Malakoff Castle, circa 1910Malakoff Castle was one of the buildings constructed by Joseph Raleigh, a local merchant and landowner. Raleigh arrived in Port Phillip in December of 1843 with his wife, Priscilla, and three sons, aboard the ship Imman of Muscat, and was joined by his two sisters, Rachel and Sarah in 1845. Originally a merchant, by 1847 he owned a wharf, sited on what is now Queensberry Bridge, salting works in Yarraville, and several warehouses. At this time he lived at ‘Maida Vale’, in Moonee Ponds. He later bought a large tract of land by the Saltwater (now Maribyrnong) River during the first sale of land in the area in that year. It was here that Raleigh built his boiling-down works, where sheep were rendered into tallow for export. Up to 1000 sheep per day were processed by Raleigh’s factory.
Before the gold rush, and the consequent population boom, sheep farming was a risky proposition. Low stock prices (sheep at two shillings a head, and cattle prices similar), combined with the risk of drought, made rendering highly profitable- the tallow produced from one sheep would sell for six shillings in London.
Malakoff Castle (named after a Russian fort in the Crimean War) was constructed with bluestone walls up to two feet thick, with two rooms in both the upper and lower stories. The building was built in the shape of a cross, resembling a church. The building was used for several purposes. While it served as quarters for Raleigh’s workers, the spire was highly visible from the surrounding countryside, serving as a landmark for drovers delivering sheep to the boiling-down works. Raleigh had a brass likeness of a sheep placed atop the spire, which is still visible in later photographs. As the workers would travel into the city in order to attend church services on Sundays, often not returning until the following Tuesday, Raleigh decided to hold services in the castle, the Rev E. Puckle officiating.
The gold rush in Victoria caused a population boom, resulting in an increased demand for foodstuffs, and hence increased stock prices. This made boiling-down unprofitable. However, Raleigh’s punt over the Maribyrnong River, was, for a period, the only crossing-point on the road to the goldfields, and all travellers, including the mail coach and the gold escort, had to pay the toll. Raleigh died in 1852, of influenza, at the age of 49.
Three engineers, named Robertson, Martin, and Smith, rented the former boiling-down works from Raleigh’s family in 1854. They converted the facility into an ironworks, and used it to manufacture steam locomotives for the Melbourne and Hobson’s Bay line. Although carriages and other equipment had been imported from England, there was a delay in the delivery of steam engines, and so it became necessary to manufacture them locally. Australia’s first locally produced steam locomotive was built here in the same year.
After the ironworks closed, Raleigh’s sisters sold the site to the Melbourne Meat Preserving Company, which renovated the buildings and used them as a cannery from 1867, producing canned meat for export. Malakoff Castle was used as a hostel for the company’s workers, and, in 1869, became a licensed premises, under the name of the Castle Hotel However, the castle proved to be unsatisfactory as a hotel, and the license was transferred to the Maribyrnong Bridge Hotel after one year.
As preservation technology improved, the cannery’s operations expanded to include producing frozen meat, but this venture was unsuccessful, as facilities in Footscray were more convenient for shipping. Also, competition from the US and South America contributed to the failure of this scheme. Rising stock prices forced the cannery to close in 1886.
During this period, Raleigh’s sons returned from England in order to sell the remainder of the land purchased by Joseph Raleigh.
It was probably in the period following the cannery’s closure that Malakoff Castle gained its’ reputation for being haunted. According to the story, the building was being used as a private house by a married couple. One night when her husband was away, the wife saw her brother’s face at the window, and, later, she learned that he had been drowned that same night.
Malakoff Castle was derelict by 1911, when the Hume brothers built their pipeworks on the site, and was a known haunt for vagrants. However, the building provided a well-known local landmark, and is visible on a number of images of the Maribyrnong River area from the period.
Maribyrnong Bridge, as the Maribyrnong River floods, 1916. Malakoff Castle is visible on the hill in the background (circled).In 1917, Malakoff castle collapsed, either due to damage to its’ foundation from blasting at the nearby quarries, or because of the activities of an artillery unit practising nearby. The bluestone blocks were crushed, and used to manufacture concrete pipes by the pipeworks.
References
Devine, M., 'Haunted', Essendon Community News, April 24th 1994, p24
Ford, O. & Lewis, P. 1989, Maribyrnong: Action in Tranquillity, Melbourne's Living Museum of the West Inc. & Sunshine City Council, Melbourne, pp3-40
Maddigan, J. & Frost, L. 1995, Maribyrnong Record: Past Images of the River, Essendon Historical Society Inc., Melbourne, pp20-22
'Malakoff, Famous Maribyrnong Ruin', Essendon Gazette, May 3rd 1945, pp1-3
Mouritz, J. 1979, Port Phillip Almanac and Directory for 1847, Library of Australian History, Sydney, p127
By Dean Reilly
