Convicts, Culverts, and Catalinas: recent archaeological projects in inner-city Brisbane
Speakers: Dr Thom Blake (Historian) & Dr Richard Robins (Archaeologist)
Date: 7 February 2007
Dr Thom Blake and Dr Richard Robins present an overview of some recent interesting archaeological projects in Brisbane. These projects include a 1860 stone culvert under Adelaide Street, remnants of the 1860 Petrie Terrace gaol, a World War 2 Command Centre bunker and the 1830s Eagle Farm Female prison site.
Watch highlights of this talk
Petrie Terrace site: Gaol & Police Barracks
Windows media dialup or broadband
Duration: 5:26 minutes
Petrie Terrace Gaol, opened in 1860, was the second purpose-built jail in Brisbane and one of the first major public construction projects completed following Queensland's separation from New South Wales. The site was taken over by the Queensland Police in the 1880s and redeveloped, including the construction of a barracks building in 1937. The site is now earmarked for commercial development.
Watch the webcast to see what Dr Thom Blake and Dr Richard Robins discovered in their excavation of the site and what it can tell us about life for prisoners in the 1860s.
Eagle Farm site: Womens' Prison and Factory & Airport
Windows media dialup or broadband
Duration: 5:06 minutes
Established as an agricultural outstation in 1829, during the late 1830s Eagle Farm became one of Australia's few prisons to exclusively house female inmates. The site was used as an airfield during World War II and then served as Brisbane's main civilian airport until the late 1980s. Despite this, physical evidence of the Prison remains.
Watch the webcast to see Dr Thom Blake and Dr Richard Robins explain what they found at Eagle Farm and why the site is so significant.
Inner Northern Busway Development: Roma Street Police Station WWII Bunker
Windows media dialup or broadband
Duration: 6:39 minutes
Work on the Inner Northern Busway has revealed many examples of infrastructure from Brisbane's past, including the Wheat Creek culvert, built under Adelaide Street in the 1860s. But the most significant find exposed by the recent construction is the remains of a forgotten World War II bunker, built in the basement of the old Roma Street Police Station.
The sections of the bunker that are able to be preserved have been entrusted to the Queensland Museum and will eventually be displayed as part of the Busway.
Watch the webcast to see the original plans for the bunker, what remained when the bunker was exposed in November 2006 and Dr Thom Blake's explanation of how the site was excavated.
Discussion
Windows media dialup or broadband
Duration: 4:59 minutes
Following their presentations Dr Thom Blake and Dr Richard Robins answer audience questions about their recent projects.
About the speakers
Dr Thom Blake is a professional historian and heritage consultant with extensive experience in historical research and heritage studies. He has undertaken numerous cultural heritage projects in Queensland including conservation management plans, regional and local surveys for local authorities, state wide surveys, and heritage impact statements. He has undertaken more than 50 conservation plans and heritage surveys throughout Queensland on a wide range of places including hospitals, court houses, homestead, mining sites, houses, abandoned settlements and public buildings.
Dr Richard Robins is a professional archaeologist and museum curator with over 25 years of experience in Queensland cultural heritage. Richard has worked as a field archaeologist, museum technician and museum cataloguer. His main research interest is in Aboriginal archaeology and he has undertaken extensive archaeological work throughout Queensland. He also has experience in historical archaeology, and has undertaken archaeological work on a number of Brisbane urban sites including the Brisbane Commissariat Store and the Southbank Stage Five development, The Petrie Terrace Barracks, the INB and the Eagle Farm Women's Prison and Factory Site.
This talk was presented as part of the 2007 Queensland Connections series, highlighting some unique and fascinating aspects of Queensland's history and cultural heritage.