Corrimal Coke Works
The Corrimal Coke Works operated for over 100 years from 1912 to 2014 and was the longest continuously operating coke-works in Australia. Over its life the Works supplied premium grade coke for metallurgical processing and founding to Australian and overseas base-metal producers and foundries. It was initially built with a capacity of 55,000 tonnes annually produced by 40 ovens (C1battery), and at its peak with additional ovens added, it had a production capacity of over 100,000 tonnes annually. In its early years most of its production went to local users and in its later years, up to 70% went overseas.
Using Bulli Seam coal mined in the northern Illawarra, the Corrimal Coke Works produced premium hard grade coke for metallurgical processing and foundry operations for use by Australian and overseas producers of base metals - iron, copper, lead and zinc, and of precious metals - silver and gold.
The works site is a visual reminder of the role metallurgical coke-making played in the coal, smelting, founding and blacksmithing industries locally, elsewhere and overseas.
It was a key component in the establishment of Corrimal as a suburb and ensured the economic health of the locality as a continuous employer of local families, and is socially significant to the generations who built, operated and maintained it.
As the oldest continually operated coke works in Australia, the Corrimal Coke Works demonstrates the changes and upgrades that occurred in the industry following the introduction of new technology – automation, and improvements to comply with safety and environmental legislation. These works have the potential to yield information pertaining to the development of coke-making in an Australian context. As industrial sites, coke works are now a rare and endangered physical record of what was once a major component of the industrial environment of the Illawarra, NSW and of Australia generally. Whilst the Corrimal Coke Works is no longer fully intact, it, and another in NSW and one in Queensland, are the only remaining examples of its type.
It is therefore of a high representative value. These coke ovens in particular, are important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a now under-represented industry of local and national heritage significance.
Engineering Heritage Recognition Program
| Marker Type | Engineering Heritage Marker (EHM) |
| Award Date | TBA |
| Heritage Significance | These ovens were the first in Illawarra to recover waste heat gas from the ovens to supply a power generating plant. |
| Nomination Document | Available here. |
| Ceremony Booklet | Not Available |
| Plaque/Interpretation Panel | None Installed. |
