MELBOURNE GLASS BOTTLE WORKS COMPANY

In 1890, Fenton, Grimwalde and Co. purchased 12 acres of land on the Yarra at Spotswood and built a new manufacturing plant for the Melbourne Glass Bottle Works Company, which had been established in 1872 and previously operated from South Melbourne. The largest building in the complex was the mixing shed which was 120 feet long by 50 feet wide (‘Glass and Glassmaking’ Leader, Melbourne 2 February 1890, 5). Other structures included furnaces, a boiler room, engine room, batch house, mould room, mould making shop, blow pipe making department and closures shop (Harrop 2008: 36). The Bottle Works had its own railway siding so that coal could be directly delivered to the site. The Bottle Works was fenced off by a basalt wall, which was 115 metres long and 6 metres high, along the Yarra side of the complex, facing what is now Douglas Parade. The Company employed more than 220 men in 1890 (‘Glass and Glassmaking’ Leader, Melbourne 2 February 1890, 6). 

By 1915 Spotswood became the headquarters of the business which had glassworks in Hobart and Sydney by the 1930s. Aerial photographs show the expansion and modernisation of the plant through the twentieth century. Daniel Pratt’s oblique Airspy photograph taken in 1930 shows the factory with its brick furnaces and various factory
sheds occupying much of the land between the railway line and the river frontage. A 1945 aerial shows that new buildings had been constructed, including a multi-level red brick building, and that some demolition had taken place (Melbourne_848B4A 1945). By 1986,  the factory site was almost completely covered in buildings. A series of photographs taken by Walter Sievers in the 1980s of AC1 shows the plant had been modernised and expanded during Melbourne’s manufacturing boom period following the end of World War Two. 

The Former Melbourne Glass Bottle Works is historically significant as it reflects the growth and development of Victoria’s manufacturing capacity through the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. Glass was produced on the site of the Former Melbourne Glass Bottle Works at Spotswood for over a hundred years from
1890, and this was possibly the oldest continuously operating complex in the city and the metropolitan area. They had become the largest bottle producer in Victoria by 1908. The organisation adopted the most up-to-date manufacturing processes for glassmaking over its history and evolved to become a supplier of building materials by 1939. The factory produced a wide range of glass products that included beer, wine and spirit bottles; pickle, sauce, jam and condiment jars; medicine bottles and vials; as well as window glass and glass products used in industrial processes. These products were used domestically, nationally and in the food export industries.

The Melbourne Glass Bottle Works is also historically significant on account of its association with Victoria’s early European transportation routes. The factory had its own railway siding when it first opened and was connected by tramway to the nearby jetty. The factory used water and rail to transport its raw materials onto the site, and to transport their final products out to markets, both domestic and overseas. Workers also used rail to commute to work from further suburbs. 

The site is also of historical significance as it had an important role in transforming Spotswood into a major industrial suburb, particularly in the inter-war period. The factory was one of the first located in Spotswood and an industrial suburb grew around the new industries. Generations of local men and women worked at the factory and the distinctive basalt wall along Douglas Parade became a local landmark, referred to as the Great Wall of Spotswood.
Finally, it is significant for its association with Alfred Felton (1831-1904) who migrated to Victoria from Britain in 1853 and set up business carting provisions to the goldfields, and then established a wholesale druggist shop in Swanston Street in 1861. 1n 1872 Fenton, Grimwade and Co. established the Melbourne Glass Bottle Company which operated from Graham Street Emerald Hill (South Melbourne). The factory initially produced bottles for the company’s pharmaceutical products but expanded into other types of bottles. Felton is celebrated in Victoria as the creator of the Felton Bequest, which helped build the National Gallery of Victoria art collection, as well as provided money to charities for women and children.