Albion Explosives Factory
Ballarat Road, DEER PARK VIC 3023 - Property No 84
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Statement of Significance
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Albion Explosives Factory - Physical Description 1
The entire site covers c.500 acres including safety buffer zones and the former Furlong Road alignment through the middle of the site. Some buildings of ICI-Nobel design and construction survive, along with a small sample of buildings from the administrative and workshops area, black powder mill and loading buildings (see separate citation), magazines, air raid shelters, store buildings, mess halls and remaining blast protection mounds. Also surviving are the drystone wall along Ballarat Road and entry stone piers. Many of the buildings are standard Department of Housing & Construction-designed building, mostly from the period 1940-45, with some from later periods. Comprehensive descriptions are available in the Vines and Ward study (1988) and summarised and updated in the Raworth and Ducros study (1997) which also indicated the great loss of buildings resulting from the demolition that has occurred in the last decade. Buildings which contribute to the significance of the site are: Guard House 115A General Office 101A Canteen 110A Workshop & Store 105A Barium Nitrate Process House 578 Laundry & Boot Repair Shop 128 Stores 917A and 917B Box Stores 224A, 224B North Mess Room 210 Magazines and blast walls 112A, 112D & 122G Air Raid Precaution Centre 114B Air Raid Shelter 119 The Black Powder Mill has been separately listed in this study. While the main process buildings, including nitro-glycerine, ammonium nitrate and propellant production sections have all been demolished, the above surviving buildings demonstrate the associated facilities required for the factory, and as the last remaining structures provide the only opportunity for a meaningful retention of the significance of the site, particularly since these structures have probably the greatest re-use potential of all those that were once on the site. The stands of Eucalyptus Cladocalyx, Cupressus Macrocarpa and other landscape elements are also of contributory significance.
Albion Explosives Factory - Physical Conditions
Some surviving buildings are in relatively good condition, although they are in need of basic maintenance. The site's integrity has been greatly compromised by the demolition of most of the production buildings. However, the spread of buildings remaining offers opportunities to interpret the former use of the site within the context of new development.
Albion Explosives Factory - Intactness
Demolished
Albion Explosives Factory - Historical Australian Themes
3 Developing local, regional and national economies
3.13 Developing an Australian manufacturing capacityHeritage Study and Grading
Brimbank - Brimbank City Council Post-contact Cultural Heritage Study
Author: G. Vines
Year: 2000
Grading:Brimbank - Melbourne Western Region Industrial Heritage Study
Author: G. Vines & A. Ward
Year: 1989
Grading:Brimbank - Albion Explosives Factory Heritage Study
Author: G. Vines & A. Ward
Year: 1988
Grading:
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BLACK POWDER MILLVictorian Heritage Register H2029
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ICI Housing Estate PrecinctBrimbank City
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ICI Residential PrecinctBrimbank City
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1 Fordham CourtYarra City
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10 Fordham CourtYarra City
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