Bridge Street Mall / Bakery Hill

The Bridge Mall/Bakery Hill Precinct is historically significant at a LOCAL level (AHC criterion A & H.1).

The Precinct is historically significant as the oldest commercial retail area in Ballarat, located in the river flats of Yarrowee River. The Precinct was the narrow pivotal meeting point in the 1850s, between Main Road and the chaotic alluvial mining and commercial centre which spread over Ballarat Flats, Yarrowee Creek and Golden Point, and the official government township surveyed in 1851 and the police camp on the high basalt escarpment overlooking Yarrowee River to the west.

The Precinct is historically significant for its association with the early settlement of East Ballarat from the 1850s as a result of gold discoveries in the area, and with the early development of this particular area of East Ballarat as a focus of commercial and cultural/community activities in contrast with the contemporary government town that was being established under neoclassical auspices of hierarchy and axial ordering in West Ballarat.

The Precinct is historically significant for its association with Bakery Hill located on the high ground at the eastern end of the precinct, the site of the much analyzed place in Australian history as the meeting point for miners during the Eureka Rebellion, which took place on the Ballarat goldfields in November and December 1854. Defiant miners gathered at Bakery Hill in their thousands, in full view of the government camp, to air their grievances over mining licenses and corrupt officialdom. They stood together on Bakery Hill as Peter Lalor symbolically raised the Eureka Flag, with its design modeled on the stars of the Southern Cross. No physical evidence of this event remains at Bakery Hill, but the location nevertheless maintains its historical importance. Bakery Hill was also the site of an important deep lead, which although rich, was difficult to work due to high water levels.

The Precinct is historically significant for its association with the early un-planned area of East Ballarat that was subject to major flooding, noise, proliferation of mine shafts, pudding machines, debris, noxious fumes, polluted water and general environmental degradation associated with gold mining. A basic bridge was erected across Yarrowee River in 1862 to provide passage over this area. The width of the bridge is reported to have determined the width of Bridge Street and accordingly, storekeepers built the frontages of their shops to align with the bridge. Throughout the 1850s and 1860s, floods regularly harassed Bridge and Main Street retailers and in the 1860s engineering works were carried out to raise the level of the street, up to six feet in some places. The present day level of Bridge Street is considerably higher than it was during the 1850s and 1860s.

In particular the continuing commercial activities along Main Road are an important reminder of its early role as a flourishing commercial and retail thoroughfare in the 1850s. The commercial buildings in Main Road, Bridge Mall and Victoria Street are also associated with continuing commercial developments in the precinct from the 1860s and into the early decades of the twentieth century. Associations with the cultural/community developments in the precinct from the 1860s and into the early decades of the twentieth century are identified by St Paul's Anglican Church, its associated Parish Hall and the former ANA Hall, which was formerly a Seventh Day Adventist Church.

The Bridge Mall/Bakery Hill Precinct is architecturally significant at a LOCAL level (AHC criteria D.2, E.1).

The Precinct is architecturally important because it demonstrates many original and intact historic architectural design qualities associated with the commercial and cultural/community development of the area between the 1850s and the late 1930s.

The commercial buildings in the Bridge Mall/Bakery Hill Precinct range in their period of construction from Victorian to Federation to Inter-war, although a number of 19th century facades have been remodeled. There is an outstanding group of very early 19th century two storey shops in the eastern area, which may date to the 1850s/60s and which are a scarce example of a particular type of shop design that is no longer common. Although most of the commercial buildings are two storey in height there are a number of historic single story buildings within the precinct. There is also a pair of notable semi-detached three storey buildings at 24-26 Bridge Mall and the distinctive three storey hotel at 92 Bridge Mall (on the corner of Peel Street). Many of the historic commercial buildings feature parapets, which are a dominant element in the streetscape. The dominant style of heritage buildings in this precinct is commercial Victorian erected from c.1865-c.1900. There is also a small number of commercial Federation styled buildings erected from c.1890-c.1918 and a small number of commercial Inter-war styled buildings. Some of these were erected on the sites of earlier buildings from c.1920-c.1940 while others are nineteenth century buildings that have been substantially refaced.

The Precinct is architecturally important for the fine example of St Paul's Anglican Church in Humffray Street South, which forms a dramatic landmark on the skyline. Its architectural development is also important as an example of how the design and construction of buildings in this area were adapted to the risks associated with mining conditions of its site.

The Bridge Mall/Bakery Hill Precinct is aesthetically significant at a LOCAL level (AHC criteria D.2, E.1).

The Precinct is aesthetically significant for its distinctive heritage visual qualities that assist in understanding the historical, cultural and architectural development of the area, particularly in contrast with Ballarat West, and contribute to the gold mining townscape of Ballarat. These views include the dramatic rear views of the buildings on the western basalt escarpment of Lydiard Street and Camp Street as well as internal rear views of the buildings within the precinct.

Most of these views originate from the distinctive topography of the Precinct whereby the rising ground in both directions provide enclosed vistas at each end and reinforce the sense of enclosure formed by the contrasting narrowness of Bridge Mall. These views include (but are not limited) to the confined commercial streetscape along Bridge Mall between Grenville Street and Peel Street South contrasted with the vista westwards up the wide boulevard of Sturt Street with its mature trees, memorials and dominant towers of the Town Hall and former Post Office on top of the escarpment; the views into and along Bridge Mall and Victoria Street from the eastern and western edges of the Precinct; the stepped facades of the significantly intact early buildings along the northern side of Victoria Street as it changes alignment from its intersection with Bridge Mall and inclines upwards towards the intersection with Humffray Street South; the complex vistas northwards along Humffray Street South and Main Road from the point where they intersect at a sharp angle on the southeastern edge of the precinct; and the dynamic appearance of the rear facades of the commercial buildings throughout the Precinct, which can be seen from many locations both within and outside of the precinct, and comprise a variety of shapes, heights, sizes and building materials.

Other important aesthetic qualities are substantially demonstrated by the significant urban foci. Notably the distinctive former East Ballarat Post Office which forms a significant corner streetscape element at the south-eastern entry to the Precinct; St Paul's Anglican Church in Humffray Street South, which due to its position on the highest point of the precinct and its imposing tower, forms a dramatic landmark on the skyline and can be seen from many vantage points both within and outside of the Precinct; the Bakery Hill Tavern (the former Munster Arms Hotel) at 10 Victoria Street, and the stepped series of face brick buildings at 19-27 Victoria Street, which are both on prominent corner locations at the main eastern entry to the Precinct; the three-storey Bridge Mall Tavern (the former North Grand Hotel) at 92 Bridge Mall, which is also on a prominent corner location; the former State Savings Bank of Victoria at 95-99 Bridge Mall, which concludes the northern vista along Main Road; and the notable three-storey pair of buildings at 24-26 Bridge Mall, which can be seen from a number of vantage points both within and outside of the Precinct.

Further important aesthetic qualities are contributed by the well detailed, stepped face brick retaining wall with a bluestone base and a rendered moulded capping and the short lengths of cast iron palisade fence with a bluestone plinth and piers of the former Ballarat East Post Office; and by the cast iron gates with heavy bluestone piers and the substantial and intricate cast iron palisade fence on a bluestone plinth of the St Paul's Anglican church site.

The Bridge Mall/Bakery Hill Precinct is scientifically significant at a LOCAL level (AHC criterion C.2).

The Precinct is of importance for contributing to a history of the infrastructure development of Ballarat East, as identified by the significantly intact bluestone lanes, channels, gutters and kerbs. The kerbstones are of additional significance for the markings left in them by former verandah posts.

The Bridge Mall/Bakery Hill Precinct is socially significant at a LOCAL level (AHC criterion G.1).

The Precinct is recognized and highly valued by the local community for commercial and religious reasons.