FORMER BRUNSWICK CABLE TRAM DEPOT PRECINCT

The Former Brunswick Cable Tram Depot Precinct (VHI H7822-2230) has the potential to contain significant 19th century archaeological remains related to the operation of the Melbourne Tramwavs Trust cable tram network by the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company (1885-1916) and the MMTB (1918-1935). It also contains evidence of a 1942 zig-zag air raid slit trench, which appears to have been constructed by the MMTB for protection of staff during World War II.

The significant remains within the Brunswick Tramway Depot may include parallel tram tracks, an associated traverser to move the vehicles between the tracks, the drainage system, a turntable, and inspection and access pits for maintenance and repair of the trams. 

The Brunswick Tram Depot Zig-Zag Air Raid Slit Trench was identified in the 1945 aerial imagery of the Brunswick Tram Depot site. It comprises a zig-zag air raid slit trench in what is now the Brunswick Tram Depot car park. Aerial imagery dating from 1945-1988 suggest that this area was primarily used for stockpiling in 1956, and as an unpaved carpark from 1968 to 1972, with evidence of slabs of concrete having been added in 1988, followed by the levelling of the carpark in 2004 through building up the ground surface to form a level surface prior to the addition of modern asphalt. As such, it is possible that the remains of the base of the zig-zag air raid slit trench are still extant in a subsurface context. Features may include sandbags, timbers, corrugated iron, iron rods, and drainage infrastructure, along with the potential for discarded items dating to the period the trench was in use.

The significant remains found within the former tram entry to the depot, and along Sydney Road, may include tram tracks, wood blocked and/or stone setts paving, deep concrete cable tunnels centred under each track, and inspection and access manholes having cast iron covers.

The site is of historical and archaeological significance.

The remains within the Brunswick Cable Tram Depot Precinct are highly significant as they have the potential to provide information on how Melbourne’s early cable tram system operated, as well as how depot staff responded to the potential threats of World War II. The presence of evidence of early tram infrastructure has the potential to provide information about the technology, construction and operation of the cable tramway.

The zig-zag trench comprises a significant archaeological feature of Melbourne’s history during World War II which are not commonly investigated archaeologically. Evidence found has the potential to provide information on the technology, construction, and use of the air raid slit trench in an urban context. This will provide information on how the people of Brunswick responded to the possibility of war during, and after, World War II.

Additionally, as one of the early major thoroughfares in Melbourne and the early construction of cable tramways, Sydney Road is of historical significance. The presence of evidence of early road and tram infrastructure has the potential to provide information about the technology, construction and operation of the cable tramway, and of early road construction.