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Powder Magazine - Beechworth Historic Area

Location Skidmore Avenue, BEECHWORTH VIC 3747 - Property No B1590 File Number B1590 Level State

[1/1] B1590 Powder Magazine

Statement of Significance

The Beechworth Powder Magazine was erected in 1859 by T Dawson and Co to designs prepared by the Public Works Department. The surrounding stone walls were added in 1860. The building was used to store large amounts of gunpowder used in mining, quarrying, etc. and comprises a buttressed stone storage room with lightning conductors and has a slate roof.
This is the best example in Victoria of this particularly important building type and is a distinctive element of this important historic town. Constructed in the superb local granite, its design is the finest of all the magazines in the State and relfects the required solidarity of the structure. The parapet and gables of the main storage room are incorporated into the side of the entrance vestibule which is unusually situated at one end. The tiny half buttreses and the perimeter stone walls are fine features. The building has been carefully restored to its original condition and is structurally sound.
STATEMENT OF SIGNFICANCE (HISTORIC AREA)
DATE CLASSIFIED APRIL 1983
Beechworth is a picturesque nineteenth Century provincial town.The Magazineis a well preserved example of a Government and private building, which resulted from the town's important historical role as the administrative and commercial centre of Victoria's north - eastern goldfields. Beechworth was once significant for its position on an early overland route from Melbourne to Sydney.
The town is located sympathetically to the topography, in an area of considerable landscape interest. Set admist forested undulating country, there remain many relics of the mining era in and about Beechworh. It is a rich field for the industrial archaeology.
There are within the town a large number of historical and architecturally significant buildings. These display a quality of form and richness of material and detail, which make Beechworth one of the most significant of Austraila's goldfield towns. Of particular interest is the common usage of local granite in construction. Its honey colour imparts a quality distinctive to Beechworth.
The highlights of Beechworth are the grid of wide streets flanked with granite kerbing; the streetscapes of considerable integrity with groups of homogeneous buildings set off by mature elms and other exotic trees; and the remnants of historic Victorian gardens. About the town there are many examples of nineteenth century street furniture, signs and fences. Beechworth's historical wealth is of national significance.