Bluestone: 150 Years of the Dennys Lascelles Woolstore

Bluestone: 150 Years of the Dennys Lascelles Woolstore is an honest account of the colonisation of the Geelong/Djilang region and events leading up to the opening of the woolstore. The exhibition tells the stories of those who have walked these halls and explores the progress of Geelong/Djilang and those who lived here through the ages. On 1 August 1872 the C. J Dennys & Co Woolstore opened, adorning the corner of Moorabool and Brougham Streets. At the time of opening, the basalt bluestone woolstore was the second largest store in Victoria and by many accounts the “most elaborate”. The Woolstore sits on Wadawurrung Country on the site of an ancient water way, a place of cultural significance. With invasion, Wadawurrung Peoples’ lives changed forever, and many stories are captured in this exhibition. When the Woolstore was opened, it was an innovation in colonial architecture, with advanced design for lighting and ventilation. The bluestone came from Fyansford quarries (with the dressed portion from Ballarat) and the bricks came from the kiln in West Geelong. Bluestone shares forgotten and evocative stories, some we are still excavating, just like the tunnels that used to run under Brougham Street.