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Construction on the Preston Market began in October 1969 when Preston Mayor W. K. Larkins drove home the first stake in the site of the former Broadhurst Tannery. The original investment in the site was $2 million.

The market opened in 1970 and by 1976 the market had grown to include 46 green grocers, 15 delicatessens, 4 fish shops, 4 poultry shops, 19 butchers and a variety of small goods shops including toys, clothes, carpets, plants, and sporting goods.

In 2004 the owners of Preston Market, Centro MCS, sold the property to Salta Properties for $36.75 million. The new company plans to renovate the site.

Sources

Carroll, Brian and Rule, Ian. Preston: an Illustrated History. Preston: ...

What makes your Nillumbik home town/area unique? Who are the characters who have made it so? What sites have significance and why? During 2005 Nillumbik Shire Council and the Literary Reference Group invited members of the community to respond to these questions, to show us the history and flavour of your place - then and now - in a 500 word anecdote. This article by Elain Rank is reproduced here with her permission.

I was ten years old when we moved to Briar Hill. Dusty unmade roads with potholes replaced the made roads and footpaths of Thornbury where we had lived. However, it didn’t take long to fall in love with this little township that fitted cosily between Greensborough and Montmorency. If ever asked by outsiders, where do you live, and you answered Briar Hill, the response was always the same, never heard of it. Apart from the quiet simple life, there was much more to Briar Hill than most folk knew, with many highly successful businesses that kept many locals employed.

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