FORMER ALLOTMENT 27 OF SECTION D ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

The area is first mapped as allotment 27 of Section D in detail in the 1857 Revised Town Plan of Block A.B. C. D. The site was likely occupied prior as part of the first phase of the Ballarat Main Street development, due to its proximity to Ballarat West and the Gravel Pit alluvial fields. The site comprised a timber structure that was likely later renovated into a brick structure. The later nineteenth century appears to be a general high turn-over commercial occupation; however, features are still present on the 1923 Ballarat Sewerage Plan showing smaller outbuildings and a cesspit to the south of the site.

The site is of historical and archaeological significance. 

The site is of historical significance as the location of an early residence and commercial precinct during the years of the Victorian gold rush – one of the most significant rushes in world history. The site is of archaeological significance due to its potential to contain artefacts, deposits and features that relate to the establishment of commercial operations in the gold rush, and other later 19th century activities.