BURRUMBEET RAILWAY STATION
2142 WESTERN HIGHWAY BURRUMBEET, BALLARAT CITY
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Statement of Significance
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BURRUMBEET RAILWAY STATION - History
The Ballarat to Ararat railway line was built in the 1870s. Work commenced at Burrumbeet in 1872, and Burrumbeet railway station was opened on 11 August 1874 (James 2007, 72-4). The railway brought large numbers of passengers and also freight to and from the Burrumbeet area. Ken James (2007,76) writes that "in 1874-75, 3208 passengers travelled from Burrumbeet. By 1885, 4040 passengers were transported as well as 3270 tons of produce. Produce from the chaff mill was sent away by rail. Sheep and cattle were put on trains to be sold in Ballarat or Newmarket. The railway was the lifeline for the Ercildoube soldier settlers. Indeed it was one of the busiest stations on the main line to Adelaide."
More locally, the station served smaller stops including Burrumbeet Racecourse Platform (from 1892-1904) and from 1904-1948, a branch line operated to the racecourse itself (James 2007, 76). Burrumbeet railway station closed to passenger traffic in 1972 and was permanently closed in 1987. The Ararat line reopened in 2004, though Burrumbeet station was already decommissioned . The station forms what might be considered the 'centre' of Burrumbeet, which was otherwise a dispersed settlement.
LAMBTON ARMS HOTEL STABLES:
The Lambton Arms Hotel was once one of many public houses in the Burrumbeet area, but is now the only surviving hotel and is still in operation. Records of the licensees for the Hotel begin in 1888 (James 2007:112) suggesting this as an establishment date for the Hotel. The original building was destroyed by fire in 1902 and a new building was constructed by carpenter John Moodie (James 2007:111). Plans of the Hotel and outbuildings dated to 1957 (provided by the current licensee) show a shed on the property (noted by the current licensee to have once been stables), which is also visible on an aerial photograph from 1966; however, a photo of the property dated c.1970s shows no shed to be present. It was likely destroyed/removed sometime between 1966 and the early 1970s.BURRUMBEET RAILWAY STATION - Historical Significance
Overall, the Burrumbeet Railway Station site and the Lambton Arms Hotel Stables site represent some of the only surviving remnants of the Burrumbeet township that date to the town's most prosperous era in the second half of the 19th Century and early 20th Century.
BURRUMBEET RAILWAY STATION - Interpretation of Site
The site consists of the area of the former station and the adjacent land to the south, where there are surface artefacts and vestiges of structures. The platform is built on foundations of squared basalt with courses of brick and concrete above (fig. 4). This is likely to be the original platform, as can be seen from a photograph taken in 1940 (fig. 5).
The original, brick station building with its separate signal box was replaced in 1965 (James 2007, 74). Standing and former houses in the vicinity of the station are shown in an aerial photograph that dates from 1966 (fig. 11).
LAMBTON ARMS HOTEL STABLES:
Lambton Arms Hotel was established in c.1888. The original Hotel was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1902. The Hotel is still in operation - this recording is specifically for the former stables/shed at the rear of the property, thought to have been removed sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s. This date is based on a plan of the property from 1957 showing the stables/shed, (see attached) an aerial photograph from 1966 showing a structure at the shed location (see attached), and a photo from the 1970s showing no structure present. (see attached) The stables/shed had basalt foundations.BURRUMBEET RAILWAY STATION - Archaeological Significance
The Burrumbeet Railway Station site comprises the extant station platform and artefact scatter on an adjacent informal vehicular track. The site has low potential to yield archaeological information based on its poor state of preservation and limited potential for subsurface archaeological deposits.
The Lambton Arms Hotel Stables comprise incomplete basalt foundations and floor with subsurface fragmented artefacts, mostly associated with the early to mid 20th Century. The site is low archaeological significance.
Heritage Inventory Description
BURRUMBEET RAILWAY STATION - Heritage Inventory Description
Structural remains of Burrumbeet railway station and its surrounding area, consisting of a platform structure, rectilinear bluestone feature/foundations of a house to the south and scattered glass and ceramic on track parallel with railway line; aerial photographs from the 1960s show standing structures which are no longer present. Site also includes linear basalt remains, formerly thought to be associated with the Railway Station site; however, excavation and plans from 1957 show this feature to be associated with the Lambton Arms Hotel (which is still in operation).
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DOBSON'S COBB & CO. STABLESVictorian Heritage Inventory
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PICNIC HOTELVictorian Heritage Inventory
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BURRUMBEET HOTELVictorian Heritage Inventory
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