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FORMER MCATEER FARMING COMPLEX

Location

375-389 BARWON HEADS ROAD, CHARLEMONT VIC 3217

File Number

HE/09/3006-02

Level

Heritage Inventory Site

Statement of Significance

What is significant?

The Former McAteer Farming Complex site is located within land purchased by Frances McAteer in 1866 and occupied by the McAteer family until 1924. The site has been assessed as having moderate-high archaeological potential within sections 1 and 3, with architectural remains relating to early rural settlement and occupation by members of the McAteer family (c.1866-1924). While subsequent activities have undoubtedly resulted in subsurface disturbance (e.g. service emplacements, landscaping, rabbit burrows, roadworks), it seems likely that in situ nineteenth-century structural remains and associated deposits remain at the site (e.g. 1866 cottage, rubbish pit). Given that the c.1867 cottage appears to retain its original floorboards, it seems likely that sub-floor deposits are preserved beneath this building (GHMH 2020b: 10).

Despite the poor condition of the c.1867 cottage, this building and its associated features are assessed as having architectural significance due to the increasing rarity of these types. The locally rare use of bluestone as a construction material suggests that the stone used at the property (cottage, outbuilding, garden bed edging) may originate from surplus stone associated with works at the nearby Australian Tannery during the 1860s (see Rowe & Jacobs 2014: CHA01).

The location of the c.1867 bluestone cottage - fronting the location of a historically important roadway - is particularly evocative of Victoria’s early farming lifeways. The c.1920 bluestone outbuilding, gardens, and mature trees contribute to the aesthetics of its setting.

How is it significant?

The Former McAteer Farming Complex site is of aesthetic, archaeological, architectural, historical, and scientific significance at a local level.

Why is it significant?

The site has been assessed as having moderate-high archaeological potential, with architectural remains relating to early rural settlement and occupation by members of the McAteer family (c.1866-1924). While subsequent activities have undoubtedly resulted in subsurface disturbance (e.g. service emplacements, landscaping, rabbit burrows, roadworks), it seems likely that in situ nineteenth-century structural remains and associated deposits remain at the site (e.g. 1866 cottage, rubbish pit). Given that the c.1867 cottage appears to retain its original floorboards, it seems likely that sub-floor deposits are preserved beneath this building.

Group

Farming and Grazing