Lodge Bros Stonemasonry
Lodge Bros commenced as a Stonemasonry Company in 1918 in Hamilton Victoria, when four brothers returned from active service in the First World War.
When they were commissioned to build the Shrine of Remembrance in St Kilda Rd in the late 1920’s, early 1930’s, they operated from West Melbourne and in 1938 acquired a stonemasonry company in Grant Street, South Melbourne operating from there until 1966 when the company moved to Swanston St in Preston. Lodge Bros is now situated at 2396 Plenty Road, Whittlesea VIC 3757.
In 1947, Lodge Bros were manufacturing a further stage at the Shrine of Rememberance, that being the carving and fixing of the bluestone servicemen on the top of the 1939-1945 War Memorial at the Eternal Flame.
When funding became available for the new undercroft development at the front of the Shrine in 2001, the Shrine Trustees were eager to explore the possibility of the original stonemasons who built the Shrine, to complete the new development. This came to fruition in 2002-2003 when Lodge Bros constructed all the exterior walls of the undercroft development. Lodge Bros was able to source and secure the use of the same granite from Tynong Victoria that was used in the original works of the 1930’s.
Some of the many projects undertaken by Lodge Bros have been:-
- The construction of the sandstone spires on St Patricks Cathedral Melbourne.
- The construction in Geelong Sandstone, of St Monicas Church Moonee Ponds and extentions to St Peters Church Toorak.
- Construction of Newman College Chapel, and restoration of numerous natural stone buildings at Melbourne University.
- The major restoration of Scots Church, corner of Collins & Russell Streets in the late 1980’s.
- Numerous Altars around Melbourne, including the Altar, Baptisimal font and foundation stone for our church of St. Mary’s Greensborough.
Lodge Bros are industry leaders in the manufacture and construction of natural stone and our expertise has also extended into the sporting arena.
In 1957 Lodge Bros completed the marble and granite panels depicting the medal winners of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. These panels were positioned on the face of the Olympic Stand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and then relocated to the Gallery of Sport. In 2003, Lodge Bros removed the Olympic Panels from the Gallery of Sport to enable the recent redevelopment works to occur. We have recently re-installed the panels on the exterior wall of the new Northern Stand.
Lodge Bros have also erected the ten sporting legend bronze statues around the external concourse of the MCG, for
- Betty Cuthbert
- Shirley Strickland
- Ron Barassi
- Hadyn Bunton
- Don Bradman
- Leigh Matthews
- Keith Miller
- Bill Ponsford
- Dick Reynolds
- Dennis Lillee
- Shane Warne
A slideshow of some of these statues can be seen here.
Apart from our extensive building works, Lodge Bros have also constructed thousands of cemetery memorials throughout Australia and continue to offer natural stone memorials in all cemeteries.
The slideshow below shows construction of the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance during 1928 – 1930.
