Cross Machine Shop

The Cross Machine Shop sits within the Portland Cement Works Precinct on Williwa Street, Portland, a Federation and Inter-War industrial complex built from brickwork and fine steel trusses across successive construction phases from the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century. The works was established by the Commonwealth Portland Cement Company, registered in December 1900. Cement production commenced in 1902 under the "Union" brand, a logo depicting two clasped hands in a circle. By 1912, the company was producing approximately 40% of all Portland cement manufactured in Australia, supplying every Australian state, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. Capacity grew from around 12 tonnes per day in 1903 to 226,796 tonnes of cement and 18,144 tonnes of lime per year by 1959. Ownership passed from the Commonwealth Portland Cement Company to Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers UK in the late 1940s, then to Blue Circle Southern Cement Ltd in 1974, and finally to Boral Limited in 1992. Cement production ceased in November 1991. The limestone quarries continued operating until 1998, when the last quarry was decommissioned and dismantling of the plant began. The Portland Cement Works Precinct was listed on the NSW State Heritage Register on 3 August 2012, meeting all seven significance criteria. It is recognised as a rare example of a single-industry, one-company town in NSW, a place where the cement works preceded and named the settlement itself. This photograph, made in 2018, records the Cross Machine Shop as it stood after decades of disuse. Heavy machinery remains in position on the floor, metal surfaces layered in rust. Tools sit where they were left. Light enters through broken windows and crosses the workshop in long, low lines, settling on surfaces that have not been touched in years. The noise and heat that once filled this space are entirely absent. What remains is the machinery itself, and the outline of the work it was built to support.