SHORTLANDS BLUFF
133-135 HESSE STREET QUEENSCLIFF, QUEENSCLIFFE BOROUGH
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Statement of Significance
WHAT IS SIGNIFICANT?
Shortlands Bluff including all of the landscape elements, navigational aids and defence bunkers.
HOW IS IT SIGNIFICANT
Shortlands Bluff is of historical significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criterion
for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register:
Criterion A
Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria's cultural history.
Criterion B
Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria's cultural history.
Criterion D
Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural places and objects.
Shortlands Bluff is significant at the State level for the following reasons:
Shortlands Bluff is historically significant for its association with maritime navigation since the 1840s.
The construction of maritime navigational aids at Shortlands Bluff assisted in the safe passage of
vessels into Port Phillip Bay. This was critical for the establishment of Melbourne and the
development of Victoria, particularly following the discovery of gold in 1850. [Criterion A]
Shortlands Bluff is also historically significant for its association with defence from the 1860s until
the end of World War II. Defence emplacements were initially prompted by the discovery of gold in
1850 and the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853. Additional emplacements and searchlight
bunkers were constructed from the late nineteenth century until the end of World War II. [Criterion
A]
Shortlands Bluff contains uncommon elements associated with maritime navigation and defence.
The White and Black Lighthouses are an uncommon example of lighthouses which were designed
and constructed as a pair. The concrete bunker of the see?]saw searchlight is evidence of the only
known example of this type of searchlight in Victoria and one of only four known examples worldwide.
[Criterion B]
Shortlands Bluff is significant for containing notable examples of elements representing the classes
of maritime navigation and defence. It was the location of some of the earliest maritime navigational
aids and defence emplacements in Victoria. The land formation and location of the place was critical
to the development of Victoria through its ability to provide safe navigational guidance for maritime
vessels entering Port Phillip Bay, and as one of the places in a strategic network around Port Phillip
Bay from which to defend Victoria in the event of seaborne attack. [Criterion D]
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SHORTLANDS BLUFF - History
Maritime navigation
The township of Queenscliff was originally known as Shortland¡¯s Bluff. It was named by Captain
Willian Hobson after Lieutenant John Shortland who had assisted in the surveying of Port Phillip in
1836. The name was changed to Queenscliff in 1854 in honour of Queen Victoria. Shortlands Bluff is
located adjacent to Fort Queenscliff and both sites have shared maritime navigational and defence
histories.
Maritime navigation
The first European vessel to enter what is now Port Phillip Bay was captained by Acting Lt John
Murray in 1802. The geomorphic form of the Point Lonsdale and Point Nepean Heads created a
volatile and treacherous waterway known as the Rip which was difficult to navigate. Many
shipwrecks occurred causing loss of life and goods, with the first recorded shipping loss occurring in
1836. Safe entrance into the Bay was vital for the development of Victoria, and even more so with
the significant increase in shipping traffic following the discovery of gold in 1850.
In 1836 extensive marine surveys were completed by Lieutenants T M Symonds and H R Henry of
HMS Rattlesnake under the command of Captain William Hobson. He proposed constructing
lighthouses at the Port Phillip Heads. A position for the light had still not been determined by 1839
when Charles La Trobe was posted to Port Phillip as Superintendent of the District. In 1841, La Trobe
recommended that a lighthouse be built on Shortland¡¯s Bluff. It was based on the design of the 1817
Macquarie Light in Sydney, the first lighthouse constructed in Australia. The first Shortlands Bluff
lighthouse was operational by April 1843. Standing at a point approximately 22.5 metres above sea
level, it was 13.7 metres high and built of sandstone quarried from the base of the Bluff. Its location
was in the grounds of what is now Fort Queenscliff and it was demolished in the early 1860s.
In 1853 a new red and black painted prefabricated timber leading light was constructed to the south
east of the site to provide shipmasters with assurance that they were sailing in the safe channel
when it aligned with the 1843 sandstone lighthouse. The new light became known as the Low or
Leading Light, and the sandstone lighthouse became known as the High or Upper Light. A signal mast
was also erected near the sandstone lighthouse for communication with ships entering or leaving
Port Phillip. In 1862 the timber Low Light was dismantled and re©_erected at Point Lonsdale.
Following separation from New South Wales in 1851, gold was discovered in the new Colony of
Victoria. Victoria¡¯s fledging population and the number of ships entering Port Phillip Bay increased
significantly. Maritime traffic reached its peak in 1854 when 2,629 vessels entered through the
Heads. In 1856 a Joint Commission of the Colonial Governments of Victoria, Tasmania, NSW and
South Australia was formed to assess the adequacy of existing lights and the possible installation of
further facilities. In 1859 a second Commission of Enquiry recommended establishing a defence
battery of guns at the Heads. This was complicated because the sandstone lighthouse¡¯s position was
needed for the battery. The sandstone lighthouse was demolished and in 1861, contracts were let
for the construction of the existing pair of lighthouses known as the White (Lower) and Black (Upper)
Lighthouses. The White Lighthouse is located within Shortlands Bluff and the Black Lighthouse is now
located within Fort Queenscliff. Both were built of dressed basalt blocks, transported by barge from
Melbourne. The Lower Lighthouse was painted white to distinguish it from the Upper Lighthouse
which retained its natural black bluestone colour. These lighthouses were constructed as a pair and
acted in unison with each other. As ships approached the heads, a white light showed below the
Black Lighthouse, and as the ship advanced, it moved into the red sector of the White Lighthouse.
While the red light was visible below the white light, the ship was in the channel and could safely
enter the bay.
The contracts for the two new lighthouses were let to two Melbourne builders, C S Baillie who built
the White Lighthouse and Alfred Pooley and Co. who built the Black Lighthouse. The lamps, lens and
mechanisms were manufactured by Chance Brothers of Birmingham (England). From 1851, Chance
Brothers became a major lighthouse engineering company, producing high quality optical
components, machinery, and other equipment for lighthouses around the world. Chance Brothers
pioneered placing lighthouse lamps inside a cage surrounded by Fresnel lenses to increase the
available light output which revolutionised lighthouse design. The light was converted to gas in 1890
and then to electricity in 1924. Both lighthouses are now automated and unmanned. Together with
additional navigational aids, the two lighthouses remain in use. Quarters for the lighthouse keepers
were located adjacent to the White Lighthouse but were replaced in the 1950s. These in turn were
demolished in 2010.
Additional navigational aids including the Hume Tower (constructed in 1924) and the Murray Tower
(constructed in 1974) were erected to guide vessels to the eastern and western most edges of the
widened channel. The Murray Tower replaced the c.1860s obelisk and both Towers were replaced
c.2012. The Lighthouses and Towers remain operational and continue to guide ships into the channel
through the Rip. The White Lighthouse is on publicly accessible land at Shortlands Bluff and the Black
Lighthouse is now within the grounds of Fort Queenscliff.
Defence
In 1843 a survey of the area around Swan Bay recommended a Battery Reserve at Point Lonsdale. The location of Shortlands Bluff has ensured its inclusion in almost all defence proposals.
Gold was discovered in Victoria in 1850 which significantly increased shipping activity. There were fears of attack on the newly wealthy colony and on the ships transporting gold, wool and agricultural produce to Britain. Forts positioned at Point Nepean and Point Lonsdale were suggested as early as 1852. However, available guns did not have the required range, and small batteries were built at Williamstown and Sandridge instead.
The perception of military threat increased with the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853. Despite this, a defence sea wall was not constructed at Shortlands Bluff until 1860, followed by the construction of an earthwork battery (now within Fort Queenscliff) in the early 1860s. The new battery was equipped with three 68-pounder muzzle loading cannons and manned by the Queenscliff Volunteer Artillery, comprising primarily fishermen and government employees.
Since 1854, a number of commissions and advisory committees had formulated strategies for the defence of Victoria. Two of the most influential figures in this process were Captain (later Colonel) Peter Scratchley of the Royal Engineers, who produced a plan for the defence of Melbourne and Geelong (1860), and Lieutenant-General (later Major-General Sir) William Francis Drummond Jervois, Director of Works and Fortifications in Britain (1862).
In 1876, the Governors of Australia's eastern colonies asked the Colonial Secretary in London to appoint an expert military engineer to advise on their defence. The Victorian delegate travelled to London and met with Jervois. In 1877 Scratchley and Jervois visited the defences at Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale. They recommended that four forts be built near the Heads of Port Phillip Bay. Commencing in 1878 Jervois' and Scratchley's recommendations for Fort Queenscliff were gradually implemented to include the extant Upper and Lower batteries, massive shrapnel mounds, and an encircling 12ft high brick wall. In 1883 a dry moat was excavated and protective earth mounds, quarters and other buildings were established. The sloping land formation between the southern boundary of the Fort and the White lighthouse is a remnant glacis - an escarpment that sloped away from the dry moat that runs east-west below the Lower battery rampart. The height and angle of this glacis were calculated to absorb direct fire, or deflect shells by ricochet.
In 1887 Crow's Nest battery, mounting a single 8-inch Armstrong B.L. H.P. 'disappearing gun' was constructed on a sand dune about 1km west of Shortlands Bluff. Other fortifications were constructed at Swan Island, Point Nepean, South Channel Fort, Point Franklin and Eagle's Nest during this period. By 1893 Port Phillip was regarded as the most heavily fortified port of the British Empire south of the equator.
In 1907 there were six electric light emplacements at locations around Port Phillip Heads, two each at Fort Queenscliff, Fort Nepean and South Channel Fort. The southern emplacement at Shortlands Bluff was a recessed concrete pit containing a "see-saw" mounted concentrated search beam. A comparatively rare type of searchlight, it was constructed in 1893 to carry a 35,000 candle power electric carbon-arc lamp focused by mirror to create a strong beam for target illumination. In an attempt to reduce vulnerability to enemy fire, the carbon light source remained hidden within the emplacement and utilized a large mirror attached to the upper end of a 'see-saw' pivoting iron beam to reflect light out the sea. See-saw lights proved difficult to operate and few were built. This emplacement is currently buried in drift sand. The location was previously utilized for experiments with a mobile electric 'search' light (circa 1887-1891). There are only three other known surviving examples of "see-saw" searchlight bunkers worldwide; Fort Victoria and Warden Point Battery on the Isle of Wight, and Fort Ballance at Wellington, New Zealand. The former emplacement is restored, while the latter two are in poor condition.
Mobile electrical searchlights were first used at Fort Queenscliff/Shortlands Bluff in 1885. In 1887 a permanent searchlight emplacement (No.1) and sally-port (an exit point in a fortification for the passage of troops) were constructed close to sea level below sandstone cliff forming the eastern face of Shortlands Bluff. The emplacement was an iron-shuttered concrete structure atop a 12-ft high semicircular stone base, connected via a 100-ft long tunnel to a 40-ft shaft rising to the protected engine-house located within Fort Queenscliff. A branch tunnel and second searchlight (No.2) were added in 1914. The Queenscliff lights worked in combination, and with the two lights located at Fort Nepean. Between 1907 and 1909 functions of the "see-saw" light were taken over by a new searchlight complex about 500 metres west of Shortland's Bluff, consisting of two lights in concrete emplacements on the primary dune and a dedicated engine house located at the rear of the dunes (Crow's Nest barrack). These lights were controlled from a camouflaged wooden structure located in the triangular area in the western portion of Shortlands Bluff.
In 1942 a further two emplacements were constructed at Shortlands Bluff, following Japanese air attacks on Hong Kong and Singapore. Threat of attack from the air saw the transfer of the Queenscliff fortress guns to Point Lonsdale. Australia's coast defence fortifications were closed in 1946 and with public access, Shortlands Bluff was increasingly used for recreational purposes.
Shortlands Bluff as a place of commemoration
Shortlands Bluff has been a place of commemoration for the Queenscliff community since 1917 when the Queenscliff Council made improvements at the end of Hesse St including seats dedicated 'to our boys at the Front'. In 1919, the Queenscliffe Council consulted architect Percy Everett to develop plans for the area as part of the Repatriation Grants Scheme. There are no known plans, but newspaper articles describe elements such as an amphitheatre, seating and pathways down to the beach. At the southern end of Hesse Street is a circular grassed area with three Monterey Cypress pines (Cupressus macrocarpa syn. Hesperocyparis macrocarpa ) on one side. This area is known as the 'Bullring', a reference to a notorious World War I training ground at Etaples, France. There are also a number of memorial cairns along the southern edge of the carpark, that are the focus of remembrance services held throughout the year, including the H.M.A.S. Goorangai service, the Anzac Dawn service, and a memorial service for the loss of Australian Army Commandos drowned during a training exercise in 1960. The area is also the location for ANZAC Day services and has strong associations with the Queenscliff community through these commemorative and remembrance activities. It is an evocative site as it looks out across the entrance to Port Phillip Bay where ships departed for places of conflict.
KEY REFERENCES USED TO PREPARE ASSESSMENT
Admiralty Sailing Directions: Australia Pilot Volume 2 ¨C South, south_east and east coasts of Australia
from Green Cape to Port Jackson including Bass Strait and Tasmania(
Thirteenth Edition 2016), United Kingdom Hydrographic Office in association with the Australian Hydrographic Service.Allom Lovell & Associates Pty Ltd in association with Sweetnam Godfrey and Ord (Apr 1982), Conservation Management Plan for the Command and Staff College Fort Queenscliff ¨C Volume One:
Allom Lovell & Associates Pty Ltd in association with Sweetnam Godfrey and Ord (Apr 1982), Conservation Management Plan for the Command and Staff College Fort Queenscliff ¨C Volume Two: Appendices .Allom, Lovell & Associates Pty Ltd Architects (Dec 1984), Queenscliffe Urban Conservation Study, published by Geelong Regional Commission, and Queenscliffe Borough Council.
Duncan, Brad (Oct 2006), The Maritime Archaeology and Maritime Cultural Landscapes of Queenscliffe: A Nineteenth Century Australian Coastal Community, PhD thesis, School of Anthropology Archaeology & Sociology: James Cook University.
Goad, Philip, MARITIME ARCHITECTURE, pp.427_430 in eds Goad, Philip, & Willis, Julie, The Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture (2012), Cambridge University Press: Port Melbourne.
Honman, Louise Victoria's Gibraltar, Fortifications of Port Phillip Bay.
Long, Andrew (Apr 1996), An Archaeological Survey of Queenscliff Lighthouse Precinct, prepared for The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Coasts and Major Projects Group.
Lovell Chen (Nov 2009, reissued Dec 2011), Queenscliffe Heritage Review, prepared for the Borough of Queenscliffe.
Queenscliff White Light House, on Victorian War Heritage Inventory website. via http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/veterans_result_detailid=125314&quicksearch=true
Raison, E. T.(1997), Lighthouses at Port Phillip Heads, Queencliff Historical Publications: Point Lonsdale.
Reid, Gordon (1988), From dusk till dawn: a history of Australian lighthouses, Macmillan in association with the Department of Transport and Communications: Port Melbourne.
Smyth, Dacre (1980), The Lighthouses of Victoria: A Second Book of Paintings, Poetry and Prose, Crystal Offset Printers: Box Hill, Victoria.
Information supplied by Keith Quinton, author and historian
SHORTLANDS BLUFF - Assessment Against Criteria
Criterion
Shortlands Bluff is of historical significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criterion
for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register:
Criterion A
Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria?fs cultural history.
Criterion B
Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria?fs cultural history.
Criterion D
Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural places and objects.
SHORTLANDS BLUFF - Permit Exemptions
General Exemptions:General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions. Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.Specific Exemptions:Landscape
. The process of gardening, including mowing, removal of dead shrubs and replanting the same
species or cultivar, disease and weed control and maintenance to care for existing plants.
. The removal or pruning of dead or dangerous trees to maintain safety.
. Removal of plants listed as noxious weeds in the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994.
. Management of trees in accordance with Australian Standard; Pruning of Amenity Trees
AS4373-1996.
. Management of possums and vermin.
. Repairs, conservation, and maintenance to landscape elements, including the carpark, steps,
paths, memorials, drainage and irrigation systems, edging and fences in a manner which
preserves the cultural heritage significance of the place.
Building Exteriors
(1862 White Lighthouse, navigational towers, concrete defence bunkers). All works required to maintain, secure and make safe buildings and structures, and to allow the
ongoing use of the navigational aids.
. Minor repairs which replace like with like. Repairs must maximise protection and retention of
fabric and include the conservation of existing details or elements. Any new materials used for
repair must not exacerbate the decay of existing fabric due to chemical incompatibility, obscure
existing fabric or limit access to existing fabric for future maintenance.
. Maintenance of an item to retain its condition or operation without large-scale removal of or
damage to the existing fabric or the large-scale introduction of new materials.
. General maintenance for the purpose of safety and security including the removal of broken
glass, the temporary shuttering of windows and covering of holes as long as this work is
reversible and does not have a detrimental impact on fabric.
. Installation or repair of damp-proofing in a manner which does not affect the fabric.
. Painting of previously painted surfaces in the same colour provided that preparation or painting
does not remove early paint finishes or other decorative schemes.
. Replacement of existing services such as cabling, plumbing, wiring and fire services that uses
existing routes, conduits or voids, and does not involve damage to or the removal of significant
fabric.
. Removal of non-original items such as wiring, antennae, aerials etc and making good in a
manner not detrimental to the fabric.
. Erecting, repairing and maintaining signage (directional signage, road signs, speed signs).
Signage must be located and be of a suitable size so as not to obscure or damage heritage fabric
and must be able to be later removed without causing damage to the place. The development of
signage must be consistent in the use of format, text, logos, themes and other display materials.
SHORTLANDS BLUFF - Permit Exemption Policy
It should be noted that Permit Exemptions can be granted at the time of registration (under s.38 of
the Heritage Act). Permit Exemptions can also be applied for and granted after registration (under
s.92 of the Heritage Act).
General Condition 1
All exempted alterations are to be planned and carried out in a manner which prevents damage to
the fabric of the registered place or object.
General Condition 2
Should it become apparent during further inspection or the carrying out of works that original or
previously hidden or inaccessible details of the place or object are revealed which relate to the
significance of the place or object, then the exemption covering such works shall cease and Heritage
Victoria shall be notified as soon as possible.
General Condition 3
All works should ideally be informed by Conservation Management Plans prepared for the place. The
Executive Director is not bound by any Conservation Management Plan, and permits must still be
obtained for works suggested in any Conservation Management Plan.
General Condition 4
Nothing in this determination prevents the Heritage Council from amending or rescinding all or any
of the permit exemptions.
General Condition 5
Nothing in this determination exempts owners or their agents from the responsibility to seek
relevant planning or building permits from the relevant responsible authority, where applicable.
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02/12/21
BELLS BEACH SURFING RECREATION RESERVE - BARWON PARK - EASTERN BEACH BATHING COMPLEX AND RESERVE - FORMER MINERAL SPRINGS, CLIFTON SPRINGS - SHORTLANDS BLUFF
Public contributions
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02/12/21
BELLS BEACH SURFING RECREATION RESERVE - BARWON PARK - EASTERN BEACH BATHING COMPLEX AND RESERVE - FORMER MINERAL SPRINGS, CLIFTON SPRINGS - SHORTLANDS BLUFF