Lost Melbourne district revealed beneath Melbourne CBD office tower project

An early Melbourne buried and quickly forgotten almost 170 years ago has been unearthed at an office-tower development in the CBD. See the city hidden beneath our streets.

Melbourne's Pompeii: a forgotten city is being unearthed beneath the CBD. Picture: Jason Edwards.

A forgotten Melbourne, buried beneath the CBD’s streets for more than a century, has been unearthed by a developer starting work on a new 20-storey Melbourne office tower.

With parallels to Pompeii, the incredible site in Bennetts Lane has retained signs of a red light district and slum demolished in 1913, as well as walls, fireplaces and staircases descending into the dirt, still largely intact after authorities ordered an even earlier districts filled in and covered over almost 170 years ago.

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Developers Perri Projects and Pellicano have brought in archaeologists from Extent Heritage to document the remarkable trove, including sewing and writing tools, shoes, buckles, tobacco pipes, marbles, miniature tea sets, dominoes, ceramic dolls, coins and even a mouth harp.

Extent chief executive Ian Travers said low-lying land in the area around Little Lonsdale St that once housed one of the city’s “roughest and toughest areas” was filled in to address flooding that was so common it was nicknamed Lake Lonsdale.

Archaeologist Marianne Odisho working at the site with Melbourne’s towering skyscrapers in the background. Picture: Jason Edwards

Archaeologists at work at the northern end of the 1500sq m site. Picture: Jason Edwards

“From what we can tell, the filling occurred in 1855,” Mr Travers said.

“We just collectively forgot about it.”

Excavations have gone two metres into the ground beneath the 1500sq m site, also revealing remnants of a slum and red light district built over the original cottages before being ordered to be demolished in 1913. Brick warehouses that had most recently been used as office space, covered over those remains again and had remained there for decades until recent construction work.

“There were social and commercial activities, and it might have been a former red light district,” Mr Travers said.

Ceramic dolls and tea sets are among the items recovered. Picture: Jason Edwards

Old pipes, ceramics and buttons are also being catalogued. Picture: Jason Edwards.

He added that from the building’s perspective, the filling process had effectively frozen a piece of Melbourne’s history in time — not unlike what happened when Pompeii in Italy was smothered in ash by a volcanic eruption centuries ago.

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.

Recovered materials will be built into the new development. Picture: Jason Edwards.

Staircases lead down into the mud with more excavation ahead. Picture: Jason Edwards.

When completed, the already award-winning building will stand 20 storeys tall, host up to 20 businesses and more than 200 workers across a mix of offices and lower-level retail spaces.

The project won awards in the 2022-2023 Asia Pacific Property Awards for office development and architecture in Australia.

With the area once also known for its jazz scene, Mr Scalzo said they were looking at ways to return “live music to the precinct” when the project was completed in about 2025.

Old brick fireplaces date back to before 1855. Picture: Jason Edwards.

Archaeological work has been under way at the site since about May. Picture: Jason Edwards

Pellicano managing director Renato Pellicano said he looked forward to their part in renewing a “once forgotten corner of the city”.

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 brought to Australia by their owners date back to the 1700s, but indigenous items have also been found, though are believed to have been relocated during the filling process or other means. It is possible some will be found deeper into the site that haven’t moved in thousands of years.

The uncovered buildings will be removed from the site and the area covered over again over the coming years.

The redevelopment will retain one of the older buildings on the site.

Much of the rest of the unearthed building remnants will be made available to other sites wishing to capture a piece of the city’s history via adaptive reuse firm Revival Projects.

Those hoping to see the old structures can book in for site tours being held from 10am-4pm this Saturday and next.

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