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Historically, the bridge is also noteworthy for its being the oldest surviving road bridge
within the Hobsons Bay municipality; one of an only small number of stone bridges
from this era on any major roadway reserve in our greater metropolitan area.
It is an integral element to the Kororoit Creek environs, illustrating the early development
and alignment of the Geelong Road reserve – one of the first to be surveyed in the
Colony by Hoddle in the pre–1840s period.
In the 1850s, pastoralists settled the entire area from Altona to Geelong, including
the renowned Chirnside brothers, Thomas and Andrew, overland sheep graziers from
Scotland. The Chirnside brothers built the outstanding Werribee Park Mansion – still a
thriving tourist attraction – as a home base for their families in 1874-77, as well as the
Point Cook Homestead at the edge of Hobsons Bay – built in 1857 as a first, temporary
residence then used regularly after the Mansion’s construction as a family hunting
lodge. The Chirnside’s grand hunting parties attracted many participants from the
upper echelons of early Australian society, particularly the landed gentry. Unfortunately,
the legacy they created when they stocked our area with imported European foxes and
rabbits for the hunt is not so proud a heritage.
Heritage-listed 1880s Brooklyn Bluestone Bridge
Werribee Park Mansion
During the Victorian gold rushes of the 1850s, Kororoit Creek created a barrier to
the thousands of gold miners heading for the diggings, in and around Ballarat. Due
to the often-formidable obstacle the Creek posed, diggers were forced to cross it at
naturally-occurring fords – shallow, intermittent flat points along the waterways which
had been shown to provide good footing for people, animals and vehicles. These fords
later became an ideal location for man-made bridges.
One such bridge is the Brooklyn Bluestone Bridge. One of the earliest bridges built to
span over Kororoit Creek in 1889, it is significant for its use of an unusual hybrid of
bluestone and concrete construction, and notable for its elegant series of segment arches
which are reminiscent of many early colonial bridges in Victoria, New South Wales and
Tasmania. Still standing today, this magnificent bridge presents an outstanding entrance
to the City of Hobsons Bay.
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