Brighton Bathing Boxes

Add links
Coordinates: 37°55′08″S 144°59′14″E / 37.9188°S 144.9873°E / -37.9188; 144.9873
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brighton Bathing Boxes, 2016

The Brighton Bathing Boxes are 93 beach huts on Dendy Street Beach in Brighton, Victoria, Australia, in the City of Bayside. They are a significant tourist attraction for the area.[1] In November 2019 a bathing box was sold for $340,000[2] and historically they have been valued at about 10% of the median Brighton house price [3]

The Bunurong[edit]

The Bunurong (also known as the Boonwurrung) have a strong ongoing connection with the coastline of Port Phillip and Dendy Street Beach. Their shell middens and stone tools have been observed and remain at Brighton Beach.[4] [5]

Described in 1925 as..between Middle Brighton Baths, and the Bluff, at Brighton Beach is the best place to look....In these middens, "scrapers", firestones, stone axes (nearby), the charred broken shells of mussels, "mutton fish" (Haliotis), cockles and periwinkles, are found in abundance. Sometimes splintered bones, perchance those of kangaroo or wallaby. Also lumps of ochre....are found in the remains of these campfires [6]

A more recent reference notes that a large midden of shell and charcoal extends behind the Brighton Bathing Boxes at Dendy Street Beach. [7] The whole of the Brighton Foreshore is designated an area of high aboriginal sensitivity protected by both State and Federal legislation. [8]

Location and Surrounding Environment[edit]

The bathing boxes are located on Dendy Street Beach between Gould Point (opposite Gould Street) and Rocky Point (adjacent to the Brighton Lifesaving Club).[9]

The land from the Esplanade to the high water mark of Dendy Street Beach is within the Brighton Beach Reserve vested to the Mayor, Councillors and Burgesses of the Borough of Brighton for public recreation by an 1877 Act of the Victorian Parliament.[10]

Behind Dendy Street Beach, lies the Dr Jim Willis Reserve, an area of geomorphological and regional vegetation significance.

The historical sea levels of Port Phillip can be interpreted at this location. At the end of the last ice age rising global sea levels flooded Port Phillip to about 1 to 2 metres higher than present sea level.[11] The waves of Port Phillip are likely to have actively eroded the escarpment of the Brighton Coastal Plain here.[12]

Around 2000 years ago the entrance to Port Phillip was blocked to the ocean and the salt water gradually evaporated. A flat grassy plain with a central lake fed by surrounding rivers emerged on the previously submerged land . As is the oral history of the Bunurong (Boonwurrung) and supported by recent scientific research, the ocean again flooded the Port Phillip about 1000 years ago. [13] Sea levels were lower at this time and likely never reached the base of the escarpment enabling Holloway Bend beach and Brighton dunes to develop and protect the previously eroding coastline.

The reserve contains a plant community of regional significance being the last vestige of natural vegetation to be found anywhere along Brighton's foreshore. Plants include Tea tree, Coastal Wattle, Boobialla, Coastal Pomodoris, Bower Spinach, Running Postman, Black Anther Flax Lily, Wattle Lomandra, Drooping She Oak, Mat Rushes, Coast Salt Bush, Coast Spinifex, Black Wattle, Pink Coast Noon Flower, Seaberry Salt Bush [14]

History[edit]

Bathing boxes were first built in the 1860s, across the Brighton coastline, to protect the modesty of bathers.[15] The number of bathing boxes gradually increased from that time.

Paintings from the 1890's depict 6 bathing boxes on Dendy Street Beach[16] and a single bathing box on Middle Brighton Beach.[17] Plans dated 1907, but likely surveyed earlier, show 17 bathing boxes on Dendy Street Beach and the single bathing box on Middle Brighton Beach. [18]

In 1907 Brighton Council's Town Clerk stated that some 23 ratepayers owned bathing boxes.[19] By the mid 1910's, the number of bathing boxes had increased to about 40 on Dendy Street Beach [20] and 28 bathing boxes on Middle Brighton Beach. [21]

The number of bathing boxes significantly increased after the First World War. By 1933, 246 bathing boxes were located on Dendy Street Beach and Middle Brighton Beach. On Middle Brighton Beach, Bathing Box No.1 was near Park Street and No 111 just south of Wellington Street. On Dendy Street Beach were Box No.132 to No 267. [9]

Between 1935 and 1936 work was completed to move bathing boxes to the top of the beach, instead of the high-water mark, where they were located previously.[22] In May 1937 Brighton Council decided bathing boxes on other beaches, in particular Middle Brighton to allow construction of a sea wall, were to be moved to Dendy Street Beach[23]

Protecting the Bathing Boxes[edit]

Possibly the first dispute over the construction of a bathing box occurred in 1862 over a bathing box illegally erected on private property, and subsequently moved without appropriate approvals to Crown Land below the high tide mark.[24]

During the 1920's and 1930's the large number of bathing boxes, storm damage[25] and their disrepair, prompted calls to abolish the granting of licenses and remove them from the beach. [26] [27]

In 1983, the Coastal Caucus Committee decided to phase out 2000 buildings along the Port Phillip Bay, including the Brighton Bathing Boxes. Among others, the Brighton Bathing Box Association decided to fight the decision, and in 1985, the Bathing Boxes were recommended for retention, with the huts being heritage-listed in 2000.[15]

In 2009, the City of Bayside built 9 more huts at the southern end of the beach to raise money in light of the Global Financial Crisis, raising the number to 88.[28] This was done despite the objections of heritage groups, as boxes previously built there had flooded.[29] By 2017 the City of Bayside had built another 5 huts, raising the total number to 93.[30]

In 2019, the Draft Marine and Coastal Policy document proposed that the huts be removed or relocated, causing backlash online and condemnation from the Victorian Liberal Party and Member for Brighton James Newbury, with Newbury calling the plan 'crazy'. Acting Premier Lisa Neville accusing Newbury of fearmongering, stating, “This is a nonsense coming from the Liberal Party.”[31][32]

The Brighton Bathing Boxes with the Middle Brighton pier and breakwater, and the city skyline in the background


Construction[edit]

The Brighton Bathing Boxes are built in a uniform way with Victorian features, painted weatherboards and corrugated iron roof, due to a Planning Scheme Heritage Overlay. Owners are allowed to paint their huts, causing a mass of different bright colours.[33] They do not have water or electricity connections.[28]

Erosion[edit]

The Brighton Bathing Boxes are at threat of erosion, which has caused sandbags to be installed, in order to stop flooding.[29] Sand has also been trucked in, in an attempt to stop erosion and replenish sand on the beach.[34]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Brighton Beach Bathing Boxes | Bayside City Council". www.bayside.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  2. ^ Hayward, Tessa. "Brighton beach box record price: Buyer swoops for quick sale - realestate.com.au". www.realestate.com.au. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  3. ^ Fleming L. May 2024 Unpublished research Pers. Comm
  4. ^ The Herald 10 Apr 1922 p 15
  5. ^ The Argus 22 Jul 1936 p10
  6. ^ Cooper J.B. 1925 History of Brighton Vol 1 Chp 3, p78B-79, manuscript
  7. ^ Meyer Eidelson Melbourne Dreaming A Guide to Important Places of the Past, 2nd Edition 2014 p 114
  8. ^ City of Brighton 1992 Brighton Foreshore Coastal Management Plan p17
  9. ^ a b Larkin J.P. Department of Ports and Harbours,1933, Plan of Port Phillip and Foreshore of Brighton from Pt.Cole to Green Pt.
  10. ^ Brighton Land Vesting Act 1877
  11. ^ G.R Holdgate, B.Wagstaff & S.J.Gallagher (2011) Did Port Phillip Bay nearly dry up between 2000 and 1000 cal.yr BP? Bay floor channeling evidence, seismic and core dating, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 58:2, 157-175,
  12. ^ Dr Jim Willis Reserve Information Signs, Esplanade Brighton
  13. ^ G.R Holdgate, B.Wagstaff & S.J.Gallagher (2011) Did Port Phillip Bay nearly dry up between 2000 and 1000 cal.yr BP? Bay floor channeling evidence, seismic and core dating, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 58:2, 157-175,
  14. ^ Dr Jim Willis Reserve Information Signs, Esplanade Brighton
  15. ^ a b "History & timeline - Brighton Bathing Box Association Inc". www.brightonbathingbox.org.au. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  16. ^ Brighton Beach, 1892, Attributed to Ethel Evans, Brighton Historical Society Collection
  17. ^ John Mather 1897 'Evening Brighton Beach' (possibly titled 'Reflections', National Gallery of Victoria)
  18. ^ Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, 1907 Town of Brighton Detail Plan No's 2127, 2129 & 2199. Plans are dated 1907 but likely to based on earlier survey work.
  19. ^ Brighton Southern Cross 23 Mar 1907 Municipal Notes p6
  20. ^ Rose Series Post Card 1915 Dendy St. Beach, Middle Brighton
  21. ^ Photograph Image Street, 1912, Middle Brighton looking North
  22. ^ The Argus 16 Jan 1936 p16
  23. ^ The Sun News 22 May 1937 p18
  24. ^ Bates W. 1983 A history of Brighton 2nd Ed. p348
  25. ^ The Herald 1 Aug 1921 Wreckage at Brighton p8
  26. ^ The Argus 24 Oct 1928 Brighton Bathing Boxes p16
  27. ^ The Herald 4 Apr 1933 Brighton Bathing Boxes May Be Abolished p10
  28. ^ a b Greenblat, Eli (2009-02-25). "Brighton shacks to help bolster council funds". The Age. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  29. ^ a b Brook, Stephen (2022-04-23). "Send in the sand: the battle to save the Brighton bathing boxes". The Age. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  30. ^ Evans, Trent (2017-10-30). "Call to place 93 Brighton bathing boxes at Dendy Beach on the Victorian Heritage Register". Herald Sun. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  31. ^ "Proposal to move iconic Brighton bathing boxes sparks outrage". July 12, 2019.
  32. ^ Towell, Noel (2019-07-12). "Libs defend beach boxes, Labor says plan shouldn't be taken literally". The Age. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  33. ^ "Welcome to the Brighton Bathing Box Association Inc. Home Page". 2009-04-14. Archived from the original on 2009-04-14. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  34. ^ Brook, Stephen (2022-04-30). "Brighton bathing box beach to shut for weeks to shore up its sand". The Age. Retrieved 2022-08-20.

37°55′08″S 144°59′14″E / 37.9188°S 144.9873°E / -37.9188; 144.9873

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brighton_Bathing_Boxes&oldid=1221976598"