FIRE BELL AT FIRE STATION, 909 MAIN RD, ELTHAM

What is significant?
The c1933 fire bell and the surrounding site to a radius of 10 metres.

How is it significant?
The fire bell is historically and technically significant to the Shire of Nillumbik.

Why is it significant?
The fire bell is historically significant as a rare example of an iron bell cast in Victoria and because it played an important part in the community life of Eltham in the earlier part of the 20th century (Criterion B). The fire bell is historically significant because it was taken from an earlier Eltham fire station and is a reminder of the growth and development of the emergency services in the area (Criterion A). The bell is technically significant because it illustrates the development of a manufacturing technology which has largely disappeared (Criteria B & D).

BICK STUDY, 1992
This bell presumably survives from a previous Eltham fire station and is a quite rare example of an iron bell cast in Victoria and thus illustrates the development of a manufacturing technology which has almost certainly disappeared since. Bells such as this were closely associated with community life during the 19th and early 20th centuries in Victoria including schools, churches, clocks, trains, trams and were particularly strongly associated with fire and other emergencies. During the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries, most if not all fire stations had bells to warn of fire.

BASIS OF SIGNIFICANCE:

HISTORY

RARITY

TECHNOLOGY

DEGREE OF SIGNIFICANCE: LOCAL SIGNIFICANCE

EXTENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: BELL AND SITE TO A RADIUS OF 10 METRES

Group

Utilities - Fire Control

Category

Fire Control Objects (movable)