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LANGTON LODGE
Location71 BODYCOATS ROAD WOLLERT, WHITTLESEA CITY LevelHeritage Inventory Site |
Statement of Significance
The site comprises the potential location of a former homestead,
extant farm and dairy sheds, portable one room and two room
residences, a modern residence, areas of brick and bluestone
paving/cobbling around the farm sheds and potential location of the
homestead, the cobbled foundations of a former structure within a
small dry stone wall enclosure and a network of dry stone walls.
Detailed description of elements of the site are attached separately. This site was identified during the Historical Heritage Assessment
for the residential subdivision of 71 - 75 and 85 Bodycoats Road,
Wollert, Victoria, HV report number 4502. he study area once formed part of the Medland Estate, purchased by
John Hunter Patterson in 1840, when the Parish of Kalkallo was offered
for sale by the Government (Figure 1, attached separately). Patterson
was unable to finance the purchase, and sold to William Furlong the
following year (Gould 1991). In 1843, Furlong subdivided and sold 1920
acres to Charles and Richard Wedge, retaining the remainder until
1853, when the Union Bank of Australia foreclosed. Later in 1853, the
Medland Estate was offered for sale, and was subdivided into thirty
lots, ranging from 70 to 330 acres (Gould 1991). This portion of the
Estate contained many rocky rises unsuitable for close subdivision,
and best used for grazing. Few houses were built in the region, but
the area was fenced for grazing, utilising the plentiful freestone for
drystone walls, which usually followed the landform or alignment of
the subdivision or roads (Gould 1991). A family history website references the marriage of Mary Elizabeth
Bodycoat to William Hayes at Langton Lodge (Hayes Family in Australia
2015). Mary Bodycoat was born in Collingwood in 1852, and married
Hayes at the home of her parents, in Wollert. At this time, Mary's
father William Bodycoat, had a dairy farm in the Medland Estate named
'Langton Lodge'. Land Title documents for the study area, however,
list the initial Bodycoat owners of the study area as Daniel and
Walter, rather than William and Mary (Table 1, attached separately).
This discrepancy has not yet been investigated.
Among the first settlers to Wollert in 1853 were the Bodycoat
family, who still occupy the property today. In 1844, William and Mary
Bodycoat and their son Thomas arrived in Australia from
Leicestershire, England. After living at Collingwood for several
years, William purchased 143 acres at Wollert in 1853, within the
Medland Estate, and established a dairy farm which came to be known as
Langton Lodge (Gould 1991). Thomas Bodycoat established a large
acreage known as Springvale, opposite the current study area (Figure
1, attached separately). In 1905, this was described as 'planned and
equipped in the most up-to-date fashion' and 'one of the showplaces of
its kind in the State' (Gould 1991). William Bodycoat continued to
farm at Langton Lodge until his death in 1890. Thomas Bodycoat died in
in 1905, at the age of 70 (Gould 1991).
Based on the description of its location and the map presented in
Gould 1991 (Figure 1, attached separately), the farm complex
identified in the study area is likely to be Langton Lodge. According
to Gould (1991: 26), the original farm was demolished in 1964,
however, several early buildings still stand opposite the entrance to
the farm. It is likely the buildings Gould is referring to are those
associated with Springvale, opposite the current study area.
Group
Residential buildings (private)
Category
Artefacts/Relics