Conveyor at Bradmill Denim, an old coal conveyor used to feed to the boiler furnace.

01 Bradmill DenimYarraville2011 - 2012

ISO 1002 secf/13.036mm

Series · 52 prints

Bradmill Denim

Photographed 2011 - 2012
Frames 52
Camera NIKON D7000
Location Yarraville, VIC
Status Under redevelopment; site sold 2021
Heritage Maribyrnong Planning Scheme HO125
Specs 26-hectare site · Brown coal-fired boiler house · Sawtooth roofs on trusses
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

The former Davies Coop / Bradmill factory, Yarraville, was a textile works on Francis Street in Melbourne's western suburbs, built as the dyeing and finishing plant of the cotton spinner Davies Coop & Co. Ltd. It followed a 1952 agreement with the Bradford Dyers' Association of England and was in production by the middle of 1955. Bradmill Industries bid for Davies Coop in 1969 and owned it outright by 1973. The steel-framed, red brick boiler house is the building the heritage listing names as a large and dominant local landmark.

Davies Coop spun cotton in Adelaide and wove it in Sydney. In September 1952 it took the exclusive use in Australia of the Bradford Dyers' Association's "Rigmel"-shrunk process and formed a subsidiary, Davies Coop (B.D.A.) Pty. Ltd., to dye and finish cloth at West Footscray, where by September 1953 it had bought 40 acres. The directors expected to take on commission dyeing on a large scale.

The new plant lost 6,300 pounds in the year to June 1955, because production reached a reasonable level only in its last few months. Its boiler house raised steam for dyeing and conditioning the fabric and drove turbo-alternators for the spinning and weaving machines, burning brown coal railed from the Maddingley open cut at Bacchus Marsh. The dye house gained a bay along its west wall in 1958.

In August 1969 Bradmill Industries announced a $9.1 million bid for Davies Coop, and by 1973 the Davies Coop Group was wholly owned by Bradmill. The boiler house chimney was cut down by about 12 metres in the 1970s. Bradmill, which had begun to cut large sections of a workforce of 900 as it struggled to compete with cheap imports, was placed in receivership in 2001.

Heritage Overlay HO125 carries the statement of significance the Maribyrnong Heritage Review wrote for the Bradmill site in 2000. The land was rezoned from industry to housing and business in June 2011. Frasers Property Australia and Irongate Group settled the purchase of the 26-hectare site in 2021, and the plans launched in March 2024 kept every heritage-listed building.

The Age (19 September 1952), The Argus (17 September 1955), Maribyrnong Heritage Review (2000) and Bradmill Precinct Development Plan (2012)

02 TIMELINE

Chronology

1952
1953
1955
1958
1969
1973
2000
2001
2011
2012
2021
2024
03 PRINTS

Prints in this series

Hand-signed and numbered, printed from the original RAW file. Open editions in the two smallest sizes; limited editions of 100, 50 and 25 in the three larger, never reissued once they sell through.

Conveyor at Bradmill Denim, an old coal conveyor used to feed to the boiler furnace.
Conveyor
A Babcock Detroit Roto-Feeder with its cast iron face blackened by coal dust and rust inside the abandoned Bradmill Denim factory, Yarraville.
Roto Feeder
Tank at Bradmill Denim, lagged hot water tank from the top of the boiler house.
Tank
Doorway at Bradmill Denim, a heavy steel fire door marked "2" fills the end of a narrow brick corridor.
Doorway
Rear Boiler House at Bradmill Denim, shot from the rear of the boiler house showing to the top of the windows.
Rear Boiler House
Paint at Bradmill Denim, montana Black 400ml cans lined up on a concrete ledge, labels spattered and worn.
Paint
Steel handrails and braced pipe supports frame the underside of a concrete hopper at Bradmill, Yarraville. Mineral staining streaks the formwork-cast panels. Debris coats the lower surface. No light source is visible.
Hopper
No Entry at Bradmill Denim, a scuffed No Entry sign hangs from a steel gate at the Bradmill compound.
No Entry
Fire Damage at Bradmill Denim, a section of the factory where the roof has collapsed due to fire damage.
Fire Damage
Lights at Bradmill Denim, steel beams cut diagonally across the frame, crossing pipes and structural columns inside.
Lights
Rust blooms across the boiler's front panel within the abandoned Bradmill Denim factory. Dials and gauges remain fixed in place.
Boiler Front Panel
Plant Room at Bradmill Denim, dormant machinery and rusted pipes dominate the plant room at the Bradmill Denim factory.
Plant Room
Cast-iron valve wheels on a steel manifold with a cylindrical vessel and overhead pipes inside the Bradmill Denim factory, Yarraville.
Valves
Blower at Bradmill Denim, motorised blower probably for feeding air to the boilers.
Blower
What You Got Is This Whole Miserable Subculture at Bradmill Denim, someone took the time to paint this across the full.
What You Got Is This Whole Miserable Subculture
Meters at Bradmill Denim, a steel control panel stands at the edge of the boiler floor.
Meters
Fisheye Boiler House at Bradmill Denim, a fisheye shot of the entire boiler house.
Fisheye Boiler House
BW Windows at Bradmill Denim, steel beams and steam pipes climb the full height of the boiler house wall.
BW Windows
Spring Valve at Bradmill Denim, a heavy cast-iron valve assembly dominates the right of frame, its spring mechanism coiled.
Spring Valve
Boiler House Walkway at Bradmill Denim, steel cross-bracing and diagonal pipes cut across a narrow elevated walkway inside.
Boiler House Walkway
T Section at Bradmill Denim, a heavy cast-iron pump valve sits bolted to the brick floor, its flanged body thick.
T Section
Blood Wars Buddy at Bradmill Denim, deep red block letters stretch across a concrete tilt-panel wall.
Blood Wars Buddy
Outside Boiler Plant at Bradmill Denim, galvanised pipes run along the brick face of the boiler plant, bolted at intervals.
Outside Boiler Plant
Hydraulic Machinery at Bradmill Denim, a yellow hydraulic power unit stands open on the factory floor, its gauges and valve.
Hydraulic Machinery
A green fibreglass scrubber tower and galvanised ducting cluster against the brick exterior of Bradmill, Yarraville. An overhead pipe bridge spans the service lane. Maersk containers stack beyond the fence line.
Chemical Plant
Bus at Bradmill Denim, a decommissioned bus sits against corrugated steel cladding in a yard at the Bradmill site.
Bus
Fire Extinguisher at Bradmill Denim, a red fire extinguisher sits upright on a concrete floor thick with dust and fallen.
Fire Extinguisher
A collapsed sheet-metal roof section hanging across the rear wall of a derelict manufacturing hall at the former Davies Coop / Bradmill factory in Yarraville, with a large rusted cylindrical pipe and scattered debris on the concrete floor.
Abandoned Factory Floor
Empty office corridor at the former Bradmill factory in Yarraville, with mauve walls, grey carpet, glazed timber-framed doorways, a damaged suspended ceiling, and a red fire safety sign on the wall.
Abandoned Office Interior
Stripped interior room at the former Bradmill factory in Yarraville, with a white support column, scattered cabinetry panels and cables on a bare concrete floor, and daylight entering from a window on the right.
Abandoned Interior
Derelict staff room interior at the former Bradmill factory in Yarraville, with rows of blue cabinets, scattered debris on benchtops, a collapsed ceiling exposing timber battens, and tins on a high shelf above tall windows.
Abandoned Staff Room
A worn workbench with a laminate top, open lower cabinet and detached door, small tools on the surface and faded documents pinned to the brick wall behind, photographed at the former Davies Coop / Bradmill factory in Yarraville.
Abandoned Workbench
A worn black road bicycle leaning against a concrete pillar at the former Bradmill factory in Yarraville, with graffiti-covered brick wall, metal ladder, and red circular target visible behind it.
Bicycle Against Pillar
Gutted brick interior of a fire-damaged manufacturing building at the former Bradmill factory in Yarraville, with charred debris on the floor, soot-stained walls and exposed steel framing overhead.
Burnt Out Interior
Fire-damaged manufacturing hall at the former Bradmill factory in Yarraville, with a collapsed roof, twisted metal sheeting, rusted cylindrical vessels, and a single chair on the debris-covered floor.
Collapsed Factory Interior
Collapsed corrugated roof sheeting, burnt timber and toppled cylindrical tanks covering the floor of a large industrial hall at the former Bradmill factory in Yarraville, with a steel staircase rising to a concrete mezzanine and old electrical boxes along a pale brick wall.
Collapsed Roof Interior
A patterned armchair sitting in long grass in front of metal-clad industrial sheds and a tall chimney at the former Davies Coop / Bradmill factory, Yarraville.
Couch in Grass
Empty warehouse interior at the former Bradmill factory in Yarraville, showing a steel-framed roof with skylights, graffiti-covered brick walls, and pallets and stacked timber across the concrete floor.
Empty Warehouse Interior
A gravel laneway between a clad industrial building with blue-framed windows and a brick warehouse with a chimney at the former Bradmill factory, Yarraville, with steel pipe gantries and a yellow caged ladder visible to one side.
Factory Laneway
A weathered "Danger Hazardous Chemicals" sign on a brick wall beside an open timber doorway at the former Davies Coop / Bradmill factory in Yarraville, with metal cabinets, storage racks and an illuminated exit sign visible inside.
Hazardous Chemicals Sign
A concrete yard at the former Bradmill factory in Yarraville, enclosed by rendered walls and a brick building, with disused ducting, metal drums, a galvanised tub and severed pipework left across the slab under an overcast sky.
Industrial Courtyard
A rust-stained timber sliding door covered in spray-painted graffiti lettering at the former Bradmill factory in Yarraville, with a steel girder structure and yellow scaffolding visible through the gap beside it.
Graffiti Door
Multi-level industrial interior at the former Bradmill factory in Yarraville, showing concrete columns, large windows, steel beams, overhead ducting and angled fluorescent tube fittings.
Industrial Interior
Large curved metal ducting and a cylindrical stack on the exterior red brick wall of the former Bradmill factory at Yarraville, photographed in 2011.
Industrial Ductwork
Large interlocking helical gears mounted in a triangular steel housing, photographed inside the former Davies Coop / Bradmill factory at Yarraville.
Industrial Gears
A green steel canopy over a concrete loading dock at the former Bradmill factory in Yarraville, with a closed corrugated roller door and a rusted metal bin below, a cracked yard and brick warehouse wall with a broken window beyond.
Loading Dock Canopy
A painted timber door at the former Bradmill factory in Yarraville, with a tall red keyhole arch outlined in white on a green background, a worn brass lever handle on the left, and cracked render surrounding the frame.
Painted Arch Door
A pigeon perches on a weathered timber beam between buckled and rusted corrugated iron wall sheets inside a derelict shed at Yarraville.
Pigeon on Beam
A grated metal walkway recedes into shadow inside the former Davies Coop / Bradmill factory at Yarraville, flanked by rusting tubular handrails, with strips of daylight falling through narrow wall gaps on the right.
Steel Walkway
A weathered blue and yellow bus with a "Special" destination sign parked on a derelict overgrown lot at the former Bradmill factory in Yarraville, with corrugated iron and brick industrial buildings behind.
Special Bus
A pile of grey stone blocks on the dusty floor of an abandoned brick manufacturing building at the former Bradmill factory, Yarraville, with graffiti-covered walls and a rusting roof beam above.
Stone Block Pile
Rusting steel-framed canopy over a derelict brick interior at the former Davies Coop / Bradmill factory in Yarraville, with exposed pipework, a coiled hose and weeds encroaching on the concrete floor.
Under the Canopy
04 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

The site is of social and historic significance for its association with two major local companies, Davis Coop and Bradmills, both of which made a contribution to the development of industrial infrastructure in the district

Victorian Heritage Database · Place 28366 · Maribyrnong Planning Scheme HO125 · Statement of Significance, 2000

05 ABOUT THE PRINTS

How they’re made

Made to order by Brett in Sydney, from the original RAW file. Each print is hand-signed and numbered before it ships.

Paper

Ilford Galerie cotton rag, 310 gsm. Acrylic on metallic gloss, 260 gsm.

Editions

Open in XS and S. Limited in M (100), L (50), XL (25). From $100.

Print tiers →

Lead time

Unframed: 5 to 10 business days. Framed and acrylic: 10 to 20.

06 FIELD NOTE

From the field

Read all field notes
07 BACKGROUND

Notes on the site

A transition in factory roofs

The earliest manufacturing buildings on the site, from the early 1950s, keep the large south-lit sawtooth roof of older factories, but carry it on trusses able to span greater distances, so avoiding the close column spacing of earlier buildings. The later buildings use a clear-span, low-pitched gable roof, still current practice in factory design when the heritage review was written.

Source 1

The 2004 overlay hearing

The owner objected to the heritage overlay because of its impact on the site's operation, and a heritage appraisal prepared for the owner claimed the site had no significance at all. After a site visit, the May 2004 panel for Amendment C31 found most of the fabric not significant enough by form or age, and recommended redrawing the overlay around the boiler house, the elevator and the sawtooth-roofed red brick factory. The canteen fell outside it.

Source 1

08 REFERENCES

Sources and further reading

  1. 01
    Bradmill (former Davis Coop / Bradmill site), Victorian Heritage Database place 28366, Maribyrnong Planning Scheme HO125Heritage Council of Victoria, information maintained by Maribyrnong City · 2000vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/28366
    T1
  2. 02
    Cotton Spinners Peak Year, Net £338,026The Herald (Melbourne), p. 6 (Trove, National Library of Australia) · 1954nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248339588
    T1
  3. 03
    Davies Coop. Link Arranged With U.K. DyersThe Age (Melbourne), p. 6 (Trove, National Library of Australia) · 1952nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205414660
    T1
  4. 04
    Davies, Coop £373,713The Argus (Melbourne), p. 10 (Trove, National Library of Australia) · 1955nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71696042
    T1
  5. 05
    Bradmill To Make $9.1m Davies Coop OfferThe Canberra Times, p. 24 (Trove, National Library of Australia) · 1969nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136950865
    T1
  6. 06
    Bradmill in profit leap to $2.7mThe Canberra Times, p. 25 (Trove, National Library of Australia) · 1973nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110747238
    T1
  7. 07
    D. Coop expects sales riseThe Herald (Melbourne), p. 6 (Trove, National Library of Australia) · 1953nla.gov.au/nla.news-article249258899
    T1
  8. 08
    Maribyrnong Heritage Review, Volume 3: Industrial Places, BradmillJill Barnard, Graeme Butler, Francine Gilfedder and Gary Vines for the City of Maribyrnong (Heritage Victoria attachment 5355) · 2000images.heritage.vic.gov.au/attachment/5355
    T1
  9. 09
    Bradmill Precinct Development Plan, Francis Street, Yarraville, Volume 1 (endorsed under Development Plan Overlay Schedule 7)Tract Consultants for De Group Pty Ltd, with a conservation management plan by Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd (Maribyrnong City Council) · 2012maribyrnong.vic.gov.au/files/assets/public/v/1/planning-services-documents/urban-planning/major-projects/approved-development-plan-development-plan-overlay-schedule-7-dpo7-endorsed-sep-2012-bradmill-precinct.pdf
    T1
  10. 10
    Major infill site in Melbourne to yield 1,000 new homesFrasers Property Australia (media release) · 2021frasersproperty.com.au/news/2022/09/02/yarraville-site-acquisition
    T1
  11. 11
    Frasers Reaps Harvest of Western Corridor DemandThe Urban Developer (Marisa Wikramanayake) · 2024theurbandeveloper.com/articles/frasers-property-yarraville-bradmill-irongate-launch
    T2
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