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Two Apple Storage Sheds - Historic Area

Location Stanley/Myrtleford Road,, STANLEY VIC 3747 - Property No B5050 File Number B5050 Level Regional

[1/1] B5050 Two Apple Storage Sheds

Statement of Significance

The first shed was built in 1932, the second in 1935, by Norman Pope and his son Leslie. Excavation was by pick and shovel, with ground dimensions c.9 feet at the facades and 27 feet in depth, into the hillside, the roofs at the rear matching the ground level of the hill-top. Uprights for the framing are of large split logs, with smaller logs as bearers. Wall-cladding is of flush laid weatherboard at the base, split logs at upper levels.
Cladding weatherboards overlap at the gable ends; doors are of vertical boards. The roofs are of long shingles, split by Charles Sergent. Galvanised iron ventilator shafts, now only partially remaining, were at each corner, and one central. The corner ones were topped with a revolving ventilator cowls (still in evidence), enabling controlled air current and temperature; natural convection kept the apples cool. This plumbing work, by William Duffy, had ancillary aids in trees to the rear of the sheds, to provide shade and counter frost.
The apple sheds combine natural elements of location and materials with a technology, primitive yet ingenious and effective.
Classified: 28/9/1982
Historic Area - Statement of Significance. Beechworth is a picturesque nineteenth Century provincial town. It is 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 amidst forested undulating country, there remain many relics of the mining era in and about Beechworh. It is a rich field for the industrial archaelogy.
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.
Historic Area Classified: 04/1983