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WEST MELBOURNE RUBBISH TIPS AND DUDLEY FLATS SITE
FOOTSCRAY ROAD WEST MELBOURNE, MELBOURNE CITY

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Victorian Heritage Inventory
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Statement of Significance

What is significant?

West Melbourne Rubbish Tips and the Dudley Flats Site is of moderate to high historical and social significance for its potential to contain historical archaeological remains associated with the settlement and growth of early Melbourne, including urban consumer discard in the late 19th century and past patterns of life and consumption.  The desiccators within the West Melbourne Tip area are rare with only two of a proposed twenty ever constructed in Melbourne, being quickly redundant as a result of the metropolitan sewage scheme. 


The site also is also significant as slum settlement for Melbourne’s poor and homeless, particularly from the 1890s and during the Depression of the 1930s. 

How is it significant?
Why is it significant?
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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    • History

      WEST MELBOURNE RUBBISH TIPS AND DUDLEY FLATS SITE - History

      The area was used as a rubbish tip site from the 1870s. Three separate tips were used by:

      1) The Melbourne City Council Tip

      2) The Railway Tip

      3) The Melbourne Harbour Trust Tip

      Interpretation of Site

      WEST MELBOURNE RUBBISH TIPS AND DUDLEY FLATS SITE - Interpretation of Site

      Updated 17/12/2021- 1840s: Site was used by noxious trades and industries including slaughter yards, manure makers, tanneries, soap and candle manufacturers (concentrated on the western end of Dynon Road) 1850s-1950s: Rubbish dump and ash tipping site. 1880s: Swamp had been drained and area was effectively an open sewer resulting from the waste overflow from the surrounding residential and industrial works. 1920s: Reclaimed land by Railways Department developed an area south of Dynon Road to include railway infrastructure, including tracks and freight terminal. 1920s-1940s: Slum settlement 1950s-present: Reclaimation of land for rail infrastructure. Ongoing developments pertaining to rail infrastructure. Previous archaeological investigations have revealed that there are many archaeological deposits present within the site that are consistent with late 19th and early- to mid-20th century refuse disposal. There are also less significant deposits present that contain industrial waste and building rubble from the mid-20th century. Soil contamination is also a problem across the site due to industrial waste disposal and use of the site for railway maintenance yards and waste disposal. High ground water in many places also affects the archaeological integrity of the site. The site has potential to uncover rich artefactual evidence from Melbourne’s West Rubbish Tips and Dudley Flats, including potential structural remains associated with the desiccators. Site may exist beneath asphalt

      Heritage Inventory Description

      WEST MELBOURNE RUBBISH TIPS AND DUDLEY FLATS SITE - Heritage Inventory Description

      Updated 17/12/2021- The site is largely located between Dynon Road and Footscray Road, West Melbourne. The site also extends to the east of the CityLink/Tullamarine Freeway and approximately 350m south of Footscray Road. Historically, Rubbish dump and ash tipping site used by ‘The Melbourne City Council Tp’ the ‘Railway Tip’ and Melbourne Harbour Trust Tip’ from the 1870s. During the 1930s Depression, the area was scavenged the tip and the area known as ‘Dudley Flat’s’ became home to Melbourne’e poor and homeless. The area has been filled and built over since the 1950s. Today the site contains V/Line rail stabling yards and rail services and is intersected by a number of major roads (including Footscray Road and CityLink). Rubbish dump sites; "Melbourne City Council Tip", the "Railway Tip" and the "Melbourne Harbour Trust Tip". In use from 1870s, but much of the area was filled in and built over in the 1950s./n 3 potential rubbish tips: The Melbourne City Council Tip; the Railway Tip; and Melbourne Harbour Trust Tip.Physical Conditions: Unexposed.

Public contributions

Note: Developments may span multiple time periods
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