Our Last stop upon our tour of Geelong’s built heritage attributed to its once great wool industry takes us to our largest location yet. This now heritage listed location is set on nearly 11 acres or 4.4 hectares of land forms the centrepiece for what is now a brewery for The Little Creatures Company.
This mill, previously titled the Valley Worsted Mills consists of five main buildings all built with distinctive red Geelong brick with art deco white trimmings and a sawtooth roofline. It was built in 1924 and was considered to be the largest and most modern textile mill in Australia at the time. The mill operated for about 50 years and at its peak employed around 500 people. (Intwon 2011)
The setup on this land was all-encompassing, hence its size. This is unlike previous buildings such as the Dalgety & Co. operation that was split into different buildings in different locations as we saw today and for this reason, the Valley Worsted Mills are rather unique.
The administration, boiler houses, chimney mill and factory rooms were all present on site at this location and all on a much larger scale than the limited manufacturing structures of the 19th and early 20th century which we have explored today. An element of particular interest is the encircling flood control walls which give us insight into the problems experienced by all occupiers of the Barwon River’s banks at the time of this building's construction in 1924. (Victoria Heritage Database Report Year Unknown - http://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/21333/download-report)
The Valley Worsted Mills is now kept alive in an amazing space best described by those who inherit it as a bit like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory… but for beer. (Little Creatures – Geelong Brewery - https://littlecreatures.com.au/locations/geelong/).
Not only does this seem like the perfect use for the many great big buildings left by the downturn of the Wool industry and specifically here at the previously forgotten Valley Worsted Mills.
It also seems like the perfect place for our tour to come to a halt and for you to enjoy a drink, unwind and possibly reflect on the amazing places, spaces and transformations we have explored today.
Hopefully, you have learned a little about each building’s history in the wool industry in times gone past here locally in Geelong and also a little how these pasts have shaped and are continuing to shape, the built heritage of this area.
Thank you for your time and have a beer for me, I have been your Host Zach Deller.
Image - LifeinGeelong 2016, ‘Geelong’s Historical Buildings’, retrieved 19 May 2018, <https://lifeingeelong.wordpress.com/2016/01/06/geelongs-historical-buildings-part-one-by-simon-k/>.
