PRINCES WALK VAULTS

1-9 BATMAN AVENUE MELBOURNE, MELBOURNE CITY

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Victorian Heritage Register

princes walk vaults batman avenue melbourne view from across yarra feb1985

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • History

    PRINCES WALK VAULTS - History

    History of Place:
    The Princes Bridge vaults were constructed by A W McKenzie for the City of Melbourne in 1889-90. Contract drawings show that the vaults were designed to abut the bridge abutments. Batman Avenue was then known as Yarra Bank Road and was realigned when the bridge was constructed. The vaults construction as a retaining wall allowed the new road to be supported above. Sands & McDougall directories show that the vualts have been in almost continuous use by a variety of commercial and entertainment interests.
    
    Contextual History:
    In Melbourne punts were operating across the Yarra River at the city and Richmond in the late 1830s. In 1845 the Melbourne Bridge Co. was licensed to build an iron toll bridge below the present site of Princes Bridge, but could only raise enough capital to erect a wooden bridge. The company charged pedestrians crossing the river 1d each; cattle and horses 2d a head; horse and bullock drays 6d; and private carriages 1s each. The significance of such early developments was that they established main arterial routes for all time, regardless of future needs or sound engineering principles. By the time increasing traffic forced government authorities to intervene and build public bridges, the shape of cities and near suburbs had been determined by thousands of private decisions and accidents of fate .
    
    The need for a bridge across the Yarra was recognised in the earliest days of the settlement, but not until 1845 was the first of the three Princes Bridges built to give a more direct connection for ships anchored in the bay. Until then, passengers and luggage were transferred to either flat bottomed barges or boats which put them ashore at Williamstown, leaving them an uncomfortable nine mile journey by horse or bullock dray to the settlement. Alternatively, passengers were loaded into small craft which took them about the same distance up the river. The quickest way was three miles overland from Port Melbourne, but only inadequate ferries were available at the river to take passengers across the main settlement on the other side .

    Permit Exemptions

    PRINCES WALK VAULTS - Permit Exemptions

    General Exemptions:

    General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.

    Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.

    Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.

    Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions.

    Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.

• Attachments
  • Moving through time audio tour - Stop 1, Introduction
    
  • Moving through time audio tour - Stop 2, Mark Healy
    
• Location map
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