BOX HILL GARDENS FORMER RESIDENCES

717-731 STATION STREET BOX HILL, WHITEHORSE CITY

All information on this page is maintained by Heritage Victoria. Click below for their website and contact details.

Victorian Heritage Inventory

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • History

    BOX HILL GARDENS FORMER RESIDENCES - History

    Crown land auctions took place from 1851 in the parish of Nunawading, which includes the Box Hill area, particularly to the north of Whitehorse Road. The primary use of the land was agricultural comprising market gardens and orchards (AJM JV, 2021). Through the 1850s and 1860s services began to be established in Box Hill including the White Horse hotel, the post office and small shops. During the 1880s land boom, the character of Box Hill began to change and when the railway line to Box Hill was constructed in 1882, commercial and residential development near the station and Whitehorse Road increased (AJM JV, 2021).
    
    The Former Residences in Box Hill Gardens fall within Section 16 of the parish of Nunawading. Section 16 was originally purchased by Alexander and Patrick Murphy on the 18th September 1851 (Figure 1). The Murphy’s were speculators rather than pastoralists or residents (Alves, 2010). In 1858 Alexander Murphy sub-divided Section 16 into sixteen 10-acre blocks (Lemon, 1978).
    
    Two residences, located in the present-day Box Hill Gardens, were identified in the 1905 plan of Box Hill (Figure 2). The 1905 plan indicates that the residences were owned and/or occupied by A.W. Tremewan and A. Harding. No information could be found on A. Harding; however, A.W. Tremewan appears to have been an active member of the Independent Order of Rechabites (IOR) (Box Hill Reporter 30 November 1928, p. 7). The IOR were a group of organisations associated with advocating the total abstinence from alcohol and promoting the temperance movement, of which, Box Hill is closely associated.
    
    In November 1920 the Council purchased 8-acres of land on Station Street from William Rodgerson’s estate and established the Box Hill Gardens (Lemon, 1978). The gardens encompassed the land to the north, south and west of the residences. The 1927 Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) plan demonstrates two residences at the site at this time and indicates the original street numbers for the properties were numbers 321 and 323 Station Street (the 1927 MMBW was sited at the Box Hill Historical Society, however a digital version of this plan for inclusion here was not obtained). By 1931 the aerial imagery demonstrates three residences at this location with possible outhouse structures at the rear (Figure 3). Two timber residences and a third unspecified residence are evident in the 1933 MMBW plan. The three residences appear relatively consistently in the 1945 and 1954 aerial images (Figure 5 and Figure 6). The Sands and McDougall listings record that the northernmost residence, 723 Station Street, was a newsagency between 1945 and 1974 and that it was operated at various times by Mrs. F.J. Abbott, Mrs L.M. Vandenbergh and A. & C. Bayley (Victoria Unearthed). By 1975 the southernmost residence was demolished (Figure 7) and by the turn of the 21st Century the remaining two residences within Box Hill Gardens were also demolished.
    
    In the 2010s the Box Hill Gardens were revitalised; these changes included the installation of a stormwater harvesting system (Whitehorse City Council 2013). The installation of the stormwater harvesting system involved excavations for a 600KL underground storage tank that partially intersected with the location of the former residences. Aerial imagery from 2011 captured these excavations therefore the extent of ground disturbances to the potential archaeological site have been recorded.

    Interpretation of Site

    BOX HILL GARDENS FORMER RESIDENCES - Interpretation of Site

    19th Century: The property parcel was predominately used for agriculture, with no identified development within the potential site. Early 20th Century: Two of the three residences were built by 1905. The Box Hill Gardens were established around the residences in the 1920s, and by 1931 there were a total of three residences. Mid-20th Century: Between 1945 and 1974 a newsagency operated from the northernmost residence. In 1975 the southernmost residence was demolished. By 2000 the remaining two residence were demolished. 21st Century: Whitehorse City Council excavations disturbed the rear yard areas of the properties. The site demonstrates continued residential occupation from the early 20th Century to the mid-late 20th Century, alongside small business operating from the northernmost residence. Whilst the extent of the disturbance from the 2011 excavations will have impacted the archaeological potential of the rear yard surfaces, the former residences are potentially representative of domestic and small-scale commercial activities of Box Hill residents throughout the 20th Century.

    Heritage Inventory Description

    BOX HILL GARDENS FORMER RESIDENCES - Heritage Inventory Description

    The site is a series of former residences located at 717-731 Station Street, Box Hill, currently Box Hill Gardens. Observation of Box Hill Gardens confirmed that the ground surface had been subject to some modifications associated with planting and landscaping, alongside known disturbances from the installation of the irrigation system. The location of the former residences is currently grassed with planted trees and a walking track.
• Location map
• Explore related places
  • Show:
    -- select -- Nearby Places

  • 
    RULES OF THE MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB

    

    Victorian Heritage Register H2428
  • NORTH MELBOURNE POTTERY

    

    Victorian Heritage Inventory
  • STONY CREEK SLIPWAY

    

    Victorian Heritage Inventory
• Public contributions