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Lake Tyers Glassworks Site

Location

SE Shore Line Lake Tyers Beach, LAKE TYERS BEACH VIC 3909 - Property No B1257

File Number

B1257

Level

File only

[1/3]
B1257 Small Marine Boiler
[2/3]
B1257 Half Buried Hand Winch
[3/3]
B1257 Small Compound Marine

Statement of Significance

The small glass works on the shores of Lake Tyers was established by Edward Roberts in 1909 to manfacture glass insulators for the telephone lines. The insulators were embossed PMG 1912-1915 and are very rare with only a handful in existence. Robert's open hearth furnace fired by local wood reached temperatures sufficient to melt sand to produce a unique blue-green glass.

Roberts was the son of distinguished English astronomer, Edward Roberts, in charge of the Greenwich Observatory. Edward Roberts Jnr came to Melbourne in 1889 and worked in glass production at Felton & Grimwade's glass works at Spotswood. He was also associated with Brooks Robinson, makers of stained glass for church windows. Roberts became the manager of the Lake Tyers Guest House for his father-in-law and after leaving this job, purchased his own steam launch and became involved in the passage of cargo for industries around Lake Tyers. The expansion of the new technology of telegraphy and the introduction of telephone lines led to Roberts winning a contract to supply 100,000 insulators to the Post Master General.

The site is significant due to its association with the local history of the Lake Tyers area. It is significant for the part it played in the new technology of telegraphy. The furnace itself was significant as being an open hearth design, only the third such design in the world - and the only one fired with wood.

WW1 economies and the loss of the supply of soda ash from Germany led to the closure of the works.

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