Jack’s Magazine is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register for its historical, architectural and technological significance. Construction of the facility began in 1875 for the purpose of explosives storage during Victoria’s gold mining boom. Additional buildings were added to the site throughout the early 1900s.
The site includes two large bluestone gunpowder storage buildings, several smaller storage rooms, remnants of the narrow gauge tram tracks and tunnels, and 10 metre high earthen blast mounds built to protect the surrounding area from danger created by the presence of explosives. The explosives stored at Jack’s Magazine were managed safely over the 115 years of the Magazine’s working life and, as a result, all of the blast mounds and buildings remain intact today.
The Magazine is the largest gunpowder storage complex built in Victoria and demonstrates the scale and prominence of the gold mining industry across Victoria.