Ballarat School of Mines Lydiard St Sth
Reveal the past and the present!
-
1857
Royal Standard Brewery established on Armstrong Street -
1862
Ballarat Gaol built -
1870
School of Mines established -
1872
Andrew Scott AKA 'Captain Moonlite' escapes from Ballarat Gaol -
1872
Ballarat Museum established -
1888
Ballarat Museum moves to Wesleyan Church -
1895
Ballarat Brewing Company established, takes over Royal Standard Brewery -
1896
Ballarat Brass Foundry begins operation -
1915
Ballarat Technical Arts School established -
1926
'Ballarat Bertie' advertising image introduced and established by Ballarat Brewery -
1954
Ballarat Brass Foundry moves to Creswick Road to become John Valves -
1957
SMB purchases buildings from W.B John -
1959
Carlton United purchases name and site of Ballarat Brewery on Lydiard/Armstrong Sts -
1965
Ballarat Gaol closed -
1971
public outrage at removal of Bertie from labels, later replaced in smaller size. -
1976
Ballarat College of Advanced Education established -
1980
SMB Ballarat incorporated as a TAFE institution -
1989
Ballarat Brewery and name closed by Carlton United -
1994
Brewery complex sold to Ballarat School of Mines -
1995
Most brewery buildings demolished; chimney and two boilers left
Today it's a campus of Federation University and home to a technology park for IT and communications businesses. In the past it has also served as the site of Ballarat Museum, the Ballarat Gaol, and birthplace of Ballarat's biggest and most popular brewery and the famed Ballarat Bertie brand.
It was the site for Ballarat's gallows and numerous public hangings; the infamous bushranger Captain Moonlite escaped from here in 1872 after cutting a hole through a wall, capturing a warden and releasing seven other prisoners before escaping over the wall using a blanket rope.
On one side of this pedestrian-only area you can see a giant iron door and guard towers above a bluestone wall. That's the old Ballarat Gaol. The big chimney to the right is the former Ballarat School of Mines Brewery complex, a bluestone and brick complex designed by Henry Casselli, engaged by the partnership of beer brewers William Tulloch, James Coglan and hotel owner Alexander McLaren. In 1857, a partnership was formed that merged their interests in three breweries and more than 90 hotels, officially becoming the Ballarat Brewery in 1895.
The School of Mines Ballarat was the first of its kind - now the third oldest tertiary education institution in Australia - originating in 1870, inspiring similar Schools of Mines across the nation. It was conceived principally as a vocational institute, training students in the practiucal crafts and techniqus of mdoern mining.
The remaining chimney was rebuilt as the Brewery Complex by the School of Mines, containing classrooms and lecture theatres; the School of Mines Complex now houses tech and communications companies, as part of the Ballarat Technology Park.
