Brewery Hill Reserve Playground, Malthouse Street, Kilmore
The playground has some interesting historical information boards relating to the history of the site. The current use of the site is a lot less interesting than a brewery and consists of a play structure with wave slide, climbing wall, shop front, ladder, steps which leads to a large rope net climbing area via monkey rungs. Also swings.
Unshaded seats and sloping grassy area.
Information Boards
UNEARTHING THE PAST
This site contains archaeological evidence of historical interest, some of which is not currently visible or understood. In 2017 the Heritage Council determined that the former Kilmore Brewery is a place of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria and added it to the Heritage Register.
This sign looks onto the site of the Brewery office. It is likely that this office was also the home of the brewery manager." The house was surrounded by a white plastered wall, over which rose bushes were climbing"
ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS
There have been two phases of archaeological testing. These digs have revealed comprehensive archaeological evidence, features, deposits and artefacts which demonstrate a brewery complex that produced ales and porters.
The 2011 investigation found archaeological remains of the Kilmore Brewery including the footings of buildings, drains, a borehole and other artefacts. The study confirmed that substantial features associated with the Kilmore Brewery remain as high integrity archaeological deposits.
A more extensive dig was undertaken in 2015, and a total of 13,770 artefacts representing a minimum number of 2,169 individual objects were recovered. The malt kiln was revealed during this study. John Flynn (Mayor of Kilmore) installed a kiln during his time as owner c1865. The kiln was described during an auction as "a beautiful piece of work, and malts about 40 bushels at a time".
TIME CAPSULE OF COLONIAL LIFE
The Kilmore Brewery site was not substantially altered for the manufacturing of lager beer, a process introduced in the 1880s. The buildings have been left largely undisturbed below the ground level since c.1903.
The Kilmore Brewery (1850) is unlike Carlton Brewery (1864), Victoria Brewery (1884) and Yorkshire Brewery in Collingwood (1858) which are all on a larger scale and had more mechanised multi-storey tower breweries. The Kilmore Brewery used earlier brewing and malting practices, and their workforces used local labour.
Relatively few regional breweries from the mid-1800s survive in Victoria. Urban development pressures saw them demolished and built over, or modified and reused for other purposes. Now, scant material evidence survives and dates mainly from the later lager brewing period.
The history of this brewery provides an insight into the lives of early colonial Victorians. The story of the Kilmore Brewery is linked with the social, economic and cultural development of Victoria including the brewing, alcohol consumption, and the development and competition between city and country.
The majority of artefacts recovered from Kilmore Brewery are associated with alcohol storage, and the majority of alcohol storage artefacts were bottles, They represent a single dumping event of hundreds if not thousands of predominantly black glass beer bottles.
A heavily worn coin / medallion was found near this sign. Very little text is discernible apart from possibly "...PILLS AND...". This text suggests it is a medallion rather than a coin. This coin is a similar size to on English penny.
THE KILMORE BREWERY
Welcome to the site of the historic Kilmore Brewery. This sign is at the start of the former path that leads past the office to the cellar and boiler.
The Taungurung people are the traditional owners of this area. The custodians of the surrounding lands for time immemorial.
Colonisation has dramatically changed this landscape. An overland droving route through this landscape was built connecting Port Phillip and Darling Harbours with grazing land. William Rutledge - Irishman, drover, merchant, banker and settler established a private township that included this site. He named the area Kilmore in 1841. The Irish tenants established potatoes and a number of hotels and inns and the land was originally set aside for the Roman Catholic Church.
WHAT'S UNDER YOUR FEET?
Two archaeological investigations have confirmed that substantial features associated with the Kilmore Brewery are preserved underground in this park. The main features of the brewery were:
BUILT ON IRISH CATHOLIC ROOTS
In the 1850s a Roman Catholic chapel stood on this site. The colonial community of Kilmore was predominantly Irish, and the church was a contentious feature of the new settlement. There was a rivalry between the local Rev. Charles Clarke and James Alipius Goold, Bishop of Melbourne. They clashed, disagreeing on the site for the church and school. Bishop Goold established the Kilmore Mission in April 1849. Meanwhile, Clarke acquired this land in the early 1850s and built a bluestone building as the first Roman Catholic chapel in Kilmore. Due to the ongoing clashes with Bishop Goold, Clarke resigned in 1854. He sold this land, including the chapel, to William Leyden Ker.
By 1850 a substantial brewery, malt house and cellar had also been built on this site by Stephen Mitchell Nielson. It was one of the earliest breweries outside of Melbourne. The abandoned chapel is rumoured to be part of the original brewery.
53 YEARS BREWING LOCAL ALES
The Kilmore Brewery operated on this site for 53 years, regularly changing owners, managers, leaseholds and sublets. The life of the Kilmore Brewery spans the period of technological growth when brewing and consumers tastes transitioned from traditional British-style ale to lager.
The Kilmore Brewery made traditional British ales and porters, and like other regional breweries, supplied the local market. In the Australian heat, the British ales didn't preserve well. They spoiled when they were transported, however, the site boasted a rock-lined cellar and was reported to sell excellent beer.
Working in the Kilmore Brewery would have been typical of a developing regional town. The rural context meant that they may not have received the privileges of their city counterparts. In 1879 in Melbourne, McCracken's Brewery was the first brewer to introduce the eight-hour working day.
RISE AND FALL OF THE LOCAL ALE
This sign looks on to the area where the kiln, and chimney base once stood.
In the late nineteenth century, regional Victoria was estimated to have the highest concentration of breweries in any area of regional Australia. Breweries came and went due to competition, lack of sufficient venture capital to update buildings or the requirement for new brewing equipment and sophisticated manufacturing processes.
Fosters pioneered refrigeration techniques that changed the nation's taste in beer from ales to lagers.
"The Kilmore Brewery appears to be making excellent headway against the best metropolitan establishments. Not only is it found in several of the leading Melbourne hotels, but experts pronounce it equal in colour, taste and body to any beer produced in the colony... the cellars are cut clean out of the solid rock, so that any required temperature can be obtained even during the hottest weather." - The Argus 1891
FRONTIER BREWING IN KILMORE
In 1870 the train service to Kilmore began bringing goods from the city to Kilmore including ale from Melbourne breweries. The Kilmore Brewery was, overnight, in direct competition with the large industrial breweries. Mr John Flynn owned the brewery from 1865 until he passed away in 1881. Flynn could not keep pace with the metropolitan competition. Trade steadily declined. After Flynn's death, a new owner was hard to find.
John Brady took ownership in 1884 for the next 3 years, but his health declined, and he complained of frequent headaches. He made arrangements to retire, selling the brewery to the 'Melbourne Syndicate.'
FIRST PRIZE FOR ALE 1894-1902
Thomas Ryan and Thomas Hunt were partners in the Melbourne Syndicate. Ryan was a wine and spirit merchant in Melbourne. Hunt was the editor and proprietor of the Kilmore Free Press, member of the Legislative Assembly for the seat of Kilmore-Anglesey and Kilmore resident for 30 years. They appointed Walter Henry Dyer as the brewery manager and began competing with the metropolitan breweries. At the Kilmore Agricultural and Pastoral Society's Show, the local brew competed with ales from the large Melbourne breweries. Dyer won first prize for ale in 1894. Shortly afterwards, Dyer left for undisclosed reasons. The Kilmore Free Press continued to report the local brew, winning until 1902.
THE PERFECT STORM
In March 1902, Kilmore residents reported a slight earthquake followed by a severe storm. The wind raged violently. The effect was like a cyclone. Houses were destroyed, fences and verandahs were blown over. The brewery cooling house was destroyed, leaving only a chimney standing.
Just before the storm, in 1901, the new Federal Government passed the Beer and Excise Act. This act regulated the making and selling of beer and made home brewing illegal. It also led to the closure of many breweries as their facilities didn't meet the required standards.
THE END OF THE BREWERY
Kilmore's population, post gold rush, dwindled. It became a small town. With the larger economic forces at work, it was difficult to support a local brewery, let alone rebuild one. But Hunt had plans drawn up by James Holohan to rebuild. In 1903 the land was levelled. Works stalled, and it resulted in a court case. The Kilmore Brewery closed for good when the water meter was turned off, condemning the brewery in 1905.
A NEW ERA OF BREWING
In the 1890s newspapers printed many glowing articles about the brewery. However, Thomas Hunt owned the Kilmore Free Press. There are hints that he may not have been as savvy a businessman as the articles lead readers to believe.
"His local business ventures were not successful, but the reason was always difficult to ascribe. For instance, he became proprietor of Kilmore Brewery, which was then a flourishing concern, supplying a very large number of clients. After a time trade slumped and the brewery was closed down. Mr Hunt's loss in this direction ran over four figures." - the Kilmore Free Press 20.12 1934
In 1907 five Melbourne breweries merged, forming Carlton & United Breweries. The economy of scale allowed the new company to respond to the changing tastes. No longer a gold frontier, Melbourne was becoming sophisticated. Many small breweries could not compete. How would the Kilmore Brewery have competed if the rebuild had been successful?
Photos:
Location
25 Malthouse Street, Kilmore 3764 Map
