Hidden historic artefacts unearthed at Nylex Clock site to underpin pop-up museum
Melbourne’s Nylex Clock site will get a pop-up museum, after more than 1000 artefacts were unearthed in demolitions.
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The developers overhauling Melbourne’s iconic Nylex Clock site are planning a pop-up museum after a series of archaeological discoveries during demolition.
Century-old footwear, a decanter, intact torpedo jars and ceramics as well as comparatively recent maltings machinery are among the about 1000 artefacts showing “beautiful moments frozen in time” uncovered at the Cremorne development site below the famous sign.
Alongside more traditional demolition work, a robot named The Punisher has been carefully dismantling seven silos from the inside at the Punt Road landmark since August.
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The silos beneath the much-loved Nylex Clock will be left intact, while the sign itself will be removed, refurbished and returned to light up the skyline above the $1bn Malt District from 2022.
Caydon boss Joe Russo said broader demolition had uncovered old machinery from the site’s time as the Richmond Maltings, as well as ceramic jars and intact glassware they believed dates back to the mid 1800s when the Sir Henry Barkly Hotel was run from the site.
“The Nylex Clock and Silos are the historic centrepiece of The Malt District’s renewal, but every artefact unearthed tells a piece of Melbourne’s story,” Mr Russo said.
“It wasn’t a surprise to see these historically significant artefacts uncovered, but it certainly was a surprise to see so many.”
Archaeologist and heritage consultant Elizabeth Hawksley has been working on and off at the Nylex Clock site since 2017 and said it was “amazing” they had uncovered so much at “such an impacted site”.
“This is how Melburnians once enjoyed themselves, there’s evidence of the social and domestic side of what is essentially an industrial site,” Ms Hawksley said.
“We are still able to find these beautiful moments frozen in time.”
Alongside the artefacts, most still being checked for significance, the works have uncovered the foundations to an 1850s-era bluestone cottage believed to be one of the first buildings at the historic site.
A pop-up museum would help Melburnians better understand the city’s history and how it had evolved, Ms Hawksley added.
Demolitions at the heritage-listed site are overseen by multi-award-winning architectural firm Lovell Chen, who have planned the works to protect the silos beneath the Nylex Clock and those supporting the prominent VB sign that has been at the site for decades.
Despite its name The Punisher robot carefully chips away at the silos from a descending platform inside them, collapsing 1m-sized sections inward to avoid damaging the wider site.
It began work in late August, after a short delay caused by Melbourne’s stage-four lockdown and is expected to finish levelling the cylinders in the coming weeks.
The demolition works as well as the construction that will commence at the silo site early next year are tied to 2400 jobs.
Caydon bought the mostly derelict site for $38m in 2014.
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