Cox's Garden Cottage

Cox's Garden Cottage at 11 Cox's Garden, Williamstown is of local historic, social and aesthetic significance to the City of Hobsons Bay.

Historically, the cottage is significant as one of a very small group of surviving pre-1860 two room timber worker's cottages in Melbourne and one of less than ten pre-1860 timber dwellings in Williamstown. Cox's Garden was a privately created subdivision and street of modest timber cottages, established by fisherman Samuel George Cox in the early 1850s and this gives the Cottage, the most intact of the surviving cottages, added significance. It is also locally important for its long association with the Randall family who owned and occupied the Cottage between c.1866 and 1978 and were associated with the maritime industry in Williamstown over a long period. (AHC criteria A4, B2 and H1)

Socially, the cottage is significant as a rare example of an early workers cottage. The front two rooms are the original cottage dating from c.1858 and illustrate the very basic nature of the housing of many Melburnians in the 1850s. (AHC criteria B2 and D2)

Aesthetically, the cottage is architecturally significant as a now rare example of a very early timber house, which makes an important contribution to the historic character of the Cox's Garden Heritage Precinct. Internally, the survival of the rough sawn timber internal lining boards with wallpaper over fabric and hessian fixed to them and timber shake roof cladding beneath the recent corrugated iron sheeting, is very unusual. (AHC criteria B2, E1 and F1)

Note: Included on the Victorian Heritage Register as VHR H487.

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

Cottage