History of Bluestone

Brief Geological History
The basaltic lava flows of the Pleistocene Era covered most of the south west of what is now Victoria, from Melbourne in the east to Portland in the west and far north as the Great Dividing Range, resulting in one of the world's great basalt plains.

Many of these flows were thin & shaly from contact with existing rock and decomposed over the ensuing 2 million years. Some outcrops however were deep enough and solid enough to last and provide a viable dimension stone resource for more recent times.

More Recent History
The rapid expansion of the colony after the discovery of gold required readily available sources of suitable building stones.

Basalt was found to be plentiful, relatively easy to work as well as being stronger than many other materials available for use.

The main source of Basalt was the local deposits at Footscray and the term "Bluestone" was coined for this basalt to distinguish it from other blander more greyish basalts.

This 'Blue' basalt provided the fabric of many of the earliest buildings in Melbourne.

Melbourne Town Hall and St. Paul's Cathedral are good examples of 'Bluestone'.

Most of the initial paving in Collins St, Melbourne, was made from Footscray 'Bluestone' as well as millions of Bluestone 'pitchers', used to duplicate the cobbles of English streets (pitchers were so named because they were 'pitched' using masons hammer & bolster and mostly by prison labour).

Deer Park Bluestone
Only a short hop from the site of the traditional basalt deposits of Footscray are the Deer Park Bluestone Resources of Melocco.

These resources are extensive, and as they are owned by the group, they provide a guarantee of continued and consistent supply for the foreseeable future.

Deer Park 'Bluestone' is structurally suitable for paving and cladding and also aesthetically more pleasing than other duller/ greyer basalts when seen in larger expanses of paving or cladding. In addition, it takes a good polish and sandblasts 'clean' with no whitening of the surface evident in other basalts.

All basalt contains 'vesiculations' in varying proportions (small holes created by gas bubbles in the cooling lava). These have long been considered an attribute that gives basalt an ever changing texture ensuring no two pieces are the same and providing a character not evident in other natural stones.

'Bluestone' has stood the test of time with many of the buildings of the mid 1800's only requiring a good clean to return the 'Bluestone' to its original condition.