Buried treasures at Melbourne building site build picture of last century slum
A buried Melbourne has resurfaced in the CBD with the discovery of excavated artefacts, drawing comparisons with the ancient city of Pompeii as a wonderfully intact portrait of our human past
READING LEVEL: GREEN
A developer has unearthed a forgotten Melbourne, buried beneath the city streets for more than a century, while starting work on a 20-storey office tower.
With parallels to Pompeii*, the incredible site in Bennetts Lane has signs of a slum* demolished in 1913, as well as walls, fireplaces and staircases descending into the soil but still largely intact, after authorities ordered an even older district to be filled in almost 170 years ago.
Developers Perri Projects and Pellicano bought the site in 2017, but the archaeological dig was a Heritage Victoria requirement before construction could begin. Archaeologists* from Extent Heritage have been brought in to document the remarkable trove* that includes tools, shoes, tobacco pipes, tea sets, dominoes, ceramic dolls, coins and even a mouth harp.
Extent chief executive Ian Travers said low-lying land around Little Lonsdale St, once one of the city’s “roughest and toughest areas”, was filled in to address flooding that was so common it was nicknamed Lake Lonsdale.
Fed up with the frequent flooding, the City of Melbourne ordered properties in the area be demolished and buried so the street level would be raised by 2m.
“From what we can tell, the filling occurred in 1855,” Mr Travers said. “We just collectively forgot about it.”
Excavations* have now gone 2m into the ground, removing early 20th century brick warehouses that had most recently been used as offices, then uncovering the remnants of 19th century terrace houses from the slum and, beneath that, small cottages built in about 1840.
Mr Travers said the filling-in process effectively froze a piece of history – not unlike what happened centuries ago when Italy’s Pompeii was smothered in volcanic ash.
Archaeologist Marianne Odisho has worked on the site since May and said it was a dream job.
“Unearthing the cellars and the fireplaces has been pretty cool,” Ms Odisho said.
“I love seeing the marbles and game tokens, because you can imagine kids playing with them.”
Perri Projects managing director David Scalzo said the Bennetts Lane development would maintain a display of artefacts*, and some of the old building materials unearthed would be added into the new building’s facade*.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said she was thrilled with the efforts to salvage* the city’s history and had “confidence that the slum of yesterday will not be the slum of today with this project”.
Older artefacts found at the site were thought to have been brought to Australia by their owners in the 1700s. A small number of Indigenous cultural remnants have also been uncovered.
It is possible more artefacts will be found deeper into the site that haven’t moved in thousands of years.
GLOSSARY
- Pompeii: ancient Italian city southeast of Naples, buried in 79AD after Mt Vesuvius erupted
- slum: very poor, overcrowded city area
- demolished: completely destroying or knocking down a building or buildings
- archaeologists: people who study buildings, graves and objects of those who lived in the past
- trove: discovery, find, valuable collection of things
- excavations: removing earth covering very old, buried objects to find out about the past
- artefacts: man-made objects of historical interest or significance
- facade: the front of a building, also known as face
- salvage: to save something valuable from damage, destruction, or loss
EXTRA READING
Archaeologists find ancient toilet
Hi-tech hunt for pharaoh’s tomb
QUICK QUIZ
- In what year was Melbourne’s Bennetts Lane slum demolished?
- The discovery has drawn parallels with which ancient Italian city?
- Extent Heritage is documenting the trove that includes what items?
- How far underground have excavations now gone?
- What does archaeologist Marianne Odisho love seeing and why?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Forgotten Melbourne
How do you think the “filling in” of this area took place?
Why do you think the old houses were filled in with contents still in them?
What would happen to your hometown if it were ordered to be filled in and built up?
How else could an old town or village get frozen in time like this, now or in the future?
Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; History; Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
Do you think the office tower should still be built at this location? What delays are the developers facing with this project after this discovery?
Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
Imaginative dialogue
Imagine you were there during the event being discussed in the article, or for the interview.
Create a conversation between two characters from the article – you may need or want to include yourself as one of the characters. Don’t forget to try to use facts and details from the article to help make your dialogue as realistic as possible.
Go through your writing and highlight any punctuation you have used in green. Make sure you carefully check the punctuation used for the dialogue and ensure you have opened and closed the speaking in the correct places.