HO59 - Rocklands
211 Mt Aitken Rd DIGGERS REST, MELTON SHIRE
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Statement of Significance
Rocklands homestead at 211 Mount Aitken Road, Aitkens Gap, is significant as a moderately intact example of a Victorian styled homestead and as a physical legacy of pastoral life at Aitkens Gap in the nineteenth century. Rocklands was built for William Beaty, one of three brothers who established substantial homesteads in the area, the others being Pinewood, and Glencoe, a large bluestone building. Rocklands also has significance for its uninterrupted views to Koroit Creek from its prominent elevated site, and for its remnant ornamental garden and orchard that is surrounded by a rubble stone wall. The homestead represents one of few surviving 19th century homestead buildings in the Melton Shire.
Rocklands homestead at 211 Mount Aitken Road is architecturally significant at a LOCAL level (AHC D.2, E.1). It demonstrates original design qualities of a Victorian style. These qualities include the hipped roof form clad in galvanised corrugated steel and the polychromatic brick chimney with the decorative bracketed and corbelled top that adorns the roofline. Other intact or appropriate qualities include the single storey height, rendered brick wall construction, narrow eaves with elaborate, paired timber brackets, central timber framed doorway with the round-arched fanlight above, timber framed double hung windows, rendered window sills, rectilinear drip moulds crowning the door and window openings with flanking pointed ends, and the keystone punctuating the drip mould of the main doorway. The remnant ornamental garden and orchard, and the rubble stone wall nearby, also contribute to the significance of the place.
The property is of LOCAL level historical significance (AHC A4, B2, H1) for its local scarcity as a substantial masonry homestead, for its representation of the early European history of the locality, and for its association with the Beaty family, an early and prominent pastoral family in Melton. It is one of the oldest houses in the Shire of Melton.
Overall, Rocklands homestead at 211 Mount Aitken Road is of LOCAL significance.
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HO59 - Rocklands - Physical Description 1
Physical Description -
Rocklands homestead at 211 Mount Aitken Road, Aitkens Gap, is set on a prominent elevated site overlooking Kororoit Creek. Nearby is a dry stone wall enclosure that forms the boundary to a remnant ornamental garden and orchard. Nearby the house are overgrown flower beds, shrubbery and trees.
The single storey, rendered brick, Victorian styled homestead is characterised by a hipped roof form, together with a projecting pitched roof addition at the rear. These roof forms are clad in galvanised corrugated steel (the roof of the original house is currently painted green). An early polychromatic brick chimney with a decorative bracketed and corbelled top adorns the roofline. Narrow overhangs and elaborate, paired timber brackets are features of the eaves.
The front of the house has a symmetrical composition. There is an early central timber framed doorway with a round-arched fanlight above. The timber and glazed door has been introduced. Flanking the doorway are timber framed double hung windows that have early rendered sills. There are similar windows on other facades.
Another early decorative feature of the design are the drip moulds crowning the door and window openings. These moulds are largely rectilinear in form and have flanking pointed ends. The arched underside of the drip mould above the doorway fanlight is punctuated by a slightly projecting keystone.
A verandah may be missing across the front of the dwelling.
Below the homestead, in the valley of the creek, there is a substantial squared dry stone wall enclosure, with remnant plum trees (Prunus domestica), possibly later seedlings of originals. Its proximity to the house, water, and good drainage suggests that this originally enclosed a vegetable garden, to which fruit trees were added later. The present owner advises that the original orchard, with three remnant pear trees, was near the early quarry overlooking the Kororoit Creek, some distance south of the house. The enclosure contributes to the significance of the site.[1]
Near the house is a small Aleppa pine.
[1] Mr Monty Russell, personal conversation, 15/2/2006.
HO59 - Rocklands - Integrity
Integrity - Moderately intact
HO59 - Rocklands - Physical Conditions
Physical Condition - Fair
HO59 - Rocklands - Historical Australian Themes
Shire of Melton Historical Themes: 'Farming', 'Community'
Heritage Study and Grading
Melton - Shire of Melton Heritage Study phase 2
Author: David Maloney, David Rowe, Pamela Jellie, Sera Jane Peters
Year: 2007
Grading:
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