A PIECE of Heathcote’s history, the former survey office, has been included in the Victorian Heritage Register.The survey office is Heathcote’s oldest building and dates back to the gold-rush era.Heritage Council of Victoria chairman Daryl Jackson said the sandstone building was a fine and unusual example of an early public building in the Colony of Victoria. “The Georgian-influenced-style building was constructed in 1854 for Phillip Chauncy, surveyor-in-chief for the McIvor goldfield district,” Mr Jackson said. “He lived at the office until 1860 and surveyed Heathcote and Echuca, then moved to Dunolly.“Chauncy was also a sketcher and made drawings of the survey office and other parts of Heathcote in the 1850s, as well as contributing to R. Brough Smyth’s 1878 book The Aborigines of Victoria.”There have been several changes to the building, including removal of the entry porch and a number of less important timber additions. The building was a local store owner’s residence known as Helen-slee from 1872 to 1896, and then became a doctor’s surgery and residence until 1968. It is now a private residence.The Victorian Heritage Register is the official listing of the more than 2000 places and objects that have been assessed as significant to the state of Victoria. The listings provide the state’s highest heritage protection and mean changes to the sites may require a permit from Heritage Victoria.