Godden Mackay Logan

The Casselden Place Development, located in Melbourne’s Central Business District, is the site of an extensive excavation that revealed new insights into Melbourne’s history.  Godden Mackay Logan carried out an archaeological investigation of the site in two stages in 2002, before bulk excavation of the site as part of the proposed redevelopment project.

The area forms part of the district known as ‘Little Lon’, a working-class housing precinct of some historical notoriety which was portrayed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a place of crime and poverty.  The excavations revealed an urban residential/light industrial streetscape dating from the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The site contained the remains of cottages and small workshops, which ranged from the earliest European occupation of this area to the small-scale industrial operations at the site up to the 1960s.  More than half-a-million artefacts were excavated during the project.

Godden Mackay Logan undertook the project in association with the Archaeology Program at La Trobe University and Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd.  The project team included a number of professional archaeologists, and involved La Trobe University students and members of the general public in the excavation. The project generated extensive media and public interest.  Guided tours were organised by Heritage Victoria and a viewing platform was constructed to allow the general public to watch the progress of the excavation.

A large urban excavation of this size requires extensive and effective project management.  The Casselden Place project demonstrated Godden Mackay Logan’s skills in co-ordinating a sizeable excavation team, including an enormous workforce of students and community participants.  Best-practice principles for site recording and team management were also adopted throughout the project, to provide an efficient and safe workplace.

Since completion of the excavation a comprehensive Research Archive Report has been prepared, presenting the results of analysis of the many artefacts and structural remains.  This, along with the compilation of a comprehensive artefact catalogue and a ‘plain English’ report have provided new insights into the early life of Melbourne.  Some post-excavation analysis was undertaken as research projects through La Trobe University.  A number of the artefacts also underwent treatment at Heritage Victoria’s conservation laboratory.

Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Client: Industry Superannuation Property Trust
Project Type: Archaeological Excavation