Unearthing Little Lon

Little Lon is an inner-city block of Melbourne bordered by Lonsdale, Exhibition, Little Lonsdale and Spring Streets. The area, also known as the Commonwealth Block as it was acquired by the Commonwealth Government in 1948, has been subject to five archaeological excavations since 1988.

A bird’s eye view of Melbourne with Little Lon in the foreground, 1880.
Source: State Library of Victoria, La Trobe Picture Collection

During the mid to late nineteenth century, Little Lon evolved as predominantly working class. The area was characterised by a series of laneways, with small properties packed together creating crowded and unsanitary conditions. In the public’s consciousness, Little Lon was a slum, riddled with poverty, prostitution and drug addiction.

Little Lon was the city’s ’Red Light District’, but it was also home to the city’s poorest residents and recently arrived immigrants from Ireland, Italy, China and Syria. And what recent archaeological and historical research shows us is that under adverse conditions, individuals and families managed to make homes, raise children, and establish businesses in Little Lon.

Tess and Poll Hayes with Ada Maine outside the front of 42 Cumberland Place, Little Lon, 1901.
Source: Marie Owen

The Archaeolgical Dig of 1988

The 1988 dig at Little Lon was the first in Australia to explore and record such a large-scale urban site. Nearly 6,000 square metres were excavated to an average depth of half a metre, and a vast number of artefacts were recovered. These artefacts are now held by Museum Victoria.

The excavation was commissioned by the Federal Department of Administrative Services and Telecom Australia, before the construction on the site of the Commonwealth and Telecom Towers in 1989-91. The dig, directed by Justin McCarthy, was assisted by other Commonwealth and Victorian government departments, including Australian Construction Services and the Victorian Archaeological Survey. Many members of the public and archaeology students volunteered their time on the site.

Little Lonsdale Street from the Old Governor Bourke Hotel, corner Spring Street, Melbourne, 1870-75.
Source: Holtermann Collection, State Library of New South Wales

Reports of the dig were generated at the time, but have subsequently been reassessed and analysed by Professor Tim Murray of La Trobe University and Professor Alan Mayne (formerly at the Univeristy of Melbourne). Their findings refined, and in some instances overturned, interpretation of the dig results. The artefacts uncovered in 1988 are soon to be further analysed by staff at La Trobe University and Museum Victoria.

The Archaeolgical Dig of 2002

In 2002, digging commenced to expose the secrets of Casselden Place, part of the city block bordered by Lonsdale, Exhibition, Little Lonsdale and Spring Streets. Industry Superannuation Property Trust, the owners of the site, sponsored the project. The project was managed by Heritage Victoria. On-site archaeolgy was co-ordinated by Godden Mackay Logan and Austral Archaeology to a research design provided by La Trobe University Archaeology Program.

Though covering a smaller area than that excavated in 1988, the size of the fieldwork team and the detail in which excavation work was conducted made the Casselden Place dig the largest archaeological project ever undertaken in Victoria. Over 135,000 artefacts were uncovered over a 12 week period.

Casselden Place archaeological dig, 2002
Source: Museum Victoria

Casselden Place archaeological dig, 2002
Source: Museum Victoria

Casselden Place archaeological dig, 2002
Source: Museum Victoria

These artefacts were initially stored at La Trobe university, where a number of reports about each type of object – clay pipes, buttons, bones, etc. – were written. The majority of artefacts uncovered were later transferred to Museum Victoria, where analysis is ongoing. A selection are held by Industry Superannuation Property Trust, and are displayed in the foyer of its new building in Little Lon.

Analysis of these artefacts and subsequent historical research have enabled us to challenge the ’slum’ stereotype that typifies Little Lon. The story we can now show is that under adverse conditions, individuals and families managed to make homes, raise children, and establish businesses.