STONY CREEK VICTORIAN MEAT PRESERVING COMPANY PIER
HYDE STREET SPOTSWOOD, HOBSONS BAY CITY
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Statement of Significance
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STONY CREEK VICTORIAN MEAT PRESERVING COMPANY PIER - History
The Victorian Meat Preserving Company occupied this site from the 1860s until 1880 and shows a stone pier once projected from the northern end of the backwater from the preserving works. This feature is not shown on a MHT plan of 1910.
Emerging technology for preserving meat saw the establishment of seven meat preserving works along the Maribyrnong and Yarra Rivers in Melbourne's western region in the 1860s. The Victorian Meat Preserving Works was established close to the Yarra on the north bank of the Stony Creek Backwash in the late 1860s. A jetty connected with the works is shown on a map dated 1879 (Coode, Plan for Improvements to the Port of Melbourne, 1879). It is not known how long the meat preserving company occupied the site at the Stony Creek Backwash, but the jetty was still indicated on the site on an MMBW map dated 1899 ( MMBW Williamstown 1899, Sheet 19, SLV Map Collection).
In 1923 the Melbourne Harbor Trust Commissioners announced plans to reclaim 'approximately twenty-six acres [10.52 hectares] at the mouth of the Stony Creek and on the north side of same' (MHT Commissioners' Report, 1923, p.20). By 1926, it was reported that twenty acres had been reclaimed here (Argus, 13 February 1926, p.35).
In 1925 the Vacuum Oil Company selected a site to the north side of the backwash for an oil depot (now Mobil Australia's Yarraville Terminal), later expanding its site onto the reclaimed area on the north side of the backwash, including the site of the Victorian Meat Preserving Company's jetty. It is possible that remains of the jetty still lie under the oil tanks at Mobil's Yarraville Terminal (Butler, 2000, p. 222). A photograph labelled 'reclamation at Yarraville for Vacuum Oil Company, August 1925' reveals a mound protruding from the reclaimed land that could be the remains of the jetty.
Three structures (two buildings and one oil storage tank) within the Mobil Yarraville Terminal relating to the use of the site by the Vacuum Oil Company, are covered by the City of Hobsons Bay Heritage Overlay 130. They are not in the vicinity of the Meat Preserving Company's jetty.
STONY CREEK VICTORIAN MEAT PRESERVING COMPANY PIER - Interpretation of Site
This area is extremely swampy, and hence was not inspected personally, but inspection of aerial photographs of the site reveal that this structure most likely has been covered during reclamation works at this end of the backwater. On site inspection of the area also revealed a set of paired piles (H7822-0421) running from the current Stony Creek backwater walkway to the same approximate location of this pier. This may indicate that a longer pier was built from the earlier meatworks pier when silting of the backwater increased after land reclamation to install the railway access to the oil wharves. The significance of this site is attributed to the high probability that archaeological remains of the meatworks exist under the reclaimed land.
Nominated for inclusion on the Victorian Heritage Register as Part of the Stony Creek Heritage Precinct for its significance as one of the only remaining archaeological examples of the development of a port area. The area exhibits a palimpsest of waterfront development from various industries.
Heritage Inventory Description
STONY CREEK VICTORIAN MEAT PRESERVING COMPANY PIER - Heritage Inventory Description
The Victorian Meat Preserving Company occupied this site from the 1860's until 1880. Despite the fact that no archaeological evidence exists, it is probable that remnants of the meatworks are buried under reclaimed land.
Possible structural remains, piles and archaeological deposits associated with former site use
Archeological Potential: good
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SEWERAGE PUMPING STATIONVictorian Heritage Register H1555
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CSL (COMMONWEALTH SERUM LABORATORIES) COLLECTIONVictorian Heritage Register H2422
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SPOTSWOOD PUMPING STATIONVictorian Heritage Inventory
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