HO212 - Shaw's Cool Store, 345 Hilderbrand Road, Cottles Bridge
345 Hildebrand Road COTTLES BRIDGE, NILLUMBIK SHIRE
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Statement of Significance
SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT
What is significant?
Fabric & trees associated with:
- the 1930s and orcharding
- William Shaw & Edward Shaw tenure
How is it significant?
Shaw's Cool Store is locally significant architectural and historically (criteria A4).
Why is it significant?
National Trust of Australia (Vic)
Shaw's Cool Store is a small private cool store typical of those built in the orchard districts near Melbourne in the two decades following World War 1. It is one of about seven cool stores in the Shire of Nillumbik surviving from the 1920s and '30s. It is ofhistorical, architectural and technical significance at a local level at least.
The cool store is of historical significance as a remnant of the important fruit-growing industry which flourished from the 1880s in the districts near Melbourne, including the Diamond Valley. Most of these districts are now outer suburbs, however Cottles Bridge has retained its rural character to date. The site is also historically significant as part of a Closer Settlement holding. In the first half of the twentieth century many people were settled on the land throughout Victoria under various Closer Settlement schemes. This property is indicative of post World War 1 Closer Settlement for fruit growing in the Diamond Valley region.
The Cool Store is of architectural significance as it displays the typical design of the combined cool stores and packing sheds of the region. Although a small private cool store, it also reflects the architecture of the large government and co-operative stores which were a feature in orcharding districts near Melbourne. The two public cool stores built in the Diamond Valley region no longer exist.
Shaw's cool store, with its integrated packing shed is of technical significance as it demonstrates the manner in which apples, pears and peaches were stored and packed for the local and export market. The design and structure of the building show the techniques for insulation and air circulation used in a typical cool store of the era, however the cool store now lacks the essential refrigeration plant, except for some remnants of the refrigeration pipes.
Although the building is in need of repair, no major alterations appear to have been made to the original structure, and it is sufficiently intact to display the features of a typical cool store of its era. The cool store's significance is enhanced by the associated house, remnant fruit trees from the orchard and the property's rural setting.
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HO212 - Shaw's Cool Store, 345 Hilderbrand Road, Cottles Bridge - Physical Description 1
DESCRIPTION
Inspection in 2005 shows a corrugated ironclad shed on a rectangular plan with Dutch gabled roof, and boarded (paling) gable ends. windows are timber framed and at the south end are (recent) vertical boarded double doors.
The nearby farm or orchard house is in a Federation Bungalow style with a pyramid-hipped main roof clad with corrugated iron, walls of half weatherboard and half stucco and a return timber-framed verandah. The house has been extended in a matching manner and renovated.
HO212 - Shaw's Cool Store, 345 Hilderbrand Road, Cottles Bridge - Physical Description 2
National Trust of Australia (Vic) report:
.Shaw's cool store is a rectangular timber building consisting of an inner chamber constructed of Baltic pine boards, with an outer building ofpalings surrounding all four sides. The iron roof covers the whole structure to the outer walls. The inner walls are double and insulated, But they do not extend to the roof, leaving an open space between the top of the chamber ceiling and the roof, to allow for air circulation above the chamber. There are also vents on the gable ends. The door to the cool chamber is on the north side of the building, opening out onto the packing area which nuns along the whole length of the building. The packing area has Windows, and also doors opening out to the road, enabling the truck to be backed up for loading.' .
'Comparative Analysis
The typical cool store was constructed with an inner chamber, sometimes more than one, made from a doubte layer of cedar or Baltic pine boards, 12 to 18 inches apart, with the cavity filled with wood shavings or sawdust for insulation. Doors into the chamber were likewise constructed of a double layer of timber and insulated. The packing shed was close by, or in most small stores, adjoining or integrated into the overall structure. Typically this was formed by outer walls, on one or more sides, of weatherboards creating a sort of verandah or ante chamber, which gave further insulation to the cool chambers. This space usually housed the refrigeration plant on the cool side of the building and the packing shed on the north side. This arrangement enabled thefruit to be brought straight from the store and packed, remaining cool for transport. Cartage to market took place at night, so thatthe fruit arrived at market in good condition, ready for the commencement of trading at dawn. The iron roof tended to be fairly high pitched, with air vents at gable ends, and for larger buildings, along the roof slopes. The ceiling cavity was insulated in the same way as the wall cavity.
Refrigeration was run on a suction gas engine, fuelled by coke, charcoal (operating much the same asproducer gas fuelled motor transport during wartime oil shortages), or by oil engine, and later by diesel engine. It was usual for the engines to run for a few hours each morning and evening to maintain the correct temperature,. except when the store was open for bringing fruit in and out, when the engines ran all day. Temperature was controlled manually.
Electricity, enabling automatic thermbstatic control, was not connected in the rural parts of the Diamond Valley until the late 19508 or early 1900s.
The Shire of Eltham Rate Books do not mention cool stores amongst the "improvements" on properties prior to the mid 1930s, but a number are recorded in the second half of the decade.
Presumably new buildings were listed by the rate collector as they appeared. According to local memory; a number of cool stores were built in the 1920s and even in the depression veers of the early '30s. Several are still standing, although no longer used for their original purpose.
Possibly the earliest of these is Muliers cool store in Muliers Road, St Andrews North. The Muller family were farming several hundred acres, including orchards, in Queenstown in 1888. They had a large peach orchard prior to World War 1. Available sources suggest that their cool store was burnt down in 1926 and was rebuilt immediately. The existing cool store is quite large' and displays the typical design outlined above, although it has been altered for residential use.
Bloom's cool store in Cherry Tree Road Hurstbridge was built approximately 1936 to replace the original 1914 building built by Jack Moore. Although much enlarged and altered, it still displays some of the traditional characteristics of the cool stores of the district. The northern end of the building is the original timber part, with the packing shed facing north west and the remains of the refrigeration plant on the eastern side. The old cool chamber has been removed. The building has had a large iron addition, with a modern cooling chamber installed by the present owner, Mr Ken Bloom. Mr Bloom ran the orchard until recent years, but now leases it to the Apteds.
Wickham's cool store, Kings Road Kangaroo Ground, is a good example of a small cool store of the 1930s. According to present owner, Mrs Betty Wickham, it was built in 1930 by William Dawson. The Dawson family had an orchard on 36 acres as early as 1913 (possibly earlier).
The cool store has two chambers, with a total capacity of 4,000 cases, joined under the one gable roof The packing shed is on the front of the building, facing north west and the cooling plant was on the other side. The Wickhams, who purchased the properly from the Dawsons, worked the orchard until 1962.The building is now being used as a winery for a small vineyard.22 It is in good condition and intact except for the addition of a window in one of the chambers and the removal of the refrigeration pl51nt.
Franke's cool store at Smith's Gully, was built in 1932 by Dave Pepper, a builder from nearby Wattle Glen, for the Smith family. The original part had a 2000 case capacity and an additional 3000 case chamber was added in 1938. The chamber walls are 18 inches thick. The two chambers each have a skillion roof, sloping in opposite directions. The packing shed is a large adjoining building. Mr and Mrs Carl Franke worked the orchard until about 1970. Foster's Cool Store in Main Road Panton Hill was built by Keith Smith using fibro sheeting.
The building was constructed in two, stages. Mr Peter Foster, the present owner, believes the first part was built just before or during World War 2, and the second part was built just after the war when materials were scarce, hence the use of fibro. The original building is the usual rectangular shape, with a gable roof. The ceiling is timber boards and the wall end root cavities are filled with wood shavings. A small packing shed was built across the south side, with the cooling plant housed, (atypically) on the western side. The second stage is of similar construction, added to the eastside, but altering the roof line. The insulation used was Insulwool. A large shed has been added to the south side across the whole building. The cool, store has the capacity for 3000 bushel cases in each chamber. The refrigeration pipes are still in place inside the chambers. The cooling plant was powered by a diesel motor until changed to electricity in the mid 1960s. The cool store has remained in use unti/1998, when Mr Foster gave up commercial fruit growing. Standing nearby as an associated building is the old poultry shed used by the former owners. who in typical fashion in the 1930s and'40s in the district, combined poultry raising with fruit growing. Other associated buildings including a case shed and cottage are remaining (sic), as do some of the fruit trees.
It is believed that a few other cool stores of the era remain in the Panton Hill district, but they have not been inspected for this report. All of the above cool stores are of local significance, at least, as they represent a key industry which contributed to the settlement and economy of the Diamond Valley after World War 1. Further research into the existence of similar cool stores in other parts of Victoria would establish whether any of the Diamond Valley cool stores are of state significance. '
In addition to the above, the Eltham Conservation Study (Sick) identified the Cave Cool Store (Apple Cellar?), Glen Halcyon in Ninks Rd, St. Andrews North.
HO212 - Shaw's Cool Store, 345 Hilderbrand Road, Cottles Bridge - Integrity
Integrity
National Trust of Australia (Vic)
'The original insulated door to the cool chamber has been taken off and lies nearby. At the eastern end of the building there are two corrugated iron doors and the paling wall in between is missing. At the western end a large number of the palings have recently been removed from the wall. This was done to facilitate the removal of the refrigeration unit, which was a single cylinder diesel engine. The concrete engine footings and some of the refrigeration pipes on the wall are all that now remain of the cooling plant. The original concrete floor of the building has been removed, leaving an earthen floor. Although the cool chamber appears to be in reasonable condition, the outer walls are in a dilapidated state. '
Heritage Study and Grading
Nillumbik - C13 Heritage Stage 2 Final Report Revised Citation
Author: Graeme Butler and Assoc.
Year: 2001
Grading: Local
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HO212 - Shaw's Cool Store, 345 Hilderbrand Road, Cottles BridgeNillumbik Shire
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