From Butler's Brickworks to Jones Park, via the Tip.

I will look at how the use of one piece of land can change over the years.

A few years after the gold rush of the 1850s, Brunswick had more than forty brickworks. One site at the eastern end of Albion Street was, I believe, Butler’s Brickworks, established in 1857. There bricks were made in the traditional way, in a hand press.

Only one brickworks, Hoffman’s in Dawson Street, had a steam-powered mechanised system that could produce 18,000 bricks per hour. Brunswick was the brick-making capital of Australia! The fact that Hoffman’s had its own rail line into their works indicated the importance of this industry to the area. There is a movement to retain one of the Hoffman kilns as an example of Brunswick’s industrial heritage. The rest of the site is a housing development.

 

This picture from ‘Old Melbourne Town’ by Michael Cannon, illustrates the working conditions of the time. Wouldn’t pass ‘Health and Safety’ regulations today!!

Brick-making in Brunswick declined in the first half of the twentieth century because of a combination of depleted resources and the Depression, which reduced demand. After it was closed, Butler’s Brickworks became a rubbish tip.

After filling the quarry, drainage was installed and the land was allowed to settle for several years. This site is now Jones’ Park, a very popular recreational area. It has a hill on the northern side – a favourite vantage point to watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks displays, a small ‘urban forest’ a wetland, a picnic area and a children’s playground.

There has been a claim that all but two of Brunswick’s parks are filled in quarries. This may be so, but these parks are very important to the amenity of the area. Fitzroy and Brunswick are the two municipalities that have the least open space, per head of population, in the state of Victoria. As these two suburbs have rapidly increasing populations, open public space is vital for the wellbeing of their inhabitants.

Ten years ago, the area around Jones’ Park was a wasteland. Now there is multi-storeyed development, and, if real estate prices are anything to go by, it is seen as a prestigious area.