BOURKE STREET WEST POLICE STATION (FORMER)
621-629 BOURKE STREET MELBOURNE, MELBOURNE CITY
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Statement of Significance
This place is included on the Victorian Heritage Inventory, for its potential to contain historical archaeological remains associated with the settlement and growth of early Melbourne. Under the terms of the Heritage Act 2017 there is protection for all historical archaeology sites and objects in the state.
Please visit the Heritage Victoria website to find out more about the Heritage Inventory.
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BOURKE STREET WEST POLICE STATION (FORMER) - History
Heritage Inventory History of Site: Date of first documented occupation, 1850sHeritage Inventory Description
BOURKE STREET WEST POLICE STATION (FORMER) - Heritage Inventory Description
1850 & 1855 maps - building on site. 1866 - building on site. 1888 - three buildings, cellsand twoothers.1889 - Police Station constructed. 1905 - two- and one-storey Police Station and cells
Heritage Inventory Significance: The former Bourke street west police complex is comprised of a cell block and watchhouse, police barracks and station, sergeant's quarters and marshalling yard and was constructed in 1887-89 by the public works department. The cell block was completed by 1887 and the associated police station, barracks and sergeant's quarters by 1889. The design of the building was undertaken by S C Brittingham under the direction of S.E. Bindley, the district architect. The complex is the last remnant of the 19th century public buildings constructed in the government reserve designated by Robert Russell's 1837 plan of the Port Phillip settlement and bound by Bourke/King/ Collins and Spencer Streets. It is of historic importance as a demonstration of the evolution of the Victorian Police Force and is the only remaining example in inner Melbourne of its type (the other major 19th century Melbourne police barracks and offices were at Russell Street and no longer exist). The buildings are substantially intact and illustrate the changed manner of police life in the late 19th century as a result of the enquiry following the Ned Kelly trial. The barracks fronting Bourke Street are designed in a distinctive Gothic revival style with a notable carriageway leading to the marshalling yard and the cell block which is a simple rectangular rough-hewn bluestone structure with a slate roof (incorporating a raised central monitor) modelled on the same design principles as Port Phillip's first watch-house. The Bourke Street west police complex is of importance as a significant remnant of early government administration in the western end of Melbourne, as the best surviving example of 19th century police activity in the metropolitan area and for its distinctive architectural contribution to the group of 19th and early 20th century buildings at the western end of Bourke Street.
Archeological Potential: Extant bldg Fabric, Site
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FORMER ROYAL AUSTRALIAN ARMY MEDICAL CORPS TRAINING DEPOTVictorian Heritage Register H0717
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MITRE TAVERNVictorian Heritage Register H0464
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MELBOURNE SAVAGE CLUBVictorian Heritage Register H0025
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