Significance The former Liverpool Store is of local historical, aesthetic/architectural and social 

significance. 

Left: The former ‘Liverpool Store’ complex included a timber shop to High Street, now demolished. 

Note the unpainted east wall of the subject building at upper left of image (dated 1870s). (Source: 

Courtesy Peter Bimpson, City of Greater Bendigo). Right: South elevation (Lockwood Road) of the 

former Liverpool Store, c. 1990s (Source: National Library of Australia). 

Left: South and east elevations. Right: Rear elevation; note lantern roof. 

. 

Left: East elevation, note angled brick course, evidence of a pre-existing structure in this location. 

Right: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 

1


Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site shown as KF03. 


History 

The double-height brick former store located in Kangaroo Flat’s historic commercial core is believed to 

have been built during the 1860s, at which time the population of the township was approximately 

1,200. 1 The former store was built as the centrepiece of W Roger's ‘Liverpool Store’ complex, which 

included a post office and a single-storey timber shop, with gable ends and street verandah, acting as 

the retail outlet for the store. 2 The timber shop addressed High Street, with a low-scale rear wing 

which abutted the east elevation of the existing building (see ‘Curnow and Anderson’ picture, c. 

1870s, page 1). It is also possible that the former post office or a residence abutted the north end of 

the east elevation of the subject building. The former store is the only surviving component of the 

complex. 

The premises passed from Roger to H Algier and then to Curnow and Anderson, grocers, ironmongers 

and produce dealers, in the 1870s. It was later occupied by Earl's bakery, and in 1907-08 by F 

Lapsley for his Corn Store. 3 In the mid 1930s Mr Jeffery, who was to become one of Bendigo's most 

prominent bakers, purchased the property. It was subsequently used as the YMCA hall. The property 

is now the premises of the Y Service Club, which supports the YMCA and the community. 




5.8: Working 


The former Liverpool Store is a double-height brick building located at the south-east corner of 

Lockwood Road and Dunlop Lane in Kangaroo Flat, with no setback to Lockwood Road. The property 

was not inspected internally; references to internal elements in the following are from the previous 

survey carried out in 1998. 4 

The former store has a square plan and is built on a sandstone base. The break fronted and trabeated 

front (south) elevation, addressing Lockwood Road, is divided into three bays with a cornice and 

parapet carried on pilasters. The parapet has a central pediment moulding supported on each side by 

half ogee cornices. The central entry has a flat head surmounted by a round arch filled in by a recent 

metal fanlight with slender radial framing. The entry doors are also recent, in four leaves with plateglass 

windows and a kick-bar one quarter the way up. The entry, which may have originally been a 

vehicle entry, is flanked in each bay by a single window, bricked up but possibly always having been 

blind. The bays are divided by pilasters which break up through the main cornice and rise across the 

parapet. These have deep indentations (recessed panels) that rise through the parapet. The side and 

2


end walls are windowless. With the exception of the rear, all elevations are overpainted. The roof is a 

four-sided hip, with steel cladding and a proportionally large, similarly hipped and clad central lantern 

extending over about half the roof area. 

A bricked-up door opening at the south end of the east elevation may have provided a connection to 

the former timber shop that formed part of the original Liverpool Store complex. An embedded angled 

brick course is evident at the north end of the east elevation, indicating that a gable roofed structure 

pre-existed the former Liverpool Store in this location. 

Inside (as of 1998), the floor is subdivided into a central section with aisles divided by timber posts 

supporting a complicated system of ties and struts to carry the roof. 

The side yard to the building’s immediate east is paved in concrete, and the Lockwood Road paving is 

a mixture of cement with inset brick paving at the Dunlop Lane corner. 


Stores of this type, with a parapet, central vehicle-sized entry and symmetrical flanking bays, are 

found throughout Victoria, including in Melbourne suburbs. The form was also used for market 

buildings as at Castlemaine (1861-2). 5 Later, with simpler roof forms, the basic form was reworked in 

early motor garages such as Hawthorn Motors at Glenferrie (1912). The narrow pilaster indentations 

are rarer elements, although a related indented brick surfacing can be seen in hotel piers and 

parapets around the Geelong waterfront area. These stores also had formal similarities to institutional 

halls, including the Temperance Hall in View Street, Bendigo, with the frontage treatment by James 

Blair (c. 1895). 6 The street entry to Bendigo’s former Fuse Factory is also similar in principle. 7 




The former Liverpool Store (built c. 1860s) at the south-east corner of Lockwood Road and Dunlop 

Lane, Kangaroo Flat, and located in the town’s historic commercial core, is historically significant. The 

former commercial building dates to the earliest phase of settlement at Kangaroo Flat; it is also the 

only surviving element of the former ‘Liverpool Store’ complex, which is also believed to date to the 

1860s, and included a timber shop addressing High Street, and a post office. 



The former Liverpool Store, as a two-storey brick structure dating to the 1860s, is a rare surviving 

building of its type in the former Shire of Marong, and offers evidence of an historic commercial 

operation. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The former Liverpool Store is of aesthetic/architectural significance. Its double-height and robust 

presence to the street, as well as the trabeated and substantially intact south elevation, give the 

3


property a high degree of prominence in its context. The brick building, which is among the most 

substantial (non religious) buildings in Kangaroo Flat, also emphasises the historic importance of the 

former commercial (Liverpool Store) operation. Elements of note include the roof lantern, and in 

relation to the facade the pedimented parapet, evidence of the former vehicle entry, symmetrical 

flanking bays, and pilaster indentations. 



N/A 




The former Liverpool Store is of social significance in the local context, for its present use as premises 

of the Y Service Club, which supports the YMCA and the community, and for its historic use as retail 

premises. The social value of the property is enhanced by its large scale and prominence at the south 

end of Kangaroo Flat’s main retail strip. 



N/A 



The former Liverpool Store is a double-height brick building located at the south-east corner of 

Lockwood Road and Dunlop Lane in Kangaroo Flat. It was built in the 1860s as the centrepiece of W 

Roger's ‘Liverpool Store’ complex, which included a post office and a single-storey timber shop, with 

gable ends and street verandah, acting as the retail outlet for the store. The extant brick building has 

a square plan and is built on a sandstone base. The break fronted and trabeated front (south) 

elevation, addressing Lockwood Road, is divided into three bays with a cornice and parapet carried on 

pilasters. A bricked-up door opening at the south end of the east elevation may have provided a 

connection to the former timber shop that formed part of the original Liverpool Store complex. An 

embedded angled brick course is evident at the north end of the east elevation, indicating that a gable 

roofed structure pre-existed the former Liverpool Store in this location. 


The former Liverpool Store is of local historical, aesthetic/architectural and social significance. 


The former Liverpool Store (c. 1860s) is historically significant (Criterion A) as a former commercial 

building which dates to the earliest phase of settlement at Kangaroo Flat. It is also the only surviving 

element of the former ‘Liverpool Store’ complex, which is also believed to date to the 1860s, and 

included a timber shop addressing High Street, and a post office. The building is additionally a 

relatively rare surviving building of its type in the Marong area, offering evidence of an historic 

commercial operation (Criterion B). The former Liverpool Store is of local social significance (Criterion 

G), for its present use as premises of the Y Service Club, which supports the YMCA and the 

community, and for its historic use as retail premises. The social value of the property is enhanced by 

its large scale and prominence at the south end of Kangaroo Flat’s main retail strip. 

The former ‘Liverpool Store’ is also of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E). Its doubleheight 

and robust presence to the street, as well as the trabeated and substantially intact south 

elevation, give the property a high degree of prominence in its context. The brick building, which is 

4


among the most substantial (non religious) buildings in Kangaroo Flat, also emphasises the historic 

importance of the former commercial (Liverpool Store) operation. 



Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme. The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map, and 

extends to the title boundary. However, the focus of significance is on the 1860s brick building, and 

particularly its roof lantern, the pedimented parapet, symmetrical flanking bays and pilaster 

indentations. In preference, the external paintwork should be removed, and the original face brick 

presentation of the building returned. The advice of a heritage practitioner should be sought prior to 

undertaking these latter works. Further research is also required in order to clarify the original form 

and treatment of the large central opening to the facade. 









Identified By 


References 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust of Australia (Vic), 1987. 

David Horsfall (ed), Kangaroo Flat, A History, Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back To Committee, 

1993. 


Specific: 

1 

F F Bailliere, Victorian Gazetteer and Road Guide, 1865, Melbourne, p. 200. 

2 

David Horsfall (ed), Kangaroo Flat, A History, Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back To 

Committee, 1993, pp. 40-48. 

3 

Sands and McDougall, Bendigo, Suburban, and District Directory for 1907-08, cited in ‘YMCA’ 

citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Geelong Heritage Study (Marong) Study 

Area, Stage 2, 1998. 

4 

‘YMCA’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Geelong Heritage Study (Marong) Study 


5 

The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1981, pp. 3, and 151-53, though 

Castlemaine Market had a more complex plan, a portico and flanking towers. 

6 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo: Tour Guide of Historic Buildings, National Trust of 

Victoria, Bendigo, 1987, p. 15. 

7 

The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1981, p. 3/148. 

5


Name Uniting Church (former Wesleyan 

Church) 

Address 10 Camp Street, at the southwest 

corner of Church and Camp 

streets, Kangaroo Flat 1 


Marong Study 

KF04 


Building type Church Survey date June 2010 (external 



construction 



Significance The Uniting Church is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: North and west elevations, addressing High and Camp streets respectively. Right: Rear (east) 

of the Uniting Church complex. 

Left: East elevation. The addition was built in 1986 following a fire. Right: Interwar Sunday School. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). Right: Proposed Heritage Overlay map, 

with the Uniting Church shown as KF04. 


1


History 

The Methodist sects were well represented in the former Marong Shire from the earliest years of 

European settlement, arguably more so than any other denomination, reflecting the presence of 

Cornish miners in the district. 2 The Wesleyans were the first sect to hold services in the former shire, 

from 1854, in a slab building at Kangaroo Flat. Also, in September of 1854, J D Mowbray opened a 

Wesleyan Day School at Kangaroo Flat, operating from a tent. He established a Sunday School shortly 

afterwards. 3 Mowbray’s tent was one of the first denominational schools in the former shire. 4 The 

Wesleyans at Kangaroo Flat relocated to the present site, on elevated ground to the south-west of the 

Camp and High street intersection, in 1856. A brick church was constructed there in 1858, designed 

by Reverend Joseph Dare. The foundation was laid by magistrate Lachlan McLachlan in August 1858. 5 

The foundation stone of the present church was laid on 7 March 1871 by Thompson Moore, MLA for 

Mandurang and successful local businessman. It was designed by the eminent firm of Melbourne 

architects Crouch and Wilson who undertook many church commissions. The builder was Gibbons of 

Castlemaine and the cost £1,150. The church was opened on 4 July 1871, from which point the 

earlier brick church was used as the Sunday School. 6 The trustees of the new Wesleyan Church were 

Thompson Moore, J S Lithgo, David Weir, Sidney Courtier and J J Christian. The 1858 church was 

extended in 1936, and inn 1952 the original section of the 1858 church was demolished and replaced 

with a new Sunday School Hall and a vestry. These new additions were opened on 25 September 

1954. 7 In 1977, the Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists combined to form the Uniting 

Church, and in May 1982 a fire damaged a weatherboard addition at the rear (east) of the 1871 

church. It was replaced with additional accommodation and a new brick wall in 1986. 8 




8.2: Educating people 


The Uniting Church (former Wesleyan) complex comprises a substantial gabled bichrome brick Gothic 

Revival church (1871) and brick Sunday School (1936). The buildings are located to the west end of a 

deep site, on elevated ground behind a small open landscaped park close to Kangaroo Flat’s historic 

centre. The main presentation is to the west (High Street), behind the deep setback. 

The gabled west façade of the 1871 church, facing High Street, is subdivided into three elements, 

having a central geometric arched west window and doors in each flanking bay, with three oculus 

windows outlined in cream brick, one over each door, the other above the main window. The main 

window has four lancets rising to support three quatrefoils with seven linking triangular lights. The 

side windows are all simple lancets with diamond-pattern lead pane joints. Their heads are expressed 

in cream brick. The plinth is of rough-cut sandstone and there is a decorated wrought iron cross at 

the gable apex, set in a chamfered block-finial. The steeply pitched roof has slate tile cladding, 

capped with a notched ridge, and with three dormer vents on each side. The lower gable edges are 

finished with two kneelers delineated in cream brick. The facade also has a pair of diagonal two-stage 

buttresses in red brick with cream brick off-sets, and this treatment is repeated on the six other 

buttresses to the side walls, these being set at right angles. The breakfront around the main window 

is topped by a gable with two more kneelers projecting to each side and finishing a run of cream brick 

up each breakfront corner, each laid in three course sets of alternating length to produce quoin 

imagery. The plan is a basic nave, and there is no chancel expressed externally. 

A larger addition has been made to the Church Street (east) side of the church, in the wake of the 

1982 fire. This includes a broad porch to the north side that continues around to Church Street. The 

outer component has a large flat roof with timber fascia and metal decking, supported by blade piers 

in brick. It breaks open at the north-east corner to include an integral pergola with diagonal beams. 

On the Church Street side, this pier theme becomes a set of wing walls separating five (sashed) 

window bays. The porch entry is a floor-to-ceiling set of fixed glass panes with a main door. 

Immediately behind the flat roofed area is a lean-to pitched roof forming a gable-hip with the church’s 

original east end gable. The lean-to east end roof is clad in Marseilles pattern tiles and standard tile 

2


ridge capping. A timber fascia set above a row of clerestory windows. The addition is not a 

sympathetic element and conceals the original gable end to which it is attached. 

The inter war Sunday School to the immediate south of the church is directly linked to the flat roofed 

component of the 1980s addition, with metal-deck roofing running through and linking with its north 

porch wing. This obscures the Sunday School’s east elevation, apart from the plain brick rear gable; 

the addition also internalises the south windows of the 1871 church. 

The Sunday School is of red brick with a rough cast gable end, decorated panels in clinker brick, a 

central gable vent and a broad gable eave, supported by four diagonal timber brackets. It has a 

cruciform pitched truss roof clad in corrugated galvanised steel, with two transverse wings to each 

side of the main gable as it faces High Street. The corbelled side gables are plain brick panels, and 

the main (High Street) wall is dominated by a four-light timber-framed central fanlight window 

bisected with a brick pier. The fanlights have pent heads, carrying the Gothic influences further. This 

window is crowned by a Tudor-looking hood mould with label-stops, and flanked by a pair of twostage 

buttresses with cement-rendered off-sets. The High Street wall has a thick, flush course line in 

rendered cement running across its front. 

A toilet block is located to the west (front) of the Sunday School, with a flat roof clad in steel decking, 

red face brick walls and boxed eaves. A timber ramp has been added to the north-west corner of the 

Sunday School, and its framing supports a recent lean-to porch roof. The toilet entries are screened 

by crimped steel panels attached to a light steel frame. The steel ridge-vents above the hall are 

recent. These elements are also not sympathetic to the Sunday School and obscure views of its main 

façade. 

The open space to the west of the deep site was landscaped as a small municipal park during the early 

1990s, by arrangement with the former Rural City of Marong. 9 

The original fabric of the church appears to be in generally sound condition but shows evidence of 

structural movement. This is marked along the north side walls, where mortar courses have fallen out 

at various places. A conspicuous vertical crack has opened between the bricks alongside one of the 

side lancet windows and runs down to the base. 


The original 1871 church resembles a number of churches completed for dissenting congregations in 

Victoria, including on the goldfields. Crouch and Wilson, the architects, were leaders in this genre and 

had been designing compositionally and proportionally similar churches since the 1850s in Melbourne 

(as at Glen Iris) and around Victoria. The bichrome brick had also spread through Victoria after Reed 

and Barnes’ pioneering use of it in the Independent Church and St Jude’s churches in Melbourne 

(1866-7). Breakfronts coupled to major west windows can be seen in Charles Webb’s Anglican Church 

in New Street Brighton (1856-7), the breakfront being coupled to a bellcote. Camberwell Uniting, 

from 1889, is another with strong parallels. Charles Webb’s dissenting Churches, as with the John 

Knox (1863) and Welsh Churches in Melbourne, also have parallels in the broad west frontage, 

although this design avoids Webb’s signature of two turrets on the west front. 10 

The Church Street additions typify more recent porch and office extensions to older churches and are 

popular in both Uniting and Anglican Church circles. 




The 1871 Uniting Church (former Wesleyan Church) at the corner of Church and Camp streets, 

Kangaroo Flat is of historical significance. The site has been the centre of Methodism at Kangaroo Flat 

since 1858, and the present church has been the focus of Methodism since 1871, initially as the 

Wesleyan Church and since 1977 as the Uniting Church. The Methodist sects were well represented in 

the former Marong Shire from the earliest years of European settlement, reflecting the presence of 

3


Cornish miners in the district. The presence of the Methodists, and this substantial 1871 church, also 

provides evidence of the diversity of religious communities on the broader goldfields. The 1936 

Sunday School additionally is of significance, and provides evidence of the ongoing role and presence 

of the church in the local community into the first half of the twentieth century. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The 1871 Uniting Church (former Wesleyan Church) at the corner of Church and Camp streets, 

Kangaroo Flat is of aesthetic/architectural significance. The building, although unsympathetically 

modified and extended, remains a substantial and prominent gabled bichrome brick Gothic Revival 

church. It is an example of the work of Crouch and Wilson, noted Melbourne architectural practice, 

which demonstrates the tri-partite façade treatment which was a characteristic of the firm's churches. 

Elements of note include the central geometric arched west window with four lancets rising to support 

three quatrefoils with linking triangular lights; three main gable oculus windows outlined in cream 

brick; side windows with simple lancets and diamond-pattern leadlights; picturesque steeply pitched 

roof; wall buttressing; and brick quoining. The church also has landmark qualities by virtue of its 

scale and presentation, as well as its location on a generous, informally landscaped and elevated site 

at the south of Kangaroo Flat’s historic core. The 1936 Sunday School is also of note. While 

appropriately subservient to the church in scale and footprint, the smaller building has elements of 

interest including the distinctive cruciform pitched truss roof with two transverse wings to each side of 

the main gable; use of red brick with a rough cast gable end, and decorated panels in clinker brick; a 

central gable vent and a broad bracketed gable eave; and the Gothic influenced four-light timberframed 

central fanlight window, flanked by a pair of two-stage buttresses. 



N/A 




The Uniting Church at Kangaroo Flat is of social significance in the local context, as the focus of the 

Methodist community, initially the Wesleyan Church and later the Uniting Church, since 1871. 



N/A 



4


The Uniting Church (former Wesleyan) complex at Kangaroo Flat comprises a substantial gabled 

bichrome brick Gothic Revival church (1871) and a brick Sunday School (1936). The buildings are 

located on elevated ground behind a small open landscaped park close to Kangaroo Flat’s historic 

centre. The 1871 church, designed by Melbourne architects Crouch and Wilson, superseded an earlier 

(1858) church within the same allotment. The 1858 church then became a Sunday School, prior to its 

demolition in 1936 and replacement with the present Sunday School. Despite the unsympathetic 

modifications and additions to the east, the 1871 church remains a substantial and prominent 

structure with a strong Gothic Revival character. The gabled west façade of the 1871 church, facing 

High Street, is subdivided into three elements, having a central geometric arched west window and 

doors in each flanking bay, with three oculus windows outlined in cream brick. The main window has 

four lancets rising to support three quatrefoils with seven linking triangular lights. The side windows 

are all simple lancets with diamond-pattern lead pane joints, and heads expressed in cream brick. 

The plinth is of rough-cut sandstone and there is a decorated wrought iron cross at the gable apex. 

The steeply pitched roof has slate tile cladding. The lower gable edges are finished with two kneelers 

delineated in cream brick. The facade also has a pair of diagonal two-stage buttresses in red brick 

with cream brick off-sets, a treatment repeated on the six other buttresses to the side walls. The plan 

is a basic nave, and there is no chancel expressed externally. 


The Uniting Church is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The 1871 Uniting Church (former Wesleyan Church) is historically significant (Criterion A) as the 

centre of Methodism at Kangaroo Flat since 1858, with the present church the focus of Methodism 

since 1871, initially as the Wesleyan Church and since 1977 as the Uniting Church. The Methodist 

sects were well represented in the former Marong Shire from the earliest years of European 

settlement, reflecting the presence of Cornish miners in the district. The presence of the Methodists, 

and this substantial 1871 church, also provides evidence of the diversity of religious communities on 

the broader goldfields. The 1936 Sunday School additionally is of significance, and provides evidence 

of the ongoing role and presence of the church in the local community into the first half of the 

twentieth century. Socially (Criterion G), the Uniting Church is significant as the focus of the 

Methodist community, initially the Wesleyan Church and later the Uniting Church, since 1871. 

The Uniting Church is also of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E). The building, although 

unsympathetically modified and extended, remains a substantial and prominent gabled bichrome brick 

Gothic Revival church. It is an example of the work of Crouch and Wilson, noted Melbourne 

architectural practice, which demonstrates the tri-partite façade treatment which was a characteristic 

of the firm's churches. Elements of note include the central geometric arched west window with four 

lancets rising to support three quatrefoils with linking triangular lights; three main gable oculus 

windows outlined in cream brick; side windows with simple lancets and diamond-pattern leadlights; 

picturesque steeply pitched roof; wall buttressing; and brick quoining. The church also has landmark 

qualities by virtue of its scale and presentation, as well as its location on a generous, informally 

landscaped and elevated site at the south of Kangaroo Flat’s historic core. The 1936 Sunday School is 

also of note. While appropriately subservient to the church in scale and footprint, the smaller building 

has elements of interest including the distinctive cruciform pitched truss roof with two transverse 

wings to each side of the main gable; use of red brick with a rough cast gable end, and decorated 

panels in clinker brick; a central gable vent and a broad bracketed gable eave; and the Gothic 

influenced four-light timber-framed central fanlight window, flanked by a pair of two-stage buttresses. 



Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme. Although the extent of the Overlay is shown in the above map, 

reflecting the property boundary, the focus of significance is on the 1871 and 1936 buildings. The 

face brick walling should remain unpainted. The additions are not significant, and if removed in the 

future could provide the opportunity to reinstate the original church building form. It is recommended 

that the property be inspected for structural movement. 

5










Identified By 


References 



1993. 


Specific: 

1 

Changed address from 161 High Street, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. 

November 2011. 

2 

Ruth Hopkins, Moving Forward, Looking Back: The History of Marong Shire, Shire of Marong, 

1985, p. 101. Methodist sects included the Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, Bible Christians, 

Congregationalist Presbyterians and Independents. 

3 

David Horsfall, Kangaroo Flat, A History, Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back To Committee, 

1993, p. 106. 

4 


1985, pp. 103. 

5 

David Horsfall (ed)Kangaroo Flat, A History, Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back To 

Committee, 1993, p. 106-07. 

6 



7 



8 



9 



10 

See The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1981, pp. 3/12 item 4 (Brighton Anglican 

Church), 3/42-3 (St Jude’s), 3/52 (Independent Church), 3/60 (John Knox). 

6


Name St Mary the Virgin Anglican 

Church (demolished) 

Address 193 High Street, accessed from 

Church Street, Kangaroo Flat 


Marong Study 

KF5 


Building type Church (demolished) Survey date June 2010 


construction 

1862 (demolished 2009) Recommendation Recommended for 

inclusion in the Victorian 

Heritage Inventory 

Significance St Mary the Virgin Anglican Church (site of) is not of sufficient heritage 

significance to be included in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay, but is 

recommended for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Inventory. 

Left: East elevation of former St Mary the Virgin Anglican Church, undated. (Source: Photographic 

History of Kangaroo Flat, private publication, Kangaroo Flat, 1994, volume 1, not paginated.) Right: 

Aerial view of the Anglican reserve, February 2007. The church is circled (Source: Google Earth). 

Left: Aerial of the Anglican reserve, May 2010, following the fire of December 2008. (Source: City of 

Greater Bendigo). Right: The Anglican reserve pictured from the west, with the site of the former 

church at left (void) and the present church (former parish hall) at right (2010). 


History 

The first Anglican services at Kangaroo Flat are believed to have been held in 1858, in the school room 

in Kangaroo Gully. The present two-acre Anglican reserve, south of Kangaroo Flat’s historic core, was 

granted in 1862. 1 The original reserve has not been subdivided, with the exception of two blocks in 

the south-west. A church was constructed on the site in 1862, designed by the prolific and notable 

church architect Nathaniel Billing. Its construction was supervised by the architect and land surveyor 

1


William Smith. The foundation stone was laid by the first Bishop of Melbourne, Charles Perry on 30 

June 1862. Bishop Perry was also present at its opening on 30 October 1862. 

St Mary the Virgin was a small polychrome brick church in the early English Gothic Revival manner. 

The nave was divided into four buttressed bays with coupled lancet arched windows and a plain end 

wall. Modifications and extensions were carried out in 1952 (new sanctuary), 1967 (internal 

refurbishment) and 1987 (narthex). A parish hall – the present St Mary’s Anglican Church – was 

constructed in 1969-70 to the south of the church. It was dedicated by the Right Reverend R E 

Richards, Bishop of Richards on 8 February 1970. The weatherboard parish hall of 1890 was 

demolished in 1992. 

St Mary the Virgin was extensively damaged in a fire on 11 December 2008. The vestry, including 

some church records and memorabilia, was saved. However, the damage was sufficiently extensive to 

warrant the removal of the building in its entirety in July 2009. 2 





The St Mary the Virgin Anglican Church complex comprises the former parish hall (St Mary’s Anglican 

Church since December 2008), and subsoil remnants (footings, etc) of the original St Mary’s (1862, 

demolished 2009). 

The former Parish Hall, built in 1969-70, is a double-height face brick construction with a shallow 

gable roof. The windowless front (east) elevation features two broad projecting brick piers flanking an 

open-sided single-storey entry vestibule whose gabled roof is carried on a steel frame. A cross is 

fixed to the east elevation at the apex of the vestibule roof. The entry is a pair of timber door leafs 

painted red. There are highlight windows to the north and south elevations. A concrete ramp is 

located at the rear (west) entrance, which mirrors the east elevation, in being windowless with a 

central door opening. The A demountable structure is located to the south. 

The site includes a number of trees and plantings of some age, presumed to have been planted by the 

Anglican Church which has occupied the site since 1862. As noted, with the exception of two blocks 

subdivided in the north-east corner, the two-acre site retains its original (1862) dimensions. 


N/A 



N/A 


N/A 


The property is recommended for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Inventory (VHI). The process to 

be followed for a site to be included in the VHI is typically undertaken by an archaeologist, and 

involves a site inspection and completion of a ‘Heritage Inventory Site Card’ to be filed with Heritage 

Victoria. Details of the process are at, www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/heritage, ‘Archaeology and Heritage 

Inventory’. Notwithstanding the Heritage Act 1995 provision that all sites older than 50 years are 

automatically protected, the inclusion of the St Mary the Virgin Anglican Church site in the VHI, in the 

2


absence of Heritage Overlay controls, would provide an appropriate mechanism for the future 

management/protection of the sub-surface remnants. 

Identified By 


References 



1993. 

Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong Study Area), Stage 2, 1998. 

Specific: 

1 

David Horsfall, Kangaroo Flat, A History, Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back To Committee, 

1993, p. 107. 

2 

The Bendigo Advertiser, 12 December 2007 and 27 July 2009; ABC News online, 

www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/11/2443507.htm) 11 December 2008. 

3


Name Former Liverpool Arms Hotel Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 182 High Street, Kangaroo 

Flat 

KF06 


Building type Retail premises Survey date June 2010 (external 



construction 

Before 1884 Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance The former Liverpool Arms Hotel is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: East elevation, addressing High Street. Right: South elevation, addressing View Street. 

Left: Detail of external wall at corner of High and View streets. Right: Aerial view. 

Left: Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site shown as KF06 


1


History 

The first publican’s licenses in Kangaroo Flat were granted to William Gunn and James Jamieson on 9 

August 1854. 1 Gunn’s Glasgow Arms Hotel (established shortly afterwards and now demolished), 

located at the corner of Station and High streets, was a Kangaroo Flat landmark. The date of 

construction of the subject building, the Liverpool Arms Hotel, is not known. It was one of nine hotels 

in Kangaroo Flat included in the Liquor Register of licensee renewals granted at the Court of Petty 

Sessions in Sandhurst on 22 December 1884. Eliza Cushion was the licensee at that time. 2 The 

Liverpool Arms was de-licensed on 15 September 1915. 3 In the 1990s it was in use as a restaurant; 

it is presently used as a shop. 




5.8: Working 


The former Liverpool Arms Hotel on the High Street at Kangaroo Flat is a single storey construction of 

bichromatic brick (overpainted) built to the boundaries of its corner site. Being located at a corner, 

the building has frontages to both streets (High and View streets), with the principal presentation to 

High Street. A non-original return verandah, over the street, is located to both frontages (elevations). 

The building has a parapet to High Street, with a recessed stuccoed panel for signage; the parapet 

returns to View Street for a bay and then lowers. The cornice treatment is straightforward, being a 

flat plate of bricks projecting slightly from the parapet face and fronted with a reverse ogee moulded 

string course. The windows in the two bays of the façade to each side of the south-east corner, 

appear to be original. The paired doors and windows to the west elevation along View Street are 

later, being part of an addition; the windows are of different proportions. There is an outbuilding 

visible from View Street, on the west side of the former hotel, which repeats the window treatment on 

the later component of the View Street elevation. The outbuilding is separated from the main building 

by a backyard vehicular entry. The four doors facing High and View streets are panelled with tall 

glazed panes in their upper panels. The timber-posted verandah, including the roofing, lacework 

frieze and posts are all later elements. The building has different roof forms, including a hipped roof 

at the centre of the building with galvanised steel cladding painted a dull green. The roof behind the 

parapet facing High Street has a mono-pitched metal deck roof, as does the wing projecting west 

along View Street. There are unpainted bi-chrome brick chimney stacks. The north side of the 

building abuts a contemporary restaurant building. Alterations, other than those noted above – 

including the verandah, west additions/alterations and overpainting – also include internal works, to 

adapt the former hotel to a restaurant and shop. The building appears to be in generally sound 

condition. 


In its combination of a moulded and then recessed parapet top with low, spreading proportions and 

cambered headed double-hung sash windows, the former Liverpool Arms Hotel parallels other singlestorey 

historic hotels in the area. These include the now demolished Windermere Hotel and the 

former Weighbridge Hotel both in Kangaroo Flat (although these hotels had chamfered corner 

entrances, a form which was not adopted for the subject building); 4 the former Royal Hotel at 

Woodvale; and the former Happy Jack’s (Crown and Anchor) Hotel, Lockwood South. 5 William Gunn’s 

Glasgow Arms Hotel (c. 1854-60, and later demolished) 6 at the High and Station streets corner was 

similarly spreading in its proportions. The former Liverpool Arms Hotel’s combination of differing roof 

forms parallels both the former Glasgow Arms hotel and the earlier, single-storey version of the Rifle 

Brigade Hotel in View Street, central Bendigo. 7 

Other Bendigo hotels similar to the former Liverpool Arms include the Manchester Arms Hotel in Long 

Gully by H E Tolhurst (1866); and the Queen’s Arms Hotel in Russell Street, Quarry Hill by Moffat and 

2


Brady, who were also active in Kangaroo Flat (1872). The latter is a corner design with return 

verandah. The Camp Hotel on the Neilborough-to-Eaglehawk Road in the Whipstick (1868) shows the 

characteristic window and door treatment seen in the Kangaroo Flat’s former hotels. 8 The breadth of 

examples cited indicates the popularity and longevity of this hotel type in the Bendigo region. 

More generally, the low proportions and spreading street frontage typify Central Victorian hotels and 

shop buildings in the Loddon Valley and elsewhere, especially on flat sites. They differ from 

proportionally similar single-storey hotels in, for instance, Victoria’s Western District in having parapet 

frontages. The distinctive parapet treatment with recessed upper courses above either a moulded or 

projecting brick course is common in hotels and shops in the Bendigo area and the combination is 

something of a regional signature. 




The former Liverpool Arms Hotel (built before 1884), at the corner of High and View streets in 

Kangaroo Flat, is of historical significance as an example of a hotel built during the early years of the 

development of Kangaroo Flat, prior to its proclamation as a township. The former Liverpool Arms 

Hotel was one of nine hotels at Kangaroo Flat in 1884, and although de-licensed in 1915, remains as 

evidence of the proliferation of hotels in the goldfields settlements. Its prominent location on High 

Street also emphasises the role of hotels on main roads. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

The former Liverpool Arms Hotel retains some of the principal characteristics of historic single-storey 

hotels in the area. These include the moulded and recessed parapet with stuccoed panel for signage; 

the low, spreading proportions; cambered headed double-hung sash windows; and multiple doors in 

the two street frontages for providing entry to different areas (and internal functions) of the building. 


municipality. 

The former Liverpool Arms Hotel, although an evolved building (with additions and modifications), is of 

aesthetic/architectural significance. It retains the distinctive elements of other single-storey historic 

hotels in the area, including the moulded and recessed parapet with a stuccoed panel for signage; the 

low, spreading proportions; and cambered headed double-hung sash windows. The multiple doors in 

the two street frontages also reflect its historic hotel function, in originally providing entry to different 

areas of the building such as the public bar and the residence. Its location at the southern entry to 

Kangaroo Flat, on the township’s main street, additionally gives the property a degree of prominence 

in the local context. 



N/A 

3





N/A 



N/A 



The former Liverpool Arms Hotel (built before 1884), located prominently at the corner of High and 

View streets in Kangaroo Flat, is a single storey bichromatic brick (overpainted) building constructed 

to the boundaries of its corner site. The building has frontages to both streets (High and View streets), 

with the principal presentation to High Street. The return verandah to these building frontages is not 

original. Significant elements include the moulded and recessed parapet with a stuccoed panel for 

signage; the low, spreading proportions; the cambered headed double-hung sash windows; and the 

multiple doors in the two street frontages. The location at the southern entry to Kangaroo Flat, on the 

township’s main street, is also important. 


The former Liverpool Arms Hotel at the corner of High and View streets, Kangaroo Flat, is of local 

historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The former Liverpool Arms Hotel (built before 1884), at the corner of High and View streets in 

Kangaroo Flat, is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. It is historically significant 

(Criterion A) as an example of a hotel built during the early years of the development of Kangaroo 

Flat, prior to its proclamation as a township. The former Liverpool Arms Hotel was one of nine hotels 

at Kangaroo Flat in 1884, and although de-licensed in 1915, remains as evidence of the proliferation 

of hotels in the goldfields settlements. Its prominent location on High Street also emphasises the role 

of hotels on main roads. The former Liverpool Arms Hotel, although an evolved building (with 

additions and modifications) is also of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E); and retains 

some of the principal characteristics of historic single-storey hotels in the area (Criterion D). The 

latter include the distinctive elements of single-storey historic hotels, such as the moulded and 

recessed parapet with a stuccoed panel for signage; the low, spreading proportions; and cambered 

headed double-hung sash windows. The multiple doors in the two street frontages also reflect its 

historic hotel function, in originally providing entry to different areas of the building (bar and 

residence). Its location at the southern entry to Kangaroo Flat, on the township’s main street, 

additionally gives the property a degree of prominence in the local context. 



The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map, with the focus of significance on the evolved 

former hotel building. In preference, the external paintwork should be removed, to return the building 

to its original bichromatic brick presentation. The advice of a heritage practitioner should be sought 

prior to undertaking these works. 




4







Identified By 


References 


David Horsfall, Kangaroo Flat, A History, Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back To Committee, 1993. 


Specific: 

1 

David Horsfall, Kangaroo Flat, A History Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back To Committee, 

1993, p. 82. 

2 


1993, pp. 82-3. 

3 

Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 

citation for the Fotmer Liverpool Arms Hotel (KF6), 1998, source uncited. 

4 

Wesley Hammill and Dorothy Wild, Photographic History of Kangaroo Flat, private publication, 

Kangaroo Flat, 1994, volume 2, not paginated, p. 77. 

5 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo, Its Environs: The Way It Was, Crown Castleton, Bendigo, 2003, p. 74-5. 

See also, Arnold, pp. 256-7. 

6 


1993, pp. 82-3. 

7 


1993, p. 53; Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust of 

Australia (Victoria), Bendigo, 1982, p. 14. 

8 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust of Australia 

(Victoria), Bendigo, 1982, p. 106 (Manchester Arms), p. 130 (Camp Hotel) and p. 151 

(Queen’s Arms). 

5


Name Priceline Pharmacy Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 116 High Street, Kangaroo 

Flat 

Building type Retail premises (former post 

office) 


construction 

KF7 




c.1880s Recommendation Not recommended for 



Significance The Priceline Pharmacy is not of local heritage significance, and is not 


Left: East elevation (High Street). Right: North elevation, showing rear additions. 

Left: Detail of original wall fabric to upper section of the east elevation. Right: Aerial view 2010 

(source: City of Greater Bendigo). 


Existing 

Heritage Status 

HV AHC NT 

History 

The pharmacy at 116 High Street is understood to have formed part of the Kangaroo Flat post office. 

The original date of construction has not been established but is assumed to have been c.1880s- 

1890s. The post office was located on the north side of the property, with a residence, which had a 

dedicated entrance, to the south. A timber rear addition comprised the kitchen and other amenities. 

The post office is recorded as having had an open fire and timber counter. A cast iron drinking 

fountain was located in front of the building. 1 In 1907-08 the postmistress was a Mrs M A Davidson; 

it was later run by a Mrs Robinson. Subsequent postal managers included Miss Hocking (1930s), Miss 

1


Davidson, Fred Jackson (1940s) and J Clarke 2 who ran the post office until R Tyndall’s chemist shop 

was established there in 1950. The property remains in use as a pharmacy. 



5.8: Working 

8.3: Providing health and welfare services 


The single storey building is located on the west side of High Street, with an asphalt-paved car park 

fronting Dunlop Lane at the rear. The building comprises three components: the original front 

component (the long-standing High Street shop), a large gabled addition to its rear, and a more 

recent awning attached to the addition. 

The shop front on the east of the building (facade) has a parapet with a curved pediment with 

recessed tympanum, and dogs tooth cornice returning on the side elevations. The pitched roof is clad 

with corrugated sheet metal. As built, the wall facing High Street is believed to have been exposed 

brick, which is now overpainted. The facade has large modern openings, including double doors and 

irregularly-spaced display windows, although the cambered brick headers of the original windows and 

door can still in part be discerned above these openings. Original sandstone quoins are also still 

evident. There is a bull-nosed verandah with faux ‘1880s’ lace around the timber posts and a neo- 

Federation frame-frieze. The addition abutting the original building component (to the rear) is fronted 

on its north side by a stepped back wall in umber brown brick, with a side door and topped by pitched 

roofing carried on gables fronted with cement sheet. Behind that is a more recent awning addition 

with large signage panel and entry ramp facing Dunlop Lane. The additions, which have not been 

dated, have steel deck or corrugated galvanised steel roof cladding. The building appears to be in 

generally sound condition. 


The original building was similar to single-storey parapet-fronted shops all over Victoria, built from the 

later nineteenth century into the 1920s, with various frontage forms and of various materials. They 

were generally marked by symmetrical shopfronts, or had the door offset simply to one side, and the 

parapets on these shops often had a recess or panel set out for signage. The quoin usage was 

familiar to that found elsewhere in the Bendigo-Castlemaine area, although usually on more imposing 

buildings such as the various post offices or Castlemaine Market. The later verandah, with its 

inauthentic combination of Federation and 1880s elements, is an example of recent verandah 

additions, often found on historic shopfronts. 




The pharmacy building at 116 High Street, Kangaroo Flat, c. 1880s-90s, is of historical interest as a 

surviving historic commercial building in the township’s main street. It is believed to have formed 

part of the Kangaroo Flat post office and quarters and has been used as a pharmacy for at least 60 

years. 



N/A 



2


N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The pharmacy building at 116 High Street, Kangaroo Flat is of limited aesthetic/architectural value. 

The facade retains some intact original elements, including the parapet with a curved pediment with 

recessed tympanum and dog's tooth cornice but is otherwise an altered frontage. The shopfront 

openings are modern, and the verandah is not original. 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 


The Priceline Pharmacy at 116 High Street Kangaroo Flat, c 1890s-1900s, is of some historical interest 

and limited aesthetic/architectural value. Historically, the c. 1880s-90s building is a surviving historic 

commercial building in the township’s main street, which is believed to have formed part of the 

Kangaroo Flat post office and quarters, and was subsequently used as a pharmacy for at least 60 

years. Aesthetically, the facade retains some intact original elements, including the parapet with a 

curved pediment with recessed tympanum and dog's tooth cornice but is otherwise an altered 

frontage. The shopfront openings are modern, and the verandah is not original. 


The property is not recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo Heritage 

Overlay. While the property has some historical and aesthetic interest, the building is altered, and the 

majority of the building (footprint) is not original. The historical interest and limited 

aesthetic/architectural value are not sufficient to warrant inclusion in the Heritage Overlay. 

External Paint Colours - 

Internal Alterations Controls - 

Tree Controls - 

Outbuildings and fences exemptions - 

Victorian Heritage Register - 

Prohibited uses may be permitted - 

Incorporated plan - 

3


Aboriginal heritage place - 

Identified By 


References 



Specific: 

1 



2 Details of postal managers derive from the citation for ‘John Jones Pharmacy’ included in the 

City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998, by Andrew Ward 

et al. The source is presumed to have been personal communication between Ray Wallace, 

local historian, and Dorothy Wild, 16 September 1998. 

4


Name Former ‘Victoria Store’ Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 143-147 High Street, 

Kangaroo Flat 

KF09 


Building type Retail/restaurant Survey date June 2010 (external 



construction 

1870, with later additions Recommendation Include in the Schedule to 


Significance The former ‘Victoria Store’ is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: Former ‘Victoria Store,’ pictured c. 1870, prior to additions (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 

Right: Former ‘Victoria Store’ pictured in 1902. Note the expansion to the north and south (Source: 

City of Greater Bendigo). 

Left: West elevation of the former Victoria Store. Right: Detail of the west elevation. 

Left: Two storey structure at the rear of the property. Right: Aerial view of the property, 2010 

(Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 

1


Proposed Heritage Overlay map. The subject site is shown as KF09. 


History 

A timber store was erected by James Stevenson at no. 145 High Street in 1861, being replaced by a 

brick structure in 1870. 1 Stevenson sold a range of goods, including ironmongery, clothing, millinery, 

boots and groceries. By 1872 the ‘Victoria Store’ was recorded in the Marong Shire Rate Books as a, 

‘brick hotel and store’. 2 Stevenson died in 1891, aged 56, after which his widow and their son, 

Richard, ran the shop. Richard (Dick) and his wife Mary subsequently took over the management of 

the premises until their deaths on 14 April 1945 and 27 May 1944 respectively. In the 1980s, Dick 

Stevenson was still fondly remembered locally for his visits by bicycle to take orders and for his gifts 

of sweets in a paper ‘twist’. 3 His death ended the Stevenson family’s 84-year association with the 

‘Victoria Store’. There have been a number of subsequent owners. 

Since 1870 the original shop (145 High Street) has been expanded to the north and south. A twostorey 

gable roofed building (residence?) on a narrow footprint has also been constructed at the rear. 

The date of this building has not been established. This two-storey structure is evident in 

photography dating to 1902. The detached property at no 149 High Street (the barber’s shop, KF10) 

was originally associated with the Victoria Store, although built slightly later. 4 The former Victoria 

Store is presently used as a coffee shop (no. 143), noodle restaurant (no. 145) and shop (no. 147). 




5.8: Working 


The Victoria Store comprises a single-storey brick building at nos 143-147 High Street, and a twostorey 

brick building at the rear. The High Street frontage of numbers 143-47 High Street has a 

simple stuccoed parapet and cornice with plain frieze, relieved by a single cyma recta string course 

moulding. The shopfronts were originally in exposed face brick; nos 145-147 were later clad to door 

height level with square ceramic tiling, relieved by a strip of repeated art deco patterning. Although 

now overpainted, these appear interwar in their embossed outlines; the door furniture also appears to 

be from the 1930s. The shop front of no. 143 is also modified, with a chromium-plated trim window, 

possibly dating to the 1950s or ‘60s. The arched wall vents below the shop windows also appear to 

date to the interwar period, as do the square wall vents lower down. The non-original High Street 

awning is cantilevered, with a more recent fascia and a set of thin posts designed to make the awning 

read as a lean-to verandah. 

To the rear of no. 145 High Street is a largely externally intact two-storey brick building, on a narrow 

rectilinear plan, with a timber skillion-roofed attachment (lean-to) and a single ridge gable roof and 

2


gable coping treatment characteristic of the area. The roof is clad in corrugated galvanised steel; the 

two chimneys at the north end are in unpainted cream brick. The brick walling is overpainted. Its 

three east-facing windows are double-hung sashes, with cambered soffits and stone or rendered sills. 

There is a single similar window under the south gable. The lean-to windows are probably later, with 

timber reveals. A steel and timber framed fence with crimped steel sheet panels separates the twostorey 

building from the rear yard. The two-storey component (and perhaps its timber and 

weatherboard lean-to) may originally have been separate from the shop fronts but is now attached to 

the back of the shops. 

The buildings appear to be in generally sound condition. 


The physical fabric of the former ‘Victoria Store’ property encompasses Kangaroo Flat development 

from the 1870s into the 1930s and beyond. The single storey property to High Street is believed to 

have originally encompassed a hotel and in this way invites comparison with the former Weighbridge 

Hotel (12 Lockwood Road, KF02) and Liverpool Arms (182 High Street, KF06). The frontage to High 

Street otherwise reads as a more typical historic commercial building, with its parapeted facade. The 

shopfronts also date from the interwar and post-WWII periods, which is more typical of historic retail 

strips in Melbourne, where interwar makeovers to shops were common. The two-storey gabled 

property at the rear is unusual in its combination (on the same property) with the former ‘Victoria 

Store’ building; it also suggests with its tight footprint and verticality the early Italianate proportions 

of the two-storey 1860s railway stations of that period, including Kangaroo Flat station itself (1863). 




The former ‘Victoria Store’ at 143-147 High Street, Kangaroo Flat (built from 1870) is of historical 

significance. The brick commercial building dates to the early period of settlement at Kangaroo Flat, 

supplanting an earlier 1861 store by the same owner, James Stevenson, and providing the local 

community with a range of goods, including ironmongery, clothing, millinery, boots and groceries. By 

1872 the ‘Victoria Store’ was also recorded as operating as a hotel. The Stevenson family maintained 

its association with the premises until the 1940s, and the property has provided multiple functions 

over time, including use as a shop, hotel and residence. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The former ‘Victoria Store’ is of aesthetic/architectural significance. The physical fabric of the property 

encompasses Kangaroo Flat development from the 1870s and later. The 1870 building frontage to 

3


High Street, although altered and extended, retains its parapet and cornice. The property is also 

distinguished through its association with the largely externally intact two-storey gabled building at 

the rear. This building, with its tight footprint and verticality, suggests the early Italianate 

proportioning of two-storey 1860s railway stations including Kangaroo Flat station itself (1863). 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 



The former ‘Victoria Store’ at 143-147 High Street, Kangaroo Flat, comprises a single-storey brick 

building at nos 143-147 High Street, which dates from 1870; and a two-storey brick building to the 

rear, which pre-dates 1902. The frontage of the former store has a surviving nineteenth century 

parapet and cornice with plain frieze and string course moulding. To the rear of no. 145 High Street is 

the largely externally intact two-storey brick building, on a narrow rectilinear plan, with a single ridge 

gable roof and gable ends. The shopfronts incorporate later elements of the interwar (1930s) and 

post-WWII (1950s and 1960s) periods. This fabric is of interest but is not as significant as the 

surviving nineteenth century fabric. 


The former ‘Victoria Store’ at 143-147 High Street, Kangaroo Flat is of local historical and 

aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The historical significance (Criterion A) of the former ‘Victoria Store’ derives from the 1870 building’s 

association with the early period of settlement at Kangaroo Flat. It supplanted an earlier 1861 store 

by the same owner, James Stevenson, and provided the local community with a range of goods, 

including ironmongery, clothing, millinery, boots and groceries. By 1872 the ‘Victoria Store’ was also 

recorded as operating as a hotel. The Stevenson family maintained its association with the premises 

until the 1940s, and the property has provided multiple functions over time, including use as a shop, 

hotel and residence. Aesthetically and architecturally (Criterion E), the fabric of the property 

encompasses Kangaroo Flat development from the 1870s and later. The 1870 building frontage to 

High Street, although altered and extended, retains its parapet and cornice. The property is also 

distinguished through its association with the largely externally intact two-storey gabled building at 

the rear. This building, with its tight footprint and verticality, suggests the early Italianate 

proportioning of two-storeyed 1860s railway stations. 



The extent of the Overlay is shown in the above map, and extends to the property boundary. 

4


Significant elements of the complex are the surviving elements of the nineteenth century shopfront 

(including the parapet and cornice), and the two-storey structure at the rear. 









Identified By 


References 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust of Australia, (Vic), 1987. 


Sands and McDougall, Bendigo, Suburban and District Directory for 1907-08. 


Specific: 

1 ‘Stevenson and His Store,‘ David Horsfall (ed), Kangaroo Flat, A History, Gold, Goats and 

Peppercorns, Back To Committee, 1993, p. 75. 

2 ‘Shops, former Victoria Store’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage 

Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. 

3 Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust of Australia, (Vic), 

1987, p. 139. 

4 David Horsfall (ed), Kangaroo Flat, A History, Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back To 


5


Name Bonhaven Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

KF11 

Address 181 High Street, Kangaroo Flat Map reference VicRoads 613 M3 

Building type Residential Survey date June 2010 (external 



construction 

1932-34 Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance Bonhaven is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Left: Bonhaven pictured c. early 1990s (Source: Photographic History of Kangaroo Flat, 1994, v. 1). 

Right: Bonhaven looking south-west, 2010 

Left: Motor garage to the north of the house. Right: Rear view. 


with Bonhaven shown as KF11. 


1


History 

Bonhaven was built in 1932-34 by the butcher and small goods manufacturer William Sparks 

Petherick, who established the butcher’s shop at 138 High Street, Kangaroo Flat, which he ran for 

many years (see KF8). From the 1920s, Petherick was also a prominent and successful harness 

racing horse owner and trainer. He is believed to have paid for Bonhaven out of the winnings of the 

champion trotter Glideaway. 1 Bonhaven, built during the Great Depression, was reputedly widely 

admired, with visitors to the area being known to slow down to admire the property as they passed. 2 

The architect has not been identified. 





Bonhaven is a picturesque, single-storey, brick and stucco Mediterranean style interwar villa which 

reveals Arts and Crafts influences including Bungalow and Spanish Mission elements. It faces west 

and is located in a generous landscaped garden on a large corner allotment south of Kangaroo Flat’s 

main retail strip. The property has hipped and gabled roof forms clad with terracotta tiles in the 

Marseilles pattern; there are four chimneys, each in red face brick with a clinker brick base and top. 

Projecting bricks form a neck and cornice for each chimney. The house has a projecting arcaded 

porch facing west, comprising one large central arch and two smaller flanking arches on columns. The 

tympanum is rendered in stucco, with a small trio of clinker brick insets as central decorations, and 

two moulded roundels to each side of the central arch. The porch gable is bracketed with a central 

jerkin-head and timber kneeler outlines at each end of its bargeboard. There is a concrete balustrade 

with waisted Italianate balusters on the terrazzo porch; the entry steps are bowed outward. Some 

ornamental glass work remains visible on the west side, being small paned in lead insets with 

neoclassical patterning. The south bay of the west frontage has a triple window with a bracketed 

concrete planter box at its sills. The north bay is a five-light curved bay with a bracketed ‘flat’ canopy 

and a brick apron. The west elevation has a three-course relieving band of clinker brick offsetting the 

otherwise plain red face brick frontage, carried as a dado up to almost window-head height. A 

stuccoed frieze separates this from the boxed eaves, which are slat-boxed under the main roof and 

solid-panelled under the front gable. 

The north and south elevations have similar red face brick and stuccoed frieze treatment, with boxframe 

windows. A nook porthole to the side of the north chimney is corbelled out on several brick 

courses. The east (rear) side is similarly clad in face brick, with a wide lean-to enclosed verandah, 

entered by two doors. The brick garage with its scroll parapet and gable (revealing a Dutch influence) 

two-leaf doors, and similarly tiled roof, may even be original or at least early; the front path paving 

also appears to be of long standing. The fence is original, with red face brick piers, with their caps 

and lower parapets all clad in cement render and wrought iron panels in the sections between. There 

is also a wrought iron main gate, diagonally placed and a side gate with the integral metal outline 

name ‘BONHAVEN’ with the ‘N’s set round the wrong way. 

The property appears to be in sound condition. At the time of the inspection, the house was not 

occupied, and the main front windows were temporarily clad in protective crimped steel sheet. The 

beam to the original lych gate, with name and house number attached (see 1990s picture, page 1), 

has been removed. The side fence to View Street has been renewed in crimped galvanized steel on a 

steel framing with concrete footings. 


Bonhaven, of 1932-34, compares with a number of substantial houses built in regional Victoria during 

the later interwar period. These include noted development found in Sturt Street, Ballarat, south of 

Lake Wendouree; on the Upper Esplanade in Geelong; and selectively also in Bendigo. Locally, the 

house compares with another large early 1930s example, the Jefferey House at the corner of High 

Street and Lockwood Road, 3 but this has been supplanted by a video shop and a set of offices. 

Stylistically the subject house is an eclectic mix, displaying Arts and Crafts influences, including a 

2


mixture of Bungalow and Spanish Mission elements. The Spanish Mission shows especially in the 

three porch arches, and the Arts and Crafts in the curved bay. The Bungalow components show in the 

roof form, the jerkin-headed gable above the porch, and the low, spreading proportions. 

Combinations of Bungalow forms were still fairly common in Victoria after the Depression had reached 

its peak, and architects were producing Bungalow genre designs up to World War II. The survival of 

the brick fence, including the intact wrought iron panels and gates and the curbed paving and 

driveway are of note and again are characteristic of this period. 




Bonhaven at 181 High Street, Kangaroo Flat (built 1932-34) is of historical significance as a 

substantial property built by local butcher and horse owner and trainer, William Sparks Petherick. The 

property, one of few substantial residential buildings to be built locally during the 1930s Depression, is 

believed to have been funded by the winnings of Petherick’s champion trotter Glideaway. The 

Mediterranean-style of the dwelling, again unusual in the local context, was also much admired after 

its construction. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

Bonhaven, a brick and stucco Mediterranean-style interwar villa of a relatively high level of external 

intactness, is of aesthetic/architectural significance. Stylistically the subject house is an eclectic mix, 

displaying Arts and Crafts influences including a mixture of Bungalow and Spanish Mission elements. 

The Spanish Mission is especially evident in the projecting arcaded porch with its three porch arches, 

stucco tympanum, clinker brick central decorations, and moulded roundels. The Arts and Crafts is 

seen in the curved bay. While the Bungalow components show in the roof form, jerkin-headed gable 

above the porch and the low, spreading proportions. The survival of the brick fence, including the 

intact wrought iron panels and gates and the curbed paving, driveway and garage, is also of note. 

The setting of the property in a generous landscaped garden complements the architectural style and 

enhances the aesthetic significance. 



N/A 




N/A 

3




N/A 



Bonhaven at 181 High Street, Kangaroo Flat was built in 1932-34 by local butcher and small goods 

manufacturer, William Sparks Petherick. It is a single-storey, brick and stucco Mediterranean style 

interwar villa which reveals Arts and Crafts influences including Bungalow and Spanish Mission 

elements. The dwelling has hipped and gabled roof forms clad with terracotta tiles in the Marseilles 

pattern, with brick chimneys; and a projecting gabled and arcaded porch comprising one large central 

arch and two smaller flanking arches on columns with a concrete balustrade. The elevations have red 

face brick and stuccoed frieze treatment, and a variety of window forms including box-frame windows 

with concrete planter boxes to sills and a curved bay window. Other elements of significance include 

the brick fence with its intact wrought iron panels and gates; and the curbed paving, driveway and 

garage. The dwelling faces west and is set in a generous landscaped garden on a large corner 

allotment south of Kangaroo Flat’s main retail strip. 


Bonhaven at 181 High Street, Kangaroo Flat is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 


Bonhaven at 181 High Street, Kangaroo Flat (built 1932-34) is of local historical and 

aesthetic/architectural significance. It is historically significant (Criterion A) as a substantial property 

built by local butcher and horse owner and trainer, William Sparks Petherick. The property, one of few 

buildings of note to be built locally during the 1930s Depression, is believed to have been funded by 

the winnings of Petherick’s champion trotter Glideaway. The Mediterranean-style of the dwelling was 

also much admired after its construction. Bonhaven, a brick and stucco Mediterranean-style interwar 

villa of a relatively high level of external intactness, is also of aesthetic/architectural significance 

(Criterion E). The property is an eclectic mix, displaying Arts and Crafts influences including a mixture 

of Bungalow and Spanish Mission elements. The Spanish Mission is especially evident in the 

projecting arcaded porch with its three porch arches, stucco tympanum, clinker brick central 

decorations, and moulded roundels. The Arts and Crafts is seen in the curved bay. While the 

Bungalow components show in the roof form, jerkin-headed gable above the porch, and the low, 

spreading proportions. The survival of the brick fence, including the intact wrought iron panels and 

gates, and the curbed paving, driveway and garage, is also of note. The setting of the property in a 

generous landscaped garden complements the architectural style, and enhances the aesthetic 

significance. 



The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map, with the focus of significance on the interwar 

dwelling, and the complementary original fence, curbed paving and driveway, garage and garden 

setting. 





4






Identified By 


References 



Specific: 

1 

The history derives from ‘The Old Butcher’s Shop,’ included in David Horsfall, Kangaroo Flat, A 

History, Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back To Committee, 1993, p. 101. 

2 

Wesley Hammill and Dorothy Wild, Photographic History of Kangaroo Flat, Photographic 

History Publications, Bendigo, 1994, v. 1, unpaginated. 

3 


History Publications, Bendigo, 1994, v. 1, unpaginated. 

5


Name Millewa Hall Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 214 High Street (north-west 

corner of Wesley Street), 

Kangaroo Flat 

KF12 

Map reference VicRoads 613 L4 




construction 



Significance Millewa Hall is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Left: Millewa Hall front (east) elevation, c. early 1990s (Source: Ruth Hopkins, Looking Back, Moving 

Forward, 1985, p. 38). Right: The east and south elevations of Millewa Hall. 

Left: South elevation. Right: The former coach house/stables. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010. Right: Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site shown as KF12. 


1


History 

Millewa Hall 1 was built in 1872 for Irishman, James Moore, brother of the Member of the Legislative 

Assembly for Mandurang, Thompson Moore. 2 James himself was President of the Bendigo Liberal 

Association in the early1870s. 3 In partnership with his brother and John Capper, James Moore traded 

as Moore Bros and Co. The partners had a store in Kangaroo Flat, later expanding to the Beehive 

Building in Pall Mall, Bendigo, and subsequently also to the Lyceum Store Co. Ltd in Pall Mall. 4 Millewa 

Hall was built in 1872 and was designed by noted local architectural practice Vahland and 

Getzschmann. It was described by James Moore as ‘a bit of a place,’ being a 13-room dwelling set in 

a 2 ha (5-acre) site at the southern entrance to Kangaroo Flat. 5 The property originally extended to 

the Bendigo Creek, to the west. James Moore died in 1881, when he was struck by a train on his way 

to the station at Kangaroo Flat. 6 Millewa Hall is presently a private residence, having previously been 

adapted as a nursing home and accommodation for the aged. 7 





Millewa Hall is a substantial single-storey stuccoed Italianate villa on a rectilinear plan, in a large 

corner allotment, with generous setbacks to the main building frontage/address to High Street in 

Kangaroo Flat (east side) and Wesley Street (south side). The house has hipped roof forms clad in 

slate tiles with galvanised steel ridge capping. Behind the main north-south transverse hip are two 

trailing hips with a central valley joint. There are four chimneys, set inside each trailing ridge, but 

each offset from the other. Each chimney has its original cornice and stacks with recessed panels, set 

on square bases with plain surfacing and chamfered tops. The facade (east elevation to High Street) 

has a set of brackets under its front eave, and a symmetrical frontage, comprising a central door with 

sidelights and a three-paned fanlight, and two canted bays with double-hung sash windows. The 

verandah shown in the early 1990s image has been removed, and in its place is a terrace with a 

central porch with chamfered corners and smooth fascia framing the entrance, approached via a flight 

of curved steps with an undulating balustrade. These splay outwards into the garden and begin at the 

terrace floor, swelling to balustrade height by the first steps and continuing down into two piers 

surmounted by urns. The recent porch is supported on modern columns. The canted bay windows 

have a pilastrated treatment; the corners of the facade have a quoining treatment. The side windows 

have moulded surrounds with bracketed sills, each being a timber-framed double-hung sash. 

There are a number of rear additions to the west side of the original 1870s building, including a 

parapet-fronted monopitch roofed wing with rendered walling and a rounded porch and lattice gable 

added in turn to that, probably in the 1980s. There is another outbuilding and large tank to the 

immediate south-west of the house, again probably later, and several more outlying structures 

including two rectangular buildings. The former coach house/stables, abutting Wesley Street to the 

south, have been converted to residential accommodation. This building has parapeted gables at its 

east and west ends, a rendered concrete wall divided into two with piers, with a shallow battered base 

plate. The building also has a lean-to addition with a monopitch roof in corrugated galvanised steel 

and overpainted face brick walling. 

The house has spacious grounds originally dominated by two large Moreton Bay figs either side of the 

pathway addressing High Street. One of the Moreton Bay figs survives. A gazebo with faceted conical 

roof is located near the south-east corner of the garden. 


Millewa Hall is an 1870s symmetrically fronted Italianate villa. The large scale of the sashes in each of 

the canted bays to the facade is unusual, even when compared with Melbourne or Geelong examples. 

Outside the Bendigo area, Victoria’s mid-nineteenth century canted bays tended to have their windows 

treated as openings in an otherwise continuous masonry bay wall. However, the Millewa Hall bay 

window treatment recurs at Hope Park (KF16) and Myrnong (KF17) in Kangaroo Flat, although the 

Myrnong bays are very lightly scaled and the window frames are not made to serve as pilasters, as 

2


they do here and at Hope Park. In the context of the work of architects Vahland and Getzchmann, 

Millewa Hall compares with the Colbinabbin and Stanhope homesteads of 1867. The mature garden 

also compares with that at Park View in Marong (M7), especially in being dominated by voluminous 

Moreton Bay figs and in its linkage to the main garden area by a direct pathway axis running to the 

front door. 




Millewa Hall (built 1872) at 214 High Street, Kangaroo Flat, is historically significant as a substantial 

mid-Victorian property at Kangaroo Flat. It was commissioned by James Moore, a successful 

businessman, local politician and prominent member of the local community. The property was also 

designed by the leading Bendigo architectural practice Vahland and Getzchmann, and is a significant 

example of their residential work. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

Millewa Hall is of aesthetic/architectural significance as a large and prominent 1870s Italianate villa, 

which retains a comparatively high degree of external intactness, and is set in a generous landscaped 

garden at the southern entrance to Kangaroo Flat. The east elevation in particular is boldly 

expressed, with the canted bays and, albeit altered entrance arrangement with central porch and 

flight of curved steps with undulating balustrade. Elements of note include the symmetrical 

presentation, and the canted bays to the east facade with large scale window sashes to each of the 

bays. The presentation of the property is enhanced by its spacious landscaped garden, dominated by 

the mature Moreton Bay fig tree in the setback to High Street. The survival of the former coach 

house/stables, with the parapeted gable ends, is also of note. Millewa Hall is additionally an example 

of the work of prominent Bendigo architects Vahland and Getzchmann. 



N/A 




N/A 



3


Millewa Hall is significant for its association with the leading Bendigo architectural practice Vahland 

and Getzchmann. It is an example of their residential work in an oeuvre which included many 

important public, civic and commercial buildings in the municipality. The property is also significant 

for its association with the original owner, James Moore, who was a successful businessman, local 

politician and prominent member of the local community. 



Millewa Hall at 214 High Street, Kangaroo Flat is a substantial single-storey, symmetrically fronted, 

stuccoed Italianate villa constructed in 1872. The building is set in a landscaped garden at the 

southern entrance to Kangaroo Flat, with generous setbacks to the main building frontage to High 

Street and also to Wesley Street. The significant components of the property include the 1870s 

building, the coach house/stables, and the landscaped garden including the mature Moreton Bay fig 

and the setbacks to High and Wesley streets. 


Millewa Hall (built 1872) at 214 High Street, Kangaroo Flat is of local historical and 



Millewa Hall (built 1872) is historically significant (Criterion A) as a substantial mid-Victorian property 

at Kangaroo Flat. It is also significant for its association (Criterion H) with the original owner, James 

Moore, a successful businessman, local politician and prominent member of the local community; and 

for its association with the leading Bendigo architectural practice Vahland and Getzchmann, being a 

significant example of their residential work. The practice was responsible for many important public, 

civic and commercial buildings in the municipality. Millewa Hall is additionally of 

aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E) as a large and prominent 1870s Italianate villa, which 

retains a comparatively high degree of external intactness, and is set in a generous landscaped garden 

at the southern entrance to Kangaroo Flat. The east elevation in particular is boldly expressed, with 

the canted bays and, albeit altered entrance arrangement with central porch and flight of curved steps 

with undulating balustrade. Elements of note include the symmetrical presentation, and the canted 

bays to the east facade with large scale window sashes to each of the bays. The presentation of the 

property is enhanced by its spacious landscaped garden, dominated by the significant mature Moreton 

Bay fig tree in the setback to High Street. The survival of the former coach house/stables, with the 

parapeted gable ends, is also of note. 



The extent of the Overlay is illustrated in the above map, with the focus of significance on the 1870s 

building, the coach house/stables, and the landscaped garden including the mature Moreton Bay fig 

and the setbacks to High and Wesley streets. 



Tree Controls Yes 






4


Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 

The property is also slso spelt Milawa Hall, see Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic 

Buildings, National Trust of Australia (Vic), 1987, p. 138. 

2 

Kathleen Thomson and Geoffrey Serle, A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament 

1859-1900, www.parliament.vic.gov.au/re-member 

3 

Ruth Hopkins, Moving Forward, Looking Back: The History of The Marong Shire, Shire of 

Marong, 1985, pp. 37-38. 

4 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust of Australia (Vic), 

1987, p. 138. 

5 


1987, p. 138. 

6 

Ruth Hopkins, Moving Forward, Looking Back: The History of The Marong Shire, Shire of 

Marong, 1985, p. 37. 

7 


1987, p. 139. 

5


Name Returned Soldiers League Hall 

(former Rechabites Hall) 

Address 15a Station Street, Kangaroo 

Flat 


Marong Study 

KF14 


Building type Public hall Survey date June 2010 


construction 

1890 Recommendation Not recommended for 



Significance The Returned Soldiers League Hall is not of local heritage significance, and is not 


Left: South (front) elevation, viewed from the west, 1995 (Source: National Library of Australia). 

Right: South elevation, viewed from the east. 2010. 

Left: South and east elevations. Right: East elevation viewed from High Street. 



1


Existing 


HV AHC NT 

History 

This hall was built in 1890 as the premises of the Independent Order of Rechabites (IOR). The IOR 

promoted abstinence from alcohol during the late-nineteenth century heyday of the temperance 

movement. By 1907-08, the building was referred as the Temperance Hall. 1 There have been many 

subsequent uses and occupants, including scouting groups, the YMCA and the Red Cross. The 

Returned Soldiers League (RSL) Hall acquired the building in 1953 and has met there since. 2 An 

infant welfare centre operated from the building in the period1953 to 1959. The RSL subsequently 

extended the building, with a kitchen, meeting room and billiard room 3 and made it available as a preschool 

centre from 1959-61. 4 





8.4: Forming community organisations 

9.5: Advancing knowledge 


The Returned Soldiers League Hall at 15a Station Street, facing south along Dunlop Lane, is a small, 

bichromatic structure designed in the Classical Revival style. It has a moulded cornice in cream and 

red face brick and a cream brick lunette arch over the centrally located double front doors. This has 

an inset keystone with ‘Erected A.D. 1890’ incised in its face. On alignment with the top of the doors 

are two courses of cream brick bracketing a course of marginally darker red-brown brick headers. The 

metal awning over the front doors is modern (compare the photographs on p. 1). The pediment and 

its curving cornice appear to be a later if long-standing addition, being completed in a deep red face 

brick substantially different from the main brick frontage. The RSL signage is modern (post-1995). 

The side walls to the east and west have two high-mounted two-light windows with segmental soffits. 

The east wall has a two-leafed side door and cement-rendered lintel. The west wall has an attached 

chimney, battered outward to a square chimney-breast; the stack has a corbelled brick top. 

The building has a large addition towards the rear (built 1959), with a hipped roof clad in corrugated 

galvanised steel, smooth boxed eaves and unusual large diamond-patterned window framing. The 

addition has an awkward relationship with the earlier hall building and clearly breaks into the 

rectilinear footprint of the original structure. Cooling plant over the hall and the ball vent fixed to the 

top of the chimney are recent additions. The building appears to be in generally sound condition. 


This is one of many small, symmetrically fronted red brick halls found in regional Victoria and the 

goldfields in particular, with bichrome relief. It is also an unexceptional example. The Colonial 

Customs House at Wahgunyah (1886) generally compares in composition and proportions. 5 The 

cream-brick entry arch is of interest, sustaining an arch detail seen in central Victorian court house 

and postal buildings from the 1860s and enjoying a revival in Victorian railway architecture at this 

time (see South Melbourne and Serviceton railway stations, 1885-90). 




2


The Returned Soldiers League Hall at 15 Station Street, Kangaroo Flat (built 1890) is of historical 

interest. The building was constructed as the premises of the Independent Order of Rechabites (IOR), 

and provides evidence of the IOR’s activities on the goldfields, including their promotion of abstinence 

from alcohol during the heyday of the temperance movement. The hall has also been the premises of 

the RSL since 1953, and served as a public resource, being used as premises for the scouts, YMCA, 

Red Cross and as a pre-school centre. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

The RSL Hall at 15a Station Street shares some of the characteristics of many small halls found in 

regional Victoria, and the goldfields in particular, including its modest scale, symmetrical frontage, and 

(originally) simple plan. It is however an undistinguished and altered example of the type. 


municipality. 

The RSL Hall at 15a Station Street is of limited aesthetic/architectural value. While it is an historic 

(1890s) building in the Classical Revival style, which utilises bichrome brick, it is an unexceptional 

example of the style. It is also a modest and altered building, with a modified frontage - the pediment 

with its curving cornice appears to be a later albeit long-standing addition. It also has a prominent, 

and ill-fitting, large 1959 addition towards the rear, which visibly breaks with the rectilinear plan of 

the original building. 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 


The Returned Soldiers League Hall at 15 Station Street, Kangaroo Flat (built 1890) is of historical 

interest and limited aesthetic/architectural value. The building was constructed as the premises of the 

Independent Order of Rechabites (IOR) and provides evidence of the IOR’s activities on the goldfields, 

including their promotion of abstinence from alcohol during the heyday of the temperance movement. 

The hall has also been the premises of the RSL since 1953, and served as a public resource, being 

used as premises for the scouts, YMCA, Red Cross and as a pre-school centre. The RSL Hall is of 

limited aesthetic/architectural value. While it is an historic (1890s) building in the Classical Revival 

style, which utilises bichrome brick, it is an unexceptional example of the style. It is also a modest 

3


and altered building, with a modified frontage - the pediment with its curving cornice appears to be a 

later albeit long-standing addition. It additionally has a prominent, and ill-fitting, large 1959 addition 

towards the rear, which visibly breaks with the rectilinear plan of the original building. While the hall 

shares some characteristics with many small halls in regional Victoria, including its modest scale, 

symmetrical frontage, and (originally) simple plan, it is an undistinguished example of the type. 



Overlay. While the property has some historical and aesthetic interest, the building is a modest and 

altered hall and of no distinction in the context of late nineteenth century brick halls on the gold fields. 



Tree Controls 






Identified By 


References 



Specific: 

1 

Sands and McDougall, Bendigo, Suburban, and District Directory for 1907-08, cited in ‘RSL,’ 

citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, 

Stage 2, 1998. 

2 



3 



4 



5 

The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1981, p. 3/181, item 12. 

4


Name Hope Park 


Marong Study 

KF16 

Address 12 Weir Court, Kangaroo Flat Map reference VicRoads 607 L12 

Building type Private residence Survey date June 2010 


construction 



Significance Hope Park is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Left: Hope Park, undated (Source: Photographic History of Kangaroo Flat, private publication, 

Kangaroo Flat, 1994, volume 1, not paginated.) Right: East elevation. 

Left: North and east elevations. Right: Hope Park (centre) viewed from Alder Road to the north. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010, with the historic property circled. Right: Proposed Heritage Overlay, with the 

subject property shown as KF16. 


1


History 

Hope Park is located in the north-west of Kangaroo Flat, close to the Golden Square boundary. The 

picturesque stone property was built in 1867 by Scottish architect David Weir, who also designed the 

building. The stone was quarried on site. 1 Weir had two acres of vines planted on the grounds by 

1872. 2 In 1907 Jack Giudice purchased the property and established a dairy farm and trotting stud 

there, and Hope Park remained in the Giudice family for nearly 90 years. The Giudice family was also 

associated with Bendigo's Plaza Picture Theatre. 3 In recent years the grounds (landholding) to the 

north, east and south of Hope Park have been subdivided and developed for residential purposes. 



4.1: Living off the land 


4.4: Farming 



Hope Park, set in a deep allotment oriented east-west, comprises an original L-shaped stone house 

setback from the road (Weir Court), with rear additions, outbuildings and mature trees. The house 

addresses the east. 

The L-shaped stone house has a steeply pitched roof clad in Marseilles-pattern tiling and ridge 

capping, with prominent gables on its front (east) and side (north) elevations, each with a timber 

soffit and exposed purlins. The roof has two ridges at right angles, the transverse ridge running 

across the longitudinal ridge to form a large dormer gable on the south side. Chimneys are located 

over the windows at the extremities of the two ridges. The rear rooms are under a broad mono-pitch 

roof that slopes back from the main gable group; this may have a membrane cladding, and it has new 

vents. The front wing has a timber-framed canted bay with half pyramidal tiled roof over and an 

apron sill, in the east gable and a diagonally angled central entry porch. The north bay is also gabled, 

with elongated double hung timber sash windows with stone sills, under two unusual pent drip courses 

of inset stone slabs. 

The walls of the dwelling are reputedly 750mm thick, 4 in gallet stonework (where large stone blocks 

are infilled with chip and spall), with some quoin definition at the front wing corners. The gable 

bargeboards are simple planks, and the random coursed wing chimney, set directly above the canted 

bay, has rubble stone necking and a roughly bracketed cornice. The house has a square plan terrace 

filling in its basic L-shape, with an angled entry step. This terrace is built up with a stone wall laid in a 

random (irregular) pattern. The north gabled wing is coupled to another canted timber bay and a 

stone-walled rear wing. Modifications to the property include the roof tile cladding, which replaced the 

original shingle, possibly in the early twentieth century. The shingle-fronted entry porch may be later, 

and its waisted, arrow-headed finial is unusual. There is a later screen door. The various out 

buildings are of weatherboard or of corrugated galvanised steel cladding, painted, and the shed and 

monopitch roofs are all clad in corrugated galvanised steel, mostly painted. The grounds, although 

significantly reduced and developed, feature a number of plantings including two cypress pines and 

two tall palms located to the north-east and south-west sides of the dwelling respectively. The 

property is enclosed by a modern wire mesh fence. 


The term cottage orné, characterised by free treatment of medieval forms and loosely picturesque or 

rustic Gothic motifs, had currency from c.1795. 5 The genre appeared in Australia in the 1830s, as 

with Lindsay at Darling Point, New South Wales (1834), and Major Thomas Mitchell’s Carthona in the 

same suburb (1839-41). 6 Homesteads such as Banyule (1842-6) and Overnewton (1849-59) in 

Victoria; and Melbourne suburban houses such as Invergowrie (1846-1869) and The Hawthorns 

(1846-47), all consolidated the genre in Victoria. As the names suggest these picturesque houses 

were often to evoke Scottishness, a pattern maintained by Scottish architect David Weir at Hope Park. 

Generally the cottage orné was L-shaped in plan, with steep-pitched roofs, conspicuous gabling and 

2


bargeboards, stone or masonry drip-mouldings, prominent or imposing chimneys, and canted bay 

windows in the projecting wings, as here. These dwellings generally addressed their sites diagonally 

rather than frontally, and wall materials were usually left exposed rather than rendered, all as here. 

The lightly framed bay is another example of this detail locally: timber canted bays, or bays developed 

around expanded mullions, recurred in other Kangaroo Flat houses such as Millewa Hall (1872) and 

earlier as in Myrnong (1857-58). 




Hope Park (built 1867) at 12 Weir Court, Kangaroo Flat is of historical significance. The picturesque 

stone property, constructed of stone quarried on site, was designed and built by Scottish architect 

David Weir. Hope Park is also an early agricultural property in the north-west of Kangaroo Flat and 

significant as one of the few surviving properties dating to the early years of settlement in this area of 

the expanding suburb. The property was associated with the local Guidice family for some 90 years. 



Hope Park, in the cottage orné-style, is an unusual dwelling in the Marong and broader municipal 

context. It retains many of the distinctive characteristics of the style including an L-shaped plan, 

steeply pitched roofs, gabling and bargeboards, prominent chimneys, canted bay windows in 

projecting wings, and a diagonal presentation to the site. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

Hope Park is of aesthetic/architectural significance. The property demonstrates many of the key 

characteristics of the cottage orné-style, including an L-shaped plan, steeply pitched roofs, 

conspicuous gabling and bargeboards, stone or masonry drip-mouldings, prominent chimneys, canted 

bay windows in the projecting wings, and addressing the site diagonally rather than frontally. The 

picturesque cottage orné-style, introduced in Australia from the 1830s, was generally associated with 

settlers of Scottish descent, as occurred here. The property is additionally prominent in its immediate 

context, with the high gabled wings making it one of the taller buildings in the surrounding modern 

suburban development, and visible in views from the roads to the north and west. The mature 

cypress pines and palm trees also have a high degree of visibility and enhance the presentation of the 

property. 



N/A 




3


N/A 



N/A 



Hope Park (built 1867), at 12 Weir Court, Kangaroo Flat, was built in 1867 for Scottish architect David 

Weir. The dwelling is set in a deep allotment and comprises an original L-shaped stone house setback 

from the road (Weir Court). The house has a steeply pitched roof clad in Marseilles-pattern tiling with 

ridge capping, prominent gables to its east and north elevations, a timber-framed canted bay window 

with a half pyramidal tiled roof over in the east gable, and a diagonally angled central entry porch. 

The north gabled wing is coupled to another canted timber bay and a non-original stone-walled rear 

wing. The house also has a square plan terrace filling in its basic L-shape, with an angled entry step; 

the terrace is built up with a stone wall laid in a random pattern. The grounds, although significantly 

reduced and developed, feature a number of plantings including two cypress pines and two tall palms 

located to the north-east and south-west sides of the dwelling respectively. 


Hope Park (built 1867), at 12 Weir Court, Kangaroo Flat, is of local historical and 



The picturesque dwelling Hope Park, constructed in 1867 of stone quarried on site and designed and 

built by Scottish architect David Weir, is historically important (Criterion A). It is an early agricultural 

property in the north-west of Kangaroo Flat, and significant as one of the few surviving properties 

dating to the early years of settlement in this area of the expanding suburb. The property was 

associated with the local Guidice family for some 90 years. Hope Park, in the cottage orné-style, is 

also of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E) and an unusual style of dwelling in the Marong 

and broader municipal context (Criterion B). The picturesque cottage orné-style, introduced in 

Australia from the 1830s, was generally associated with settlers of Scottish descent, as occurred here. 

The property demonstrates many of the key characteristics of the cottage orné-style, including an Lshaped 

plan, steeply pitched roofs, conspicuous gabling and bargeboards, stone or masonry dripmouldings, 

prominent chimneys, canted bay windows in the projecting wings, and addressing the site 

diagonally rather than frontally. The property is additionally prominent in its immediate context, with 

the high gabled wings making it one of the taller buildings in the surrounding modern suburban 

development, and visible in views from the roads to the north and west. The mature cypress pines 

and palm trees, on the north-east and south-west sides of the dwelling respectively, also have a high 

degree of visibility and enhance the presentation of the property. 



The Overlay extent is indicated in the above map, although the focus of significance is on the original 

stone house, its setback from Weir Court, and the area/setting enclosed by the modern wire mesh 

fence (the fence is not significant) which includes cypress pines and two tall palms in the immediate 

curtilage to the building. The non-original rear wing is not a significant element. 




4







Identified By 


References 


David Horsfall (ed). Kangaroo Flat, A History: Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, ‘Back To’ Committee, 

Bendigo, 1993. 


Specific: 

1 

David Horsfall (ed), Kangaroo Flat, A History: Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, ‘Back To’ 

Committee, Bendigo, 1993, p. 89. 

2 


1987, p. 141. 

3 

‘Hope Park,’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) 

Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. 

4 

Noted by Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust of Australia 

(Vic), 1987, p. 141. 

5 

James Stevens Curl, Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Oxford, 2006, p. 

206. 

6 

See Joan Kerr and James Broadbent, Gothick Taste in the Colony of New South Wales, Ell, 

Sydney, 1980, esp. Chs. 5, 6; The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1981, pp. 3/3, 

item 1 (Banyule); 3/35 item 9 (Overnewton). Philip Goad and others, Melbourne Architecture, 

Watermark, Sydney, 2009, pp. 19 item 10 (Banyule), 19 item 13 (The Hawthorns), 20 item 16 

(Invergowrie). 

5


Name Myrnong Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 2 Myrnong Court, 

Kangaroo Flat 

KF17 


Building type Private residence Survey Date June 2010 


construction 



Significance Myrnong is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

West elevation of Myrnong. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). Right: Proposed Heritage Overlay map. 

Myrnong is indicated as KF17. 


1


History 

Myrnong was built by Englishman, John Cappy, in 1857-58. 1 Cappy was associated with deep lead 

mining and believed that a reef ran through his property. However, he refused to allow mining on his 

land. As a result Myrnong does not appear on mining maps. 2 In 1872, Myrnong was described in the 

Bendigo Advertiser as an, ‘English gentleman’s home,’ with privet hedges and a trellis covered in the 

grape vines. The property at that time covered an area of 2.6 ha (6.5 acres), and the house had 10 

or 12 rooms. The property was presumably used as a horse stud (?), as in 1872 it had 14 stables 

with space for 28 horses, living quarters for the stable hands, and a blacksmith’s area. 3 The coach 

house was demolished in about 1980. 4 The driveway to the house was originally from the north. 

However, the early configuration of the property has been completely obscured by subdivision. 

Myrnong is now located at the end of a cul-de-sac on a suburban allotment. 





Myrnong is a symmetrical single-storey, hipped and gabled, early Gothic-influenced house with its 

front elevation facing west. The original face brick external walls have been overpainted. The roof 

forms, which are clad in corrugated galvanised steel, comprise a transverse ridge over the linking 

central section of the building, and gables over the projecting flanking (north and south) wings. There 

is a cast concrete cornice to the parapets and a reconstructed timber posted verandah to the central 

building section. Two large brick chimneys are visible from the street (Myrnong Court), with 

proportionally broad bases and plain uncorniced stacks. The front door is offset to the north end of 

the verandah. The flanking wings have canted window bays with light timber frames and large-scaled 

sashes. The front yard has been reorganised since the 1990s and a paved driveway leads past the 

house on its south side, diagonally to its right. A swimming pool has been installed to the rear, and a 

large asphalted apron leading to a large outbuilding in on the south side of the house. This 

outbuilding is roofed in corrugated galvanised steel. The rear of the house has a verandah roofed in 

corrugated galvanised steel with three polycarbonate light sheeting, and a square, flat roofed wing, 

apparently recent, runs off the south wing toward the swimming pool. Two skylights have been added 

to the south wing. There is a further shed on the property’s south-west side and a circular formal 

garden immediately south of the driveway. The property appears to be in generally sound condition. 


As a building dating to the 1850s, Myrnong’s only Kangaroo Flat equivalent is Tweedside at 39 Crusoe 

Road (c. 1856). Dwellings dating to the 1850s in the City of Greater Bendigo include Dudley House at 

60 View Street, Bendigo (1858); Specimen Cottage at 178-180 Hargreaves Street, Bendigo (1856); 

and Myrnong (1857-58). All are among the oldest surviving dwellings on the Bendigo goldfields. With 

regard to aesthetic presentation, Myrnong is an early local example in the picturesque genre, albeit 

with loosely Gothic details. The gable detailing includes an emphatic gable moulding with unusual 

turned-down gable-shoulders and a large a drip-moulding. Other common elements of the genre 

include exposed brickwork, albeit this has been overpainted at Myrnong; conspicuous chimneys; a 

steep pitch to roofs, and canted bays. These are also typical of Colonial picturesque architecture and 

its usual domestic variant, the cottage orné 5 and had been well-tried in earlier and more 

thoroughgoing examples such as Lindsay and Carthona in the Sydney suburbs (1834-1844); and in 

Melbourne at The Hawthorns (1846-7), Invergowrie (1846-69), Banyule (1846) and Overnewton 

(1849). 6 In this company Myrnong is an interesting although rather tentative example, with limited 

Gothic details and moderately pitched roofing. The lightly framed window bay is also another example 

of this detail locally: timber canted bays, or bays developed around expanded mullions, recurred in 

other Kangaroo Flat houses including later examples such as Hope Park (1867) and Millewa Hall 

(1872). 



2



Myrnong, at 2 Myrnong Court, Kangaroo Flat, is of historical significance. It was built in 1857-58 for 

Englishman John Cappy, who was associated with deep lead mining. By the 1870s, Mynong was a 

substantial ‘gentleman’s residence,’ with extensive stabling and horse facilities. At that time the 

property was also located in a generous landscaped setting, although the early configuration of the 

property, and the scale of the grounds, has been obscured and reduced through subdivision. Myrnong 

is also one of the oldest residential buildings in Kangaroo Flat and one of the few remaining 1850s 

dwellings on the Bendigo goldfield. 



Myrnong, as a building dating to the 1850s, is one of the few dwellings of this period in Kangaroo Flat 

and in the City of Greater Bendigo generally, and a rare example of a property dating to the 1850s 

which was built on the fringes of Bendigo. It is also among the oldest surviving dwellings on the 

Bendigo goldfields. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

Myrnong is of aesthetic/architectural significance. The 1850s dwelling is an early local example in the 

picturesque Gothic genre, albeit simply detailed but with prominent gabling and canted window bays. 

Its symmetrical façade, with the tranverse roofed central section and flanking gabled wings, is 

evocative of the mid-Victorian period. Other elements of note include the large brick chimneys and 

the light timber frames and large-scaled sashes to the canted window bays. The dwelling is also 

substantially externally intact, albeit overpainted (i.e. not retaining its original face brick 

presentation). 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 



3


Myrnong, at 2 Myrnong Court, Kangaroo Flat, was built in 1857-58 for Englishman John Cappy, who 

was associated with deep lead mining. Myrnong, set in a generous allotment, is a symmetrical singlestorey, 

hipped and gabled, early Gothic-influenced house with its front elevation facing west. The 

original face brick external walls have been overpainted. The roof forms, clad in corrugated 

galvanised steel, comprise a transverse ridge over the linking central section of the building, and 

gables over the projecting flanking wings. There is a cast concrete cornice to the parapets and a 

reconstructed timber posted verandah to the central building section. The flanking wings have canted 

window bays with light timber frames and large-scaled sashes. 


Myrnong, at 2 Myrnong Court, Kangaroo Flat, is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 


Myrnong is historically significant (Criterion A) as a dwelling built in 1857-58 for Englishman John 

Cappy, who was associated with deep lead mining. By the 1870s, Mynong was a substantial 

‘gentleman’s residence,’ with extensive stabling and horse facilities. At that time the property was 

located in a generous landscaped setting, although the early configuration of the property, and the 

scale of the grounds, has been obscured and reduced through subdivision. Myrnong as a building 

dating to the 1850s, is also one of the few dwellings of this period in Kangaroo Flat and in the City of 

Greater Bendigo generally, and a rare example of a property dating to the 1850s which was built on 

the fringes of Bendigo. It is also among the oldest surviving dwellings on the Bendigo goldfields 

(Criterion B). Myrnong is additionally of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E), as an early 

local example in the picturesque Gothic genre, albeit simply detailed but with prominent gabling and 

canted window bays. Its symmetrical façade, with the tranverse roofed central section, and flanking 

gabled wings, is evocative of the mid-Victorian period. Other elements of note include the large brick 

chimneys and the light timber frames and large-scaled sashes to the canted window bays. The 

dwelling is also substantially externally intact, albeit overpainted. 



The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map, with the focus of significance on the 1850s 

building and its presentation to Myrnong Court. In preference, the external paintwork should be 

removed and the original facebrick presentation of the building returned. The advice of a heritage 

practitioner should be sought prior to undertaking such works. 









Identified By 


4


References 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust of Australia (Victoria), 1987. 



Specific: 

1 

The surname is also given as ‘Capper,’ by Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic 

Buildings, National Trust of Australia (Victoria), 1987, p. 141. 

2 

Cited by David Horsfall (ed), Kangaroo Flat, A History, Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back to 


3 

Cited by David Horsfall (ed), Kangaroo Flat, A History, Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back to 

Committee, 1993, p. 86, and Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, 

National Trust of Australia (Victoria), 1987, p. 141. 

4 

David Horsfall (ed), Kangaroo Flat, A History, Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back to 

Committee, 1993, p. 86 

5 

James Stevens Curl, Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Oxford, 2006, p. 

206. Jane Austen notes the cottage ornee as a usual form in her incomplete manuscript 

Sanditon (1817). 

6 

See Joan Kerr and James Broadbent, Gothick Taste in the Colony of New South Wales, Ell, 

Sydney, 1980, esp. Chs. 5, 6; The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1981, pp. 3/3, 

item 1 (Banyule); 3/35 item 9 (Overnewton). Philip Goad and others, Melbourne Architecture, 

Watermark, Sydney, 2009, pp. 19 item 10 (Banyule), 19 item 13 (The Hawthorns), 20 item 16 

(Invergowrie). 

5


Name Dunedin House (formerly Hillside) Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 25 Morrison Street, Kangaroo Flat 

(front entrance on Dudley Street) 

KF18 

Map reference VicRoads 612 K4 




construction 

1873 Recommendation Include in the 

Schedule to the 


Significance Dunedin House is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Left: Front (north) elevation, c. early 1990s (Source: Photographic History of Kangaroo Flat, 1994, v. 

1). Right: North elevation and front garden, 2010. 

Left: West elevation, viewed from Morrison Street. Right: South elevation. 

Left: Aerial view 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). Right: Proposed Heritage Overlay map, 

with the subject property shown as KF18. 


1


History 

Dunedin House (formerly known as Hillside) was built in 1873 for the barrister J A C Helm, who 

forewent a position at Cambridge University to travel to the colonies and became an expert on mining 

law. When established, the grounds of the property extended to Crusoe Road to the east. 1 The 

architects were Moffat and Brady. Joseph M Brady was, at this period, supervising the completion of 

the nearby Crusoe waterworks and was therefore conveniently placed to oversee the construction of 

Helm's home. He was in partnership with the mining engineer Robert Moffat during the 1870s and ran 

a successful practice at this time, designing the former ‘Bendigo Independent’ offices in Williamson 

Street, central Bendigo and the former ‘Golden Eagle’ flour mill, also in Williamson Street. He 

undertook various residential and commercial commissions and is believed to have acted as the 

Sandhurst Diocesan architect for the Catholic Church, designing the former Bishop's Palace in McCrae 

Street as well as St Patrick’s Catholic Church in Marong. 

Helm moved to Melbourne in 1889, where he died four years later. Subsequent owners of Dunedin 

House included Dr H L Atkinson, who named the property Hillside, 2 and John and Alice McNair, who 

acquired the property in 1924, selling it to a Mr Hieneman in 1942. 3 The name Dunedin House was 

re-established in the late twentieth century, when the building was in use as hostel accommodation 

for students from the Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE. 4 Works at the property since 2002 include 

alterations to the main house, the construction of a swimming pool and a new garage. 5 





Dunedin House is a substantial single-storey verandahed mid-Victorian Italianate villa sited on a large 

asymmetrical block on the east side of Morrison Street, between Dudley Street and Victoria Avenue, 

Kangaroo Flat. The main presentation of the property is to the north, to Dudley Street. 

The massing of the building is in two broad parts. The eastern component has a U-shaped hipped roof 

and verandah anchored below the main roof eave on three sides, facing a new subdivision around 

Victoria Avenue. The western component is asymmetrical, with a main hipped roof and valleys 

coupled to a porch hip and two projecting side hips. There is also a pyramidal-roofed component at 

the house centre. The dwelling is built of bichrome red and cream face brick with stuccoed dressings, 

with vermiculated quoins and panels to the chimneys. The chimneys also use vermiculation in their 

stack and collar panels, above plain pedestals. Windows to the verandah elevations are timberframed 

double hung sashes, with window sills overhung to receive sliding louvered shutters; while 

those to the western section have semi-circular cream window arches. The elevated entry is 

approached by a flight of granite steps with curved balustrades, entry piers and urns, all in moulded 

or rendered cement or stucco. The timber posted verandah has a timber frieze rail and cast iron lace 

frieze to the principal elevations and is terminated by the projecting wings. 

The property includes remnants of an early garden layout, including mature trees and plantings and a 

vehicle turning circle accessed from the north (Dudley Street) entrance. A modern garage, clad in 

corrugated galvanised steel, is at the property’s south-west corner. A modern timber picket fence 

fronts the Dudley Street boundary. The vehicle entrance comes through a set of wrought iron gates 

which may or may not be original or early. The bluestone piers to the gates are not original, with 

more recent materials in the piers indicating they are of more contemporary origin. 


As a large Italianate property of the nineteenth century, Dunedin House is generally characteristic of 

its period, as reflected in the lacework cast iron verandah frieze and hipped roofing plan. However, 

the use of stucco is more sparing than was customary in the 1870s domestic Italianate genre. 6 Its 

exposed red brick and semi-circular cream window arches owe more to a similar combination in brick 

courthouses, railway stations and other government buildings appearing during the 1850s and early 

1860s in a broadly Italianate manner. 7 This carries over into Kangaroo Flat’s former Independent 

2


Order of Rechabites Hall on Station Street (KF14) and is seen in a number of earlier buildings in the 

region, such as Kangaroo Flat Railway Station (1863). These influences may have derived from the 

architects, Moffat and Brady’s varied experience and commissions, including ecclesiastical, residential, 

commercial and even industrial buildings. Significantly, the vertically-panelled chimney stacks and 

conspicuous quoins on Dunedin House are both seen in the latter railway station, although the 

treatment here of these elements is more detailed, with projecting vermiculated panels in each case. 




Dunedin House (formerly known as Hillside), is historically significant as a substantial single-storey 

mid-Victorian Italianate villa built in 1873 at 25 Morrison Street, Kangaroo Flat. It was built for the 

barrister J A C Helm, an expert on mining law, and designed by architect Joseph M Brady, then in 

partnership with engineer Robert Moffat, and busy with several other local commissions. The current 

property is a remnant of a once more extensive landholding, whereby the grounds originally extended 

to Crusoe Road to the east. 



Dunedin House is a rare example of a substantial property dating to the 1870s, which was built on the 

fringes of Bendigo. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

Dunedin House, built in 1873, is of aesthetic/architectural significance as a substantially externally 

intact, large Italianate bichromatic brick villa. The massing of the building is of interest, with two 

distinct components including the asymmetrical west end with a main hipped roof and valleys coupled 

to a porch hip and projecting side hips; this component also has finely detailed semi-circular cream 

window arches. The east component has a U-shaped hipped roof and extensive verandah to three 

sides, with more finely detailed work, including the cast iron lacework frieze. Other elements of note 

include the stuccoed dressings, with vermiculated quoins and panels to the chimneys and the elevated 

entry on the north elevation which is approached by a flight of granite steps with curved balustrades, 

entry piers and urns, all in moulded or rendered cement or stucco. The substantial landscaped 

garden, which retains much of its early layout, enhances the aesthetic significance. The scale and 

grandeur of the property also reflects the eminence of the man who commissioned it, English barrister 

J A C Helm. 



N/A 




3


N/A 



Dunedin House is significant for its association with its first owner, barrister J A C Helm, who 

commissioned the design and construction of the house. Helm forewent a position at Cambridge 

University to migrate to the colonies where he became an expert on mining law, and was for a time an 

important and influential member of the local community. The property is also associated with 

Bendigo architect Joseph M Brady who, in partnership with the mining engineer Robert Moffat, ran a 

successful practice in the Bendigo region. The architect was involved in a number of local 

developments including the Crusoe waterworks near Kangaroo Flat; the ‘Bendigo Independent’ offices 

in Bendigo; and the former ‘Golden Eagle’ flour mill in Bendigo. Brady also reputedly held the position 

of Sandhurst Diocesan architect for the Catholic Church, where he was involved in designing the 

former Bishop's Palace in McCrae Street and St Patrick’s Church in Marong. 



Dunedin House (formerly known as Hillside), at 25 Morrison Street was built in 1873 and is a 

substantial single-storey verandahed mid-Victorian Italianate villa sited on a large asymmetrical block 

on the east side of Morrison Street, between Dudley Street and Victoria Avenue, Kangaroo Flat. The 

main presentation of the property is to the north, to Dudley Street. The massing of the building is in 

two broad parts, with the eastern component having a U-shaped hipped roof and verandah to three 

sides. The western component is asymmetrical, with a main hipped roof and projecting side hips. 

There is also a pyramidal-roofed component at the house centre. The dwelling is built of bichrome red 

and cream face brick with stuccoed dressings, with vermiculated quoins and panels to the chimneys. 

Windows to the verandah elevations are timber-framed double hung sashes, while those to the 

western section have semi-circular cream window arches. The elevated entry is approached by a 

flight of granite steps with curved balustrades, entry piers and urns, all in moulded or rendered 

cement or stucco. The timber posted verandah has a timber frieze rail and cast iron lace frieze to the 

principal elevations and is terminated by the projecting wings. The property also includes remnants of 

an early garden layout, including mature trees and plantings and a vehicle turning circle accessed 

from the north (Dudley Street) entrance. The vehicle entrance comes through a set of wrought iron 

gates which may or may not be original or early (this has not been confirmed). 


Dunedin House is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


Dunedin House is historically significant (Criterion A) as a local example of a substantially externally 

intact, large mid-Victorian Italianate bichromatic brick villa. The current property is a remnant of a 

once more extensive landholding, whereby the grounds originally extended to Crusoe Road to the 

east. It is also significant for its association with the first owner, barrister J A C Helm, who 

commissioned the design and construction of the house. Helm forewent a position at Cambridge 

University to migrate to the colonies where he became an expert on mining law, and was for a time an 

important and influential member of the local community (Criterion H). Dunedin House is also 

associated with architect Joseph M Brady, who in partnership with engineer Robert Moffat, ran a 

successful practice in the Bendigo region and was involved in a number of local developments 

including the Crusoe waterworks near Kangaroo Flat; the ‘Bendigo Independent’ offices in Bendigo; 

and the former ‘Golden Eagle’ flour mill in Bendigo. Brady also reputedly held the position of the 

Sandhurst Diocesan architect for the Catholic Church, where he was also involved in designing the 

former Bishop's Palace in McCrae Street and St Patrick’s Church in Marong. 

Dunedin House is of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E). The massing of the building is of 

interest, with two distinct components including the asymmetrical west end with a main hipped roof 

4


and valleys coupled to a porch hip and projecting side hips. This component also has finely detailed 

semi-circular cream window arches. The east component has a U-shaped hipped roof and extensive 

verandah to three sides, with more finely detailed work, including the cast iron lacework frieze. Other 

elements of note include the stuccoed dressings, with vermiculated quoins and panels to the chimneys 

and the elevated entry on the north elevation which is approached by a flight of granite steps with 

curved balustrades, entry piers and urns, all in moulded or rendered cement or stucco. The 

substantial landscaped garden, which retains much of its early layout, enhances the aesthetic 

significance. The scale and grandeur of the property also reflects the eminence of the man who 

commissioned it, English barrister J A C Helm. The property is additionally a rare example of a 

substantial property dating to the 1870s that was built on the fringes of Bendigo (Criterion B). 



The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map, with the focus of significance on the 

substantial 1870s residence; its associated landscaped setting, including the vehicle turning circle; 

and the presentation of the property to Dudley Street. The bichrome brick walling and stucco should 

remain unpainted. 









Identified By 


References 



1993. 


Specific: 

1 


1987, p. 142. 

2 


1987, p. 143. 

3 



4 


1987, p. 142. 

5 

City of Greater Bendigo, Building and Planning Applications. 

6 

See James Stevens Curl, Encyclopedia of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Oxford, 

2006, has entries on both Italianate and Italian Villa Style, both relevant to Australian 

experience, on p. 389. See also Richard Apperly and others, A Pictorial Guide to Identifying 

5


Australian Architecture, Angus and Robertson, 1994, ‘Victorian Italianate’ pp. 70-73.In 

Australia Italianate normally refers both to picturesque, asymmetrical detached house design 

and to urban and public emulations of the 15 th and 16 th century Italian palazzo. 

7 Michael Challinger illustrates several related red-brick Italianate buildings in the region, 

immediately predating Dunedin House. See Historic Court Houses of Victoria, Pallisade, 

Melbourne, 2001, esp. Eaglehawk (1879), p.79; Inglewood (1868), p.102; Maldon (1861), p. 

121, and Newstead (1865), p. 143. 

6


Name Medical Centre (formerly 

known as Belmont) 

Address 68 High Street, at corner with 

Lansell Street, Kangaroo Flat 

Building type Medical centre (former private 

residence) 


construction 


Marong Study 

KF19 

Map reference Vicroads 613 M2 



Built from the early 1870s Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance The medical centre is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Left: East elevation, addressing High Street, c. Early 1990s (Source: Photographic History of 

Kangaroo Flat, 1994, v. 1). Right: East and north elevations, 2010. 

Left: South wing. Right: Rear of the medical centre, with car park pictured right. 


The subject site is shown as KF19. 


1


History 

Thomas Luxton (1850-1911) commissioned the construction of Belmont, a red brick dwelling, in the 

early-1870s. The property was located next to the former Devonshire Arms Hotel, of which Thomas’ 

father James Luxton had been licensee following the family’s arrival in the Bendigo district in the 

1850s. Thomas Luxton worked at Kangaroo Flat grocery store before finding success as a mining 

speculator and subsequently helping to form the Bendigo Stock Exchange. 1 He married Sarah 

Schooling of Kyneton in 1872. Their first son, Harold (later Sir Harold) was born at Belmont. 2 During 

the 1870s, Thomas Luxton was an eminent member of the Kangaroo Flat community. He was on the 

Marong Shire Council from 1874 to 1877 and also served as a guardian of St Mary’s Church of England 

(demolished 2009, KF05). 3 In the 1880s the family moved to Melbourne, where Thomas continued to 

prosper as a broker and investor and became Mayor of Prahran in 1894. In his later years Luxton 

became a prominent philanthropist. By the time of Luxton’s relocation to Melbourne, Belmont 

comprised nine rooms including a small ballroom. 4 In the mid-1950s, Belmont was acquired by Dr 

Peter Kirby, who established his medical practice there, which was maintained for the next 40 years. 5 

Dr Kirby added a brick surgery to the rear of the original building and made modifications to the 

verandah. 6 Belmont remains a large medical centre. The property has been refurbished in recent 

years, with additions and alterations carried out at the rear. 






The medical centre (formerly Belmont) is a large single-storey asymmetrical mid-Victorian villa in the 

Italianate style, with complex hipped and gabled roof forms, located on a prominent site at the corner 

of High and Lansell streets, Kangaroo Flat. The number of rooms in the earliest 1870s component of 

the building is not known, but the earliest elements include the High Street (east) elevation and the 

rendered faceted window bay to the north. As noted in the ‘History’ above, the original building 

expanded to include nine rooms and a small ballroom by the 1880s. The property was also extended 

in the 1950s, and more recently, as part of its adaptation to a medical centre. Additions and 

alterations have generally been concentrated to the rear (west) and south. The east elevation, 

comprising a recessed verandah and projecting gabled bay to the south, is distinguished by stuccoed 

quoins, and the gable end treatment of the south bay which features an oculus. The front door, 

accessed from the verandah, includes the lettering ‘Belmont’ to the frosted highlight. The windows to 

the verandah recess are double-hung timber-framed sashes; the window to the south bay has a 

cambered soffit and two narrow sidelights. A stuccoed chimney with terracotta pots is set back from 

the east elevation of the south wing. There is a narrower chimney, also stuccoed, above the north 

bay. It is possible that the east elevation – the L-shaped frontage to High Street – may be later than 

the north bay. The sashes in the latter faceted bay are of an earlier type than the three-light wing 

window facing High Street; there is also a marked difference in eave height; and the quoining to the 

wall edges in the east elevation do not appear in the rest of the building. There are two later 

additions to the south side, facing Lansell Street. The rear (west) elevation includes weatherboard 

and brick additions begun in Dr Kirby’s time. These have thick-framed double-hung sashes 

characteristic of the 1940s and 1950s. 

In recent years the property has been extensively refurbished. Works include generally 

unsympathetic treatment to the front verandah, with timber columns, quasi-Federation details around 

the post and lintel intersections, and a simple steel balustrade. A similar fabric has been added to 

form a second verandah at the junction of the north side and the faceted bay wing, where it shelters a 

mural added to the east elevation. In addition, the gable cross-bar and finial to the south wing 

addressing High Street is modern; the cross-bar inappropriately cuts across the gable oculus. The 

roof has been reclad in corrugated galvanised steel. The rendered north bay and its lug-bordered 

windows facing north, parallel with High Street has been painted a light colour, increasing its 

differential with the rest of the house. The bagged brick front fence is another complete 

refurbishment. The property has a generous curtilage to all sides, with a large asphalted car park to 

the west, and lawns to the south, east and north. There are no plantings of obvious age. 

2



The medical centre (formerly Belmont) presents generally as an Italianate property, with its original or 

early proportions and detailing related to Kangaroo Flat railway station (1863), completed about ten 

years earlier. 7 The steep roof pitch gives the property a faintly Gothic character. The house was 

planned and/or evolved asymmetrically and inflects diagonally onto its site in characteristic Italianate 

manner. 8 Belmont is also more insistently asymmetrical in composition than its Kangaroo Flat 

counterparts, including Dunedin House (KF18). 




The medical centre (formerly Belmont) at the corner of High and Lansell streets, Kangaroo Flat, the 

original component of which dates to the early 1870s, is historically significant as a large and 

prominently-sited mid-Victorian villa. It was commissioned by Thomas Luxton, an eminent member of 

the Kangaroo Flat community, who was a local politician and philanthropist, a successful mining 

speculator who helped form the Bendigo Stock Exchange, and later (in the 1890s) the Mayor of 

Prahran. From the 1950s to the 1990s, the property was also the long-standing surgery of local 

general medicial practitioner, Dr Kirby. This later use of the property, as medical centre, continues. 



The medical centre is a rare example of a substantial property dating to the 1870s which was built on 

the fringes of Bendigo. It is also one of the oldest properties of this type in Kangaroo Flat. 

N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The medical centre (formerly Belmont) originally constructed in the early 1870s, is of 

aesthetic/architectural significance. It is a large asymmetrical mid-Victorian villa in the Italianate 

manner, with complex hipped and gabled roof forms and prominent chimneys, located on a prominent 

site at the corner of High and Lansell streets. Although an evolved building, with some substantial 

additions, the original and early components remain evident and clear, particularly on the diagonallyoriented 

east and north sides of the building. This is also notwithstanding that these two most 

prominent early bays (building components) appear to have been constructed at different times. 



N/A 

3





N/A 



The medical centre (formerly Belmont) is significant for its association with its first owner, Thomas 

Luxton, an eminent member of the Kangaroo Flat community, who was a local politician and 

philanthropist, a successful mining speculator who helped form the Bendigo Stock Exchange, and later 

(in the 1890s) the Mayor of Prahran. 



The medical centre (formerly Belmont) is located on a prominent site at the corner of High and Lansell 

streets, Kangaroo Flat. It is a large single-storey asymmetrical mid-Victorian villa in the Italianate 

style, with complex hipped and gabled roof forms. The original component of the building dates to the 

early 1870s, and includes the High Street (east) elevation and the rendered faceted window bay to the 

north. The dwelling had expanded by the 1880s to include nine rooms and a small ballroom. The east 

elevation, comprising a recessed verandah and projecting gabled bay to the south, is distinguished by 

stuccoed quoins, and the gable end treatment of the south bay which features an oculus. The front 

door, accessed from the verandah, includes the lettering ‘Belmont’ to the frosted highlight. There are 

two later additions to the south side, facing Lansell Street. The rear (west) elevation includes 

weatherboard and brick additions of the 1950s. There are also more recent works associated with the 

property’s adaptation to a medical centre. Additions and alterations have generally been concentrated 

to the rear (west) and south. 


The medical centre (formerly Belmont) at the corner of High and Lansell streets, Kangaroo Flat, the 

original component of which dates to the early 1870s, is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 


The medical centre (formerly Belmont) is of local historical significance (Criterion A) as a large and 

prominently-sited mid-Victorian villa. It is associated with the first owner Thomas Luxton, an eminent 

member of the Kangaroo Flat community, who was a local politician and philanthropist, a successful 

mining speculator who helped form the Bendigo Stock Exchange, and later (in the 1890s) the Mayor of 

Prahran (Criterion H). From the 1950s to the 1990s, the property was also the long-standing surgery 

of local general medicial practitioner, Dr Kirby. This later use of the property, as medical centre, 

continues. The medical centre (formerly Belmont) is also of aesthetic/architectural significance, as a 

large asymmetrical mid-Victorian villa in the Italianate manner, with complex hipped and gabled roof 

forms and prominent chimneys, located on a prominent site at the corner of High and Lansell streets. 

Although an evolved building, with some substantial additions, the original and early components 

remain evident and clear, particularly on the diagonally-oriented east and north sides of the building. 

This is also notwithstanding that these two most prominent early bays (building components) appear 

to have been constructed at different times. The medical centre is additionally one of the oldest 

properties of this type in Kangaroo Flat, and a rare example of a substantial property dating to the 

1870s which was built on the fringes of Bendigo (Criterion B). 



The Overlay extent is indicated in the above map, although the focus of significance is on the 

original/early building components and their diagonal presentations to the adjoining streetscapes. The 

4


later additions and works, including those which supported the adaptation of the dwelling to a medical 

facility, are not elements of significance. The brick walling should remain unpainted. In preference, 

replace the unsympathetic treatment to the front verandah. 









Identified By 


References 



1993. 


Specific: 

1 

J Ann Hone, 'Luxton, Thomas (1850-1911)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 

5,Melbourne University Press, 1974, p. 113. 

2 


1987, p. 142. 

3 

J Ann Hone, 'Luxton, Thomas (1850-1911)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 

5,Melbourne University Press, 1974, p. 113. 

4 

Andrew Ward et al, ‘Belmont’ citation, included in City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study 

(Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. The original source is not cited. 

5 



6 


1987, p. 142. 

7 

See Wesley Hamill and Dorothy Wild, Photographic History of Kangaroo Flat, Photographic 

History series, Bendigo, 1994, volume 1, unpaginated. 

8 

The diagonal inflection in later Victorian house designs is discussed by Miles Lewis in Richard 

Apperly and others, (eds., contrib.) The History and Design of the Australian House, Oxford, 

Melbourne, 1985, pp. 79-81. For Italianate more generally see James Stevens Curl, 

Encyclopedia of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Oxford, 2006, for ‘Italianate’ and 

‘Italian Villa Style’, p. 389. In Australia, Italianate is understood to refer to both the style of 

15th and 16th century Italian urban palaces, and also to more picturesque and usually 

asymmetrical detached houses. 

5


Name Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

KF20 

Address 24 Chapel Street Map reference VicRoads 613 M3 



Date of construction 1872 Recommendation Not recommended for 



Significance The property at 24 Chapel Street is not of local heritage significance, and 

is not recommended for inclusion in the Heritage Overlay. 

Left: Front elevation, facing north-east (Chapel Street). Right: Rear elevation (Hill Street). 

Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 


1


History 

The blacksmith, James White, had purchased lot 82, section D, Parish of Sandhurst, Shire of Marong 

by11 October, 1871. 1 He built this house in 1872, the net asset value being £50. For many years the 

property was owned by the Kangaroo Flat miner, George Shelton, known as ‘Sweet Orange George’ 

because of a well known and loved sweet-fruited orange tree in his front garden. 2 The large cellar 

attached to the house at one time was used as the billiard room. It has been suggested that this 

house was the last coaching stop before Sandhurst, but it may also be that the nearby Viaduct Hotel, 

where there was also a cab rank, served this purpose. 3 In 1999 the house was owned by Robert 

Cameron, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Bendigo West. 4 





No. 24 Chapel Street is located on an asymmetrical allotment at the intersection of Hill and Chapel 

streets to the east of Kangaroo Flat, in close proximity to the rail line. The property comprises the 

original 1870s house, to the north, with a very substantial addition to the rear. The emphasis of the 

following description is on the historic property. 

The original house, addressing Chapel Street, is a symmetrical single-storey red brick villa with a 

hipped roof clad in corrugated galvanised steel. The Chapel Street elevation, facing north-east, is 

distinguished by its pilastrated verandah columns, each fluted with Roman Doric necking. The 

verandah has a concave roof, also clad in corrugated galvanised steel. The original windows are 

timber-framed, double-hung sashes with cambered soffits. The entry is approached by slate steps 

and the brick reveal to the doorway is rebated to give it visual emphasis. There are plain cement 

render quoins and moulded bricks to the chimneys. 

Rear additions have been made to the original 1870s dwelling, which are substantially larger than the 

original house. Although these appear to have been sympathetically executed in terms of brick and 

roofing materials, the additions have effectively overwhelmed the original and more modest house, 

wrapping around its rear (west) and south sides. This is evident in the aerial image above; the 

additions are also visible from the rear property address to Hill Street. 

The garden includes a mature Moreton Bay Fig, presumed to be associated with early occupants. The 

property appears to be in sound condition. 


The direct Kangaroo Flat comparison is with 2 Olympic Parade Street (1872, KF22). Further afield, 24 

Chapel Street also compares with the former Michael Bourke farmstead at no. 550 McKenzie Road, 

Woodstock-on-Loddon (WL01). This latter property is believed to date to the 1870s. All three have 

symmetrical fronts with shallow eaves and concave verandah roofs. Kangaroo Flat verandahs are 

invariably either bull-nosed or straight-sheeted, and the concave form is an early colonial one that 

really peaked in Victoria in the mid-1850s. The window details at 24 Chapel Street are basic and 

usual in the Bendigo region, being double-hung sashes with round-arched headers and single block 

stone sills. The quoins were frequent in regional Victoria, and in this case may owe something to the 

conspicuous quoins on Kangaroo Flat railway station (1863), along with other railway buildings of the 

early 1860s. The bricks are exposed throughout, whereas in many other Bendigo buildings this finish 

was stuccoed over as part of later works. 




2


No. 24 Chapel Street, Kangaroo Flat (built 1872) has some historical interest for its association with 

the early years of the development of Kangaroo Flat. It was built for blacksmith James White, and 

subsequently occupied for many years by miner George Shelton, known as ‘Sweet Orange George’ 

because of a well known orange tree in his front garden. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The original (1872) component of no. 24 Chapel Street, Kangaroo Flat has some aesthetic value as a 

symmetrical 1870s single-storey red brick villa, with the Chapel Street elevation distinguished by its 

concave verandah with pilastrated columns, and slate entry steps. The mature Moreton Bay figs to 

the garden are also of interest. However, the very substantial rear addition has impacted on the 

property. While the original component remains readable, the addition has detracted from its 

presentation and encroached into the setting of the more modest 1870s dwelling. 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 


No. 24 Chapel Street, Kangaroo Flat (built 1872) is of some historical and aesthetical interest. The 

property derives some historical interest from its association with the early years of the development 

of Kangaroo Flat. It was built for blacksmith James White, and subsequently occupied for many years 

by miner George Shelton, known as ‘Sweet Orange George’ because of a well known orange tree in his 

front garden. The original (1872) component also has some aesthetic value as a symmetrical 1870s 

single-storey red brick villa, with the Chapel Street elevation distinguished by its concave verandah 

with pilastrated columns, and slate entry steps. The mature Moreton Bay figs to the garden are also 

of interest. However, the very substantial rear addition has impacted on the property. While the 

original component remains readable, the addition has detracted from its presentation and encroached 

into the setting of the more modest 1870s dwelling. 

3




Overlay. While the property has some historical and aesthetical interest, specifically in the original 

1870s component, the extent of this original fabric is limited, with the modern addition/works 

effectively constituting the majority of built form/fabric on the site. 



Tree Controls 






Identified By 


References 


Specific: 

1 

Shire of Marong rate book, 1872, cited in citation for no. 24 Chapel Street, Andrew Ward et al, 

City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. 

2 

Pers comm, Lindsay Shelton, and Ray Wallace, 11 March, 1999, , cited in citation for no. 24 

Chapel Street, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study 


3 

Pers comm, Bill Pettit and Ray Wallace, 11 March, 1999, , cited in citation for no. 24 Chapel 

Street, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, 

Stage 2, 1998. 

4 

Pers comm., Robert Cameron, Ray Wallace, 2 March, 1999, , cited in citation for no. 24 Chapel 

Street, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, 

Stage 2, 1998. 

4


Name Happy Jack’s Emporium Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 748 Calder Alternative 

Highway, Lockwood South 

LS1 


Building type Retail premises (former hotel) Survey date June 2010 (external 



construction 

Before 1865 Recommendation Not recommended for 



Significance Happy Jack’s Emporium is not of local heritage significance, and is not 


Left: Happy Jack Hotel (also referred to as Happy Jack Store), c. 1900. Right: Happy Jack’s c. 1920 

(Source for both pictures: Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown 

Castleton Publishers, 2003, pp. 86-87). 

Left: East elevation, facing the Calder Alternative Highway. Right: Verandah and front wall. 

Left: Rear and side of the store. Right: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 

1


Intactness Good Fair Poor 

History 

Lockwood is located to approximately 15km from Bendigo. The settlement, known today at Lockwood 

and Lockwood South, was the seat of local government from the 1850s until usurped by Marong in 

1908. It is located in prime arable land, being located on the Bullock Creek, one of two principal 

watercourses in the Parish of Lockwood. The early development of the settlement was underpinned 

by agriculture, with Lockwood supplying produce to the Bendigo goldfields; market gardens and farms 

were established along the banks of Bullock Creek by 1857. 1 The first post office in Lockwood was 

opened in January 1855, and by the early 1860s, the Shire Hall and council offices had been 

constructed. 2 Gold was discovered nearby in 1863 3 and by 1865 the population of the township was 

approximately 500. At that time there were two hotels, the Queen’s Head and the Happy Jack. 4 

The present building, now known as Happy’s Jack Emporium, is the second Happy Jack Hotel. 

Anecdotally, the first hotel was built in the 1850s by Jack (sometimes ‘John’) Kennedy, an overseer 

and shepherd for the Mount Alexander No 2 Run, on the site of his shepherd’s hut. His wife, Margaret, 

along with Mrs Patrick Farrell, is credited with finding the first payable gold at the Bendigo goldfield, 

near Golden Square in the spring of 1851. 5 Shortly afterwards a hotel bearing Jack’s name was built, 

near the site of the current building. The hotel was offered for sale as early as 1859 and a photograph 

dated 1865 shows that the present structure had been built by that time. 6 It was strategically located 

on the road to Marong (now the Calder Alternative Highway), and close to two intersections, Crusoe 

Road providing access to Kangaroo Flat and Bendigo beyond, and the Maldon Road to the south. This 

was a major stock route, as well as a means of access for itinerant miners. 

The Happy Jack Hotel was operating as a hotel and store in the late-nineteenth century, and the post 

office was transferred to the building in around 1909. 7 The hotel was subsequently de-licensed in 

1916 but has continued to trade as a store. 8 Today, Happy Jack’s Emporium is among the more 

prominent and substantial buildings in Lockwood South, which has contracted significantly in size since 

its gold rush heyday. 

The current building is an evolved structure, with a considerable proportion of the building fabric and 

form of recent origin. It appears to have provided holiday accommodation, in addition to the store 

function. 




5.8: Working 



Happy Jack’s Emporium is a single-storey brick store located on the east side of the Calder Alternative 

Highway at Lockwood South, with limited setback to the road and close to the intersections with 

Crusoe Road and the Maldon Road. The building was not inspected internally; descriptions of internal 

elements in the following derive from the 1998 survey. 9 

The original component of the building, largely confined to the west component and elevation (building 

facing the Calder Alternative Highway) is believed to date to the 1860s, when it replaced the original 

Happy Jack Hotel. The building otherwise has a substantial non-original rear wing and additions, 

including free-standing elements. The west elevation is overpainted brick with irregularly-spaced door 

and window openings, all of which appear to be of long-standing. The two doors retain early fan lights 

and timber framing, although modern door leafs have been fitted. The window openings have 

cambered brick soffits and projecting granite sills; the windows are double-hung sashes, with six 

panes to each sash, and delicate glazing bars. The skillion-roofed verandah is modern, having 

replaced an earlier interwar verandah. 10 A timber picket fence and gate enclose the verandah. 

2


Signage reading ‘Happy Jack’s Emporium’ in sans-serif lettering, is painted to the frieze above the 

verandah line, and below the brick cornice, which has a ‘dog tooth’ treatment. There are no openings 

to the north and south end elevations, and the chimney has been removed since 1998. The 

transverse gable roof, clad with corrugated galvanised sheet steel, has an asymmetrical profile. 

Works include the comparatively recent development to the rear of the hotel, including a gable-roofed 

trailing wing to the south, a square plan structure to the north-east of the store and a covered way, 

which provides access from the side carpark. 

The interior has been reconfigured and refurbished on at least two occasions. There is no evidence of 

stables associated with the property. 


The Happy Jack Hotel is an altered and compromised building, and as such comparisons with other 

similar historic hotels, including the former Camp Hotel and Store in the Whipstick, and the former 

Liverpool Arms on High Street at Kangaroo Flat, serve a limited purpose. The hotel could be 

compared in terms of its combination of low, spreading proportions, and irregularly spaced openings 

to the main building façade. However, this is a reasonably superficial comparison, given the works 

which have occurred. The timber picket enclosure to the verandah is also a domestic feature, out of 

keeping with the hotel character. 




The former Happy Jack Hotel (built from the 1860s), on the Calder Alternative Highway at Lockwood 

South, is of historical interest for its association with the early years of settlement in the Lockwood 

South district, which was important as an agricultural community supplying produce to the Bendigo 

goldfields. Through its name, the property retains an association with the pre-gold rush settlement of 

the area – ‘Happy’ Jack Kennedy was a shepherd and overseer on the Mount Alexander No.2 Run. 

The former hotel also survives as a rather solitary reminder of Lockwood’s gold rush heyday, when it 

was the seat of local government and had a population of approximately 500. The location of the 

hotel on the main road to Marong, and in close proximity to two intersections providing access to 

Kangaroo Flat and Bendigo beyond, and the Maldon Road to the south, also recalls early transport and 

stock routes in the area. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

N/A 



3


N/A 




N/A 



N/A 


The former Happy Jack Hotel (built from the 1860s), on the Calder Alternative Highway at Lockwood 

South, is of historical interest for its association with the early years of settlement in the Lockwood 

South district, which was important as an agricultural community supplying produce to the Bendigo 

goldfields. Through its name, the property retains an association with the pre-gold rush settlement of 

the area – ‘Happy’ Jack Kennedy was a shepherd and overseer on the Mount Alexander No.2 Run. 

The former hotel also survives as a rather solitary reminder of Lockwood’s gold rush heyday, when it 

was the seat of local government and had a population of approximately 500. The location of the 

hotel on the main road to Marong, and in close proximity to two intersections providing access to 

Kangaroo Flat and Bendigo beyond, and the Maldon Road to the south, also recalls early transport and 

stock routes in the area. 


The former Happy Jack Hotel is not recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo 

Heritage Overlay. While the property has historical interest, the built form of the site has been 

modified, and the historical character somewhat diminished. As such, it is considered that a site 

specific Heritage Overlay over the existing property is not warranted. However, to recognise the 

historical values of the property, including its role in the historical Lockwood settlement, and as a 

stopping place on the main road to Marong, an interpretive plaque and/or inclusion of the property in 

an interpretive local history pamphlet or trail would be desirable. 



Tree Controls 






Identified By 


References 



4


Specific: 

1 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castleton Publishers, 

2003, pp. 69-75. 

2 

David Horsfall (ed), Kangaroo Flat A History: Goats, Gold and Peppercorns, p. 23, Ken Arnold, 

Bendigo its Environs: The Way it Was, pp. 69-70. 

3 


2003, p. 69. 

4 

F F Bailliere, in the Victorian Gazetteer and Road Guide, 1865, p. 226. 

5 


2003, pp. 69-70. 

6 

‘Happy Jack General Store,’ Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study 


7 



8 

Gordon and Shirley Roberts in ‘The Search for the Crown & Anchor and the Mystery of Happy 

Jack,’ unpublished paper, provided courtesy of City of Greater Bendigo. 

9 



10 

See illustration on ‘Happy Jack General Store,’ Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo 

Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. 

5


Name St Monica's Catholic Church Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 97 High Street, corner Station 

Street, Kangaroo Flat 

KF23 


Building Type Church Survey date June and July 2010 


construction 



Significance St Monica’s Catholic Church is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: Presentation of St Monica’s at the corner of High and Station streets. Right: Rear (east) view, 

with sanctuary at centre and sacristy to the right. 

Left: South elevation. Right: Entry to the sacristy (north elevation). 


with St Monica’s shown as KF23. 


1


History 

The first Mass in Kangaroo Flat was held in 1857, at Mr Hiemann's International Hotel, located on the 

site of the present St Monica’s Church (built 1926). Hiemann, a German Lutheran, is believed to have 

made the International Hotel available to the Catholic community following a proposal for the first 

Mass to be held in a slab hut at the north-east corner of High and Station streets, opposite the 

International. 1 In the early-1860s, the site of the slab hut was developed as school, church and hall, 

dedicated to St Monica. The (then) church building, designed by prominent Bendigo architects 

Vahland and Getzschmann, was built of locally-fired bricks, and blessed by the Bishop of Melbourne, 

the Most Reverend James Goold, on 24 July 1864. It served as a school during the week and a church 

at weekends, until the completion of the present church on a separate site in 1926. The 1864 building 

was demolished in 1992. 2 In the early 1920s, the site of the present St Monica’s Church was acquired 

by Bishop John McCarthy, the third Bishop of Sandhurst – by then the International Hotel was long 

since de-licensed. The foundation stone was laid by Bishop McCarthy on Sunday 16 May 1926, and 

the church was blessed by the Bishop on Sunday 7 November 1926. The total cost of the building and 

fittings was £4,000. The architect was George Austen; the contractor was Frank Brown. 3 Austen also 

designed Bendigo's former Limerick Castle Hotel in Williamson Street, again in1926. 





St Monica’s Church is located on the south-east corner of High and Station streets, south of St 

Monica's Primary School (formerly the site of the slab hut and 1864 Vahland and Getzschmann church, 

see ‘History’, above). It is located in the approximate centre of a rectangular allotment, with an open 

landscaped area to the west, a row of specimen trees to the north and a car park to the east (rear). 

There is a public pathway to the south and a modern toilet block to the south-east corner of the site. 

The building addresses the west. 

St Monica’s is a richly decorated, gabled and buttressed, Gothic Revival red brick church with 

tuckpointing and white stuccoed contrasts. The roof is steeply pitched and clad with original slate 

tiles. The gable ends have characteristic Gothic Revival copings with crosses at the apexes; the main 

west gable has a rose window with a dressed course and blind triangular panel above, and a sloping 

parapet, dressed apex, four kneelers and angled buttresses. The nave measures 16.7m by 8.2m, and 

is 9.1m high; the sanctuary is 5.2m by 5.2m, and the sacristy, on the east side of the sanctuary is 

4.3m by 3.7m. 4 

The large rose window to the west gable has a broad intrados and moulded extrados, acting as a dripmould, 

and ending in ballflowers halfway round. It has radial bar tracery, like a wheel window, 

converging on a quatrefoil. The nave windows are all lancets with trefoliated inner frames, each with 

conspicuous quoin surrounds and a thick, smooth intrados coupled to a moulded extrados ending in 

ballflowers at the impost. The side buttresses are two-stepped with cement-rendered offsets; the 

west gable has conspicuous three-step angle buttresses with cement-rendered gablets capped with 

square-plan gablet pinnacles. The pinnacles and upper third step of these buttresses have recessed 

panels ending in trefoils. The front porch also has two buttresses with two steps, the upper being 

cement rendered with recessed oblong coffer panels filled with foliate ornament. There is a faceted 

apsidal sanctuary with attached vestry. The chancel windows are sited high, being paired lancets with 

trefoliated frames and similar quoined architraves to those of the side nave windows. The vestry cuts 

across these chancel windows on the north-east side. It is dominated by a large gable with a crucifix 

finial, apex stone, kneelers, and two tall flanking corbels each capped by a gablet. The south-east 

wall of this vestry has a high mounted two-light window with timber frames and mullions, each pane 

with depressed three-centred arches cut in the window frames. These are surmounted by a flat head, 

above which was a depressed pointed arch. This flat head with surmounting pointed arch is matched 

by the side porch door and the vestry door. The nave’s south-west side has a two-leafed door set in 

the fourth bay. The external doors are planked and appear to be long standing. 

2


The trees to the to the north boundary are a variety of species and appear to have been planted at the 

same time or soon after the construction of the church. 


St Monica’s is a characteristic interwar church of the 1920s. It inherits the vigorous and robustly 

scaled detail seen in a series of August Fritsch’s Roman Catholic churches around Melbourne from 

c.1906 onward, as in his St Joseph’s Church in Stanhope Street, Malvern (1908). This robustness 

continued in his much larger red brick Catholic churches such as St Mary’s, Bairnsdale (1913); and in 

churches by others, such as St Joseph’s Benalla by Kempson and Connolly (1907-8). 5 St Monica’s 

architects, Keogh and Austin, had also designed similar churches, as with the Church of the 

Immaculate conception at St Arnaud (1906-7). Clegg, Miller and Riley went in similar directions with 

St Michael’s and St John’s Horsham (1913), soon after E F Eberach had completed the John Knox 

Presbyterian Church at Swan Hill (c.1912). On a tall plinth, this latter building included similar 

buttress-pinnacles, rose windows and gabled porch with paired lancets. The quoins and cementdressed 

surfaces at the St Arnaud church are also of similar weight to those of St Monica’s. 6 The 

difference here is that George Austen used Gothic influences, where Fritsch and other Melbournebased 

Catholic Church architects preferred Romanesque. In texture and colour St Monica’s resembles 

other vivid red brick churches of the period in Victoria, such as the Methodist Church in Kerang 

(1928). The main window detailing, a simple trefoil inside a lancet, was related to the square-headed 

trefoil being used consistently by newer architects such as Alexander North and Louis Williams, 

especially in their Trinity College Chapel for the University of Melbourne (1909-15). The thick, flat 

extrados surfaces on St Monica’s are deliberately emphatic and heavy, and such emphasis was 

common in the middle and later 1920s, part of an effort to make churches more visible and sturdy in 

appearance. The multiple kneelers on the side gable were common throughout the red-brick period of 

church design between c. 1890 and 1930, as were the pitched gable parapets and the cement 

dressing. The subject church is also emphatically processional; and proportionally long churches 

predominated in Victoria’s church architecture during this period, climaxing with Payne and Dale’s St 

Dominic’s at Camberwell, and Newman College Chapel (1938-42). 




St Monica’s Catholic Church, at the corner of High and Station streets, Kangaroo Flat (built 1926), is 

historically significant as the principal Catholic Church and centre of Catholic worship at Kangaroo Flat 

since 1926. The first Mass at Kangaroo Flat was held in 1857 on the site of the present church, then 

the International Hotel. The association between Catholicism and this part of High Street is reinforced 

by St Monica’s Primary School, located to the north-east of the Station and High streets intersection, 

on a site originally developed by the Catholic community from the 1860s. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

3


St Monica’s Catholic Church is of aesthetic/architectural significance. The 1926 building is a 

substantially intact, richly decorated, gabled and buttressed, Gothic Revival brick church with 

tuckpointing and white stuccoed contrasts, and a steeply pitched slate clad roof. It is a vigorous and 

robustly scaled church, with vivid red brick walling, and distinguished by Gothic Revival elements 

including copings with crosses at the gable apexes, and a large rose window with a dressed course 

and blind triangular panel above to the west gable end. Other elements of note include the lancet 

windows with trefoliated inner frames to the nave; two-stepped side buttresses with cement-rendered 

offsets; the three-stepped angle buttresses with cement-rendered gablets capped with pinnacles to 

the west gable; the buttressed front porch; and the faceted apsidal sanctuary with attached vestry. 

The unusually thick and emphatic extrados surfaces on St Monica’s reflect an emphasis on making 

churches more visible and sturdy in appearance during the 1920s. The subject church is also 

emphatically processional and demonstrative of the proportionally long churches which predominated 

in Victoria’s church architecture during this period. St Monica’s, which has not been significantly 

modified since construction, also occupies a prominent location on High Street at the north end of 

Kangaroo Flat’s retail strip. 



N/A 




St Monica’s Catholic Church is of social significance in the local context, as the centre of the local 

Kangaroo Flat Catholic community since 1926, including the focus of church services and worship. 



N/A 



St Monica’s Catholic Church, at the corner of High and Station streets, Kangaroo Flat, was built in 

1926, south of St Monica's Primary School. The church is a richly decorated, gabled and buttressed, 

Gothic Revival red brick church with tuckpointing and white stuccoed contrasts. The roof is steeply 

pitched and clad with original slate tiles. The gable ends have characteristic Gothic Revival copings 

with crosses at the apexes; the main west gable has a large rose window with a dressed course and 

blind triangular panel above; and nave windows which are all lancets with trefoliated inner frames and 

conspicuous quoin surrounds. The side buttresses are two-stepped with cement-rendered offsets; the 

west gable has three-step angle buttresses with cement-rendered gablets capped with pinnacles. The 

front porch also has two buttresses; there is a faceted apsidal sanctuary with attached vestry. The 

external doors are planked and appear to be long standing. The church addresses the west and is 

located in the approximate centre of a rectangular allotment, with an open landscaped area to the 

west, a row of specimen trees to the north and a car park to the east (rear). The trees to the to the 

north boundary are a variety of species and appear to have been planted at the same time or soon 

after the construction of the church. 


St Monica’s Catholic Church, at the corner of High and Station streets, Kangaroo Flat (built 1926), is of 

local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


St Monica’s Catholic Church is historically significant (Criterion A) as the principal Catholic Church and 

centre of Catholic worship at Kangaroo Flat since 1926. The first Mass at Kangaroo Flat was held in 

4


1857 on the site of the present church, then the International Hotel. The association between 

Catholicism and this part of High Street is reinforced by St Monica’s Primary School, located to the 

north-east of the Station and High streets intersection, on a site originally developed by the Catholic 

community from the 1860s. It is also of social significance (Criterion G) as the centre of the local 

Kangaroo Flat Catholic community since 1926, including being the focus of church services and 

worship. Aesthetically and architecturally (Criterion E) St Monica’s is a substantially intact, richly 

decorated, gabled and buttressed, Gothic Revival brick church with tuckpointing and white stuccoed 

contrasts, and a steeply pitched slate clad roof. It is a vigorous and robustly scaled church, with vivid 

red brick walling, and distinguished by Gothic Revival elements including copings with crosses at the 

gable apexes, and a large rose window with a dressed course and blind triangular panel above to the 

west gable end. Other elements of note include the lancet windows with trefoliated inner frames to 

the nave; two-stepped side buttresses with cement-rendered offsets; the three-stepped angle 

buttresses with cement-rendered gablets capped with pinnacles to the west gable; the buttressed 

front porch; and the faceted apsidal sanctuary with attached vestry. The unusually thick and 

emphatic extrados surfaces on St Monica’s reflect an emphasis on making churches more visible and 

sturdy in appearance during the 1920s. The subject church is also emphatically processional and 

demonstrative of the proportionally long churches which predominated in Victorian church architecture 

during this period. St Monica’s, which has not been significantly modified since construction, 

additionally occupies a prominent location on High Street at the north end of Kangaroo Flat’s retail 

strip. 


St Monica’s is recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo Heritage Overlay. 

The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map. The focus of significance is on the 1920s 

church building, and its presentation to the west and north. The walls should remain unpainted. 









Identified By 


References 

J Hattam, The Church of St. Monica, Kangaroo Flat, unpublished paper, 1976. 


1993. 


Specific: 

1 



2 


History series, Bendigo, 1994, Volume 2, unpaginated. 

5


3 


Committee, 1993, pp. 108-09. 

4 

Measurements cited in J Hattam, The Church of St. Monica, Kangaroo Flat, unpublished paper, 

1976. 

5 

Miles Lewis (ed., contrib.), Victorian Churches, National Trust, Melbourne, 1991, pp. 76 item 

109 (Malvern), 93 item 162 (Bairnsdale), 103 item 202 (Benalla). 

6 

Miles Lewis (ed., contrib.) Victorian Churches, National trust, Melbourne, 1991, p. 148 item 

377. 

6


Name Tweedside 


Marong Study 

KF24 

Address 39-41 Crusoe Road, Kangaroo Flat Map reference VicRoads 612 K6 



construction 

1850s Recommendation Include in the 



Significance Tweedside is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Left: West elevation of Tweedside, c. early-1990s (Source: Photographic History of Kangaroo Flat, 

Bendigo, 1994, Volume 1, unpaginated). Right: Tweedside, note wing projecting from the south-east 

corner. 

Left: Detail of verandah. Right: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 

Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site shown asKF24. 


1


History 

Tweedside, located on the flats of the Bendigo Creek, south of Kangaroo Flat, is believed to have been 

built in the mid-1850s, for successful drover and stock dealer Archibald Parkes McColough. 

McColough and his wife, Elizabeth, arrived in Victoria from Nova Scotia, Canada in 1852. McColough’s 

occupation as a drover may explain the then historically relative isolation of his house on Crusoe 

Road, at that time a stock route. 1 Family folklore records that Elizabeth McColough was determined 

that her children would not be born in a tent: Emma McColough was born on 20 October 1853, 

followed by Mary Ella on 21 September 1856, Evangeline on 20 April 1859 and then three subsequent 

children. It is assumed that the house was constructed in this mid-1850s period. The property is 

shown on the map of the area prepared by District Surveyor Richard Larritt, dated 3 March 1859. 2 

The McColoughs were well prepared, bringing with them construction materials including heavy plate 

glass. The bricks for the property are believed to have been made on site. 3 

By 1860, the McColough’s dwelling was described as having four rooms. It was offered for sale at that 

time but was not purchased. Additions, undertaken possibly as early as the 1860s, brought the house 

to six rooms with stables, coach house, servants' quarters and kitchen. 4 Tweedside was purchased in 

a derelict state by the Londey family in 1929-30 and it is thought that the verandah was reconstructed 

around this time. Works were carried out at the property in the 1950s, including the construction of a 

new kitchen. 5 



2.5: Migrating and making a home 





Tweedside is a single-storey c.1850s brick dwelling, with a wing projecting from the south-east. The 

property is set to the rear of its allotment, with a generous landscaped garden setting to Crusoe Road. 

The garden, which is bisected by an asphalt drive, includes a number of trees and plantings which 

partially obscure views of the property from the street. 

The original component of the property is a symmetrical brick structure with a hipped roof clad in 

corrugated galvanised steel. The walls were originally in exposed brick, now overpainted. The Arts 

and Crafts-influenced timber posted verandah is later (c. 1930). There are four chimneys in 

overpainted brick, one of which is diagonally angled (the chimney on the south-west side of the roof). 

The chimneys have large bases and cornices of corbelled brick courses. The windows are generally 

timber-framed double-hung sashes with cambered soffits and simple block sills. The date of the south 

wing is not known, but it is possible that it includes fabric dating to the extension of the property in 

the 1860s (see ‘History’, above). The façade of this wing, where it faces Crusoe Road, has a variety of 

openings, including a large multi-paned opening with French glass doors that appears to date from the 

1980s or 1990s. 

The property appears to be in generally sound condition. 


In terms of age, Tweedside (1850s) compares with Dudley House at 60 View Street, Bendigo (1858), 

Specimen Cottage at 178-180 Hargreaves Street, Bendigo (1856,) and Myrnong (1857-58), at 

Myrnong Court, Kangaroo Flat as among the oldest surviving dwellings on the Bendigo goldfields. It is 

also possible that Tweedside predates all of these, if constructed before the birth of the McColough’s 

first two children, being Emma (October 1853) and then Mary Ella (September 1856), as family 

tradition suggests. With regard to form and style, Tweedside’s Kangaroo Flat equivalents include 

Woodville at 2 Olympic Parade, although its hipped roof is larger in area and more complex, and the 

original brickwork is still exposed. As with Woodville, Tweedside has a verandah frame of probably 

2


later date and has rear alterations of similar date. Tweedside’s angled chimney is unusual in the area. 

Its prominent chimney bases are also more characteristic of Bendigo. 




Tweedside at no 39 Crusoe Road, Kangaroo Flat, is of historical significance as one of the oldest 

dwellings in the Kangaroo Flat area and more broadly on the Bendigo goldfield. It is believed to have 

been constructed in the 1850s, possibly c. 1856, by Archibald Parkes McColough, a drover and stock 

dealer who arrived in Victoria from Nova Scotia with his wife in 1852. The location of the property 

provides an insight into early patterns of settlement in the area, potentially related to McColough’s 

occupation as a drover and stock dealer. The early construction of the property, utilising bricks 

burned on site and materials brought to Victoria by the McColoughs, also provides evidence of 

approaches to building substantial dwellings in the early gold rush period. 



Tweedside is significant for being one of the oldest dwellings in the Kangaroo Flat area and more 

broadly on the Bendigo goldfield; it is additionally a rare example of a property dating to the 1850s, 

which was built on the fringes of Bendigo. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

Tweedside is of aesthetic/architectural significance as a largely externally intact, simple but wellproportioned 

early (1850s) brick villa in Kangaroo Flat. It would have been a substantial structure at 

the time of its construction, particularly given its then isolated location. In its roof form, chimneys, 

external brick walls and generous setback from the street, the property retains much of its original 

presentation. The angled chimney is a particularly early element, providing an indication of the 

building’s early date of construction. 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 

3




Tweedside at no 39 Crusoe Road, Kangaroo Flat, is believed to have been constructed in the 1850s, 

possibly c. 1856, by Archibald Parkes McColough. It is a single-storey brick dwelling, with a wing 

projecting from the south-east. The original component is a symmetrical brick structure with a hipped 

roof; the walls were originally in exposed brick, now overpainted. The Arts and Crafts-influenced 

timber posted verandah is later (c. 1930). There are four chimneys in overpainted brick, with large 

bases and corbelled brick cornices, one of which (on the south-west side of the roof) is diagonally 

angled, an indication of its early date. The windows are generally timber-framed double-hung sashes. 

The date of the south wing is not known, but it may include fabric dating to the 1860s extension of 

the property. The façade of this wing has a variety of openings, including a large opening with French 

glass doors that appears to date from the 1980s or 1990s. The property is set to the rear of its 

allotment, with a generous landscaped garden setting to Crusoe Road. 


Tweedside at no 39 Crusoe Road, Kangaroo Flat, is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 


Tweedside is historically significant (Criterion A) as one of the oldest dwellings in the Kangaroo Flat 

area and more broadly on the Bendigo goldfield. Tweedside is also a rare example of a property 

dating to the 1850s, which was built on the fringes of Bendigo (Criterion B). It is believed to have 

been constructed in the 1850s, possibly c. 1856, by Archibald Parkes McColough, a drover and stock 

dealer who arrived in Victoria from Nova Scotia with his wife in 1852. The location of the property 

provides an insight into early patterns of settlement in the area, potentially related to McColough’s 

occupation as a drover and stock dealer. The early construction of the property, utilising bricks 

burned on site and materials brought to Victoria by the McColoughs, also provides evidence of 

approaches to building substantial dwellings in the early gold rush period. Tweedside is also of 

aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E) as a largely externally intact, simple but wellproportioned 

early (1850s) brick villa in Kangaroo Flat. It would have been a substantial structure at 

the time of its construction, particularly given its then isolated location. In its roof form, chimneys, 

external brick walls and generous setback from the street, the property retains much of its original 

presentation. The angled chimney is a particularly early element, providing an indication of the 

building’s early date of construction. 



The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map, while the focus of significance is on the 

1850s dwelling, together with its (believed to be early) south wing. In preference, the external 

paintwork should be removed and the original brick presentation of the building reinstated. The 

advice of a heritage practitioner should be sought prior to undertaking these works. 








4



Identified By 


References 


1993. 


Specific: 

1 



2 


Committee, 1993, pp. 87-88. 

3 


Committee, 1993p. 88, citing, M Butcher and W Gregson, ‘So Now You See It,’ Bendigo 

Advertiser, 1992, pp. 79-80. 

4 

M Butcher and W Gregson, ‘So Now You See It,’ Bendigo Advertiser, 1992, pp. 79-80. 

5 

Tweedside citation included in Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study 

(Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998, source not cited. 

5


Name Former police station and 

quarters 

Address Corner of Camp and Church 

streets, Kangaroo Flat 


Marong Study 

KF25 


Building type Police station (disused) Survey date June and August 2010 


construction 



Significance The former police station and quarters is of local historical, social and 


Left: East elevation of the police station and quarters, showing the three 1880s transverse gables, 

Left: Rear view of the police station and quarters, with the classroom addition at left (east). Right: 

West elevation of the freestanding 1963 addition at the south-west corner of the site. 


with the subject site shown as KF25. 


1


History 

The Kangaroo Flat district was first policed in the 1850s with a station opened at the gold mining 

settlement of Crusoe Gully (also known as Robinson Crusoe). From the mid-1850s, a Constable Black 

was a regular presence in Kangaroo Flat, 1 and by the end of the decade Sergeant Babington, who 

served for a long period as head of the Kangaroo Flat police station, is recorded as having been called 

to attend a number of incidents at the Italian camp in the nascent settlement. 2 However, the policing 

of the area was a matter of concern to residents. In 1863, local surgeon George O’Donnell wrote to 

the Bendigo Advertiser to complain that only two policeman were present to manage a population of 

3,000-4,000 over an area spreading for six miles (10km). 3 

In 1883, the present four-room, double-fronted timber police station and quarters was built on the 

corner of Camp and Church streets, shortly before the proclamation of the township in 1886. The 

building was drawn by architect John R Brown and approved by Charles Barrett, an architect with the 

Victorian Public Works Department. Brown was noted for his ornamental designs utilising sunshades, 

multi-gabled facades with decorative woodwork, Gothic roof vents and elaborate chimneys. The 

Kangaroo Flat design was one of nine double-fronted four-roomed police station and quarters 

complexes erected in Victoria during the first half of the 1880s. 4 

The station was closed in late 1922, with the officer-in-charge being transferred to nearby Golden 

Square. It was not until 1963, after several submissions from local representatives, that a local police 

presence was again established. At that time, a new police station was erected at the south-west 

corner of the site and the former police station and quarters reconfigured internally. 5 Kangaroo Flat 

Police Station closed again between 1971 and 1974, and operations finally ceased in 2006. The 

property is presently redundant. A recent fire caused some damage to the north wall of the rear 

gable, internally and externally. 6 



7.3: Maintaining law and order 


The disused 1883 police station and quarters at the corner of Camp and Church streets, Kangaroo 

Flat, occupies a large asymmetrical site, with street frontages to the south, east and west. The built 

elements are located on the south of the allotment and include the 1880s police station and quarters, 

a demountable classroom addition to the north-east and a small freestanding police station (1963) to 

the south-west. Open landscaped areas are located to the south of the site and at the south-east 

corner. There is a large concrete area to the north of the buildings, and there are a number of 

freestanding lock-ups and demountables at the site, used for storage. 

The original 1880s weatherboard police station and quarters addresses Camp Street (south). 

Asymmetrically planned, it comprises a pair of transverse gables and is connected to a rear wing of 

similar age and appearance. The building has a timber-framed roof clad in corrugated galvanised 

steel and a timber-posted verandah. The front door is in a filled-in verandah bay. Some early timberframed 

windows survive, although some have been replaced. The Camp Street frontage comprises a 

projecting wing and recessed verandah. Each of the gables is fronted by long finials with square 

bases. The east end of the building is framed by a large brick chimney, repeated in the gabled block 

immediately behind and seen from Church Street. The chimneys are in overpainted brick with broad 

backs and brick cornices, tapering in to the stacks. The stacks are panelled on the two facing Church 

Street, and all five chimneys’ upper levels have tapered tops above angled header bricks, forming 

notched collars and capped by cylindrical flues or chimney-cans. The timber gable finials, accentuated 

bargeboards and chimney details are broadly expressive of the Gothic Revival. The stepped chimneys 

and serrated ornamentation are prominent elements. 

The demountable block facing Church Street is a standard timber school room of the post-war period, 

with horizontally proportioned top-hung windows and an apron of vertical planking. It has a roof clad 

in corrugated galvanised steel, rather rusty. The 1960s police station, at the Smith and Camp Streets 

corner, is also timber with vertical planking and a low pitched roof. 

2


The 1880s police station and quarters appears to be in fair condition. Successive internal renovations 

and modifications, and the recent fire damage, have had some impact on the building. 


The disused police station and quarters at Kangaroo Flat was one of nine similar double-fronted fourroomed 

police station and quarters complexes erected in Victoria between 1880 and 1886, to standard 

Public Works Department designs (see also ‘History’ page 2). Analysis of other surviving examples 

has not been undertaken for this report. More generally, timber properties of this age are relatively 

rare in the local context, although examples include the former Gunn’s Hotel at Raywood (1873, R10) 

and the former Kamarooka Road School (Neilborough North) no. 1726 (1876, SU1). 




The disused 1883 police station and quarters at the corner of Camp and Church streets, Kangaroo Flat 

is of historical significance, as the focus of policing activity in Kangaroo Flat for a long period from 

1883, albeit intermittently, having been closed between 1922 and 1963, and again between 1971 and 

1974, before operations finally ceased in 2006. The disused facility recalls the early development of 

the township and the formalisation of the settlement in the build-up to the proclamation of Kangaroo 

Flat in 1886. The former police station is also historically significant as a surviving example of a 

standard Public Works Department design of a timber police station with quarters dating to the 1880s. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The weatherboard police station and quarters is of aesthetic/architectural significance. While it is a 

standard Public Works Department design for a timber police station with quarters of the period 

(1880s) and subsequently modified and extended, it remains a picturesque and highly detailed 

building which retains many of the original Gothic Revival architectural elements. These include the 

asymmetrical planning; the striking combination of the three transverse gables; gabled ends with long 

finials and accentuated bargeboards; and the stepped chimneys with tapered tops. 



N/A 




3


The former police station is of some local significance as the focus of police work and activity in 

Kangaroo Flat, albeit intermittently, from the 1880s to 2006.N/A 



N/A 



The former police station and quarters at the corner of Camp and Church streets, Kangaroo Flat, dates 

from the 1880s and operated intermittently as a police station until 2006. The original 1883 

components are on the south of the allotment and comprise the weatherboard police station and 

quarters which is asymmetrically planned, has a pair of transverse gables with roofs clad in corrugated 

galvanised steel, and a timber-posted verandah. This is connected to a rear wing of similar age and 

appearance. Each of the gables is fronted by long finials with square bases; large brick chimney are 

also attached to the gables, which are in overpainted brick with broad backs and brick cornices, 

tapering in to the stacks. The timber gable finials, accentuated bargeboards and chimney details are 

broadly expressive of the Gothic Revival. The stepped chimneys and serrated ornamentation are 

prominent elements. The demountable block facing Church Street is a standard timber school room of 

the post-war period. The 1960s police station, at the Smith and Camp Streets corner, is also timber 

with vertical planking and a low pitched roof. Open landscaped areas are located to the south of the 

site and at the south-east corner. There is a large concrete area to the north of the buildings, and 

there are a number of freestanding lock-ups and demountables at the site, used for storage. 


The former police station and quarters at Kangaroo Flat is of local historical, social and 



The former police station and quarters at Kangaroo Flat is of local historical, social and 

aesthetic/architectural significance. The property is of historical significance (Criterion A) as the focus 

of policing activity in Kangaroo Flat for a long period from 1883, albeit intermittently, having been 

closed between 1922 and 1963, and again between 1971 and 1974, before operations finally ceased 

in 2006. The disused facility recalls the early development of the township and the formalisation of 

the settlement in the build-up to the proclamation of Kangaroo Flat in 1886. The former police station 

and quarters is also historically significant as a surviving example of a standard Public Works 

Department design of a timber police station with quarters dating to the 1880s. The former police 

station is additionally of some local significance as the focus of police work and activity in Kangaroo 

Flat, over periods from the 1880s to 2006 (Criterion G). With regard to its aesthetic/architectural 

significance (Criterion E), and while it is a standard Public Works Department design for a timber 

police station with quarters of the period (1880s), and subsequently modified and extended, it 

remains a picturesque and highly detailed building which retains many of the original Gothic Revival 

architectural elements. These include the asymmetrical planning; striking combination of three 

transverse gables; gabled ends with long finials and accentuated bargeboards; and the stepped 

chimneys with tapered tops. 



The extent of the Overlay is illustrated in the above map, reflecting the current property boundary. 

However, the focus of significance is on the 1880s building, and consideration could be given to 

reducing the Overlay extent to cover this building, a curtilage around it and the setbacks to Camp and 

Church streets. While the demountable classroom addition to the north-east and small freestanding 

police station (1963) to the south-west, provide evidence of the evolution of the property, these are 

not elements of heritage significance. The north of the site is also not of heritage value. 

4


Further research would assist in clarifying the extent to which other examples survive of the original 

nine double-fronted four-roomed police station and quarters complexes erected in Victoria during the 

1880s. 









Identified By 


References 

Arnold, Bendigo; Its Environs; The Way It Was, Crown Castleton, Bendigo, 2003. 



Specific: 

1 



2 



3 

Bendigo Advertiser, cited in David Horsfall (ed), Kangaroo Flat, A History, Gold, Goats and 

Peppercorns, Back to Committee, 1993, p. 16. 

4 

Bruce Trethowan, The Public Works Department of Victoria 1851-1900: An Architectural 

History in Two Volumes, The Public Works Department of Victoria 1851-1900, volume 2. 

5 

‘Gold Rush Days Recalled: New Station Opened at Kangaroo Flat,’ in Police Life, July 1963. 

6 

Pers comm., John Savage, Bendigo Police (Golden Square) and Adam Mornement, Lovell 

Chen, August 2010. 

5


Name Former Reservoir View Hotel Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 229 Crusoe Road, Kangaroo 

Flat 

Building type Private residence (former 

hotel) 


construction 

KF26 

Map reference VicRoads 612 J7-G8 



By 1874 Recommendation Not recommended for 

inclusion in the Schedule 


Significance The former Reservoir Hotel is not of local heritage significance, and is not 


Left: Reservoir View Hotel, c. 1890s (Source: Photographic History of Kangaroo Flat, 1994, v. 1). 

Right: Former Reservoir View Hotel, east elevation. 

Left: South elevation. Right: North elevation, with garden in foreground. 

Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Geelong). 

1



Heritage Status HV AHC NT 

History 

Crusoe Gully (also known as Robinson Crusoe) was one of a number of mining settlements established 

in the area to the east of the Calder Highway and west of Lockwood during the 1850s. Others in the 

vicinity were Big Hill and Break O’Day. 1 Crusoe Road was also one of the main roads through the 

area, connecting Lockwood and Kangaroo Flat. After the initial rushes, Crusoe Gully was sustained by 

the establishment of a reservoir. Andrew Logiannis (also recorded as Lagogiannis) purchased land at 

Crusoe (lot 23, section G, Parish of Sandhurst, Shire of Marong) on 29 April 1873. It was in this year 

that the Crusoe Reservoir was opened. Logiannis was working as a publican by 1874, 2 and some time 

later ran a store in one of the rooms of the Reservoir View Hotel. The hotel, which is also referred to 

as the Crusoe View, 3 was located near the Crusoe Inn (established in 1857) and in close proximity to 

the local cricket pitch. Boats for use on the reservoir could also be rented from the premises. Crusoe 

Gully had a population of c. 75 from the 1870s-1890s, from which point it increased to c. 130. Today 

the area previously known as Crusoe Gully is at the south of Kangaroo Flat. Boating on the reservoir 

was a popular pastime from c. 1880 until the hotel was de-licensed on 31 December 1908. Harry and 

George Miller subsequently lived there for many years. The property remains in use as a private 

residence. 




5.8: Working 


The former Reservoir View Hotel is located to the west of the Crusoe Reservoir. The property, much 

modified from its original 1870s form, comprises a single-storey brick building with an open 

landscaped setting to the north. 

As pictured in the late nineteenth century (see page 1), the building had a two part verandah, 

parapeted on the two side bays to the south and with a concave roof on the three bays to the north. 

The main roof was pyramidal, accompanied by a single ridge transverse-pitch roof to the left, behind 

the parapet verandah. The face-brick walls were exposed. There was a substantial outbuilding or 

addition to the rear. As pictured, Crusoe Reservoir appears quite close – c. 30-40m from the hotel – 

much closer than it is today. 

The earlier configuration of the hotel is difficult to read in the present building. The front doors were 

replaced in the Federation period or possibly later (c. 1905-1925) with basket-arched doors and have 

Federation or interwar door hardware. The door reveals, including the cambered fanlight lintels, 

appear older and match the flanking sash windows. The original double hung sash windows with their 

cambered soffits and simple block sills remain. The chimneys also have an early twentieth century 

appearance, being simple stacks with no cornices or bases of the type usual in the area and capped 

with bricks set on end, rather in the manner of 1920s bungalow designs. The verandah fascia has 

exposed rafters and a Federation appearance, and the exposed rafters continue around the sides of 

the original block. The verandah soffit has been boxed with plasterboard sheeting and sealed with 

battens. A door on the south side has been sheeted over with corrugated galvanised steel. The 

transverse pitched roof and its accompanying rooms have been removed, leaving only the pyramidal 

roof. The floor of the former hotel’s south end is still evident in the cleared space to the side of the 

current building, with a low cutting to the south side. The building’s brick and timber has been 

overpainted. Two stained timber bays were added to the north and south elevations, possibly in the 

1970s; only the north bay survives. The outhouse to the north side is linked by a monopitch timber 

and corrugated galvanised steel roof to the house, providing a sheltered area. 

2



In its original form the Reservoir View Hotel compared with its contemporary counterparts in Kangaroo 

Flat, including the former Weighbridge Hotel (KF2) and the former Liverpool Arms Hotel (KF6), in 

having a fairly low pitched hipped roof and a lean-to verandah with timber posts. The windows were 

also typical of commercial buildings in main street frontages in the Kangaroo Flat area, as were the 

exposed brick walls. All the later treatment of the building, however, is more domestic in nature. The 

Federation or early twentieth century renewal of the doors facing the reservoir effectively recast the 

building as a house and the side bays probably added in the 1970s reinforced this residential 

character. 




The former Reservoir View Hotel at 229 Crusoe Road, Kangaroo Flat, is of some historical interest as a 

former hotel which operated from the 1870s until 1908, in the isolated and small settlement known 

locally as Crusoe Gully. The area was initially a mining community, being sustained by its location on 

the main road between Lockwood and Kangaroo Flat and, from the early 1870s, by the construction of 

the Crusoe Reservoir. The hotel property was also a store, a not uncommon combination on the 

goldfields. The property has been in use as a private residence since 1908 and has been subject to 

multiple alterations. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

As built, the former Reservoir View Hotel at 229 Crusoe Road was generally representative of mid- 

Victorian hotels, being of brick construction with a low-pitch hipped roof and a lean-to verandah. 

Alterations to the property over time have significantly compromised its original form, and the current 

building is only of very limited interest aesthetically. 



N/A 




N/A 

3




N/A 


The former Reservoir View Hotel at 229 Crusoe Road, Kangaroo Flat, is of some historical interest. It 

is a former hotel which operated from the 1870s until 1908, in the isolated and small settlement 

known locally as Crusoe Gully. The area was initially a mining community, being sustained by its 

location on the main road between Lockwood and Kangaroo Flat and, from the early 1870s, by the 

construction of the Crusoe Reservoir. The hotel property was also a store, a not uncommon 

combination on the goldfields. The property has been in use as a private residence since 1908, and 

has been subject to multiple alterations. Aesthetically, the original building was generally 

representative of mid-Victorian hotels. However alterations to the property over time have 

significantly compromised its original form, and the current building is of very limited interest 

aesthetically. 



Overlay. 

Identified By 


References 

Arnold, Bendigo; Its Environs; The Way It Was, Crown Castleton, Bendigo, 2003. 



Specific: 

1 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, the Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castelton Publishers, 

2003, p. 55. 

2 

Shire of Marong rate books, 1874. See also, David Horsfall (ed), Kangaroo Flat, A History, 

Gold, Goats and Peppercorns, Back to Committee, 1993, pp.83-84. 

3 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, the Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castelton Publishers, 

2003, p. 63. 

4


Name Ark Hall Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 


Highway, at Boyles Lane 

corner, Marong 

L01 





construction 

c. 1865 (reconfigured as a 

single-storey building in 

the 1940s) 

Significance Ark Hall is of local historical significance. 

Recommendation Recommended for the 

Schedule to the Heritage 

Overlay 

Left: Ark Hall, c. 1890, with members of the Wallis family in the foreground (Source: North Goldfields 

Library, image 104). Right: current building, minus upper level. 

. 

Left: South-east elevation, note timber dormer at rear. Right: View of Ark Hall looking directly east. 


with the subject site shown as L1. 

1


Intactness Good Fair Poor 

History 

Lockwood is located approximately 15km from Bendigo. The settlement was the seat of local 

government from the 1850s until usurped by Marong in 1908. It is located in prime arable land, being 

on the Bullock Creek, one of two principal watercourses in the Parish of Lockwood. Early development 

was underpinned by agriculture, with Lockwood supplying produce to the Bendigo goldfields. 1 The 

first post office in Lockwood was opened in January 1855, and by the early 1860s, the Shire Hall and 

council offices had been constructed. 2 Gold was discovered nearby in 1863, 3 and by 1865 the 

population of the township was approximately 500. 

Ark Hall at Lockwood was built for John Charles Wallis (1831-1892), a market gardener and farmer 

who was born at Tamworth, England, migrating to Australia in 1853 with his wife Alice. They took up 

15ha (38 acres) of land on the Bullock Creek in the same year. Prior to this Wallis had worked briefly 

as a butcher in Kyneton. 4 The family’s first house was of wattle and daub construction. 5 Wallis 

eventually owned 400ha (1,000 acres) on which he ran cattle, sheep and game fowl, and established 

a vineyard. John and Alice Wallis had 14 children. 6 

In 1860 the family returned to England, where they stayed for 18 months. While there, Wallis bought 

materials that were later used in the construction of his new house. 7 Ark Hall was a symmetrically 

composed two-storey bi-chrome brick construction with a shallow first floor balcony, ground level 

verandah and hipped roof (see picture c. 1890, page 1). Cream brick relieved the orange/red face 

brick at the corners, resembling quoins, and the surrounds of the round-headed front door. There 

were two chimneys, with cream bricks to the corbels, and windows were double-hung sashes, with a 

pair of panes to each sash. The internal staircase and fittings were of cedar and a large cellar was 

provided. A front room at ground floor level was fitted out as a shop, selling market and garden 

produce and home baked bread. 8 Ark Hall was rated at £70 in 1865. 9 

Wallis was a successful exhibitor at the district agricultural and horticultural shows, enjoying success 

with his game fowl. He was also a councillor of the Shire of Marong in 1871 and President of the 

Board of Advice to the Shire. 10 

In 1939, the upper level of Ark Hall was damaged in a violent storm, resulting in its removal in c. 

1945-47, when the building was reconfigured in its present form. 11 





4.4: Farming 


5.8: Working 


Ark Hall on the Calder Alternative Highway at Lockwood was originally built in the 1860s as a twostorey 

property, being reconfigured to its present form in the mid-1940s. The property occupies a 

large asymmetrical plot on the south side of the Highway. The house itself is oriented at a diagonal to 

true north; for ease, the front wall is described here as the north elevation. The focus of the following 

description is the historic single-storey property, although there are a number of outbuildings at the 

rear (south) of the allotment. Ark Hall was not inspected internally; descriptions of internal elements 

in the following derive from the 1998 survey. 12 

Ark Hall is a symmetrically composed dwelling built of red/orange face brick relieved by cream bricks 

at the corners, resembling quoins, and around the central round arched doorway. Double hung sash 

windows flank the central door, with two panes to each sash, divided by glazing bars. The postsupported 

skillion roofed verandah and shallow hipped roof are clad with corrugated steel sheeting; 

2


these are non-original elements, as are the rectangular brick chimneys to the east and west faces of 

the roof, all added/rebuilt during the works to adapt the house to a single storey form. Each chimney 

stack is topped by bands of projecting cream bricks. The verandah, which may date to the 1945-47 

works, is deeper than the original, and returns around the side elevations, again unlike the original; it 

is also enclosed with wire mesh. A band of timber at the top of the front elevation is the springing 

point of the original balcony. A gabled dormer clad with corrugated sheet metal fixed horizontally 

projects from the rear (south side) of the roof. Openings to the side elevations have been modified. 

The substantial cellar built to store produce potentially survives, as does the original staircase to the 

cellar. 

Outbuildings include a small brick building with hipped roof, of simple form and detailing, to the rear 

of the dwelling (possibly used as a studio or sleep out) and a skillion-roofed iron clad chicken shed. A 

free-standing (mudbrick?) dwelling is located to the west, on the property, and addressing the road; 

this was not investigated. A timber post-and-rail fence is located on the front property boundary. 


In its original 1860s form, Ark Hall was one of few two-storey residences in the outlying settlements of 

the Bendigo goldfield, comparing with Rocky Vale Villa at maiden Gully, a two-storey Gothic Revival 

house built of sandstone and granite by stonemason William Beebe Snr, and completed in 1891. As a 

substantial dwelling of some architectural pretension it also compared with the 1880s Park View in 

Marong, located a short distance north on Bullock Creek. As with Park View, Ark Hall was broadly 

Italianate in character. However, these qualities of scale and architectural grandeur were significantly 

comprised by the loss of the first floor and the reconfiguration of the building in the mid-1940s. 




Ark Hall, built c.1865, on the Calder Alternative Highway at Lockwood, is of historical significance for 

providing evidence of settlement in the peak phase (1860s) of development of the Lockwood district, 

which in turn was an important agricultural community supplying produce to the Bendigo goldfields. 

The property was built for successful market gardener and farmer John Wallis, whose landholding 

eventually extended to 400ha, on which he ran cattle, sheep and fowl, and established a vineyard. Its 

original double-storey scale also reflected Wallis’ commercial success, and eminence in the local 

community; he was a councillor of the Shire of Marong in 1871 and President of the Board of Advice to 

the Shire. Ark Hall is also of interest for the 1940s reconfiguration of the building, after the upper 

level was damaged in a violent storm and removed, demonstrating a desire to retain and repair what 

would have been a severely damaged structure. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

3


In its original form, Ark Hall was one of few two-storey buildings in the area and had a high degree of 

architectural pretension, being a symmetrically composed dwelling of bi-chromatic brick. These 

qualities of scale and architectural grandeur were however significantly comprised by the 

reconfiguration of the property in the mid-1940s. While the building retains its symmetrical 

proportions, original detailing to the ground level façade, and the shallow hipped roof form which 

broadly replicates that of the original two-storey dwelling, Ark Hall is nevertheless a significantly 

compromised dwelling. The deep wraparound verandah and rear dormer are also unsympathetic to 

the property’s original design. 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 



Ark Hall was built c. 1865 as a two-storey property, and was reconfigured to its present form in the 

mid-1940s. It is a symmetrically composed dwelling built of red/orange face brick relieved by cream 

bricks at the corners, resembling quoins, and around the central round arched doorway. Double hung 

sash windows flank the central door, with two panes to each sash, divided by glazing bars. The postsupported 

skillion roofed verandah and shallow hipped roof are clad with corrugated steel sheeting. 

These are non-original elements, as are the rectangular brick chimneys to the east and west faces of 

the roof, all added/rebuilt during the works to adapt the house to a single storey form. Each chimney 

stack is topped by bands of projecting cream bricks. The verandah, which may date to the 1945-47 

works, is deeper than the original, and returns around the side elevations, again unlike the original. A 

band of timber at the top of the front elevation is the springing point of the original balcony. A gabled 

dormer clad with corrugated sheet metal fixed horizontally projects from the rear (south side) of the 

roof. Openings to the side elevations have been modified. 


Ark Hall is of local historical significance. 


Ark Hall, built c.1865, on the Calder Alternative Highway at Lockwood, is of historical interest for 

providing evidence of settlement in the peak phase (1860s) of development of the Lockwood district, 

which was an important agricultural community supplying produce to the Bendigo goldfields. The 

property was built for successful market gardener and farmer John Wallis, whose landholding 

eventually extended to 400ha. Its original scale also reflected Wallis’ commercial success, and 

eminence in the local community, where he was a councillor of the Shire of Marong in 1871 and 

President of the Board of Advice to the Shire. Ark Hall is additionally of interest for the 1940s 

reconfiguration of the building, after the upper level was damaged in a violent storm and removed, 

demonstrating a desire to retain and repair what would have been a severely damaged structure. 

4




The significance of the property relates primarily to its historical value, and its capacity to recall the 

development of the Lockwood district as an agricultural community from the 1850s. The Overlay 

extent is indicated on the above map, although the focus of significance is on the brick dwelling and 

its setback from Alternative Calder Highway. 









Identified By 


References 


Ruth Hopkins, Moving Forward, Looking Back, Shire of Marong, 1985. 


Specific: 

1 


2003, pp. 69-75. 

2 



3 


2003, p. 69. 

4 


2003, p. 95. 

5 

Ruth Hopkins, Moving Forward, Looking Back, Shire of Marong, 1985, p. 70. 

6 


2003, p. 95. 

7 


2003, p. 96. 

8 

‘House’ citation for Ark Hall, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study 


9 

Shire of Marong rate book, 1865. 

10 

Ruth Hopkins, Moving Forward, Looking Back, Shire of Marong, 1985, p. 70. 

11 

Pers comm, Jean Thomas, and Ray Wallace, local historian, 11 March, 1999. 

12 

‘House,’ citation for Ark Hall, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study 


5


Name Uniting Church (former 

Wesleyan Church) 


Highway, Lockwood South 


Marong Study 

LS2 

Map reference VicRoads 44 D 7 




construction 



Significance The former Wesleyan Church is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: East (front) elevation. Right: North elevation, with recent addition. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010, note conifers to the east boundary (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). Right: 

Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site indicated (LS2). 


Existing 


HV AHC NT 

History 

Methodist sects were well represented in the former Marong Shire from the earliest years of European 

settlement, arguably better than any other denomination, reflecting the strong presence of Cornish 

miners in the district. 1 The Wesleyans were the first sect to hold services in the former shire, from 

1854, in a slab building at Kangaroo Flat. In the same year, Methodist preacher Reverend T Raston 

was conducting services in a tent at Lockwood on a regular basis. 2 In March 1859, under the 

Denominational Board, the Wesleyan Independent Church began school classes in a brick and stone 

building, at Lockwood South, with James Richards as the head teacher. The school (no. 385) came 

under the control of the Education Department in 1873. 3 The present red brick Wesleyan building was 

1


built in 1872; the building held the chapel and possibly also a classroom as a school was part of the 

development at the time. It is not known if the school was in fact a separate building. The subject 

building, now the Uniting Church, is part of the Golden Square circuit. The church has been altered 

internally, and a brick addition constructed to the north. 






The former Wesleyan Church (built 1872), now Uniting Church, at Lockwood South is a small 

polychrome brick church located on a broadly square allotment on the west side of the Calder 

Alternative Highway. Stylistically, it combines Classical-Renaissance and Gothic traditions. The site 

includes the brick church/school building, with a c. 1980s brick addition to the north; a steel tank on a 

stand; former railway guard’s van (relocated to the site); and steel shed at the rear (west) of the site. 

A row of mature conifers screen the front of the property from the Highway, partly concealing views of 

the church. Other mature vegetation is dotted around the site. The property was not inspected 

internally. Descriptions of internal elements in the following derive from the 1998 survey. 4 

The church has a hipped roof clad in corrugated iron, of a relatively shallow pitch, with gable ends. It 

is built of orange/red brick, with umber brick string courses and cement rendered string-course 

dressings. These connect flat-arched windows and doorways with square hood moulds in a Collegiate 

Tudor manner. The windows are rectangular with chamfered reveals and sloping sills bracketed by 

lugs; the window surrounds are thick and emphatic. A similar treatment surmounts the main door, 

although here the lintel is pushed right up under the hood mould. 

The external walls are divided by buttresses, which merge into the wall piers after receding from their 

bases. There is a cartouche reading ‘Wesleyan Church AD 1872’ at the top of in the east gable end 

(main entrance elevation). English bond is used throughout the original building; stretcher bond in 

the addition to the north. The brickwork to the nave eaves spans between the buttresses, and is 

recessed to simulate trabeation. The cornice and gable moulding comprise projecting brick of 

three/five courses, supported on the sides by projecting brick headers that form a dog-tooth 

moulding. The addition to the north side sits uneasily with the historic fabric, with regard to the 

colour of the brickwork and application of stretcher bond, and the large window openings with 

anodised frames. Inside, the varnished timber ceiling is (reputedly) in situ, and there is a disused 

fireplace at the west end of the nave. 

A post and ‘hairpin’ wire fence is located to the east boundary, with a steel entrance gate to the north. 

The church occupies an informal open setting, typical of many historic churches in rural areas, albeit 

enhanced by the row of conifers which also help give the property a sense of seclusion. 


The exterior of the former Wesleyan Church at Lockwood South combines a number of influences 

including Classical-Renaissance and Gothic traditions, creating a discernible Tudor effect which is most 

discernibly expressed in the flat-arched windows and doorways with square hood moulds. The fusion 

of gable fascia with flanking piers, in a continuous link, recurs in mid-nineteenth-century buildings in 

Victoria and appears to be a means of expressing robustness. Similar examples/approaches include 

Crouch and Wilson’s Congregational Church and Hall in South Melbourne (1867-8, adapted to 

residential use,) coupling a masonry fascia to two flat-fronted piers 5 ; T J Crouch’s St Andrew’s 

Presbyterian Church, Lilydale (1882) 6 ; Kilmore Primitive Methodist Church (1859-60, now a Masonic 

hall) 7 ; and Evander McIver’s Brunswick Presbyterian Church (1884) coupling its corbelled masonry 

fascia to an integral breakfront. 8 



2



The former Wesleyan Church (built 1872) on the Calder Alternative Highway at Lockwood South is of 

historical significance for its capacity to recall the presence in the Lockwood area of Methodist sects 

since the earliest years of the gold rushes. These sects were well represented in the former Marong 

Shire, reflecting the presence of Cornish miners in the district. Regular Methodist services were held 

in Lockwood from 1854, with a Wesleyan presence in the settlement dating to at least 1859 with the 

establishment of the Wesleyan Independent Church School. The current building demonstrates the 

ongoing presence of the Wesleyans in the community in 1872, including through the provision of a 

chapel for services and a school/classroom facility. When viewed by passing traffic on the Highway, 

the church in its grounds also provides a reminder of the historic presence of religious denominations 

on the goldfields. 



The former Wesleyan Church is unusual in the Greater Bendigo context, for its combination of a 

number of stylistic influences including Classical-Renaissance and Gothic traditions. These have 

created a discernible Tudor effect, expressed in the flat-arched windows and doorways with square 

hood moulds. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 


aesthetic/architectural significance as a substantially intact example of a small polychromatic brick 

church of the early 1870s. The combination of Classical-Renaissance and Gothic traditions creates a 

distinct Tudoresque effect, expressed in the flat-arched windows and doorways with square hood 

moulds. The fusion of the gable fascia with the flanking piers to the front (east) elevation is a device 

that recurs elsewhere in mid-nineteenth-century Victoria, and suggests a sense of strength and 

robustness. The simple and informal setting of the building, combined with the screening conifer row, 

also contribute to the aesthetic significance of the property. 



N/A 




The church is of some social significance in the local context, as the focus of the Uniting Church 

congregation, and for being part of the Golden Square circuit. 



3


N/A 



The former Wesleyan Church (built 1872), now Uniting Church, at Lockwood South is a small 

polychrome brick church located on a broadly square allotment on the west side of the Calder 

Alternative Highway. Stylistically, it combines Classical-Renaissance and Gothic traditions. The 

church has a hipped roof clad in corrugated iron, with gable ends, and external walls of orange/red 

brick, with umber brick string courses and cement rendered string-course dressings which connect the 

flat-arched windows and doorways with square hood moulds in a Collegiate Tudor manner. The 

windows are rectangular with thick and emphatic surrounds, a treatment which similarly surmounts 

the main door. The external walls are also divided by buttresses, which merge into the wall piers; and 

there is a cartouche reading ‘Wesleyan Church AD 1872’ at the top of in the east gable end which is 

the main entrance elevation. The church occupies an informal open setting, typical of many historic 

churches in rural areas, albeit enhanced by the row of conifers which also help give the property a 

sense of seclusion. 



local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The former Wesleyan Church is of historical significance (Criterion A) for its capacity to recall the 

presence in the Lockwood area of Methodist sects, going back to the earliest years of the gold rushes. 

The sects were well represented in the former Marong Shire, reflecting the presence of Cornish miners 

in the district. Regular Methodist services were held in Lockwood from 1854, with a Wesleyan 

presence in the settlement dating to at least 1859 with the establishment of the Wesleyan 

Independent Church School. The current building of 1872 demonstrates the ongoing presence of the 

Wesleyans in the community in this period, through the provision of a chapel for services and a 

school/classroom facility. When viewed by passing traffic on the Highway, the church in its grounds 

also provides a reminder of the historic presence of religious denominations on the goldfields. The 

church is also of social significance in the local context, as the focus of the Uniting Church 

congregation, and for being part of the Golden Square circuit (Criterion G). Architecturally (Criterion 

E), the church is significant as a substantially intact example of a small polychromatic brick church of 

the early 1870s. The combination of Classical-Renaissance and Gothic traditions creates a distinct 

Tudoresque effect, expressed in the flat-arched windows and doorways with square hood moulds. 

These influences are also unusual in the Greater Bendigo context (Criterion B). The fusion of the 

gable fascia with the flanking piers to the front (east) elevation is a device that recurs elsewhere in 

mid-nineteenth-century Victoria and suggests a sense of strength and robustness. The simple and 

informal setting of the building, combined with the screening conifer row, also contribute to the 

aesthetic significance of the property. 




concentrated in the 1872 church building, the setting around the building and the conifer row to the 

front of the property. Valued aspects of the presentation of the building include the exposed face 

brick work, which should remain unpainted. The unsympathetic c.1980s brick addition to the north of 

the building, steel tank, former railway van and steel shed at the rear of the site are not significant 

elements. If the north addition is removed, it would be desirable to reinstate the original form and 

detailing of the building elevation. The undeveloped northern area of the site, at a generous distance 

from the heritage building, is also not part of the significant setting. 

4










Identified By 


References 



1993. 


Specific: 

1 


1985, p. 101. Methodist sects included the Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, Bible Christians, 

Congregationalist Presbyterians and Independents. 

2 

Rev Irving Benson, A Century of Methodism, Spectator Publishing Company, Melbourne, 1935, 

p.457, and Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castleton 

Publishers, 2003, p. 83. 

3 


2003, p. 75. 

4 

‘Uniting Church,’ Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study 


5 

Miles Lewis, ed/contrib., Victorian Churches, National Trust, Melbourne, 1991, p. 86 item 144. 

6 

Miles Lewis, ed/contrib., Victorian Churches, National Trust, Melbourne, 1991, Lewis, p. 133, 

item 315. 

7 


item 297. 

8 


item 56. 

5


Name Hume’s Hovell Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 630 Calder Alternative Highway, 

Lockwood South 

LS3 

Proposed map reference VicRoads 44 D7 




construction 

After 1853 Recommendation Include in the 



Significance Hume’s Hovell is of local aesthetic/architectural significance and historical interest. 

Left: North elevation, as seen from the Calder Alternative Highway. Right: Front (west) elevation. 

Left: Brick chimney at chamfered corner, possibly a former entrance. Right: Aerial view, 2010 


1


Proposed Heritage Overlay map with the subject designated as LS3. 1 


History 

Lockwood is located approximately 15km from Bendigo. The settlement was the seat of local 

government from the 1850s until usurped by Marong in 1908. It is prime arable land, being located 

on the Bullock Creek, one of two principal watercourses in the Parish of Lockwood. Early development 

was underpinned by agriculture, with Lockwood supplying produce to the Bendigo goldfields. 2 The 

first post office in Lockwood was opened in January 1855; by the early 1860s the Shire Hall and 

council offices had been constructed. 3 Gold was discovered nearby in 1863 4 and by 1865 the 

population of the township was approximately 500. 

This dwelling is located on Lot 1, Section 5 of the Parish of Lockwood. The allotment was alienated 

from Crown land (i.e. sold) on 11 August 1853. The date of construction of this building, and its 

original use, has not been confirmed, although the original component of the structure may date to 

this 1850s period. It may have been constructed as a hotel; other suggestions include use as a police 

troopers barracks. During the twentieth century it was used as a dairy, operated by the Frost family. 5 

It is now a private residence. 



5.8: Working 

7.3: Maintaining law and order (to be confirmed) 


This single-storey building constructed of roughly coursed granite addresses the Calder Alternative 

Highway at the corner of Belvoir Park Road, near the entrance to Lockwood South. The property is 

located on the higher north side of the Highway; the road facing elevation is described here as the 

south elevation. The focus of this description is on the historic single-storey property, although there 

are a number of outbuildings at the rear (north) of the allotment, possibly including a former stables 

building. 6 This is not visible from the road and was not inspected. The outbuildings which are visible 

from the Highway are not of heritage interest. 

The building shows evidence, through the different treatment of the granite walls, of being 

constructed/modified in stages. The main original or early components of the property comprise a 

pair of transverse hipped roof bays to the front of the building, with additions to the rear, including a 

long gable roofed trailing wing on the west side. The roof forms are clad with corrugated galvanised 

steel, which appears to be recent; a granite chimney is located on the west side of the roof (front 

bay). There is a bull nosed timber posted verandah to the front wing (south elevation), enclosed by a 

recently installed picket fence. The verandah has been recently upgraded, possibly when the house 

2


was re-roofed. 7 A short flight of granite steps leads up to the verandah. A sign reading ‘Hume’s 

Hovell’ is attached to the south of the centrally located front door. The windows to either side of the 

door are timber-framed, with side-lights. The south-west corner of the building is chamfered, with a 

chimney of red brick. The verandah ends at the chamfered corner. This corner form (prior to the 

introduction of the chimney) may indicate that the property was built as a hotel during the 1850s, 

with the entrance potentially located in the corner. Paint to the some areas of the stone and 

brickwork has been removed since 1998. 



Other local properties dating to the 1850s include Tweedside, at 39 Crusoe Road, Kangaroo Flat (c. 

1856), which was built of bricks made on site, as well as materials imported from overseas by its 

wealthy owner. Dudley House at 60 View Street, Bendigo dates from 1858; Specimen Cottage at 178- 

180 Hargreaves Street, Bendigo, dates from 1856; and Myrnong at Kangaroo Flat is from 1857-58. It 

is possible that the subject building (the original component) predates or is contemporary with these, 

although the lack of certainty about the history prevents this from being confirmed. Some details, 

such as the windows to the south elevation (Highway façade) are later than the 1850s. The granite 

construction material is also unusual, and was typically favoured by Scottish immigrants. 




The single-storey building of roughly coursed granite at 630 Calder Alternative Highway, Lockwood 

South is of historical interest. While the original date of construction and use of the building have not 

been confirmed, the form of the building including its chamfered corner indicate it is an early structure 

possibly dating from the 1850s. This was the period when the subject allotment was taken up; it is 

also the period when the Lockwood settlement was established. Without knowing more about the 

building, it is difficult to reach a conclusion about historical significance. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

This single-storey structure of roughly coursed granite is of aesthetic/architectural significance. While 

the building is an evolved structure and not intact to a specific period, the form of the front part of the 

building, including the chamfered corner, indicate that it is an historic building, possibly a former 

goldfields hotel. The use of granite is also of interest; it demonstrates the use of a locally sourced 

material but one which is difficult to work with. Granite was also favoured as a construction material 

by Scottish immigrants, although the original owner/builder of this structure has not been identified. 

The location on elevated ground at the southern entrance to Lockwood South, also gives the building 

some prominence. 

3




N/A 




N/A 



N/A 



The single-storey building of roughly coursed granite construction, at 630 Calder Alternative Highway, 

Lockwood South, is located on the higher north side of the Highway. The building shows evidence, 

through the different treatment of the granite walls, of being constructed/modified in stages. The 

main original or early components comprise a pair of transverse hipped roof bays to the front of the 

building, with additions to the rear, including a long gable roofed trailing wing on the west side. The 

corrugated galvanised steel roof cladding appears to be recent; a granite chimney is located on the 

west side of the roof (front bay). The bull nosed timber posted verandah to the front wing (south 

elevation) was recently upgraded, is accessed by a short flight of granite steps, and enclosed by a 

recent picket fence. The front door is centrally located in the south elevation; the windows to either 

side are timber-framed, with side-lights. The south-west corner of the building is chamfered, with a 

chimney of red brick; the verandah ends at the chamfered corner. 


The single-storey building at 630 Calder Alternative Highway, Lockwood South, is of local 

aesthetic/architectural significance and historical interest. 


The single-storey building of roughly coursed granite construction, at 630 Calder Alternative Highway, 

Lockwood South, is of local aesthetic/architectural significance and historical interest. Architecturally 

(Criterion E), while the building is an evolved structure and not intact to a specific period, the form of 

the front part of the building, including the chamfered corner, indicates that it is an historic building 

possibly a former goldfields hotel. The use of granite is also of interest; it demonstrates the use of a 

locally sourced material, albeit one which is difficult to work with. Granite was also favoured as a 

construction material by Scottish immigrants, although the original owner/builder of this structure has 

not been identified. The location on elevated ground at the southern entrance to Lockwood South, also 

gives the building some prominence. Historically, the building provides evidence of the midnineteenth 

century development of the Lockwood area, although the original construction date and 

use of the property have not been confirmed. 




concentrated in the single-storey granite building and its presentation to the Highway, albeit some 

elements of this presentation are not original or early including the verandah and balustrade, and the 

roof cladding. The outbuildings on the rear (north) of the allotment are generally not of heritage 

4


interest, although an exception to this might be an historic stables building (if it is extant) which was 

not visible or identified during the current survey. Further research into the history of the property, as 

well as a more detailed physical inspection of the house and site, would help to clarify the date of the 

property. The existence of historic stables might also shed light on the use of the property as a hotel 

or police troopers barracks, as has been suggested. 









Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 

Changed map from Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 2011. 

2 


2003, pp. 69-75. 

3 



4 


2003, p. 69. 

5 

Pers comm, Peter Costello, then property owner, and Ray Wallace, local historian, 2 March, 

1999. See, Citation for 630 Calder Alternative Highway, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater 

Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. 

6 

Citation for 630 Calder Alternative Highway, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo 


7 

See picture of 630 Calder Alternative Highway, on the citation prepared by Andrew Ward et al, 


5


Name St Patrick's Catholic Church, 

presbytery and stables 

Address 53 High Street (church); 31 

Cathcart Street (presbytery and 

stables), Marong. The church 

can also be accessed from 

Cathcart Street 

Building type Church; private residence with 

stables 

Date 1877 (church); 1905 (presbytery 

and stables) 


Marong Study 

M1 

Map reference VicRoads 626 C 10 

Survey date July 2010 (external 




Significance St Patrick’s Catholic Church, presbytery and stables are of local historical and 

aesthetic/architectural significance. The church is also of local social significance. 

Left: East elevation of St Patrick’s, with presbytery visible at rear. Right: St Patrick’s, north and 

west elevations. 

Left: East elevation of the presbytery. Right: East elevation of the stables, with the verandah of the 

presbytery at right. 

1


Top: Aerial view of St Patrick’s, 2010. (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 1 Bottom: Proposed 

Heritage Overlay map, with the church, presbytery and stables designated as M01. Note: the extent 

of the overlay is indicative only. 


History 

The Marong area was squatted from the mid-1840s 2 and used as a gold washing site and 

commissioner’s camp from 1852, when the water gave out at Bendigo. 3 The town is located at the 

intersection of Bullock Creek and the Alternative Calder Highway, approximately 9 km west of 

Bendigo. The Marong District Roads Board was formed in September 1861 at a meeting held in 

Kilgour’s Union Hotel at Lockwood. At that time, 36 dwellings were recorded at Marong, of which 20 

had more than two rooms, eight were of canvas, and seven of slabs or mud. The majority of 

residents were farmers. 4 In 1865, Marong was described as a ‘small hamlet’ with a population of 

‘about 50 persons’. 5 Marong County was renamed the Parish of Marong in 1861 and from this time, 

land was temporarily reserved from sale for National School purposes (1861), for a cemetery (1861), 

for Presbyterian and Wesleyan churches (1865), and for public recreation (1869). 6 The Marong 

District Roads Board became known as the Shire of Marong on 12 December 1864. 7 By 1865, the 

Shire of Marong had an estimated area of 148,000ha (365,000 acres) and an estimated population of 

5,500; the number of dwellings being approximately 1,100. 8 Some development at Marong occurred 

between the 1860s and 1880s, following the early gold rushes. From the 1860s, there was also 

lobbying for Marong to take over from Lockwood as the seat of local government. This finally occurred 

in September 1908 with the opening of the new shire hall. Marong has never been a particularly large 

township. The most significant development has occurred in the post-war years. 9 

The date and location of the first Mass at Marong is disputed. Some suggest it was in 1860 at ‘Dukes 

Flat’; others claim that the drawing room of a Mr Lyons, a short distance north of township, was the 

location in 1861. 10 What is known is that, in 1875, Reverend Dean Backhaus purchased four blocks of 

2


land between the present Cathcart and High streets in Marong, at nearly £80 per acre, to provide a 

place of worship for the nearly 70 Catholic families then living in the district, suggesting also the 

presence of Irish settlers in the area. Construction of the present St Patrick’s commenced the 

following year. 11 

The foundation stone was laid on 22 November 1876 by Bishop Martin Crane on a ‘gloriously fine’ 

spring afternoon in the presence of some 300 people. 

r 

he 

cCrae Street. 

12 The church was designed by Bendigo 

architect Joseph M Brady and built by Wilson and Alcock. Brady also designed Dunedin House in 

Kangaroo Flat, which was constructed in 1873 for barrister J A C Helm; and was in this 1870s period 

supervising the completion of the Crusoe waterworks near Kangaroo Flat. In partnership with the 

mining engineer Robert Moffat, Brady ran a successful practice in the Bendigo region, responsible fo 

designing the former ‘Bendigo Independent’ offices in Williamson Street, Bendigo and the former 

‘Golden Eagle’ flour mill, also in Williamson Street. Brady’s role in the design of St Patrick’s Church 

may also have come about through his reputed position as the Sandhurst Diocesan architect for t 

Catholic Church, designing the former Bishop's Palace in M 

Bishop Crane dedicated the church on Sunday 25 March 1877. A bottle inserted in the foundation 

stone contains copies of the newspapers of that day, ‘coins of the realm’ and a dedication written in 

Latin. St. Patrick's was one of a number of Catholic churches built in the Diocese of Sandhurst under 

the pastoral care of Bishop Crane, following his appointment in 1875. 13 The building, measuring 

12.2m (40ft) long and 7m (23ft) wide was built to accommodate 200 people. 14 The bricks were made 

at a kiln near Mopoke Hill, north of Marong by William and James Lawyer. The bricklayers were Mr 

Junck and his son who walked out from Bendigo each week and camped on the site. 15 The Bendigo 

Advertiser of 26 March 1877 described the church as a ‘pretty country edifice’. The altar was carved 

and constructed by ‘Mr Bell of Sandhurst’, and the church included ‘massive candlesticks of solid silver 

on the altar’. 16 

Repairs were carried out to the church in 1939-40, including works to the stained timber ceiling and 

the installation of a new floor. A ‘working bee’ saw the church exterior painted in 1950. Further 

works to the church interior, including a new altar facing the congregation and the construction of new 

confessional box, were carried out in the late 1960s. A freestanding toilet block, located to the west 

of the church, was constructed in 1975. 17 

Following the First Diocesan Synod of 17 December 1901, the Marong Parish was formed, including 

Marong, Raywood and Nerring. Reverend Father J O’Carroll was appointed the first Parish Priest. 

Initially, he lived at ‘The Hut,’ a weatherboard house on the Alternative Calder Highway, between 

Bullock Creek and the railway crossing. In 1905 the present presbytery, including it is assumed the 

stables, was built on the west side of Cathcart Street, directly opposite the church. The foundation 

stone was laid and blessed by the Most Reverend T Reville, Bishop of Sandhurst on 15 October 1905. 

O'Carroll died in the Lewisham Hospital, Sydney on 18 July 1918 and is buried at Marong. 18 The 

presbytery and stables have been sold by the church and are in private ownership. 





St Patrick’s Catholic Church 

St Patrick’s Catholic Church (1877) is located on a deep, broad site running east-west between 

Cathcart Street and the High Street in the centre of Marong. It is a small Gothic Revival stuccoed 

church with a porch to the east and a sanctuary and vestry to the west. The gabled roof is timberframed 

and clad in corrugated galvanised steel, with a cross at the top of each gable end, and another 

over the porch. Windows and doorways are lancet arched and there are oculus windows and motifs in 

the gable ends. The west wall of the nave has a blind Romanesque arch to the sanctuary. The nave 

has five bays, each expressed by two-step side buttresses, and five gablet roof vents on each side. 

The nave corners each have angled buttresses intersecting just below the gable kneelers. A corbelled 

effect is gained from stubby cyma recta moulds jutting out between the upper buttress insets and the 

3


kneeler elevations. The kneeler profiles are vermiculated. Apex blocks support the crucifix finials on 

the two larger gables. The gable parapets are each pitched with a rounded ridge, curving back toward 

the horizontal at their bases. The nave, porch and vestry windows are all original timber-framed 

double-hung sashes with two clear panes per facet, and all of similar size. The church appears to be 

in good condition. The substantial church grounds are not formally landscaped. There are a number 

of trees to the north, and a rough track (‘desire line’) running east-west across the site. The toilet 

block (1975) is located to the west of the site. Fencing is modern metal posts with cyclone wire. 

Presbytery 

The presbytery (1905), set back from Cathcart Street behind generous garden, is a Federation design 

with a symmetrical gable-hip roof with boxed eaves, bracketed on each side by gabled wings, which 

also frame the verandah. Its roof is timber framed and clad in corrugated galvanised steel. The 

chimneys have substantial bases, though these are treated as necks, comparatively close in to the 

stacks, rather than the massive block-bases seen at Kangaroo Flat and elsewhere. The upper stacks 

have simple stuccoed cornices. The verandah has a bull-nosed roof clad in corrugated galvanised 

steel and a timber frame set on turned timber posts. The timber frieze rail supports a cast iron lace 

infill and there are cast iron lace fans flanking the intersection of each post with the frieze. The walls 

are white tuckpointed red brick with cement-rendered courses running around at window sill height. 

The verandah is terminated by a lattice screen, which appears to be a recent addition. There are 

symmetrical window bays and half timbering to the gable ends. A trailing wing projects from the 

south-east of the house, terminated by a chimney similar to those in the main house. This wing 

comprises a single-ridge pitched roof clad in corrugated galvanised steel, a more recent flat-roofed 

portion with porthole windows inset at clerestory level, a lean-to verandah and a brick walled addition 

running at right angles across the rear of the main house. The majority of the windows sit at the 

rendered course line and are double-hung timber sashes with clear panes. The presbytery appears to 

be in sound condition. The garden includes mature palm trees and vestiges early garden layout. 

Stables 

The timber framed stables (presumed to date to 1905) at the rear of the site comprise a central three 

stall stables with loft, a carriage room to the south and two roomed quarters, kitchen, laundry and 

shower alcove to the north. Inside, the mangers, stalls and brick pavement remain. The loading 

doorway to the loft retains its surmounting beam and gables with decorative brackets. The walls are 

clad in weatherboard, and the roof is clad in corrugated galvanised steel. The stables are in poor 

condition, with at least 25 weatherboard planks missing from the walls, exposing the timber frame 

exposed in these areas. A window is missing on the south-west side and two others appear in poor 

repair. The galvanised steel roof has some rusted areas and the weatherboard walling has not been 

painted for a long period. 


St Patrick’s 

The 1870s masonry church has broad parallels throughout rural Victoria, including the goldfields, 

being a small yet robust church building in a simple open and informal setting. It is also substantially 

intact. Details of interest include the asymmetrically placed sanctuary and vestry of the church; the 

latter is an unusual feature through being set to one side of what appears to have been intended as an 

imposing, symmetrical chancel arch. The spur cyma recta moulds between the buttresses and the 

gable kneelers occur very rarely in Victoria, if at all. The moulds are in a similar position to those of 

Christ Church, St Arnaud (1864, 1877), with side profiles of a continual moulding along the sides; 

Henderson and Smart’s small Church of St Andrew’s at Rye (1882) also has a half ogee spur below 

each kneeler. 19 

Presbytery 

Though fairly conservative by 1905, this is still an imposing Federation house design, with a 

handsome verandah that illustrates the persistence of the use of cast iron lace among some 

Federation domestic genres. It compares in this detailing with housing in the Tara Estate, Camberwell 

(c. 1905), especially in Broadway. The tuck-pointing, porthole, cement rendered courses and turned 

verandah posts were standard components of Federation domestic architecture in Victoria. 

4


Stables 

The timber stables appear virtually unaltered in design from their original form of c. 1905, which is 

unusual in any context. The survival of stables in association with a church and presbytery, including 

a stables of this size is also a rare surviving combination, albeit no longer in the same ownership as 

the church. 




St Patrick’s Catholic Church, built in 1877, is of historical significance. The large site, between 

Cathcart and High streets, has been the centre of Catholicism at Marong since 1877. The Catholic 

faith was well represented in the Marong area by the 1870s and is presumed to reflect the presence of 

Irish settlers in the district. The Catholic Church is also an expression of the development of Marong 

from the 1860s to the 1880s. The presbytery (built in 1905) is significant for its association with both 

the church and the formation of the Marong Parish following the First Diocesan Synod of December 

1901. It also provides evidence of the living conditions of the parish priest and, through its 

substantial size, fine detailing and execution, reflects on the apparent affluence of the parish in this 

period. Reverend Father J O’Carroll, the first parish priest to take up residence, was well liked and 

long serving; he is buried at Marong. The stables also contribute to the former ecclesiastical complex, 

and through their scale and the facilities provided (for a stable hand) again reflect on the relative 

affluence of the church. The stables (c. 1905) are additionally comparatively late and remarkably 

intact example of a timber stables complex. Collectively, the church, presbytery and stables 

demonstrate the evolution of Catholic parish facilities in Marong from the 1870s to the early twentieth 

century. 



The c.1905 timber stables are significant for being a rare example of a virtually unaltered stables 

building. The survival of the stables in association with a church and presbytery, including a stables of 

this size, is additionally a rare surviving combination. The spur cyma recta moulds between the 

buttresses of the church, and the gable kneelers, also occur very rarely in Victoria, if at all. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

St Patrick’s Catholic Church is of aesthetic/architectural significance as an example of a small Gothic 

Revival stuccoed church of the 1870s. It is largely intact as designed, having never been extended or 

substantially modified. Details of interest include the asymmetrically placed sanctuary and vestry of 

the church; the spur cyma recta moulds between the buttresses; and the gable kneelers which occur 

very rarely in Victoria, if at all. The church is prominent in its context by virtue of its location in a 

large and informal open landscape, with unimpeded views from Cathcart and High streets. The 

presbytery is also of aesthetic/architectural significance as an imposing Federation period dwelling 

with a handsome verandah, albeit relatively conservative in design. Modifications to the building have 

generally been concentrated to the rear, allowing the property to present as originally designed in its 

garden setback, which retains vestiges of its early layout. The stables building is additionally 

5


significant as a remarkably intact example of a timber stables, and a rare surviving example of its 

type. 



N/A 




St Patrick’s Catholic Church is of social significance as the focus of Catholic worship and the parish 

community of Marong, since 1877. The Catholic faith was well represented in the Marong area in the 

nineteenth century, and the church is valued locally as an expression of the importance of the faith in 

the development of Marong and its ongoing presence in the community. 



St Patrick’s Catholic Church is associated with Bendigo architect Joseph M Brady who, in partnership 

with the mining engineer Robert Moffat, ran a successful practice in the Bendigo region. The architect 

was involved in a number of local developments including Dunedin House in Kangaroo Flat; the Crusoe 

waterworks near Kangaroo Flat; the ‘Bendigo Independent’ offices in Bendigo; and the former ‘Golden 

Eagle’ flour mill in Bendigo. Brady’s involvement in St Patrick’s Church may have come about through 

his reputed position as the Sandhurst Diocesan architect for the Catholic Church, where he was also 

involved in designing the former Bishop's Palace in McCrae Street. 



St Patrick’s Catholic Church (1877) is located on a deep, broad site running east-west between 

Cathcart and High streets, Marong. It is a small Gothic Revival stuccoed church with a gabled roof, 

porch to the east end and a sanctuary and vestry to the west end. There is a cross at the top of each 

gable end, and another over the porch; windows and doorways are lancet arched and the gable ends 

have oculus windows and motifs. The nave has five bays, expressed externally by two-step side 

buttresses, and gablet roof vents. The nave corners each have angled buttresses intersecting just 

below the gable kneelers. A corbelled effect is gained from stubby cyma recta moulds jutting out 

between the upper buttress insets and the kneeler elevations. The nave, porch and vestry windows 

are all original timber-framed double-hung sashes of similar size. The substantial church grounds are 

not formally landscaped. 

The presbytery (1905), set back from Cathcart Street behind generous garden with mature palm trees 

and vestiges of an early garden layout, is a Federation design with a symmetrical gable-hip roof clad 

in corrugated galvanised steel, with boxed eaves, bracketed on each side by gabled wings, which also 

frame the return verandah. The latter is bull-nosed and timber-posted with a timber frieze rail 

supporting a cast iron lace infill and cast iron lace fans. The walls are white tuckpointed red brick with 

cement-rendered courses at window sill height. There are symmetrical window bays and half 

timbering to the gable ends. A trailing wing projects from the south-east of the house, terminated by 

a chimney similar to those in the main house. The majority of the windows sit at the rendered course 

line and are double-hung timber sashes with clear panes. 

The timber framed stables (presumed to date to 1905) at the rear of the site comprise a central three 

stall stables with loft, carriage room to the south and two roomed quarters, kitchen, laundry and 

shower alcove to the north. Inside, the mangers, stalls and brick pavement remain. The loading 

doorway to the loft retains its surmounting beam and gables with decorative brackets. The walls are 

clad in weatherboard, and the roof is clad in corrugated galvanised steel. 


6


St Patrick’s Catholic Church (1877), presbytery and stables (1905) are of local historical and 

aesthetic/architectural significance. The church is also of local social significance. 


St Patrick’s Catholic Church (1877) and the presbytery and stables (built 1905) are historically 

significant (Criterion A). The Catholic faith was well represented in the Marong area by the 1870s, 

and is presumed to reflect the presence of Irish settlers in the district. The Catholic Church is also an 

expression of the development of Marong from the 1860s to the 1880s. The presbytery (built in 

1905) is significant for its association with both the church and the formation of the Marong Parish 

following the First Diocesan Synod of December 1901. It provides evidence of the living conditions of 

the parish priest and, through its substantial size, fine detailing and execution, reflects on the 

apparent affluence of the parish in this period. Reverend Father J O’Carroll, the first parish priest to 

take up residence, was well liked and long serving; he is buried at Marong. The stables also 

contribute to the former ecclesiastical complex, and through their scale and the facilities provided (for 

a stable hand) again reflect on the relative affluence of the church. Collectively, the church, 

presbytery and stables demonstrate the evolution of Catholic parish facilities in Marong from the 

1870s to the early twentieth century. St Patrick’s Catholic Church is also of social significance as the 

focus of Catholic worship and the parish community of Marong, since 1877, and is valued locally as an 

expression of the importance of the faith and its ongoing presence in the community (Criterion G). 

The church is additionally associated with Bendigo architect Joseph M Brady who, in partnership with 

the mining engineer Robert Moffat, ran a successful practice in the Bendigo region (Criterion H). The 

architect was involved in a number of local developments including Dunedin House in Kangaroo Flat; 

the Crusoe waterworks near Kangaroo Flat; the ‘Bendigo Independent’ offices in Bendigo; and the 

former ‘Golden Eagle’ flour mill in Bendigo. Brady’s involvement in St Patrick’s Church may have 

come about through his reputed position as the Sandhurst Diocesan architect for the Catholic Church, 

where he was also involved in designing the former Bishop's Palace in McCrae Street. 

St Patrick’s Catholic Church is of local aesthetic/architectural significance as an example of a small 

Gothic Revival stuccoed church of the 1870s. It is largely intact as designed, having never been 

extended or substantially modified. Details of interest include the asymmetrically placed sanctuary 

and vestry of the church; the spur cyma recta moulds between the buttresses; and the gable 

kneelers. The church is prominent in its context by virtue of its location in a large and informal open 

landscape, with unimpeded views from Cathcart and High streets. The presbytery is also of 

aesthetic/architectural significance as an imposing Federation period dwelling with a handsome 

verandah, albeit relatively conservative in design. Modifications to the building have generally been 

concentrated to the rear, allowing the property to present as originally designed in its garden setback, 

which retains vestiges of its early layout. The c.1905 timber stables are also significant as a rare 

example of a virtually unaltered stables building (Criterion B). The survival of the stables in 

association with a church and presbytery, including a stables of this size, is additionally a rare 

surviving combination. For the church building, the spur cyma recta moulds between the buttresses 

and the gable kneelers also occur very rarely in Victoria, if at all. 


St Patrick’s Catholic Church, the presbytery and stables are recommended for inclusion in the 

Schedule to the Greater Bendigo Heritage Overlay, as per the map included above. The recommended 

Overlay includes the extent of the two titles, the church and the presbytery and stables. 

Consideration could be given to reducing the Overlay to the church in the southern area of the 

allotment, although a generous curtilage/setting should be retained around the heritage building, to 

maintain aspects of its current informal landscaping and presentation to the street. The toilet block is 

not significant and can be retained, modified or demolished as required. 

The face brick of the former presbytery should remain unpainted. The garden setting and deep 

setback is also a valued part of the presentation of the building to the street. 

7










Identified By 


References 



Specific: 

1 

Aerial changed from Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 2011. 

2 


2003, p. 123. 

3 

Andrew Ward, City of Greater Bendigo (Marong District) Heritage Study (Stage One Report), 

unpaginated. 

4 

Ruth Hopkins, Moving Forward, Looking Back, The History of the Marong Shire, Shire of 

Marong, 1985, p. 13. 

5 


6 

Victorian Government Gazette: 29 – 25/02/1861, 98 – 29/06/1861, 178 – 06/12/1861, 98 – 

04/08/1865, and 06/08/1869). 

7 


2003, p. 126. 

8 


9 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, p. 167, and 


10 

Anon, St Patrick's Marong, 1877-1977, Centenary Committee, 1977, p. 6. 

11 

Anon, St Patrick's Marong, 1877-1977, Centenary Committee, 1977, p. 6. 

12 

Bendigo Advertiser, 23 November 1876, reproduced in Anon, St Patrick's Marong, 1877-1977, 

Centenary Committee, 1977, p. 7 

13 

Anon, St Patrick's Marong, 1877-1977, Centenary Committee, 1977, foreword. 

14 

Bendigo Advertiser, 23 November 1876, reproduced in Anon, St Patrick's Marong, 1877-1977, 


15 

Bendigo Advertiser, 23 January 1877, reproduced in Anon, St Patrick's Marong, 1877-1977, 


16 

Bendigo Advertiser, 26 March 1877, reproduced in Anon, St Patrick's Marong, 1877 1977, 


17 

Anon, St Patrick's Marong, 1877-1977, Centenary Committee, 1977, pp. 27-28. 

18 

Anon, St Patrick's Marong, 1877-1977, Centenary Committee, 1977, pp. 16-17. 

19 

Miles Lewis (ed., contrib.), Victorian Churches, National Trust, Melbourne, 1991, pp. 120, item 

266 (Rye); 148, item 376 (St Arnaud). 

8


Name (Fmr) Holy Trinity Anglican 

Church 


Marong Study 

Address 35 High Street, Marong Map reference VicRoads 603 N9 


church) 


construction 

M2 





Significance The former Holy Trinity Anglican Church is of local historical, social and 


Left: East elevation of the former Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Marong. Right: North and west 

elevations. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). Right: Proposed Heritage Overlay map 

with the subject site designated as M02. Note, the extent of the overlay is indicative only. 1 


History 



intersection of Bullock Creek, the historic source of water, and the Alternative Calder Highway (which 

becomes ‘High Street’ at Marong), a main road through the district from the early years of settlement. 

The Marong District Roads Board was formed in September 1861 at a meeting held in Kilgour’s Union 

1


Hotel at Lockwood. At that time, 36 dwellings were recorded at Marong, of which 20 had more than 

two rooms, eight were of canvas and seven of slabs or mud. The majority of residents were farmers. 4 

In 1865, Marong was described as a ‘small hamlet’ with a population of ‘about 50 persons’. 5 Marong 

County was renamed the Parish of Marong in 1861 and from this time, land was temporarily reserved 

from sale for National School purposes (1861), for a cemetery (1861), for Presbyterian and Wesleyan 

churches (1865), and for public recreation (1869). 6 The Marong District Roads Board became known 

as the Shire of Marong on 12 December 1864. 7 By 1865, the Shire of Marong had an estimated area 

of 148,000ha (365,000 acres) and an estimated population of 5,500, the number of dwellings being 

approximately 1,100. 8 

By 1873, monthly Anglican (Church of England) services were held in the Presbyterian (Uniting) 

Church at Marong by the Reverend Joseph Carlisle, vicar of Eaglehawk. On 5 November 1873, a 

public meeting was called for the purpose of establishing a Church of England place of worship. Less 

than a week later, a Henry J Palmer had donated the present site, on the west side of High Street. 

The building was to cost £430 and 12 shillings plus the price of the bricks. The designer was the well 

known Bendigo architect William C Vahland and the builder Thomas Smallwood. As with the Catholic 

Church in Marong, Holy Trinity was made of bricks manufactured by J W Lawyer at Mopoke Hill. On 

10 April 1878, the foundation stone was laid by the Right Reverend James Moorhouse, Bishop of 

Melbourne. The length of the church was 11m (36ft) the width 7.6m (25ft), the chancel 3.3m (11ft) 

by 4m (13ft) and the porch 1.8m (6ft) feet by 2.4m (8ft). On 1 September 1878 Holy Trinity was 

opened for public worship, the service being conducted by Reverend Carlisle. The vestry was added in 

1897 by A Betts at a price of £46, the foundation stone being laid by the mayor of Bendigo Mr H M. 

Marks on 10 June 1897. 9 The church has been deconsecrated and adapted as private residence; the 

date of the deconsecration is not known. 





The former Holy Trinity Anglican Church (built 1878) at Marong is a small brick gabled Gothic Revival 

parish church set back from the west side of High Street in the centre of the township. In recent 

years the church has been adapted as a private residence. It has a three-bay nave with articulated 

sanctuary and vestry, the vestry being a later addition (1897). The west elevation has a porch with 

central entry door, small flanking buttresses and a sturdy cross finial. Above that is a curved 

triangular window with a cement-rendered hood mould. The roof is timber framed and clad in 

corrugated galvanised steel. Another cross finial is located at the top of the west gable. Red bricks 

are relieved by black string courses visually anchoring the nave windows at their arch springs and 

window sills. Tuck-pointed bright red brickwork outlines the arches. The nave, sanctuary and vestry 

windows are all simple lancets, with the sanctuary windows arranged in a group of three. Thick gable 

profile cement copings to the parapeted gable ends have cusped terminations. The buttresses are 

two-stepped with cement rendered off sets and are diagonal at all major external corners. The gable 

has prominent gable-topped kneelers with triangular trefoils sitting on corbels and piers turned 

diagonally into the corner buttresses below them. 

There have been no major external additions since the vestry of 1897 and that continued the original 

style of the church, even reproducing the rather High Victorian cranked linkage between its gable 

kneelers and the diagonal buttresses. Modifications to adapt the property to a residence include the 

introduction of corrugated sheet steel fences to the north, west and south boundaries (which are 

unsympathetic); discreet flues to the north and south of the nave, an air-conditioning unit adjacent to 

the entrance, and the removal of the post-mounted bell, cast by J W Horwood's Albion foundry at 

Castlemaine. 

The former Holy Trinity Anglican Church appears to be in generally sound condition, with evidence of 

some structural movement. 

2



The late 1870s brick church has broad parallels throughout rural Victoria, including the goldfields, 

being a small yet robust church building. It is also substantially intact and typically located in a simple 

open and informal setting, albeit on a comparatively small allotment. The treatment of the former 

church is plain and basic, being a brick version of the simple porch and oblong nave churches found in 

many small rural communities. Churches with prominent triangular west windows, as occurs here, 

appear in the High Victorian genre, the most spectacular being Albert Purchas’ St George’s 

Presbyterian in Chapel Street, East St Kilda (1877-80), or Sydney Smith’s west front to Christ Church 

Anglican, St Kilda (1874-81). 10 The Marong church window is a pure triangle; the Purchas and Smith 

churches use rose windows inside triangular moulds. The cranked linkage between the diagonal 

buttresses and the gable kneelers is unusual in Victoria, although a distinctly High Victorian detail 11 

and was evidently thought a sufficient signature to be maintained in the vestry extension. The motif 

had appeared in distant Victorian locations: on Charles Maplestone’s St John’s Anglican, Diamond 

Creek (1867-70) and R S Tuffs’ St Paul’s Lutheran at Grovedale near Bendigo (1870). 12 The red brick 

with white painted cement dressing seen here was popular in central Victoria across denominations 

and is seen in numbers of later churches, such as the Presbyterian and Catholic churches in St Arnaud 

by Wharton and Vickers (1876) and Keogh and Austin (1906-7) respectively: 13 Austin’s similar St 

Monica’s Church at Kangaroo Flat (1926), E P Eberach’s John Knox Presbyterian at Swan Hill (1912), 

and Clegg, Miller and Riley’s former Catholic Church at Horsham (1913). 14 It also spread to 

Melbourne suburban churches, especially after August Fritsch’s St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Malvern 

(1 

908). 15 


Amended 

Heritage Victoria Criteria 

Criterion 

A: Importance to the course, or pattern, of the City of Greater Bendigo’s cultural history. 

The former Holy Trinity Anglican Church (built 1878) at Marong is of historical significance. From 

1878 until the 1990s, the site, on the west side of High Street, was the centre of Anglican worship at 

Marong. Its construction in the 1870s reflects the development of Marong during the late nineteenth 

century and the denominational diversity of the goldfields towns and settlements. The former Holy 

Trinity Anglican Church is also significant 

for its association with the prominent and prolific Bendigo 

architect, 

William C Vahland. 

Criterion B: Possession 

of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the City the of Greater Bendigo’s 

cultural 

history. 

N/A 

Criterion C: Potential to yield information 

that will contribute to an understanding of the City of 

Greater 

Bendigo’s cultural history. 

N/A 


objects. 

N/A 

Criterion E: Importance 

in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics in the context of the 

municipality. 

The former Holy Trinity Anglican Church is of aesthetic/architectural significance as an example of 

a 

small Gothic Revival church of the 1870s, of red brick with white painted cement dressings, and 

displaying some High Victorian details. Although extended with a vestry in 1897, and adapted as a 

private residence, the church is largely intact externally. The former Holy Trinity church is also a 

restrained example of the work of renowned Bendigo architect, William Vahland. Details of note 

include the prominent triangular west window, the lancet arched windows and the cranked linkage 

3


between the diagonal buttresses and the gable kneelers. The use of red brick with white painted 

cement contrasts was popular in central Victoria across denominations, and is seen in numbers of later 

churches. The former Holy Trinity Anglican Church is also a prominent element of the streetscape by 

virtue of its location on High Street, albeit on a narrow allotment; and through the picturesque steeply 

gabled 

roof form. 

Criterion F: Importance 

in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a 

particular 

period. 

N/A 


cultural or spiritual reasons. This includes the significance 

of the place to Indigenous peoples as part 

of 

their continuing and developing cultural traditions. 

The church has some social significance as the local focus of Anglican worship at Marong, and the 

Anglican 

community, for over 100 years from 1878 until the 1990s. 

Criterion H: Special association with life 

or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in 

the 

City of Greater Bendigo’s history. 

The former Holy Trinity Anglican Church is significant for its association with noted Bendigo architect 

William C Vahland, albeit the building is regarded as a restrained example of his work. Vahland was 

locally prolific, with his commissions including notable residential 

buildings, as well as many important 

public, civic and commercial buildings 

in the municipality. 


What 

is significant? 

The former Holy Trinity Anglican Church at no 35 High Street, Marong, was constructed in 1878. The 

building, which in recent years has been adapted as a private residence, is a small brick gabled Gothic 

Revival church set back from the west side of High Street in the centre of the township. It has a 

three-bay nave with articulated sanctuary and vestry, the vestry being a later addition (1897). The 

west elevation has a porch with central entry door, small flanking buttresses, and a cross finial, and 

above on the gable end a curved triangular window with a cement-rendered hood mould and another 

cross finial at the top of the gable. The red brick walling is relieved by black string courses which 

anchor the nave windows at their arch springs and window sills. The nave, sanctuary and vestry 

windows are all simple lancets, with the sanctuary windows arranged in a group of three. The 

buttresses are two-stepped with cement rendered off sets and are diagonal at all major external 

corners. There have been no major external additions since the vestry of 1897 which continued the 

original 

style of the church. 

How 

is it significant? 

The former Holy Trinity Anglican Church 

at no 35 High Street, Marong, is of local historical, social and 

aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Why 

is it significant? 

The former Holy Trinity Anglican Church is historically significant (Criterion A) through being the 

centre of Anglican worship at Marong from 1878 until the 1990s. Its construction in the 1870s reflects 

the development of Marong during the late nineteenth century and the denominational diversity of the 

goldfields towns and settlements. The church is also significant for its association with the prominent 

and prolific Bendigo architect, William C Vahland, whose commissions included notable residential 

buildings, as well as many important public, civic and commercial buildings in the municipality 

(Criterion H). The church additionally has some social significance as the local focus of Anglican 

worship at Marong, 

and the Anglican community, for over 100 years from 1878 until the 1990s 

(Criterion 

G). 

4


Aesthetically and architecturally (Criterion E), the former church is an example of a small Gothic 

Revival church of the 1870s, of red brick with white painted cement dressings, and displaying some 

High Victorian details. Although extended with a vestry in 1897, and adapted as a private residence, 

the church is largely intact externally. The former Holy Trinity is also a restrained example of the 

work of Vahland. Details of note include the prominent triangular west window, the lancet arched 

windows and the cranked linkage between the diagonal buttresses and the gable kneelers. The use of 

red brick with white painted cement contrasts was popular in central Victoria across denominations 

and is seen in numbers of later churches. The former 

Holy Trinity Anglican Church is also a prominent 

element 

of the streetscape by virtue of its location on High Street, albeit on a narrow allotment and 

through the picturesque steeply 

gabled roof form. 


The Holy Trinity Anglican Church is recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater 

Bendigo 

Heritage 

Overlay. The recommended extent of the Overlay is identified in the above map, with the 

significance focused on the former church building and its simple setting to the street. 

The 

church has been sympathetically adapted to a private residence but still clearly presents as a mid 

Victorian church building. The face brick should remain unpainted. 









Identified By 

Andrew 

Ward, 1998. 

Reference 



Specific: 

1 

Changed map from 

Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. 

2 


2003, p. 123. 

3 


unpaginated. 

4 

Ruth Hopkins, Moving Forward, Looking Back, The History of the Marong 

Shire, Shire of 

Marong, 1985, p. 13. 

5 

F F Bailliere, in the Victorian Gazetteer 

and Road Guide, 1865, p. 238. 

6 


04/08/1865, and 06/08/1869). 

7 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castleton 

Publishers, 

2003, p. 126. 

8 

F F Bailliere, in the Victorian Gazetteer and Road Guide, 1865, 

p. 238. 

5


9 

Reverend P D Kissick, Brick Making for God: Built in Truth, Holy Trinity Centenary 1878-1978, 

Holy Trinity Centenary Committee 1978, pp. 6, 8, 9, 14-23. 

10 

See Miles Lewis (ed., contrib.), Victorian Churches, National Trust, Melbourne, 1991, pp. 83, 

item 133 (Christ Church), and 84 item 137 (St George’s). 

11 

Gothic revivalism of the High Victorian period (c. 1848-1880) was renowned for vigorous 

detail, evoking muscularity, bone structures and bodily stress. This is outlined by George 

Hersey in his High Victorian Gothic: a Study in Associationism, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, 

1972. It was more inventive and less tied to reproducing specific medieval detail than early 

Victorian Gothic Revival (1835-1850) had been, and was a particular mark of William 

Butterfield, (massive and angular ‘Rhenish’ towers) John Horbury Hunt, Crouch and Wilson 

and Edward Gell among others in Australia (crutch buttresses, crow-steps, cranked brick 

faceting, dog-tooth brick mouldings); and George Edmund Street, Samuel Tuelon, E B Lamb 

and R C Carpenter (spectacular and massive yet spiky finials and turrets, bold bichrome and 

polychrome walling). High Victorian’s other main signature was an insistent use of colour in 

patterns, usually striping and coloured course lines, as here, or criss-cross patterning known 

as diaper-work. Climatic recognition was considered a must in High Victorian circles, as in the 

adoption of ‘speluncar’ or cave-like character for churches in hot climates, often through use 


plate tracery or narrow lancet windows. John Ruskin was its major critical arbiter, and its 

principal journal was the British Ecclesiologist. Its exponents were later known as ‘rogue 

architects’. It had a major influence in Victoria, 

both in the polychrome and bichromatic 

brickwork of the Bendigo and Ballarat regions, and the brick polychrome made popular by 

Joseph Reed in Melbourne after c. 1865. 

12 

Lewis, pp. 116, item 251 (Diamond Creek); 147, item 373 (Grovedale). 

13 

Lewis, p. 148, items 375 

(Presbyterian) and 377 (Roman Catholic) 

14 

Lewis, p.p. 127, item 291 (Horsham); 149, item 380 (Swan Hill). 

15 Lewis, p. 76, item 109. 

6


Name Former Shire of Marong Hall Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 31 Adams Street (Calder Highway), 

at corner with High Street, Marong 

Building type Multi-purpose hall (former 

municipal hall) 


construction 

M3 

Map reference VicRoads 626 B/C 10 



1908 Recommendation Include in the 



Significance The former Marong Shire Hall is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: Shire of Marong Hall c. 1908 (Source: Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic 

Buildings, National Trust of Australia. p. 167). North elevation, 2010, note soldier’s memorial. 

Left: West elevation, note mature palms. Right: The modified rear (south) elevation. 


with the subject site shown as M03. 


1


History 



intersection of Bullock Creek, and the Alternative Calder Highway (‘High Street’ at Marong), a main 

road through the district from the early years of settlement. The Marong District Roads Board was 

formed in September 1861 at a meeting held in Kilgour’s Union Hotel at Lockwood. In 1861, 36 

dwellings were recorded at Marong, of which 20 had more than two rooms, eight were of canvas and 

seven of slabs or mud. The majority of residents were farmers. 3 In 1865, Marong was described as a 

‘small hamlet’ with a population of ‘about 50 persons’. 4 Marong County was renamed the Parish of 

Marong in 1861 and from this time, land was temporarily reserved from sale for National School 

purposes (1861), for a cemetery (1861), for Presbyterian and Wesleyan churches (1865) and for 

public recreation (1869). 5 The Marong District Roads Board became known as the Shire of Marong on 

12 December 1864, 6 and by 1865 the Shire of Marong had an estimated area of 148,000ha (365,000 

acres), and an estimated population of 5,500, the number of dwellings being approximately 1,100. 7 

Some development at Marong occurred between the 1860s and 1880s, following the early gold 

rushes. From the 1860s, there was also lobbying for Marong to take over from Lockwood as the seat 

of local government. This finally occurred on 11 September 1908, with the official opening of the 

Marong Shire Hall (the subject building). The early meetings of the Shire of Marong were held at 

Lockwood where municipal offices were built at the crossroads opposite the old Queen's Head Hotel. 

That municipal building has long been demolished. 

The design of the Shire Hall was given to the office of the noted Bendigo architect, William C Vahland, 

who was by then in his 80s. At that time Vahland was in partnership with John Beebe 8 . Given 

Vahland’s age, it has been suggested that Beebe acted as the principal architect in the design of the 

Marong Shire Hall. 9 The firm was descended from Bendigo’s best known architectural practice, begun 

as the office of William Charles Vahland in 1857; Vahland with Robert Getzschmann, 1858-1875; 

William and Henry Vahland, 1892-1904; William and Henry Vahland with John Beebe, 1901-4; and 

then William Vahland and John Beebe to c. 1913. 



7.1: Developing institutions of self-government and democracy 

7.2: Struggling for political rights 


Marong’s former shire hall, at the south-east corner of Adams Street (Calder Highway) and High 

Street (Alternative Calder Highway), is a single-storey building with a taller hall/chamber at its centre 

and an entrance loggia. The building combines Classical and Baroque motifs. It is built of red tuckpointed 

brickwork, with relief afforded by a stuccoed cornice, loggia spandrels and pediment vents, 

painted a light/neural colour. 

The symmetrical front (north) elevation, facing Adams Street, is distinguished by a three-arched 

loggia with moulded imposts and flanking wings. A recessed pediment, over the loggia, features the 

shire coat of arms in a foliated surround to its tympanum. The pediment has four matching pierpilasters, 

two being wider at each corner, and concludes with a string course, lower plain cornice and 

a broad pediment. The loggia windows are arched double-hung sashes with coffered apron-sills; the 

central door is windowed and two-leaved with a lunette fanlight. The paired windows on the flanking 

wings are double-hung sashes with cambered headers. The loggia spandrel is inscribed MARONG SHIRE 

HALL in sans-serif letters. The front cornice is of the characteristic plain-topped Bendigo type, with a 

moulding placed mid-way up its stuccoed surface. This forms a Doric-influenced capital for the 

pilastrated pier separating each wing from the central loggia. 

The hall roof is hipped with slate tile cladding and ridge capping in galvanised steel and has small 

slatted dormer vents with half-oval pediment and keystones combined. The roof fascias are courses 

of header bricks supported on a lower row of stretchers, tuck-pointed like the walling. The chimney 

cornices behind this are matching in their mould detailing. As in the front parapet the surface is 

stuccoed, marking it out from the exposed face brick walling below. 

2


The rear wall of the main hall/chamber appears to have been intended as the link to an additional 

structure, as evidenced by the segmental arch in its central bay. It is capped by a brick dentilled 

cornice and flanking piers and blind arches with stuccoed corner pilasters running up to their impost 

lines. The rear also has a set of more recent additions. The segmental arched bay has been infilled 

with a rendered surface with three rectangular windows and a connecting wing to newer buildings. 

While this annexe continues the red face brick of the original building, it has a flat roof, timber fascia 

and asymmetrically placed aluminium-framed windows, variously fixed or double-hung. This more 

recent fabric has an additional block to one side and a conspicuous air-conditioning duct running 

across its central area. 

The former Marong Shire Hall is set back from Adams Street behind a landscaped garden, bisected by 

a concrete pathway. The entrance is via a granite Marong and District Soldiers Memorial gateway, 

installed after World War I. There are three mature palm trees to the west lawn. 

The former Marong Shire Hall appears to be in sound condition. 


Marong’s is one of several small brick shire halls in the Bendigo region, the others including John 

O’Dwyer’s design for Huntly (1867), George Steane’s design for Strathfieldsaye (1869), 10 and H E 

Tolhurst’s for Raywood (1878). O’Dwyer and Steane were shire engineers, while Tolhurst was 

prominent in Eaglehawk. Marong’s shire hall was designed by W C Vahland and John Beebe, 

successor practice to the long-established Bendigo office of Vahland and Getzschmann. The red tuckpointed 

brickwork, window to wall proportions and the elegant hipped roof link it to other, earlier 

public buildings in Central Victoria, especially to smaller post offices and court houses of the late 

1850s and 1860s. These generally had arched windows, but the material usage and elegant 

proportions were similar. Court house examples include Creswick (1859), F E Kawerau’s at Maldon 

(1861), J J Clark’s at Newstead (1865), Talbot (1866), A T Snow’s at Inglewood (1868), John 

Williams’ at Eaglehawk (1869), Woodend (1871) and Huntly (1874). 11 At a larger scale, there are 

resemblances to William Wardell’s second Bendigo Post Office in View Street (1867). 12 Broadly, these 

were Italianate designs with symmetrical street entrances, with subtly prominent eave lines. Most 

were in an exposed red brick similar to the shire or borough halls at Raywood, Marong and 

Strathfieldsaye. The court house plans obviously differed, with high windows for the court wings and 

a flanking lower wing or pavilions for the ancillary rooms. The three shire halls in the Bendigo region 

opted for tripartite facades: either three façade bays, as at Raywood, or three-arched entries as at 

Huntly, Strathfieldsaye and Marong. 

The design and composition of Marong Shire Hall also reflects its comparatively late date. The main 

part was completed in 1908, by which time the broadly classical tradition among Australian architects 

was being infused with ‘English Renaissance’ or English Baroque revivalism, especially of the style of 

Christopher Wren, Thomas Archer, John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor – in retrospect the 

Baroque revival is also called Edwardian Baroque, appropriate enough at the Marong Shire Hall as the 

building was commenced during Edward VII’s reign. 13 The echoes of this revived form, recently relaunched 

by Herbert Gribble (Brompton Oratory) and then John Brydon (Chelsea Vestry) in the period 

1878-87, are quite restrained in this example, being seen either in the little roof vents or the hall 

pediment, which has a typically English Baroque relief comprising a roundel flanked by foliage. In 

other related designs this roundel housed a clock, as did Fawcett and Ashworth’s Flinders Street 

Station, Melbourne, commenced in 1901 and still under construction when this Shire hall was being 

built. 

Although the design of Marong Shire Hall was cautious overall, any incursion into contemporary 

Baroque revivalism was still rare in Victoria outside Melbourne and Bendigo. Besides many houses, 

Vahland, Getzschmann and their partners had designed the bulk of Bendigo’s Town Hall, the 

Mechanics’ Institute and School of Mines, a series of large hotels, public halls, and the Edinburgh 

Tannery. 



3



The former Marong Shire Hall, located at the south-east corner of Adams Street (Calder Highway) and 

High Street (Alternative Calder Highway), is of historical significance. It was completed in 1908 after 

approximately 40 years of agitation on the part of the town elders for a municipal hall at Marong. It 

demonstrates the pre-eminence of Marong as a centre for local government in the Shire from 1908 

until the 1990s, supplanting Lockwood in this role. The involvement of noted Bendigo architects 

Vahland and Beebe in the design of the building is also significant. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The former Marong Shire Hall is of aesthetic/architectural significance. The building is largely 

externally intact to its main presentation and is a well resolved and prominently located shire hall 

which combines Classical and Baroque motifs. Designed by the noted Bendigo architects Vahland and 

Beebe, the former Shire Hall is relatively unusual as a building in this period which demonstrates 

Baroque Revival influence, outside the major centres of Melbourne and Bendigo. Elements of note 

include the finely executed red tuck-pointed brickwork, the pedimented central entrance loggia, and 

the contrasting use of stucco to cornices, loggia spandrels and pediment vents. The significance of 

the building is enhanced by its prominent corner location and generous landscaped setting, which 

includes vestiges of an early garden layout, the granite soldier’s memorial to Adams Street and 

mature palm trees to High Street. The building is also of interest as a comparatively late example of a 

small brick shire hall in the Bendigo region, with others mainly built in the 1860s and 1870s. 



N/A 




The former Marong Shire Hall is of some social significance as the building which was at the centre of 

local government in the former Shire from 1908 until the 1990s, and the seat of civic activity and local 

government for many decades. 



The building is significant for its association with noted Bendigo architects William Vahland and John 

Beebe. Vahland was locally prolific for many years, before teaming up with Beebe, having begun his 

4


architectural practice as the office of William Charles Vahland in 1857, and forming partnerships with 

other architects through to Beebe in the very early twentieth century. 



The former Marong Shire Hall, located at the south-east corner of Adams Street (Calder Highway) and 

High Street (Alternative Calder Highway) was constructed in 1908. It is a single-storey building with a 

taller hall/chamber at its centre and an entrance loggia, and is built of red tuck-pointed brickwork, 

with relief afforded by a stuccoed cornice, loggia spandrels and pediment vents, painted a light/neural 

colour. The building combines Classical and Baroque motifs. The symmetrical front (north) elevation 

is distinguished by a three-arched loggia with moulded imposts and flanking wings. A recessed 

pediment, over the loggia, features the shire coat of arms in a foliated surround to its tympanum. The 

loggia windows are arched double-hung sashes with coffered apron-sills; the central door is windowed 

and two-leaved with a lunette fanlight. The paired windows on the flanking wings are double-hung 

sashes with cambered headers. The loggia spandrel is inscribed MARONG SHIRE HALL. The hall roof is 

hipped with slate tile cladding and has small slatted dormer vents. The rear wall of the main 

hall/chamber appears to have been intended as the link to an additional structure, as evidenced by 

the segmental arch in its central bay. The rear also has a set of more recent additions, with a 

connecting wing to the newer buildings. The former Marong Shire Hall is set back from Adams Street 

behind a landscaped garden, bisected by a concrete pathway. The entrance is via a granite Marong 

and District Soldiers Memorial gateway, installed after World War I. There are three mature palm 

trees to the west lawn. 


The former Marong Shire Hall is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The former Marong Shire Hall is historically significant (Criterion A) for its capacity to demonstrate 

Marong’s central role in the administration of the former Shire of Marong from 1908 to the 1990s, 

after supplanting Lockwood in this role. When completed in 1908 it followed approximately 40 years 

of agitation on the part of the town elders for a municipal hall at Marong. The involvement of noted 

Bendigo architects William Vahland and John Beebe in the design of the building is significant 

(Criterion H). Vahland was locally prolific for many years, before teaming up with Beebe, having 

begun his architectural practice as the office of William Charles Vahland in 1857, and forming 

partnerships with other architects through to Beebe in the very early twentieth century. The former 

Marong Shire Hall is also of some social significance as the building which was at the centre of local 

government in the former Shire from 1908 until the 1990s, and the seat of civic activity and local 

government for many decades (Criterion H). 

The former Marong Shire Hall is of local aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E). The building 

is largely externally intact to its main presentation and is a well resolved and prominently located shire 

hall which combines Classical and Baroque motifs. It is also relatively unusual as a building in this 

period which demonstrates Baroque Revival influence, outside the major centres of Melbourne and 

Bendigo. Elements of note include the finely executed red tuck-pointed brickwork, the pedimented 

central entrance loggia, and the contrasting use of stucco to cornices, loggia spandrels and pediment 

vents. The significance of the building is enhanced by its prominent corner location and generous 

landscaped setting, which includes vestiges of an early garden layout, the granite soldier’s memorial 

to Adams Street and mature palm trees to High Street. The building is additionally of interest as a 

comparatively late example of a small brick shire hall in the Bendigo region, with others mainly built in 

the 1860s and 1870s. 



The recommended extent of the Overlay is illustrated in the above map, with the focus of significance 

on the historic building and the landscaped areas to the north and west. The brickwork should not be 

5


overpainted and the light coloured paint treatment to the stucco maintained. The setting of the 

building at a prominent corner site, including mature plantings (palm trees) and the soldier’s 

memorial, is also significant. The rear additions are not significant; the modified rear of the building 

also offers some potential for new works. 









Identified By 


References 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust of Australia (Victoria) 1987. 

David Horsfall (ed), Shire of Marong 1864-1964, Shire of Marong. 


Specific: 

1 


2003, p. 123. 

2 


unpaginated. 

3 


Marong, 1985, p. 13. 

4 


5 


04/08/1865, and 06/08/1869). 

6 


2003, p. 126. 

7 


8 

Brother of William Beebe junior, more widely known, and son of William Beebe senior (died 

1891). For the Vahland- Beebe partnership see Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo 

Historic Buildings, National Trust, Bendigo, 1987, pp. 35, 157-8, 167 (Marong Shire Hall). 

9 


(Victoria) 1987, p. 167. 

10 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust of Australia (Victoria) 

1987, p. 160-161 (Huntly), 163(Strathfieldsaye). 

11 

Michael Challinger, Historic Court Houses of Victoria, Pallisade, Melbourne, 2001, pp. 71 

(Creswick), 74 (Huntly), 79 (Eaglehawk), 102 (Inglewood), 121 (Maldon), 143 (Newstead), 

182 (Talbot), 198 (Woodend). 

12 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust of Australia (Victoria) 

1987, pp. 22-3. The third Post office was George Watson’s Pall Mall design, of 1883-7 (p. 37). 

13 

For the contemporary revival of English Baroque architecture, see Alastair Service ed., 

contrib.), Edwardian Architecture and its Origins, Architectural Press, London, 1974, and his 

Edwardian Architecture, Thames and Hudson, London, 1977. 

6


Name Marong School No. 400 Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 10 Adams Street (Calder 

Highway at Marong) 

M4 

Map reference VicRoads 626 C10 

Building type School Survey date July 2010 (external 



construction 

c. 1874 (bichrome brick 

building.) 

Recommendation Include in the Schedule to 


Significance The bichrome brick school building at Marong School no.400 is of local historical, 

social and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Left: Front (north) elevation. Right: West and front elevations, with landscaped garden at right. 

Left: East elevation. Right: Later classroom additions, including the 1930s building. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010, with the brick school building highlighted (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 

Right: Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site designated M4. 


1


History 



intersection of Bullock Creek and the Alternative Calder Highway, approximately 9km west of Bendigo. 

The Marong District Roads Board was formed in September 1861 at a meeting held in Kilgour’s Union 

Hotel at Lockwood. At that time, 36 dwellings were recorded at Marong, of which 20 had more than 

two rooms, eight were of canvas and seven of slabs or mud. The majority of residents were farmers. 3 

In 1865, Marong was described as a ‘small hamlet’ with a population of ‘about 50 persons’. 4 Marong 

County was renamed the Parish of Marong in 1861 and from this time, land was temporarily reserved 

from sale for National School purposes (1861), for a cemetery (1861), for Presbyterian and Wesleyan 

churches (1865), and for public recreation (1869). 5 The Marong District Roads Board became known 

as the Shire of Marong on 12 December 1864. 6 By 1865, the Shire of Marong had an estimated area 

of 148,000ha (365,000 acres), and an estimated population of 5,500. 7 Some development at Marong 

occurred between the 1860s and 1880s, following the early gold rushes. Marong has never been a 

particularly large township. The most significant development has occurred in the post-war years. 8 

A school was opened at Marong in August 1859, on a half-acre site on a bend in Bullock Creek on the 

Marong township reserve. It is assumed that this is the eastern section of the present site. Local 

residents raised money for the building. The brick building with a shingled roof was constructed (since 

demolished), by James Wait in July 1859, and opened in the following month by E P Date. By 1863 

the average attendance was 46. In 1874 extensions were completed and a teacher's residence added 

on additional land. It is believed that the current bichrome brick building at the school dates to this 

phase of works. A new residence, and an additional room for the school was built in 1887. The town 

water supply was connected in 1889. Sanitary arrangements at the school were condemned in 1909 

as an outbreak of typhoid fever was attributed to their poor condition. Extensive repairs were carried 

out in 1912. In 1936 the original 1859 brick school building, which was in poor condition, was 

replaced with a new two room weatherboard building, the latter being occupied by the beginning of 

1938. 9 






Brick building 

The red brick building at the south-east of the site is a small single-room school building with gable 

ends and a gabled porch, steeply pitched roof form, prominent plain barge-boards with exposed 

purlins and timber finial. The brick has bichrome colouration in red and cream, with the creams used 

in a single all-round wall-strip two courses deep and again to delineate quoins at each corner. This 

quoin expression is in three-tiered tapering courses throughout. The gable has a second two-course 

stripe and two more pairs of cream-brick three-step ‘quoins’ each side of the gable vent. The westfacing 

window has a bi-chrome segmental arch with two more of these stepped ‘quoins’ flanking it, 

and the porch window is narrow with a cambered soffit and a simple basalt block sill. There is another 

brick bay to the east, with a large double hung sash window with nine panes per sash. This wing has 

a weatherboard extension with a half-hip roof projecting c. 1.5 metres, with two more double hung 

sashes facing the playground (east). The large window by the porch in the south elevation has been 

enlarged. This may have been changed later in the nineteenth century or as part of the 

improvements specified in 1912. Its frame, head and sill detailing appears more typical of this period. 

The building appears to be in sound condition. 

Additional buildings 

Behind the brick building is a hipped roofed weatherboard building with two classrooms with two 

triple-finned chimneys in red face brick and a round porch awning. This is the 1936-8 addition 

introduced under Percy Everett’s aegis at Government Architect. This building has a group of four 

double hung sash windows to the south elevation but placed asymmetrically, each with six panes per 

sash. To the north-west of the 1930s block are three timber-framed portables with top-hung windows 

2


and low-pitched roofing clad in crimped metal. The wall and apron boarding is vertical apart from the 

centre unit’s end wall, which is horizontally laid weatherboard. The undercrofts have between two and 

four courses of timber plank screens. These may have been added for the school’s centenary in 1959, 

or soon after. Another timber building sits north of the 1930s block, linked to it by a columned 

cloister with metal-deck roofing. There is a modern timber-framed shelter to the south of the school 

ground, close to the brick building. 


Compositionally the bichrome brick school building is close to two plan VIII Common schools, dating 

from the late-1860s – Evansford (1867) and Muckleford South (1873) – in placing an entry porch offcentre 

under the gable and having a large window to one side of the porch. 10 For this reason it is 

estimated to date to the extension works carried out at the school property in 1874. In addition, the 

bichrome and proportioning is typical of 1860s court houses and other government buildings. 

Bichrome and polychrome schools, in architrave striation, emerged with Essendon Primary in 1862 , 

predating Joseph Reed’s much better-known foray into polychrome church and house design in 1865- 

7. The bulk of 1850s elementary school designs were, however, either Gothic or classical-temple in 

composition and were either rendered or in plain stone or timber. They also avoided the brick 

asymmetrical cottage-Italianate form seen here. 

11 

Direct formal parallels are closer with contemporary court houses such as Creswick 1859, Maldon 

1861, Daylesford and Bright 1862, Learmonth and Jamieson 1864, Benalla 1865, Ararat 1867, 

Inglewood 1868; this genre persisted through into the 1880s. 12 The school also has an affinity in 

design and detail with some railway stations such as Kangaroo Flat (1862), though these are in either 

in monochrome brick or stone. Similarly, M Schneider, W H Ellerker, Wharton and Vickers and Henry 

Bastow’s polychrome government schools after 1873 are much later, and all their patterned brick 

designs primarily adopt a free Gothic approach rather than the segmental arched form seen here. 13 

Marong is also quite dissimilar in composition and detail from the next polychrome school essay, 

Henry Bastow’s Camp Hill School of 1878, which is another freely Gothic design. Post-1873 schools 

use two-course wall striping, as here, but the stepped or tapering cream brick quoining in threecourse 

groups as seen at Marong is absent from these other State School designs. Nor does Marong 

use either the bichrome Gothic or diaper brickwork seen in Victoria’s mainstream school designs of 

this period. More generally, bichrome and polychrome persisted in school designs through to 1890, 

when supplanted by cement dressing. 

The 1936-8 addition is typically Percy Everett in that it is determinedly modern, with three-finned 

chimneys, the rounded and scored porch fascia and Everett’s cultivation of a strip-window form in the 

grouped sashes at its left front. The three timber portables behind the brick building are typical of 

their type; another example is sited behind the former Kangaroo Flat Police Station the Camp and 

Church Streets corner. 




The bichrome brick school building (built c. 1870s) at the Marong School no.400 is historically 

significant as the earliest surviving component of Marong Primary School. The school was originally 

established in 1859, on the present site at a bend in the Bullock Creek in close proximity to the town 

reserve. It has been the principal focus of State funded education at Marong since its inception. The 

building was also constructed in a period, between the 1860s and ‘80s, when the township of Marong 

was experiencing significant growth and development. 



N/A 

3




N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The brick school building (built c. 1870s) at the Marong School no.400 is of aesthetic/architectural 

significance. Although small in size, the bichrome brick building has picturesque qualities deriving 

from its steeply pitched roof form, gable ends and gabled porch. Other elements of note include the 

asymmetrical cottage-Italianate form, the prominent plain barge-boards with exposed purlins and 

finials, and the stepped or tapering cream brick quoining. 



N/A 




The 1870s building at Marong School no.400 has social significance as a long-standing building within 

the school complex, which has served the local school community at Marong for 140 years. 



N/A 



The bichrome brick school building, built c. 1870s, located in the south-east of the site is a small 

single-room school building with gable ends and a gabled porch, steeply pitched roof form, prominent 

plain barge-boards with exposed purlins and timber finial. The brick has bichrome colouration in red 

and cream, with the cream used in courses and to delineate quoins at corners and around some 

openings. There is a brick bay to the east, with a large double hung sash window with nine panes per 

sash. This wing has a weatherboard extension with a half-hip roof. The large window by the porch in 

the south elevation has been enlarged, a change which may have occurred later in the nineteenth 

century or as part of the improvements of 1912. 


The bichrome brick school building (built c. 1870s) at the Marong School no.400 is of local historical, 

social and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The bichrome brick school building is historically significant (Criterion A) as the earliest surviving 

component of Marong Primary School. The school was originally established in 1859, on the present 

site at a bend in the Bullock Creek in close proximity to the town reserve. It has been the principal 

focus of State funded education at Marong since its inception. The building was also constructed in a 

4


period, between the 1860s and ‘80s, when the township of Marong was experiencing significant 

growth and development. The 1870s building also has social significance as a long-standing building 

within the school complex, which has served the local school community at Marong for 140 years 

(Criterion G). 

It is also of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E). Although small in size, the brick building 

has picturesque qualities deriving from its steeply pitched roof form, gable ends and gabled porch. 

Other elements of note include the asymmetrical cottage-Italianate form, the prominent plain bargeboards 

with exposed purlins and finials, and the stepped or tapering cream brick quoining. 



While the map above illustrates an extent of Overlay coverage (following the property boundaries), it 

is recommended that this be reduced to the historic building with a curtilage around it of five or so 

metres. The timber buildings and the remainder of the property generally, while sharing the historical 

significance of the site, do not contain elements which warrant heritage controls. The 1930s timber 

classroom, while of some interest including through its association with architect Percy Everett, is 

otherwise not a distinctive or distinguished building, and its inclusion in the Overlay is not 

recommended. 









Identified By 


References 



Specific: 

1 


2003, p. 123. 

2 


unpaginated. 

3 


Marong, 1985, p. 13. 

4 


5 


04/08/1865, and 06/08/1869). 

6 


2003, p. 126. 

7 


5


8 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, p. 167, and 


9 

Vision and Realisation, Victorian Government, Melbourne, 1973, v. 2, p. 442. 

10 

Lawrence Burchell, Victorian Schools: a Study in Colonial Government Architecture 1837- 

1900, University Press, Melbourne, 1980, pp. 70-71. Plan VIII is on p. 72. 

11 


1900, University Press, Melbourne, 1980, illustration, p. 65; discussion pp. 64, 66. 

12 

Illustrated and discussed by Michael Challinger, Historic Court Houses of Victoria, Palisade, 

Melbourne, 2001. 

13 


1900, University Press, Melbourne, 1980, Ch. 8. 

6


Name Marong Family Hotel Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 26 High Street (Calder 

Highway), at Adams Street, 

Marong 

M5 

Map reference VicRoads 626 B/C 10 

Building type Hotel Survey date July 2010 (external 



construction 

1917 (rebuilt) Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance The Marong Family Hotel is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: Marong Hotel, looking north-east, 1986 (Source: State Library of Victoria, jc011775). Right: 

The Marong Family Hotel (2010), looking north-east, with Adams Street (Calder Highway) at right. 

Left: Rear view. Right: Rebuilt verandah. 


with the subject site designated MO5. 


1


History 

The Marong area was squatted from the mid-1840s 

sent 

1949. 

1 and used as a gold washing site and 

commissioner’s camp from 1852, when the water gave out at Bendigo. 2 By 1861 there were 36 

dwellings at Marong, of which 20 had more than two rooms, eight were of canvas and seven of slabs 

or mud. The majority of residents were farmers. 3 In 1865, Marong was described as a ‘small hamlet’ 

with a population of ‘about 50 persons’. 4 By then a hotel, the Marong, was also operating in the 

nascent township. 5 By 1867, the premises were conducted by William Lanaby. 6 The hotel burnt 

down in 1917, and the present structure was rebuilt on the same site, opposite Marong Shire Hall 

(built 1908). A small component of the old hotel is understood to remain at the rear of the pre 

building. 7 Some early licencees of the rebuilt hotel were Alan Hollingworth, Edward Tresize and 

Arnold (‘Barney’) Treweek, who had the licence from 1938 to 




5.8: Working 


The Marong Family Hotel is located at the north-east corner of Adams Street (Calder Highway) and 

High Street (Alternative Calder Highway) in the Marong town centre, opposite Marong Shire Hall. It is 

a large, single-storey Federation-era structure of brick and stucco, with a horizontal massing. The 

hotel addresses both Adams Street to the south and High Street to the west, with a corner splay. The 

moulded parapet is prominent and ornamented, comprising finials and semicircular pediments with 

rising sun ornamentation in cast cement giving emphasis to the corner and ends of each street 

elevation. As built, sash windows to the south and west elevations were located between bands of 

render at dado height and surrounding the window tops. The windows to the west elevation and the 

westernmost window to the south elevation retain this form, with recessed moulded sills. Other 

window openings to the south elevation have been dropped almost to ground level and have plate 

glass windows, embossed with the ‘mfh’ logo. Original door openings to the south and west elevations 

also have render surrounds. The hipped roof form of the main hotel is clad with corrugated sheet 

steel, and falls to a central valley, oriented east-west. There are three rendered brick chimneys. 

Since the 1990s the black tuckpointed red brick walls have been overpainted (pale/cream) to the 

south and west, and the timber post-supported verandah, including corner gable, re-roofed. The 

verandah has a ladder frame frieze. The rear (north) wall of the hotel is exposed brick. The opensided 

gabled shelter to the rear (beer) garden also appears to be recent. There is no evidence of 

former stables (presumed to have been demolished). The internal public spaces have been altered 

and reconfigured. 

Although beyond the site boundary, the horse trough (donated bv Anni and George Bill) and palm 

trees to the south contribute to the hotel’s streetscape presence. 

The Marong Family Hotel appears to be in sound condition. 


The Marong Family Hotel, although built in 1917 on the site of its fire-damaged predecessor, is 

essentially Victorian in detail and form. With its moulded parapet, corner siting, and low, spreading 

proportions, it parallels a number of other single-storeyed former hotels in the former Rural City of 

Marong. These include the former Weighbridge Hotel in Kangaroo Flat, the former Royal Hotel at 

Woodvale (also rebuilt in the early twentieth century following a fire), and the former Camp Hotel on 

the Neilborough-Eaglehawk Road in the Whipstick. Of these, the Marong Family Hotel is an exception 

in being operational. More generally, the low proportions and spreading street frontage typify Central 

Victorian hotels and shop buildings in the Loddon Valley and elsewhere, especially on flat sites. They 

2


differ from proportionally similar single-storey hotels in for example, Victoria’s Western District in 

having parapet frontages. 




The Marong Family Hotel, built in 1917, is of historical significance. The first hotel on this prominent 

site, at the north-east corner of Adams Street and High Street in Marong town centre, was built in the 

1860s. The present hotel, built following a fire to its predecessor, has been an operating hotel and 

venue for community recreation and entertainment since 1917. It is believed that there are elements 

of the former hotel at the rear. The new hotel was built shortly after Marong replaced Lockwood North 

as the municipal centre of the former Shire of Marong and can be seen as reflecting the confidence of 

the town at the time. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The Marong Family Hotel, built in 1917, is of aesthetic/architectural significance. Although built in the 

Federation period, and substantially intact to that date, it is essentially Victorian in form and 

proportions. In its moulded parapet, and low, spreading proportions, it parallels a number of other 

single-storeyed former hotels in the former Rural City of Marong, including the former Weighbridge 

Hotel in Kangaroo Flat, the former Royal Hotel at Woodvale (also rebuilt in the early twentieth century 

following a fire), and the former Camp Hotel on the Neilborough-Eaglehawk Road in the Whipstick. 

The prominent and ornamented parapet, including finials and semicircular pediments with rising sun 

ornamentation in cast cement, which give emphasis to the corner and ends of each street elevation, is 

a distinguishing element of the Marong Family Hotel. Recent works, including dropped windows and 

overpainting, have not significantly diminished its capacity to demonstrate the original design intent. 

The hotel is also a prominent element of the streetscape, being located at the town’s principal 

intersection, and opposite the former Shire of Marong hall. 



N/A 




The Marong Family Hotel is of local social significance. It is a hotel which has operated continuously 

since 1917, on the site of an even earlier hotel, and as such has been a valued focus of local 

3


community recreation and entertainment for many decades. Its prominent corner location, in the 

centre of town, enhances this aspect of significance. 



N/A 



The Marong Family Hotel was built in 1917 at the north-east corner of Adams and High streets in the 

Marong town centre. It replaced an earlier hotel on the site which was burnt down in 1917. The 

building is a large, single-storey Federation-era structure of brick and stucco, with a horizontal 

massing and low, spreading proportions. The hotel addresses both Adams Street to the south and 

High Street to the west, with a corner splay and prominent and ornamented moulded parapet. The 

sash windows to the west elevation and the westernmost window to the south elevation retain their 

original form, while other window openings to the south elevation have been dropped almost to 

ground level and have had plate glass added. Original door openings to the south and west elevations 

also have render surrounds. The hipped roof form of the main hotel is clad with corrugated sheet 

steel, and falls to a central valley; there are three rendered brick chimneys. The timber postsupported 

verandah has a ladder frame frieze. The brick walls have been overpainted to the south 

and west, while the rear (north) wall of the hotel is exposed brick. 


The Marong Family Hotel is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The Marong Family Hotel is historically significant (Criterion A) for occupying the site of the earlier 

1860s hotel on this prominent location, and for replacing this building, following a fire, in 1917. It has 

since that time operated as a hotel and venue for community recreation and entertainment. The 

current hotel was also built shortly after Marong replaced Lockwood North as the municipal centre of 

the former Shire of Marong and can be seen as reflecting the confidence of the town at the time. The 

Marong Family Hotel is of local social significance (Criterion G), as a hotel which has operated 

continuously since 1917 and as such has been a valued focus of local community recreation and 

entertainment for many decades; this role is enhanced by its prominent corner location in the centre 

of town. 

The Marong Family Hotel is also of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E). Although built in 

the Federation period, and substantially intact to that date, it is essentially Victorian in form and 

proportions. In its moulded parapet, and low, spreading proportions, it parallels a number of other 

single-storeyed former hotels in the former Rural City of Marong. The prominent and ornamented 

parapet, including finials and semicircular pediments with rising sun ornamentation in cast cement, 

which give emphasis to the corner and ends of each street elevation, is a distinguishing element of the 

Marong Family Hotel. The hotel is also a prominent element of the streetscape, being located at the 

town’s principal intersection, and opposite the former Shire of Marong hall. 



The recommended extent of Overlay coverage is indicated in the above map. The focus of significance 

is on the main historic building component, and its corner presentation. The elements on the north 

side of the hotel, including the open-sided gabled shelter, are not significant. In preference, the 

external paint treatment should be removed, and the original facebrick presentation of the building 

reinstated. 

4










Identified By 


References 


Ruth Hopkins, Moving Forward Looking Back, Shire of Marong, 1985. 



Specific: 

1 


2003, p. 123. 

2 


unpaginated. 

3 


Marong, 1985, p. 13. 

4 


5 


6 

‘Marong hotel’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) 

Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. Source uncited. 

7 ‘ 

Marong hotel’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) 

Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. Source uncited, possibly pers comm., Jean Thomas interview with 

Ray Wallace (historian), 11 March1999. 

5


Name Uniting Church complex Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 32 High Street, Marong Map reference 

M6 

VicRoads 626 C 10 

Building type Church and Sunday school Survey date July 2010 (external 



construction 

1914 (church) Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance The Uniting Church (former Presbyterian) is of local historical, social and 

aesthetical/architectural significance. 

Left: West elevation, with timber addition at rear and bell tower to north of entry. Right: Looking 

south-east. 


with the subject site designated M06. Note, the site boundaries and the extent of the overlay are 

indicative only. 1 


1


History 

ral 

er 1886. 5 

Formerly the Marong Presbyterian Church, this building was erected in 1914 on a large site between 

High Street and Leslie Street in the centre of Marong. Presbyterian services had been held at Marong 

since at least 1862 when a weatherboard church was built, and land was temporarily reserved from 

sale for Presbyterian and Wesleyan churches in 1865. 2 By then, the Shire of Marong had an 

estimated area of 148,000ha (365,000 acres) and an estimated population of 5,500, 3 although the 

population of Marong itself was only ‘about 50 persons’. 4 The ministers Nish, Henderson and 

Abernathy were among the pioneers who had a part in the leadership of Presbyterian worship in the 

early days. Due partly to financial stresses, services were held irregularly, and it was to be seve 

years before weekly services were held. The Presbyterian allotment at Marong was a Crown Reserve, 

the church receiving a Certificate of Title on 22 Novemb 

At the annual meeting of the congregation on 13 November 1912, architect John Ride was appointed 

treasurer and a new building fund was instituted. Also in that year, George McKay was ordained and 

inducted as the first elder of the church. By 11 April 1914, Ride had drawn up plans for the new 

church. The foundation stone was laid by the moderator of the Presbyterian Church, Rev J Crookston, 

on 2 September 1914 at 2 pm, and the bricks laid by a Mr Crawford of Eaglehawk bricklayer, after day 

labour had erected the frame-work under the supervision of the Church Board. On 1 November, the 

Rev John Barnaby MA, BD, of Ormond College, assisted by the incumbent minister, the Rev A Irving 

Davidson, M.A, conducted two special services at 5 pm and 7:30 pm. A fortnight later the Rev A 

Davidson conducted the first communion service in the church. The new church was opened with a 

debt of £275 and the old building auctioned and sold for £17 to a J Chambers Snr. 6 The property is 

now under the control of the Uniting Church. 

The Sunday school building at the rear is the former Woodstock Presbyterian Church which was built 

in 1939. It was moved to its present site in 1972. The last service was held at Woodstock on Loddon 

on 16 May 1971. 7 






The Uniting Church at 32 High Street is a small gabled Federation era Gothic Revival building 

constructed of white tuck-pointed red brick, with cement dressings. The main church building, 

oriented east-west, is located in the south-west corner of a large allotment that stretches between 

Leslie and High streets in the centre of Marong. The timber Sunday school at the rear, originally built 

in 1939 and relocated to its present site in 1971, is oriented north-south. The two structures are 

joined by a brick linking element, with a ramp and 8 walkway to the south. A freestanding bell 

mounted on a pipe column frame is located to the north of the main church entrance. 

The gabled roof is clad in corrugated galvanised steel and fitted with eight small gablet vents and six 

cylindrical steel vents nearer the ridge. The gable ends have small lancet vents, while the front gable 

also has four brick kneelers and pitched coping. There are two rendered courses: one at eave line and 

the other level with the window arch springers. The lancet windows are in two frames each: a 

rectangular casement and a pointed fan; the panes use squared lead lighting and the sills are simple 

blocks. The three nave bays are expressed by a pair of two-stepped buttresses on each side and 

diagonal buttresses at each corner. The buttress set-backs are all cement-rendered. The parapet 

copings, buttresses, and lancet windows demonstrate the influence of the Gothic Revival. The 

entrance porch is also gabled and has the foundation stone to its right side and a two-leafed door 

curving at the upper corners to fit the pointed entry arch. Above that is a roundel showing the 

burning bush from Exodus. The roundel, semicircular drip mould above that, the orb finials and the 

right-angled pediment all demonstrate free Classical affinities. 

2


The timber hall at the rear has early windows but altered wall fabric, possibly modified at the time of 

its relocation from Woodstock on Loddon in 1972. The bell was cast in 1862 by John C Wilson's 

foundry, Glasgow. The fence 9 and toilet block to the south of the site are relatively recent additions. 

The large allotment is generally open in character, with some scattered trees. Pedestrian ‘desire’ lines 

are evident across the site, running south-west to north-east, and east-west at the south of the site. 


The red brick with white painted cement dressing treatment seen here was popular in churches in 

Central Victoria across denominations and is found in numbers of churches over a long period. These 

include the Presbyterian and Catholic churches in St Arnaud by Wharton and Vickers (1876) and 

Keogh and Austin (1906-7) respectively, 10 Austin’s similar St Monica’s Church at Kangaroo Flat 

(1926), E P Eberach’s John Knox Presbyterian at Swan Hill (1912) and Clegg, Miller and Riley’s former 

Catholic Church at Horsham (1913). 11 It also spread in Melbourne suburban churches, especially after 

August Fritsch’s St Joseph’s Catholic Church Malvern (1908), or Haddon and Henderson’s St Andrew’s 

Presbyterian, Oakleigh (1928). 12 This treatment is also found on the earlier former Holy Trinity 

Anglican Church (1878) at Marong. More generally, the Uniting Church has parallels with many small 

rural churches in Victoria and the goldfields, with its robust gabled presence and expansive open and 

informal landscape setting. 



The Uniting Church (former Presbyterian) at 32 High Street, Marong built in 1914, is of historical 

significance. Presbyterian services were held at Marong from at least 1862, when a timber church was 

constructed in the township. The bell (cast 1862) at the present church is assumed to be a surviving 

element of this early church complex. The present building, constructed on a large site between 

Leslie 13 and High streets, reflects the enduring nature of the Presbyterian 14 faith in the Marong area, 

and the ongoing religious diversity of the goldfields communities. It has been the centre of 

Presbyterian worship at Marong since completion in 1914. The Sunday school addition at the rear, a 

timber former church built in 1939 and relocated from its site at Woodstock on Loddon in 1972, also 

emphasises the continuing strength of the Presbyterian church in the area into the twentieth century. 

The relocation of the Sunday school additionally reflects on the consolidation of Marong at a time 

when smaller outlying communities, such as Woodstock on Loddon, were in decline. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

The Uniting Church at Marong demonstrates some of the principal characteristics of small rural 

churches in Central Victoria and the goldfields. These include the red brick walling with white painted 

cement dressings; the robust gabled presence; and the expansive open and informal landscape 

setting. 


municipality. 

The Uniting Church (former Presbyterian) at 32 High Street is of aesthetic/architectural significance. 

The Federation era Gothic Revival building is largely externally intact and demonstrates characteristics 

3


of church design seen in Central Victoria across denominations over a long period from the 1870s, 

including the use of white tuck-pointed red brick with cement dressings. Although a small building, it 

has a robust presence with its buttresses and forceful gables; the steeply pitched roof also has 

picturesque qualities. The roundel to the west gable, showing the burning bush from Exodus, is of 

note. The siting in an expansive open and informal landscape setting also has parallels with many 

small rural churches in Victoria and throughout the goldfields. The addition of the timber Sunday 

school building, and the associated works to the south (including the covered way and access ramp), 

have not significantly affected the presentation of the building from High Street. The church is also a 

prominent element of the High Street streetscape. 



N/A 




The Uniting Church (former Presbyterian) at 32 High Street is of social significance in the local 

context. It has been the focus of Presbyterian services and the Presbyterian community in Marong 

since 1914. 



N/A 



The Uniting Church (former Presbyterian) at 32 High Street, Marong, was built in 1914. The church is 

a small gabled Federation era Gothic Revival building constructed of white tuck-pointed red brick, with 

cement dressings and rendered courses. The timber Sunday school at the rear, originally built in 

1939, was relocated to its present site in 1971. The two structures are joined by a brick linking 

element; a freestanding bell, cast in 1862 by John C Wilson's foundry, Glasgow, is mounted on a pipe 

column frame located to the north of the main church entrance. The gabled roof to the church is clad 

in corrugated steel and has gablet vents and steel vents near the ridge. The gable ends have small 

lancet vents, while the front gable also has brick kneelers and pitched coping; the lancet windows also 

use squared lead lighting. The three nave bays are expressed by a pair of two-stepped buttresses on 

each side and diagonal buttresses at each corner. The parapet copings, buttresses, and lancet 

windows demonstrate the influence of the Gothic Revival. The entrance porch is also gabled and has a 

two-leafed door curving at the upper corners to fit the pointed entry arch. Above is a roundel showing 

the burning bush from Exodus. The timber hall at the rear has early windows but altered wall fabric, 

possibly modified at the time of its relocation from Woodstock on Loddon in 1972. The large allotment 

is generally open in character, with some scattered trees. 


The Uniting Church is of local historical, social and aesthetical/architectural significance. 


The Uniting Church is historically significant (Criterion A) for its association with Presbyterianism in 

Marong dating back to at least 1862, when a timber church was constructed in the township. The bell 

(cast 1862) at the present church is assumed to a surviving element of this early church complex. 

The present building, constructed on a large site between Leslie and High streets, reflects the 

enduring nature of the Presbyterian faith in the Marong area, and the ongoing religious diversity of the 

goldfields communities. It has been the centre of Presbyterian worship at Marong since completion in 

4


1914. The Sunday school addition at the rear, a timber former church built in 1939 and relocated 

from Woodstock on Loddon in 1972 15 , also emphasises the continuing strength of the Presbyterian 

church in the area into the twentieth century. The relocation of the Sunday school additionally reflects 

the consolidation of Marong at a time when smaller outlying communities, such as Woodstock on 

Loddon, were in decline. The Uniting Church is also of local social significance (Criterion G) through 

being the focus of Presbyterian services, and the Presbyterian community, in Marong since 1914. In 

terms of the property’s aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E), the Federation era Gothic 

Revival building is largely externally intact and demonstrates characteristics of church design seen in 

Central Victoria across denominations over a long period from the 1870s, including the use of white 

tuck-pointed red brick with cement dressings (Criterion D). Although a small building, it has a robust 

presence with its buttresses and forceful gables; the steeply pitched roof also has picturesque 

qualities. The roundel to the west gable, showing the burning bush from Exodus, is of note. The 

siting in an expansive open and informal landscape setting has parallels with many small rural 

churches in Victoria and throughout the goldfields. The church is also a prominent element of the 

High Street streetscape. 



The recommended Overlay area is indicated in the above map. However, the focus of significance is 

on the 1914 church and its setback and simple informal setting to High Street. The face brick should 

remain unpainted. 

The timber hall at the rear is of interest, but as a relocated and altered structure, its removal could be 

contemplated. The 1862 bell should be retained on site. The fence and toilet block to the south of 

the site are not significant. The undeveloped northern area of the site, at a generous distance from 

the heritage building, is also not part of the significant setting. 









Identified By 


References 



Specific: 

1 


2 

Victorian Government Gazette, 98 – 04/08/1865. 

3 


4 


5


5 

Anon, Marong, Victoria, Presbyterian Church, 1964. 

6 

Anon, Marong, Victoria, Presbyterian Church, 1964. 

7 

Anon, Centenary Celebrations, Woodstock-on-Loddon Presbyterian Church, 1967. 

8 

Removed ‘enclosed’ as per owner. Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 

2011. 

9 

Removed ‘cyclone-wire’, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 2011 

10 

Miles Lewis (ed., contrib.), Victorian Churches, National Trust, Melbourne, 1991, p. 148, items 

375 (Presbyterian) and 377 (Roman Catholic) 

11 

Lewis, p.p. 127, item 291 (Horsham); 149, item 380 (Swan Hill). 

12 

Lewis, p. 76, item 109 (Malvern); 78, item 114 (Oakleigh). 

13 

Changed from ‘Cathcart’, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 2011. 

14 

All ‘Presbyterian’ changed from ‘Methodist’ as per owner correction, Heritage Policy 

Citations Review, 2011. November 2011. 

15 

Changed from ‘1971’, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 2011. 

6


Name Park View Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 


Highway, Marong 

M7 




construction 

Present house c. 1870- 

1885 1 ;outbuilding 1860s 



Significance Park View is of local historic and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Left: View looking south-west, c. 1880s, with Thomas Glover at centre (Source: North Goldfields, 

picture 000709). Right: West elevation, 2010. 

Left: South elevation. Right: Rear elevation, note plantings at right. 

Left: Landscaped garden setting. Right: Footings of outbuilding, possibly 1860s. 

1



with the subject site highlighted green (M07) 


History 

Thomas Glover was born in Antrim, Northern Ireland and arrived at Marong in 1854. He was a 

successful farmer with interests in numerous mining ventures in the Bendigo goldfields, including the 

Hustlers and Garden Gully mines. He was a member of the Marong District Roads Board in 1862, 

becoming chairman in the following year 2 and was a councillor of the Shire of Marong for many years, 

being elected president in 1873. 3 He married Margaret Ann Campbell (1832-?) of Loughbrick, Country 

Down. By the early-1860s, Glover had acquired a large estate on a prime site adjacent to the Bullock 

Creek on the main Lockwood-Marong road (the Alternative Calder Highway). His original house at the 

property was complete by 1864, and in 1867, he had 48ha (118 acres) under cultivation, 91ha (224 

acres) of pasture and 0.8ha (2 acres) under vines. The property at that time had a net asset value of 

£150. 4 Glover commissioned the noted local architect William C Vahland, then in partnership with R 

Getzschmann, to design what was in effect a new house to the west of the existing property, 

overlooking the creek. It is believed that the property included a nine-hole golf course. The house at 

that time was noted as one of the finest in the district, reflecting the confidence of the gold rush era 

and Glover’s wealth and eminence. Thomas Glover died on 30 July 1885. 




9.1: Participating in sport and recreation 


Park View is located on elevated ground overlooking Bullock Creek, to the east of the Alternative 

Calder Highway, approximately 1km south of Marong. It is approached along a gravelled drive, with a 

timber bridge over Bullock Creek. The property comprises a late Italianate villa in landscaped grounds 

with an outbuilding, possibly dating to the 1860s, at the rear. 

The main house appears to have begun as a gabled roof building, shown at the right of the archival 

photograph dated c. 1880 (see page 1). This component has been removed. It had a five-bay 

verandah springing from just below the main eave line, a timber frieze and posts and a strait-sheeted 

and quite deep verandah roof. This building component also had a single large chimney visible in the 

photograph, with a cornice formed from brick courses. 

The present house, broadly square in plan, is a later component acting as a frontispiece or 

improvement to the original, and its detailing and material usage and form are characteristic of the 

1870s to early 1890s. The house has a single-hipped roof clad in corrugated galvanised steel, with a 

2


gablet vent, a second gable on its rear elevation, and boxed eaves with consistently spaced cyma 

recta brackets. The eave has several small trefoliated panels inset. There are four chimneys, each 

stucco rendered, with articulated pedestal bases, stacks with incised panel outlines and cornices. The 

west eave is broken by a breakfront pedimented gable, with timber bargeboard-cornice, a timber 

architrave and a deeply recessed tympanum with a circular vent. The verandah is attached just below 

the eave bracket line and has a concave roof clad in corrugated galvanised steel over a timber frame. 

The verandah frieze and its iron panels appear long-standing as materials but the verandah structure 

itself has been rebuilt. The house entrance under the verandah is fronted by an arched breakfront 

porch comprising a large central arch and six narrow stilted arches as flanking components. At each 

verandah corner the columns are paired and support another two of these stilted arches in the 

lacework frieze. The pedimented roof gable is on axis with (and above) the front door. The flanking 

verandah frieze comprises panels of interlinked arch-pattern lacework with inverted finials and 

lacework quadrant brackets at the column junctions. The verandah columns appear original and are 

stamped Angus McLean, Patentee, Ironfounder, Post Office Place, Melbourne. The verandah floor 

tiling and cement bedding has been re-laid. 

The external walls are of exposed red-umber face-brick, the windows being original timber-framed 

double-hung sashes and, at the sides and rear these are on simple basalt block sills. The main 

corners are in rendered cement and shaped as quoins. The front elevation is symmetrical. The north 

elevation has two windows placed towards the east, the south elevation has a single window also 

towards the east and the rear, kitchen elevation has four evenly spaced openings, a door and three 

windows. The front windows are set in cement-rendered rectangular-plan bays with two narrow 

sidelights in each, and with cement-rendered apron sills. The front door is treated similarly, but the 

sidelights are set integrally in the door-case and the door-case is in turn set between two cementrendered 

piers. The whole building has a circling stone base, including the kitchen elevation and its 

chimney-breast flank. This is expressed as independent of the main hipped roof, having a skillion roof 

set between parapet walls with cement-rendered coping. The kitchen chimney-breast is expressed 

externally as a slight breakfront in the brick walling, supporting a cement rendered chimney pedestal 

running partway down the wall. The archival photograph shows this lesser elevation as original, 

attached to a high-mounted timber-framed verandah to the rear; the latter has been replaced with a 

deeper skillion verandah linked to a pergola. 

The house appears to be in generally sound condition, with some evidence of structural movement. 

Recent restoration and refurbishment works have been carried out to a high standard, and are 

generally sympathetic to the original design. 

Outbuildings 

A stone outbuilding at the east of the site, recently refurbished and extended, may incorporate 

elements of one of the 1860s outbuildings. This structure, whose rear component has a floor dug c. 

1.5m below grade, has a random (irregular) rubble footing in what appears to be local sedimentary 

bluestone (not basalt), with a plate of headers giving way to stretcher bond in a six-course layer 

capped by another course of headers. The brick here is of the pink and tan-brown characteristic of 

central Victoria in the 1860s, as is the brick floor below the stone footing. 

Garden 

The garden layout is on the same general lines seen in the 1880s photograph. The original stone 

kerbs have been removed, as has the side gravel drive, with its curving entry. The verandah garden 

on the entry side (west) has been straightened out in its perimeter profile and the rounded garden on 

the further side has been left in similar shaping to that seen in the 1880s photograph. Several trees, 

including Moreton Bay fig trees, monkey puzzles (araucaria) and other conifers, are long-standing and 

appear part of the original garden design. Other borders were replanted with agapanthus, a favourite 

early twentieth century planting. 


Park View is assumed to date to the early-1880s and can be seen as a transitional design, between 

the last phase of Italianate’s dominance in the 1880s and the onset of Federation approaches around 

1887-90. It was designed by the prolific Bendigo practice of Vahland and Getzschmann’s. The 

formally complex treatment of the verandah frieze corresponds to the high levels of mannerism seen 

in Vahland and Getzschmann’s institutional designs of the later 1880s, as with their former 

3


Commercial Bank of Sydney, Pall Mall Bendigo (1888), or the grouped columns and broken-base 

pediments on Bendigo Town Hall (reshaped by Vahland in 1883-5). 5 The lacework quadrants on the 

verandah, with inverted finials, are also seen in other houses in central Victoria, as with the verandah 

added to Adelaide Vale’s original homestead at Fosterville and the ground-floor verandah frieze at H R 

Caselli’s Glenfine homestead, Cape Clear (1873), an earlier breakfront verandah with paired columns. 

The detail appears in 7 Wheeler Street (1870) and as late as Terrigal (1913), both in Castlemaine, 6 

and locally at Vahland and Getzschmann’s Goldmines Hotel at Marong Road, Ironbark (1870). 7 The 

paired cast-iron columns and their lacework interstices seen here at Park View are given similar 

narrow stilted verandah frieze arches in Illira, 57 Forrest Street Bendigo (1887), and as flankers for 

the pediment-entry at Kyneton District Hospital, in a verandah added in 1910. 8 Similar arches appear 

with another pedimented verandah in Cranbourne, 2 High Street Wodonga (1890). The mature 

garden compares with that at Millewa Hall, 214 High Street, Kangaroo Flat (another Vahland and 

Getzschmann design) in having dominant and voluminous Moreton Bay figs and an axial connection to 

the house via the front door. 




Park View is of historical significance for its association with the development of Marong, particularly 

with later development in the area by a locally notable and prosperous family. It is also able to 

demonstrate an aspect of goldfields life, whereby a relatively small number of affluent families, who 

typically had made their fortunes in gold, lived in palatial villas in extensive landscaped gardens. The 

present property (believed to date to the late 1880s) superseded an earlier (1860s) structure at the 

site, reflecting the increasing wealth of its owner Thomas Glover, a mining speculator, successful 

farmer and local councillor/politician. Glover also had the resources to commission the design of his 

house from the prolific and fashionable Bendigo architects, Vahland and Getzschmann. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

Park View, built c. 1870-1885, is of aesthetic/architectural significance as an example of the work of 

the noted Bendigo architect William Vahland, then in partnership with R Getzschmann. It is a bold, 

confident design reflecting the opulence of the era and the wealth of owner. It can also be seen as a 

transitional design, between the last phase of Italianate’s dominance in the 1880s and the onset of 

Federation around 1887-90. The house is largely intact as built and notable elements include the 

complex verandah frieze including the lacework quadrants; the grouped verandah columns; and the 

breakfront verandah form. Modifications have generally been of a sympathetic nature. The aesthetic 

significance of the property is also enhanced by the landscaped garden setting, including mature 

trees. 



4


N/A 




N/A 



Park View is significant for its association with the leading Bendigo architectural practice Vahland and 

Getzchmann. It is an example of their residential work in an oeuvre which included many important 

public, civic and commercial buildings in the municipality. The property is also significant for its 

association with Thomas Glover, who had migrated from Ireland in 1854 and went on to become a 

local person of note, being a mining speculator, successful farmer and local councillor/politician. 



Park View, at 1810 Alternative Calder Highway, Marong, comprises an early 1880s symmetrical 

Italianate villa in landscaped grounds with an outbuilding, possibly dating to the 1860s, at the rear of 

the main house. It is approached along a gravelled drive, with a timber bridge over Bullock Creek. 

The house is broadly square in plan, and has a single-hipped roof clad in corrugated galvanised steel, 

with a gablet vent, a second gable on its rear elevation, four stucco rendered chimneys, and boxed 

eaves. The west eave is broken by a breakfront pedimented gable above the verandah and on axis 

with the entrance below. The verandah, which is attached just below the eave bracket line, wraps 

around three sides, has a concave roof and an iron frieze. The house entrance under the verandah is 

fronted by an arched breakfront porch. External walls are of exposed red-umber face-brick, the 

windows being original timber-framed double-hung sashes. The front windows are set in cementrendered 

rectangular-plan bays with two narrow sidelights in each, and with cement-rendered apron 

sills. The front door is treated similarly, but with sidelights set integrally in the door-case. The main 

corners are in rendered cement and shaped as quoins. The whole building has a circling stone base. 

The stone outbuilding at the east of the site may incorporate elements of one of the 1860s 

outbuildings. This structure has brick with pink and tan-brown colouring characteristic of central 

Victoria in the 1860s; a rear component dug out to c. 1.5m below grade; and a random (irregular) 

rubble footing in what appears to be local sedimentary bluestone. The garden layout is on the same 

general lines seen in the early 1880s photograph. Several trees, including Moreton Bay fig trees, 

monkey puzzles (araucaria) and other conifers, are long-standing and appear part of the original 

garden design. Other borders were replanted with agapanthus, a favourite early twentieth century 

planting. 


Park View is of local historic and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


Park View is historically significant (Criterion A) for its association with the development of Marong, 

particularly with later development in the area by a locally notable and prosperous family. It is able to 

demonstrate an aspect of goldfields life, whereby a relatively small number of affluent families, who 

typically had made their fortunes in gold, lived in palatial villas in extensive landscaped gardens. The 

present property (believed to date to the early 1880s) superseded an earlier (1860s) structure at the 

site, reflecting the increasing wealth of its owner Thomas Glover, who had the resources to 

commission the design of his house from the prolific and fashionable Bendigo architects, Vahland and 

Getzschmann. Park View is also significant for its association with the leading Bendigo architectural 

practice, and is an example of their residential work in an oeuvre which included many important 

5


public, civic and commercial buildings in the municipality. The association with Glover is additionally 

significant; he migrated from Ireland in 1854 and went on to become a local person of note, being a 

mining speculator, successful farmer and local councillor/politician (Criterion H). 

Aesthetically and architecturally (Criterion E), Park View is significant as an example of the work of the 

noted Bendigo architects. It is a bold, confident design reflecting the opulence of the era and the 

wealth of owner. It can also be seen as a transitional design, between the last phase of Italianate’s 

dominance in the 1880s and the onset of Federation around 1887-90. The house is largely intact as 

built and notable elements include the complex verandah frieze including the lacework quadrants; the 

grouped verandah columns; and the breakfront verandah form. Modifications have generally been of 

a sympathetic nature. The aesthetic significance of the property is also enhanced by the landscaped 

garden setting, including the Moreton Bay fig trees, monkey puzzles (araucaria) and other conifers. 


Park View is recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo Heritage Overlay, to 

the extent indicated in the above map. The focus of significance includes the house, stone outbuilding 

at the east of the site (which may incorporate elements of one of the 1860s outbuildings), and 

landscaped garden, including the Moreton Bay fig trees, Monkey Puzzle trees (araucaria) and other 

conifers. The exposed brickwork and basalt should remain unpainted. 









Identified By 


References 


Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust, Bendigo, 1987 


Specific: 

1 

Changed from 1885-1890, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. February 2012 as 

per owner. Has historic photo dating from before 1885. 

2 

Marong Roads Board rate books: 1862-63, cited in ‘Park View’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, 


3 


Marong, 1985, p. 23; and Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown 

Castleton Publishers, 2003, pp. 126-127 

4 ` 

Marong Shire rate books: 1864 and 1878. 

5 

The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1981, pp. 3/146-7 items 6, 10. 

6 

The Heritage of Australia, pp. 3/158 items 8a, 3 (Fosterville, Cape Clear), and 3/154 items 3 

and 6 (Castlemaine). 

6


7 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust, Bendigo, 1987, p. 

108. 

8 

The Heritage of Australia, pp. 3/148 item 4 (Bendigo) 3/160 item 9 (Kyneton), and 3/183 item 

18 (Wodonga). 

7


Name McKenzie's Tomato Seed 

Extraction Factory 

Address 284 O'Sullivans Road at 

McKenzie Road, Marong 


Marong Study 

M8 

Map reference VicRoads 44 C6 

Building type Industrial complex Survey date July 2010 (external 



construction 

During World War II Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance The former McKenzie's Tomato Seed Extraction Factory is of local historical and 

technical significance. 

McKenzie's Tomato Seed Extraction Factory looking east. 

Left: East elevation of the former store (left) and the former seed extraction room (right). Right: 

Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 

Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site highlighted green (M08). Note, the extent of the 

overlay is indicative only. 


1


History 

Tomato growing was once an important industry within the Bendigo region. Marong, Wilson's Hill, 

Huntly and Epsom in particular were major centres of production. An often overlooked facet of this 

industry is that of seed supply; it appears that there were very few plants operating in the area. 

However, the subject site was one such complex. The plant was built by Duncan McKenzie during 

World War II, although its origins pre-date the war. During the 1930s, German horticulturalists had 

developed the highly prized Grosse Lisse variety of tomato. In World War II, McKenzie obtained some 

Grosse Lisse seeds and, realising their commercial potential, cultivated them in close proximity to his 

allotment at 284 McKenzie Road, south of Marong. With a supply of seeds assured, McKenzie erected 

the present factory and procured the machinery. Local engineer Jim Kearney designed and made the 

pulping and seed extraction plant. The building itself was erected by the Eaglehawk builder, Mitchell, 

who hired locals Bill Elvey and Charles Grey as his assistants. 1 The plant was driven by a McDonald 

diesel engine until 1953 when electricity reached the district and the plant was converted to electrical 

power. 2 Following the extraction of the seeds, the tomato pulp was cooked on the site using steam 

produced by a boiler formerly used in mining operations. The paste was then sold to tomato sauce 

manufacturers. The machinery was removed from the site in 1999 and relocated to a museum at 

Lockwood. The date on which the factory ceased production is not known. 



5.1: Processing raw materials 




The subject site is an abandoned tomato seed extraction factory of humble construction and utilitarian 

character and materials usage. It is located in open countryside at the corner of McKenzie and 

O'Sullivans roads, approximately four kilometres south of Marong. The complex is oriented north to 

south. At the south end is a single-storey gable roofed structure clad in corrugated sheet steel, fixed 

horizontally to the frame, with two circular vents to the roof. This may have been a store. The one 

and two-storey component at the centre of the site is the former seed extraction room. This is a sawn 

timber framed construction clad in weatherboards, with corrugated sheet steel cladding to the upper 

sections of the north and south elevations. This building is lined internally with asbestos cement 

sheeting. Both structures are built on a concrete base with vents integrated into the low concrete 

footings. A pole-supported barn is located at the north of the contiguous linear factory. A gable 

roofed shed with a bush pole frame is at the north end of the complex. A further timber-framed shed 

is located to the north-east of the complex. 

The machinery at the complex was relocated to a museum at Lockwood in 1999. An under-fired 

boiler, manufactured by L B Coulsell and Brothers, North Melbourne, survives at the site, fixed in a 

brick base to the west of the factory building. This boiler supplied steam to the plant prior to 

electrification. 

The abandoned factory appears to be in relatively poor condition. 


McKenzie's Tomato Seed Extraction Factory is a utilitarian and low-cost response to specific functional 

manufacturing/processing requirements. As such, it compares broadly with local eucalyptus 

distilleries, including Flett’s at Woodvale (W7) and Hooper’s at Patchy Flat (PF1), which in turn 

demonstrate the ingenuity of ‘bush’ engineers. As with the eucalyptus distilleries, the tomato factory 

site retains some capacity to demonstrate its original function, at least in terms of the production 

process as reflected in the layout and arrangement of the built components. 

2





The former McKenzie's Tomato Seed Extraction Factory, at the corner of McKenzie and O'Sullivans 

road south of the Marong, is of historical significance. The abandoned factory complex provides 

evidence of the once significant local tomato growing industry. It was built by Duncan McKenzie 

during World War II and is an example of a utilitarian industrial complex of humble proportions built of 

low-cost materials. Its location is relatively isolated, being in close proximity to the fields where 

tomatoes were previously grown and some distance from the Alternative Calder Highway to the east. 

Tomato seeds from the Grosse Lisse variety of tomato were extracted in the factory, and the seeds 

sold to tomato growers in the Bendigo region and beyond. The tomato pulp residue was also 

processed on site for sale to tomato sauce manufacturers. 



N/A 



The former McKenzie's Tomato Seed Extraction Factory is significant for its capacity to demonstrate 

aspects of its original function, at least in terms of the production process as reflected in the layout 

and arrangement of the built components. The machinery for the seed extraction process was built 

locally, and included recycled mining equipment; however, with the exception of the under-fired 

boiler, the machinery has been relocated off-site for storage at a local museum. 

N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

N/A 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 

3




The former McKenzie's Tomato Seed Extraction Factory is located in open countryside at the corner of 

McKenzie and O'Sullivans road south of the Marong. It is an abandoned tomato seed extraction 

factory of humble construction and utilitarian character and materials. The complex is oriented north 

to south; at the south end is a single-storey gable roofed structure clad in corrugated sheet steel, 

which may have been a store. The weatherboard one and two-storey component at the centre of the 

site is the former seed extraction room, and has corrugated sheet steel cladding to the upper sections 

of the north and south elevations. Both structures are built on a concrete base. A pole-supported 

barn is located at the north of the contiguous linear factory; a gable-roofed shed with a bush pole 

frame is at the north end of the complex; and a further timber-framed shed is located to the northeast 

of the complex. The machinery was relocated to a museum at Lockwood in 1999. An under-fired 

boiler, manufactured by L B Coulsell and Brothers, North Melbourne, survives at the site, fixed in a 

brick base to the west of the factory building. 


The former McKenzie's Tomato Seed Extraction Factory is of local historical and technical significance. 


The former McKenzie's Tomato Seed Extraction Factory, an abandoned factory complex, is of historical 

significance (Criterion A), for providing evidence of the once significant local tomato growing industry. 

It was built by Duncan McKenzie during World War II and is an example of a utilitarian industrial 

complex of humble proportions built of low-cost materials. Its location is relatively isolated, being in 

close proximity to the fields where tomatoes were previously grown, and some distance from the 

Alternative Calder Highway to the east. Tomato seeds from the Grosse Lisse variety of tomato were 

extracted in the factory, and the seeds sold to tomato growers in the Bendigo region and beyond. The 

tomato pulp residue was also processed on site for sale to tomato sauce manufacturers. The former 

factory (Criterion C) is also significant for its capacity to demonstrate aspects of its original function, 

at least in terms of the production process as reflected in the layout and arrangement of the built 

components. The machinery for the seed extraction process was built locally, and included recycled 

mining equipment; however, with the exception of the under-fired boiler, the machinery has been 

relocated off-site for storage at a local museum. 


The former McKenzie's Tomato Seed Extraction Factory is recommended for inclusion in the Schedule 

to the Greater Bendigo Heritage Overlay. The recommended extent of the Overlay is identified in the 

above map. The focus of significance is on the historic factory building components. Given the 

unusual history of the site, a form of interpretive plaque at the property, or preparation of an 

historical pamphlet or interpretive signage is recommended, as a means of telling the story of the 

property. 









4


Identified By 


References 


Specific: 

1 The history derives from an interview given by Duncan McKenzie, the founder of the seed 

extraction factory, to historian Ray Wallace on 4 March 1999. 

2 Kim Ross, Bendigo Steam Preservation Society, interview with Ray Wallace, 4 March 1999. 

5


Name Pratty’s Patch Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 35 Monsants Road, Maiden Gully Map reference VicRoads 606 C5 

Building type Restaurant Survey Date June 2010 (external 


Date 1865 Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance Pratty’s Patch is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Left: West elevation of Pratty’s Patch, c. 1985 showing original/early wings (Source: Ruth Hopkins, 

Moving Forward, Looking Back, Shire of Marong, 1985, p. 112). Right: West elevation, with gabled 

addition at south end (right). 

Left: The 1860s wing; note stepped chimney form. Right: Former residence, to south of 1865 wing. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). Right: Proposed Heritage Overlay map 

with the subject site highlighted green (MG1). 


MG1 

1


History 

European occupation of the Maiden Gully area dates to the 1840s. Having previously been employed 

as the manager of the Mount Alexander Run No. 2, Thomas Myers, with John Nicholson, became 

squatters on the Widdekar Run in 1845. In 1849 Nicholson relinquished his interests to Thomas and 

William Myers, but William also soon abandoned his interests in the run when it was invaded by gold 

prospectors. The lease on the run was transferred to Donald and Roderick Campbell (after whom 

Campbell’s Forest was named) in 1853, to Hugh Glass six months later and to Messrs Brett and Ross 

in 1869. It was cancelled in 1872 and the land was then opened up for selection. Gold rushes in the 

area of Myers Creek occurred in the mid-1860s. 1 By 1907 Maiden Gully was a small residential 

community served by the Maiden Gully hotel and store. It included a small population of market 

gardeners, farmers and dairy farmers. 2 Maiden Gully was commonly known as Myers Flat until 1938. 3 

John Fellows (1808? – 1882?), his wife Mary Ann and their large family travelled from Antrim, Ireland 

to Melbourne in 1852, arriving in April 1853. 4 The family settled at Sandhurst (Bendigo), before 

moving to New Zealand Gully, Maiden Gully, in 1863. Fellows replaced the family’s original bark hut 

with the original section of the present stone structure in 1863. 5 The five-room stone cottage had a 

relatively high net asset value of £25. Fellows practised as a grocer, vet and dentist as well as having 

mining interests. 6 In the early 1870s he was subjected to court action, for reasons not established, 

and his stone cottage was sold by bill of sale. 7 In 1932, the house was acquired by a Spaniard, Peter 

‘Pratty’ Monsant, who lived there for the next 50 years, growing tomatoes on the surrounding 

acreage. Dances were held in the front room and cricket matches on the flat across the road. The 

Monsants were active participants in community life. 8 In the 1990s the building was extended by a 

new owner, A Burns, who redeveloped it as ‘Pratty’s Patch,’ a licensed restaurant, bar and bistro. 9 



4.4: Farming 

5.8: Working 



Pratty’s Patch is located on the east side of Monsants Road at Maiden Gully. The main building 

complex on the west of the site comprises a number of transverse-gabled stone buildings, all roofed 

with corrugated galvanised sheet steel. To the east of these components are large additions, together 

with a collection of outbuildings further east again (rear of property). The complex was built in stages 

over a long period, from 1863 to c. 1980s; the date of construction of all the building components has 

not been established. 

The property was inspected from the road, and with the aid of recent aerial photography. The rear 

additions and outbuildings were not inspected, and the property was not inspected internally. 

The façade (west elevation to Monsants Road) comprises a central verandahed component, flanked by 

two projecting blocks. All are built of random (irregular) coursed rubble. The north block is believed 

to date to 1863. 10 It has one window to its west elevation and parapeted ends and a brick and 

stepped chimney stack to its north elevation. The balancing block to the south has been constructed 

since 1985, and replicates the stepped chimney form of the 1860s building component. The recessed 

central component with verandah, which is also believed to date from the 1860s or thereabouts, has a 

symmetrical frontage with central front door and two flanking windows which appear to be of longstanding; 

the door is four-panelled and the windows are six-paned. To the rear (east side) of the 

north 1863 component is a further gable-roofed stone structure, also of recent (post-1985) origin, 

which projects north of the original wing. In its essential form, including stepped brick chimney, and 

parapets, this addition follows the pattern established by the original 1863 wing. Another verandah 

wraps around the north end of the various wings. The property appears to be in generally sound 

condition. 

The property has a limited setback to Monsants Road and a treed setting to rear. 

2



Long, single-storey transverse-gabled houses with connected verandahs were common for housing 

and hostelries in south-eastern Australia by the 1840s, as in the terraces in Albion Street, Surry Hills, 

Sydney (c. 1825), the so-called ‘Caroline Chisholm Terraces‘ in Morpeth, New South Wales (c. 1840), 

and Roseneath Cottage, 40 O’Connell Street, Parramatta (1837). In Victoria similar types include the 

London Tavern at Beechworth (1859) and the Lexington Homestead at Moyston (c. 1851). 11 Rocky 

Vale Villa (built from the early 1870s to 1891) at nearby Wick’s Road, is comparable in being a broadly 

contemporaneous building constructed of locally-quarried stone. The multi-stepped chimney breasts 

at Pratty’s Patch are distinctive in both the Bendigo area and more widely throughout Victoria, with 

the more usual treatment being to batter the chimney breast in two main steps and to cast the 

chimney breast symmetrically, perhaps to distinguish them from asymmetrical hut chimneys. 12 




Pratty’s Patch, of Monsants Road, Maiden Gully is of historical significance. The main building 

complex, constructed of random (irregular) coursed rubble between 1865 and the c. 1980s, is 

associated with the 1860s gold rushes phase of development at Myers Flat (Maiden Gully). The 

dwelling was originally built for Irish settler John Fellows and his family from 1865; Fellows was 

involved in a number of commercial pursuits including working as a grocer, vet and dentist. The 

property was later acquired by Peter ‘Pratty’ Monsant, a Spaniard who worked the surrounding 

acreage and played a prominent role in community life. Since the mid-1980s the property has been 

significantly extended and adapted as a restaurant. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

Pratty’s Patch of Monsants Road, Maiden Gully is of aesthetic/architectural significance. The 1860s 

components echo the form of long, single-storey transverse-gabled houses with connected verandahs, 

which were common in south-eastern Australia by the 1840s. The original components are also 

significant as an example of 1860s stone villas in the local area. While the property has evolved from 

humble origins to be a structure of some scale and presence, and the additions and alterations since 

1985 have broadly followed the template established by the 1860s component (with gabled roofs, 

stepped chimneys and walls of random coursed rubble), these later (evolved) elements are not of 

heritage significance. The original 1860s building components also remain as prominent historic 

structures in the Maiden Gully area. 



N/A 

3





N/A 



N/A 



Pratty’s Patch, built from 1865 to c. 1980s, is located on Monsants Road, Maiden Gully. The 

original/early building components are on the west of the site and comprise a number of transversegabled 

stone buildings, all built of random (irregular) coursed rubble and roofed with corrugated 

galvanised sheet steel. To the east of these components are large additions, including the addition at 

the north end which dates from post-1985, together with a collection of outbuildings further east 

again (rear of property). The date of construction of all the building components has not been 

established. The west elevation to Monsants Road comprises a central verandahed residential 

component, which is believed to date from the 1860s or thereabouts, flanked by two projecting 

blocks. The north block is believed to date to 1863. 13 It has one window to its west elevation and 

parapeted ends and a brick and stepped chimney stack to its north elevation. The balancing block to 

the south has been constructed since 1985. The recessed central component, with verandah, has a 

symmetrical frontage with central front door and two flanking windows which appear to be of longstanding. 

The property has a limited setback to Monsants Road and a treed setting to rear. 


Pratty’s Patch is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


Pratty’s Patch, built from 1865 to c. 1980s, is of historical significance (Criterion A) for its association 

with the 1860s gold rushes phase of development at Myers Flat (Maiden Gully). The dwelling was 

originally built for Irish settler John Fellows and his family from 1865; Fellows was involved in a 

number of commercial pursuits including working as a grocer, vet and dentist. The property was later 

acquired by Peter ‘Pratty’ Monsant, a Spaniard who worked the surrounding acreage and played a 

prominent role in community life. Since the mid-1980s the property has been significantly extended 

and adapted as a restaurant. Architecturally (Criterion E), the 1860s components echo the form of 

long, single-storey transverse-gabled houses with connected verandahs, which were common in 

south-eastern Australia by the 1840s. The original components are also significant as an example of a 

1860s stone villa in the local area. While the property has evolved from humble origins to be a 

structure of some scale and presence, and the additions and alterations since 1985 have broadly 

followed the template established by the 1865 component, these later (evolved) elements are not of 

heritage significance. The original 1860s building components also remain as prominent historic 

structures in the Maiden Gully area. 



The recommended extent of the overlay is indicated in the map above, with the focus of significance 

concentrated in the 1860s components of the building complex, and their presentation and 

appearance to Monsants Road. These include the 1865 wing to the north, the recessed and 

verandahed former residence, the exposed stonework and the generally consistent nature of the 

volumes and massing, with gabled roofs and stepped chimney. The rear additions and outbuildings 

were not inspected, and no comment is provided here on the retention or treatment of these 

elements. 

4










Identified By 


References 



Specific: 

1 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs: The Way it Was, pp. 202-203. 

2 

Andrew Ward, City of Greater Bendigo (Marong District) Heritage Study, unpaginated. 

3 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs: The Way it Was, pp. 202-203. 

4 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs: The Way it Was, pp. 242. 

5 

‘Pratty’s Patch’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) 

Study Area, Stage 2, 1998, citing rate books 1864-65, and Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs: 

The Way it Was, pp. 242-243. See also Ruth Hopkins, Moving Forward, Looking Back, The 

History of the Marong Shire, Shire of Marong, 1985, p. 112. 

6 

‘Pratty’s Patch’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) 


7 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs: The Way it Was, p. 243. 

8 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs: The Way it Was, p. 243. 

9 


Marong, 1985, p. 112. 

10 


Marong, 1985, p. 112. 

11 

See William Hardy Wilson, Old Colonial Architecture in New South Wales and Tasmania, 

private publication, Sydney, 1924, Ure Smith, Sydney, 1975, plate 37 (Surry Hills). Also The 

Heritage of Australia, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1981, pp. 2/56 item 12 (Roseneath Cottage), 

3/138 item 8 (Moyston) and 3/174 item 1 (Beechworth). 

12 

Of the type shown in Miles Lewis’, Victorian Primitive, Greenhouse, Melbourne, 1979. 

13 


Marong, 1985, p. 112. 

5


Name Rocky Vale Villa Reference in 1998 

study 

Address 7 Wick’s Road, Maiden Gully Map reference VicRoads 606 H/J 7 

Building type Private residence Survey date December 2011 


construction 

MG2 

c. 1873-1891 (completion) Recommendation Include in the Schedule 

to the Heritage 

Overlay 1 

Significance Rocky Vale is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Left: Front (south) elevation c. early 1980s (Source: Ruth Hopkins. Moving Forward, Looking Back, 

the History of the Marong Shire, Shire of Marong, 1995, p. 14). Right: Front elevation, December 

2011. 


with the subject site highlighted green (MG2). Note The extent of the overlay is indicative only. 2 


Existing 


HV AHC NT 

History 

Rocky Vale Villa was designed and built by stonemason William Beebe Senior (c. 1827-1891), two of 

whose sons, John and William, followed their father to become stonemasons, later practising as 

architects. John Beebe was later in partnership with noted Bendigo architect, William Vahland. Beebe 

Snr was born in the village of Cottesmore in the county of Rutland, England, arriving at Portland, 

Victoria towards the end of 1854. He and his wife were at Myers Flat, north-west of Bendigo by 1857, 

1


having initially spent some time in Dunkeld, in the Western District. Beebe Snr established a dairy at 

Homevale, Myers Flat, acquiring two allotments at Maiden Gully in 1873 and 1875. By 1875, the 

Beebes were living at the family stone yard while Rocky Vale Villa was under construction. 3 

The house took almost 20 years to construct, and was finally completed in 1891, the same year that 

William Beebe Senior died. It was built of sandstone and granite quarried at the property, with 

Harcourt granite used for the lintels and quoins. The property previously included a two-acre orchard, 

irrigated by the dam, which survives. Beebe Snr was an outspoken character, given to expressing his 

firm opinions through the local press. 4 His stonework is found at cemeteries throughout the Bendigo 

region. The Beebes were a prominent family for many years in the Bendigo area. As well as the work 

of William Beebe Snr’s architect sons, William Beebe Junior was a councillor and mayor of the City of 

Bendigo. 



4.6: Exploiting other mineral, forest and water resources 

5.8: Working 


The following description is based on analysis of photography dating to the 1980s and 1990s, recent 

aerial photography, the description of the property prepared by Andrew Ward in 1998 5 , and 

information acquired in a site visit, December 2011. 

Rocky Vale Villa is a two-storey rustic Gothic Revival house built of sandstone and granite, located to 

the south of the Calder Highway at Maiden Gully, at the end of a private drive. It was designed and 

built by English stonemason William Beebe over a period of almost 20 years from the early 1870s. 

While the front elevation and side elevation remains largely intact, rear alterations include the addition 

of a one-storey, cream brick veneer structure used as a kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry most likely 

dating from the 1960s. Also, two small, one-storey buildings have been built in close proximity to the 

house. 6 

Rocky Vale Villa is a robust and well detailed residence on an ‘L’ shaped plan, with an engaged tower 

at the junction of the two gabled wings. The principal elevation faces north. The front door is to the 

east face of the tower; the latter has a more steeply pitched roof than the two wings and its gable 

ends have copings, skew corbels over dressed stone quoins, fleur de lis finials in the Gothic manner 

and a small cartouche reading Rocky Vale Villa. The two wings, with comparatively shallow pitched 

roofs, also have copings to the gable ends. The apex of the north wing is terminated with a finial; a 

chimney is located at the apex of the east wing. The roof areas are clad with corrugated galvanised 

sheet steel, which is not original. 

The coursed stonework incorporates granite heads, sills and architraves to the windows and gable 

vents and there are granite quoins. The windows have stone block sills, lintels, mullions and 

architraves. At the ground floor, the windows are tall double-hung sashes. The first floor windows 

have three elements which appear to comprise a double-hung sash and fixed fanlight. The attic 

windows are either blind, as in the north wing, or in three elements, as in the tower. 

There is an intact domed well in the yard in good condition and two original dams, one lined with 

sandstone, on each side of the house towards the rear. 7 

The property has limited prominence in the local landscape due to its location at the end of a private 

drive. 


In the Australian colonies, two-storey houses in random (irregular) coursed stone, or random rubble 

stone, with smooth dressing generally occurred where owners had the money or persistence and 

typically utilised picturesque Gothic or Cottage Orné effects. A contemporary example in New South 

Wales is Abercrombie House, Bathurst (1870-8), which is also in granite with Dutch gabling. 8 The Lshaped 

massing at Rocky Vale Villa also relates to a picturesque composition with Gothic detailing 

2


seen earlier in Sir Thomas Mitchell’s Carthona in Sydney, 1841-4, 9 in the Melbourne area with both 

the stucco-rendered Banyule at Heidelberg (1846), and the random rubble basalt of Invergowrie and 

the Hawthorns, Hawthorn (1846.). 10 A local although simpler counterpart is Hope Park at 12 Weir 

Court, Kangaroo Flat (1867). The most inventive in Victoria’s genre were Davidson and Henderson’s 

contemporary Narrapumelap at Wickliffe (1877), and Joseph Reed’s trio, Barragunda at Cape Schanck 

(1865), Heronswood at Dromana (1864), and the round-arched Kolor at Penshurst (1868). 11 

Narrapumelap and Kolor are in the Western District; Barragunda and Heronswood are on the 

Mornington Peninsula. All these designs are undeniably more adventurous and inventive than Rocky 

Vale Villa, which is more focussed on details and the basics of stone construction. 




Rocky Vale Villa (built 1870s-1891), at 7 Wick’s Road, Maiden Gully, is of historical significance. The 

two-storey residence built of locally quarried sandstone and granite is testament to the skill and 

perseverance of its builder, English stonemason William Beebe Snr, who commenced construction of 

the house in the early-1870s, and completed it in 1891, the same year he died. Beebe’ stonework is 

found at cemeteries throughout the Bendigo area. Two of his sons, William and John, also followed 

their father, becoming stonemasons and later architects. John Beebe was later in partnership with 

noted Bendigo architect, William Vahland. William Beebe Jnr was also Mayor of the City of Bendigo. 



Rocky Vale Villa is a rare example in the municipality of a substantial two-storey stone house built in 

the picturesque Gothic Revival mode, a style commonly found in parts of New South Wales and 

Victoria from the 1840s until the 1870s. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

Rocky Vale Villa, at 7 Wick’s Road, Maiden Gully, is of aesthetic/architectural significance. It is a rare 

local example of a substantial two-storey stone house built in the picturesque Gothic Revival mode, a 

style commonly found in parts of New South Wales and Victoria from the 1840s until the 1870s, the 

decade that construction of Rocky Vale Villa began. The main north elevation is essentially intact as 

completed in 1891. Detailing of note includes the engaged tower at the junction of the two gabled 

wings, the pitched roof forms, stone quoins, and fleur de lis finials, and the coursed stonework which 

incorporates granite heads, sills and architraves to the windows and gable vents. While there are 

more adventurous and inventive Gothic Revival dwellings of the nineteenth century (including outside 

the municipality), Rocky Vale Villa is particularly focussed on the detailing and the basics of stone 

construction. This is perhaps not surprising given William Beebe Snr’s profession as a stonemason. 



N/A 

3





N/A 



Rocky Vale Villa has some significance for its association with William Beebe Snr, the original owner 

and builder of the dwelling, whose stonework is found at cemeteries throughout the Bendigo area. 

Two of his sons, William and John, were also local stonemasons and architects, with John eventually 

forming a partnership with noted Bendigo architect, William Vahland; and William later becoming 

Mayor of the City of Bendigo. 



Rocky Vale Villa, built 1870s-1891, is at 7 Wick’s Road, Maiden Gully. 

Rocky Vale Villa is a rustic Gothic Revival two-storey house built of sandstone and granite, on a ‘L’ 

shaped plan with an engaged tower at the junction of the two gabled wings. The principal elevation 

faces north. The front door is to the east face of the tower, which has a more steeply pitched roof 

than the two wings. The tower’s gable ends have copings, skew corbels over dressed stone quoins, 

fleur de lis finials in the Gothic manner and a small cartouche reading Rocky Vale Villa. The two 

wings, with comparatively shallow pitched roofs, also have copings to the gable ends. The roof areas 

are clad with corrugated galvanised sheet steel, which is not original. The coursed stonework 

incorporates granite heads, sills and architraves to the windows and gable vents, and granite quoins. 

The windows have stone block sills, lintels, mullions and architraves. There is a domed well in the 

yard. The property has limited prominence in the local landscape due to its location at the end of a 

private drive. 

The mid to late 20 th century, brick veneer additions in the rear of the building, both attached and 

freestanding, are non-significant and detract from the interpretation of the place. 


Rocky Vale Villa is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


Rocky Vale Villa is historically important in the local context (Criterion A). It is associated with English 

stonemason William Beebe Snr, who built the property of locally quarried sandstone and granite over 

a period of almost 20 years from the early-1870s. The residence is testament to the skill and 

perseverance of its builder, who died the year the house was completed (1891). Beebe’ stonework is 

found at cemeteries throughout the Bendigo area. The property is also associated with two of Beebe’s 

sons, William and John, who were also local stonemasons and architects, with John eventually forming 

a partnership with noted Bendigo architect, William Vahland; and William later becoming Mayor of the 

City of Bendigo (Criterion H). Rocky Vale Villa is a rare local example of a substantial two-storey 

stone house built in the picturesque Gothic Revival mode, a style commonly found in parts of New 

South Wales and Victoria from the 1840s until the 1870s (Criterion B). Architecturally (Criterion E), 

the main north elevation is essentially intact as completed in 1891. Detailing of note includes the 

engaged tower at the junction of the two gabled wings, the pitched roof forms, stone quoins, and fleur 

de lis finials, and the coursed stonework which incorporates granite heads, sills and architraves to the 

windows and gable vents. While there are more adventurous and inventive nineteenth century Gothic 

Revival dwellings (including outside the municipality), Rocky Vale Villa is particularly focussed on the 

detailing and basics of stone construction. This is perhaps not surprising given William Beebe Snr’s 

profession as a stonemason. 

4



The property is recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo Heritage Overlay 

local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. The recommended extent of the Overlay is 

indicated in the map above, with the focus of significance concentrated in the two-storey stone 

building. The mid to late 20 th century, brick veneer additions to the rear of the stone building, both 

attached and freestanding are not significant and detract from the overall interpretation of the place; 

it is recommended that they be removed. 12 









Identified By 


References 




1993. 


Specific: 

1 

Changed from provisional – site visit completed December 2011. 

2 


3 


2003, p. 233. 

4 


1987, pp. 168-169. 

5 

‘Rocky Vale Villa’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) 


6 

Site visit, Amanda Jean and Katie Nolan, 1 December 2011. 

7 


8 

The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1981, pp. 2/254-5, item 4. 

9 

Graham Jahn and others, Sydney Architecture, Watermark, Sydney, 1997, p. 31 item 142. 

10 

Philip Goad and others, Melbourne Architecture, Watermark, Sydney, 1999, 2007, pp. 18 item 

10 (Banyule), 19 item 13 (The Hawthorns), 20 item 16 (Invergowrie). 

11 

See The Heritage of Australia, p. 3/139 (Narrapumelap), and Philip Goad and others, Bates 

Smart: 150 Years of Australian Architecture, Thames and Hudson, Melbourne, 2004, pp. 36-7 

(Barragunda), 37 (Heronswood) and 58 (Kolor). 

12 


5


Name Maiden Gully Community 

Centre 

Address 5 Beckhams Road, Maiden 

Gully 


Marong Study 

MG3 


Building type Former school room Survey date June 2010 (external 



construction 




Significance The Maiden Gully Community Centre is not of local heritage significance, and is 

not recommended for inclusion in the Heritage Overlay. 

Left: Myers Creek School, no. 1592. This prefabricated school room, designed by Percy Everett, was 

constructed in 1938 and has been demolished (Source: Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way it 

Was, Volume 1, 2003, p. 213). Right: The present schoolroom was constructed in 1967. Its original 

asbestos cement sheet wall lining has been replaced with timber boards. 

Left: North elevation of the buildings.. Right: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 


History 

Myers Creek School opened on this site at Beckhams Road, Maiden Gully on 1 July 1875. The first 

head teacher was Patrick Fitzpatrick. Average attendance was 22, the school being of timber 

construction with a capacity for 72 pupils. As enrolments fluctuated, it was closed from time to time. 

The original school building was relocated to Torrumbarry South in 1925. 1 Over a decade later, in 

response to lobbying by the Maiden Gully Progress League, new school facilities were commissioned. 2 

1


On 21 October 1937, Messrs Midgeley and Thurwell were awarded the contract for the construction of 

a prefabricated timber school building measuring 6.1m by 3.7m, with a porch measuring 1.2sqm. The 

building, described as a ‘portable timber panelled school’ on the working drawings, was designed by 

Percy Everett, the noted Chief Architect of the Victorian Public Works Department. 3 New designs for 

small portable schools were tested in the 1930s, some using new materials. Designs generally had 

low pitched gable roofs with horizontal fenestration on a modular grid with a concrete chimney if 

required. Oxley Flats No. 2347 (1937) and the Maiden Gully School were examples. It is not recorded 

what became of the Maiden Gully prefabricated school; it may have been by razed by fire. 4 It was 

replaced by the smaller current prefabricated building with asbestos cement sheet wall linings, in 

1967. 5 This building, which survives in modified form, is attached by a corridor to a flat-roofed 

timber-clad prefab of unknown date. The former school complex is now the Maiden Gully Community 

Centre, with barbeque facilities to the north of the site. The present Maiden Gully Primary School 

opened on nearby Carolyn Way in 1988. 






Maiden Gully Community Centre, the former Myers Creek School complex, comprises a single roomed 

prefabricated former classroom (built 1967), with a larger flat-roofed classroom to the north. A 

corridor to the rear (south) of the larger classroom links the two buildings. There is a gable roofed 

metal garage/store to the east of the former school buildings. Since 1998, the 1967 classroom has 

been reclad in timber panels, replacing the earlier asbestos cement sheet wall linings. The shallow 

pitched gabled roof survives. No buildings of heritage value remain at the site. 


The small timber-clad prefabricated classroom, previously sheeted in asbestos cement wall linings, 

compares with countless small, prefabricated buildings across Victoria, Australia and beyond dating 

from the 1960s. The present example has been modified since the 1998, presumably to remove the 

asbestos-containing materials from a public facility. 




The former school complex at Maiden Gully, now Maiden Gully Community Centre, is of some historical 

interest for its association with the Myers Creek School established on the site in 1875. In the 1930s, 

the school received a new prefabricated timber school building, designed by noted Victorian Public 

Works Department Chief Architect , Percy Everett, by way of ‘testing’ these new classroom facilities. 

This structure is no longer extant. The school operated intermittently until 1988, when it was replaced 

by the Maiden Gully Primary School, on nearby Carolyn Way. The present site includes a modified 

prefabricated building dating to 1967. No buildings of heritage value remain at the site. 



N/A 



N/A 

2



objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

N/A 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 


The former school complex at Maiden Gully, now Maiden Gully Community Centre, is of some historical 

interest for its association with the Myers Creek School established on the site in 1875. In the 1930s, 

the school received a new prefabricated timber school building, designed by noted Victorian Public 

Works Department Chief Architect , Percy Everett, by way of ‘testing’ these new classroom facilities. 

This structure is no longer extant. The school operated intermittently until 1988, when it was replaced 

by the Maiden Gully Primary School, on nearby Carolyn Way. The present site includes a modified 

prefabricated building dating to 1967. No buildings of heritage value remain at the site. 



Overlay. While the site has some historical interest, this is not sufficient to warrant inclusion in the 

Heritage Overlay. 









3


Identified By 


References 



Vision and Realisation, Education Department, v.2., 1973. 

Ross Jones, Back to Maiden Gully 50 Years1938-1988 Primary School 1592, 1988. 

Specific: 

1 


2 


2003, pp. 211-13; and ‘Maiden Gully Community Centre,’ citation, Andrew Ward, Andrew 


3 


2003, pp. 211-13; and ‘Maiden Gully Community Centre,’ citation, Andrew Ward, Andrew 


Ward describes the building at measuring 9.1m (30ft) x 3m (10ft). 

4 


2003, p. 213. 

5 


4


Name Ninnes Lone Grave and Reserve Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address Allotment 36, Parish of Marong, 

Maiden Gully, access by Pioneer 

Drive and Kawana Drive 

MG4 

Map reference VicRoads 606 H5 

Building type Grave Survey date July 2010 


construction 

Grave (1852); stone wall (1853) Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance Ninnes Lone Grave and Reserve is of at least local historical significance and is 

recommended for inclusion in the Heritage Overlay. It is also recommended for 

nomination to the Victorian Heritage Register. 

Left: Ninnes Lone Grave, looking south. Right: Ninnes Lone Grave, looking north. 

Left: Headstone to west internal wall face. Right: Interpretation board. 


with the subject site designated as MG4. 


1


History 

Thomas and Maria Ninnes and their children arrived in Australia at Point Henry, Geelong, on 8 

November 1848 aboard the Andromache from Cornwall, moving from there to South Australia. In 

February 1852, Thomas, Maria and their three daughters, Mary, Martha and Grace, left the copper 

mines in Burra, South Australia and headed for the Bendigo goldfields. They travelled overland by 

wagon and eventually arrived at Myers’ Creek (now Maiden Gully). The couple’s daughter, Jane 

Ninnes, was born en route in March 1852. At Myer's Creek, Maria and her two young daughters, 

Grace and Jane, became ill. Both Grace (aged two) and Jane (aged two months) died on 29 May 

1852. Maria died shortly afterwards in July 1852. Thomas buried Maria with the two children and 

built a cairn to mark the spot. He inscribed a nearby tree with their names and the date 7 July 1852. 

According to Thomas’ notebook of July 7 1852: 

We took sum boards from the Burra with us which turned to make coffins. I made a 

nice coffin for the two children. My wife requested me to make a cofin for her also. It 

was a severe trial to me but I managed to make it Bound it with white cloth It 

appeared very nice John Thomas and sons dug the graves Nicholas Trahair read the 

burial service. So ends the history of a good clean carefull affectionate wife Myself 

with Mary + Martha was left to mourn our loss. 

In November 1853, Thomas returned to the grave site and noted that he: 

built a stone wall round the graves of my wife + and two children and cut the names in 

a large tree at the head of there graves The wall is alright but the tree is cut down … 

Thomas Ninnes left Myer's Creek and returned to South Australia with his two surviving daughters in 

December 1853. Purchasing a farm at Clare in South Australia, he remarried and had several more 

children. Thomas died in 1894, requesting in his will that the grave be found, repaired and 

maintained. In 1905, Thomas and Maria’s surviving daughters, Mary and Martha, returned to Maiden 

Gully to arrange a more permanent stone wall and headstone, and during the 1920s and 1930s an 

unknown stone mason reset and mortared the sandstone. Over the years, local residents have 

maintained the site. Family members also reputedly hold an annual pilgrimage to the grave. 

Peter Rohs was the first owner of Allotment 36, from 1869-1910; the grave was located within this 

larger allotment. An immigrant from Denmark, he operated a bone and flock mill on the property. 

Subsequent owners include E W Hands, Mr & Mrs Wearnes, Desmond Checcucci (owner from 1954- 

1966), Joseph Brains (owner from 1966-?), and more recently developers Return Nominees Pty Ltd, 

Queensland. The City of Greater Bendigo are now the owners of the site on which the graves are 

located, which is a Council reserve. A cement capping to the wall, mortar repairs, and an engraved 

memorial stone, are the most recent (probably 1990s) additions to the grave. 1 




8.5: Preserving traditions and commemorating 


The Ninnes Lone Grave and Reserve is located on a sloping allotment in Maiden Gully between Pioneer 

Drive to the south and Kawana Drive to the north. A pedestrian pathway provides access from both 

ends. The reserve is surrounded by modern housing development. The grave itself is surrounded by 

a stone wall, measuring approximately 3m x 2.5m and rising to 0.9m at its highest point. A number 

of different mortars are evident, reflecting upgrade works carried out over time. These include at 

least two different cement based mortars and a mud-based mortar. The remnants of cambered 

cement capping are evident to the tops of the walls. The base of the grave interior is natural earth. A 

headstone is fixed to the western interior (see page 1). The grave is in sound condition. It has been 

noted that some repairs have been unsympathetic (notably mortars) to the origins of the grave, and 

that the headstone requires regilding. 2 The grave reserve includes a number of naturally occurring 

native trees, including Grey Box (Eucalyptus microcarpa). Timber post and rail fencing lines the 

2


reserve boundaries. An interpretation sign, installed in 2002, is located to the east of the grave, next 

to the path. 


Multiple examples of lone graves (also known as pioneer graves) exist across Victoria. They are 

generally associated with episodes in the early exploration and settlement of the State, such as the 

gold-induced settlement of Myers Flat (Maiden Gully) in the early 1850s. Many also pre-date the 1853 

introduction of the civil registration of deaths in Victoria. The 2009 Conservation Management Plan for 

the Ninnes Lone Grave and Reserve, notes that ‘the Ninnes Lone Grave is one of the very earliest 

known lone graves in Victoria … [and] pre-dates the first recorded death in the Bendigo region (1 

August 1852) … The comprehensive information assembled by … Mrs Edith Lunn, together with the 

intact original fabric of the grave, hard-won retention of a vestige of its once-rural setting, and the 

discovery of supporting documentary evidence through the memoirs of the grave’s creator Thomas 

Ninnes makes this site one of the finest examples in the State today.’ 3 




The Ninnes Lone Grave is historically significant as one of the finest and best preserved examples of a 

lone grave (also known as pioneer graves) in Victoria; for its association with the earliest gold-rush 

related settlement and activity at Myers’ Creek (now Maiden Gully); and for its capacity to 

demonstrate aspects of the often very harsh pioneering conditions experienced by the diggers, 

particularly those with families and young children. The Ninnes Lone Grave is also understood to be 

one of the very earliest known lone graves in Victoria, and pre-dates the first recorded European 

death in the Bendigo region. The Ninnes’ migration from South Australia additionally demonstrates 

the often transient nature of life for people seeking work and income in Colonial Australia, including 

the movement (in this case) of Cornish miners from the copper mines of Burra to the Bendigo 

goldfields. While the grave and reserve are now surrounded by modern housing development, the 

retention of a small area of native vegetation helps preserve an aspect of the grave’s original context. 



N/A 



The Ninnes Lone Grave provides graphic evidence of the realities of life as experienced by families on 

the early goldfields and helps document the tragic experience of the Ninnes family, losing two children 

on a single day followed by the mother, Maria Ninnes only weeks later. 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

N/A 



N/A 

3





N/A 



N/A 



The Ninnes Lone Grave and Reserve is surrounded by modern housing development. The grave itself 

is enclosed by a stone wall, measuring approximately 3m x 2.5m and rising to 0.9m at its highest 

point. A number of different mortars are evident, reflecting upgrade works carried out over time. 

These include at least two different cement based mortars and a mud-based mortar. The remnants of 

cambered cement capping are evident to the tops of the walls. The grave reserve includes a number 

of naturally occurring native trees, including Grey Box (Eucalyptus microcarpa). Timber post and rail 

fencing lines the reserve boundaries. An interpretation sign, installed in 2002, is located to the east of 

the grave, next to the path. 


Ninnes Lone Grave and Reserve is of local historical significance. The site may also be of significance 

in the State-wide context. 


The Ninnes Lone Grave is of at least local significance (Criterion A) as one of the finest and best 

preserved examples of a lone grave (also known as pioneer graves) in Victoria; for its association with 

the earliest gold-rush related settlement and activity at Myers’ Creek (now Maiden Gully); and for its 

capacity to demonstrate aspects of the often very harsh pioneering conditions experienced by the 

diggers, particularly those with families and young children. The Ninnes Lone Grave is also 

understood to be one of the very earliest known lone graves in Victoria, and pre-dates the first 

recorded European death in the Bendigo region. The Ninnes’ migration from South Australia 

additionally demonstrates the often transient nature of life for people seeking work and income in 

Colonial Australia, including the movement (in this case) of Cornish miners from the copper mines of 

Burra to the Bendigo goldfields. While the grave and reserve are now surrounded by modern housing 

development, the retention of a small area of native vegetation helps preserve an aspect of the 

grave’s original context. The Ninnes Lone Grave is also significant (Criterion C) for providing graphic 

evidence of the realities of life as experienced by families on the early goldfields, and helps document 

the tragic experience of the Ninnes family, losing two children on a single day followed by the mother, 

Maria Ninnes only weeks later. 


The Ninnes Lone Grave and Reserve is recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater 

Bendigo Heritage Overlay, to the extent of the reserve accessible from Pioneer Drive and Kawana 

Drive, and as shown on the above map. The focus of significance is on the grave and the natural 

setting of the reserve, which should be retained. The site is owned and managed by the City of 

Greater Bendigo, which commissioned a conservation management plan for the site in 2009 (Lee 

Andrews & Associates, see references). The CMP includes a suite of conservation and management 

policies, which are recommended to guide the future care and conservation of the site. 

Given the potential State-level significance, consideration could be given to nominating the property to 

the Victorian Heritage Register. 

4










Identified By 


References 

Lee Andrews & Associates, Ninnes Lone Grave and Reserve Conservation Management Plan, 2009. 



Specific: 

1 

The history is derived from Lee Andrews & Associates, Ninnes Lone Grave and Reserve 

Conservation Management Plan, 2009; ‘Lone Grave,’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of 

Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. Reference is also made 

to, Annette O'Donahue, The Lone Grave, paper submitted in part fulfilment of Diploma of 

Regional Studies, School of Education and Arts, Latrobe University, Bendigo, 1988. 

2 

Lee Andrews & Associates, Ninnes Lone Grave and Reserve Conservation Management Plan, 

2009, pp. 29-30, referring to a 2009 inspection by heritage archaeologist David Bannear. 

3 

Lee Andrews & Associates, Ninnes Lone Grave and Reserve Conservation Management Plan, 

2009, p. 55. 

5


Name Byronsvale (formerly Turand) Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 51 Andrews Road, Maiden Gully Map reference VicRoads 606 D7 

Building type Bed and breakfast 

accommodation, including stables 


construction 

MG5 



Built from 1872 Recommendation Include in the 



Significance Byronsvale is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Left: Byronsvale (then Turand), c. 1950s, following renovations (Source: Private collection, Pat and 

David Andrew). Right: North elevation, note recent verandah. 

Left: Byronsvale looking west, note new entrance porch to 1872 wing (left), and additions to the west 

elevation. Right: Former stables, converted to accommodation. 

1


Left: Aerial view, 2010, with the house at top and the stables at bottom right. Right: Proposed 

Heritage Overlay map, with the indicative location of the subject site highlighted green (MG5). 


History 

David Chaplin Sterry (1832-1904) was born in Suffolk, England, and arrived in Bendigo in 1853, 

where he prospected at the Epsom and Huntly diggings before focussing his attention on deep lead 

mining, which made him a very rich man. 1 Sterry worked on the Victoria Reef, at Ironbark, had 

interests in the Catherine Reef at Eaglehawk, formed the New Victoria Gold Mining Company, was a 

major shareholder in the Catherine Reef United and a local director in the Bendigo Goldfields 

Company. 2 In March 1867 Sterry took up land at Myers Creek, later known as Maiden Gully, acquiring 

additional land over the years. By 1868, he had 4ha (10 acres) under cultivation. He erected a hut 

there in 1868, and built the first stage of the present house in 1872. 3 As with the adjacent stables 

complex, the house was built of hand made bricks and local sandstone. The property had a net asset 

value of £60 in 1872. 4 Also in 1872, Sterry commissioned the construction of the Goldmines Hotel on 

the Marong Road, Ironbark, near the Victoria Reef. 

Sterry took a strong interest in local government, being elected president of the Marong Shire on four 

occasions, and holding his seat until 1903. He served concurrently on the Sandhurst City Council and 

was Mayor of the City in 1878-79. He was elected to the Legislative Council for the Northern Province 

in 1882, retiring in 1889 to take up a seat in the Assembly representing the newly formed electorate 

of South Sandhurst. He held his seat until 1904 when failing health caused his retirement from public 

life. He died shortly afterwards. 5 






Byronsvale (previously Turand) is located on Andrews Road at the south of Maiden Gully. Access is 

via a driveway from Andrews Road. The property includes the main north-facing house, two-storey 

sandstone stables, a former dairy and modern outbuildings, and vineyards which provide a fine 

northern aspect from the house. 

House 

The house was built in two principal stages, 1872 and c. 1880s. Additions and alterations were 

carried out in the early 2000s. The 1872 component at the south of the house is a narrow gable 

roofed bay composed of random (irregular) coursed rubble stone. The larger 1880s addition to the 

north is built of red brick on sandstone footings and plinth with a hipped roof of painted, corrugated 

galvanised steel. Given the material homogeneity of the southern 1872 stone component with the 

2


stables (see description below) it is assumed that the brick component was a ‘frontispiece’ or 

improvement to the original house. 6 The narrow link element between the 1872 and c. 1880s 

components was previously weatherboard. The present stone infill is recent. 7 The south elevation of 

the 1872 wing is symmetrical, with a central facetted porch (built early 2000s) flanked by a double 

hung sash window to each side. The windows have red brick dressings. The gable ends are 

parapeted, with a simple brick chimney to the east. The north elevation of the c. 1880s brick wing, 

also symmetrical, is distinguished by a central gabled pediment. A frieze below the eaves line is of 

ornamental brickwork, comprising a bracketed string course returning to the east and west elevations. 

On the north elevation the string course is surmounted by a course of brick angled outwards in a dogtooth 

pattern. Below the bracketed course line a new verandah (also built in the early 2000s) is 

anchored, its outer frame being in crisp-cut timber with an ‘X’-patterned timber balustrade. The 

verandah replaced a 1950s two column porch; it returns to both the east and west elevations. To the 

west, it continues to a pergola, accessed from a new door opening to the west elevation. Other than 

those noted above, recent works include an addition to the east elevation, with an outsized chamfered 

bay with over-scaled windows at the north end. 

Stables 

The former stables (now accommodation), to the south-east of the house, is a long-standing (c. 1872) 

two-storey gable-roofed sandstone building, with a timber roof frame clad in painted corrugated 

galvanised steel. The gable ends have parapets with quoins formed from multiple brick courses at 

each corner. The cambered window heads and the architraves are also framed in brick. The stable 

windows are generally two-paned double-hung timber sashes. With the exception of the timber door 

to the former hay loft all of these are recent replacements. The stone is in random (irregular) courses 

nearer the ground and gradually loses course definition higher up, much like the 1872 component of 

the house. The building has been extended to the east and south. The skillion roofed south lean-to 

has stone side walls and a weatherboard south wall. The east lean-to has a Castlemaine-stone plinth, 

weatherboard walling and modern double-hung sash windows. 

A mud brick former dairy is located to the west of the stables. It has a new roof, door, fascia, roof 

posts, render and over painting. 

Byronsvale is set in an extensive open landscape, with associated vineyards to the north and 

woodland to the south. 


The house and stables, in combination, are distinctive; the stables also rival the house in size. This is 

true of some large working farm compounds, such as Iandra (c. 1910) at Greenthorpe in Central New 

South Wales. 8 The use of projecting brick courses, dentils and angled brick parallels examples in 

Kangaroo Flat shopfronts and former hotels, and appears to be common Bendigo detailing. The 

stables are imposing in their mass, and in this regard compare with the two-storey bluestone 

barn/store at the farm complex at 550 McKenzie Road, south-east of Marong. In terms of the 

application of sandstone, Byronsvale compares with two Maiden Gully properties, Rocky Vale Villa 

(early 1870s to 1891) and Pratty’s Patch. Pratty’s Patch, located close by, shares several other details 

with Byronsvale, including the parapet gabling with stepped-section coping terminated by corner piers, 

the variation between coursed and completely random (irregular) rubble stone, and brick architraves 

in rubble stonework. 




Byronsvale (built from 1872) on Andrews Road to the south of Maiden Gully is of historical significance 

as an early surviving farm house complex in the district, recalling the area’s long history of agricultural 

production supplying the Bendigo market. The property, including its evolved form and substantial 

stables complex, helps demonstrate aspects of the lifestyle that could be attained with wealth founded 

on gold. Byronsvale is also significant for its association with the first owner, successful miner, 

entrepreneur, local politician and State parliamentarian of some standing, David Chaplin Sterry (1832- 

3


1904). Sterry acquired land at Myers Creek (Maiden Gully) in 1867 and also commissioned the 

Goldmines Hotel at the Marong Road, Ironbark, near the Victoria Reef. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

Byronsvale, built from 1872, is of aesthetic/architectural significance. The earliest components, being 

the south wing of the house and the stables, are elegant stone structures which form a distinctive 

combination; the stables also rival the house in size. The c. 1880s addition to the house transformed 

it into a villa of some substance and included some architectural flourishes such as the central gabled 

pediment and frieze of ornamental brickwork. The house and stables are substantially intact to their 

periods of construction, while the various additions do not significantly detract from an appreciation of 

the original building forms. The relationship between the house and stables is also important and 

helps demonstrate the earliest layout and function of the property. The current, largely informal 

setting, with vineyards to the north and woodland to the south, additionally enhances the presentation 

of the property. 



N/A 




Byronsvale is significant for its association with David Chaplin Sterry, the first owner, who was a 

successful miner, entrepreneur, local politician and State parliamentarian of some standing. 



Byronsvale (previously Turand) is located on Andrews Road to the south of Maiden Gully, and is 

accessed via a driveway from Andrews Road. The property includes the main north-facing house, 

two-storey sandstone stables, a former dairy and modern outbuildings, and vineyards which provide a 

fine northern aspect from the house. The house was built in two principal stages, 1872 and c. 1880s, 

with additions and alterations in the early 2000s. The 1872 component at the south of the house is a 

narrow gable roofed bay composed of random (irregular) coursed rubble stone. The larger 1880s 

addition to the north is of red brick on sandstone footings and plinth with a hipped roof of painted, 

corrugated galvanised steel. The south elevation of the 1872 wing is symmetrical, with a central 

facetted porch (built early 2000s) and parapeted gable ends with a simple brick chimney to the east. 

The north elevation of the 1880s brick wing, also symmetrical, has a central gabled pediment and a 

frieze below the eaves line of ornamental brickwork. Below this again is a new verandah (early 

2000s) which returns to the east and west elevations, and an ‘X’-patterned timber balustrade. The c. 

4


1872 former stables (now accommodation) to the south-east of the house is a two-storey gableroofed 

sandstone building; the gable ends have parapets with quoins formed from multiple brick 

courses. The stone is in random (irregular) courses nearer the ground and gradually loses course 

definition higher up, much like the 1872 component of the house. The building has been extended to 

the east and south. A mud brick former dairy is located to the west of the stables. It has a new roof, 

door, fascia, roof posts, render and over painting. 

Byronsvale is set in an extensive open landscape, with associated vineyards to the north and 

woodland to the south. 


Byronsvale on Andrews Road to the south of Maiden Gully is of local historical and 



Byronsvale, the original and early components of which date to the 1870s and 1880s, is historically 

significant (Criterion A) as an early surviving farm house complex in the district, recalling the area’s 

long history of agricultural production supplying the Bendigo market. The property, including its 

evolved form and substantial stables complex, helps demonstrate aspects of the lifestyle that could be 

attained with wealth founded on gold. Byronsvale is also significant for its association with the first 

owner, successful miner, entrepreneur, local politician and State parliamentarian of some standing, 

David Chaplin Sterry (1832-1904) (Criterion G). Sterry acquired land at Myers Creek (Maiden Gully) 

in 1867 and also commissioned the Goldmines Hotel at the Marong Road, Ironbark, near the Victoria 

Reef. Architecturally (Criterion E), the earliest components, being the south wing of the house and 

the stables, are elegant stone structures which form a distinctive combination; the stables also rival 

the house in size. The c. 1880s addition to the house transformed it into a villa of some substance 

and included some architectural flourishes such as the central gabled pediment and frieze of 

ornamental brickwork. The house and stables are substantially intact to their periods of construction, 

while the various additions do not significantly detract from an appreciation of the original building 

forms. The relationship between the house and stables is also important and helps demonstrate the 

earliest layout and function of the property. The current setting, with vineyards to the north and 

woodland to the south, additionally enhances the presentation of the property. 


The property is recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo Heritage Overlay, 

to the extent of the area indicated in the above map. The focus of significance is on the house, built 

in 1872/1880s; the stables (c. 1872); and the informal landscape setting to these historic structures. 

The additions of the 2000s and other modifications to the buildings are not significant elements. If 

the additions were to be removed, consideration could be given to reinstating the original form of the 

buildings. The original unpainted exteriors of the house and stables should remain unpainted. 









5


Identified By 


References 






Specific: 

1 


2003, pp. 170-71. 

2 

‘Turand’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study 

Area, Stage 2, 1998, and Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown 

Castleton Publishers, 2003, pp. 170-71. 

3 

Ken Arnold suggests that the first stage of the present house was built in 1862. He does not 

cite sources, see Bendigo its Environs, The Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castleton Publishers, 

2003, pp. 170-71. 

4 

Shire of Marong rate books 1867-1873. 

5 

K Thomson and G and Serle, A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament 1859-1900, 

ANUP, 1972, p.201. See also, ‘Turand’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo 

Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998, and Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, 

The Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castleton Publishers, 2003, pp. 170-71. 

6 

The ‘frontispiece’ was well established as an additive and visual amplification in a series of 

Tasmanian homesteads (Woolmers, Panshanger, Clarendon, Killymoon, Mona Vale) and in 

Victoria as well (Mandevelle Hall, Toorak). See Conrad Hamann, ‘Australian Architecture: 

Themes in a Diverse Culture,’ in Neil Durbach and others, Abundant Australia, exhibition 

catalogue, XI International Architecture Exhibition, Biennale, Venice, 2008, pp. 16-17. More 

specific dating of the brick component as opposed to the stone is difficult: by the 1860s both 

materials were widely available locally in the forms seen here, and the detailing was also well 

established (cf. Kangaroo Flat). 

7 

Pers comm, Pat Andrews, property owners, and Adam Mornement, Lovell chen, July 2010. 

8 

The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1981, p. 2/278, items 5, 6 and 9. 

6


Name Former Shamrock Hotel and 

Store 

Address 63 Whewell Street, corner 

Miller Street, Neilborough 


hotel) 


construction 


Marong Study 

N01 

Map reference VicRoads 44 E3 (external 


Survey date July 2010 

c. 1904 Recommendation Include the Schedule to 


Significance The former Shamrock Hotel and Store is of local historical and 


Left: The original Shamrock Hotel, undated, viewed from the north-east (Source: Marie H Manning 

(ed), Back-To Raywood and District Souvenir Booklet, 1973, p. 16). Right: The Crapper family in 

front of the Shamrock before 1904, when the hotel was razed by fire (Source: Ken Arnold, Bendigo 

its Environs, The Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castleton Publishers, 2003, p. 381). 

Left: View of the present Shamrock Hotel from the north-east. Note chimneys. Right: East and 

south elevations. 

1


Left: North elevation. Right: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 

Proposed Heritage Overlay map (indicative only), with the subject site shown as N01. 1 


History 

Gold was discovered in the Whipstick, at Flagstaff hill, in the early 1850s. By the middle of the decade 

prospectors had moved north to Elysian Flat (Neilborough). In January 1858, Elysian Flat was home 

to a population of approximately 2,000, and there were 50-60 stores. 2 An area was set aside for the 

township of Neilborough in 1860, and Neilborough became part of the Borough of Raywood in 1865. A 

timber police building, lock-up and court house had been constructed by the early 1860s. By 1887, 

the population of the township was 407, remaining stable at around that figure until the 1930s. 3 

On 23 June 1862 the District Licensing Branch granted John Bennet a license to sell liquor at the 

Shamrock Hotel, a substantial timber building at the corner of Miller and Whewell streets. Subsequent 

licensees included Samuel Pendlebury, from 1865-1871, Thomas Wherritt by 1872, Alexander Munro, 

Thomas Crapper by 1876 and the Harris family. 4 Crapper took over again in 1883, the family 

remaining as licensees for over half a century. The original hotel had a corner splay, an unusually tall 

chimney to the east side, triangular roof vents, and verandahs to the north and east. The building 

was razed in a fire in around 1904. The present brick structure, which replaced it on the same site, 

operated as a hotel and store. 5 

Thomas Crapper (born 1829, at Oxford, England) was transported to Australia as a convict for 

burglary, arriving at Hobson’s Bay in 1846. He married Alice at Sandhurst in 1859, subsequently 

settling in the Neilborough area. Crapper’s son Albert James succeeded him as licensee. Another son, 

Lawrence, was a blacksmith at Neilborough. The Crappers surrendered the license of the hotel in 

1942. 6 The Judd family were the last licensees and a Joseph Rayner adapted the hotel as a residence, 

a use that it retains today. 7 The date of conversion to residence is not known. 

2






5.8: Working 


The former Shamrock Hotel and Store is a substantial single-storey Federation-era brick building (c. 

1904), located on a corner site in Neilborough. The building has a shallow open setback to both Miller 

and Whewell streets. The building appears in good condition and externally is predominantly intact as 

built. The property is now used as a private residence. It is interesting to note that the present 

building retains a number of characteristics of its 1860s timber predecessor, including an unusually tall 

brick chimney, a corner splay, verandahs to the north and east and triangular roof vents (see page 1). 

The single-storeyed former hotel and store, broadly L-shaped in plan, is built of red brick with stucco 

trimmings. An additional brick wing, set back from Whewell Street, extends towards the south from 

the cavity of the ‘L’. It is possible that the rear wing was the original residential quarters. The hotel, 

which is built on a stone plinth, has a corner splay, and timber posted verandah to Miller and Whewell 

streets (north and east respectively). The verandah posts have Arts and Crafts influenced brackets; 

there is a band of light coloured stucco above the verandah line on the north and east elevations. The 

hipped roof is clad with corrugated galvanised sheet steel, which appears to be recent. The ridges and 

stamped finials are galvanised steel. There are two triangular roof vents to the north and east 

elevations. Small green-painted metal shamrocks are fixed at the apex of the vents, a reference to 

the building’s name. Three tall and elaborate chimneys are visible from the street, with a fourth, far 

less ornate to the rear wing. The detailing of the chimney to the rear wing suggests that it may be a 

remnant of the original 1860s Shamrock Hotel. The three chimneys visible in the street are of cement 

rendered brick with prominent bases and moulding of two rolled edges tapering to the stacks. The 

stacks, which comprise panels of face brick with cement rendered surrounds, are surmounted by 

pronounced moulded cornices and a concave summit topped with an additional cornice. The window 

openings are timber double-hung sashes with a single pane to each sash and sloping window sills. 

Aside from the door to the corner splay there is an opening to the east elevation, possibly the 

entrance to the former store. There is a timber bay window, with three facets, to the south elevation 

of the hotel. The date of this apparently domestic modification is not known. A metal picket fence is 

located to the south of the site, with a modern metal fence to the north, topped with lattice work strip, 

evoking the details and Edwardian era ‘blood and bandage’ colours of the hotel. 

Modern structures include a large water tank and modern steel-clad garage (in a ‘barn’ style) to the 

south of the site. 


The former Shamrock Hotel and Store is an essentially intact Federation-era building, which is 

distinguished by its unusually tall and particularly elaborate chimneys. The contrasting ‘blood and 

bandage’ colouration of the brick and stucco, and the skillion-roofed verandah are characteristics of 

the era. Of hotels in the local area, the Shamrock compares with the Little Sebastian Hotel at 

Sebastian in terms of scale, brick construction and prominence in the streetscape. The replacement of 

the earlier nineteenth century timber hotel is a common theme. Unusually, the rebuilt Shamrock 

Hotel retained the tall brick chimney, corner splay, verandahs to the north and east and triangular 

roof vents of the original building. The building was constructed as a hotel and store, with a private 

residence at the rear. In this sense it compares with the former Camp Hotel and Store at Woodvale. 

This combination of functions may also explain its substantial scale, which now appears out of 

proportion to the small township of Neilborough. 




3


The former Shamrock Hotel and Store, built c. 1904, is of historical significance. There has been a 

hotel on this corner site since 1862, soon after the rush to Elysian Flat (Neilborough), which began in 

1857. In the late-1850s there was a population of around 2,000 at the township and 50-60 stores. 

The present structure was built c. 1904 following a fire to its predecessor. It was used as a hotel and 

store until World War II. The former Shamrock Hotel and Store is now one of the last surviving 

(former) commercial buildings in the township. It was associated with the local Crapper family, with 

convict antecedents, from the 1870s to the 1920s. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The former Shamrock Hotel and Store is of aesthetic/architectural significance. It is a large and 

essentially intact Federation-era building located on a prominent corner site in the township of 

Neilborough. The building is distinguished by its unusually tall and particularly elaborate chimneys. 

The contrasting ‘blood and bandage’ colouration of the brick and stucco, and the skillion-roofed 

verandah are characteristics of the era. The Shamrock, which replaced a fire-razed predecessor, 

unusually retained some characteristics of the original building, including prominent chimneys, a 

corner splay, verandahs to the north and east and triangular roof vents. The Shamrock was rebuilt as 

a hotel, store and private residence, which may also explain its substantial scale, which now appears 

out of proportion to the small township. Alterations for the adaptation of the building to residential 

use have generally been sympathetic to the original form of the building, and have not comprised its 

capacity to demonstrate the original design intent. 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 



The former Shamrock Hotel and Store, built c. 1904, is located at the corner of Whewell and Miller 

streets, Neilborough. It is a substantial single-storey Federation-era brick building with stucco 

4


trimmings, on a broadly ‘L’-shaped in plan, and with a shallow setback to both Miller and Whewell 

streets. Another brick wing, which may have been the original residential quarters, extends towards 

the south from the cavity of the ‘L’. The hotel, which is built on a stone plinth, has a corner splay, and 

a timber posted verandah with Arts and Crafts influenced brackets, to the north and east elevations. 

A band of light coloured stucco runs above the verandah line. The hipped roof is clad with corrugated 

galvanised sheet steel, and has pairs of triangular roof vents with metal shamrocks fixed at the apex 

of the vents, to the north and east roof planes. There are three tall and elaborate chimneys of cement 

rendered brick with prominent bases and mouldings visible from the street, with a fourth less ornate 

chimney to the rear wing. Window openings are timber double-hung sashes. In addition to the door 

to the corner splay there is an opening to the east elevation which was possibly the entrance to the 

former store. The present building retains a number of characteristics of its 1860s timber 

predecessor, including an unusually tall brick chimney, corner splay, verandahs to the north and east 

and triangular roof vents. 


The former Shamrock Hotel and Store is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The former Shamrock Hotel and Store is historically significant (Criterion A) for being associated with 

the site of a hotel on this corner since 1862, soon after the rush to Elysian Flat (Neilborough), which 

began in 1857. In the late-1850s there was a population of around 2,000 at the township and 50-60 

stores. The present structure was built c. 1904 following a fire to its predecessor. It was used as a 

hotel and store until World War II. The former Shamrock Hotel and Store is now one of the last 

surviving (former) commercial buildings in the township. It was also associated with the local Crapper 

family, with convict antecedents, from the 1870s to the 1920s. The former Shamrock Hotel and Store 

is also of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E). It is a large and essentially intact 

Federation-era building located on a prominent corner site in the township. The building is 

distinguished by its unusually tall and particularly elaborate chimneys. The contrasting ‘blood and 

bandage’ colouration of the brick and stucco, and the skillion-roofed verandah are characteristics of 

the era. The Shamrock, which replaced a fire-razed predecessor, unusually retained some 

characteristics of the original building, including prominent chimneys, a corner splay, verandahs to the 

north and east and triangular roof vents. The Shamrock was rebuilt as a hotel, store and private 

residence, which may also explain its substantial scale, which now appears out of proportion to the 

small township. 



The recommended extent of the Overlay is illustrated in the map above. The focus of significance is 

on the 1904 historic building and its corner presentation to the street. The brickwork should be 

maintained unpainted. The modern steel-clad garage to the south of the site is not significant. 









5


Identified By 


References 


Ray Wallace, Sydney Flat Gold to Woodvale Green, Woodvale Progress Association, 1984. 


Specific: 

1 


2 


2003, pp. 355-358. 

3 


2003, pp. 358-60. 

4 

Licensee details from Shire of Marong rate books, 1872; Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The 

Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castleton Publishers, 2003, p. 360; and ‘Former Shamrock 

Hotel’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study 

Area, Stage 2, 1998, source uncited. 

5 


2003, p. 376. 

6 


2003, pp. 380-81. 

7 

Pers comm., Len Rayner, son of Joseph Rayner, interview with Ray Wallace (historian), 17. 

August, 1998. 

6


Name Black Rock Reference in 

1998 Marong 

Study 

Address Approximately 300m east of Black 

Rock Road, north of the intersection 

with Scotts Road, Whipstick State Park 

N2 

Map reference VicRoads 44 3F 

Building type N/A Survey date August 2010 


construction 

N/A Recommendation Not recommended 

for the Heritage 

Overlay 

Significance Black Rock is not of local heritage significance, and is not recommended for 


Looking north from the top of Black Rock (Source: Deon Marks, Parks Victoria). 

1


Black Rock is located in a fenced compound. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010, with Black Rock indicated (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 


History 

Black Rock, also known as Sentinel Point, is a linear formation of hard rock rising approximately four 

metres above ground level. It is located directly east of Neilborough (previously known as Elysian 

Flat), which was the subject of a gold rush in 1857. Alluvial mining in the area around the Black Rock 

began the following year, and the area was worked repeatedly over the years, until the 1980s. Local 

miner ‘Bluey’ Robbins dug at least four deep shafts, which are believed to have yielded rich returns. 1 

His workings reputedly survive approximately 20m west of Black Rock. 

From the early years of European settlement, Black Rock was a recognised landscape element for the 

local community, a popular destination for residents of Neilborough, and the scene of picnics and the 

like. 2 Its attractions included its location in isolated country, and setting in dense Mallee scrub. Until 

2


relatively recently, its existence was known primarily to well-informed local residents, eucalyptus 

cutters and members of the Bendigo Field Naturalist's Club. 3 With improved transport, and 

heightened awareness of its existence, Black Rock has become better known. 



1.6: Appreciating and protecting Victoria’s natural wonders 


Black Rock is a linear formation of hard rock, oriented broadly north-south and rising approximately 

four metres above ground level. It is located in dense scrub east of Black Rock Road, north of the 

intersection with Scotts Road. Black Rock Road is approximately 300m to the west. There are paths 

(pedestrian desire lines) leading from the east and north, however, the rock formation is difficult to 

find, amid dense Mallee scrub. Black Rock itself is a deep grey colour with lichen growth in some 

areas. A tall steel post and wire fence has been erected around the rock in recent years, as protection 

against damage caused by walkers and trail bikes and to protect a rare fern which is understood 

grows on, or in close proximity to Black Rock. 4 The mine shafts dug by ‘Bluey’ Robbins in the 1980s 

are to the west of the area that has been fenced off. 


Black Rock broadly compares with Stranger Rock, near Derrinal, which is a geological anomaly 

(‘erratic’), although it is much larger than Stranger Rock. Black Rock differs, however, to Stranger 

Rock in that it was historically a popular destination for residents of Neilborough. 





Black Rock is of some historical interest, as a landscape element/natural feature which has been 

known and appreciated by local people from the early years of European settlement in the Neilborough 

area. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

N/A 



3


N/A 




N/A 



N/A 


Black Rock is of some historical interest, as a landscape element/natural feature which has been 

known and appreciated by local people from the early years of European settlement in the Neilborough 

area. 


Black Rock and its site are not recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo 

Heritage Overlay. While the geological formation has some historical interest, this is not sufficient to 

warrant inclusion in the Heritage Overlay. It is also assumed that there are other areas of natural 

interest and value which share similar histories but are not subject to Heritage Overlay controls. In 

addition, the current management by Parks Victoria, and the Crown land status of the site, already 

provide a level of protection and control which is appropriate to a site such as this. 









Identified By 


References 



William Perry, Tales of the Whipstick, 1975. 

Specific: 

1 Pers comm., Ray Wallace, local historian, and Adam Mornement, Lovell Chen 9 August 2010. 

4


2 


2003, p. 379. 

3 

Pers comm., Albert Calvert, and Ray Wallace, local historian, 1970; and pers comm; Hugh 

Harvey and Ray Wallace, 1987. 

4 

Pers comm., Prue Hawkeye, City of Greater Bendigo, and Adam Mornement, Lovell Chen, 2 

July 2010. 

5


Name Hooper's eucalyptus distillery Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address CA 44A Welshs Road, off 

Blandfords Road, south of 

Neilborough 1 

Proposed map 

reference 

PF1 

VicRoads 44 F3 

Building type Industrial site Survey date August 2010 

Established 1970s(closed 2009) Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance 

Hooper’s eucalyptus distillery is of local historical and technological significance. 

From left, looking north: Metal stack; remnants of brick boiler housing; gantry for truck-mounted 

vat; and rail carriage (former eucalyptus cutter’s hut). 

Left: Brick housing for boiler, removed 2010. Right: In-ground brick vat. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010, note dam to east of boiler housing and stack, and ash dump to south 

(Source: City of Greater Bendigo). Right: Proposed HO map, with the subject site shown as PF1. 

1



History 

Eucalyptus oil was one of the first primary products exported from Australia; Governor Philip sent a 

sample to Sir Joseph Banks in 1790. In 1852, Government botanist Ferdinand Von Mueller 

recommended that the distillation of eucalyptus oil may have commercial potential. 2 Two years later 

Joseph Bosisto (1824-1896), a chemist, parliamentarian and friend of Von Mueller, established the 

first eucalyptus distillery (‘still’) in Victoria. 3 Bosisto used the oil in a variety of medicinal concoctions, 

including cold remedies and inhalants. The product was also regarded as a source of fuel: in 1858, 

the town of Kyneton was illuminated by gas from eucalyptus oil. 4 Eucalyptus oil has also been used 

as an ingredient in perfumes, disinfectants, germicides and industrial lubricants. By the mid-1880s, 

the eucalyptus distilling industry was established throughout Victoria. 

The first eucalyptus oil producer in Bendigo was German chemist Richard Sandner. In 1876, working 

in partnership with his two sons, Sandner operated a plant and refinery in Bridge Street, Bendigo. 

Jack 

5 

The business thrived, and Sandner later opened a branch in Chicago, run by his son Carl. 6 Other 

early producers included Albert Hartland and Matthew Hodgson at Huntly North in 1890, 7 and 

Shadbolt, who operated a distillery at the base of the Flagstaff Hill, north of the Camp Hotel (W6) in 

the Whipstick from the 1890s. 8 The boom years of the local industry began in about 1900, and lasted 

until the 1940s. By the outbreak of World War I, the Whipstick and surrounding area was the premier 

eucalyptus oil-producing region in Victoria, with Whipstick species of eucalypt being particularly 

productive. During the Depression of the 1930s, there were an estimated 50 distilleries in operation, 

with the epicentre of the industry being the Whipstick. 9 The rise of eucalyptus distilling also coincided 

with the decline of mining. During the early years of the twentieth century, large tracts of land north 

of Bendigo were opened for selection, and the selectors (farmers) looked to ‘eucy’ as a source of 

employment and supplementary income while their blocks were cleared and prepared for agriculture in 

compliance with the Land Acts. 10 

Eucalyptus distilleries are typically improvised utilitarian constructions built of readily available 

materials and making use of recycled machinery and equipment. No two are exactly alike. However, 

there are some fundamental commonalities, including vats, a crane to lift the vat lids, a boiler, 

chimney stack, metal pipe work and a condensing dam. In traditional (pre-mechanisation) eucalyptus 

oil distillation, leaves are stacked in in-ground brick-lined vats, typically around 3.6m (12ft) deep and 

2.1m (7ft) in diameter, 11 and steam from the boiler is released into the bottom of the vat. The oilheavy 

steam is channelled through a metal pipe at the top of the vats that runs through the adjacent 

condensing dam, where the steam evaporates leaving the oil to be collected in a receiving pot at the 

side of the dam. The extraction process takes approximately four hours for green growth and two 

hours for dry leaves. 12 

Eucalyptus distilling is physically demanding and lonely work and almost exclusively male. Cutters 

harvest leaves and transport them to the distillery where they are processed by the distillers. 13 

Historically, rates of pay for cutters depended on the amount of oil yielded by each vat. The industry 

was never unionised and even during the good times, profits were marginal. 14 In the Whipstick, as in 

other areas, the industry typically attracted itinerant or short-term workers. 15 

Hooper’s distillery, to the south of Neilborough, was established by the Hooper brothers, Percy and 

Ronald Hooper in the 1970s. 

calyptus oil. 

16 It operated with traditional in-ground brick vats at that time, at least 

one of which survives at the site. In the post-World War II period, Percy (‘Perce’) and Ron Hooper 

introduced a mechanised system of production, where eucalyptus leaves were distilled on the tray of a 

truck fitted with a metal vat, whose lid was lowered by means of an overhead pulley carried on a 

gantry. 17 Hooper’s was the last operational distillery in the Whipstick, closing in 2009 – the Hartland 

plant at Huntly operates primarily as a tourist destination. The boiler at the subject site was removed 

from its brick housing in 2010. 18 Today Spain, Portugal and Israel are among the leading 

international producers of eu 

2








5.8: Working 


Hooper’s eucalyptus distillery is located off Blandford’s Road, south of Neilborough. The site extends 

over a large clearing in the Mallee scrub. The disused distillery, including a dam, metal gantry, metal 

stack and brick boiler housing, are located to the east of the road access (see aerial view, page 1). 

The Hoopers’ operations were dependent on leaf collected from public land and in 2001 the Final 

Report for the Box-Ironbark Forests and Woodland investigation recommended that all licenses on 

public land be cancelled by 2007. 

pes 

hen 

19 The Hoopers introduced modern machinery to the industry 

through the use of mobile steel steaming vat that were mounted onto a truck tray. These vats were 

driven to the cutting site, filled by mobile harvester and driven back to the still for steaming, where 

the lid of the vat was sealed and steam introduced from a boiler. The condensate was cooled in pi 

that passed through the adjacent dam and the oil collected in a receiver. 20 The spent leaves were t 

tipped from the truck. A large ash dump is to the south of the stack and boiler housing. To the west 

of the access road is a hut, used as accommodation for eucalyptus cutters, and agricultural 

outbuildings – the Hoopers also kept livestock. 21 The emphasis of the following description is on the 

remains of the eucalyptus distillery. 

The former boiler housing is covered by an open-sided metal-framed enclosure with corrugated 

galvanized metal roof. In 2010, the boiler was removed from the site resulting in the partial 

demolition of its brick housing. The works exposed the concrete flue that connected it to the tall 

metal stack. The circular stack, which is presumed to be a relic of the gold mining industry, sits on a 

brick base, and is supported by three metal props. Adjacent to the former boiler is the metal-framed 

drive-through gantry, as part of the mechanisation of the plant. As noted above, eucalyptus leaves 

were distilled in a purpose-built metal vat carried on the tray of a truck. The lid of the container was 

lowered onto the vat by a pulley system carried on the gantry. The motor that powered the pulley is 

extant, as are timber and platforms to either side. 

Associated elements at the site include the condensing dam, a timber railway carriage and an inground 

brick-lined vat. The latter provides evidence of the pre-mechanisation origins of the plant. A 

large ash dump is to the south of the distilling plant, demonstrated by the absence of any natural 

growth, a result of the acidity of the burned eucalyptus leaves. There is no evidence at the site of the 

large truck-mounted vat. 


In the Whipstick, the eucalyptus distilling industry flourished from the 1890s, following the decline of 

gold mining, to World War II. During the Depression of the 1930s, there were approximately 50 

eucalyptus distilleries in the area. By 1986, only four operational distilleries survived. Of these, 

Hooper’s was the last to close in 2009 – as noted at the history, the Hartland distillery at Huntly 

remains but operates primarily as a tourist attraction. 

Eucalyptus distilleries are characterised by the inventive application of available materials and 

equipment, typically in isolated bush settings. They necessarily include a boiler (for sites in the 

Whipstick, these are often gold mining-era equipment), stack, vats, a means of lifting vats lids and a 

dam, and often include some form of accommodation and evidence of post-World War II mechanised 

production processes. With the exception of the boiler, which has been removed, all of these 

elements are evident at Hooper’s eucalyptus distillery. The Hooper’s site has both elements of 

tradition distillation techniques (as demonstrated by the in-ground brick vat) and post-World War II 

industrial processes (demonstrated by the gantry), it compares with the former Jones Brothers 

Eucalyptus Distillery at Inglewood, Loddon Shire, established c. 1900 (VHR H0276). 

3





Hooper’s eucalyptus distillery, located off Blandford’s Road, south of Neilborough, although established 

in the 1970s is of historical significance for its capacity to demonstration the continuity of an industry 

that played a significant role in the economy of the Whipstick, and broader areas of regional Victoria, 

from the 1890s to the late twentieth century. 22 The harvesting and distilling of eucalyptus was an 

important source of employment for workers following the decline of mining, and became particularly 

important during the Depression of the 1930s, when there were an estimated 50 distilleries in the 

Whipstick, the epicentre of the industry in Victoria, that produced eucalyptus oil containing very high 

cineole compounds. The Hooper’s plant was established in the post World War II adapted to a 

mechanised system of production in the 1970s. It was a long-running operation, being the last 

distillery in the Whipstick to close, in 2009. As with the earlier years of gold mining, small-scale 

operators with limited capital were able to exploit a naturally occurring resource in the area. 



Hooper’s eucalyptus distillery is a rare surviving example of an industrial operation which was once 

relatively common in the Whipstick, and in regional areas across Victoria. In the 1930s, there were an 

estimated 50 ‘stills’ in the Whipstick area. By 1986, four operational distilleries survived, of which 

Hooper’s was the last to close in 2009 – the Hartland distillery at Huntly now operates primarily as a 

tourist attraction. Although machinery has been removed from the site, it retains the ability to 

demonstrate aspects of the production process. 



N/A 


objects. 

Hooper’s eucalyptus distillery is significant for its ability to demonstrate two approaches to industrial 

distillation through its retention of elements related to traditional and mechanised distillation. 


municipality. 

N/A 



Hooper’s eucalyptus distillery is of technological significance for its capacity to demonstrate aspects of 

eucalyptus distilling from the pre-World War I period through to the early twenty-first century. The 

site, with its remnant structures and machinery, and its evocative setting within the natural environs 

of the Whipstick, recalls the specific technologies developed for an industry based in isolated areas of 

Victoria, and often run by small-scale operators with limited capital. The site retains evidence of two 

types of distillation, the traditional approach of in-ground brick-lined vats, and the later post-World 

War II truck-mounted vat distillation. These two approaches are represented by the brick-lined vat 

and the gantry that carried the lid of the truck-mounted vat. Other significant remnant elements at 

the site include the tall circular metal stack, presumed to be a relic of the gold mining industry, the 

dam, ash dump and remains of the brick boiler housing. 

4





N/A 



N/A 



Hooper’s eucalyptus distillery, established in the 1970s south of Neilborough, extends over a large 

clearing in the Mallee scrub. The disused distillery, including a dam, metal gantry, metal stack and 

brick boiler housing, are located to the east of the road access. A large ash dump is to the south of 

the stack and boiler housing. To the west of the access road is a hut, which was most likely used for 

accommodation for eucalyptus cutters, and agricultural outbuildings, for the Hoopers’ livestock. 

Extant site elements include the former boiler housing, which is covered by an open-sided metalframed 

enclosure with corrugated galvanized metal roof, a tall metal circular stack (presumed to be a 

relic of the gold mining industry) and a metal-framed drive-through gantry, as part of the 

mechanisation of the plant. The motor that powered the pulley is extant, as are timber and platforms 

to either side. Associated elements at the site include the condensing dam, a timber railway good 

truck/carriage and an in-ground brick-lined vat. The latter provides evidence of the premechanisation 

origins of the plant. A large ash dump is to the south of the distilling plant, 

demonstrated by the absence of any natural growth, a result of the acidity of the burned eucalyptus 

leaves. 


Hooper’s eucalyptus distillery is of local historical and technological significance. 


Hooper’s eucalyptus distillery is historically significant (Criterion A) for its capacity to recall an industry 

that played a significant role in the economy of the Whipstick, and broader areas of regional Victoria, 

from the 1890s to the late twentieth century. The harvesting and distilling of eucalyptus was an 

important source of employment for workers following the decline of mining and became particularly 

important during the Depression of the 1930s, when there were an estimated 50 distilleries in the 

Whipstick, the epicentre of the industry in Victoria. By 1986 there were an estimated four operational 

distilleries in the area. Today, Hooper’s eucalyptus distillery is a rare (Criterion B) surviving example 

of its type. The Hooper’s plant was established in the 1970s and adapted to a mechanised system of 

production in c. the 1950s. It was a long-running operation, being the last distillery in the Whipstick 

to close, in 2009. Technologically (Criterion F), Hooper’s eucalyptus distillery is significant for its 

capacity to demonstrate aspects of eucalyptus distilling from the pre-World War I period through to 

the early twenty-first century. The site, with its remnant structures and machinery, and its evocative 

setting within the natural environs of the Whipstick, recalls the specific technologies developed for an 

industry based in isolated areas of Victoria, and often run by small-scale operators with limited capital 

(Criterion D). The site retains evidence of two types of distillation, the traditional approach of inground 

brick-lined vats, and the later post-World War II truck-mounted vat distillation. These two 

approaches are represented by the brick-lined vat and the gantry that carried the lid of the truckmounted 

vat. Other significant remnant elements at the site include the tall circular metal stack, 

presumed to be a relic of the gold mining industry, the dam, ash dump and remains of the brick boiler 

housing. 

5




The recommended extent of the Overlay is illustrated in the above map, with the focus of significance 

on the dam, brick metal stack, in-ground brick vat, overhead gantry, remnants of the brick boiler 

housing and the open area (ash dump) to the south. The setting of the site, including the enclosing 

Whipstick forest, is also significant. 









Identified By 


References 



Specific: 

1 

Changed address from 405900 Welsh’s Road in Heritage Policy Citations Review, 

2011. November 2011 

2 

Ray Wallace, As Aussie As a Gum Leaf, A Brief History of the Eucalyptus Industry in Bendigo, 

Australian Farm Management Society, Bendigo Branch, p. 1. 

3 

Deirdre Morris, 'Mueller, Sir Ferdinand Jakob Heinrich von [Baron von Mueller] (1825 - 1896)', 

Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, Melbourne University Press, 1974, pp 306-308. 

4 


Australian Farm Management Society, Bendigo Branch, p. 1 

5 

See, www.land.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenfor.nsf/childdocs/489D890EF4F9EFA14A256AA40011BFEF- 

C744C5604A8870504A256AA40011D6A4-21B9A0AF6E36F3ACCA2574580017AEC4?open 

6 



7 

Jan Neil, The Golden Age Retraced, Mullaya, Victoria, 1973, p. 58. 

8 

Ray Wallace, Sydney Flat to Woodvale Green, Woodvale Progress Association, 1984, p. 48. 

9 



10 



11 


12 


Australian Farm Management Society, Bendigo Branch, p. 2; and Jan Neil, The Golden Age 

Retraced, Mullaya, Victoria, 1973, pp. 58-59. 

13 

Eucalyptus typically takes 20 years to mature, and can be harvested once a year. While 

maturing, eucalyptus can be harvested every 18-2 months. Ray Wallace, As Aussie As a Gum 

Leaf, A Brief History of the Eucalyptus Industry in Bendigo, Australian Farm Management 

Society, Bendigo Branch, p. 2. 

6


14 

Ray Wallace notes that in the early 1920s the price for eucalyptus oil fluctuated from 1 shilling 

and twopence to 1 shilling and threepence per pound, and during the Depression down to 9 

pence per pound. By the Second World War, the price had risen to 8 shillings per pound. 

See, Flett’s Eucalyptus Distillery’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage 


15 


Australian Farm Management Society, Bendigo Branch, p. 2; also pers comm., Ray Wallace 

and Adam Mornement, Lovell Chen, 9 August 2010. 

16 

Tracey Pontell and Gayle Thompson, descendants of the Hoopers, email to K.Nolan, City of 

Greater Bendigo, Tuesday, 13 September 2011 

17 

Pers comm., Perce Hooper, and Ray Wallace, local historian, 17 August 1998. 

18 

Pers comm., Ray Wallace and Adam Mornement, Lovell Chen, 9 August 2010. 

19 

Shiel, D., ‘Eucalyptus Oil Production around Bendigo’ in Butcher and Y. Collins (ed) Bendigo at 

Work, National Trust Australia, Bendigo and District Branch, 2005, pp219-228 

20 

Ibid. p.224 

21 

Pers comm., Ray Wallace and Adam Mornement, Lovell Chen, 9 August 2010. 

22 

Tracey Pontell and Gayle Thompson, descendants of the Hoopers, email to K.Nolan, City of 

Greater Bendigo, Tuesday, 13 September 2011 

7


Name St Mary's Anglican Church (former 

Congregational Church) 


Marong Study 

Address 47-49 Sandhurst Street, Raywood Map reference VicRoads 44 E2 




construction 

Unknown (possibly 1870s) Recommendation Include in the 



Significance St Mary’s Anglican Church is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: West and north elevations. Note bell tower to the north (right) of the church. Right: West and 

south elevations. 

Left: Addition at the rear of the church. Right: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 

Proposed Heritage Overlay map. The subject site is shown as R01 (at centre of plan). 


R1 

1


History 

The first Anglican services in Raywood, following the discovery of gold at Thunder Plains in October 

1863, were conducted at the home of a Joseph Davies. 1 Reverend Horace F Tucker of the Campaspe 

Mission subsequently took Anglican services in the township, until he was succeeded by Reverend 

Elijah P Sutton in 1881. The present St Mary’s Church was originally built for the Congregational 

Church, possibly in the 1870s. The original architect has not been identified. Following the decline of 

attendances at the Congregational Church during 1880, 2 the church was rented by the Salvation 

Army, before being sold to the Church of England for £120 some time after 1895. 3 St Mary’s was 

restored and redecorated prior to being reconsecrated at an Anglican church on 28 October 1962 by 

Bishop Richards. 4 





St Mary’s Anglican Church (former Congregational Church) at Raywood occupies a rectangular 

allotment on the west side of Sandhurst Road, close to the Inglewood Street and Sandhurst Road 

intersection in the centre of the township. The brick church, which is believed to date to the 1870s, 

has a shallow and open set back to Sandhurst Road. There is a small bell tower to the north of the 

church. 

St Mary’s is a small brick and stuccoed church in the Gothic Revival manner, with gable ends and a 

steeply pitched roof form. There is a circular rose window to the front (east) gable surmounted by a 

large rendered relieving arch overlooking a buttressed porch. There are three buttressed bays to the 

nave with lancet arched windows. Each side lancet window has a rectangular surrounding panel of 

darker coloured brick, and sills with stub jambs. 

The buttresses are two-step with double off-sets on the upper step and single-depth off-sets on the 

lower. At each corner they are angled. Their setbacks are expressed side-on as cement-rendered 

angled blocks, and the cement dressing continues upward at each corner to include a corbelled 

kneeler for the main gable. Each of these cement surfaces reads as cruciform in outline when seen 

from the street. The porch has a two-leaved entry door under a pointed arch. The main gable coping, 

as on the porch, is a set of flat plates. The roofs to the main gable and porch are clad with corrugated 

galvanised sheet steel, painted red. There are three vents to each face of the main gable roof. 

There is a non-original gabled brick rear addition and relatively recent leadlight work to the rose 

window and the nave windows to both sides. The nave is anchored by three ‘S’ irons. A diagonal 

crack under the north springing line of the arch to the east gable has been re-mortared. 

The building is sited in an informal open setting, with some post and wire boundary fencing. 


St Mary’s Raywood reads as a dissenting church, which is appropriate given its Congregational origins. 

Externally it parallels Crouch and Wilson’s essay for the Primitive Methodists at Chewton (1860), and 

their Wesleyan Church in Glen Iris (1862). 5 The Chewton church had a front porch enclosed by two 

curving, angled flying buttresses that ascribe a pointed arch in profile. These buttresses have five offsets 

each, expressed side-on as triangular blocks, just as the squared buttresses do at St Mary’s 

Raywood. The Glen Iris church was more sedate but with a rose window similar to Raywood’s and a 

similar entry porch flanked by diagonal buttresses. The deep buttresses on the Raywood church are 

paralleled in the diagonal corner buttresses at both Chewton and Glen Iris, and the gable kneelers at 

Chewton ascribe a partial crucifix in their intersection with the buttresses, as at St Mary’s. Besides 

these two examples, churches with front gables with a large relieving arch in these proportions are 

comparatively rare in Australia. The best known outside Victoria are John Horbury Hunt’s Anglican 

cathedrals at Armidale and Grafton, New South Wales (1871-8, 1880), where a brick sustaining arch 

circles a brick surface below with lancet and roundel windows, resembling a huge area of expanded 

2


plate tracery. In Melbourne, North and Williams took Hunt’s expanded plate tracery idea further with 

their brick quasi-relieving arch and huge concrete tympanum in St Peter’s Eastern Hill Anglican Hall, 

East Melbourne (1913), again punctuated by grouped lancets. 

In several respects, St Mary’s Raywood parallels the Uniting Church (former Methodist Church, R2) 

nearby at 28 Sandhurst Street, built 1876. Comparable elements include the three-bay nave 

expressed by two-step buttresses, the squat entry porch with franking buttresses, and the flat plates 

used as main gable coping; otherwise the former Methodist Church’s detailing is generally simpler. 




St Mary’s Anglican Church, Raywood, is of historical significance. It is believed to have been 

constructed in the 1870s, and as such dates to the earliest phase of development at Raywood, 

following the discovery of gold nearby in October 1863. It was built for the Congregational Church, 

and later rented to the Salvation Army, following the decline of Congregational attendances. 

Dissenting faiths, such as the Congregationalists, were common on the goldfields, and the presence of 

their churches helps emphasise the diversity of the various goldfields communities and populations. 

The property was sold to the Anglican Church after 1895; this take-over by one of the more 

mainstream churches was also a not uncommon outcome for the dissenting churches. The property is 

additionally significant for remaining in use, for over 140 years, as a church. 



St Mary’s Anglican Church, Raywood, has a large relieving arch to its front (west) gable end which, in 

these proportions, is a comparatively rare architectural element. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

St Mary’s Anglican Church, Raywood, is of aesthetic/architectural significance as a small brick and 

stuccoed church in the Gothic Revival manner. The large relieving arch to its front (west) gable end is 

a distinguishing element, demonstrative of St Mary’s origins as a dissenting church. In several 

respects St Mary’s parallels the Uniting Church (R2) at 28 Sandhurst Street, built 1876. Comparable 

elements include the three-bay nave expressed by two-step buttresses, the squat entry porch with 

franking buttresses, and the flat plates used as main gable coping. Externally, St Mary’s is 

substantially intact as built. The modern addition at the rear has not significantly impacted on or 

affected the presentation of the building from Sandhurst Street. Churches with front gables with a 

large relieving arch in these proportions are also comparatively rare in Australia. In addition, the 

church is a prominent element on the main street of the township, by virtue of it height, limited 

setback, and picturesque steeply pitched roof form. 



N/A 

3





St Mary’s Church, Raywood is of social significance as the focus of the local Anglican community, 

including being the building in which church services are held, since c. 1895. The restoration and 

redecoration of the church in 1962, and its reconsecration, emphasise its ongoing importance to the 

local community. 



N/A 



St Mary’s Anglican Church, estimated to date to the 1870s, occupies a rectangular allotment on the 

west side of Sandhurst Road, Raywood. It is a small brick and stuccoed church in the Gothic Revival 

manner, with gable ends and a steeply pitched roof. A circular rose window is in the front (east) 

gable, surmounted by a large rendered relieving arch overlooking a buttressed porch. There are three 

buttressed bays to the nave with lancet arched windows. The buttresses are two-step, with cement 

dressings, and angled at each corner. The porch has a two-leaved entry door under a pointed arch. 

The roofs to the main gable and porch are clad with corrugated galvanised sheet steel, painted red. 

There are three vents to each face of the main gable roof. The church has a shallow and open set 

back to Sandhurst Road, with a small bell tower to the north of the church. 


St Mary’s Anglican Church, Raywood, is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 


St Mary’s Anglican Church, Raywood, is historically significant (Criterion A) for its association with the 

earliest phase of development at Raywood, following the discovery of gold nearby in October 1863. It 

was built for the Congregational Church and later rented to the Salvation Army, following the decline 

of Congregational attendances. Dissenting faiths, such as the Congregationalists, were common on 

the goldfields, and the presence of their churches helps emphasise the diversity of the various 

goldfields communities and populations. The take-over of the property by a more mainstream church, 

such as the Anglican Church after 1895, was also a not uncommon outcome for the dissenting 

churches. The property is additionally significant for remaining in use, for over 140 years, as a 

church. St Mary’s Church is also of social significance (Criterion G) as the focus of the local Anglican 

community since c. 1895, including being the building in which church services were held over this 

period. The restoration and redecoration of the church in 1962, and its reconsecration, emphasise its 

ongoing importance to the local community. 

In terms of the local aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E), St Mary’s is a substantially intact 

small brick and stuccoed church in the Gothic Revival manner. The large relieving arch to its front 

(west) gable end is a distinguishing element, demonstrative of its origins as a dissenting church. 

Other elements of note include the three-bay nave expressed by two-step buttresses, squat entry 

porch with franking buttresses, rose window to the front (east) gable, and the flat plates used as main 

gable coping. Churches with front gables with a large relieving arch in these proportions are also 

comparatively rare in Australia (Criterion B). In addition, the church is a prominent element on the 

main street of the township, by virtue of its height, limited setback, and picturesque steeply pitched 

roof form. 

4



The property is recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo Heritage Overlay, 

to the extent as shown in the Overlay map above. The focus of significance is on the original church 

building, in its informal setting, with a curtilage around the building. The face brick should remain 

unpainted. The rear addition is of no heritage significance, and can be adapted, removed or retained 

as required. 









Identified By 


References 


Marie H Manning (ed), Back-To Raywood and District Souvenir Booklet, 1973. 


Specific: 

1 


2003, p. 327. 

2 


2003, p. 327. 

3 


2003, p. 327. 

4 


2003, p. 327. 

5 

Miles Lewis (ed., contrib.), Victorian Churches, National Trust, Melbourne, 1991, p. 135, item 

324 (Chewton); p. 63, item 63 (Glen Iris). 

5


Name Uniting Church (former 

Methodist Church) 

Address 28 Sandhurst Street (Bendigo- 

Pyramid Road), Raywood 


Marong Study 

R2 

Map reference VicRoads 44 E 2 

Building type Church Survey date June 2010 


construction 



Significance The Uniting Church is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: Looking south-east. Right: South elevation, note addition to the rear (east). 

Left: Church entrance. Right: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). Below: Proposed 

Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site highlighted. 

Proposed Heritage Overlay map with the subject site shown as RO2. 

1



Existing 


HV AHC NT 

History 

A Dr Stilwell, a Wesleyan, is believed to have conducted the first Wesleyan service in the township of 

Raywood, at Gunn’s Hotel in January 1864 (Dr Stilwell later converted to Methodism). 1 It would be 

another decade before the first Methodist minister, a Reverend A Grewer, was appointed to Raywood, 

in 1874. 2 The present brick church, formerly a Methodist Church but now a Uniting Church, sited to 

the north of the school reserve, was opened in 1876 at a cost of £700. 3 The church was refurbished 

internally in 2003 4 and has been extended at the rear with meeting rooms and toilets. 





The Uniting Church (former Methodist Church) at Raywood occupies a small site to the east of 

Sandhurst Street (Bendigo-Pyramid road), north of the school reserve. The gabled brick church 

building has a porch to the front and a modern addition to the rear. The building is located in the 

centre of the lot, setback from Sandhurst Street. A row of mature trees marks the rear boundary. 

The Uniting Church is a small Gothic Revival bichrome brick church with a three-bay nave expressed 

with buttresses and lancet windows. Its steeply pitched roof has a single ridge and is clad in painted 

corrugated galvanised steel. Its liturgical west front comprises a low or squat gabled porch with 

buttresses, again clad in painted corrugated galvanised steel, and a two-leaf porch door set in a 

pointed opening and flanked by alternating cream brick headers and stretchers, to generate a quoinlike 

effect. Above the porch, on the main front gable, is a recessed, blind lancet arch set in a gabled 

breakfront with surmounting oculus vent and a quatrefoil surround inside the vent. The gable above 

has a flat plate coping, as does the rear (liturgical east) gable. There are no windows to the front 

gable. Splayed gable kneelers, two on each main gable, are expressed as paired and corbelled blocks 

with a double cyma recta outer moulding linking each block. All buttresses are two-step with cement 

rendered off-sets. The porch buttresses are squatter. The body of the church is constructed of rich 

brown brick, varied in colour gradation. The building appears to be in generally sound condition. 

The single-storey rear addition reads as a later element, being built of pale bricks and having a 

shallow pitched roof. It is of similar width to the brick church building. 


Several aspects of this church are paralleled in St Mary’s Anglican Church on the opposite side of 

Sandhurst Road (R1), including the three-bay nave, squat porch with flanking buttresses and the flat 

plate gable coping. The use of bichrome brick to generate quoin imagery can be seen much earlier: in 

Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Oakleigh (1858), through to Crouch and Wilson’s Congregational Church 

and Hall, South Melbourne (1867-8), and S H Lugg’s Bible Christian Church in Ballarat (1866-7). In 

the Bendigo area bichrome brick is evident at St Luke’s Anglican Church at White Hills (1863), a W C 

Vahland design. The device was still current in 1876, as seen in Charles Webb’s former John Knox 

Church in Brighton. 5 In buttressed Gothic churches, the blind west front of the subject building, apart 

from the porch, is unusual. It appears in a few other protestant churches in Victoria, such as the 

former St John’s Catholic Church, Sutherlands Creek (1858), Hamilton’s Lutheran Church (1861), St 

Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Penshurst (1865), and St John’s Anglican Church, Diamond Creek 

(1867-70). 6 

2





The Uniting Church (former Methodist Church) at Raywood, built 1876, is of historical significance. 

The first Methodist service at Raywood was held in January 1864 at Gunn’s Hotel, conducted by 

Wesleyan preacher Dr Stilwell. Twelve years later the present brick church was built, reflecting the 

strength of the Methodist congregation among the goldfields population. The presence of the 

Methodists also underscores the diversity of religious communities on the nineteenth century 

goldfields, which in turn has resulted in the rich collection of church buildings scattered throughout the 

Bendigo region. The brick building has been the centre of Methodist (now Uniting Church) worship at 

Raywood for over 130 years, and remains in use. 



The Uniting Church has a blind west front gable (without windows), which is an unusual architectural 

treatment for a small Gothic church. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The Uniting Church (former Methodist Church) at Raywood is of aesthetic/architectural significance as 

a substantially externally intact 1870s small gabled Gothic Revival church. Elements of note include 

the rich brown brick walling, with varied colour gradation, the squat and buttressed gabled entrance 

porch with two-leaf door in a pointed opening, flanked by brick quoining, and the gabled breakfront 

above the porch in the main gable with a recessed blind lancet arch, and surmounting oculus vent 

with quatrefoil. The use of bichrome brick to generate quoin imagery in Victorian churches dates to at 

least 1858; the blind west front of the building, apart from the porch, is also unusual. The modern 

addition at the rear has not significantly affected the presentation of the building from Sandhurst 

Street. The church is additionally a prominent element in the streetscape, with the steeply pitched 

roof having picturesque qualities. The informal landscape setting is also typical of numerous churches 

on the goldfields. 



N/A 




The Uniting Church at Raywood is of local social significance as the focus of Methodist (and now 

Uniting Church) services since 1876, and as a prominent historic building in the local community 

context. 

3




N/A 



The Uniting Church (former Methodist Church) was built in 1876, and occupies a small site to the east 

of Sandhurst Street (Bendigo-Pyramid road), Raywood. A row of mature trees marks the rear 

boundary. It is a small Gothic Revival bichrome brick church with a three-bay nave expressed with 

buttresses and lancet windows. The body of the church is constructed of rich brown brick, varied in 

colour gradation. Its steeply pitched roof has a single ridge and is clad in painted corrugated 

galvanised steel. Its liturgical west front comprises a low or squat gabled porch with buttresses, and a 

two-leaf porch door flanked by alternating cream brick headers and stretchers which generate a 

quoin-like effect. Above the porch, on the main front gable, is a recessed, blind lancet arch; there are 

no windows to the front gable. All buttresses are two-step with cement rendered off-sets; the porch 

buttresses are squatter. 


The Uniting Church (former Methodist Church) is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 


The Uniting Church is historically significant (Criterion A) as the centre of Methodist (now Uniting 

Church) worship at Raywood for over 130 years and retains this use. The first Methodist service at 

Raywood was held in January 1864 at Gunn’s Hotel, conducted by Wesleyan preacher Dr Stilwell. 

Twelve years later the present brick church was built, reflecting the strength of the Methodist 

congregation among the goldfields population. The presence of the Methodists also underscores the 

diversity of religious communities on the nineteenth century goldfields, which in turn has resulted in 

the rich collection of church buildings scattered throughout the Bendigo region. The Uniting Church is 

also of local social significance (Criterion G), as the focus of Methodist (and now Uniting Church) 

services since 1876, and as a prominent historic building in the local community context. 

Aesthetically and architecturally (Criterion E), the Raywood Uniting Church is significant as a 

substantially externally intact 1870s small gabled Gothic Revival church. Elements of note include the 

rich brown brick walling, with varied colour gradation; the squat and buttressed gabled entrance porch 

with two-leaf door in a pointed opening, flanked by brick quoining; and the gabled breakfront above 

the porch in the main gable with a recessed blind lancet arch, and surmounting oculus vent with 

quatrefoil. The use of bichrome brick to generate quoin imagery in Victorian churches dates to at 

least 1858; the blind west front of the building, apart from the porch, is also unusual (Criterion B). 

The church is additionally a prominent element in the streetscape, with the steeply pitched roof having 

picturesque qualities. The informal landscape setting is also typical of numerous churches on the 

goldfields. 



The recommended extent of the Overlay is illustrated in the above map. The focus of significance is 

on the 1870s church building, and its simple setting and presentation, as seen from Sandhurst Street. 

The brick walling should remain unpainted. The rear addition is of no heritage significance and can be 

adapted, removed or retained as required. 




4







Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 


2003, p. 326. 

2 


2003, p. 326. 

3 

‘Uniting Church’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) 


4 


2003, p. 326. 

5 

Miles Lewis (ed., contrib.), Victorian Churches, National Trust, Melbourne, 1991, pp. 78, item 

115 (Oakleigh); 86, item 144 (South Melbourne) 95, item 172 (Ballarat), 105, item 208 

(White Hills) and 60, item 52 (Brighton). 

6 

Lewis, pp. 99, item 186 (Sutherlands Creek) 116, item 251 (Diamond Creek), 124, item 282 

(Hamilton) 138, item 334 (Penshurst), and 103, item 203 (Bendigo). 

5


Name Raywood Primary School, no. 

1844 


Marong Study 

Address 18 Sandhurst Street 1 , Raywood Map reference VicRoads 44 E2 

Building type School Survey date August 2010 

Date 1877 Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance The brick school building at Raywood Primary School is of local historical, social 

and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Left: West 2 elevation, with the school room (1877) to the rear of the porch (1912). Right: North 

elevation, note modified windows to school room. 

Left: Rear (east) elevation. Right: Soldier’s memorial at the school entrance. 

R03 

1


Left: Aerial view, 2010, with the brick school room indicated by the arrow (Source: City of Greater 

Bendigo). Right: Proposed Heritage Overlay map (R03). 


History 

Raywood School no. 1844 replaced an earlier school, no. 761, which was established in 1864 by the 

Catholic Church authorities as a non-vested Common School under the Board of Education. 3 By c. 

1874, the school was overcrowded and dilapidated, and parents lobbied the Education Department for 

a new State school. 4 The present site, at the southern entrance to the township, was gazetted on 30 

April 1875, and tenders were called in June 1876 for the construction of the present brick building, 

measuring 15m (50ft) by 6m (20ft). The successful tenderer was Longstaff and Moriarty, for £552. 5 

The school opened on 27 February 1877 under head teacher John Poer. A ceiling was installed in 

1882-83, and the school was connected to the water mains in 1886. The school was remodelled in 

1912, with improvements to the lighting and ventilation, the removal of the original gallery and the 

construction of a hat and cloakroom (the present porch to the front). A five-room timber residence for 

the head teacher was also constructed in 1912. School attendances were steady at around 100, 

dropping during the interwar years as local mining activity diminished, and rising again after World 

War II, when surrounding holdings were subdivided for soldier settlers. 6 The school remains in use 

for its original intended function. 






Raywood Primary School, the earliest component of which dates to 1877, occupies a large triangular 

allotment to the east of the Bendigo-Pyramid Road at the southern entrance to Raywood. The school 

property comprises a number of buildings of which the central brick component is the oldest and 

tallest. This structure, which has a later ‘hat and cloakroom’ (porch) to the west side, is the focus of 

the following description. The building is oriented at a diagonal to truth north. For ease, the front 

elevation facing the Bendigo-Pyramid Road is described as the west elevation below. 

The brick building comprises a single large room space, has a pitched roof and gables at each end, 

and an asymmetrically placed (alter) porch at the west end. The walls are in local face brick set in 

English bond, varying between a rich tan and umber in colour. These are on a sandstone base set as 

random coursed rubble. There is a chimney on the south side, with cornice and neck shaped by 

setting brick courses out from the stack. The roof, which was originally slate-clad, has been replaced 

with corrugated galvanised steel with timber fascias and bargeboards, two ridge vents and a triple 

skylight. The gables have boarded soffits. The window and gable vent sills are in cut stone, 

overpainted at the west gable end and at the south-east end. An earlier rear door at the east end, 

2


with a cambered soffit, is now bricked in. The four windows on the north elevation of the school, each 

with cambered soffits, have been bricked in above their sills and left with two-pane high-mounted 

windows, of which two have been filled in with air-conditioning units. The fanlit windows at the two 

ends are double hung sashes, four at the east end and to the west end. A rendered panel with 

lettering reading ‘Raywood P S No. 1844’ is located over the window to the west end. The entrance is 

through the later porch, which has red face brick walls set in stretcher-bond and a hipped roof clad in 

painted corrugated galvanised steel with a single ridge vent and exposed rafters. The windows on the 

porch have overpainted lintels and sills, with a four-paned high-mounted window set between two 

piers facing the street. Its rendered central panel has a decorative font and a wave-pattern mural 

with the label ‘Raywood P S 1844’. The property appears to be in generally sound condition. 

A memorial gate, located at the entrance off Bendigo-Pyramid Road 7 and on axis with a flagpole and 

the front of the 1870s school building, is constructed of granite and stone and commemorates former 

pupils of the school who were involved in wars; it is a twentieth century addition. The external shelter 

area and all the adjacent buildings are later, including of more recent origin. There is no evidence of 

the 1912 timber teacher’s residence. 


The Raywood School dates from 1877, after the Common Schools were taken over by the Colonial 

Education Department, and architecturally it reflects the persistence of earlier plan forms. For 

instance, the plan resembles a type VIII layout for Common Schools, of which extant examples 

include Muckleford South (1870-3). 8 As with Muckleford South, Raywood School originally had a 

‘gallery’ of raised seating and integral desks along one side. Raywood also resembles Lawrence 

Burchell’s illustration of a standard early brick State school with attached quarters, where the 

chimneys, bargeboards, English bond brickwork, gable vent and original window heads and sills are all 

similar. 9 The later 1912 entry porch is similar in detailing and fenestration to schools from the Cohen 

period in the Public Works (c. 1900-1909), as at Canterbury. 




The brick school building at Raywood Primary School, in Sandhurst Street, Raywood, is historically 

significant. The school when built in 1877 replaced an earlier Common School, which was dilapidated 

and overcrowded, and despite fluctuating attendances throughout its history, Raywood Primary School 

has remained in operation for over 130 years. It has been the principal centre of State funded 

education at Raywood since 1877. The requirement for a new school at that time also demonstrates 

the growth of Raywood following the gold rushes of the 1860s, when settlements such as this 

continued to consolidate. The porch was an enhancement of 1912; the war memorial at the entrance 

was a later addition again, emphasising the importance of the school within the local community. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

The 1877 brick school building at Raywood Primary School is of is a surviving example of a Common 

School building type, built to standard plans by the Colonial Education Department during the 1870s. 

3


Extant features and elements that are characteristic of this building type include the rectilinear 

footprint, chimneys, bargeboards, English bond brickwork and gable vent. 


municipality. 

The 1877 brick school building at Raywood Primary School is of aesthetic/architectural significance. 

The building is an example of a Common School building type, built to standard plans by the Colonial 

Education Department during the 1870s. Shared elements include the single-room space, rectilinear 

footprint, gabled form and the chimneys, bargeboards, English bond brickwork, gable vent and 

window heads and sills. The 1912 porch, while part-concealing and modifying the original building 

frontage, is significant as a long-standing addition which enhanced the facilities through introducing a 

hat and cloakroom space. Although modified, notably through the addition of the porch to the west, 

and through the bricking in of windows, the 1870s component still generally presents externally as 

built, and its simple gabled form and massing remain readable. 



N/A 




Raywood Primary School is of social significance in the local context, as the principal educational 

institution in Raywood for over 130 years. The associated war memorial at the entrance to the school, 

enhances this aspect of significance. 



N/A 



The brick building at Raywood Primary School, which dates to 1877, is the oldest and most prominent 

component of the Primary School, which was originally established in 1864. The brick building 

comprises a single large room space, has a pitched roof and gables at each end, and an 

asymmetrically placed (later) porch at the west end. The walls are in local face brick set in English 

bond, varying between a rich tan and umber in colour. These are on a sandstone base set as random 

coursed rubble. There is a chimney on the south side, with cornice and neck shaped by setting brick 

courses out from the stack. The roof, which was originally slate-clad, has been replaced with 

corrugated galvanised steel. The war memorial at the entrance was added during the twentieth 

century. 


The brick school building at Raywood Primary School, in Sandhurst Street, Raywood, is of local 

historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The brick school building at Raywood Primary School is historically significant (Criterion A) for being 

the principal centre of State funded education at Raywood since 1877. It replaced, when built, an 

earlier Common School which was dilapidated and overcrowded. The requirement for a new school at 

that time also demonstrates the the growth of Raywood following the gold rushes of the 1860s, when 

settlements such as this continued to consolidate. Despite fluctuating attendances throughout its 

4


history, Raywood Primary School has remained in operation for over 130 years. The porch was an 

enhancement of 1912; the war memorial at the entrance was a later addition again, emphasising the 

importance of the school within the local community. Raywood Primary School is also of social 

significance (Criterion G), as the principal educational institution in Raywood for over 130 years. The 

associated war memorial at the entrance to the school, enhances this aspect of significance. 

Aesthetically and architecturally (Criterion E), the original brick building is a surviving example of a 

Common School building type, built to standard plans by the Colonial Education Department during 

the 1870s. Shared elements include the single-room space, rectilinear footprint, gabled form and the 

chimneys, bargeboards, English bond brickwork, gable vent and window heads and sills (Criterion D). 

The 1912 porch, while part-concealing and modifying the original building frontage, is significant as a 

long-standing addition which enhanced the facilities through introducing a hat and cloakroom space. 

Although modified, notably through the addition of the porch to the west, and through the bricking in 

of windows, the 1870s component still generally presents externally as built, and its simple gabled 

form and massing remain readable. 



The extent of Overlay indicated in the above map covers the entirety of the school property; however 

the focus of significance is on the 1877 brick school building and attached porch, and its immediate 

curtilage and setting to Sandhurst Street. The Heritage Overlay area could be reduced to cover only 

these elements. The face brickwork should remain unpainted. Significant elements of the property 

also include the war memorial. 









Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 

Removed ‘the Bendigo-Pyramid Road at Raywood’ from Heritage Policy 


2 

All references to ‘east’ changed to ‘west’ and ‘west’ changed to ‘east’ from Heritage 

Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 2011. 

3 


4 

Raywood Primary School, 1877, Centenary Celebrations sheet, p. 2: History. 

5 

Raywood Primary School, 1877, Centenary Celebrations sheet, p. 2: History. 

6 


7 

Changed from ‘Sandhurst Street’ Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 

2011. 

5


8 

Lawrence Burchell, Victorian Schools: a Study in Colonial Government Architecture 1837-1900, 

University Press, Melbourne, 1980, p. 72. 

9 


University Press, Melbourne, 1980, p. 115, Fig. 147. State is taken to mean built in the secular 

post-Common School period. 

6


Name Former Morgans’s Store Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 54 Inglewood Street, 

Raywood 


stores) 


construction 

R05 

Map reference VicRoads 44 E2 

Survey date June and August 2010 

1920s Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance The former Morgan’s Store is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: North and west elevations of the former store (pair of shops). Right: North and east elevations. 

Left: Shopfronts, note two doors and signage (‘Confectionary’ and ‘Soft Drinks’) to upper windows. 

Right: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City Greater Bendigo). 

Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site shown as R05. 1 


1


History 

The pair of timber shops with rear quarters at 54 Inglewood Street, directly to the east of the former 

Town Hall (R12), was erected by Bill Morgan during the 1920s. 2 Morgan had previously owned the 

‘Higgie’s Fancy Goods’ store on the opposite side of Inglewood Street (R06). Subsequent owners of 

the shops at 54 Inglewood Street were the Wodetski family, Frank and Mary Scarce and Stuart 

McGregor, for approximately 40 years from the 1960s. 3 In 2005, the property was acquired by the 

present owners and adapted to a private residence. 4 




5.8: Working 


The property at 54 Inglewood Street, Raywood comprises a 1920s single-storey parapeted timber 

building, with two former stores to the street frontage, beneath a verandah over the footpath, and 

premises to the rear. The property was inspected externally, but excluding outbuildings to the rear. 

References to the interior in the following are based on the previous survey carried out in 1998, 5 and 

correspondence from the present owners. 6 

The shop frontage is asymmetrically arranged and comprises two entrances. To the east is a recessed 

entry with a pair of door leafs flanked by display windows and surmounted by a fanlight, and to the 

west is a single door leaf flush with the display windows. The display windows have large square 

panes divided by timber glazing bars. Two upper lights display the lettering ‘Confectionery’ and ‘Soft 

Drinks’. These are recent and sympathetic replacements of original windows, with the works 

undertaken by the present owners. 7 There is pressed metal sheeting to the stall boards. The high 

stepped parapet also has a sheet metal lining. All roof areas, including the pitched roof of the main 

house and the skillion roofs of the simply-detailed timber posted verandah and a small addition to the 

east, are clad with corrugated galvanised sheet steel. There is a brick chimney to the east. The side 

walls, and presumably the rear, are weatherboard. All external areas are painted a neutral pale 

colour, with the window frames in a light blue. In 1998 it was noted that the wall linings to the 

easternmost shop were intact, along with the counter and scales. The scales have been removed, and 

the counters are in storage. There is an open/garden area at the rear of the property, accessed from 

McKay Street. 



To the extent of the symmetrical stepped parapet and timber-posted verandah, the property at 54 

Inglewood Street, Raywood, is similar to many single-storey shops constructed all over Victoria, from 

the later nineteenth century through to the 1920s, albeit utilising a variety of frontage forms and 

materials. Many surviving examples are also of brick or masonry construction. The asymmetrically 

arranged shop front for this building, with two entrances, was presumably a response to the particular 

programmatic requirements of the original retail businesses. The presentation of the shops and 

building to the street, including the generous verandah over the public footpath, is also consistent 

with numerous historic shop buildings, and commercial streetscapes, in Victorian goldfields towns. 




The former Morgan’s Store, with dual shops and rear quarters at 54 Inglewood Street, Raywood, built 

in the 1920s, is of historical significance. The shops, which closed in c.2005, were among the lastsurviving 

retail premises in Raywood, and operated for over 80 years. The property’s location near 

2


the intersection of Inglewood Street and the Bendigo-Pyramid Road, and adjacent to the Town Hall, 

also recalls the historic centre of the township. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

The former Morgan’s Store, at 54 Inglewood Street, Raywood, displays some of the principal 

characteristics of retail buildings constructed in Victoria during the early twentieth century. These 

include its prominent main street siting, the zero setback and generous verandah over the public 

footpath, which are typical of numerous historic shop buildings, and commercial streetscapes, in 

Victorian goldfields towns. 


municipality. 

The former Morgan’s Store, at 54 Inglewood Street, Raywood, is of aesthetic/architectural significance 

as a substantially externally intact early twentieth century retail building in the township. The high 

stepped parapet and deep verandah are particularly expressive of the building’s retail origins. Other 

elements of note include the asymmetrically arranged shop frontage with dual entrances, one of which 

is recessed; the display windows with large square panes; and stall boards with pressed metal 

sheeting. The property is additionally prominently sited next to the former Town Hall (R12). 



N/A 




The former Morgan’s Store, at 54 Inglewood Street, Raywood, is of social significance as a store which 

was used for its original purpose from the 1920s to 2005. The social significance of the building is 

enhanced by its large scale and prominent siting in Raywood’s historic town centre. 



N/A 



The property at 54 Inglewood Street, Raywood comprises a 1920s single-storey parapeted timber 

building, with two former stores to the street frontage, beneath a timber-posted verandah over the 

footpath, and premises to the rear. The parapet has a high stepped form and the shop frontage is 

asymmetrical, with two entrances, and large display windows divided by timber glazing bars. The 

significant components include the 1920s building, the two stores and premises to the rear. 

3



The 1920s former Morgan’s Store, with dual shops and rear quarters at 54 Inglewood Street, 

Raywood, is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The former Morgan’s Store is historically significant (Criterion A) for being among the last-surviving 

retail premises in Raywood, which operated for over 80 years before closing in c.2005. The property’s 

location near the intersection of Inglewood Street and the Bendigo-Pyramid Road, and adjacent to the 

Town Hall, also recalls the historic centre of the township. The property is of social significance 

(Criterion G) as a store which was used for its original purpose from the 1920s to 2005. The social 

significance of the building is enhanced by its large scale and prominent siting in Raywood’s historic 

town centre. The former store is also of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E) as a 

substantially externally intact early twentieth century retail building in the township. The prominent 

main street siting of the property, and the presentation of the shops and building to the street, 

including the zero setback and generous verandah over the public footpath, are typical of numerous 

historic shop buildings, and commercial streetscapes, in Victorian goldfields towns (Criterion D). The 

high stepped parapet and deep verandah are particularly expressive of the building’s retail origins. 

Other elements of note include the asymmetrically arranged shop frontage with dual entrances, one of 

which is recessed, the display windows with large square panes; and stall boards with pressed metal 

sheeting. 


The subject property is recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo Heritage 

Overlay. The extent of the Overlay is illustrated in the above map, although the focus of significance 

is on the 1920s building incorporating the two stores and premises to the rear. The outbuildings to 

the rear were not inspected. 









Identified By 


References 




4


1 


2 

Marie H Manning (ed), Back-To Raywood and District Souvenir Booklet, 1973, pp. 5-6; and 

‘McGregor’s Store’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study 


3 



4 

Pers comm, Prue Hawkey, Bendigo City Council and present owners, 19 July 2010. 

5 



6 


7 


5


Name Former store and premises Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 57 Inglewood Street, Raywood Map reference Vicroads 44 E2 

Building type Private residence (former store) Survey date June 2010 


construction 

1890s Recommendation Not recommended for 



Significance The former store and premises is not of local heritage significance, and is not 


Left: Higgie’s Saddlery, c. 1880s, later destroyed by fire (Source: Marie H Manning (ed), Back-To 

Raywood and District Souvenir Booklet, 1973, p. 6). Right: south (front) and west elevations of the 

brick former store, built .c 1890s. 

Left: South and east elevations. Right: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 


History 

There were at least four saddlers operating in Raywood in the 1870s, 1 one of whom, David Higgie, 

had timber premises on Inglewood Street, almost directly opposite the Town Hall. Higgie’s small 

single storey shop front and premises had a gable roof and a timber posted verandah that extended 

over the footpath, and was located adjacent to a large double-height gabled timber building, possibly 

a stable or store (see page 1). Higgie’s saddlery is first mentioned in the Shire of Marong rate books 

in 1878 with a net asset value of £10. 2 The timber structure was destroyed by fire in the 1880s or 

1890s. The present brick building was commissioned by David’s widow, Alicia, who lived there with 

her two daughters and second husband, Colin McKenzie – the date and cause of David Higgie’s death 

are not known. They were living in the building by 1896. 3 Alicia ran Higgie’s Fancy Goods Store from 

R06 

1


the building. It later became McKenzie’s Drapery 4 and was subsequently sold to Bill Morgan, who also 

5 

built the shop opposite at 54 Inglewood Street (R5). The subject building is now a private residence. 




5.8: Working 


The former store at 57 Inglewood Street, almost directly opposite the Town Hall, is believed to date to 

the 1890s. It was built following a fire to a timber saddlery that previously occupied the site. 

The former store is a single storey gabled brick building; it has bi-chrome brick treatment to the 

corners (resembling quoins) of the facade (south elevation), with a pronounced serpentine parapet 

which returns to the east and west corners. There is a band of cream bricks to the bracketed cornice 

of the parapet and directly below, possibly indicating the springing point for the former verandah 

(demolished). A band of projecting cream bricks forms the upper course to the parapet. The face 

brick to the walls varies between a rich tan and umber in colour. The south elevation has also been 

extensively modified. As existing, is comprises two non-original large metal-framed sliding windows 

with concrete sills. The cambered headers of the two original windows (removed) are evident to 

either side of the former central door, which has also been removed and is indicated by a cambered 

brick header. The entrance is now to the west elevation, with a modern timber-posted verandah. 

Windows are generally modern replacements, although there is a double-hung sash with two panes to 

each sash to the west elevation, which appears to be of long standing. There a brick chimney at 

north-east of the building, with a damaged corbel. The pitched roof of the main building is clad with 

corrugated galvanised sheet steel. There are skillion roofed timber additions to the north and west. 

The building appears to be in generally sound condition, with some evidence of structural movement. 


As originally built, the former store at 57 Inglewood Street, Raywood was similar to many singlestorey 

parapet-fronted shops all over Victoria, built from the later nineteenth century and into the 

1920s in various forms and materials. These buildings were generally marked by symmetrical 

shopfronts, verandahs and parapets with a recess or panel set out for signage. The modifications to 

the subject building, however, have impacted on its original form and presentation, and diminished 

the attributes which locate the building within this group. 




The former c.1890s store and premises at 57 Inglewood Street, Raywood is of some historical 

interest. It is associated with an earlier 1870s timber saddlery business, owned by David Higgie, 

which was destroyed by fire. Higgie’s widow ran a fancy goods store, and later a drapery operated 

out of the subject building before it was eventually adapted as a private residence, reflecting the 

changing economics of the town. The location of the property, opposite the Town Hall (1878, R12), 

and close to the main intersection of Inglewood Street and the Bendigo-Pyramid Road, is also of 

interest as it recalls the historic centre of the town. 



N/A 



2


N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The subject building retains some aesthetic/architectural interest, through the serpentine parapet, the 

bichrome brickwork and use of varied brick colours, and the overall gabled building form and massing 

which helps recall its commercial origins. However, the modifications to the building have impacted 

on its original presentation, and have diminished the architectural value of the structure. 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 


The former c.1890s store and premises at 57 Inglewood Street, Raywood is of some historical 

interest. It is associated with an earlier 1870s timber saddlery business, owned by David Higgie, 

which was destroyed by fire. Higgie’s widow ran a fancy goods store, and later a drapery operated 

out of the subject building before it was eventually adapted as a private residence, reflecting the 

changing economics of the town. The location of the property, opposite the Town Hall (1878, R12), 

and close to the main intersection of Inglewood Street and the Bendigo-Pyramid Road, is also of 

interest as it recalls the historic centre of the town. In terms of the aesthetic/architectural values, the 

modifications to the building have impacted on its original presentation, and have diminished the 

architectural value of the structure. 



Overlay. The building, while having some historical interest, has been modified to the extent that it is 

considered to fall below the threshold of local significance. 







3




Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 


2003, p. 329. 

2 

‘Higgie’s Saddlery, Higgie’s Fancy Goods,’ citation,Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo 


3 


Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998, source uncited. 

4 

Marie H Manning (ed), Back-To Raywood and District Souvenir Booklet, 1973, p. 6. 

5 


Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998, source uncited. 

4


Name Post Office and Quarters Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 33-37 Inglewood Street, Raywood Map reference VicRoads 44 E2 

Building type Post office Survey date June 2010 


construction 

Significance 

1902 (quarters); 1912(post office) Recommendation Include in the 



Raywood Post Office and Quarters is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: Post office entrance, at east of property. Right: Verandah at west of property. 

Left: West elevation, as viewed from Inglewood Street. Right: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of 

Greater Bendigo). 

Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site shown at R07. 


R07 

1


History 

Within a few weeks of the October 1863 gold strike at Thunder Plains that led to the establishment of 

Raywood, local storekeepers sent a petition for a post office to Melbourne. 1 A room at Gunn’s Hotel 

(R10) served as the town’s first post office, from 4 January 1864. 2 Prior to that, Raywood's mail was 

despatched from the Elysian Flat (Neilborough) post office by the Cobb and Co coaches that ran from 

Sandhurst (Bendigo) to Huntly, Elysian Flat, Raywood and Sebastian before returning to Sandhurst. 3 

Later, a separate building was erected as a post office approximately opposite the present post office 

on Inglewood Street. 4 In 1902, Isabelle McPhee commissioned the construction of the present 

property on the north side of Inglewood Street, adding the post office in 1912. 5 McPhee was 

postmaster from c. 1902 until at least 1930. 6 The building is not believed to have been built by the 

Commonwealth Government, as there is no mention of a post office at Raywood constructed during 

this period in the Department of Home Affairs reports covering post and telegraph offices. 7 The 

building also does not conform to the Postmaster General Department's designs of the period. The 

post office remains in use. 



3.7: Establishing and maintaining communications 


5.8: Working 


The timber post office and quarters at 33 Inglewood Street, Raywood were built in 1912 and 1902 

respectively. The main component of the property was inspected externally; additions to the rear and 

outbuildings on the property were not inspected. 

Raywood Post Office is a single-storey timber structure built in the Queen Anne manner, with hipped 

and gabled roof forms and a return verandah. The post office component comprises a gabled wing 

projecting forward of the main building line at the east side of the building. The south wall of this 

wing, which comprises a pair of double hung sash windows with a metal hood above, is given 

emphasis externally by its king post gable decoration and oculus vent. The entrance is in a facetted 

bay to the east, with a hipped roof. An overpainted brick chimney is located to the north of the 

entrance porch, projecting from the east elevation. The pitched roof of the post office wing is clad 

with corrugated galvanised sheet metal. The residence, to the west, has a timber posted bull nosed 

return verandah with cast iron lace enrichment to the south and west. Windows are generally double 

hung sashes. There is another projecting bay to the north-west. The hipped roof of the residence is 

clad in corrugated galvanised sheet metal, there are picturesque bracketed eaves. The building is clad 

with weatherboards and painted a dark green. It appears to be in generally sound condition. 


In a general sense, the subject building compares to many single-storey timber buildings in Victoria in 

the Queen Anne style, and utilises typical elements of the style including the picturesque gables and 

return verandah with cast iron lacework. The 1902 building departs from the more common form and 

arrangement of these dwellings, however, in incorporating the post office component of 1912. While 

there are many timber post offices in Australia, dating from the 1900-1915 period, these were 

purpose-built post office buildings many of which incorporated quarters in their original design and 

construction. The Raywood Post Office and quarters is therefore distinctive in this group. Together 

with the former McGregor’s Store at 54 Inglewood Street, Raywood Post Office and Quarters is also a 

timber commercial building of long standing in the township. 




2


Raywood Post Office and Quarters, built in 1912 and 1902 respectively, is of historical significance. 

The original part of the building was constructed in 1902, for the postmaster Isabelle McPhee, before 

the post office component was added in 1912. The building has served as a post office since that time 

although postal services were established at Raywood as early as 1864. McPhee held the job of 

postmaster from c. 1902 until at least 1930, which is also a matter of interest, shedding light on one 

of the public positions available for women in this period, when career opportunities were generally 

limited. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

Raywood Post Office and Quarters is of aesthetic/architectural significance as a substantially externally 

intact timber 1902/1912 building in the Queen Anne style, which combined an earlier residence with a 

later post office. In this way the building departs from many purpose-built post office buildings of a 

similar period, which incorporated quarters in their original design and construction. The building also 

utilises elements typical of the style including the picturesque gables and return verandah with cast 

iron lacework. The post office component, to the east, is given prominence by its projecting gabled 

wing, king post gable decoration, oculus vent and the facetted entrance porch to the east. Together 

with the former McGregor’s Store at 54 Inglewood Street, Raywood Post Office and Quarters is 

additionally a timber commercial building of long standing in the township. 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 



Raywood Post Office is a single-storey timber structure built in the Queen Anne manner, with hipped 

and gabled roof forms and a return verandah. The post office component (built 1912) comprises a 

gabled wing projecting forward of the main building line at the east side of the building. The south 

wall of this wing, which comprises a pair of double hung sash windows with a metal hood above, is 

3


given emphasis externally by its king post gable decoration and oculus vent. The entrance is in a 

facetted bay to the east, with a hipped roof. The residence to the west (built 1902) has a timber 

posted bull nosed return verandah with cast iron lace enrichment to the south and west. The hipped 

roof of the residence is clad in corrugated galvanised sheet metal, there are picturesque bracketed 

eaves. The building is clad with weatherboards and painted a dark green. 


Raywood Post Office and Quarters is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


Raywood Post Office and Quarters, built in 1912 and 1902 respectively, of 33 Inglewood Street, 

Raywood is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. The property is historically 

significant (Criterion A), with the original part of the building constructed in 1902, for the postmaster 

Isabelle McPhee, before the post office component was added in 1912. The building has subsequently 

served as a post office for nearly 100 years, although postal services were established at Raywood as 

early as 1864. McPhee held the job of postmaster from c. 1902 until at least 1930, which is also a 

matter of interest shedding light on one of the public positions available for women in this period, 

when career opportunities were generally limited. Raywood Post Office and Quarters is also of 

aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E) as a substantially externally intact timber 1902/1912 

building in the Queen Anne style, which combined an earlier residence with a later post office. In this 

way the building departs from many purpose-built post office buildings of a similar period, which 

incorporated quarters in their original design and construction. The building also utilises elements 

typical of the style including the picturesque gables and return verandah with cast iron lacework. The 

post office component, to the east, is given prominence by its projecting gabled wing, king post gable 

decoration, oculus vent and the facetted entrance porch to the east. Together with the former 

McGregor’s Store at 54 Inglewood Street, Raywood Post Office and Quarters is additionally a timber 

commercial building of long standing in the township. 



The extent of the Overlay is illustrated in the above map, although the focus of significance is on the 

1902/1912 building components. The additions to the rear and outbuildings on the property were not 

inspected. 









Identified By 


References 



4



Specific: 

1 


2003, p. 325. 

2 


2003, p. 325. 

3 


2003, p. 325. 

4 

‘Post Office and Quarters’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study 


5 



6 


2003, p. 325. 

7 



5


Name Former railway gatekeeper’s house 

(Departmental Residence no. 927) 

and water supply ruins 


Marong Study 

Address 9 Inglewood Street, Raywood Map reference VicRoads 44 E2 

Building type Private residence (former railway 

gatehouse and water supply ruins) 


construction 

R08 



c. 1882 Recommendation Include in the 



Significance The former railway gatekeeper’s house is of local historical significance. 

Left: South elevation. Note infilled verandah to the west of the projecting gable. Right: west 

elevation, with the rail track in the foreground. 

Left: East elevation. Right: East elevation, with grain silo at rear. 


with the subject site shown as R08. 1 


1


History 

The line between Eaglehawk and Raywood was opened on 15 December 1882 and extended to 

Mitiamo on 21 June 1883. The following contracts were let for the construction of gatekeepers' 

cottages on the Eaglehawk-Kerang line: Johnson and Garrett, eight cottages, 3 February 1882; W E 

Brown, nine cottages, 11 August 1882; B Jensen, eight cottages, 17 November 1882 (Jensen was 

contracted on the same day to construct the station building at Raywood); and John Gibbs, one 

cottage, 17 August 1883; N Irwin, cottages and fencing, 21 December 1883. 

Raywood was a watering station for locomotives. The water supply installation at Raywood consisted 

of a 20,000-gallon tank, pipe track, engine house, boiler and pumping engine. It was similar to the 

Sebastian installation provided by L McPherson and Co on 1 December 1882. 

From 1 July 1896 to 30 June 1900, the Railway Department relocated 268 gatekeepers' cottages 

where they restricted the view of approaching trains, using them to provide accommodation for 

employees. During the post-war period, Departmental Residence no. 927 (the subject building) was 

used as a repairer's residence. 2 It is now a private residence, 

Raywood railway station has been demolished. 



3.3: Linking Victorians by rail 


The former railway gatekeeper’s residence at 9 Ingelwood Street, Raywood is located to the east of 

the rail line, towards the west end of Inglewood Street. It was originally built in c. 1882, following the 

completion of the line from Eaglehawk to Raywood. The property was inspected externally. The 

remnants of the former water supply system were not inspected and are believed to be outside the 

subject property boundary. References to the water supply installation in the following description are 

derived from the previous survey carried out in 1998. 3 

The single-storey house is a standard departmental T-shaped timber residence of the late nineteenth 

century. As built there was a verandah to the west of the south elevation. This has been filled in (c. 

1960s), including the installation of a modern door and a highlight window. A gabled wing – possibly 

a later addition – projects to the north, and there is a skillion roofed infill to the north-west. The 

majority of visible windows to the house are not original, having been replaced by modern metalframed 

sliding windows. There are remnants of king post decorations to the projecting gable ends 

and triangular gable end vents. The roof areas are clad with corrugated galvanised sheet steel, 

painted red. There are two painted brick chimneys, with different widths, dimensions and corbels, one 

to the north of the rear gable and one to the centre of the building, aligned with the original rear 

(north) building line. 

The property is set back from Inglewood Street behind an open landscaped setting, with a mature 

palm tree to the east. There is a timber post and metal mesh fence and cyclone wire gates to the 

driveway. A line of trees/plantings defines the rear (north) boundary. There are a number of 

outbuildings (not inspected) and a water store (swimming pool?) to the rear of the property, and a 

carport to the west. 

The ruins of the water supply installation consist of a brick lined pit with timber copings (presumably 

decked over at one time) with iron pipe and valves situated near the grade crossing. 


As noted in the history (above), at least 27 contracts for the construction of gatekeeper’s cottages on 

the Eaglehawk-Kerang line, built to standard Departmental plans, were issued between December 

1882 and December 1883. The number of other surviving examples, either on this line or more 

broadly in Victoria, has not been established. However, notwithstanding this, the Raywood building is 

2


a modified structure and not particularly distinguished or distinctive when compared with other later 

nineteenth century timber dwellings. 




The former railway gatekeeper’s residence (Departmental Residence no. 927) at 9 Ingelwood Street, 

Raywood is historically significant as a surviving example of one of a number (at least 27) of purposebuilt 

early 1880s railway residences associated with the Eaglehawk-Kerang line. It was also 

historically associated with the Raywood railway station and locomotive water supply installation, both 

of which have been demolished, albeit the ruins of the water supply reputedly remain outside the 

boundary of the subject property. While the building could be considered to provide some evidence of 

the (now depleted) railway operations at Raywood, this evidence is generally limited to the subject 

property, in its altered state. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

N/A 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 



The single-storey house is a standard departmental T-shaped timber residence of the late nineteenth 

century. As built there was a verandah to the west of the south elevation. This has been filled in, 

3


including the installation of a modern door and a highlight window. A gabled wing – possibly a later 

addition – projects to the north, and there is a skillion roofed infill to the north-west. The majority of 

visible windows to the house are not original, having been replaced by modern metal-framed sliding 

windows. There are remnants of king post decorations to the projecting gable ends and triangular 

gable end vents. 


The former railway gatekeeper’s house is of local historical significance. 


The former railway gatekeeper’s residence (Departmental Residence no. 927) at 9 Ingelwood Street, 

Raywood is historically significant (Criterion A) as a surviving example of a number (at least 27) of 

purpose-built early 1880s railway residences associated with the Eaglehawk-Kerang line. It was also 

historically associated with the Raywood railway station and locomotive water supply installation, both 

of which have been demolished, albeit the ruins of the water supply reputedly remain outside the 

boundary of the subject property. The building provides some evidence of the (now depleted) railway 

operations at Raywood. In its original form, the former railway gatekeeper’s residence would have 

demonstrated the principal characteristics of a standard (i.e. mass produced) Railways Department Tshaped 

timber residence of the late nineteenth century. Although extensively modified, the building 

retains some original elements, including remnants of king post decorations to the projecting gable 

ends and triangular gable end vents. 



In recognition of the property’s historical association with the demolished Raywood railway station and 

locomotive water supply installation, and through that with Raywood’s original role on the Eaglehawk- 

Kerang line, consideration could also be given to introducing a small interpretative element or making 

reference to the property and Raywood’s railway history, in an historical pamphlet or similar. 

It is also recommended that further investigation be undertaken into the (reputedly extant) water 

supply installation ruins, to establish the condition and extent of these elements. All ruins (including 

archaeological remains, footings, artefacts, etc) older than 50 years in Victoria are also covered by the 

statutory provisions of the Victorian Heritage Act 1995. 









Identified By 


4


References 




Specific: 

1 


2 

The history for the former railway gatehouse is derived from the citation for the ‘Former 

gatehouse and railway water supply ruins’ prepared by Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater 

Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. Ward cites, Annual Reports of 

the Board of Land and Works: Victorian Railways, as his primary source. 

3 

‘Former gatehouse and railway water supply ruins’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of 

Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. 

5


Name Former McKay farmhouse Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 3536 Elmore-Raywood 

Road, at Oxleys Road 

intersection, Raywood 

R9 


Building type Private residence Survey date August 2010. Note: access to 

the site was not permitted. 

The survey was limited to 

views from Oxleys Road. 


construction 

Built by 1864; extended c. 

1916 

Recommendation Include in the Schedule to the 


Significance The former McKay farmhouse is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

West elevation, viewed from Oxleys Road. The c. 1864 brick dwelling is pictured left. The larger 

weatherboard structure was relocated from the nearby New Nil Desperandum Mine in c. 1916. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010, with the historic farmhouse highlighted (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). 

Right: Proposed Heritage Overlay map. The subject site is designated R09. The extent of the HO 

boundary is indicative only. 


1


History 

Nathaniel McKay occupied the original brick dwelling at the McKay farmhouse by 1864, the year after 

the discovery of alluvial gold by Joseph Woodward on the edge of nearby Thunder Plains. 1 The 

humble property was almost certainly the birthplace of Hugh Victor McKay (1865-1926), inventor of 

the Sunshine harvester and one of Australia’s most successful industrialists. 2 

Hugh McKay was the fifth of 12 children born to Nathaniel McKay and his wife Mary. Nathaniel McKay 

was an Irish settler who had been a stonemason and a miner before becoming a small farmer at 

Raywood. In the early 1870s the family moved to a selection at Drummartin, north-east of Raywood. 

Hugh grew up to become an efficient ploughman and was manager of the Drummartin farm by the 

age of 18. He used a reaper and binder and later a stripper on his father's holding where, with other 

members of his family, he designed and built a machine that would gather, thresh and clean the grain 

as it went through the crop. It was successfully trialled on the farm in February 1884. Hugh McKay 

subsequently built machines for sale in Ballarat and from 1906 in Braybrook (later Sunshine). McKay 

built up the largest agricultural implement factory in the southern hemisphere. He was noted for his 

stand on unionism and the wages board regulations established by Victorian Premier Allan McLean in 

1900. 3 

The later timber section of the farmhouse, facing the Elmore-Raywood Road, was relocated from the 

New Nil Desperandum mine on Lincoln Street, Raywood (Heritage Inventory number H7724-0208). 

The New Nil Desperandum was the town's last quartz reef mine, closing in 1916. 4 The property was 

originally a mine manager's house and may have been the home of Mr R Eddy, manager of the New 

Nil Desperandum. 







The former McKay farmhouse occupies a large landholding at the corner of the Elmore-Raywood Road 

and Oxleys Road, approximately two kilometres east of Raywood. The property includes multiple farm 

outbuildings and two dwellings, being the original property (built by 1864 and extended c. 1916) and 

a smaller mid-twentieth century property. The original property, which is the subject of this 

assessment, is located at the north end of the driveway. 

The historic dwelling consists of two elements. The original c. 1864 component, facing Oxleys Road to 

the north is a small brick structure with rendered walls. It has a hipped roof clad with corrugated 

galvanised sheet metal and two brick chimneys. There is a timber posted verandah to the west and 

north, enclosed by a sheet metal balustrade. There is a single door to the west elevation, a double 

hung window with glazing bars, and an addition extending from the north-east corner. The 1864 

building is effectively obscured from view by additions and the return verandah. 

The property was extended, presumably after 1916, by the addition of a weatherboard house from the 

New Nil Desperandum mine at Raywood. The latter building is also a single-storey structure, on a 

square plan, and is turned ‘side-on’ to the earlier building. It has a hipped roof, with two lesser hips, 

clad with corrugated galvanised sheet steel, and two brick chimneys. A bull nosed post supported 

verandah with a ladder frame frieze is attached at the south end, facing the Elmore-Raywood Road. 

The west elevation has a double hung sash window with a pair of panes to each sash. The detail of 

the elevation beneath the verandah is not available. This building is connected to the original 

property by a narrow skillion roofed timber linking element. 

A row of trees, possibly a wind break, is planted close to the south verandah of the timber addition. 

Trees are also planted to the east, obscuring views from the driveway. 

2



In its simple materials and humble scale the original 1864 farmhouse compares with dwellings built all 

over Victoria during the early years of settlement. The former mine manager’s house, relocated to the 

McKay farm house presumably after 1916, is a weatherboard structure whose planning and form also 

appears typical of the late nineteenth century. While neither building is necessarily distinguished, the 

combination of the two, and their survival here in an (apparently) externally intact form is of some 

note. 




The former McKay farmhouse near Raywood, built from c. 1864, is historically significant as the birth 

place of Hugh Victor McKay (1865-1926), inventor of the Sunshine harvester and one of Australia’s 

most successful industrialists. The McKay family occupied the property prior to moving to a selection 

at Drummartin in the early 1870s. The original 1864 component of the property is also significant for 

its capacity to recall the earliest phase of settlement at Raywood following the gold strike at Thunder 

Plains in 1863. The property was extended in the early twentieth century through the addition of the 

former manager’s residence from the nearby New Nil Desperandum mine, which was Raywood’s last 

quartz reef mine, closing in 1916. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

The original farmhouse, built c. 1864, is a structure of simple materials and humble scale with limited 

architectural pretension, typical of many rural dwellings built all over Victoria during the early years of 

settlement in the 1850s-60s. The former mine manager’s house, relocated to the McKay farm house 

presumably after 1916, is a weatherboard structure whose planning and form are also typical of late 

nineteenth century design. While neither buildings are necessarily distinguished, the combination of 

the two, and their survival here in an (apparently) externally intact form is of some note. 


municipality. 

N/A 



N/A 




N/A 

3




The former McKay farmhouse is significant as the birth place of Hugh Victor McKay (1865-1926), 

inventor of the Sunshine harvester and one of Australia’s most successful industrialists. The McKay 

family occupied the property prior to moving to a selection at Drummartin in the early 1870s. 



The former McKay farmhouse consists of two elements: the original c. 1864 component, facing Oxleys 

Road to the west, and a weatherboard addition to the south, which is believed to have been added 

after 1916. The original building is a small brick structure with rendered walls. It has a hipped roof 

clad with corrugated galvanised sheet metal and two brick chimneys to the north. There is a timber 

posted verandah to the west and north, enclosed by a sheet metal balustrade. The c. 1916 addition is 

also a single-storey structure, on a square plan. It has a hipped roof, with two lesser hips, clad with 

corrugated galvanised sheet steel, and two brick chimneys. A bull nosed post supported verandah 

with a ladder frame frieze is attached at the south end. The 1864 dwelling was the birth place of 

Hugh Victor McKay (1865-1926), inventor of the Sunshine harvester and one of Australia’s most 

successful industrialists. 


The former McKay farmhouse is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The former McKay farmhouse (built c. 1864 and extended c. 1916) at the corner of the Elmore- 

Raywood Road and Oxleys Road is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. It is 

historically significant (Criteria A and H) as the birthplace of Hugh Victor McKay (1865-1926), inventor 

of the Sunshine harvester and one of Australia’s most successful industrialists. The McKay family 

occupied the property prior to moving to a selection at Drummartin in the early 1870s. The original 

1864 component of the property is also significant for its capacity to recall the earliest phase of 

settlement at Raywood following the gold strike at Thunder Plains in 1863. The property was 

extended in the early twentieth century through the addition of the former manager’s residence from 

the nearby New Nil Desperandum mine, which was Raywood’s last quartz reef mine, closing in 1916. 

The former McKay farmhouse near Raywood is also significant for its capacity to demonstrate 

(Criterion D) characteristics of relatively humble twentieth century dwellings. The original farmhouse, 

built c. 1864, is a structure of simple materials and small scale with limited architectural pretension, 

typical of many rural dwellings built all over Victoria during the early years of settlement in the 1850s- 

60s. The former mine manager’s house, relocated to the McKay farm house presumably after 1916, is 

a weatherboard structure whose planning and form are also typical of late nineteenth century design. 

While neither buildings is necessarily distinguished in its own right, the combination of the two, and 

their survival here in an (apparently) externally intact form is of some note. 



The extent of the Overlay is indicated above, however, the focus of significance is on the (c. 1864) 

original dwelling and the weatherboard addition relocated here in c.1916. Given this focus, the extent 

of the Heritage Overlay could be reduced to cover these structures and the setback to Elmore- 

Raywood Road. Given the historical significance of the property, as the birthplace of Hugh Victor 

McKay, consideration could also be given to introducing a plaque to this effect in an appropriate 

location on the property boundary or entrance. 



4








Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 

Shire of Marong rate book, 1864, cited in citation for ‘McKay Farm House,’ Andrew Ward et al, 


2 

John Lack’s entry 'McKay, Hugh Victor (1865 - 1926)' in the Australian Dictionary of 

Biography, Volume 10, Melbourne University Press, 1986, pp 291-294, notes that Hugh Victor 

McKay was born at Raywood on 21 August 1865. 

3 John Lack, 'McKay, Hugh Victor (1865 - 1926)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, 

Melbourne University Press, 1986, pp 291-294. 

4 

Pers comm., Mrs Oxley, long-time Raywood resident and then owner of the property, interview 

with Andrew Ward and Ray Wallace, 6 August, 1998, cited in citation for ‘McKay Farm House,’ 

Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 

1998. 

5


Name Raywood Hotel (former Gunn's 

Raywood Hotel) 

Address 48 Sandhurst Street, at the southeast 

corner of Inglewood Street 

(Elmore-Raywood Road) and 

Sandhurst Street (Bendigo-Pyramid 

Road) 1 


Marong Study 

R10 


Building type Hotel Survey date June 2010 (external 



construction 

Significance 

After 1870s Recommendation Include in the 



The former Gunn’s Hotel is of historical, social and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Raywood Hotel looking south-east. The residential entrance is to the north elevation (left of picture), 

denoted by arch in the parapet. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). Right: Proposed heritage overlay with the 

subject site shown as R10. 2 


1


History 

On 22 October 1863, Joseph Woodward found alluvial gold on the edge of Thunder Plains. He named 

the area Raywood after the town of his birth in England. The Borough of Raywood, including Elysian 

Flat (Neilborough), was proclaimed in 1865. A number of municipal and commercial buildings were 

constructed during the 1860s and 1870s, including the original Gunn’s Hotel and the first police 

station (both demolished). A Common School, and post office, located in Gunn’s Hotel, followed in 

1864. The Town Hall was completed in 1878. 3 Late nineteenth century development at Raywood was 

driven both by mining, and the town’s status and a centre for the surrounding agricultural district. It 

was not until 1915 it was amalgamated with the Shire of Marong. 4 

The original Gunn’s Hotel was built close to the site of the present Town Hall, a short distance to the 

east of the present hotel. 5 It was operated by William Gunn (1828-1885), who had previously 

established the first hotel in Kangaroo Flat, the Glasgow Arms, in 1854. Gunn had subsequently been 

elected to the Marong and District Roads Board, in 1861, giving up this post to move to the nascent 

gold field of Raywood. It is believed that his original hotel at Raywood was operational only nine days 

after Joseph Woodward’s gold strike. 6 In the early years, Gunn’s Hotel was the centre of the growing 

community, being used as premises for church services, Cobb and Co’s mail delivery and meetings of 

the Borough Council. It was also used as the venue for the Raywood Royal Theatre, operated by Mrs 

Gunn. 

The present hotel, at the corner of Elmore-Raywood Road (Inglewood Street at Raywood) and 

Bendigo-Pyramid Road, was built in the 1870s, during William Gunn Junior’s tenure as landlord, 7 on 

the site of the Bank of New South Wales. 8 The original name of the property survived until 1947. 9 It 

is now known as the Raywood Hotel. Gunn’s Hotel outlived the c. 23 hotels and shanties established 

at Raywood in the 1860s-80s, 10 including the former White Horse Hotel, on the north-east corner of 

the Elmore-Raywood Road and Bendigo-Pyramid Road intersection. The hotel was for sale at the time 

of the site inspection. 

William Gunn Snr was also a founding member of the Raywood Progress League, in 1864. In 1871 he 

resigned to stand for parliament. William Gunn Jnr was elected a councillor for the Borough of 

Raywood and was elected mayor on five occasions. 11 




5.8: Working 


The former Gunn’s Hotel at Raywood is located to the south-east of the Elmore-Raywood Road 

(Inglewood Street) and Bendigo-Pyramid Road intersection, in the centre of the town. It was built 

after 1874, replacing an earlier Gunn’s Hotel, located nearby to the east. The hotel was not inspected 

internally. 

The single-storey hotel is built of timber; has a contiguous timber-posted verandah to the north and 

west elevations, which extends over (and covers) the public footpath, a corner splay with doors, and a 

high asbestos cement lined parapet. The west elevation has another door to the bar, and the north 

elevation has a door to the residential entry. The leadlight work to the residential entrance has 

‘Gunn's’ in the fanlight. Windows are generally double-hung sashes, with two panes to each sash. 

There are timber shutters, painted green. The parapet, which is not original, comprises regular-sized 

panels with strapping, has a modern sign reading ’Raywood Hotel’ to the west elevation, and an arch 

that surmounts the residential entrance. 

The building is comprised of two principal components, an L-shaped wing with hipped roof to the 

corner, and a longer wing, aligned north-south, to its east. It is possible that this longer wing was a 

later addition. All the roof areas are clad with galvanised corrugated sheet steel. There is a garden 

area to the rear. 

2



Timber hotels were once a common feature of the former Shire of Marong and the Central Victorian 

goldfields generally. Examples include the Shamrock Hotel and Store at Neilborough (N1), the Camp 

Hotel in the Whipstick, at Woodvale (W6), the Royal Hotel, Woodvale (W1) and the Marong Hotel 

(M5). Many of these timber hotel buildings were razed by fire and replaced with brick structures. Of 

these examples, the original Shamrock Hotel and Store (built 1860s) at nearby Neilborough parallels 

the present Raywood Hotel in addressing the corner site with its generally low, spreading proportions, 

and deep verandah over the footpath. 




The former Gunn’s Hotel at Raywood, built after 1874, is historically significant as a long-standing 

hotel in the town, associated with an even earlier Gunn’s Hotel located nearby to the east, which was 

reputedly opened (presumably in shanty form) within days of the first gold strike at Raywood in 1863. 

The present building, constructed during the tenure of William Gunn Jnr as landlord, was renamed the 

Raywood Hotel in 1947. It was the longest lasting of the c. 23 hotels and shanties in the township, 

and remains in use for its original purpose. William Gunn Snr was a pioneering settler and played a 

prominent role in civic affairs. 



Gunn’s at Raywood is a rare surviving example of a timber hotel, which were once a common feature 

of the former Shire of Marong and the Central Victorian goldfields generally. Examples include the 

Shamrock Hotel and Store at Neilborough (N1), the Camp Hotel in the Whipstick, at Woodvale (W6), 

the Royal Hotel, Woodvale (W1) and the Marong Hotel (M5). Many of these timber hotel buildings 

were razed by fire and replaced with brick structures. 



N/A 


objects. 

Gunn’s Hotel demonstrates some of the principal characteristics of historic single-storey hotels in the 

area. These include its low spreading proportions, chamfered corner with door and irregularly-spaced 

openings. 


municipality. 

The former Gunn’s Hotel at Raywood is of aesthetic/architectural significance as a c.1870s hotel 

building on a prominent corner site in the centre of Raywood. Although modified, including through 

the addition of the current asbestos cement lined parapet, the Raywood Hotel nevertheless recalls 

nineteenth century hotel buildings on the goldfields, through addressing the corner site with its 

generally low, spreading proportions, and deep verandah over the footpath. Many of the historic 

timber hotels have been destroyed by fire or otherwise replaced, and the Raywood Hotel is therefore 

distinguished in its longevity, both as a building type and an hotel operation. The leadlight work to 

the residential entrance, with the lettering ‘Gunn's’ in the fanlight, recalls the hotel’s origins. 



N/A 

3





Gunn’s Hotel at Raywood is of social significance in the local context as a hotel as a place of meeting 

and congregation since the 1870s. The building’s social significance is enhanced by its large scale and 

prominent siting at the major intersection in the town centre. 



N/A 



Gunn’s Hotel (built 1870s) is a single-storey, corner-sited structure built of timber. It has a 

contiguous timber-posted verandah to the north and west elevations, which extends over (and covers) 

the public footpath, a corner splay with doors, and a high asbestos cement lined parapet. The west 

elevation has another door to the bar, and the north elevation has a door to the residential entry. The 

leadlight work to the residential entrance has ‘Gunn's’ in the fanlight. Windows are generally doublehung 

sashes, with two panes to each sash. There are timber shutters, painted green. The parapet, 

which is not original, comprises regular-sized panels with strapping, has a modern sign reading 

’Raywood Hotel’ to the west elevation, and an arch that surmounts the residential entrance. 


The former Gunn’s Hotel is of historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The former c.1870s Gunn’s Hotel at the corner of Inglewood and Sandhurst streets, Raywood, is of 

historical, aesthetic/architectural and social significance. It is historically significant (Criterion A) as a 

long-standing hotel in the town, associated with an even earlier Gunn’s Hotel located nearby to the 

east, which was reputedly opened (presumably in shanty form) within days of the first gold strike at 

Raywood in 1863. The original Gunn’s Hotel was also an early centre of community activities, being 

the destination for mail deliveries, a venue for church services and also serving as the Raywood Royal 

Theatre. The present building, constructed during the tenure of William Gunn Jnr as landlord, was 

renamed the Raywood Hotel in 1947. It was the longest lasting of the c. 23 hotels and shanties in the 

township, and remains in use for its original purpose. William Gunn Snr was a pioneering settler, and 

played a prominent role in civic affairs. Gunn’s Hotel is of social significance (Criterion G) in the local 

context as a hotel as a place of meeting and congregation since the 1870s. The building’s social 

significance is enhanced by its large scale and prominent siting at the major intersection in the town 

centre. The hotel at Raywood is also of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E) as a c.1870s 

hotel building on a prominent corner site in the centre of Raywood. Although modified, including 

through the addition of the current asbestos cement lined parapet, the Raywood Hotel nevertheless 

recalls nineteenth century hotel buildings on the goldfields, through addressing the corner site with its 

generally low, spreading proportions, and deep verandah over the footpath (Criterion D). Many of the 

historic timber hotels have been destroyed by fire or otherwise replaced, and the Raywood Hotel is 

therefore distinguished in its longevity, both as a building type and through its hotel operation 

(Criterion B). The leadlight work to the residential entrance, with the lettering ‘Gunn's’ in the fanlight, 

recalls the hotel’s origins. 



The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map. The focus of significance is on the 1870s 

hotel building, including its corner presentation. As the hotel was not inspected internally, nor was it 

examined in detail to the rear, there may be elements of the building’s two principal components (the 

4


L-shaped wing with hipped roof to the corner, and a longer wing aligned north-south to its east) which 

are of lesser significance. This would require confirmation. 









Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 

Address changed from 48 Inglewood Street, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. 


2 

Map changed from Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 2011. 

3 

Victorian Government Gazette: 6 – 17/01/1865 and http://raywood.vic.au/history of-raywood 

4 

Victorian Government Gazette: 115 – 15/09/1915 

5 


2003, p. 332. 

6 


2003, p. 332. 

7 


2003, p. 332 and p. 338. 

8 

‘Gunn’s Raywood Hotel’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study 


9 


2003, p. 332. 

10 


2003, p. 332. 

11 


2003, p. 338. 

5


Name Former White Horse Hotel Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 49 Inglewood Street, at the northeast 

corner of Inglewood Street 

(Elmore-Raywood Road) and the 

Bendigo-Pyramid Road (Sandhurst 

Street), Raywood 

R11 


Building type Private residence (former hotel) Survey date June 2010 (external 



construction 

c. 1870s Recommendation Not recommended for 



Significance The Former White Horse Hotel is not of local heritage significance, and is not 


Left: West elevation of the former White Horse Hotel. Right: South elevation. 



History 

Raywood was established following the discovery of gold at Thunder Plains on 22 October 1863. The 

Borough of Raywood, including Elysian Flat (Neilborough), was proclaimed in 1865. A number of 

municipal and community buildings were constructed during the 1860s and 1870s, including the 

original Gunn’s Hotel and the first police station (both demolished). A Common School, and post 

office, located in Gunn’s Hotel, followed in 1864. The Town Hall was completed in 1878. 1 Raywood 

developed as a centre for the surrounding agricultural district. It was not until 1915 that the mining 

centre was amalgamated with the Shire of Marong. 2 

1


A Mr Malloy owned the Shamrock Hotel in 1863 before it passed to the publican, Thomas Draper who 

ran two hotels in Inglewood Street during the 1860s, known as the Shamrock and the White Horse. 3 

The former was closed in the 1870s, Draper retaining the White Horse Hotel which he renamed the 

White Horse and Shamrock in 1879. It is possible that the present building was constructed during 

the 1870s. The hotel, generally referred to as the former White Horse Hotel, was sold to the Eeles 

family during the late 1920s for £150, and the rooms were let out. 4 The property has been adapted 

as a private residence. 

There were an estimated 23 hotels and shanties established at Raywood in the 1860s-80s. 5 In 1865, 

Raywood's hotels provided approximately 30 per cent of the Borough's rate revenue. 6 The Raywood 

Hotel (former Gunn’s Hotel, see R10) on the south-east corner of the Inglewood Street and Bendigo- 

Pyramid Road intersection is the last operational hotel in the town. 




5.8: Working 


The former White Horse Hotel at Raywood is located at the north-east of the Inglewood Street and 

Bendigo-Pyramid Road intersection, in the centre of the township. It was not inspected internally. 

The single-storey brick residence is L-shaped in plan, with the shorter wing to Inglewood Street. The 

roof of this component is taller than the north wing. All the roof areas are hipped, and clad with 

corrugated galvanised sheet steel, and there is a brick chimney to each wing. There is also a corner 

splay, with a door and a fanlight above the door which is of long standing. A single door is also 

located to each of the south and west elevations. The windows are double hung sashes with a single 

pane to each sash, cast sills and cambered headers. The windows to east end of the east wing differ 

in form and are two pairs of double-hung sashes, multi-paned to the upper sash. This component is 

also rendered. These works were carried out in the 1990s. 7 The balance of the west and south 

elevations are unpainted face brick. Irregularly spaced plain brick pilasters are evident to the west 

elevation and flanking the splay door. It is believed that there was previously a verandah. 8 However, 

no evidence of this survives, although the narrow setback to the south and west sides would have 

been consistent with the historical use of a deep verandah over the public footpath. There is some 

evidence of structural movement. 

The former hotel occupies a large allotment, with a large garden area to the north and east, and a 

freestanding car port to the east. 


In its essential massing and details, with a corner splay entrance, irregularly spaced openings, camber 

headed double-hung sash windows and generally low, spreading proportions the former White Horse 

Hotel at Raywood parallels brick hotels built during the later Victorian period across the Bendigo 

goldfields. Examples include the former Royal Hotel at Woodvale (W1), the former Weighbridge Hotel 

at Kangaroo Flat (KF2) and the former Camp Hotel and Store on the Neilborough-to-Eaglehawk Road 

in the Whipstick (W6). The absence of a parapet to this building is also unusual. However, in the 

comparative context, the former White Horse Hotel at Raywood is less externally intact than the hotels 

referred to above; it is also a less detailed building, and architecturally unremarkable. 




The former White Horse Hotel at Raywood is of historical interest for its association with the heyday of 

Raywood, in the period 1860s-1880 when there were c. 23 shanties and hotels in the town, and 

2


following the discovery of gold at Thunder Plains in October 1863. The former hotel, also previously 

known as the Shamrock, and the White Horse and Shamrock, is estimated to date to the 1870s. 

However, the building has long ceased to operate as a hotel, unlike the Raywood Hotel (former Gunn’s 

Hotel, see R10) of a similar period, having been adapted to a private residence. The subject building 

has also been altered. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

The former White Horse Hotel at Raywood is without some of the typical elements of comparable 

goldfields hotels, including a parapet and verandah. The building is additionally a less detailed 

building than comparable historic local hotels. 


municipality. 

The former White Horse Hotel at Raywood is of limited aesthetic value. While it retains some legibility 

as an historic hotel building, through the corner splay, irregularly spaced openings and location at the 

principal intersection in the centre of the township, the building has been altered and is architecturally 

undistinguished. 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 


The former White Horse Hotel at Raywood is of historical interest, and limited aesthetic value. The 

former hotel is of historical interest for its association with the heyday of Raywood, in the period 

1860s-1880 when there were c. 23 shanties and hotels in the town, and following the discovery of 

gold at Thunder Plains in October 1863. The former hotel, also previously known as the Shamrock, 

and the White Horse and Shamrock, is estimated to date to the 1870s. However, the building has 

long ceased to operate as a hotel, unlike the Raywood Hotel (former Gunn’s Hotel, see R10) of a 

similar period, having been adapted to a private residence. The subject building has also been 

altered. 

3


The former White Horse Hotel is of limited aesthetic value. While it retains some legibility as an 

historic hotel building, through the corner splay, irregularly spaced openings and location at the 

principal intersection in the centre of the township, the building has been altered and is architecturally 

undistinguished. It is also without some of the typical elements of comparable goldfields hotels, 

including a parapet and verandah. The building is additionally a less detailed building than 

comparable historic local hotels. 



Overlay. 



Tree Controls 






Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 

Victorian Government Gazette: 6 – 17/01/1865 and http://raywood.vic.au/history of-raywood 

2 

Victorian Government Gazette: 115 – 15/09/1915 

3 

‘Former White Horse Hotel’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage 

Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998, citing Borough of Raywood rate books, 1864. 

4 


2003, p. 332. 

5 


2003, p. 332. 

6 


Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998, citing Borough of Raywood rate books. 

7 



8 

Pers comm., Dennis Mannering, proprietor of Raywood General Store, 47 Inglewood Street, 

Raywood and Adam Mornement, Lovell Chen, 24 June 2010. 

4


Name Former Raywood Town Hall Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 50 Inglewood Street, Raywood Map reference VicRoads 44 E2 

Building type Public hall (former town hall) Survey date June 2010 (external 



construction 



Significance The former Raywood Town Hall is of local historical, social and 


Left: Raywood Town Hall north elevation, c. late-19 th century (Source: Marie H Manning, Back-To 

Raywood and District Souvenir Booklet, 1973, p. 5). Right: North elevation, 2010. 

Left: East elevation. Right: View looking north-east; note west addition at right. 


The subject site is shown as R12. 1 

R12 

1



History 

Raywood was declared a Borough in 1865, following representations from the local progress 

association at a time when it was a part of the Marong District Roads Board area. The first Council 

elections were held on 21 March 1865, and the first councillors were Messrs Emmett, Pendlebury, 

Molloy, Ratcliffe, McKay, Tatchell, Gunn, Emery and Page. George Emmett was the founding mayor 

and George Hall the first secretary. 2 The first council meeting was held at Gunn's Hotel on 5 April 

1865. Thomas Draper, a publican (see former White Horse Hotel citation, R11), previously owned the 

land on which the present building was erected, and James Wilcox occupied a hut on the land. 3 

The subject building was constructed in 1878, and was designed by Henry Edmeades Tolhurst. The 

successful Eaglehawk architect also designed the Manchester Arms Hotel, Long Gully; and the Bank of 

Victoria, the Camp Hotel and the Oriental Bank at Eaglehawk, and three of Eaglehawk’s Protestant 

Churches. 4 Tolhurst was Eaglehawk’s town clerk and Borough surveyor, and he engineered lake 

Neangar in Canterbury Park (VicRoads 603 N8). The Raywood Town Hall was built by J Herbert of 

Eaglehawk for the sum of £351 5 shillings. The public debt incurred was considerable and the loan 

was still being paid off in 1887. By this time alluvial mining had ceased and after a number of difficult 

years the Borough was united with the Marong Shire on 1 October 1915. 5 The building has since been 

used as a public hall and meeting place. 



7.1: Developing institutions of self-government and democracy 

7.2: Struggling for political rights 


The former Raywood Town Hall occupies a narrow allotment running between Inglewood Street (as 

the Elmore-Raywood Road is known at Raywood) and McKay Street to the rear. It was inspected 

externally. 

The former town hall is a small building, albeit with a high volume, of brick construction with a hipped 

roof and symmetrical break-fronted (north) facade in tuck-pointed bichrome brick; a pediment 

surmounts the projecting central section, which has deeply recessed entrance doors. The hipped roof 

is clad in corrugated galvanised steel and has two broad-corniced chimneys with conspicuous bases 

and bichrome stacks. The eaves are boxed with a single line of vent perforations around the sides and 

front. There are three recessed signage panels with a stucco base to the north elevation, reading 

‘TOWN’ and ‘HALL’ over the front windows and ‘1878’ over the front door. The windows are double-hung 

sashes, the lower panes being frosted. The two door leafs and fanlight are replacements – the original 

fanlight had a central glazing bar. The windows and the front door have cambered headers. The 

contrasting cream bricks are arranged in a quoin effect by being set in an alternating extra header’s 

width every four courses. 

There is a later and lower-scale addition to the west, linked to the original building by a recessed 

glazed vestibule. It has red brick walling of a later and differing brick and a hipped roof. 

The former town hall has a shallow set back from Inglewood Street and is set to the rear of a timber 

picket fence. This is a sympathetic replacement of the original picket fence. The red letter box on the 

pavement to the east of the entrance is of long standing. 

The property is braced east-west with S bars, but appears to be in generally sound condition. 


Raywood’s is one of several small brick shire halls in the Bendigo region, the others including W C 

Vahland and John Beebe’s hall at Marong (M3), John O’Dwyer’s design for Huntly (1867), George 

2


Steane’s design for Strathfieldsaye (1869), 6 and a series further afield at Chewton (1861), Maldon 

(1859) and Newstead (1860). O’Dwyer and Steane were shire engineers. Henry Tolhurst, architect of 

Raywood Town hall, was a prominent architect based in Eaglehawk, who had designed three churches, 

two banks, a hotel and numbers of houses there, and had been active in Bendigo since c. 1861. 7 The 

bichrome brickwork, window to wall proportions and the elegant hipped roof link it to other public 

buildings in Central Victoria, especially to smaller post offices and court houses, most of which were 

completed earlier. These generally had arched windows, but the material usage and elegant 

proportions were similar. Court house examples include Creswick (1859), F E Kawerau’s at Maldon 

(1861), J J Clark’s at Newstead (1865), Talbot (1866), A T Snow’s at Inglewood (1868), H Williams’ at 

Eaglehawk (1869), Woodend (1871) and Huntly (1874). 8 Broadly, these were Italianate designs 

readjusted to present symmetrically to their street entrances, with subtly prominent eave lines. Most 

were in an exposed red brick similar to the halls at Raywood, Marong and Strathfieldsaye. The court 

house plans obviously differed, with high windows for the court wings and a flanking lower wing or 

pavilions for the ancillary rooms. The three shire halls in the Bendigo region also opted for tripartite 

facades: either three façade bays, as at Raywood, or three-arched entries as at Huntly, 

Strathfieldsaye and Marong. 




The former Raywood Town Hall (1878), located on Inglewood Street, Raywood, is historically 

significant for its capacity to recall the confidence and aspirations of Raywood during its late 

nineteenth century heyday; the building also provides evidence of the role of the township as a centre 

of local administration. The first Council elections were held in 1865, 13 years before the completion 

of the Town Hall, at the nearby Gunn’s Hotel and Theatre (demolished). The high cost of the new 

building (£351 5 shillings) resulted in considerable public debt. The building was used for its intended 

purpose from 1878 until 1915, when the Borough of Raywood united with the Marong Shire. It is one 

of a number of surviving modestly-sized former shire and town halls which recall the spread of local 

government in the goldfields region and the civic independence of often small centres in the 

nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, prior to later municipal amalgamations. The association 

with Henry Edmeades Tolhurst, successful Eaglehawk architect, is also of note. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

The former Raywood Town Hall demonstrates some of the principal characteristics of a number of 

small brick shire halls in the Bendigo area, including examples at Marong and Strathfieldsaye. All of 

these three buildings has a tripartite façade. The building’s bi-chrome brickwork, window to wall 

proportions and the elegant hipped roof link it to other public buildings in Central Victoria, especially 

to smaller post offices and court houses, most of which were completed earlier. 


municipality. 

The former Raywood Town Hall (1878) is of aesthetic/architectural significance as an externally intact, 

elegantly designed and executed, and prominently located former town hall. It was designed by the 

noted Eaglehawk architect Henry Edmeades Tolhurst. Although a small building, its high volume, 

3


symmetrical facade, prominent break-fronted entry bay with recessed doors, bichrome brick walling 

with contrasting brick quoining, central pediment and tall broad-corniced chimneys, all add vigour to 

the building’s presentation. The former town hall also reads as a civic or municipal building, which 

further distinguishes the structure in its streetscape. It is additionally significant as one of a number 

of surviving small brick shire and town halls in the Bendigo region, with others at Marong, Huntly 

(1867), and Strathfieldsaye (1869). The public presentation of the building to the north is 

substantially as designed in 1878. The modern wing to the west is recessive and defers to the earlier 

building in height and setback. 



N/A 




The former Raywood Town Hall is of local social significance as a venue for public meetings and 

congregations since 1915. The building’s prominent location, and its capacity to recall Raywood’s 

heyday during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century enhance this aspect of its significance. 



N/A 



The former Raywood Town Hall is a small building of brick construction located on a narrow allotment 

in the heart of the town. The building has a hipped roof and symmetrical break-fronted (north) facade 

in tuck-pointed bi-chrome brick. A pediment surmounts the projecting central section, which has 

deeply recessed entrance doors. The hipped roof is clad in corrugated galvanised steel and has two 

broad-corniced chimneys with conspicuous bases and bi-chrome stacks. The eaves are boxed with a 

single line of vent perforations around the sides and front. There are three recessed signage panels 

with a stucco base to the north elevation, reading ‘TOWN’ and ‘HALL’ over the front windows and ‘1878’ 

over the front door. The windows are double-hung sashes, the lower panes being frosted. 


The former Raywood Town Hall is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The former Raywood Town Hall (1878), located on Inglewood Street, Raywood, is of local historical 

and aesthetic/architectural significance. It is historically significant (Criterion A) for its capacity to 

recall the confidence and aspirations of Raywood during its late nineteenth century heyday; the 

building also provides evidence of the role of the township as a centre of local administration. The 

first Council elections were held in 1865, 13 years before the completion of the Town Hall, at the 

nearby Gunn’s Hotel and Theatre (demolished). The high cost of the new building (£351 5 shillings) 

resulted in considerable public debt. The building was used for its intended purpose from 1878 until 

1915, when the Borough of Raywood united with the Marong Shire. The former Raywood Town Hall is 

of local social significance (Criterion G) as a venue for public meetings and congregations since 1915. 

The building’s prominent location, and its capacity to recall Raywood’s heyday during the late 

nineteenth and early twentieth century enhance this aspect of its significance. The former Town Hall 

is one of a number of surviving modestly-sized former shire and town halls which recall the spread of 

local government in the goldfields region, and the civic independence of often small centres in the 

nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, prior to later municipal amalgamations. The association 

with Henry Edmeades Tolhurst, successful Eaglehawk architect, is also of note. The former town hall 

4


is also of aesthetic/architectural significance as an externally intact, elegantly designed and executed, 

and prominently located former town hall (Criterion E). Although a small building, its high volume, 

symmetrical facade, prominent break-fronted entry bay with recessed doors, bichrome brick walling 

with contrasting brick quoining, central pediment and tall broad-corniced chimneys, all add vigour to 

the building’s presentation. The former town hall also reads as a civic or municipal building, which 

further distinguishes the structure in its streetscape, and demonstrates some of the principal 

characteristics of a number of small brick shire halls in the Bendigo area, including examples at 

Marong and Strathfieldsaye (Criterion D). All of these three buildings have a tripartite façade. It is 

additionally significant as one of a number of surviving small brick shire and town halls in the Bendigo 

region, with others at Marong, Huntly (1867), and Strathfieldsaye (1869). 



The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map, with the focus of significance on the 1878 

building. The brickwork should remain unpainted. The modern wing to the west is of no heritage 

significance and can be maintained or demolished as required. 









Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 

Map changed from Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 2011. 

2 

Marie Manning, Back to Raywood and District, Back to Committee, 1973, p.5. 

3 

‘Raywood Town Hall’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study 


4 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust, Bendigo, 1987, pp. 

117-27 (Eaglehawk), 106 (Long Gully), 128 (Lake Neangar). 

5 

‘Raywood Town Hall’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage 


6 

Butcher and Flanders, p. 160-161 (Huntly), 163 (Strathfieldsaye). 

7 

Butcher and Flanders, pp. 117-127. 

8 

Michael Challinger, Historic Court Houses of Victoria, Pallisade, Melbourne, 2001, pp. 71 

(Creswick), 74 (Huntly), 79 (Eaglehawk), 102 (Inglewood), 121 (Maldon), 143 (Newstead), 

182 (Talbot), 198 (Woodend). 

5


Name Belvoir Park Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 151 Belvoir Park Road, 

Lockwood South 1 

RV2 


Building type Not established (outbuilding?) Survey date June 2010 


construction 

Early 1860s Recommendation Not recommended for 



Significance Belvoir Park is not of local heritage significance, and is not recommended for 


Left: View of north and east elevations from Belvoir Park Road. Right: View of south and west 

elevations from Calder Alternative Highway. 



History 

The first gold discovered on the Bendigo gold field was found in the northern reaches of the pastoral 

lease later known as Ravenswood Run. 2 The Ravenswood Estate, then known as the Mount Alexander 

Run No. 2, was occupied by Charles Sherratt in 1839. Following some confusion over squatters’ 

licenses, Sherratt sold the property to Messrs. Heape and Grice in 1843. It was in the Spring of 1852, 

when the property was owned by Stewart Gibson and Frederick Fenton, that gold was discovered by 

the wives of two of the property’s employees. Following Gibson’s death, Fenton became the sole 

owner of the No. 2 run which he renamed Ravenswood Run in 1857. 3 A township was proclaimed in 

1


the Parish of Ravenswood in 1885. The Parish of Ravenswood lies partially in the former Shire of 

Marong. 4 

Details of the history of Belvoir Park are scant. It is thought that the property dates from the early 

1860s and included a building (residence?) constructed of local granite, potentially built by masons 

working on the railway line approximately 2km to the east. The masons were on strike at the time. 5 

If this is correct, it implies a construction date of 1860-61 for the granite building, when the strikes 

were at their worst. 6 The house and 40ha (100 acres) of land were purchased in 1862 by Edward 

Bissill (1808-1903), from Judge Skinner of Bendigo, 7 who named the property Belvoir Park after 

Belvoir Castle in his native Lincolnshire. Belvoir Park remained in the Bissill family until 1983. The 

property, perched on a promontory with expansive views to the south, east and west, was considered 

to be one of the most attractive in the district. The Marong Shire rate books of 1880 list Bissill as a 

gentleman owning pasturelands in the Parish of Lockwood with a net asset value of £155. 8 

An associated granite barn was demolished in the 1960s. 9 





Access to Belvoir Park was not possible. The property is visible from Belvoir Park Road to the east and 

the Alternative Calder Highway to the west, and includes a contemporary dwelling on the north side 

and another free-standing building to the rear. Views from Belvoir Park Road and the Alternative 

Calder Highway were not conclusive with regard to confirming whether the property retains the 1860s 

granite building referred to above which is potentially the building to the rear of the more modern 

dwelling. 

As compared to the 1998 citation, it does not appear that the subject building is built of ‘large granite 

blocks’. Ward also notes that there is a cellar and side verandah with rear wing; the latter is also not 

visible. While the general scale of the building appears unaltered when compare to the 1998 image, 

and the red brick dressings remain evident, the current building also has large openings in the rear 

wall, which might be consistent with its current use as (or adaptation to) a vehicle store or garage (?). 


Given the fact that the historic 1860s building appears to be no longer extent on this property, no 

comparative analysis is included here. 




Belvoir Park the property, at 151 Belvoir Park Road, is of some historical interest for originally being 

developed in the c. early 1860s and as an early property of some scale located in the northern reaches 

of the former Mount Alexander Run No.2, a pastoral lease later known as the Ravenswood Run. The 

first gold in the Bendigo goldfields was struck nearly in Spring 1852, and Edward Bissill, a successful 

businessman and investor, acquired the property in 1862. However, the subject property currently 

no longer appears to retain buildings associated with its nineteenth century development. 



N/A 



N/A 

2



objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

N/A 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 


Belvoir Park the property, at 151 Belvoir Park Road, is of some historical interest for originally being 

developed in the c. early 1860s and as an early property of some scale located in the northern reaches 

of the former Mount Alexander Run No.2, a pastoral lease later known as the Ravenswood Run. The 

first gold in the Bendigo goldfields was struck nearly in Spring 1852, and Edward Bissill, a successful 

businessman and investor, acquired the property in 1862. However, the subject property currently no 

longer appears to retain buildings associated with its nineteenth century development. 


The subject property is not recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo 




Tree Controls 






Identified By 


3


References 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo; Its Environs; The Way It Was, Crown Castleton, Bendigo, 2003. 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust of Australia (Victoria), 1987. 



Specific: 

1 

Changed suburb from Ravenswood, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 2011. 

2 


(Victoria), 1987, p. 169. 

3 

Anon., Shire of Marong 1864-1964, unpaginated and Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs: The 

Way it Was, p. 31. 

4 

Victorian Government Gazette: 71 – 31/07/1885 and Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs: The 

Way it Was, p. 32. 

5 


(Victoria), 1987, p. 170. 

6 

‘Belvoir Park,’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) 


7 

Bendigo Cemeteries Trust, ‘Kangaroo Flat Walking Tours,’ www.bencemtrust.com.au, accessed 

11 September 2010) 

8 

Cited at, Bendigo Cemeteries Trust, ‘Kangaroo Flat Walking Tours,’ www.bencemtrust.com.au, 

accessed 11 September 2010. 

9 


(Victoria), 1987, p. 170. 

4


Name Little Sebastian Hotel Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 102 Main Street, Sebastian Map reference VicRoads 44 3D 

Building type Hotel Survey date June and August 2010 


construction 

Significance 



The Little Sebastian Hotel is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: White Horse Hotel, c. 1860s, before the fire of the 1870s (Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The 

Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castleton Publishers, 2003, p. 295). Right: Little Sebastian Hotel 

south elevation. 

Left: Rear view of the Little Sebastian, as seen from Vogeles Road. Right: Aerial view, 2010 


Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site shown as S01. Note HO662 is the Frederick 

the Great Mine and Cyanide Works. 


S1 

1


History 

Sebastian Schmidt discovered gold in the area south of Raywood in 1863. The town that bears 

Schmidt’s name was established shortly afterwards. Its fortunes rose and fell with the Frederick the 

Great Mine, around which Sebastian was built. Gold extraction began in 1864, when landholder Hugh 

Glass granted Messrs Charlton and Co, comprising Robert Charlton, Francis Harritable, Hart and Price, 

the right to erect a 12-head crushing plant at the Frederick the Great Mine. 1 The mine finally closed 

some 70 years later, by which time it had yielded over 170,000 ounces of gold. 2 During the boom 

years of the late nineteenth century, the mine employed over 400 men. By 1879, the year 

construction of the Little Sebastian Hotel began, Main Street, to the north of the mine, boasted a 

Mechanic’s Institute, State school, timber church (Primitive Methodists) and portable police building. 3 

There were also numerous hotels and wine shanties, including the White Horse Hotel, established by 

1865 and run by Misses Vogele: the All Nations, Commercial, Criterion, Garbarinas, Nerring, Sebastian 

and Traveller’s Rest. 4 The present Little Sebastian Hotel was built in 1879-80, following a fire to the 

earlier Vogele’s White Horse Hotel. 

The Little Sebastian Hotel was built by Francis Harritable (1820-1916), a Spanish seaman who arrived 

in Melbourne in 1858, 5 on the site of the fire-razed White Horse. 6 Harritable followed the diggings, 

travelling to McIvor (Heathcote) 7 before arriving at Sebastian by 1864. He was a member of the 

‘Messrs Charlton and Co’ consortium (see above) and later became a director of the Frederick the 

Great Mine. In 1873, Harritable acquired 14ha (35 acres) south of the Frederick the Great Mine, on 

the present Rothackers Road. There he built a dwelling for his growing family and a complex of 

outbuildings of log construction, some of which survive. He subsequently purchased the adjacent 

55ha (136 acre) block and land in nearby Campbell’s Forest. 

By the early 1890s, there were four pubs (hotel) operating in Sebastian. 8 Today, the Little Sebastian 

Hotel stands alone as a commercial building on Sebastian’s former main street, a relic of the town’s 

gold rush heyday. The Bryden family were prominent and long-standing licensees of the hotel during 

the twentieth century. 9 The property still operates as a hotel. 





5.8: Working 


The Little Sebastian Hotel, built 1879-80, is a symmetrical single-storey hotel of bi-chrome brick 

construction located on Sebastian’s main street, opposite the Frederick the Great Mine. The hotel 

occupies a large site, at the corner of Main Street and Vogele Road. There is a garden area to the 

east, as well as rear additions and outbuildings. The following description focuses on the main original 

building component to the south of the site; the east and north (rear) elevations are largely obscured 

in views from Main Street and Vogele Road. 

The subject building is a richly detailed nineteenth century hotel. The front (south) elevation is 

distinguished by a tall, central gable in the hipped roof. The gable end has an oculus vent; a plaster 

panel in the form of a cartouche, reading ‘Little Sebastian Hotel’; a finial; and intricately fretted barge 

boards in the Carpenters' Gothic tradition. The barge boards to the balance of the roof are 

comparatively plain. The hipped roof, over the front component of one (large) room depth, is clad 

with corrugated sheet steel. There is a timber posted verandah with timber frieze rail and cast iron 

lacework. Cream brick relieves the red face brick at the corners, resembling quoins, and to the 

window and door surrounds. The openings – two sets of double doors and four windows – to the front 

elevation are irregularly spaced. All appear to be original and are double hung sashes, with a single 

pane to each sash, and projecting sills. Another double-hung window, also with a cream brick 

surround, is located to the north end of the west elevation. The north elevation also has a painted 

‘HOTEL’ sign. The paired timber doors are not original. 

2


There are north-south running wings to the rear of the main original component, also of brick 

construction, with hipped roofs and chimneys. These appear to be of long standing, although 

apparently modified with elements such as skillion additions, awnings and timber pergolas added. 

Another wing/addition attached on an east-west alignment to the rear of the latter wings, appears to 

be later again. 

The hotel is set back from the street behind a shallow brick paved area. There is a pre-cast concrete 

horse trough and pitched drain to the west of the entrance to the ‘Front Bar’. The hotel appears to be 

in generally sound condition. 


In its essential form as a symmetrical, single-storey hotel of brick construction with hipped roof and 

front verandah, the Little Sebastian Hotel (1879-80) does not conform to the prevailing Bendigo 

goldfields convention of hotels of low, spreading proportions, with parapeted frontages and no 

verandahs (see, for instance, the former Royal Hotel on the Loddon Valley Highway, and the former 

Weighbridge Hotel in Kangaroo Flat). Rather, the Little Sebastian’s pronounced central gable and the 

rich detailing to the gable barge boards and cast iron lacework gives it an air of Boom era ebullience. 

In its application of bichrome brick, the Little Sebastian Hotel also corresponds with a number of 

contemporaneous buildings in the area, including the former Nerring School no. 1531 at Woodvale, 

designed by H R Bastow, senior architect with the Department of Public Works, and completed in 

1875; and the brick school building, c. 1870s, at the Marong School no. 400. 



The Little Sebastian Hotel, built 1879-80, is of historical significance. It is a prominent commercial 

building located on Main Street, Sebastian, facing the long-running and highly productive Frederick 

the Great Mine. The hotel contributes to the surviving evidence of Sebastian’s gold producing heyday 

in the latter decades of the nineteenth century. In the 1890s the Little Sebastian was one of four 

hotels in the township; today it is the only survivor, and one of few still operating hotels in the area 

with gold rush-era origins. It is also the last remaining commercial building in the original centre of 

Sebastian. The hotel additionally derives significance from its association with the earlier White Horse 

Hotel (c. 1860s, demolished 1870s), on which site it is located. The association with Francis 

Harritable is also of note; Harritable, a Spanish immigrant, constructed the hotel and was also a 

member of the consortium which established the Fredrick the Great mine in 1864. Harritable became 

a prominent member of the local community, and his sons farmed the family land on Rothackers Road 

well into the twentieth century. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The Little Sebastian Hotel, built in 1879-80, is of aesthetic/architectural significance. The subject 

building, which is comparatively externally intact, has unusually rich detailing for a hotel on the 

3


Bendigo goldfields. Details of note include the tall central gable to the hipped roof, the oculus vent, 

intricately fretted barge boards in the Carpenters' Gothic tradition, and finial to the gable end, the 

timber posted verandah with timber frieze rail and cast iron lacework, and the contrasting cream brick 

quoining to the building’s corners and window and door surrounds. This somewhat exuberant design 

could be seen to reflect the confidence and prosperity of Sebastian at the height of the gold rush. The 

building is also unusual in that it does not conform to the prevailing Bendigo goldfields convention of 

hotels of low, spreading proportions, with parapeted frontages and no verandahs. Modifications and 

additions have generally been located to rear, with minimal impacts on the road-facing principal 

elevation. 



N/A 




The Little Sebastian Hotel is of social significance in the local context as place of meeting and 

congregation for the Sebastian community since 1879. The building’s social significance is enhanced 

by its rich architectural detailing and location opposite the Frederick the Great Mine on the heart of the 

township. 



The association of the Little Sebastian Hotel and Francis Harritable, who oversaw its construction, is 

additionally of note. Harritable, a Spanish immigrant, constructed the hotel and was also a member of 

the consortium which established the Fredrick the Great mine in 1864. Harritable became a 

prominent member of the local community, and his sons farmed the family land on Rothackers Road 

well into the twentieth century. 



The Little Sebastian Hotel, built 1879-80, is a symmetrical single-storey hotel of bi-chrome brick 

construction located on Sebastian’s main street, opposite the Frederick the Great Mine. The richly 

detailed south elevation is distinguished by a tall, central gable in the hipped roof. The gable end has 

an oculus vent; a plaster panel in the form of a cartouche, reading ‘Little Sebastian Hotel’; a finial; 

and intricately fretted barge boards in the Carpenters' Gothic tradition. 


The Little Sebastian Hotel, built 1879-80, is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 


The Little Sebastian Hotel is historically significant (Criterion A) as a prominent commercial building 

located on Main Street, Sebastian, facing the long-running and highly productive Frederick the Great 

Mine. The hotel contributes to the surviving evidence of Sebastian’s gold producing heyday in the 

latter decades of the nineteenth century. In the 1890s the Little Sebastian was one of four hotels in 

the township; today it is the only survivor, and one of few still operating hotels in the area with gold 

rush-era origins. It is also the last remaining commercial building in the original centre of Sebastian. 

The hotel additionally derives significance from its association with the earlier White Horse Hotel (c. 

1860s, demolished 1870s), on which site it is located. The Little Sebastian Hotel is of social 

significance (Criterion G) in the local context as place of meeting and congregation for the Sebastian 

community since 1879. The building’s social significance is enhanced by its rich architectural detailing 

and location opposite the Frederick the Great Mine on the heart of the township. The association 

4


(Criterion H) with Francis Harritable is additionally of note. Harritable, a Spanish immigrant, 

constructed the hotel and was also a member of the consortium which established the Fredrick the 

Great mine in 1864. Harritable became a prominent member of the local community, and his sons 

farmed the family land on Rothackers Road well into the twentieth century. 

The Little Sebastian Hotel is also of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E). The subject 

building, which has a high degree of intactness externally, has unusually rich detailing for a hotel on 

the Bendigo goldfields. Details of note include the tall central gable to the hipped roof; the oculus 

vent, intricately fretted barge boards in the Carpenters' Gothic tradition, and finial to the gable end; 

the timber posted verandah with timber frieze rail and cast iron lacework; and the contrasting cream 

brick quoining to the building’s corners and window and door surrounds. This somewhat exuberant 

design could be seen to reflect the confidence and prosperity of Sebastian at the height of the gold 

rush. The building is also unusual in that it does not conform to the prevailing Bendigo goldfields 

convention of hotels of low, spreading proportions, with parapeted frontages and no verandahs. 



The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map. The focus of significance is on the original 

hotel component, and the original or early wings, albeit the degree to which these could be considered 

contributory elements would require further investigation (to date the wings and assess their 

intactness). The bi-chrome brickwork should remain unpainted; the signage should also be retained. 









Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way it Was, Crown Castleton, Bendigo, 2003, p. 283. 

2 


3 


2003, p. 281; and F F Bailliere, in the Victorian Gazetteer and Road Guide, 1879, p. 421. 

4 


5 


6 

Ray Wallace, Sydney Flat Gold to Woodvale Green, Woodvale Progress Association, 1984, p. 

22. 

7 


22. 

5


8 


9 

John D Bryden, Sebastian Back to and School Centenary, Back To Committee, 1975. 

6


Name Engi farmhouse and outbuildings Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 5 Sebastian Road, south-west of 

the intersection with the Bendigo 

Pyramid Road 

S3 


Building type House and farm buildings Survey date June 2010 (external 



construction 


inclusion in the 



Significance The Engi farmhouse complex is not of local heritage significance, and is not 


Front (east) elevation of the Engi farmhouse, with outbuilding to the south (left). 

Rear of the Engi farmhouse property, viewed from Sebastian Road to the north. 



1


History 

The abandoned house and farm buildings at 5 Sebastian Road were built by the Engi family, Italian 

settlers who arrived in Sebastian in 1896. 1 The Engis farmed the land, producing dairy products and 

cultivating vines. 2 The house is built of mud brick, a construction technique often referred to as 

‘German’ in the Bendigo area (see ‘Comparative Analysis’ below). ‘German brick houses’ were often 

associated with settlers of limited means, including farmers, who used vernacular building traditions 

and locally available materials to construct buildings and provide shelter for their families and 

livestock. Subsequent owners of the property included the Pollocks and the Dows. Andy Dow sold the 

property in the mid-1960s. The railway, which is located to the east of the house, predates the 

house, being extended north to Raywood in 1882. 




4.4: Farming 



The property at 5 Sebastian Road comprises a 1890s mud brick cottage with a double hipped roof, 

with outbuildings to the south and west. The house faces the railway line to the east. Access to the 

triangular allotment is from Sebastian Road to the north. The house is a symmetrical, single-storey 

mud brick cottage with verandah carried on timber posts to the east. The verandah is recent (post 

1998). The mud brick is rendered with ashlar markings. There is a central door to the east elevation, 

flanked by windows. All are sheeted over with corrugated sheet steel. The hipped roof is clad with 

corrugated steel. There are three brick chimneys. The former dairy, to the south of the house, is a 

stud framed structure with gable roof, internal asbestos cement linings and a ventilated concrete floor. 

There are corrugated sheet metal clad additions at the rear of the farm house. Mature pepper trees 

are located to the south and east of the property. The farm house appears to be in generally sound 

condition. 


Despite widespread application from at least the 1820s, adobe (mud brick) construction is one of 

Australia’s least clearly documented vernacular building materials. 3 In a discussion of Victorian 

examples, Professor Miles Lewis, Professor in the Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning at the 

University of Melbourne identifies examples built in the 1860s at Eltham, in the Hamilton area, at 

Werribee, a ruin of c. 1870 at Badaginnie near Violet Town, and another deteriorated example on the 

Sandy Creek Road near Maldon. He also notes that, ‘mud brick buildings are fairly common in the 

Bendigo area of Victoria’. 4 

In the Bendigo area and in parts of South Australia and New South Wales, adobe constructions were 

often referred to as ‘German’ houses. German settlers in South Australia are known to have used 

adobe from the 1830s. 5 The term ‘German brick’ was also used in Cornish settlements in South 

Australia, to describe a brick of wet earth, limestone and straw in moulds of approximately 230mm x 

380mm. The connection between the Cornish miners of South Australia and the Bendigo goldfields is 

well documented, and may explain the introduction of mud brick building techniques to the area. 

Professor Lewis notes that relatively few mud brick buildings were constructed in Australia following 

World War I, suggesting that the high tide of this vernacular building technique occurred around the 

1890s (as is consistent with the subject building). 

The Engi farmhouse is one of a number of mud brick structures in the north of the former Shire of 

Marong. These include the Kelly farmhouse and outbuilding (c. 1902) on Caldow Road, Woodvale; the 

former dairy (c. 1880s) at the Monmore farm on Bayliss Road, Woodvale; 

2 

6 and two small mud brick 

structures (1890s and early 1900s) at the Flett farmstead, Woodvale. In terms of scale, form and 

age, the Engi farmhouse is most directly comparable with the Kelly farm house on Caldow Road,


although the modifications to the building diminish its comparable value. Other examples survive at 

abandoned properties at the corner of Fitzpatrick’s Road and Three Chain Road south of Sebastian, 

and on the Neilborough East Road, between Neilborough and Summerfield (Neilborough North). The 

provenance and history of these latter two examples is not known, and it is possible that comparable 

examples of mud brick buildings survive elsewhere in the district. Further research and investigation 

would be required to establish this. 




The Engi farmhouse (1896) and outbuildings at 5 Sebastian Road, south of Sebastian, is of historical 

interest. The property provides evidence of local development in the later nineteenth century, where 

farmers of limited means built low cost dwellings using vernacular construction methods and locally 

available materials. Mud brick dwellings of this type were often referred to as ‘German’ houses in the 

Bendigo area, where they were common; the description may owe its origins to the German settlers of 

South Australia who used adobe construction from the 1830s. It is also possible that mud brick 

building techniques were introduced to the Victorian goldfields via the diggers from California. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The Engi farmhouse (1896) is of some aesthetic interest for its simple building form with a double 

hipped roof and mud brick construction. Unlike other surviving examples of mud brick buildings in the 

vicinity, however, the Engi farmhouse is cement rendered, reducing its capacity to present as an 

adobe construction. There is also some aesthetic interest in its informal setting, adjacent to the 

railway. 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 

3



The Engi farmhouse (1896) and outbuildings at 5 Sebastian Road, south of Sebastian, is of some 

historical and aesthetic interest but is not considered to reach local heritage significance. The 

property provides evidence of local development in the later nineteenth century, where farmers of 

limited means built low cost dwellings using vernacular construction methods and locally available 

materials. Mud brick dwellings of this type were often referred to as ‘German’ houses in the Bendigo 

area, where they were common; the description may owe its origins to the German settlers of South 

Australia who used adobe construction from the 1830s. It is also possible that mud brick building 

techniques were introduced to the Victorian goldfields via the diggers from California. Aesthetically, 

the farmhouse of interest for its simple building form with a double hipped roof and mud brick 

construction. Unlike other surviving examples of mud brick buildings in the vicinity, however, the Engi 

farmhouse is rendered, reducing its capacity to present as an adobe construction. There is also some 

aesthetic interest in its informal setting, adjacent to the railway. 



Overlay. While there is some heritage interest in the property and building, as outlined above, this is 

not considered sufficient to justify an individual Heritage Overlay control. 



Tree Controls 






Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 

Shire of Marong rate book, 1896 

2 

Pers comm, Mrs Horace Engi, wife of descendant of the original owners, and Ray Wallace 

(historian), 1998. 

3 

Miles Lewis, ‘Adobe or Clay Lump,’ Australian Building: A Cultural Investigation, Sections 

3.02.2 & 3.02.15, viewed online at mileslewis.net, accessed 30 August 2010. 

4 


3.02.10, viewed online at mileslewis.net, accessed 30 August 2010. 

5 



4


6 Access to the Monmore site, on Bayliss road, was not possible, however a substantial mud 

brick dairy, with walls c.60cm thick, was extant in 2003, see Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, 

The Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castleton Publishers, 2003, p. 405. 

5


Name Francis Harritable’s log buildings 

(ruins) 

Address 3a Rothackers Road (accessed 

from Fitzpatricks Road), near 

Sebastian 


Marong Study 

S05 


Building type Former stores and dwelling Survey date June and August 2010 


construction 

c.1860s-70s (stores); c. 1890s 

(dwelling) 



Significance The log structures (ruins) are of local historical and technological significance. 

July 1994 – Left: East end of eastern store. Right: View of the two stores from the north (Source: 

Andrew Ward, courtesy of City of Greater Bendigo). 

June 2010 – Left: View of site from Rothackers Road (west). Right: The eastern store, viewed from 

the south-west. 

June 2010 – Left: Raised floor and remnant mud and brick pugging to the eastern store. Right: View 

of site from north-west, with the former dwelling at left. 

1


Left: Aerial view, 2010, with the stores and stables circled (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). Right: 

Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site shown as S05. Note, the extent of the overlay 

is indicative. 


History 

Francis (Frank) Harritable (1820-1916) was a Spanish seaman who arrived in Melbourne in 1858. 1 

Harritable followed the diggings, travelling to McIvor (Heathcote) 2 before arriving at Sebastian by 

1864. In September of that year, local landholder Hugh Glass granted Messrs Charlton and Co – 

comprising Robert Charlton, Francis Harritable, Hart and Price –consent to erect a 12-head crushing 

plant at the Frederick the Great Mine in Sebastian. 3 Harritable later became a director of the mine, 

which finally closed in the 1930s, by which time it had yielded over 170,000 ounces of gold. 4 

In 1865, Harritable married Alice Ann (1845-1919), at which time Sebastian was described as a ‘tiny 

hamlet … nearly deserted’. 5 The first of the Harritables’ many children, David, was born in 1867. 6 In 

1873, Harritable acquired 14ha (35 acres) south of the Frederick the Great Mine, on the present 

Rothackers Road, a short distance west of Myers Creek. He subsequently purchased the adjacent 

55ha (136 acre) block and land in nearby Campbell’s Forest. In 1879-80 he built the White Horse 

Hotel at Sebastian (now the Little Sebastian). Aside from the Frederick the Great Mine, at which 

mining had temporarily ceased, local industry at the time included a saw mill, located ‘two miles from 

the township’. 7 

The Harritable property on Rothackers Road, oriented north-south parallel with the road, comprised a 

house (demolished) and two stores built of logs. 8 A later log building, to the east of the stores, is 

believed to have been built as a dwelling for Robert Harritable (born 1878). 9 Following their father’s 

death, the Harritable sons continued to work the land. They were mixed farmers, growing grain, 

mainly wheat and some oats and raising sheep for meat and wool production. 10 



2.4: Arriving in a new land 

2.5: Migrating and making a home 





5.8: Working 



The surviving structures at the Harritable property are two log stores and a log dwelling. All are built 

of Cypress Pine and in a ruinous condition. The broader complex previously included a dwelling 

(demolished), dam (extant), an earth closet with facilities for adults and children (the location is 

indicated by a bramble thicket to the north of the timber stores) and brick pathways. 

2


The stores are gable roofed log structures, built of un-split logs laid horizontally, with the corners 

formed by notches cut out of the ends. The eastern store retains part of its sawn timber roof frame 

and some gable end weatherboards at its eastern end. Corrugated sheet metal, the former roofing 

material, is located around the base of the buildings. The gaps between the logs are pugged internally 

with mud and brick fragments – some pugging survives. The logs to the north sides of the stores, 

facing the former farmhouse, are sawn to give more of a refined finish. To the south side, the logs 

are rough (unsawn). The western store has a wide ground level opening to the north and an upper 

level opening to the east. There is evidence that the store originally had a raised timber floor. The 

eastern store has a raised timber floor with two doors, one to the lower level (north) and the other to 

the upper level (east). The floor is carried on stumps and joists, oriented north-south. A semi circular 

gutter bracket is located to the south wall. When the site was inspected in the 1990s, the two stores 

were connected by a sawn timber framed link section (no longer extant). The smaller structure to the 

east of the site, believed to have been built as a dwelling by Robert Harritable (see ‘History’) is 

approximately square in plan, and in an advanced state of decay. A low doorway is to the west wall. 

Aside from the timber stores and dwelling, evidence of early settlement at the site includes a riveted 

iron tank, the post of a former post and rail fence, brick paths and mature trees. 


In the early years of European settlement, log construction was the preferred method of building 

police lock-ups in Victoria. In situations where brick or stone were not readily available, it was a 

means of constructing secure buildings. Surviving Victorian log lock-ups include an example at nearby 

Eaglehawk. Miles Lewis, Professor in the Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning at the University 

of Melbourne, suggests that the use of log construction by the police was a factor in log buildings 

gaining some currency on the goldfields. 11 A number of log-built diggers’ huts are recorded at the 

Bendigo goldfields in 1852. A contemporary description records the structures as, ‘… built of solid 

trunks of trees laid horizontally … The logs are notched at the corners, and the interstices daubed with 

clay … The roofs of these are almost flat, covered with sheets of bark, with logs on the bark to keep it 

down’. 12 With exception of the flat roof, the subject buildings generally conform to this description. 

Other recorded log cabins in the area include an example built by William Sinclair at the junction of 

Derwent and Long gullies in 1854 13 and another at Neilborough East, built by brothers Harry and John 

Mountjoy (undated). 14 Professor Lewis notes that log construction became more common after 1870, 

following the land selection Acts which forced settlers into heavily forested land. The requirement to 

clear sites of trees and vegetation for habitation and cultivation was a factor in the increasing use of 

timber as a construction material from this time. 15 

Extant examples of log constructions in the Bendigo region include a former food store at Viewbank in 

Summerfield and the Eaglehawk lock-up. The former food store at Viewbank is a comparatively crude 

construction, utilising logs of massive dimensions; it is also in a ruinous state. The lock-up is of 

comparatively refined construction and survives in good condition. 




The log structures (ruins) at Francis Harritable’s property south of Sebastian are of historical 

significance. The two stores are presumed to have been constructed in the 1860s-70s by Spaniard 

Francis Harritable, an early settler in Sebastian who invested in the successful Frederick the Great 

Mine. Harritable acquired extensive land in the region, and also constructed the present Little 

Sebastian Hotel. The smaller log construction to the east of the site is believed to have been built as 

a dwelling by Harritable’s son, Robert, and possibly dates to the 1890s. The Harritables were 

associated with the site for at least two generations from the 1860s to the early twentieth century. 

The structures also help demonstrate an approach to building on isolated farms, making use of 

available materials and vernacular construction. 



3


The log structures (ruins), albeit in a depleted state, are comparatively rare surviving log buildings in 

the Bendigo goldfields region. Log construction is believed to have been relatively common in the 

goldfields from the 1850s, although few are known to survive. Known examples include the 

Eaglehawk lock-up and the former food store at Viewbank, Summerfield. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

N/A 



The log structures (ruins) at Francis Harritable’s property south of Sebastian are of technological 

significance for demonstrating an approach to the use of a locally available resource (timber) in the 

construction of vernacular dwellings for storage and human habitation, in this case in the 1860s-70s 

(stores) and 1890s (dwelling). The surviving internal pugging, with mud and brick fragments, 

enhances the technological value of the structures. 




N/A 



The association of the log ruins with Francis Harritable is additionally of note. Harritable, a Spanish 

immigrant, was a prominent member of the local community. He oversaw the construction of the 

Little Sebastian Hotel (S01) and was also a member of the consortium which established the Fredrick 

the Great mine in 1864. 



The surviving structures at the Harritable property are two log stores and a log dwelling. All are built 

of Cypress Pine. The stores are gable roofed log structures, built of un-split logs laid horizontally, with 

the corners formed by notches cut out of the ends. The eastern store retains part of its sawn timber 

roof frame and some gable end weatherboards at its eastern end. The gaps between the logs are 

pugged internally with mud and brick fragments – some pugging survives. The western store has a 

wide ground level opening to the north and an upper level opening to the east. There is evidence that 

the store originally had a raised timber floor. The eastern store has a raised timber floor with two 

doors, one to the lower level (north) and the other to the upper level (east). The smaller structure to 

the east of the site is believed to have been built as a dwelling. It is approximately square in plan, 

and in an advanced state of decay. 


4


The log structures (ruins) at Francis Harritable’s property south of Sebastian are of local historical and 

technological significance. 


The log structures (ruins) at Francis Harritable’s property south of Sebastian are of local historical and 

technological significance. The log structures are of historical significance (Criterion A), being 

constructed in the 1860s-70s by Spaniard Francis Harritable, an early settler in Sebastian who 

invested in the successful Frederick the Great Mine. Harritable acquired extensive land in the region, 

and also constructed the present Little Sebastian Hotel. The smaller log construction to the east of 

the site is believed to have been built as a dwelling by Harritable’s son, Robert, and possibly dates to 

the 1890s. The Harritables were associated with the site for at least two generations from the 1860s 

to the early twentieth century. The association (Criterion H) of the log ruins with Francis Harritable is 

also of note. Harritable, a Spanish immigrant, was a prominent member of the local community. He 

oversaw the construction of the Little Sebastian Hotel (S01) and was also a member of the consortium 

which established the Fredrick the Great mine in 1864. The log structures (ruins), albeit in a depleted 

state, are comparatively rare (Criterion B) surviving log buildings in the Bendigo goldfields region. 

Log construction is believed to have been relatively common in the goldfields from the 1850s, 

although few are known to survive. Technologically (Criterion F), the log structures (ruins) at Francis 

Harritable’s property are significant for demonstrating an approach to the use of a locally available 

resource (timber) in the construction of vernacular dwellings for storage and human habitation, in this 

case in the 1860s-70s (stores) and 1890s (dwelling). The surviving internal pugging, with mud and 

brick fragments, enhances the technological value of the structures. 


Francis Harritable’s log buildings are recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater 

Bendigo Heritage Overlay. The Overlay area is illustrated above, with the focus of significance on the 

log ruins. A reduced extent of Heritage Overlay could be considered, which captures the significant 

elements only, a curtilage around them of in the order of 10 metres, and the setback to Rothackers 

Road. 

In preference, maintain the ruins in their existing condition, although ‘benign neglect’ may be a 

reasonable future outcome. In this situation, where the ruins will likely continue to deteriorate, it is 

recommended that the structures be photographically recorded. Ruinous structures, including those 

on sites with the potential to yield artefacts and other material remains relating to the historical use of 

the property, can also be considered for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Inventory (VHI). The 

process of recommending a site for the VHI is typically undertaken by an archaeologist, who inspects 

the site and completes a ‘Heritage Inventory Site Card’ to be filed with Heritage Victoria. Details of 

the process are at, www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/heritage, ‘Archaeology and Heritage Inventory’. 









Identified By 


5


References 

Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way it Was, Crown Castleton, Bendigo, 2003. 

F F Bailliere, Victorian Gazetteer and Road Guides, 1865 and 1879. 



Specific: 

1 


2 


22. 

3 


4 


5 

F F Bailliere, in the Victorian Gazetteer and Road Guide, 1865 (p. 334). 

6 


7 

F F Bailliere, Victorian Gazetteer and Road Guide, 1879, p. 421. 

8 

It has been suggested that the western log building was a stable (Ray Wallace, Sydney Flat 

Gold to Woodvale Green, Woodvale Progress Association, 1984, p. 22). However, the 

evidence of a former raised floor would appear to suggest that it was a store. 

9 


22. 

10 


22. 

11 

Miles Lewis, ‘Lock-Ups,’ Section 2.02 of Australian Building: A Cultural Investigation, viewed 

online at mileslewis.net, accessed 16 July 2010. 

12 

William Howitt, Land, Labour and Gold, or Two Years in Victoria, Longman Brown, London, 

1858, p. 377, cited in Miles Lewis, ‘The Goldfields,’ Section 2.02 of Australian Building: A 

Cultural Investigation, viewed online at mileslewis.net, accessed 16 July 2010. 

13 

Ralph W Birrell and James A Lerk, Bendigo’s Gold Story, Golden Square 2001, p. 59. 

14 

Marie Manning, Back to Raywood and District, Raywood and District Back To Committee, 1973, 

p.12. 

15 

Miles Lewis, ‘Other Log Buildings,’ Section 2.02 of Australian Building: A Cultural Investigation, 

viewed online at mileslewis.net, accessed 16 July 2010. 

6


Name Pierce’s eucalyptus distillery Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 257 Pierce’s Road, Sebastian Map reference VicRoads 44 E3 

Building type Industrial site Survey date July and August 2010 

Established 1911 (ceased operations early 

1990s 1 ) 

S06 



Significance The Pierce eucalyptus distillery is of local historical and technological significance. 

Left: Label for J W Pierce & Sons ‘Wallaby Brand’ (Source: Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way 

it Was, Volume 1, 2003, p. 95). Right: The Pierce eucalyptus distillery, viewed from Pierces Road. 

Left: Section of the timber retaining wall. Right: Brick vats adjacent to the stack. 

Left: Aerial view of 257 Pierces Road, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). Right: Proposed 

Heritage Overlay map, with the subject property shown as S06. 2 

1



History 

Eucalyptus oil was one of the first primary products exported from Australia; Governor Philip sent a 

sample to Sir Joseph Banks in 1790. In 1852, Government botanist Ferdinand Von Mueller 

recommended that the distillation of eucalyptus oil may have commercial potential. 3 Two years later 

Joseph Bosisto (1824-1896), a chemist, parliamentarian and friend of Von Mueller, established the 

first eucalyptus distillery (‘still’) in Victoria. 4 Bosisto used the oil in a variety of medicinal concoctions, 

including cold remedies and inhalants. The product was also regarded as a source of fuel: in 1858, 

the town of Kyneton was illuminated by gas from eucalyptus oil. 5 Eucalyptus oil has also been used 

as an ingredient in perfumes, disinfectants germicides and industrial lubricants. By the mid-1880s, 

the eucalyptus distilling industry was established throughout Victoria. 

The first eucalyptus oil producer in Bendigo was German chemist Richard Sandner. In 1876, working 

in partnership with his two sons, Sandner operated a plant and refinery in Bridge Street, Bendigo. 

Jack 

6 

The business thrived, and Sandner later opened a branch in Chicago, run by his son Carl. 7 Other 

early producers included Albert Hartland and Matthew Hodgson at Huntly North in 1890, 8 and 

Shadbolt, who operated a distillery at the base of the Flagstaff Hill, north of the Camp Hotel (W6) in 

the Whipstick from the 1890s. 9 The boom years of the local industry began in about 1900, and lasted 

until the 1940s. By the outbreak of World War I, the Whipstick and surrounding area was the premier 

eucalyptus oil-producing region in Victoria. During the Depression of the 1930s, there were an 

estimated 50 distilleries in operation, with the epicentre of the industry being the Whipstick. 10 The 

rise of eucalyptus distilling coincided with the decline of mining. During the early years of the 

twentieth century, large tracts of auriferous-class land in the area north of Bendigo were opened for 

selection, and workers looked to ‘eucy’ as a source of employment were while their blocks were 

cleared and prepared for agriculture in compliance with the Lands Act. 11 

Eucalyptus distilleries are typically improvised utilitarian constructions built of readily available 

materials and making use of recycled machinery and equipment. No two are exactly alike. However, 

there are some fundamental commonalities, including vats, a crane to lift the vat lids, a boiler, 

chimney stack, metal pipe work and a condensing dam. In traditional (pre-mechanisation) eucalyptus 

oil distillation, leaves are stacked in in-ground brick-lined vats, typically around 3.6m (12ft) deep and 

2.1m (7ft) in diameter, 12 and steam from the boiler is released into the bottom of the vat. The oilheavy 

steam is channelled through a metal pipe at the top of the vats that runs through the adjacent 

condensing dam, where the steam evaporates leaving the oil to be collected in a receiving pot at the 

side of the dam. The extraction process takes approximately four hours for green growth, and two 

hours for dry leaves. 13 

Eucalyptus distilling is physically demanding and lonely work, and almost exclusively male. Cutters 

harvest leaves, and transport them to the distillery, where they are processed by the distillers. 14 

Historically, rates of pay for cutters depended on the amount of oil yielded by each vat. The industry 

was never unionised and even during the good times, profits were marginal. 15 In the Whipstick, as in 

other areas, the industry typically attracted itinerant or short-term workers. 16 

The industry was partially mechanised in the post-World War II period, notably with the introduction 

of portable vats mounted on the back of trucks, which were larger than brick vats, and could be 

stacked at the point of collection. Today, the Australian eucalyptus industry barely survives. The last 

operational distillery in the Whipstick was Hooper’s, near Neilborough (PF1), which closed in 2009. 

The Hartland plant at Huntly survives primarily as a tourist destination. Today Spain, Portugal and 

Israel are among the leading international producers of eucalyptus oil. 

John Wiseman Pierce of Flora Hill, south of Bendigo, ran a butchers shop near the Bulls Head Hotel 

before moving to Sebastian in 1911. He established this distillery in that year, building his house and 

outbuildings a little further west on the other side of what became known as Pierce’s Road. It was at 

this distillery that Pierce produced his ‘Wallaby Brand’ (see page 1) eucalyptus oil. He died in 1942 

and his two sons, James and Thomas, took over. 17 Thomas closed the plant in the early 1990s and 

the machinery removed in a clearance sale 18 . The site was subsequently acquired by local couple, the 

Lands, who have established the site as a conservation area. 19 

2








5.8: Working 


Pierce’s eucalyptus distillery is located to the north of Pierce’s Road, approximately 2km from the 

Bendigo-Pyramid Road to the west. Operations at the distillery ceased in the early 1990s. At that 

time, the site included the following machinery and equipment: 

A Cornish boiler in brick housing, including pressure gauges – the boiler had been relocated 

from the Nell Gywnne mine; 

Brick stack; 

Two brick lined vats with concrete covers; 

A derrick crane with winch and engine; 

Pipework to condensing dam and glazed terra cotta collection point for eucalyptus oil to the 

west of the dam; 

Four pumps for raising water from the dam to boiler. The manufacturers' details were: Miller 

and Co. Machinery Pty. Ltd, South Melbourne and Bendigo; Blakes Patent No.4, Boston and 

New York; Geo. F. Blake Manufacturing Co, New York and Boston; and the Austral Otis 

Engineering Coy. Ltd., Melbourne; 

An ash dump; and 

Hut of corrugated galvanised sheeting. 20 

Much of the above was removed in a clearance sale prior to the present owners, the Lands, purchasing 

the block. Today, all that survives is the stack, the dam, the circular brick-lined vats, brick water 

race, and some pipework. 

The brick stack, square in plan and tapering in four stages, is unusually tall, and includes a fire hole to 

the north. The stack is adjacent to the two brick vats (the tops of which are visible on the ground), 

one of which is filled with debris; the other retains it concrete lid, inscribed with the date 15 

September 1971. A timber retaining wall is located beneath the vats and stack, and forms the north 

bank of the condensing dam. A brick water race and some pipework also survive. North of the dam, 

stacks and where the ash dump was located, whose extent is demonstrated by the absence of any 

natural growth, a result of the acidity of the burned eucalyptus leaves. 


In the Whipstick, the eucalyptus distilling industry flourished from the 1890s, following the decline of 

gold mining, to World War II. During the Depression of the 1930s, there were approximately 50 

eucalyptus distilleries in the area. By 1986, only four operational distilleries survived. Of these, all 

are closed, although the Hartland distillery at Huntly operates as a tourist attraction. The trajectory of 

the Pierce distillery was typical, in having been founded in 1911, and operated by two generations of 

the family for a period of over 80 years. 

Eucalyptus distilleries are characterised by the inventive application of available materials and 

equipment, typically in isolated bush settings. They necessarily include a boiler (for sites in the 

Whipstick, these are often gold mining-era equipment), stack, vats, means of lifting vats lids and a 

dam, and often include some form of accommodation and evidence of a post-World War II mechanised 

production processes. Despite the removal of machinery and equipment, the former Pierce eucalyptus 

distillery retains the capacity to demonstrate its original function, including through the retention of 

the tall chimney, brick-lined vats, brick water race and the dam. Of comparable sites in the local 

area, the Flett eucalyptus distillery at Leatherarse Gully, Woodvale (W7) has a higher degree of 

intactness than the Pierce distillery; it includes its boiler, crane derrick, pipework, sleeping quarters 

and some associated equipment, such as a eucalyptus dray. The former Hooper distillery near 

3


Neilborough (PF1) also retains its iron stack and evidence of two distillation processes, traditional and 

mechanised. However, as with the Pierce site, the boiler has been removed. The former Scott’s 

distillery, on Scott’s Road near Neilborough also generally compares with the Pierce site, and retains 

its stack and dam. 




Pierce’s eucalyptus distillery on Pierce’s Road, Sebastian, is of historical significance for its capacity to 

recall aspects of an industry that played a significant role in the economy of the Whipstick, and 

broader areas of regional Victoria, from the 1890s to the late twentieth century. John Wiseman Pierce 

established the distillery in 1911, and passed it to his two sons who operated the plant until the late- 

1990s. The harvesting and distilling of eucalyptus was an important source of employment for 

workers in the goldfields following the decline of mining and became particularly important during the 

Depression of the 1930s, when there were an estimated 50 distilleries in the Whipstick. The latter 

was the epicentre of eucalyptus distilling in Victoria, where the industry has only recently died out. As 

with the earlier years of gold mining, small-scale operators with limited capital were able to exploit a 

naturally occurring resource in the area. 



Pierce’s eucalyptus distillery is a rare surviving example of an industrial operation which was once 

relatively common in the Whipstick, and in regional areas across Victoria. In the 1930s, there were an 

estimated 50 ‘stills’ in Whipstick area. By 1986, four operational distilleries survived. Although 

machinery has been removed from the site, it retains the ability to demonstrate aspects of the 

production process. 



N/A 


objects. 

Pierce’s eucalyptus distillery is significant for its ability to demonstrate the industrial operation of the 

site through its retention of some essential components of the distilling process, including its chimney 

stack, condensing dam and circular in-ground brick vats. 


municipality. 

N/A 



The Pierce eucalyptus distillery, although depleted by the removal of machinery and equipment, is of 

technological significance for its capacity to demonstrate aspects of a distilling operation that ran from 

1911 to the 1990s. Elements which remain on site include the tall brick chimney, brick-lined vats, 

brick water race and the dam, and some pipework. The site, with its remnant elements, remains 

within the environs of the Whipstick which in turn evokes the original natural and isolated setting of 

the distilling operation. 




4


N/A 



N/A 



Pierce’s eucalyptus distillery ceased operations in the 1990s. Extant elements include the square brick 

stack, dam, circular brick-lined vats, brick water race, and some pipework. The site is located to the 

north of Pierce’s Road, approximately 2km from the Bendigo-Pyramid Road to the west. 


The Pierce eucalyptus distillery is of local historical and technological significance. 


The Pierce eucalyptus distillery, on Pierce’s Road east of Sebastian, is of local historical and 

technological significance. It is historically significant (Criterion A) for its capacity to recall aspects of 

an industry that played a significant role in the economy of the Whipstick and broader areas of 

regional Victoria, from the 1890s to the late twentieth century. John Wiseman Pierce established the 

distillery in 1911, and passed it to his two sons who operated the plant until the late-1990s. The 

harvesting and distilling of eucalyptus was an important source of employment for workers in the 

goldfields following the decline of mining and became particularly important during the Depression of 

the 1930s, when there were an estimated 50 distilleries in the Whipstick. Today, only five survive, 

with varying levels of intactness (Criterion B). The Whipstick was the epicentre of eucalyptus distilling 

in Victoria, where the industry has only recently died out. As with the earlier years of gold mining, 

small-scale operators with limited capital were able to exploit a naturally occurring resource in the 

area. Technologically (Criterion F), the Pierce eucalyptus distillery, although depleted by the removal 

of machinery and equipment, is significant for its capacity to demonstrate aspects of a distilling 

operation that ran from 1911 to the 1990s. Elements which remain on site include the brick chimney 

stack, dam, circular brick-lined vats, and some pipework (Criterion D). The site, with its remnant 

elements, remains within the environs of the Whipstick which in turn evokes the original natural and 

isolated setting of the distilling operation. 



The above map illustrates the proposed Overlay area, although the focus of significance is on the tall 

brick chimney, brick-lined vats, brick water race and the dam, and the pipework. The setting of the 

site, including the enclosing Whipstick forest, is also significant. A reduced extent of Heritage Overlay 

could be considered, which captures the significant elements only, and their immediate curtilage. 









5


Identified By 


References 



Specific: 

1 

Changed from 2000s as per owner, communication 11 September 2011. 

2 


3 



4 

Deirdre Morris, 'Mueller, Sir Ferdinand Jakob Heinrich von [Baron von Mueller] (1825 - 1896)', 

Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, Melbourne University Press, 1974, pp 306-308. 

5 



6 

See, www.land.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenfor.nsf/childdocs/489D890EF4F9EFA14A256AA40011BFEF- 

C744C5604A8870504A256AA40011D6A4-21B9A0AF6E36F3ACCA2574580017AEC4?open 

7 



8 


9 


10 



11 



12 


13 


Australian Farm Management Society, Bendigo Branch, p. 2; and Jan Neil, The Golden Age 

Retraced, Mullaya, Victoria, 1973, pp. 58-59. 

14 

Eucalyptus typically takes 20 years to mature, and can be harvested once a year. While 

maturing, eucalyptus can be harvested every 18-2 months. Ray Wallace, As Aussie As a Gum 

Leaf, A Brief History of the Eucalyptus Industry in Bendigo, Australian Farm Management 

Society, Bendigo Branch, p. 2. 

15 

Ray Wallace notes that in the early 1920s the price for eucalyptus oil fluctuated from 1 shilling 

and twopence to 1 shilling and threepence per pound, and during the Depression down to 9 

pence per pound. By the Second World War, the price had risen to 8 shillings per pound. 

See, Flett’s Eucalyptus Distillery’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage 


16 


Australian Farm Management Society, Bendigo Branch, p. 2; also pers comm., Ray Wallace 

and Adam Mornement, Lovell Chen, 9 August 2010. 

17 

Pers comm., Thomas Pierce, and Ray Wallace, local historian, 11 August 1998. 

18 

Changed from removed by the Lands, based on personal communication from John 

Land, 11 September 2011. 

19 

‘Pierce’s Eucalyptus Distillery’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage 


20 

‘Pierce’s Eucalyptus Distillery’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage 


6


Name ‘Stranger Rock’ (aka 

‘Dunns Rock’) 

Address Due west of the parking 

bay just north of where the 

bridge over the McIvor 

Creek enters Lake Eppalock 

at Derrinal 

Reference in 

1998 Marong 

Study 

N/A 

Map reference VicRoads 45 B7 

Building type N/A Survey date July 2010 (inspected by Pat 

McCarthy, of DSE) 


construction 

N/A Recommendation Not recommended for 

inclusion in the Schedule to 


Significance Stranger Rock is not is not of local heritage significance and is not recommended 

for inclusion in the Heritage Overlay. 

Stranger Rock (Source: Pat McCarthy, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Heathcote). 


History 

Stranger Rock is a geological anomaly (or ‘erratic’), being a type of hard rock (granite) not typically 

found in this area of the Victoria. The local landscape is comprised of Ordovician sedimentary rock 

dropped from the toe of an ice sheet moving north and west from the Great Dividing Range. Stranger 

Rock is both much larger and harder than the majority of rocks in the area. Former names for the 

erratic include ‘Dunns Rock’. 1 

1






Stranger Rock is located on private land near the north shore of Lake Derrinal, close to Moorabbee 

Road and the McIvor Highway, approximately 10 km west of Heathcote. It is a large (c. 100-ton) 

granite boulder with a pink hue. Its upper surface is marked with grooves and striations, legacies of 

glacial activity. 2 


Stranger Rock is a geological anomaly (‘erratic’). In this regard it compares with Black Rock, near 

Neilborough (N2). However, Black Rock is much larger than Stranger Rock. It has not been 

established during research for this report whether Black Rock is a legacy of glacial activity. Black 

Rock also differs to Stranger Rock in that it was historically a popular destination for residents of 

Neilborough. 





Stranger Rock is of some historical interest, as an anomalous landscape element/natural feature which 

has been known by local people from the early years of European settlement in the Heathcote/Derrinal 

area. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

N/A 



N/A 




2


N/A 



N/A 


Stranger Rock is of some historical interest, as an anomalous landscape element/natural feature which 

has been known by local people from the early years of European settlement in the Heathcote/Derrinal 

area. 


Stranger Rock is not recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo Heritage 

Overlay. While the geological formation has some historical interest, due to it being recognised as a 

geological anomaly in the local Lake Derrinal landscape, this public recognition and interest is not 

sufficient to demonstrate historical significance, nor to warrant inclusion in the Heritage Overlay. 









Identified By 

Not known. 

References 

N/A 

Specific: 

1 

The information for this brief history was compiled from information provided by the Tourist 

Information Office at Heathcote. 

2 

See photograph (page 1), and brochure provided by the Tourist Information Office at 

Heathcote. 

3


Name Former Kamarooka Road School 

(Neilborough North) no. 1726 

Address CA 5A Elmore-Raywood Road, 

Neilborough 1 

Reference in1998 

Marong Study 

SU1 

Map reference VicRoads 44 F2 

Building type School (abandoned) Survey date June and August 2010 

(external inspection only) 


construction 



Significance The former Kamarooka Road School is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: Standard timber school room and porch with capacity for 40 pupils designed in 1872. The 

picture is not dated, and the school room is not named. (Source: Right: Lawrence Burchell, Victorian 

Schools: a Study in Colonial Government Architecture 1837-1900, University Press, 1980, p. 114). 

Right: North elevation of the Former Kamarooka Road School 

Left: North and west elevations, note sugar gums at rear. Right: Rear (south) elevation. 

1


Left: West elevation, note partially detached entrance porch. Right: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City 

of Greater Bendigo). 

Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site shown as SU01. 2 


History 

The area of open, gently undulating farming country approximately eight kilometres east of Raywood 

was first settled in the 1860s, by William Waugh. 3 The only road through the area was the 

Kamarooka Road, now the Elmore-Raywood Road. Subsequent settlers, including the Frazier, 

Hocking, Brown and Farnald families, named the settlement Summerfield. 4 It was renamed 

Neilborough North in 1901, reverting to Summerfield in 1924, in response to an outcry from 

residents. 5 

In response to a report from District Inspector Craig, an application for a school to serve the children 

of local farmers was approved on 16 September 1874. The site for the Kamarooka Road School no. 

1726 6 was gazetted in February 1875, being excised from W J Newton's farm. Newton received £10 

in compensation. The timber school room measured 7.3 (24ft) by 4.9m (16ft) and had a capacity for 

40 pupils. There was an attached porch and two rooms as quarters for staff. The first Head Teacher, 

from 1876 to 1890, was Benjamin H Fernhold, who taught an average of 15 boys and 16 girls. After a 

period of diminishing attendances the school was closed on 12 May 1911 but re-opened on 6 May 

1915. It was finally closed on 23 March 1955. However, the school had been unstaffed for a number 

of years prior to that. 7 It is now privately owned and unoccupied. 

Prior to the construction of the Summerfield church (now demolished), in 1888, church services were 

also held at the Kamarooka Road School. 8 




2




The former Kamarooka Road School (Neilborough North School) no. 1726 is located in open, gently 

undulating farmland approximately 8km east of Raywood. The single-storey gabled timber building is 

in the approximate centre of a large rectangular allotment on the south side of the Elmore-Raywood 

Road. The building is oriented north-west to south-east. As well as the timber school building, with 

attached porch and lean-to quarters, the site includes a concrete water tank. Sugar gums to the 

north-east, south-east and south-west boundaries of the reserve are vestiges of an early wind break. 

The property was not inspected internally. Descriptions of internal elements in the following derive 

from the 1998 survey. 9 

The school room, lean-to quarters and porch are clad in weatherboard fixed to a stud frame and raised 

on stumps. The school room and porch have gabled roofs, the quarters is a skillion. All roof areas are 

clad with corrugated galvanised sheet steel. However, the battens, exposed to the north end of the 

school room, suggest that the roof was originally shingle. The stumps of timber finals, at both ends of 

the school room roof, are extant. A rectangular brick chimney with corbelled cornice is located to the 

south-west side of the schoolroom. The school is entered by a door to the north-east of the porch. A 

second door, presumably to the quarters, is located to the south of the rear elevation of the school 

room. The window openings to the school room and porch appear to be in their original locations, and 

are double sashes hung with glazing bars to the sashes. Only the lower section of the window to the 

north-west (front) elevation of the school, next to the porch, has not been sheeted over. The two 

windows to the south-west wall of the quarters are of a later date. There a rectangular timber louvre 

vents, cambered at the top, to the front and rear gable ends of the school room. Inside, there is a 

fireplace, beaded timber linings, a coved ceiling with tie rods and diagonal braces. 

The former school is in poor condition. The school room and quarters have subsided by several 

degrees, resulting in the base plate being twisted, and the porch has settled c. 3 or 4 degrees to the 

east, partially separating it from the north-west face of the school room, and pulling away seven 

courses of weatherboard. Two more courses of weatherboard have fallen off the north-west wall of 

the quarters, and there is some weatherboard damage above and below the gable vent on the northwest 

elevation. Roof sheeting at the north end of the south-west face of the school room is missing. 

Guttering is in place on each side of the classroom and quarters and is connected to a PVC downpipe 

on the north-east face of the school room. The chimney appears to be almost perpendicular, and the 

base plate and footings appear intact, with stumps sitting level on the entry side and fitted with intact 

steel ant caps. The weatherboard has not been painted for some decades. There are some signs of 

recent maintenance, including protective blue sheeting that has been fed into the open wall cavity 

between the porch and the main entry-side wall, below the opened roof area 

The school building has a high degree of intactness in terms of its original design. However, this is 

tempered by extensive water damage, the twisting subsidence of the building frame and removal of 

areas of the weatherboard cladding to reveal the inner frame and walling. 


The former Kamarooka Road School (Neilborough North School) no. 1726 is a reversed version of the 

standard 40 pupil school and basic quarters, drawn up by the Colonial Architects in 1872. 10 Around 

75 of these schools were built in 1875 alone, at the first of two peaks of construction, the other being 

in 1879. 11 It otherwise differs from the original drawing in having a marginally broader chimney, 

broader and possibly later planked entrance door (in contrast to the original design’s muntin and panel 

door) and a broader porch elevation. In all other design respects it appears to be identical. The 

corbelled brick chimney cornice, the gable vents, finial placements, window placements, six-pane sash 

frames, gable and wall proportions and roof pitch are all consistent with the 1872 prototype. In 

design the school is also related to a parallel series of 60-pupil schools built in both weatherboard and 

brick between 1873 and 1890. A brick example of this can be seen in the Raywood School, although 

that design has been altered since construction. It is also possible that the subject building is rare in 

the State context, as comparatively few timber school buildings of this early period survive (although 

this would require confirmation). 

3





The former Kamarooka Road School (Neilborough North School) no. 1726, built in 1876, is of historical 

significance. It is the last surviving (former) public building in the settlement of Summerfield, a small 

isolated farming community once sufficiently large to warrant a school with a capacity for 40 pupils. 

Summerfield was first settled in the 1860s, and the school finally closed in 1955. Prior to the 

construction of the Summerfield church in 1888 (now demolished), church services were also held at 

the Kamarooka Road School. 



The former Kamarooka Road School no. 1726 is believed to be a rare surviving example of a standard 

timber school and basic quarters, with capacity for 40 pupils, dating to the 1870s. The model was 

drawn up by the Colonial Architects in 1872, and in 1875 alone at least 75 were built across Victoria. 

No other examples of its type are known to survive in the Bendigo area. However, further research is 

required to confirm this. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The former Kamarooka Road School no. 1726 is of aesthetic/architectural significance. It is a small 

and simply detailed building, and a surviving example of a once common standard school building 

design of the 1870s. Although in poor condition, and with some structural problems, the school room, 

lean-to quarters and porch retain a comparatively high degree of intactness (i.e. have been only 

minimally modified) to the original design. The building has some picturesque qualities, due to the 

gabled form and steep roof pitch; and a high degree of visibility from Elmore-Raywood Road where it 

is seen in an open and informal landscape setting complemented by Sugar gums to the east, south 

and west boundaries of the reserve, vestiges of an early wind break. 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 

4




The former Kamarooka Road School (Neilborough North School) no. 1726 is a small and simply 

detailed timber building, and a surviving example of a once common standard school building design 

drawn up by the Colonial Architects in 1872. It is a remnant of the settlement of Summerfield, an 

agricultural community established in the 1860s located in open, gently undulating farmland 

approximately 8km east of Raywood. As well as the single-storey gabled timber building with 

attached porch and lean-to quarters, the site includes vestiges of a wind break to the north-east, 

south-east and south-west boundaries of the reserve. Extant elements include the corbelled brick 

chimney, gable vents, finials, six-pane sash windows and steeply pitched roof. 


The former Kamarooka Road School is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The former Kamarooka Road School is historically significant (Criterion A) as the last surviving 

(former) public building in the settlement of Summerfield, a small isolated farming community once 

sufficiently large to warrant a school with a capacity for 40 pupils. Summerfield was first settled in 

the 1860s, and the school finally closed in 1955. Prior to the construction of the Summerfield church, 

in 1888, (now demolished), church services were also held at the Kamarooka Road School. The 

former school is also significant (Criterion B) for being a rare surviving example of a standard timber 

school and basic quarters, with capacity for 40 pupils, dating to the 1870s. The model was drawn up 

by the Colonial Architects in 1872, and in 1875 alone at least 75 were built across Victoria. No other 

examples of its type are known to survive in the Bendigo area, although further research is required 

to confirm this. The former Kamarooka Road School no. 1726 is also of aesthetic/architectural 

significance (Criterion E). It is a small and simply detailed building, and a surviving example of a once 

common standard school building design of the 1870s. Although in poor condition, and with some 

structural problems, the school room, lean-to quarters and porch retain a comparatively high degree 

of intactness (i.e. have been only minimally modified) to the original design. The building has some 

picturesque qualities, due to the gabled form and steep roof pitch; and a high degree of visibility from 

Elmore-Raywood Road where it is seen in an open and informal landscape setting complemented by 

sugar gums to the east, south and west boundaries of the reserve, vestiges of an early wind break. 



It is recommended that the Heritage Overlay curtilage includes the historic building, which is the focus 

of significance, the setback to Elmore-Raywood Road and sugar gums in the immediate vicinity of the 

building. It is recognised that the poor condition of the building will likely lead to further deterioration 

and accordingly reuse or occupation of the building is highly desirable, including a sympathetic 

adaptive reuse. 









5


Identified By 


References 



Specific: 

1 

Changed address from 3085 Elmore-Raywood Road, Summerfield, Heritage Policy 


2 


3 


2003, p. 345. 

4 


p.12. 

5 


2003, p. 345. 

6 

In 1901, when Summerfield was renamed Neilborough North, the Kamarooka Road School was 

renamed Neilborough north School. Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way it Was, 

Volume 1, Crown Castleton Publishers, 2003, p. 346. 

7 

Vision and Realisation, Victorian Government, Melbourne, 1973, v. 2, pp. 495-96. 

8 


p.12. 

9 

‘House’ [sic], Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, 

Stage 2, 1998. 

10 


University Press, Victorian Department of Education, Melbourne, 1980, p. 112 Fig. 143 (plan) 

144 (discussion) 145 (images of completed examples). 

11 

See the graph for construction of ‘Forties’ in Burchell, p. 114 Fig. 144. Their production ceased 

around 1889. 

6


Name Viewbank (ruin) Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 2856 Elmore-Raywood Road , 

north-east of intersection with 

Ludemans Road, Raywood 1 

Building type Timber ruin, presumed to be a 

food store 


construction 

SU2 

Map reference VicRoads 44 F2 

Survey date August 2010 

After 1882 Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance The log ruin is of local historical and technological significance. 

Left: South side of the former store, with the fireplace of the former house at right. Right: The entry 

to the former larder (east face). 

Left: Embanked earth at the rear of former food store. Right: Detail of south face. 

Left: Aerial view, 20010, with the approximate site of the timber ruin indicated (Source: City of 

Greater Bendigo). Right: Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site shown as SU02. 

Note, the extent of the property boundary is indictive only. 


1


History 

The area of open, gently undulating farming country approximately eight kilometres east of Raywood 

was first settled in the 1860s, by William Waugh. 2 The only road through the area was the 

Kamarooka Road, now the Elmore-Raywood Road. Subsequent settlers, including the Frazier, 

Hocking, Brown and Farnald families, named the settlement Summerfield. 3 It was renamed 

Neilborough North in 1901, reverting to Summerfield in 1924, in response to an outcry from 

residents. 4 The timber school at Summerfield was constructed in 1876, and a church (demolished) 

was constructed in 1888. 5 

Thomas Hocking (1836-1896) was born in Cornwall and arrived in Victoria in 1852, initially mining at 

White Hills. 6 He was an early selector at Summerfield, taking up 130ha (320 acres) in 1882. 7 He 

subsequently built this log building, a presumed food store, on his selection and named the property 

Viewbank. He also built a house on the landholding. It remained in the Hocking family until its 

purchase from Miss Florence Hocking by Peter Ludeman in the 1990s. 8 Hocking and his wife Margaret 

also selected land at Tandarra, where they built another house of bark and mud. 9 




5.8: Working 



The collapsed log structure at Viewbank, a property on the north side of the Elmore-Raywood Road at 

Summerfield, is of massive construction, and comprises double thickness logs walls with the cavities 

filled with earth. There is a rammed earth embankment at the rear (west). The logs have chocked 

corners fixed with iron pins. The corner posts have U shaped terminations accommodating cross 

beams. There is evidence of notches cut for a cross beam to carry the roof in the centre of both sides. 

The remnant roof structure comprises beams oriented east-west. It is possible that the roof was 

pugged with earth as a sealant. No evidence survives of the original entry. 

The location of the former farmhouse (demolished) is indicated by the brick fireplace approximately 

three metres from the entrance to the larder. Former farm outbuildings survive in poor condition. An 

avenue of gums leads to the former farmhouse from the Elmore-Raywood road at the south. 


In the early years of European settlement, log construction was the preferred method of building 

police lock-ups in Victoria. In situations where brick or stone were unavailable, it was a means of 

constructing secure buildings. Surviving Victorian log lock-ups include an example at Eaglehawk, 

approximately 25km south of Summerfield. Miles Lewis, Professor in the Faculty of Architecture, 

Building & Planning at the University of Melbourne, suggests that the use of log construction by the 

police was a factor in log buildings gaining some currency on the goldfields. 10 A number of log-built 

diggers’ huts are recorded at the Bendigo goldfields in 1852. A contemporary description records the 

structures as, ‘… built of solid trunks of trees laid horizontally … The logs are notched at the corners, 

and the interstices daubed with clay … The roofs of these are almost flat, covered with sheets of bark, 

with logs on the bark to keep it down’. 11 Other recorded log cabins in the area include an example 

built by William Sinclair at the junction of Derwent and Long gullies in 1854 12 and another at 

Neilborough East, built by brothers Harry and John Mountjoy (undated). 13 Professor Lewis notes that 

log construction became more common after 1870, following the Land Acts (Selection Acts) which 

forced settlers into heavily forested land. The requirement of the selection leases to clear sites for 

habitation and cultivation was a factor in the increasing use of timber as a construction material from 

this time. 14 

Extant examples of log constructions in the Bendigo region include Francis Harritable’s log buildings at 

Sebastian and the Eaglehawk lock-up. Harritable’s stores (also in a ruinous condition) were originally 

gable roofed buildings with logs laid horizontally, the corners formed by notches cut out of the ends 

and gaps between the logs pugged with mud and broken bricks. The lock-up is of comparatively 

2


refined construction and survives in good condition. The former food store at Viewbank is a 

comparatively crude construction, of massive proportions. 




The log ruin at Viewbank (built after 1882), on the Elmore-Raywood Road at Summerfield, is 

historically significant. It provides evidence of a farmstead at Summerfield, a small farming 

community east of Raywood, which was settled from the 1860s. The property was occupied by 

Thomas Hocking and his family from 1882, and the Hocking family retained ownership of the site until 

the 1990s. The ruin demonstrates an innovative approach to the building of a food store on an 

isolated farm, making use of available materials and vernacular construction. Thomas Hocking, 

although apparently a settler of limited means, was inventive and resourceful in his approach to this 

building. This is demonstrated through the use of the massive timbers and other construction 

techniques which remain evident, such as the double thickness log walls with earth-filled cavities, and 

the use of the rammed earth embankment to the rear. Hocking also built another house of bark and 

mud at Tandarra. 



The log ruin at Viewbank is significant as a rare surviving example, albeit in a depleted state, of a log 

structure in the Bendigo goldfields region. Log construction was recorded in the region from the early 

1850s. Aside from the timber lock-up at Eaglehawk, only one other complex of log structures in 

known to survive (Harritables at Sebastian). The subject ruin is also rare for the use of such massive 

timbers in its construction and as a surviving (and assumed to be) purpose-built food store originally 

associated with a 1880s selection. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

N/A 



The Viewbank ruin, presumed to have been a food store, is of technical significance in demonstrating 

an approach to the use of locally available materials (timber and earth) in the construction of a 

domestic farm building in the 1880s; and for the use of particularly large timbers in the construction, 

as well as earth-filled cavities and the utilisation of the rammed earth embankment. These aspects of 

the design would also have provided insulating benefits. 




N/A 

3




N/A 



The collapsed log structure at Viewbank is of massive construction, and comprises double thickness 

logs walls with the cavities filled with earth. There is a rammed earth embankment at the rear (west). 

The logs have chocked corners fixed with iron pins. The corner posts have U shaped terminations 

accommodating cross beams. There is evidence of notches cut for a cross beam to carry the roof in 

the centre of both sides. The remnant roof structure comprises beams oriented east-west. It is 

possible that the roof was pugged with earth as a sealant. No evidence survives of the original entry. 


The log ruin is of local historical and technological significance. 


The log ruin at Viewbank (built after 1882), on the Elmore-Raywood Road at Summerfield, is of local 

historical and technological significance. It is historically significant (Criterion A) for providing 

evidence of a farmstead at Summerfield, a small farming community east of Raywood, which was 

settled from the 1860s. The property was occupied by Thomas Hocking and his family from 1882, and 

the Hocking family retained ownership of the site until the 1990s. The ruin demonstrates an 

innovative approach to building a food store on an isolated farm, making use of available materials 

and vernacular construction. Thomas Hocking, although apparently a settler of limited means, was 

inventive and resourceful in his approach to this building. This is demonstrated through the use of the 

massive timbers and other construction techniques which remain evident, such as the double 

thickness log walls with earth-filled cavities, and the use of the rammed earth embankment to the 

rear. Hocking also built another house of bark and mud at Tandarra. The log ruin at Viewbank is also 

significant as a rare surviving example (Criterion B), albeit in a depleted state, of a log structure in the 

Bendigo goldfields region, where log construction was recorded from the early 1850s. The subject 

ruin is additionally rare for the use of the massive timbers in its construction and as a surviving (and 

assumed to be) purpose-built food store originally associated with a 1880s selection. Technologically 

(Criterion F), the Viewbank ruin is significant for demonstrating an approach to the use of locally 

available materials (timber and earth) in the construction of a domestic farm building in the 1880s and 

for the use of particularly large timbers in the construction, as well as earth-filled cavities and the 

utilisation of the rammed earth embankment. These aspects of the design would also have provided 

insulating benefits. 


The log ruin at Viewbank is recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo 

Heritage Overlay. While the map above illustrates an extent of Overlay coverage (following indicative 

allotment boundaries) it is recommended that this be reduced to the historic ruin with a curtilage 

around it of in the order of 10 metres. The focus of significance is on the ruined log structure. In 

preference, maintain the log ruin in its existing condition, although ‘benign neglect’ may be a 

reasonable future outcome. In this situation, where the ruin will likely continue to deteriorate, it is 

recommended that the structure be photographically recorded. Ruinous structures, including those on 

sites with the potential to yield artefacts and other material remains relating to the historical use of 

the property, can also be considered for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Inventory (VHI). The 

process of recommending a site for the VHI is typically undertaken by an archaeologist, who inspects 

the site and completes a ‘Heritage Inventory Site Card’ to be filed with Heritage Victoria. Details of 

the process are at, www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/heritage, ‘Archaeology and Heritage Inventory’. 


4









Identified By 


References 



Specific: 

1 

Changed suburb from Summerfield, from Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. 


2 


2003, p. 345. 

3 


p.12. 

4 


2003, p. 345. 

5 


p.12. 

6 


2003, p. 352. 

7 

Shire of Marong rate book, 1882. 

8 

Pers comm., Peter Ludeman, interview with Ray Wallace, 14 August, 1998. 

9 


2003, p. 352. 

10 

Miles Lewis, ‘Lock-Ups,’ Section 2.02 of Australian Building: A Cultural Investigation, viewed 

online at mileslewis.net, accessed 16 July 2010. 

11 

William Howitt, Land, Labour and Gold, or Two Years in Victoria, Longman Brown, London, 

1858, p. 377, cited in Miles Lewis, ‘The Goldfields,’ Section 2.02 of Australian Building: A 

Cultural Investigation, viewed online at mileslewis.net, accessed 16 July 2010. 

12 

Ralph W Birrell and James A Lerk, Bendigo’s Gold Story, Golden Square 2001, p. 59. 

13 


p.12. 

14 

Miles Lewis, ‘Other Log Buildings,’ Section 2.02 of Australian Building: A Cultural Investigation, 

viewed online at mileslewis.net, accessed 16 July 2010. 

5


Name Former Royal Hotel Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address Loddon Valley Highway, north 

of the Three Chain Road and 

Riley's Road intersection, 

Woodvale 


hotel) 


construction 

W01 




c. 1912 Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance The former Royal Hotel is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: South and west elevations, viewed from the Loddon Valley Highway. Right: Rear (east) of the 

former Royal Hotel. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010; the former Royal Hotel is circled (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). Right: 

Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site shown as W01. 


History 

Hotels and shanties were a feature of the Bendigo goldfields from the earliest days of the rushes. 

Over time, at least 12 hotels operated at Woodvale (originally regarded as part of Myers Creek, later 

Myers Flat, and known as Sydney Flat from 1852 1 ), a dispersed area located approximately 6km north 

of Eaglehawk. 2 The date of construction of the original Royal Hotel, overlooking the Loddon Valley 

Highway north of the intersection with Rileys Road and Three Chain Road, at the western edge of 

Woodvale, is not known. The present structure was constructed in c. 1912, following a fire to its 

1


predecessor. The Stewand brewing family owned the Royal in 1926, but it was delicensed prior to the 

1930s. Some of the licensees included the Shadbolts family and ‘Widder’ Malone, both well known 

locally. 3 

As was typical of the era, the rebuilt hotel offered stabling, as evidenced in the lettering to one of the 

cement panels below the parapet. This demonstrates the continuing importance, well into the 

twentieth century, of horses as a means of transport for travelling in country areas. This in turn led to 

a demand for hotels and stabling at frequent intervals on the road system. The former Royal Hotel is 

approximately 1km from the former Old House at Home Hotel and is one of several hotels that 

formerly existed on the Loddon Valley Highway, including the Swan Hill Road Hotel, the Campbell’s 

Forest and the Royal Mail, all within a 15km stretch. In its present form, long since adapted as a 

private residence, the former Royal Hotel is relatively isolated in the landscape. However, passing 

trade notwithstanding, this part of Woodvale previously had sufficient population to support two 

incarnations of the Royal Hotel. 




5.8: Working 


The former Royal Hotel is a single storey red brick hotel with a splayed corner, essentially rectangular 

in plan, overlooking the Loddon Valley Highway north of the intersection with Rileys Road and Three 

Chain Road. It is located in generally flat open countryside at the western edge of Woodvale. The 

former stables have been removed (date unknown), and the hotel has been adapted as a private 

residence, including modifications and additions at the rear. 

The building, oriented at a diagonal to true north, addresses both the Loddon Valley Highway and 

Three Chain Road, an unsealed track to the south. These elevations have narrow setbacks from the 

property edge. The splayed corner, which faces directly south, retains its original paired timber door 

leaves. There are two window openings to each of the principal elevations, at irregular intervals. 

These are double hung sashes, with two panes per sash. The original window and door openings have 

cambered brick soffits. Works have been carried out to the easternmost window on the Three Chain 

Road elevation, including a new lintel. However, the timber window frame appears original. There are 

also two door openings to the elevation facing the Loddon Valley Highway, an opening with a 

cambered soffit, timber door and highlight, and a later round headed opening to its south. At the top 

of the two walls are recessed cement cement panels, with the words ‘Royal’ and ‘Stabling’ legible. The 

parapet has a simple stepped cornice and frieze with brackets formed by brick ends. There is no 

physical evidence that there was originally a verandah to the principal elevations. There are two short 

brick chimneys, unrendered. A red brick addition has been constructed at the rear of the hotel, with a 

skillion-roofed enclosure, possibly used as a car park. The former Royal Hotel appears to be in 

generally sound condition. 


Although built in 1912, the former Royal Hotel takes its presentational and stylistic cues from the 

earlier established Bendigo hotel typology of the nineteenth century, including brick constructions of 

low, spreading proportions with splayed corners, simple recessed parapets and no verandahs. In this 

regard, the former Royal Hotel parallels a number of other single-storeyed former hotels in the former 

Rural City of Marong, including the former Weighbridge Hotel in Kangaroo Flat and the former Camp 

Hotel on the Neilborough-Eaglehawk Road in the Whipstick. The recessed cement panels at the top of 

the walls of the former Royal Hotel are, however, an unusual feature. 




2


The former Royal Hotel (built c. 1912), on the Loddon Valley Highway, Woodvale, north of the 

intersection with Rileys Road and Three Chain Road, is historically significant. The hotel replaced a 

fire damaged predecessor, and as such continued an earlier hotel operation on this site in a general 

locale (Woodvale) where at least 12 hotels have been documented over time. The offering of stabling 

in 1912 (albeit the stables have been removed) also provides evidence of the enduring importance in 

country areas of horses as a means of transport; this in turn led to a demand for hotels and stabling 

at frequent intervals on the road network. The isolated former Royal Hotel is approximately 1km from 

the former Old House at Home Hotel, and is one of several hotels that formerly existed on the Loddon 

Valley Highway within a 15km stretch. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

The former Royal Hotel retains some of the principal characteristics of historic single-storey hotels in 

the area. These include its low spreading proportions, splayed corner, simple recessed parapets and 

the absence of a verandah. 


municipality. 

The former Royal Hotel is of aesthetic/architectural significance as a largely externally intact hotel of 

the early twentieth century, albeit one which is essentially Victorian in character, taking its stylistic 

and presentational cues from the established Bendigo hotel typology of the nineteenth century. These 

include brick constructions of low, spreading proportions with splayed corners, simple recessed 

parapets and no verandahs. In this regard, the former Royal Hotel also parallels a number of other 

historic surviving single-storeyed hotels in the former Rural City of Marong, and retains the capacity to 

demonstrate its original function. The recessed cement panels at the top of the walls are an unusual 

feature. The location on the Loddon Valley Highway, at the intersection with Three Chain Road and 

Rileys Road, also provides a high degree of prominence to the historic building in the flat and 

generally open surrounding landscape. 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 

3




The former Royal Hotel is a single storey red brick hotel with a splayed corner. It is located on the 

Loddon Valley Highway, and also addresses Three Chain Road to the south. These elevations have 

narrow setbacks from the property edge. The splayed corner, which faces directly south, retains its 

original paired timber door leaves. There are two window openings to each of the principal elevations, 

at irregular intervals. These are double hung sashes, with two panes per sash. The original window 

and door openings have cambered brick soffits. Works have been carried out to the easternmost 

window on the Three Chain Road elevation, including a new lintel. However, the timber window frame 

appears original. There are also two door openings to the elevation facing the Loddon Valley Highway, 

an opening with a cambered soffit, timber door and highlight, and a later round headed opening to its 

south. At the top of the two walls are recessed cement cement panels, with the words ‘Royal’ and 

‘Stabling’ legible. The parapet has a simple stepped cornice and frieze with brackets formed by brick 

ends. There are two short brick chimneys, unrendered. 


The former Royal Hotel is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The former Royal Hotel at Woodvale, on the Loddon Valley Highway north of the Riley’s Road 

intersection, is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. Historically (Criterion A), the 

hotel replaced a fire damaged predecessor and as such continued an earlier hotel operation on this 

site in a general locale (Woodvale) where at least 12 hotels have been documented over time. The 

offering of stabling in 1912 (removed) also provides evidence of the enduring importance in country 

areas of horses as a means of transport; this in turn led to a demand for hotels and stabling at 

frequent intervals on the road network. The isolated former Royal Hotel is approximately 1km from 

the former Old House at Home Hotel and is one of several hotels that formerly existed on the Loddon 

Valley Highway within a 15km stretch. In terms of the aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion 

E), the former Royal Hotel is a largely externally intact hotel of the early twentieth century, albeit one 

which is essentially Victorian in character, taking its stylistic and presentational cues from the 

established Bendigo hotel typology of the nineteenth century (Criterion D). These include brick 

constructions of low, spreading proportions with splayed corners, simple recessed parapets and no 

verandahs. In this regard, the former Royal Hotel also parallels a number of other historic surviving 

single-storeyed hotels in the former Rural City of Marong, and retains the capacity to demonstrate its 

original function. The recessed cement panels at the top of the walls are an unusual feature. The 

location on the Loddon Valley Highway, at the intersection with Three Chain Road and Rileys Road, 

also provides a high degree of prominence to the historic building in the flat and generally open 

surrounding landscape. 



The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map, with the significance focused on the 1912 

building and its corner presentation to the adjacent roads. 








4



Identified By 


References 


Ray Wallace, Shades of the Past: A History of Campbell’s Forest and Yarraberb, Back To Committee, 

1993. 



Specific: 

1 

See ‘History’ at www.woodvale.vic.au 

2 

Ray Wallace, Sydney Flat to Woodvale Green, Woodvale Progress Association, 1984, pp. 50- 

51. 

3 

Ray Wallace, Sydney Flat to Woodvale Green, Woodvale Progress Association, 1984, pp. 50 

51. 

5


Name Monmore Vineyard and Butter 

Factory 


Marong Study 

Address Bayliss Road, Woodvale Map reference VicRoads 44 E3 

Building type Remnants of the former wine 

making facilities and dairy 


construction 

Significance 

The former vineyard and 

dairy were established by the 

1870s 

W02 

Survey date November 2011 


the Heritage Overlay 1 

The Monmore Vineyard and Butter Factory property is of local historical and 


Left: The former farmhouse. Right: Mud brick structure, possibly the ‘cooling chamber’ of the former 

dairy. (Source: Both pictures are dated 22 July 1994 and supplied by the City of Greater Bendigo.) 

Left: Ruined former farm building, pictured 22 July 1994. Right: Aerial view of the site, 2010 


Proposed Heritage Overlay map, with the subject site shown as W02. Note: the location of the HO 

has not been confirmed and is indicative only. 

1


Intactness Good Fair Poor (Intactness not known) 

History 

The Bayliss family is believed to have arrived at Sydney Flat (Woodvale) 2 during the 1860s, having 

emigrated from Staffordshire, England in 1856 and arriving at Melbourne in 1857. 3 Sydney Flat was 

initially established as a gold mining settlement, with the majority of alluvial miners moving on by the 

1860s-70s. From that point, the district became one of mixed farming, dairying, vineyards and 

orchards. 4 In 1871, Edward Bayliss (1847-1900), established a farm on 8.9ha (22 acres) of land at 

Allotment 18 Section 3 at Sydney Flat, close to Sebastian. 5 Over the next 20 years, Bayliss expanded 

his landholding and established significant dairy and viticulture operations. This expansion coincided 

with the extension of the railway to Sydney Flat in 1882. To secure access to a reliable water supply, 

Bayliss reputedly acquired a tract of land 1.8m (6ft) wide and two miles long, to build a water race to 

connect with the main Whipstick water race. 6 It is not known if this survives. By 1892 Bayliss owned 

162ha (400 acres). During the 1870s and 1880s, dairying was Bayliss’ principal activity, with the 

mechanised dairy being based on British models. As well as producing his own ‘Monmore’ brand of 

butter, Bayliss also processed milk from other local producers. A substantial mud-brick ‘cooling 

chamber’ (which is the focus of this citation) with 600mm thick walls provided a regular temperature 

for the storage of butter. 7 Bayliss did expand into wine-making, with 4.5ha (11 acres) of his 

landholding being under vines by 1887. 8 The property also became known as the Monmore vineyard, 

producing 1,600 gallons of wine annually. He obtained first prize at the Bendigo Grand National show 

in 1892 as well as internationally. 9 In November 1893, Bayliss acquired the Railway Station Hotel at 

Woodvale. 10 




4.4: Farming 


5.8: Working 



The focus of this citation is on the early mud brick building (believed to be the former ‘cooling 

chamber’ and perhaps the earliest house on the site). The condition in November 2011 indicates that 

the building is in a poor structural state, subject to water damage. There are large structural cracks 

throughout. Sections of the rear external wall which contained an external window has collapsed and 

some internal walls have also collapsed. The upper timber loft area is in a poor condition and in need 

of stabilisation. 11 

The former Monmore vineyard and dairy is a complex of ruinous buildings and machinery including the 

former farmhouse and associated kitchen, now demolished, two dairies of varying dates, a wine cellar, 

filled in, and blacksmith's shed. Many of the moveable items, machinery and outbuildings are no 

longer on site. A photographic record of all items was completed by Robyn Ballinger in 2005 as a 

condition of the demolition permit for the timber house. 12 The timber-framed house was demolished in 

2005. It had a gable roof with fretted barges and a projecting wing, presenting with an asymmetrical 

aspect to the roadway. The three rooms and a vestibule connecting with the collapsed mud brick 

kitchen wing have all been demolished. The earliest dairy is of mud brick construction with 60cm [2ft] 

thick ventilated walls, double doors, fireplace and chimney [Note: This may be the ‘cooling chamber’ 

referred to in the ‘History’ and is still extant. 13 The dairy had a hipped roof and evidence of white 

wash to the upper sections of the walls. The later brick dairy, alongside is presumed to have been 

built during the interwar period and is of red brick. The winery is ruinous and consists of a cellar , 

now filled in, which was surmounted by a former Railway Department gatekeeper's cottage (‘no.7’), 

now demolished. This was a small timber lined building with coved ceilings and has the number 7 in 

faded paint on the gable end. The smithy's is a bush pole shed with vertical slabs, riveted iron forge, 

metal implements and anvil base and is extant. There are large extant machinery sheds nearby in 

bush pole and part mud brick and timber construction. Machinery that was recorded on site in 1993 

2


within the vicinity of the buildings included a steam driven butter churn and there was at least one line 

of cable and posts with remnants of the grape vines. These have now largely been removed from site 

14 


As a complex of farm and agricultural buildings related to the production of foodstuffs, the former 

Monmore Vineyard and Butter Factory at Woodvale is comparable with the property at 550 McKenzie 

Road, Woodstock-on-Loddon (WL01), developed by Michael Bourke from the 1850s. However, the 

Monmore 

property is both later (1870s) and composed primarily of timber and mud brick buildings. 

The former dairy building (possibly the ‘cooling chamber’), which is believed to survive at the site, is 

an early surviving example of a mud brick building in this area. Despite widespread application from 

at least the 1820s, adobe (mud brick) construction is one of Australia’s least clearly documented 

vernacular building materials. 

are 

elly 

d it is possible that comparable examples of mud brick buildings survive elsewhere in the 

15 Professor Miles Lewis, Professor in the Faculty of Architecture, 

Building & Planning at the University of Melbourne, suggests that, ‘… we cannot be sure that any mud 

brick was used in Australia before the gold rushes, and we therefore do not know whether it reached 

us only through the influence of California’. 16 Professor Lewis also notes that, ‘mud brick buildings 

fairly common in the Bendigo area of Victoria’. 17 Aside from the two examples at the former K 

property on Caldow Road (W08), local examples of mud brick constructions include two small 

buildings (1890s and early 1900s) at the nearby Flett farmstead, off Daly Road (W03), which 

demonstrate two different construction techniques, and the former Engi farmhouse at Sebastian 

(1896). Other examples survive at abandoned properties at the corner of Fitzpatrick’s Road and 

Three Chain Road south of Sebastian, and on the Neilborough East Road, between Neilborough and 

Summerfield (Neilborough North). The provenance and history of these two latter examples is not 

known, an 

district. 


Amended 

Heritage Victoria Criteria (the following is in note form only) 

Criterion 

A: Importance to the course, or pattern, of the City of Greater Bendigo’s cultural history. 

The Monmore Vineyard and Butter Factory is historically significant for its capacity to recall aspects 


the history of agriculture in Woodvale, including mixed farming, dairying and vineyards. Edward 

Bayliss, who had arrived from England in 1856, and established the farm in the 1870s, built up the 

property into a successful dairying and viticulture operation in the latter nineteenth century, producing 

his own brand of ‘Monmore’ butter. The reputed construction of a two mile-long water race by 

Bayliss, to connect up with the Whipstick water race, also emphasises the difficulties experienced by 

early 

settlers in securing access to water, and their resourcefulness in obtaining it. 

Criterion B: Possession 

of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the City of Greater Bendigo’s 

cultural 

history. 

N/A 

Criterion C: Potential to yield information 

that will contribute to an understanding of the City of 

Greater 

Bendigo’s cultural history. 

N/A 


objects. 

N/A 

Criterion E: Importance 

in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics in the context of the 

municipality. 

N/A 

3




The early mud brick dairy building (possibly the ‘cooling chamber’) at the Monmore Vineyard and 

Butter Factory is technologically significant as an early surviving example of a mud brick structure in 

the Bendigo region, representing a type of vernacular construction which was once more common in 

this area. The cooling chamber was built with particularly thick walls (c. 60cm), to provide an 

insulated and cool temperature environment for the storage of dairy products, including butter. 




N/A 



N/A 



The early mud brick building (believed to be the former dairy ‘cooling chamber’) is extant and consists 

of a cooling chamber of mud brick construction with 60cm [2ft] thick ventilated walls, double doors, 

fireplace and chimney and loft space. The dairy is believed to have a hipped roof and evidence of 

white wash to the upper sections of the walls. The later dairy alongside is presumed to have been 

built during the interwar period and is of brick. 


The Monmore Vineyard and Butter Factory property is of local historical and technological significance. 


The Monmore Vineyard and Butter Factory property is historically significant (Criterion A) for its 

capacity to recall aspects of the history of agriculture in Woodvale, including mixed farming, dairying 

and vineyards. Edward Bayliss, who had arrived from England in 1856, and established the farm in 

the 1870s, built up the property into a successful dairying and viticulture operation in the latter 

nineteenth century, producing his own brand of ‘Monmore’ butter. The reputed construction of a two 

mile-long water race by Bayliss, to connect up with the Whipstick water race, also emphasises the 

difficulties experienced by early settlers in securing access to water and their resourcefulness in 

obtaining it. Technologically (Criterion F), the early mud brick dairy building (possibly the ‘cooling 

chamber’) is of significance as an early surviving example of a mud brick structure in the Bendigo 

region, representing a type of vernacular construction which was once more common in the area. The 

cooling chamber was built with particularly thick walls (c. 60cm), to provide an insulated and cool 

temperature environment for the storage of dairy products, including butter. 


The property was inspected in November 2011 and the inclusion of the mud brick former diary and 

adjacent smaller red brick dairy as a place of local historical and technological significance is 

confirmed. On the basis of this confirmation the property should be recommended for inclusion in the 

Schedule to the Greater Bendigo Heritage Overlay. The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above 

map, although the focus of significance is on the early mud brick building and brick dairy described 

above as the ‘cooling chamber’, which is believed to be adjacent to Bayliss Road (as per the aerial 

image above). Consideration could be given to reducing the extent of the Overlay to cover this 

structure only, including a curtilage around the building and land in the setback to the road. 

4










Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 

Place was provisionally recommended in Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011 due 

to inability to conduct a site visit. That was remedied in November 2011 by City of 

Greater Bendigo Heritage Advisor, Amanda Jean and is recommended for inclusion. 

2 

From 1845, the area was regarded as part of Myers Creek, later Myers Flat, and became 

known as Sydney Flat from 1852, with the present name, Woodvale, being adopted in the 

1920s. See, ‘History,’ www.woodvale,vic.au, accessed 16 November 2010. 

3 


2003, p. 404. 

4 

See ‘History,’ at www.woodvale.vic.au, accessed 16 November 2010. 

5 


2003, p. 404. 

6 


24. 

7 


24. The thickness of the wall was measured on site in November 2011 and the original 

dimension of 600mm was confirmed by Mandy Jean, heritage architect. 

8 


24. 

9 


25. 

10 


2003, p. 404. Pers com and local knowledge is that Bayliss also entered his wine into 

international exhibitions, Mandy Jean with M. Surplice, Nov 2011. 

11 

Mandy Jean, heritage architect, carried out a site inspection of the mud building with 

M. Surplice in November 2011. 

12 

Photographic record of the whole site was carried out by Robyn Ballinger in 2005, a 

copy of the document was submitted to the City of Greater Bendigo as part of the 

Building Permit for demolition. 

13 

The site inspection in November 2011 carried out by Mandy Jean with M. Surplice 

confirmed the dimension of mud brick wall of the former dairy as being 600mm 

thick. It was also confirmed on site that the former timber house and wine cellar was 

filled in and the timber structure above it had been demolished in accordance with 

5


the building permit issued by the City of Greater Bendigo Council. Other moveable 

items had been removed from site while the original harvesters and other 

miscellaneous agricultural machinery remain as well as the remnant water race and 

original fig trees that marked the location of each vine row in the vineyard. 

14 

Ibid. 

15 



16 



17 



6


Name Woodvale Hall (former school, no. 

1531) 

Address Daly's Road, near Bendigo- 

Pyramid Road intersection, 

Woodvale 


Marong Study 

W04 

Map reference VicRoads 44 4E 

Building type Public hall (former school) Survey date June 2010 


construction 



Significance Woodvale Hall (former school) is of local historic, social and aesthetic/architectural 

significance. 

Left: Woodvale School, pictured c. 1895 (Source: Ray Wallace, Sydney Flat Gold to Woodvale Green, 

Woodvale Progress Association, 1984, p. 38). Right: West and north elevations. 

Left: Rear (south) and east elevations, note skillion addition at left of picture. Right: War memorial 

to the north of the public hall grounds. 


with the subject site shown as W04. 


1


History 

As with many gold rush settlements, early community life at Sydney Flat (Woodvale 1 ) was frenzied, 

haphazard and notable for transient and predominantly male populations. Despite this, by1858 there 

were three schools at Woodvale, in the area between Nuggetty and Poverty Gullies and on Sydney Flat 

near the Old House at Home Hotel. There was another school at nearby Myer’s Flat to the west, 

reflecting the size of the local population by that time. 2 

By 1873, a James Wood was lobbying the Board of Education for a school at Woodvale. The following 

year tenders were called for the present school building, located on Daly’s Road, a short distance 

north of Woodvale’s historic centre and close to the Old House at Home Hotel. The contract was won 

by Bendigo builder, F Button, for the sum of £632, 5/10. 3 The original specifications and plans were 

for a much larger school. The completed school (the subject building) with a capacity for 100 pupils, 

had a shingle roof, deal floorboards and was built of bricks carted from Eaglehawk. It opened on 1 

June 1875 with George Whitfield as head teacher. Shortly afterwards, Whitfield erected a residence in 

the grounds (demolished). 4 By 1877, the average attendance was 77. At that time the school was 

known as the Nerring School no. 1531, 5 the name changing to Sydney Flat School in 1902 and 

Woodvale School in 1936. 6 

Water storage and the provision of clean water were notable problems in the early years; a 370-gallon 

tank proved inadequate, and the shingles tainting the supply of storm water. 7 The issue was resolved 

with the provision of an underground tank. The shingle roof was replaced by corrugated sheet metal 

after 1890. Renovations (unspecified) were carried out in 1912, at a cost of £137. Further works in 

1914 saw the removal of the internal gallery and original desk platforms. 8 The school community and 

local residents planted cypress trees as a memorial to seven former students who fell in World War I. 

Tablets were fixed to each of the trees in 1926. Electricity was installed in 1955, and the school finally 

closed on 15 January 1962. 9 In recent years the former school has been restored. The building, now 

used as a public hall for meetings and functions, is maintained by a local community association. 






The former Woodvale School is a standard gabled bichrome brick school room of the late Victorian 

period, with an entrance porch to the south and a skillion-roofed lean-to addition to the east. The 

building is located in the approximate centre of a large, gently sloping and partly treed allotment on 

the south side of Daly’s Road, close to the Bendigo-Pyramid Road intersection. 

The school has a sandstone plinth laid in random (irregular) coursed rubble, bluestone sills and 

bichrome window heads with cambered soffits. The red brick walls on the front (south) elevation are 

laid in English bond with a two-course strip in cream brick running round the building and its porch. 

The gable vents are bullseyes, with bichrome surrounds to the south face. The roofs of the original 

components (main school room and porch) are simple gables, clad in corrugated galvanised steel; the 

main roof has three gablet vents to the west. The brick chimney is original. The bargeboards have 

long finials, with the main upper finial supported on a cross-beam and the porch finial serving as a 

flagpole. Timber finials are not original. The porch bargeboard is supported on two projecting purlins. 

Toothed brickwork at the north end anticipates an extension never built – as noted in the history 

(above), the original plans and specifications were for a much larger building. The windows to the 

north elevation have four sashes in two bays, probably added in the Federation period. Inside, the 

coved and painted timber ceiling linings and decorative ceiling vents are intact, as are the roll of 

honour, blackboard and fireplace. The lean-to addition may date to the 1960s, although its windows 

appear earlier indicating they may have been relocated during the construction works. 

There is a white-painted timber toilet to the east of the allotment, twinned with no internal division. 

To the south of the entrance are the memorials to the seven former pupils, with a row of recently 

replanted cypress trees behind. The allotment is enclosed to the south by a low wire and post fence. 

2


The cast iron entrance gates, painted green, were installed in 2004. These were a donation by Neil M 

and Dagmar V Daly, members of the fourth generation of Dalys in the Woodvale community and 

dedicated to the memory of Roy and Janet Daly (nee Bayliss). 

The former school appears to be in sound condition. 


The bichrome structural detailing and the gablet vents evident at the former Woodvale school building 

are hallmarks of a number of schools of the late-Victorian period designed by H R Bastow, senior 

architect with the Department of Public Works. The chimney cornicing in exposed corbelled brick, its 

single relieving course line in cream brick, the window heads, entry gable gablet vents and crossbraced 

finial are identical with those on Bastow’s Helen Street School at Northcote, also 1874. 10 

These details are also largely identical with those on Bastow’s Mount Pleasant School at Ballarat, also 

1874, except that the window-heads there are surrounded by dog-toothed drip moulds. 11 




The former Woodvale School (no. 1531), completed in 1875, on Daly’s Road at Woodvale is of local 

historical significance. It provides evidence of the consolidation of Sydney Flat (Woodvale) as a 

community in the 1870s, following the frenzy of the early gold rushes of the 1850s. Its use for nearly 

a century, from 1875 to 1962, demonstrates the size and longevity of the local community into the 

second half of the twentieth century. The former school remains in use as a public hall, maintained by 

a local community association. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

The former Woodvale School demonstrates a number of characteristics of schools of the late-Victorian 

period designed by H R Bastow of the Department of Public Works. These include the bichrome 

structural detailing, gablet vents, chimney cornicing in exposed corbelled brick, the single relieving 

course line in cream brick, the window heads, entry gable gablet vents and cross-braced finial. 


municipality. 

The former Woodvale School (no. 1531) is of local aesthetic/architectural significance. It is a largely 

externally intact example of a late-Victorian bichrome brick gabled school building, which is similar in 

form and details to a number of contemporaneous (1870s) schools in Victoria designed by H R 

Bastow, senior architect with the Department of Public Works. Excepting the rear lean-to addition, 

and the windows to the north elevation which were probably added in the Federation period, the 

school presents externally predominantly as built. Elements of note include the bichrome window 

heads, chimney cornicing, gablet vents and cross-braced finial. The steeply pitched roof also has 

picturesque qualities, giving the building considerable prominence in its informal treed landscape 

setting; the row of memorials is also significant. 

3




N/A 




The former Woodvale School is of social significance, as a focus of the local community for nearly a 

century. Former students who perished in World War I are commemorated by the memorials and 

replanted trees in the grounds, while the recently planted cypress trees maintain this approach, 

emphasizing the local importance of the property and echoing those originally planted by the school 

community after the war. The former school is also valued for remaining in use as a public hall, 

maintained by a local community association. 



N/A 



The former Woodvale School is a standard gabled bi-chrome brick school room of the late Victorian 

period, with an entrance porch to the south and a skillion-roofed lean-to addition to the east. The 

building is located in the approximate centre of a large, gently sloping and partly treed allotment on 

the south side of Daly’s Road, close to the Bendigo-Pyramid Road intersection. The school has a 

sandstone plinth laid in random (irregular) coursed rubble, bluestone sills and bi-chrome window 

heads with cambered soffits. The red brick walls on the front (south) elevation are laid in English 

bond with a two-course strip in cream brick running round the building and its porch. The gable vents 

are bullseyes, with bichrome surrounds to the south face. The roofs of the original components (main 

school room and porch) are simple gables, clad in corrugated galvanised steel; the main roof has 

three gablet vents to the west. The brick chimney is original. The bargeboards have long finials, with 

the main upper finial supported on a cross-beam and the porch finial serving as a flagpole. The 

timber finials are not original. The porch bargeboard is supported on two projecting purlins. The 

windows to the north elevation have four sashes in two bays, probably added in the Federation period. 

Inside, the coved and painted timber ceiling linings and decorative ceiling vents are intact, as are the 

roll of honour, blackboard and fireplace. The lean-to addition may date to the 1960s, although its 

windows appear earlier indicating they may have been relocated during the construction works. 


The former Woodvale School is of local historic, social and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The former Woodvale School no. 1531, in Daly's Road, Woodvale, and completed in 1875, is of local 

historic significance (Criterion A), for providing evidence of the consolidation of Sydney Flat 

(Woodvale) as a community in the 1870s, following the frenzy of the early gold rushes of the 1850s. 

Its use for nearly a century, from 1875 to 1962, demonstrates the size and longevity of the local 

community into the second half of the twentieth century. The former school also remains in use as a 

public hall, maintained by a local community association. The property is of social significance 

(Criterion G), as a focus of the local community for nearly a century. Former students who perished in 

World War I are commemorated by the memorials and replanted trees in the grounds, while the 

recently planted cypress trees maintain this approach, emphasizing the local importance of the 

property and echoing those originally planted by the school community after the war. The former 

school is also valued for remaining in use as a public hall. The property is also of local 

aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E), as a largely externally intact example of a late- 

4


Victorian bichrome brick gabled school building, which is similar in form and details to a number of 

contemporaneous (1870s) schools in Victoria designed by H R Bastow, senior architect with the 

Department of Public Works. Excepting the rear lean-to addition, and the windows to the north 

elevation which were probably added in the Federation period, the school presents externally 

predominantly as built. Elements of note include the bichrome window heads, chimney cornicing, 

gablet vents and cross-braced finial. The steeply pitched roof also has picturesque qualities, giving 

the building considerable prominence in its informal treed landscape setting; the row of memorials is 

also significant. 


The subject property is recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo Heritage 

Overlay. The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map. The focus of significance is on the 

1870s school building; the skillion addition is not significant. The brick walling should remain 

unpainted. The setting to the school is also significant, including the informal treed landscape, and 

the memorials. The 2004 cast iron entrance gates are not historical elements, but may have 

contemporary value to the community. 









Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 



1920s. See, ‘History,’ www.woodvale,vic.au 

2 


33. 

3 


33. 

4 


5 

Nerring derives from the Aboriginal name for the area. 

6 

Ray Wallace, Sydney Flat Gold to Woodvale Green, Woodvale Progress Association, 1984, pp. 

34-36. 

7 


34. 

8 

Ray Wallace, Sydney Flat Gold to Woodvale Green, Woodvale Progress Association, 1984, pp. 

34-46, and Vision and Realisation, Victorian Government, Melbourne, 1973, v. 2, p. 482. 

5


9 Vision and Realisation, Victorian Government, Melbourne, 1973, v. 2, p. 482. 

10 Lawrence Burchell, Victorian Schools: A Study in Colonial Government Architecture 1837 1900, 

University Press-Victorian Education Department, Melbourne, 1980, p. 107. 

11 Burchell, p. 109, Fig. 142. 

6


Name Former Old House at Home Hotel Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 610 Bendigo-Pyramid Road, 

opposite Quinn's Road, 

Woodvale 1 

W05 


Building type Private residence (former hotel) Survey date June 2010 (external 



construction 

A hotel on the site of the former 

Old House at Home Hotel was in 

existence during the 1860s 



Significance The former Old House at Home Hotel is of local historical and 


Left: The former Old House at Home Hotel, c. 1870s (Source: Ray Wallace, Sydney Flat Gold to 

Woodvale Green, Woodvale Progress Association, 1984, p. 55). Right: The former hotel pictured in 

August 2008 (Source: Flickr, www.flickr.com, photography by Ken Whelan, dated 18 August 2008). 

Left: West elevation, note tall corrugated sheet metal boundary fence. Right: North elevation, 

viewed from Camp Road. 

Left: Aerial view, 2010 (Source: City of Greater Bendigo). Right: Proposed heritage overlay map, 



1


History 

Hotels and shanties were a feature of the Bendigo goldfields from the earliest days of the gold rushes. 

Over time, at least 12 hotels operated at Sydney Flat (Woodvale), 2 a dispersed settlement 

approximately 6km north of Eaglehawk. 3 Historically, this was Woodvale’s ‘town centre’. Other 

buildings in the vicinity included the former Red Lion Hotel to the south and a butcher’s shop directly 

opposite. The date of construction of the subject Old House at Home Hotel, which overlooks the 

Pyramid-Bendigo Road, opposite Quinn's Road, is not known. It has been suggested that there was a 

hotel in this location during the 1860s, at the time of the rush to the Red Flag diggings on the flat at 

the rear, 4 and Stephen Ingham, the first publican, was operating from this site in 1868. Ingham left 

in the 1870s to run the butcher’s shop opposite. Another record identifies a James Elliott as the 

owner of the hotel on 27 May 1869. 5 William Bruce, an entrepreneur and businessman with a ginger 

beer factory next to his property at Eaglehawk Flat, took over the license from Ingham, appointing, a 

Mr Crawford as publican from 1875. 6 There was a timber stable at the rear of the hotel in the 1870s. 

‘Ma’ Burke ran the hotel during the interwar period and was responsible for its high profile in the 

community at that time. Following Burke’s death in 1961, the pub was taken over by Jack Harris, who 

was the last publican at the Old House at Home. The hotel being delicensed in March 1970, Jack 

Harris subsequently adapted the hotel to a private residence. The Old House at Home Hotel was the 

last of the Woodvale pubs to operate for its original purpose, the majority of others having been 

delicensed by 1930. 7 




5.8: Working 


The former the Old House at Home Hotel is a single-storey brick hotel that is believed to have 1860s 

origins, albeit some later modifications to the building frontage/facade. The hotel is located to the 

south-west of a large landholding in generally flat open countryside on the east side of the Pyramid- 

Bendigo Road, opposite Quinn's Road at Woodvale. Since 2008, a tall corrugated sheet metal fence 

has been erected around the property, obscuring views from publically accessible vantage points. 

Only the parapet, pediment, verandah roof, chimney and some sections of the external walls are 

visible. A second structure, possibly the stables, is screened from view. 

The brickwork of the former hotel building is stuccoed to the west (front), north and south elevations, 

with a recessed panel for signage in the parapet and a prominent surmounting pediment with 

acroteria. The north (side) wall has a stepped profile; the south (side) wall does not. The west 

elevation has a central door and flanking windows. The (non-original) southern window opening 

comprises three double-hung sashes; the northern window is a single double-hung sash with a 

projecting sill. Despite the modification to the southern window, the parapet, pediment and central 

door give the building a sense of symmetry. The verandah was previously supported on square 

concrete columns and pedestals (possibly timber), dating to the inter-war period. The present 

verandah, the top of whose square timber posts are visible above the tall fence, has been installed 

since 2008. 

The hotel was adapted as a private residence in 1970 and appears to have been extended at the rear. 

Evidence indicates that the brick and stone stables referred to in the 1998 citation are extant. 

However, the corrugated iron fence obscures views. 


In a number of respects, the former Old House at Home Hotel is anomalous as compared to surviving 

nineteenth century hotels in the former Rural City of Marong. It is not located on a corner; it is 

compact and symmetrical rather than having the low, spreading proportions of so many hotels in the 

area, including the nearby former Royal Hotel on the Loddon Valley Highway (W01) and the former 

Camp Hotel and Store (W06) in the Whipstick; and it has a deep recessed frieze, with surmounting 

2


pediment, that was designed to carry signage. For these reasons, the former Old House at Home 

Hotel is more comparable to single-storey parapet-fronted retail and commercial buildings in goldfields 

towns and elsewhere in Victoria, built from the 1860s into the early twentieth century. As with the 

pharmacy at 116 High Street, Kangaroo Flat (KF07), and the ’Victoria Store’ at 143-45 High Street 

(KF09), also at Kangaroo Flat (prior to additions), these were typically distinguished by symmetrical 

frontages, and parapets which often had a recess or panel to carry signage. 




The former Old House at Home Hotel (built from the 1860s), on the Bendigo-Pyramid Road opposite 

Quinn’s Road at Woodvale, is of local historical significance. It is associated with the gold rushes that 

underpinned European settlement of the area from the 1850s, being established to service miners at 

the nearby Red Flag diggings. The former hotel is approximately 1km from the former Royal Hotel, 

and is one of several hotels that once existed on the Bendigo-Pyramid Road. The location of the hotel 

also provides evidence of the historic centre of Woodvale; other buildings in the vicinity included the 

former Red Lion Hotel to the south and a butcher’s shop directly opposite (both demolished). The 

former Old House at Home Hotel was the last operational hotel in Woodvale, being delicensed in 1970. 

The majority of hotels in the area had been delicensed by 1930. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The former the Old House at Home Hotel (built from the 1860s), is of aesthetic/architectural 

significance. It is a compact and symmetrical brick building with a pronounced parapet and prominent 

triangular pediment; the deep recessed frieze and pediment were designed to carry signage. In these 

respects it is not typical of historic hotels, but relates more to single-storey parapet-fronted retail and 

commercial buildings in goldfields towns and elsewhere in Victoria, built from the 1860s into the early 

twentieth century. Modifications, including the replacement verandah, have not significantly 

compromised the capacity of the building to demonstrate the original design intent. The former hotel 

is also prominently located on the Bendigo-Pyramid Road, opposite the intersection with Quinn’s Road. 



N/A 




N/A 

3




N/A 



The former the Old House at Home Hotel is a single-storey brick hotel that is believed to have 1860s 

origins. The brickwork is stuccoed to the west (front), north and south elevations, with a recessed 

panel for signage in the parapet and a prominent surmounting pediment with acroteria. The north 

(side) wall has a stepped profile; the south (side) wall does not. The west elevation has a central door 

and flanking windows. The (non-original) southern window opening comprises three double-hung 

sashes; the northern window is a single double-hung sash with a projecting sill. Despite the 

modification to the southern window, the parapet, pediment and central door give the building a sense 

of symmetry. The verandah was previously supported on square concrete columns and pedestals 

(possibly timber), dating to the inter-war period. The present verandah, the top of whose square 

timber posts are visible above the tall fence, has been installed since 2008. 


The former Old House at Home Hotel is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The former Old House at Home Hotel (built from the 1860s), on the Bendigo-Pyramid Road opposite 

Quinn’s Road at Woodvale, is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. It is 

historically significant (Criterion A) through its association with the gold rushes that underpinned 

European settlement of the area from the 1850s, being established to service miners at the nearby 

Red Flag diggings. The former hotel is approximately 1km from the former Royal Hotel and is one of 

several hotels that once existed on the Bendigo-Pyramid Road. The location of the hotel also provides 

evidence of the historic centre of Woodvale; other buildings in the vicinity included the former Red 

Lion Hotel to the south and a butcher’s shop directly opposite (both demolished). The former Old 

House at Home Hotel was the last operational hotel in Woodvale, being delicensed in 1970. The 

majority of hotels in the area had been delicensed by 1930. Aesthetically and architecturally 

(Criterion E), the former hotel is significant as a compact and symmetrical brick building with a 

pronounced parapet and prominent triangular pediment, with a deep recessed frieze and pediment 

designed to carry signage. In these respects it is not typical of historic hotels, but relates more to 

single-storey parapet-fronted retail and commercial buildings in goldfields towns and elsewhere in 

Victoria, built from the 1860s into the early twentieth century. Modifications, including the 

replacement verandah, have not significantly compromised the capacity of the building to demonstrate 

the original design intent. The former hotel is also prominently located on the Bendigo-Pyramid Road, 

opposite the intersection with Quinn’s Road. 



The extent of the Overlay is illustrated in the above map, with the focus of significance on the original 

1860s hotel component. The stables of the former hotel may survive; if so they also form part of the 

significance of the property. Extensions to the rear, if confirmed to date from the 1970s, are not of 

significance. Desirably, the tall corrugated steel fence would be replaced with a lower fence, to 

enhance the presentation of the property to the Bendigo-Pyramid Road. 



4








Identified By 


References 


Ray Wallace, Shades of the Past: A History of Campbell’s Forest and Yarraberb, Back To Committee, 

1993. 



Specific: 

1 

Changed address from Pyramid-Bendigo Road, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. 


2 




3 


51. 

4 

‘Old House at Home Hotel’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study 

(Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998, source uncited. 

5 


2003, p. 399. 

6 


2003, p. 399. 

7 

Ray Wallace, Sydney Flat to Woodvale Green, Woodvale Progress Association, 1984, pp. 50 

51. 

5


Name Former Camp Hotel and Store Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 889 Eaglehawk-Neilborough 

Road, at intersection with Camp 

Road, Woodvale 1 

W06 

Map reference VicRoads 44 E/F4 




construction 



Significance The former Camp Hotel is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural 

significance and is recommended for inclusion in the Heritage Overlay. It is also 

recommended for nomination to the Victorian Heritage Register. 

Left: Former Camp Hotel and Store c. 1880s. The lady in black at centre may be Mrs Dolman 

(Source: North Goldfields Library, image no. 000287). Right: The former hotel and store, undated 

(Source: William Perry, Tales of the Whipstick, Eaglehawk, 1978). 

Left and right: East elevation of the former Camp Hotel and Store. 

Left: South elevation (view from Camp Road), note addition to the west. Right: Barns and 

outbuildings to the north of the hotel. 

1





History 

Hotels and shanties were a feature of the Bendigo goldfields from the earliest days of the gold rushes. 

Over time, at least 12 hotels 2 operated at Sydney Flat (Woodvale), 3 a far-flung settlement 

approximately 6km north of Eaglehawk. A hotel was established in this location, south of Flagstaff 

Hill, in 1857. Mary Deeming, an elderly Englishwoman with mining interests, was granted a license by 

the District Licensing Branch on 20 May. 4 The hotel was a slab hut and became the social centre for 

an estimated local population of 1,000 people. 5 On 7 February 1861, Deeming and five miners 

drinking at the hotel were reputedly attacked by a group of armed men, with Deeming robbed of her 

gold. The incident incited criticism of the local police and inspired local residents to hold a fundraising 

concert for Deeming. It also marked the end of Deeming’s time in the Whipstick. 6 In 1862, she sold 

the Camp Hotel to John Dolman, an Englishman then recently convicted of ‘sly grogging’, a crime for 

which he was fined the substantial sum of £50. 7 Dolman commissioned Irish architect Robert 

Alexander Love (1814-c.1876) to design the present Camp Hotel in the mid-1860s. 

Love, a Donegal-born architect and engineer, arrived in Australia, via America, in 1858. He designed 

a large number of buildings for a variety of private, commercial and ecclesiastical clients, the majority 

in and around Bendigo and Stawell. His Bendigo works include St Paul's Anglican Church, the View 

Street Temperance Hall lodge room, the Anne Caudle Centre building, St Jude's Church, the 

Benevolent Asylum and the Anchor Brewery. In Marong he designed State School No. 744 at North 

Lockwood; the Bible Christian Church, California Gully; and the Chapel of Ease, also at North 

Lockwood. 8 Love was one of the first architects known to have used cavity wall construction in 

Australia, 9 and has been credited with introducing the technique to the Bendigo and Stawell areas by 

at least 1868, the year the Camp Hotel was built. 10 The hotel was built of bricks manufactured at a 

nearby kiln and designed to be both hotel and store. 

Dolman died in 1878, and his widow carried on the business for a number of years, with the licence 

passing to a Mr Evans between 1895 and 1904. 11 The hotel was delicensed on 31 December 1910, 

and the former hotel and store is now a private residence. It is one of few surviving nineteenth 

century brick structures in the heart of the Whipstick and the only surviving former hotel on the 

Neilborough-to-Eaglehawk Road, and is a well known local landmark. 12 

The complex also included a vertical slab barn and stables (now altered), and a metal lined shed with 

Morewood and Rogers tiles, all of unknown date but possibly associated with the original 1857 hotel. 

The stables provide evidence of the importance of horses as a means of transport, which in turn led to 

a demand for hotels and stabling at frequent intervals on the road system. 

2







5.8: Working 



The former Camp Hotel and Store, built 1868, is a single-storey construction in exposed red brick, 

with a twin hipped roof form, located in an isolated woodland setting at the intersection of two 

unsealed roads, the Neilborough-Eaglehawk Road and Camp Road. Although sited at a corner, the 

building’s principal presentation is to the east (the Neilborough-Eaglehawk Road), with the Camp Road 

elevation being comparatively plain. There are a number of barns and outbuildings to the north of the 

hotel and a red brick toilet to the west (rear). The former hotel and store appears in excellent 

condition. Externally, it is also predominantly intact as built. 

The building has a double hipped roof clad with corrugated galvanised steel sheeting. There are four 

chimneys in exposed brick, including one with a double-width stack. The chimney cornices are in 

corbelled brick set on headers that act as cornice brackets. The walls have a sandstone base and 

there are granite thresholds and cement window sills. The east elevation comprises regular intervals 

of five courses of stretchers for each header course, decreasing to two courses between headers under 

the front eave. The side walls have a row of headers between every four courses of stretchers, except 

near the eave line where the interval increases to one header row in every five stretcher courses. 

The east elevation has seven irregularly-spaced openings, three doors and four windows, all with 

cambered brick soffits. Two of the doors are standard width with fanlights; the third has a fanlight 

and coupled sidelights. The number of doors reflects the original uses of the building, incorporating 

the hotel, store and also presumably a residence. 

The lantern adjacent to the second doorway of the façade matches the one which is evident in the 

1880s image. It is not known if this is original or a reproduction, but if the former, it is a rare 

nineteenth century hotel signifier. The windows are double-hung sashes with two panes per sash. 

There is no verandah and there are no indications of anchorage points for a verandah frame, where it 

was customary to have the verandah roof springing from just below the eave line. There is also no 

verandah shown in the 1880s image. There is, however, a sealed surface area of ground in front of 

the façade, to about verandah depth. 

A recent timber-framed gabled structure has been added at the rear (west), clad in corrugated 

galvanised steel. The outhouse at the west of the allotment has an asbestos-cement roof and is also a 

later addition. To the north the former vertical slab barn and stables (now altered with corrugated 

external cladding) 13 , and a metal lined shed with Morewood and Rogers roof tiles. It is possible that 

these tiles were recycled from the original slab hut Camp Hotel (built 1857). An internal inspection in 

1998 noted that there is a cellar below the building, and the original configuration of rooms survives, 

including the store, bar and dining room. 14 


The 1868 former Camp Hotel and Store corresponds with a number of historic hotels in the Bendigo 

goldfields region, with regard to its height-to-width proportions, single-storey form, rectilinear plan, 

sequence of multiple doors interspersed with sash windows, brick corbelled chimney cornices and 

simple block sills. The most direct comparisons are with the former Weighbridge Hotel at 12 

Lockwood Road, Kangaroo Flat; and the former Liverpool Arms at 182 High Street, also at Kangaroo 

Flat, both of which were built before 1884; and the nearby former Royal hotel (built c. 1912), on the 

Loddon Valley Highway. The only other hotel known to have been designed by Robert Love in the 

Bendigo area is the former Foundry Arms at Golden Square, which is comparatively ornate with an 

elaborate castellated parapet and verandah with cast iron lacework. In this comparable context, the 

former Camp Hotel and Store at Woodvale is remarkably externally intact. 

3





The former Camp Hotel and Store, built 1868, at the intersection of the Neilborough-Eaglehawk Road 

and Camp Road, Woodvale, is of historical significance. The hotel and store, which retains a high level 

of intactness, was built to serve the substantial mining population present at Sydney Flat from the 

early gold rushes. The existing brick structure replaced an earlier (1857) slab hut construction. The 

survival of this building in its isolated setting at the intersection of two unsealed roads in the heart of 

the Whipstick forest is also evocative of the goldfields conditions. It is additionally one of very few 

surviving nineteenth century brick buildings in the Whipstick, the only surviving former hotel on the 

Neilborough-to-Eaglehawk Road, and a well known local landmark. The survival of outbuildings, one 

of which may be a stable, provides evidence of the importance of horses as a means of transport, 

which in turn led to a demand for hotels and stabling at frequent intervals on the road system. It is 

also possible that the outbuildings and the Morewood and Rogers tiles to the metal lined shed date to 

the earlier 1850s Camp Hotel, built under the ownership of the original proprietor, Mary Deeming. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

The former Camp Hotel and Store retains some of the principal characteristics of historic single-storey 

hotels in the area. These include its height-to-width proportions, single-storey form, rectilinear plan, 

sequence of multiple doors interspersed with sash windows, brick corbelled chimney cornices and 

simple block sills. 


municipality. 

The former Camp Hotel and Store is of aesthetic/architectural significance as a highly intact and 

substantial 1860s brick hotel, which retains its original 1860s presentation to the Neilborough- 

Eaglehawk Road, and its setting within the Whipstick. The single-storey red brick construction 

demonstrates key characteristics of gold rush era hotels in the Bendigo region, including the heightto-width 

proportions, single-storey form, rectilinear plan, sequence of multiple doors interspersed with 

sash windows, brick corbelled chimney cornices and simple block sills. The number of doors reflects 

the original uses of the building, incorporating the hotel, store and also presumably residence. The 

hotel’s picturesque setting in isolated country at the intersection of two unsealed roads enhances its 

aesthetic qualities. 



N/A 




4


N/A 



The former Camp Hotel and Store is additionally of significance for having been designed by Irish 

architect Robert Alexander Love (1814-c.1876). Love was a prolific designer in the Bendigo and 

Stawell regions during the 1860s, and was responsible for a number of churches, halls, the Bendigo 

Benevolent Asylum and the Anchor Brewery. He was also one of the first architects to use cavity wall 

construction in Australia but not necessarily in relation to the subject building. 



The former Camp Hotel and Store, built 1868 is located in an isolated woodland setting at the 

intersection of the unsealed Neilborough-Eaglehawk Road and Camp Road, Woodvale. It is a singlestorey 

building constructed in exposed red brick, with a twin hipped roof form and four brick 

chimneys. The walls have a sandstone base, with granite thresholds and cement window sills. The 

east elevation has seven irregularly-spaced openings, three doors and four windows, all with 

cambered brick soffits. Two of the doors are standard width with fanlights; the third has a fanlight 

and coupled sidelights. The number of doors reflects the original uses of the building, incorporating 

the hotel, store and also presumably a residence. The windows are double-hung sashes with two 

panes per sash. There are a number of barns and outbuildings to the north of the hotel and a red 

brick toilet to the west (rear). The former hotel and store appears in excellent condition. Externally, 

it is also predominantly intact as built. 


The former Camp Hotel and Store is of historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. Its 

association with a prominent local designer is also significant. 15 The property is of at least local 

significance and may be of significance in the State-wide context. 


It is historically significant (Criterion A) as a hotel and store built to serve the substantial mining 

population present at Sydney Flat from the early gold rushes. The existing brick structure replaced an 

earlier (1857) slab hut construction. The survival of this building, which has a high level of intactness, 

in its isolated setting at the intersection of two unsealed roads in the heart of the Whipstick forest is 

evocative of the goldfields conditions. It is also one of very few surviving nineteenth century brick 

buildings in the Whipstick, the only surviving former hotel on the Neilborough-to-Eaglehawk Road, and 

a well known local landmark. The survival of outbuildings, one of which may be a stable, provides 

evidence of the importance of horses as a means of transport, which in turn led to a demand for 

hotels and stabling at frequent intervals on the road system. It is also possible that the outbuildings 

and the Morewood and Rogers tiles to the metal lined shed date to the earlier 1850s Camp Hotel, built 

under the ownership of the original proprietor, Mary Deeming. 

The former Camp Hotel and Store is also of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E) as a 

highly intact and substantial 1860s brick hotel, which retains its original 1860s presentation to the 

Neilborough-Eaglehawk Road, and its setting within the Whipstick. The single-storey red brick 

construction demonstrates key characteristics (Criterion D) of gold rush era hotels in the Bendigo 

region, including the height-to-width proportions, single-storey form, rectilinear plan, sequence of 

multiple doors interspersed with sash windows, brick corbelled chimney cornices and simple block sills. 

The number of doors reflects the original uses of the building, incorporating the hotel, store and also 

presumably residence. The hotel’s picturesque setting in isolated country enhances its aesthetic 

qualities. The association (Criterion H) with Irish architect Robert A Love is also significant. Love was 

a prolific designer in the Bendigo and Stawell regions during the 1860s, and was responsible for a 

number of churches, halls, the Bendigo Benevolent Asylum and the Anchor Brewery. He was also one 

of the first architects to use cavity wall construction in Australia, but not necessarily in relation to the 

subject building. Modifications and additions to the Camp Hotel have generally been located to rear, 

5


with minimal impacts on the principal façade and its historic presentation. The lantern to the east 

elevation, which may be original, is a signifier of nineteenth century hotel buildings. 



The extent of the Overlay is indicated in the above map, with the focus of significance on the original 

1860s building, its setting and presentation to the Eaglehawk-Neilborough Road, the historic 

outbuildings/stables to the north, being the vertical slab barn and stables, and metal lined shed with 

Morewood and Rogers roof tiles. 

It is possible that the former Camp Hotel and Store is also of technological significance as an early 

example in Australia of cavity wall construction. The architect Robert A Love is credited with 

introducing the technique to the Bendigo area by 1868, the year that the Camp Hotel was built. 

Further research and more detailed investigation of the building would be required to confirm this. 

Given the potential State-level significance, consideration could be given to nominating the property to 

the Victorian Heritage Register. 









Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 

Changed address from Neilborough-Eaglehawk Road, Heritage Policy Citations 

Review, 2011. November 2011. 

2 


51. 

3 




4 

Ray Wallace, Sydney Flat to Woodvale Green, Woodvale Progress Association, 1984, p. 53; 

see also Ken Arnold, Bendigo its Environs, The Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castleton 

Publishers, 2003, p. 400. 

5 

Mike Butcher and Gill Flanders, Bendigo Historic Buildings, National Trust, Bendigo, 1987, p. 

130. 

6


6 


54. 

7 


8 

A list of projects attributed to Love is at, http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/32925867 

9 

Cavity wall construction was developed in Britain from the 1820s, gaining widespread use from 

the 1850s. The technique provided insulation and additional rigidity to buildings. 

10 

Miles Lewis, ‘R A Love and the Bendigo connection,’ Section 6.03 of Australian Building: A 

Cultural Investigation, viewed online at mileslewis.net, accessed 27 August 2010. 

11 


2003, p. 400. 

12 

The majority of local histories refer to the Camp Hotel. See for instance, Ken Arnold, Bendigo 

its Environs, The Way it Was, Volume 1, Crown Castleton Publishers, 2003, p. 400, which 

describes the Camp hotel as the ‘best known’ in Woodvale. 

13 

Changed noted by owner, David Vaughan. Damage during storms in January 2011 

led to a need to stabalise the structure. Many posts were beyond repair. Steel posts 

were used to replace timber ones and recycling the materials that could be used, 

timber slabs replaced with corrugated iron. From email correspondence 20 

September 2011. 

14 

‘House Dunedin’ citation (Camp Hotel), Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage 


15 

Changed from Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 2011. 

7


Name Kelly Cottage 1 Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

Address 117 Caldow Road, Woodvale Map reference VicRoads 44 E4 

W08 



construction 

c. 1892 2 Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance The former Kelly Cottage is of local historical, aesthetic/architectural and 


Left: Kelly cottage, front (west) elevation, with gable roofed outbuilding at right (south). 

Left: West and south elevation of the cottage, note ruins of former kitchen at rear. Right: The 

outbuilding as viewed from Caldow Road. Note poor condition of the roof and render. 


with the subject site shown as W08. 3 

1



History 4 

Kelly Family, 1904. Left to right: Susan 

(Tot), George, Sarah (Mother), Kathleen 

(Kit), Daniel (Jr.), Joe, Daniel (Father), 

Grace, Eliza. Photo supplied by Betty 

Dean, granddaughter of Daniel and 

Sarah Kelly. 

Daniel Kelly first appears in the Shire of Marong rate books in 1902 5 , but the cottage was built some 

time before 1892 when his daughter was born there. 6 Daniel Kelly, from Tipperary, Ireland, was a 

miner who worked in local mines and the house was originally built on a miners right, which was later 

converted to freehold title in 1989 7 . Daniel’s wife, Sarah (nee Gibbs), who was from Tasmania, was a 

midwife who travelled around the area on a horse and buggy delivering local babies. Together they 

raised 7 children in the house, and like their father, all the males worked in the local gold mines. 

Daniel died in 1904 from ‘miners complaint’ 8 and his widow, Sarah, carried on until 1940. In 1947, 

Cecil and Beatrice Ellwood purchased the property. 9 

The cottage was described in the 1911 rate book as a ‘German brick dwelling’ with a net asset value of 

£8 10 and was the second house at this location. The first house was constructed across the road from 

the existing cottage and is believe to have been burnt down by Daniel’s father as part of a long 

standing family feud. 11 The Kelly’s were Catholics and Sarah was from a Protestant family. The term 

‘German’ is reference to the mud brick construction technique (see ‘Comparative Analysis’ below). The 

buildings’ also demonstrate the use of vernacular building techniques and traditions for rural families 

of limited means, into the twentieth century. 

Kelly Cottage consists of two rooms made of mudbrick, with a corrugated iron hipped roof, timber 

floor, and no verandah. A basic rear extension was built some time after construction and included a 

kitchen, bathroom, additional bedroom, rear verandah and brick Dutch oven furnace, which seems to 

have been used only very early on as the Kelly grandchildren have no memory of it being used. This 

extension was separated from the front two rooms by a north/south passage and had a dirt floor and 

no ceiling. The extension has been demolished by pervious owners, with the only remnants being a 

kitchen fireplace, and the Dutch oven. The existing outbuilding is believed to be a much later addition, 

largely built from materials salvaged from the demolition of the rear extension. A front verandah was 

constructed at one point after the Kelly sold the property and has also been demolished. 12 

Notably, the land around the house was not used for any agricultural or farming activity after the 

1890s, apart from small scale domestic activity. 





The Kelly cottage14 property on Caldow Road comprises two mud brick buildings, the main cottage 

addressing but setback from Caldow Road and a smaller outbuilding at the rear. The Kelly property is 

a landholding to the east of Woodvale’s historic town centre. The two buildings are located in the 

south-west corner of the landholding. 

The main house is a symmetrical, single-storey mud brick cottage with a hipped roof. The front 

2


(west) elevation has a central door, off-centre, flanked by timber-framed windows. There is also a 

small window to the centre of the south elevation. The hipped roof is clad in corrugated steel, 

painted. The guttering and downpipes appear to be recent. An external chimney breast, rendered, is 

to the north wall. The base, which is presumed to be mud brick, is topped with red brick. A 

verandah, partially collapsed in 1998, has been removed. 13 ‘S’ braces at the corners and through the 

centre of the building provide additional support. 

There are the remains of a brick hearth/fire place at the rear, presumed to be the former kitchen. The 

smaller gable–ended outbuilding, at the rear of the site, is also built of mud brick and is believed to be 

a later addition, built largely out of materials salvaged from demolition of the kitchen extension. 14 The 

walls are rendered, decaying in some areas to expose the bricks and re-reused bricks appear to have 

been pointed with cement mortar, now deteriorating. 15 The outbuilding has a shallow gable roof, clad 

in corrugated sheet metal in poor condition. There is a brick chimney. The entrance is positioned 

asymmetrically to the north wall. There is a louvre window on the south elevation. 16 The building was 

poorly constructed, with undersized structural timber in the roof and lintel above the 

window, and ungalvanised or poorly galvanised roof sheeting with has corroded badly. 17 

The mud bricks walls of the main house appear to be in generally sound condition. There is some 

evidence of damp at the north of the cottage. The roof fabric, walls and render to the outbuilding 

are in a decayed condition. 


Despite widespread application from at least the 1820s, adobe (mud brick) construction is one of 

Australia’s least clearly documented vernacular building materials. 18 The oldest surviving example in 

Australia may be a schoolhouse of sun-dried bricks with stone quoins at Wilberforce in New South 

Wales, which is estimated to have been built in 1819-20. 19 Other early examples dating to the 1820s 

and 30s have not been corroborated as mud brick buildings and for this reason Professor Miles Lewis, 

Professor in the Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning at the University of Melbourne, suggests 

that, ‘… we cannot be sure that any mud brick was used in Australia before the gold rushes, and we 

therefore do not know whether it reached us only through the influence of California’. 20 In a 

discussion of Victorian examples, Lewis identifies examples built in the 1860s in Eltham, near 

Hamilton, and at Werribee, a ruin c. 1870 at Badaginnie near Violet Town and another deteriorated 

example on the Sandy Creek Road near Maldon. He also notes that, ‘mud brick buildings are fairly 

common in the Bendigo area of Victoria’. 21 In the Bendigo area and parts of South Australia and New 

South Wales, adobe constructions were often referred to as ‘German’ houses. German settlers in 

South Australia are known to have used adobes from the 1830s. 22 The term ‘German brick’ was also 

used in Cornish settlements in South Australia, to describe a brick of wet earth, limestone and straw in 

moulds of approximately 230mm x 380mm. The connection between the Cornish miners of South 

Australia and the Bendigo goldfields is well documented and may explain the introduction of mud brick 

building techniques to the area. 

Professor Lewis notes that relatively few mud brick buildings were constructed in Australia following 

World War I, suggesting that the high tide of this vernacular building technique occurred around the 

1890s. In the 1911 census, 6,333 sun-dried brick buildings were identified in Australia, accounting for 

0.69% of the total building stock, an apparently small figure but greater than the number built of 

bark, wattle and daub or other vernacular building techniques. 23 

Aside from the two examples at the former Kelly property on Caldow Road, local examples of mud 

brick constructions include two small buildings (1890s and early 1900s) at the nearby Flett farmstead, 

off Daly Road, which demonstrate two different construction techniques. There is also a substantial 

former dairy (c. 1880s) at the former Monmore dairy site, at Bayliss road, 24 and the former Engi 

farmhouse at Sebastian (1896). Other examples survive at abandoned properties at the corner of 

Fitzpatrick’s Road and Three Chain Road south of Sebastian and on the Neilborough East Road, 

between Neilborough and Summerfield (Neilborough North). The provenance and history of these 

latter two examples is not known, and it is possible that comparable examples of mud brick buildings 

survive elsewhere in the district. Further research and investigation would be required to establish 

this. 

3


With regard to extant examples of mud brick buildings in the Woodvale vicinity, the former Kelly 

cottage is comparable in scale, form and date of construction to the Engi farmhouse, near Sebastian. 

The former Bayliss dairy is also comparable in terms of scale, although this is earlier (c. 1880s). The 

Kelly cottage compares to the Flett farmstead in terms of there being two mud brick buildings at a 

single site. 




The former Kelly cottage, at 117 Caldow Road, Woodvale, is of historical significance. Daniel Kelly 

built the cottage prior to 1892. The property provides evidence of local development in the earliest 

years of the twentieth century, where miners and other settlers 25 of limited means continued to build 

low cost dwellings using vernacular construction methods and locally available materials. Mud brick 

dwellings of this type were often referred to as ‘German’ houses in the Bendigo area, where they were 

common; the description may owe its origins to the German settlers of South Australia who used 

adobe construction from the 1830s. It is also possible that mud brick building techniques were 

introduced to the Victorian goldfields via the diggers from California. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The 1892 mud brick buildings at the former Kelly cottage, including the main cottage and, to a lesser 

extent 26 , the smaller outbuilding to the rear, are of aesthetic/architectural significance. The two 

buildings, with their simple building forms including the symmetrical main house, are substantially 

externally intact, save for the removal of the rear kitchen extension 27 . The buildings also still present 

as mud brick (adobe) structures. There is additionally some aesthetic value in the informal treed 

setting, including the adjacent remains of a brick hearth/fire place at the rear, presumed to be the 

former kitchen. 

N/A 



The two mud brick buildings at the former Kelly cottage are of technological significance. They are 

substantially unaltered examples of vernacular mud brick buildings of the early twentieth century, 

providing evidence of the ongoing use of this construction technique decades after it was first used for 

buildings in the Bendigo goldfields region. 




4


N/A 



N/A 



The Kelly cottage property on Caldow Road comprises two mud brick buildings, the main cottage 

addressing but setback from Caldow Road and a smaller outbuilding at the rear. The Kelly property is 

a landholding to the east of Woodvale’s historic town centre. The two buildings are located in the 

south-west corner of the landholding. 

The main house is a symmetrical, single-storey mud brick cottage with a hipped roof. The front 

(west) elevation has a central door, off-centre, flanked by timber-framed windows. There is also a 

small window to the centre of the south elevation. The hipped roof is clad in corrugated steel, 

painted. The guttering and downpipes appear to be recent. An external chimney breast, rendered, is 

to the north wall. The base, which is presumed to be mud brick, is topped with red brick. A 

verandah, partially collapsed in 1998, has been removed. ‘S’ braces at the corners and through the 

centre of the building provide additional support. 

There are the remains of a brick hearth/fire place at the rear, presumed to be the former kitchen. The 

smaller gable–ended outbuilding, at the rear of the site, is also built of mud brick and is believed to be 

a later addition, built largely out of materials salvaged from demolition of the kitchen extension. The 

walls are rendered, decaying in some areas to expose the bricks and re-reused bricks appear to have 

been pointed with cement mortar, now deteriorating. The outbuilding has a shallow gable roof, clad in 

corrugated sheet metal in poor condition. There is a brick chimney. The entrance is positioned 

asymmetrically to the north wall. There is a louvre window on the south elevation. The building was 

poorly constructed, with undersized structural timber in the roof and lintel above the 

window, and ungalvanised or poorly galvanised roof sheeting with has corroded badly. 


The former Kelly cottage is of local historical, aesthetic/architectural and technological significance. 


The mud brick Kelly cottage, believed to have been built by miner 28 Daniel Kelly in c.1892, and, to a 

lesser extent, the later mud brick outbuilding are historically significant (Criterion A). The former Kelly 

cottage, at 117 Caldow Road, Woodvale, is of historical significance. Daniel Kelly is believed to have 

built the first part of this property in 1892. The property provides evidence of local development in the 

late nineteenth and early twentieth century, where miners and other settlers of limited means 

continued to build low cost dwellings using vernacular construction methods and locally available 

materials. Mud brick dwellings of this type were often referred to as ‘German’ houses in the Bendigo 

area, where they were common; the description may owe its origins to the German settlers of South 

Australia who used adobe construction from the 1830s. It is also possible that mud brick building 

techniques were introduced to the Victorian goldfields via the diggers from California. The mud brick 

buildings, including the c 1892 main cottage and later, smaller outbuilding to the rear, are also of 

aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E). The two buildings, with their simple building forms 

including the symmetrical main house, are substantially externally intact, save for the removal of the 

rear kitchen extension 29 . The buildings also still present as mud brick (adobe) structures. There is 

additionally some aesthetic value in the informal treed setting, including the adjacent remains of a 

brick hearth/fire place at the rear, presumed to be the former kitchen. Technologically (Criterion F), 

the mud brick buildings are substantially unaltered examples of vernacular mud brick buildings of the 

early twentieth century, providing evidence of the ongoing use of this construction technique decades 

after it was first used for buildings in the Bendigo goldfields region. 

5




The area of the Overlay is illustrated in the above map, although the focus of significance is on the 

two -roomed mud brick cottage, and the mud brick outbuilding to a lesser extent, their treed setting 

including the adjacent remains of a brick hearth/fire place and the setback to Caldow Road, and the 

visual relationship between the two elements. 

The mud brick should remain unpainted. Works are required to the roof and render to the outbuilding 

to protect it from the elements. 









Identified By 


References 




Specific: 

1 

All ‘Farm House’ changed to ‘Cottage’, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. 


2 

Changed from ‘1902’. Source: Brendan Bartlett, owner, from conversation with 

grandchild of original owner, Betty Dean, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. 


3 


4 

Much of this section has been changed from the original Heritage Policy Citations Review, 

2011, based on research and communication conducted by owner, 

Brendan Bartlett. See following footnotes for references. November 2011. 

5 

Shire of Marong rate books, 1901, 1902, cited in ‘Kelly farm house’ citation, Andrew Ward et 

al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. 

6 

Much of this paragraph was taken from personal communication between Brendan 

Bartlett, Betty Dean, and Stan Vains (grandchildren of Daniel Kelly) 12 December 

2010, 27 March 2011. 

7 

Title records for Volume 9867 folio 609 (freehold title) and Volume 1211 Folio 936 

(previous Crown Land Lease-Miners Right). 

8 

As per death certificate, research by Brendan Bartlett, owner. 

9 

Personal communication with Wilson Ellwood, child of Cecil and Beatrice, per 

Brendan Bartlett, owner 13 September 2011. 

Shire of Marong rate books, 1911, cited in ‘Kelly farm house’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City 

of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, Stage 2, 1998. 

11 

Personal communication between Brendan Bartlett, Betty Dean, and Stan Vains 

6


(grandchildren of Daniel Kelly) 12 December 2010, 27 March 2011. 

12 

Much of this paragraph was taken from personal communication between Brendan 

Bartlett, Betty Dean, and Stan Vains (grandchildren of Daniel Kelly) 12 December 

2010, 27 March 2011. 

‘Kelly farm house’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study 


14 

Personal communication between Brendan Bartlett, Betty Dean, and Stan Vains 

(grandchildren of Daniel Kelly) 12 December 2010, 27 March 2011. 

15 

Brendan Bartlett, owner. November 2011. 

16 

Changed from ‘There are no windows’, Heritage Policy Citations Review,2011. 

Source: Brendan Bartlett, owner. November 2011. 

17 

Brendan Bartlett, owner. November 2011. 

18 



19 



20 



21 



22 



23 



24 

Access to the Monmore site, on Bayliss Road, was not possible, however the dairy. However, 

a substantial structure mud brick dairy, with walls c.60cm thick, is believed to be extant. 

25 

Changed from ‘farmers’, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011.November 2011. 

26 

Included in citation given new information provided by Brendan Bartlett, November 

2011. 

27 

Changed from ‘verandah’, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011.November 2011. 

28 

Changed from ‘farmer’, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011.November 2011. 

29 

Changed from ‘verandah’, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011.November 2011. 

7


Name Roy Roger's Tree (Eucalyptus 

tricarpa) 

Address Eaglehawk-Neilborough Road, 

near Notley’s picnic ground, the 

Whipstick 


Marong Study 

WH1 


Building type N/A Survey date June 2010 


construction 

N/A Recommendation Include in the Schedule 


Significance ‘Roy Roger’s Tree’ is of local historical significance. 

Left: Roy Roger’s Tree, viewed from the north (Source: Deon Marks, Parks Victoria). Right: Proposed 

Heritage Overlay map with the tree indicated (WH1). 


History 

In the 1950s, many parts of the Bendigo Whipstick were logged as 'firewood blocks'. 1 One such area 

was just west of Notley's eucalyptus distillery, which is today a popular picnic reserve. As the 

designated area was being logged, the then local Forest Officer of the former Forests Commission of 

Victoria, Roy Rogers, determined that a good remnant specimen tree of the Red Ironbark (Eucalyptus 

tricarpa) forest should be preserved and saved from logging. 2 That tree stands on the side the 

Neilborough-Eaglehawk Road today, and is a prominent landscape feature as viewed from the north 

and south. The specimen is known locally known as 'Roy Roger's Tree'. 




1



‘Roy Roger's Tree’ is the largest mature specimen of Red Ironbark (Eucalyptus tricarpa) located on the 

Neilborough-Eaglehawk Road and reputedly one of the oldest surviving specimens in the Whipstick. It 

is a remnant of the indigenous Ironbark forest vegetation of the Whipstick and goldfields areas, which 

was historically heavily forested and is clearly distinguished from the surrounding Mallee scrubland, 

and some secondary Ironbark growth, by its height of approximately 21m and even canopy spread of 

approximately 15m. Its diameter at breast-height measurement is approximately 1m. ‘Roy Roger's 

Tree’ appears to be in good condition, with no obvious signs of distress. The tree is located within the 

Whipstick State Park, which forms part of the Greater Bendigo National Park. 


N/A 





‘Roy Roger’s Tree’ on the Neilborough-Eaglehawk Road in the Whipstick is of historical significance as 

a substantial and mature specimen of Red Ironbark (Eucalyptus tricarpa), and a remnant of the 

indigenous Ironbark forest vegetation of the Whipstick and goldfields areas. It is significant for being 

deliberately selected and retained by Forests Officer, Roy Rogers during the 1950s, as a memento of 

the indigenous forest flora a time when many parts of the Bendigo Whipstick were being heavily 

logged. Today, conspicuous by its height, ‘Roy Roger’s Tree’ is a well known local landmark. 



N/A 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

N/A 



N/A 




N/A 

2




N/A 



‘Roy Roger’s Tree’ is a mature specimen of Red Ironbark (Eucalyptus tricarpa), and a conspicuous 

remnant of the indigenous forest vegetation of the Whipstick and goldfields areas. It is located within 

the Whipstick State Park, which forms part of the Greater Bendigo National Park. 


‘Roy Roger’s Tree’ is of local historical significance. 


‘Roy Roger’s Tree’ on the Neilborough-Eaglehawk Road in the Whipstick is of local historical 

significance (Criterion A) as a substantial and mature specimen of Red Ironbark (Eucalyptus tricarpa) 

and remnant of the indigenous Ironbark forest vegetation of the Whipstick and goldfields areas. It is 

significant for being deliberately selected and retained by Forests Officer, Roy Rogers during the 

1950s, as a memento of the indigenous forest flora a time when many parts of the Bendigo Whipstick 

were being heavily logged. Today, conspicuous by its height, ‘Roy Roger’s Tree’ is a well known local 

landmark. 


‘Roy Roger’s Tree’ is recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Greater Bendigo Heritage 

Overlay. 









Identified By 

Andrew Ward 

References 


Leon Costermans, Trees of Victoria and Adjoining Areas, Costermans Publishing, Frankston, 1994, p. 

115. 

Specific: 

1 Pers comm, William Perry, author, and Ray Wallace, local historian, 1986, cited in ‘Ropy 

Roger’s Tree’ citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) 


3


2 Pers comm, Roy Rogers, and Ray Wallace, local historian, 1970, , cited in ‘Ropy Roger’s Tree’ 

citation, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo Heritage Study (Marong) Study Area, 

Stage 2, 1998. 

4


Name Farm complex Reference in 1998 

Marong Study 

WL01 

Address 550 McKenzie Road, Shelbourne 1 Map reference VicRoads 44 C6 

Building type Private residence/farm Survey date July 2010 (external 



construction 

Barn/store, after 1857; villa, c. 

1870s 



Significance The farm complex is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 

Left: Front (south) elevation of the red brick villa. Right: Rear elevation. 

Left: Barn/store to the north of the house. Right: Mature trees to the front garden. 


with the subject site shown as WL01. 


1


History 

Woodstock on Loddon, south-east of Marong, was a horse changing point on the Bendigo-Tarnagulla 

mail run. Land was subdivided here from the late 1860s, with a school being established by 1865. 2 

The district was primarily agricultural and pastoral. 3 Michael Bourke of County Galway was an early 

farmer and businessman in the area, arriving in 1857. He was involved in the hotel industry, butter 

and cheese manufacture, bacon curing, viticulture and dairying, regularly advertising produce from his 

cheese factory in the Bendigo Advertiser during the 1880s, prior to its sale to Cocks and Co. 4 Bourke 

lived on a 1.2ha (3 acre) allotment of his larger 650ha (1,600 acre) property. A red brick villa and 

bluestone barn/store are surviving elements of what is believed to have been a much larger farm 

complex. It is assumed that the barn/store was used for the preparation and storage of his produce. 

Michael Bourke was elected to Council for the Shire of Marong in 1877, serving as president in 1884. 5 




4.4: Farming 


5.8: Working 



The mid Victorian farm complex at 550 McKenzie Road, Marong includes a single-storey red brick villa, 

a two-storey bluestone store/barn and mature trees in a landscaped garden to the south. The 

property is located approximately 5km south-east of Marong, near the border of Loddon Shire. The 

site slopes from the north towards McKenzie Road at the south. The buildings were not inspected 

internally; references to internal elements in the following derive from the 1998 survey. 6 

House and landscape 

The brick dwelling is square in plan and built on bluestone base walls. The south elevation (principal 

façade) is symmetrical, with a central door flanked by a window to each side. The windows are 

double-hung sashes, with a single pane to each sash, and projecting sandstone sills. There is a 

timber-post verandah, with concave roof, timber frieze rail and grapevine lacework. The verandah is 

accessed by a flight of three steps. The steeply pitched hipped roof of the main house is almost 

pyramidal; there are brick chimneys with corbels to the east and west sides of the roof ridgeline. The 

house has not been dated through documentary evidence, but in composition and details is estimated 

to date to the 1870s (see also ‘Comparative Analysis’). As such, it is assumed to be a replacement of 

an earlier residence on the property. There are two brick skillion-roofed secondary wings directly to 

the rear of the main house, each with a tall brick chimney; these are early if not original elements 

which are flanked to the east and west by later brick additions with skillion roofs. A verandah of 

recent origin extends across the rear of the property and wraps around to the east and west 

elevations of the main house. All the roof areas of the property are clad with corrugated galvanised 

sheet steel (green), which appears recent and in good condition. There is a cellar and a well (covered 

over) at the rear. The front driveway is landscaped with mature Monkey Puzzle trees and Moreton 

Bay figs, which are of long-standing and assumed to have been planted by Michael Bourke. 

Barn/store 

To the rear of the house is a substantial gable-roofed two-storey bluestone barn with tooled joints to 

the front (south) only, and double sliding timber doors, diagonally lined. The barn is undated, but 

may be a remnant of Bourke’s early occupation of the site from the late-1850s. The east and west 

walls are battered, for stability. The loft is accessed by an external timber staircase and entered by a 

timber door surmounted by a long timber lintel. There is an oculi surrounded by rubbed white bricks 

in the centre of the south facing gable. Ventilation at the lower levels is by narrow slits. The roof is 

clad with corrugated galvanised sheet steel. Inside, the main beams are adzed (i.e they show 

evidence of having been cut with a steel cutting blade, or adze) attached at right angles to a wooden 

handle, used for dressing timberand span approximately six metres. There is a well at the rear and 

associated timber-framed outbuildings. The barn appears to be in generally sound condition, albeit 

with some evidence of structural movement. 

2


Other elements 

Attached to both the east and west elevations of the barn are later corrugated galvanised steel clad 

additions, with skillion roofs and large timber barn-style doors. To either side of these again, flanking 

the barn but projecting further forward (as ‘wings’), are two gable-ended steel clad sheds, on 

rectilinear footprints. These components, with the barn at the centre, form a complementary group of 

working/storage buildings. Neither the additions to the barn, or the flanking sheds, have been 

investigated in detail but may be of long standing. 

An additional ruin, referred to in the 1998 survey, was not found during the site visit. This brick 

structure, measuring approximately 15m x 4m on plan was set into a nearby hill and partially 

submerged. 


As a farm complex with a farmhouse and associated outbuildings related to food production, the 

property at 550 McKenzie Road compares with the former Monmore Vineyard and Butter Factory at 

Woodvale (not inspected for this survey). The Monmore complex is later than the Bourke property, 

dating to the 1880s. Seen in isolation the house compares with Woodville at 2 Olympic Parade, 

Kangaroo Flat (KF22, built 1872) and 24 Chapel Street, Kangaroo Flat (KF20, built 1872), being a 

symmetrical, unpretentious, red brick property with a steeply pitched hipped roof and concave 

verandah – Woodville’s vernandah has been modified. The barn or store is unusual in the district, 

with regard to its battered walls, presumed to be for stability, and in having two storeys, there being 

relatively few two-storey buildings of any description in the area. 




The mid Victorian farm complex at 550 McKenzie Road, Marong is of historical significance for its 

associations with early settlement at Woodstock on Loddon and for its capacity to demonstrate 

aspects of the agricultural and pastoral practices of Michael Bourke, a local politician and major dairy, 

meats and wine producer in the Bendigo hinterland from the late-1850s. The significance is enhanced 

by the survival of the unusual bluestone barn/store, believed to date to the late-1850s. The 

combination of house, barn and mature trees, all dating from the Bourke period of ownership and 

operation, is additionally of note. 



The barn or store at the farm complex is unusual in the district, with regard to its battered walls, 

presumed to be for stability, and in having two storeys, there being relatively few two-storey buildings 

of any description in the area. 



N/A 


objects. 

N/A 


municipality. 

The farm complex at 550 McKenzie Road is of aesthetic/architectural significance. The red brick house 

is a largely intact example of a simply detailed mid Victorian villa, with a steeply pitched hipped roof, 

3


symmetrical façade, timber-post verandah with concave roof, and grape motifs to the cast iron 

verandah lacework which refer to the viticultural activities of the historic property. The c. 1850s 

gabled bluestone barn is a comparatively rare example of this type of structure in the area with its 

battered walls and two storey massing. The building is enhanced by its stone construction, double 

sliding timber doors, oculi in the centre of the south facing gable, and loft with external access. The 

mature trees in the landscaped garden setting, including Monkey Puzzle trees and Moreton Bay figs, 

further enhance the aesthetic significance. 



N/A 




N/A 



N/A 



The mid-Victorian farm complex at 550 McKenzie Road, Marong includes a single-storey red brick villa, 

a two-storey bluestone store/barn and mature trees in a landscaped garden to the south. The brick 

dwelling (c. 1870s) is square in plan and built on bluestone base walls. The south elevation (principal 

façade) is symmetrical, with a central door flanked by a window to each side. The windows are 

double-hung sashes, and there is a timber-post verandah, with concave roof, timber frieze rail and 

grapevine lacework. To the rear of the house is a substantial gable-roofed two-storey bluestone barn 

(c. 1850s) whose east and west walls are battered. The loft is accessed by an external timber 

staircase and entered by a timber door surmounted by a long timber lintel. Additional elements at the 

site include single-storey skillion-roofed additions to the east and west of the barn, and two gableended 

steel clad sheds, which form a complementary group of working/storage buildings. The mature 

trees in the landscaped garden at the south of the property include Monkey Puzzle trees and Moreton 

Bay figs. 


The farm complex is of local historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. 


The farm complex at 550 McKenzie Road, approximately 5km south-east of Marong, is of local 

historical and aesthetic/architectural significance. The property is of historical significance (Criterion 

A) for its associations with early settlement at Woodstock on Loddon, and for its capacity to 

demonstrate aspects of the agricultural and pastoral practices of Michael Bourke, a local politician and 

major dairy, meats and wine producer in the Bendigo hinterland from the late-1850s. The significance 

is enhanced by the survival of the unusual bluestone barn/store, believed to date to the late-1850s. 

The combination of house, barn and mature trees, all dating from the Bourke period of ownership and 

operation, is additionally of note. The property is also of aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion 

E). The red brick house is a largely intact example of a simply detailed mid Victorian villa, with a 

steeply pitched hipped roof, symmetrical façade, timber-post verandah with concave roof, and grape 

motifs to the cast iron verandah lacework which refer to the viticultural activities of the historic 

property. The 1850s gabled bluestone barn is a comparatively rare example of this type of structure 

in the area with its battered walls and two storey massing (Criterion B). The building is enhanced by 

4


its stone construction, double sliding timber doors, oculi in the centre of the south facing gable, and 

loft with external access. The mature trees in the landscaped garden setting, including Monkey Puzzle 

trees and Moreton Bay figs, further enhance the aesthetic significance. 



The Overlay area is indicated in the above map, although the focus of significance is on the red brick 

villa and bluestone barn, and the landscaped area to the south, including the Monkey Puzzle trees and 

Moreton Bay figs. The red brick and stone materials to the buildings should remain unpainted. The 

brick secondary wings to the dwelling, with the tall chimneys, are contributory elements of the house. 

The skillion-roofed additions to the east and west elevations of the barn, and the flanking sheds, are 

also potentially contributory elements, pending further investigation and confirmation. 









Identified By 


References 


Ruth Hopkins, Moving Forward, Looking Back, The History of the Marong Shire, Shire of Marong, 1985. 



Specific: 

1 

Changed suburb from Marong, Heritage Policy Citations Review, 2011. November 

2011. 

2 

Andrew Ward, City of Greater Bendigo (Marong District) Heritage Study, Stage 1 Report, 

1994, unpaginated. 

3 

F F Bailliere, Victorian Gazetteer and Road Guide, 1879, p. 515 

4 


Marong, 1985, p. 75. 

5 

‘Farm complex,’ citation for 550 McKenzie Road, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo 


6 

‘Farm complex,’ citation for 550 McKenzie Road, Andrew Ward et al, City of Greater Bendigo 


5

Vol 2 Heritage Policy Citation Review - City of Greater Bendigo

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