The wool industry emerged as one of the first businesses in the new colony of Australia. Its growth had a significant influence on the development of Geelong, which became a prominent hub for wool sales and exports. Geelong's strategic location and the ambitious endeavours of local merchants made it an ideal centre for shipping Australian wool worldwide. To accommodate the thriving industry, large storage facilities were constructed throughout Geelong for the handling, assessment, sale, and transportation of wool bales from Victoria and beyond.
As the wool industry declined, the original purpose of these buildings became obsolete, leading to neglect and some being demolished. However, the surviving structures have found new purposes, serving a variety of functions. This adaptive reuse allows the city to continue its development while still honouring its rich heritage.
The Woolstore's Architecture Before the 1850s, wool storage in Geelong was fragmented, and only a few merchants exclusively dealt with wool. However, with the increasing economic significance of wool, local wool brokers recognised the need for centralised auctions and sales in Geelong. C.J. Denny played a prominent role in initiating collective action to establish wool auctions in the city. He proposed a set of objectives to establish a local wool market in Geelong, which included: Concentrating a sufficient number of bales of all wools intended for public sale in one location, allowing owners to compare the condition of their clips and facilitate ready and rapid examination and purchase. Attracting buyers from various parties by offering a substantial quantity and quality of wool at each sale Sorting the wool into lots to broaden the pool of potential buyers. Avoiding the expenses associated with transporting wool from the Melbourne wool warehouse through re-shipment
These objectives influenced the design of the woolstores constructed in Geelong. Subsequent stores had to meet specific requirements such as location, lighting, space, size, handling facilities, and ventilation. In 1857, C.J. Dennys conducted the first wool auction in Geelong. As the wool industry expanded, a considerable number of modern woolstores were constructed, modified, and expanded to accommodate the growing demand.
Dennys Lascelles & Co. In 1872, the Denny's Lascelles bluestone Woolstore was constructed. The building's design was a collaboration between architect Jacob Pitman, who designed the basement, and Jonathan Coulson, who designed the rest of the building. The Woolstore had dimensions of 132 x 64 ft.
Windows were incorporated on all sides of the building to allow for well-lit passages between double rows of bales. This design also provided adequate ventilation. The cellar, utilised for the sale of hides and skins, featured a cement floor, and the windows ensured suitable temperatures throughout the year. The show floor, measuring 129 x 61 ft, was a significant element of the building. The walls and ceilings were painted pale grey to control lighting, enabling buyers and growers to inspect products under optimal visibility conditions. The woolstore was positioned on a slight incline, facilitating the loading and unloading of waggons on the ground floor.
The 1872 Woolstore was the first building in Victoria designed to encompass the storage, inspection, and marketing of wool in a single operation. Upon completion, it became the second-largest store in the colony. Over time, extensions were added to the bluestone building, including a mansard tower in 1889, which featured minor variations in detailing.
In 1880, an additional building was erected west of the original structure on Brougham Street. While incorporating elements of the original design, this store was constructed using rendered cement, a material commonly used during that era. The Woolstore was intentionally misaligned with the 1872 facade to create the illusion of a two-story building, although it actually had three stories.
In 1910, a significant extension made of reinforced concrete was added to the original 1872 building. The new store was designed by Edward Giles Stone, known for his innovative design approach that influenced trends into the 1920s. The most notable feature was the bow string truss roof system, consisting of a 55 x 52-metre concrete roof span without intermediate columns. The sawtooth roof trusses, passing through the curved concrete structure, allowed ample natural light to enter the building, enhancing visibility on the new show floor. Despite being listed on several heritage registers, the building, formerly known as the Denny Lascelles Woolstore but later called the Bow Truss Building, was controversially demolished in the 1990s.
Strachan & Co. Strachan & Co. had a longstanding involvement in the wool industry, dating back to 1840. Their Woolstore complex stands in contrast to the Denny's Lascelles buildings, located adjacent to it. In 1889, a two-story brick Woolstore was built, featuring a façade with five bays and segmental arch-headed windows. The load-bearing walls of the building were made of red brick and topped with a simple parapet. This design directly influenced the subsequent construction of woolstores within the complex. In 1896, a three-story section was added to the south of the original building, facing Moorabool Street. In 1925, an additional extension was built to encompass the entire frontage of Moorabool St. and Corio Terrace. The final addition to the complex was completed in 1954. Although the construction of the complex took place over a period of 65 years, the stylistic features remained consistent. This uniformity gives the group of buildings a cohesive appearance, forming a complete entity despite the extended construction timeline.
Dalgety & Co. The first Dalgety & Co. Woolstore was constructed in 1891, designed by the Geelong architecture firm Laird and Buchan. It was a two-story brick and render building located on Gheringhap Street. The design of the 1891 Woolstore featured a two-story warehouse and office building without a basement. It had solid brick walls and a timber roof, floor, and structural system. This design served as the model for subsequent woolstores built by Dalgety & Co. on the site. In 1896, an additional floor consisting of a brick show floor was added to the 1891 Woolstore, mimicking the original structure in nearly every aspect. In 1901, another woolstore was constructed using red brick, similar to Strachan's woolstore. However, its design differed significantly. The north-east side of the Woolstore had small windows, while the façade featured giant arched panels of brickwork, creating a unified appearance. This design closely resembled Woolstores built in Sydney in the late 1890s. The overall form and scale of the store were similar to the 1891 building, but with the addition of a basement.
In 1940, a three-story brick building with a basement was erected at the corner of Gheringhap and Brougham streets. A new façade was constructed along the entire length of Gheringhap Street, resulting in the original exterior of the 1891 building being refaced with red brick. This alteration was consistent with the design of the new Woolstores built in the 1950s and 1960s. The 1940 Woolstore had some distinctive features, including a spacious show floor capable of accommodating 55,000 bales of wool. It incorporated large sliding doors on the west and south facades to allow for ventilation and temperature regulation. The ceiling height was significantly increased, and the use of steel columns and roof trusses reduced the number of columns in the space to a single row of seven in the centre. The sawtooth roof form was retained, but on a larger scale.
Social Context The rise of the woolstore Geelong's wool stores played a significant role in the city's development as a commercial centre and supported Victoria's pastoral and agricultural interests, particularly the wool industry. The first Australian wool was sold in London at Garraway's Coffee House in 1821, where businessmen would gather for auctions of various goods. Between 1830 and 1850, Australian wool exports saw a substantial increase from 892 metric tonnes to 18,791 metric tonnes.
The rapid growth of the wool industry brought wealth to pastoralists and created a need for local spaces to store and sell wool for shipping. In 1840, James Strachan constructed Geelong's first woolstore, and in 1857, Charles Dennys conducted the first wool auction in the city, demonstrating the potential for a local wool trade. The industry's expansion also led to a rapid increase in Geelong's population, transforming the small town into a bustling seaport. Between 1841 and 1843, the population grew from 454 to 2,065.
Initially, the growth of large wool firms in Geelong was limited by available resources. However, by the 1870s, significant investments from British banks and finance companies had greatly supported the industry, solidifying its position as Australia's major export. As a result, numerous expanded wool stores were constructed in Geelong and across the country. The construction of the Dennys, Lascelles Ltd woolstore in 1872, which now houses the National Wool Museum, serves as a symbol of this economic expansion and represents the popular design employed in the construction of woolstores in Geelong and the wider region.
Geelong faced competition from Melbourne, which considered itself the primary centre for wool exports and sales. Charles Dennys fueled this rivalry by initiating wool sales in Geelong, asserting that making it the centre would save costs for local agriculturalists, who would no longer need to transport their wool to Melbourne. By the 1890s, wool accounted for two-thirds of Australia's exports, providing a significant number of employment opportunities, particularly in and around the woolstores.
Victoria had a vibrant union movement, with workers advocating for improved conditions and wages, including those in the wool stores. Key unions involved in Geelong's woolstores included the Amalgamated Fellmongers Woolsorters & Woolscourers Union of Australia, the Wool and Basil Workers' Federation of Australia, the Federated Storemen and Packers' Union of Australia, and the Wool & Skin Stores Employees Union. Strikes by wharf workers and shearers in the late nineteenth century disrupted the industry, affecting the shipping of wool.
The decline of the industry The wool industry faced significant challenges during the two World Wars and an economic depression, impacting labour availability, demand, and wool prices. While there was a brief boom in the 1950s, the industry faced threats from the increasing popularity of synthetic fibres, rising production costs, and declining international prices. To address these issues, the Australian government implemented a protectionist reserve price scheme in 1974. Under this scheme, the government would purchase the wool clip if prices fell below a certain level. The scheme operated until 1991, when the accumulation of excess wool posed a threat to the Australian economy. As a result, the industry underwent contraction, and the focus of the Australian economy shifted towards mineral extraction.
Functions of a Woolstore The Dennys Lascelles Wool and Produce Warehouse was a pioneering building in Victoria designed to enable the storage, inspection, and marketing of wool in a unified manner. When it was completed, it became the second-largest store in the colony. These storage buildings also introduced specialized features such as raising the ground floor to a suitable loading level from the street front, which created a basement space beneath for activities like wool pressing.
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