RICHMOND TAFE/TANNERY PRECINCT
57-67 APPLETON STREET RICHMOND, YARRA CITY
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Statement of Significance
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RICHMOND TAFE/TANNERY PRECINCT - History
Heritage Inventory History of Site: The Sands and McDougal directory for 1871 lists the following tanneries in River Street, from north to south: John Clark and Sons Stafford Tannery, James Farrell, Kennon and Thomas Lampbert. Clearly there were more tanneries than on the Sands and McDougal maps and none are identified as "Richmond Tannery".The 1888 Sands and Mc Dougall directory shows Farrell's Tannery at the northernmost site on River Street, Gill and Boston's at No. 15, Rentoul (probably a tannery) at No. 15 and Kennon at No. 41. Farrell's Tannery is also listed for Clark Street, with J. Clark and Sons to the north.it appears from the Sands and Mc Dougal directories and from the title evidence in t he Technisearch report that two tanneries were on the "Colonial Tannery" site: Clark's, which seems the most northerly, and Farrell's, adjacent to the south.Apart from the noxious industries, there is the inevitable development of working class housing adjacent to these industries. Appleton Street, which appears to post date the 1887 Sands and McDougall map, contained a number of brick and wooden houses. In particular a row of five houses were of similar design were erected on the corner of Clark and Appleton Streets. The Board of works plan shows them complete with outside toilets and linked by a service lane, suggesting they were served by a night soil collection system. There are four houses on the east side of Clarke Street, again serviced by night soil collection.The 1950 Board of Works map reflects a picture of changed use of the TAFE site. The bottom half of the Colonial Tannery site had been demolished and a large building with several smaller outbuildings had been erected. According to the title in the Technisearch report, the land was separate by 1916 but there is no date for the erection of the building. According to the title, the northern section was owned by Alfred and John Hackett, described as tanners, and they presumably used the buildings on the northern part of the site. Some of the buildings are on the 1950 plan but none have survived.The row of houses on Appleton Street had also changed. They were described as being wooden in the 1896 plan. The surviving building on the site is a brick cottage, "Mafeking", suggesting that some of the wooden houses were replaced by brick buildings circa 1900. This accounts for the slight change in shape of the houses. Only the two westernmost houses remained unchanged until the 1950s. The house on the corner of Appleton and Clarke Street had been demolished by 1950. The houses on Clarke Street remained essentially unchanged, any changes being confined to the outbuildings.Heritage Inventory Description
RICHMOND TAFE/TANNERY PRECINCT - Heritage Inventory Description
Appleton Street. Five wooden houses extant from 1886 until the mid 1970s. Partially excavated in 1991 with limited results.Clark Street. Three wooden houses facing Clark Street, destroyed sometime after 1950.Gill and Boston's Tannery. Virtually no remains. A large bluestone retaining wall is located on the Yarra edge and the ruins of a brick building are located on the south east corner of the site. Helipad now on the site.Clark and Sons' Tannery. A large part of this area contains extant warehouse building. The tannery remains likely to consist only of foundations and pits, now covered with 0.6 to 1.8 metres of fill.Farrell's Tannery. The site of the first tannery in Richmond. There may be foundations and pits under the fill.River Street. The River Street area, including the site of 43-67 River Street has been occupied by industrial premises utilising the location for leather tanning and related activities. The tanneries were among the first industries in Richmond. The southern end of River Street had been surveyed and laid out by 1848 and allotments between Burnly Street and the yarra were sold between 1848 and 1850. Subsequent private subdivision saw the river front lots initially divided into "Villa" sites. However the attraction of the site for industries, particularly those noxious industries requiring water and a suitable drain, soon led to a number of tanneries, soap manufacturers, strach works, and other such factories being established in the area.
Heritage Inventory Significance: Appleton Street - high before the excavation in 1991, now low.Clark Street - high.Gill and Boston's Tannery - high historical, low archaeological significance.Clarke and Sons' Tannery - high historical and low archaeological significance.Farrell's Tannery - high historical and low archaeological significance.River Street - high historical and high archaeological potential.
Heritage Inventory Site Features: Two rows of houses.Three tannery sites.
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FORMER GROSVENOR COMMON SCHOOLVictorian Heritage Register H0654
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FORMER INVERGOWRIE LODGEVictorian Heritage Register H0517
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FORMER BRIDGE HOTELVictorian Heritage Register H0449
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