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Former Ballarat Woollen & Worsted Mill

Location Cnr Humffray & Hill Streets,, BALLARAT CENTRAL VIC 3350 - Property No B5599 File Number B5599 Level Local

[1/2] B5599 Ballarat Woollen and [2/2] B5599 Ballarat Woollen &

Statement of Significance

The former Ballarat Woollen and Worsted Mill is architecturally the best surviving example of the 19th Century woollen mills built in Victoria. In its heyday it was second only, in volume of production, to the earlier Victoria Woollen Mills in Geelong. However in 1895 the Ballarat Mill was described as the most perfect of its kind in the southern hemisphere. Its economic importance to Victoria cannot be over-emphasised. It was established at the time when gold mining, as an employer of men, was in a slump and the population of Ballarat was diminishing. The mill was always a public company, its initial capital being financed by shareholders, many of whom were influential citizens of Ballart. The prosperity of the mill helped maintain Ballarat as a major provincial city.
The original buildings, designed by architect, H R Caselli in 1872, consisted of three bays of red brick arches supporting an early example of sawtooth roofing faithfully expressed in the facade. To this was added a further three bays of red brick arches, c 1874 to a similar design.
Then in 1886 an elegant building in the romanesque style using polychrome brickwork was built in front of the original building. It is the earliest known example of this style in polychrome brickwork in Victoria. The building consists of a long facade of 18 arches supported on piers with windows or openings on two levels between the piers.
All the 20th Century additions to the 1872, 1874 and 1886 buildings are excluded.
Classified: 02/05/1985