MORDIALLOC RAILWAY WATER TOWER

Mordialloc Railway Water Tower built by James Younger in a simplified Edwardian Style in c1910. It comprises an inverted cone constructed from metal-reinforced concrete sitting on a circular brick base. 

 The Mordialloc Railway Water Tower is of historical significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criterion for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register:
Criterion A Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history.
Criterion B Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria’s cultural history. 

 The Mordialloc Railway Water Tower has a clear association with the rapid expansion of Victoria’s railway network. The association is evident in the water tower for its clear illustration of the later stages of the steam-powered locomotive era before the electrification of the network in the interwar period. This expansion phase is of historical significance, having been key in the development of Victoria’s railway. [Criterion A] The Mordialloc Railway Water Tower is a rare example of its type in existence in Victoria and is likely to be one of the last water towers of any type within the entire suburban rail network. Its striking form was not widely replicated in Victoria. The use of metal-reinforced concrete in the construction of the cone represents a relatively early and novel use of this material. [Criterion B]