YARRAVILLE SUGAR REFINERY WHARVES - TIMBER SHEET PILING AND WHARF STRUCTURE

RONA AVENUE YARRAVILLE, MARIBYRNONG CITY

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Victorian Heritage Inventory

Yarraville Sugar Refinery Wharves Maribyrnong July 2003 001

Statement of Significance

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  • History

    YARRAVILLE SUGAR REFINERY WHARVES - TIMBER SHEET PILING AND WHARF STRUCTURE - History

    The Joshua Brothers Sugar works was among the first of a number of heavy industries to cluster on the Saltwater (Maribyrnong) River at Yarraville, when it opened in 1873. The Victorian Sugar Company purchased the works in 1875 and merged with other Australian sugar refineries to become the Colonial Sugar Refinery in 1887 (H1311). It is said that there was a ti-tree wharf at the site when Joshua Brothers began their operations (Allom Lovell and Associates Pty Ltd 1992, p.12).

    A drawing of the refinery in 1876 indicates a timber wharf structure in front of the refinery. A plan dated three years after that suggests that the wharf has been lengthened and protrudes out from the refinery into the river. (Melbourne Harbor Trust Plan Showing General Improvements as Recommended by Sir John Coode, 1879). This wharf appears to have been replaced by a shorter wharf by 1892, when Miller's Jetty appears to the north of the sugar works (Melbourne Harbor Trust Plan showing improvements to the Port of Melbourne, 1892).

    In 1895 the Melbourne Harbor Trust Commissioners reported that they had reached an agreement with CSR to extend and make alterations to their existing wharf (MHT Commissioners Annual Report, 1895). The following year the company was given permission to reclaim a substantial area of land adjacent to a block they had recently acquired (MHT Commissioners Annual Report, 1896).

    Two years later, the MHT commissioners agreed to construct a wharf to the north of the refinery wharf for Cuming, Smith and Co. Eventually there would be an almost continuous length of wharfage along the river at Yarraville servicing CSR, Cuming Smith and the Mount Lyell company.

    The Melbourne Harbor Trust commissioners reported in 1924 that a new wharf had been constructed at Yarraville 348 feet in length -primarily for the use of the importers of phosphate MHT Commissioners Annual Report 1924). In 1926 another wharf - 250 feet in length- was constructed at Yarraville, though the MHT report gives no indication of the purpose of this wharf (MHT Commissioners Annual Report, 1926).

    Until the 1950s, raw sugar was transported to the CSR complex in sacks (Allom Lovell and Associates, 1992). A new sugar wharf was constructed in 1959, when the company switched to bulk handling of sugar (Allom Lovell and Associates, 1992). New transporter cranes were installed along with the wharf.

    Although the new wharf was constructed in concrete, remnant piles from an earlier wharf appear to still exist beneath the wharf. The northern section of the wharf, which was not still in use in 2009, is in a dangerous state of repair and is fenced off.

    Sources

    Allom Lovell and Associates Pty Ltd, 1992, The CSR Sugar Refinery Yarraville - A Conservation Analysis.

    MHT Commissioners Annual Report, 1896.

    MHT Commissioners Annual Report 1926.

    Interpretation of Site

    YARRAVILLE SUGAR REFINERY WHARVES - TIMBER SHEET PILING AND WHARF STRUCTURE - Interpretation of Site

    The wharf is substantially extant, and as such is the only surviving example of 19th century sugar wharf identified in the study area.

    Heritage Inventory Description

    YARRAVILLE SUGAR REFINERY WHARVES - TIMBER SHEET PILING AND WHARF STRUCTURE - Heritage Inventory Description

    The wharves are still used in this area by the CSR refinery, and appear to be built either over or incorporating the former timber wharf structure. Timber sheet piling is evident under the current wharf at the landward end. Two grab claw cargo cranes (used for offloading loose granular bulk cargo) still stand on the wharf.

    Wharf, cranes and archaeological deposits associated with the site's use.

    Archeological Potential: good

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