FORMER BEEHIVE BUILDING SITE
306-314 HARGREAVES STREET, BENDIGO VIC 3550
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Statement of Significance
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FORMER BEEHIVE BUILDING SITE - History
The Beehive Store was established by the Francis Brothers in 1852. It was located on Camp Street which became a straightened Pall Mall with the first survey in 1853 (Butler 1993:11). Camp Street was the southern bank of the Bendigo Creek opposite the government camp, near to View Point and the bridge across the Bendigo Creek. British artist Edwin Roper Loftus Stocqueler was reported to have painted a watercolour of the first Beehive Store on a visit to the Bendigo goldfields in 1853. A newspaper report in 1872 describes ‘the painting bearing the date 1853’. In it a digger stands in front of a tent shown as the Beehive Stores next to a sign painted ‘Francis, wholesale, retail and general outfitting stores (‘Building Progress at Sandhurst’, Bendigo Advertiser, 15 June 1872, 2). The actual painting cannot be located. In 1911 a description of the first Beehive on Pall Mall was published in The Bendigo Independent. It was ‘a huge canvas tent with many old time goods comprising of dress and the necessities of digger’. It resembled a ‘pleasure marquee’ rather than a store (‘Purchase of the Beehive’ Bendigo Independent , 1 June 1911, 3) . Advertisements from the local newspaper from the 1850s suggest most of its business was concerned with manchester and clothing, however it also sold basic building materials. The Grimes 1853 plan shows the first survey of the township. The Beehive was on Allotment One. In 1856, the Francis Bros. had a drapery sale to clear their stock, embarked upon a building project and constructed a wooden one storey shop building which stretched from Pall Mall to Hargreaves Street. By this time Bendigo was known as Sandhurst. On the Pall Mall entrance to the Beehive a veranda sheltered customers on the footpath. This veranda was to become a popular meeting place for the locals (‘Messrs Francis Bros. New Building in Pall Mall’ Bendigo Advertiser, 23 February 1865, 1).The Beehive’s neighbours included A. Steele plumber, K. Knight saddler and Moran Company. This mixture of retail, trade and business enterprises sharing a street front was typical of Bendigo at this time. The 1857 building was described as ‘new rush store, a hybrid collection of a few weather board buildings’ (‘Messrs Francis Bros. New Building in Pall Mall’ Bendigo Advertiser, 23 February 1865,1). The 1860 Russell map of Sandhurst shows the crown allotments, the Beehive occupied part 12 and 13 on Pall Mall and 2 and part of 3 on Hargreaves Street where the study site is located. Most images of the Beehive are taken showing the impressive Pall Mall view where customers would enter, the Hargreaves Street entrance was where goods were delivered and stored. A mere ten years after the renovation, the Beehive Stores were rebuilt, in a style that reflected the wealth accrued from gold and the boom times Bendigo was experiencing as gold was extracted from company mines. A lengthy description of the new Beehive published in the Bendigo Advertiser described how the establishment had doubled in size through the purchase of the adjoining allotment which once housed Jones Auction Mart and Sales Rooms. The establishment now employed over a hundred staff. On Pall Mall two stories had been built, these were elaborately decorated. The interior was divided into three sections. The centre section was devoted to drapery, one to grocery and one to ironmongery. At the rear of the shop there was a tailor and fitting rooms. The upper storey of the new premises consisted of offices including an entrance hall laid in marble (Messrs. Francis Bros. New Buildings in Pall Mall’ Bendigo Advertiser, 23 February 1865, 1). The Hargreaves entrance led to the wholesale branch of the business. The firm also had established an ‘undertaking line’, a service which included an elaborate hearse. The article describes how ‘immense cellars’ were built under the building and concrete was used to stabilise the building as mining had been carried out on the site. The article goes on to describe that there was a quarter of an acre of basement under the buildings, used for storage and for staff facilities. It is unclear from the article whether the cellars were built under the Pall Mall or Hargreaves Street sections of the buildings (Messrs. Francis Bros. New Buildings in Pal Mall’ Bendigo Advertiser, 23 February 1865, 1). George Francis sold the Beehive to Messrs Buick and Co. in 1868 (‘Complimentary Entertainment’ Bendigo Advertiser 16 April 1868, 2). Three years later, at 6am on the 26 August 1871 the mining offices on the second floor caught alight and the building on Pall Mall was engulfed in flames. The building, described ‘one of the chief ornaments of Sandhurst was both ‘a magnificent commercial emporium’ and the offices of the stock and share brokers for the city (‘Burning of the Beehive Stores and Chambers Sandhurst’, Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers, 9 September 1871, 5). The fire destroyed the upper offices and then moved down into the drapery, grocery store and goods shops on Pall Mall. Goods were removed from the store into Hargreaves Street. It was reported that iron doors and the tin roof stopped the fire moving into buildings in Hargreaves Street. The damage done was estimated at £10,000 which was covered by insurance. Within nine months a new building for the Bendigo Mining Exchange and Beehive Stores had been built on the Pall Mall site. Designed by noted Australian architect Charles Webb, the street frontage was of three stories and contained offices used by the mining exchange. This building is recognised as having State significance by the Heritage Council Victoria for its association with gold mining, Charles Webb and as part of Pall Mall street scape (HCV 2000). The Beehive continued to expand, in 1888 when a furniture store was added to the middle part of the Beehive Stores. In 1919 an arcade allowed customers to walk through from Pall Mall to Hargreaves Street. The Beehive continued to operate as a series of retail stores, undergoing much renovation over the coming decades. This is described in the Heritage Impact Statement (Taylor 2019: 8). The 1935 Mahlstedt plan (Figure 10) shows some of the renovations made in the twentieth century including Allan’s Walk. A hardware store was operating on Hargreaves Street in the 1930s.FORMER BEEHIVE BUILDING SITE - Interpretation of Site
It is likely that the foundations of the earlier nineteenth century buildings still exist below ground across the allotment. The historical research tells of repeated expansion of the buildings to incorporate bigger and better stores and so there is potential that archaeology deposits were frequently and swiftly covered over in an effort to expand and renovate as quickly as possible. There is a possibility that parts of the 1860s cellar may be located under the northern end of the study site, near the Pall Mall boundary. Furthermore, evidence of the fire of 1871 may be encountered in the sub-surface deposits despite reports that the conflagration did not extended past the firewalls that originally divided the Pall Mall and Hargreaves St stores. Lastly, there is potential that the more recent twentieth century developments at the Hargreaves site will have had limited impact on archaeological deposits where the trenches for foundations and services were excavated. Six phases of building and occupation can be identified through the historical records with the potential for archaeological deposits: Phase 1 1856-1863 - Single Storey, Wooden Building The Grimes 1853 plan shows the first Beehive Store on Allotment One, Pall Mall. It was described a large canvas tent. By 1856 the Francis Brothers converted the store into a single storey weatherboard building which stretched back to Hargreaves Street, incorporating the study site. The store was concerned with selling Manchester, drapery and items for the basic necessities for miners, including building materials. Evidence relating to this phase of use may include; postholes, paving, stone footings, pits and refuse. Phase 2 1864s - 1871 - Two-Storey Building on Pall Mall, Building renovated, Fire destroys Pall Mall building. In 1864 a two-storey building was built at the Pall Mall end. On its first floor were the offices of the Bendigo Mining Exchange. This building was destroyed by fire in August 1871. The firewalls separated the Hargreaves Street store from its northern neighbour and these buildings were saved. Evidence relating to this phase of use may include; deposits of charcoal indicating conflagration, brick and stone footings, commercial and personal items, pits and refuse, cellars. Phase 3 1872-1880s - Three-storey building on Pall Mall, single and two storey buildings in between and a three storey building on Hargreaves Street. The current three-storey building on Pall Mall was built in 1872. By 1874 there were three shopfronts, a storeroom and stabling and a three-storey building in Hargreaves Street that housed a sewing workshop and some accommodation for the store employees. Archaeological deposits may include brick and or stone foundations, service structures such as wells, latrine pits, drains and rubbish pits. Sub floor and yard deposits could include personal commercial and domestic items, utility artefacts such as broken pottery and glassware and horse equipment from the early stables. Phase 4 1880-1910 Various Shops, Renovations and Expansion to existing buildings. A furniture store was added to the middle section in 1887 and in 1888 alterations were made to expand the stores once more. By 1890 shopkeepers on the Hargreaves St end included, Jewelry, Clocks and an auction rooms. Evidence relating to this phase of use may include; brick footings, commercial and personal items, metal, clothing items, jewellery, furniture, pits, refuse. Phase 5 1910s-1925 - Various Shop, Renovations and Expansion to existing buildings. By 1910 people could enter from Pall Mall and browse shops right through to Hargreaves Street. The Stores are updated and modernized but no physical changes to the buildings take place in this phase. Evidence relating to this phase of use may include; brick footings, commercial and personal items, metal, clothing items, jewellery, furniture, pits, refuse. Phase 6 1925-1938 - Various Shops, Allan’s Walk established The businesses trading in the building included the drapery emporium, Beehive Chambers (mining exchange), a jeweler, bootery, Cafe, a draper, a stationer and auctioneer. There were also several offices and residential quarters. Evidence relating to this phase of use may include; brick footings, commercial and personal items, metal, jewellery, clothing items, furniture, pits, refuse. In 1927 Allan & Co Pty Ltd purchased the Beehive Mining Exchange building, including frontages to both Pall Mall and Hargreaves Street, and created Allan’s Walk. The remains that might be found therefore include accumulated deposits of discarded artefacts associated with the use of the building from the 1900s through to recent times.
Heritage Inventory Description
FORMER BEEHIVE BUILDING SITE - Heritage Inventory Description
The site is located beneath and at the rear of the historic Beehive building. It comprises potential architectural features and accumulated deposits associated with the various occupation phases at the site as well as the original 1850s/60s Beehive building that extended from Pall Mall through to Hargreaves Street. There is the potential for an archaeological site to be preserved beneath the floors/ground level of the historic and current modern structures. This potential was partially verified during a site visit when an historic footing was noted in an open pit excavated for maintenance to electrical services in Alan’s Walk. Other historical footings were noted in the cellar/basement beneath the modern building and beneath floorboards in the section without a basement.
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