Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Precinct
Creswick Road and Macarthur St and Baird Street and Ronald Street and Beaufort Crescent BALLARAT CENTRAL, BALLARAT CITY
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Statement of Significance
The Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Heritage Precinct is architecturally significant at a LOCAL level (AHC criterion D.2). It demonstrates original and early design qualities associated with the residential development of the area from the late 19th century until c.1945. These qualities are expressed in the Victorian, Late Victorian, Edwardian and interwar Bungalow styled dwellings that are all single storey in appearance and have detached compositions.
Intact and appropriate domestic designs for the area include the hipped and gabled roof forms (with simple or complex roof outlines having a pitch between 25 and 40 degrees), front or return verandahs, corrugated galvanised steel roof cladding, horizontal timber weatherboard wall construction, brick chimneys (detailed to reflect the design era), modest or wide eaves, timber verandah posts with decorative cast iron or timber brackets and/or valances, timber framed windows arranged singularly, in pairs or bays, and the rear location of carports and garaging. Overall, these dwellings constitute 69% of the building stock in the area. The surviving commercial buildings: the former Canberra Hotel at 812 Macarthur Street and the shop at 710 Macarthur Street also contribute to the architectural significance of the area.
The Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Heritage Precinct is aesthetically significant at a LOCAL level (AHC criteria D.2, E.1). It demonstrates important visual qualities that reflect the historical and residential development of the area. These qualities include the layout of the roads, streets and allotment configuration, views to the railway line (in Macarthur Street and Beaufort Crescent) and cemetery (Macarthur Street and Creswick Road) and views to the former Canberra Hotel, a local heritage landmark representing an early commercial enterprise in the area. Another local landmark, although outside the precinct, is the brick chimney stack represent a physical legacy of the 19th century pottery factory which was demolished in the 1960s. Particular landscapes of significance include the Avenue of Honor of Maple and Ash trees in Beaufort Crescent (known as "Monash Avenue"), row of Elms in Creswick Road, Pin Oaks on the east side of Baird Street, mix of Plane, Elm and Ash trees in Macarthur Street grassed nature strips, and the small front private gardens to several of the properties. The streetscapes within the precinct are also identified by front fencing that further enhances the significance of the area. These fences include the timber picket fences (up to 1200 mm high),
The Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Heritage Precinct is historically significant at a LOCAL level (AHC criteria A.4, H.1). It is associated with important eras of residential development after the subdivision of the area in c.1863 and 1888, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and during the interwar (c.1920-1945) period. Although there was housing in the area before 1861, together with the Crown Hotel that had opened in 1857 on the south-east corner of Creswick Road and Macarthur Street, subsequent major land subdivisions were the catalyst of the construction of the dwellings in the area today. The first major subdivision occurred north of Macarthur Street and included the creation of Baird Street (originally known as Wood Street) and the angled Beaufort Crescent as a result of the reservation of adjacent railway land and later opening the Ballarat to "Beaufort" railway line. Allotments in the first subdivision were sold from 1863 and involved 29 allotments between Creswick Road and Baird Street, with the remaining 16 allotments between Baird Street and Beaufort Crescent first sold from 1869. Land south of Macarthur Street was divided into 20 allotments in 1888. Although primarily a residential area, the precinct has associations with the former Canberra Hotel, built in 1866 as the Rose of Denmark and forms a local historical landmark. A number of the interwar dwellings in the area have associations with local builders, including A.L. Quayle (builder for 8, 8A and 11A Baird Street) and S.J. Weir (builder for 2 and 2A Baird Street and 714 Macarthur Street). There area also has associations with residents of a broad mix of socio-economic backgrounds in the 19th and early 20th centuries: from the gentleman of "independent means" and solicitors; to the middle classes of teachers, police constables, tailors and office clerks; to the working classes comprising carpenters, butchers, labourers and not surprisingly railway employees and potters, given the nearby railway workshops and pottery factory. There are also associations with the planting of the Avenue of Honor of Maple and Ash trees (known as Monash Avenue) in 1916-17 by the North Progress Association in honor of the soldiers of the area who were then serving in the First World War.
The Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Heritage Precinct is socially significant at a LOCAL level (AHC criterion G.1). In particular, the Avenue of Honor of Maple and Ash trees known as "Monash Avenue" is recognized by the local community for cultural and commemorative reasons with those soldiers who fought and died in the First World War.
Overall, the Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Precinct is of LOCAL significance.
In accordance with the Victoria Planning Provision (VPP): Applying the Heritage Overlay, the Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Heritage Precinct has been assessed against the relevant Criteria for the Register of the National Estate.
This assessment has determined that the precinct has sufficient cultural significance to warrant its retention by its inclusion as a heritage overlay in the Ballarat Planning Scheme.
The Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Heritage Precinct is considered to meet the following relevant Criteria: A.4: Importance for its association with events, developments or cultural phases which have had a significant role in the human occupation and evolution of the nation, State, region or community.
The Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Heritage Precinct has been identified in the Historical Evidence and in the Statement of Significance as being associated with the subdivision of residential land from 1863, 1869 and 1888.
In the first instance, these subdivisions resulted from the need for further house building because of the rapidly expanded population as a result of the gold rush from 1851. The subsequent building development in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and during the interwar period reflects the evolution of housing needs in this area over an 80-year period, with the expansion of other industries and cultural and social developments, including the extension of the Ballarat to Beaufort railway line (now known as the Ballarat to Ararat railway line) adjacent the precinct that opened in 1874. The planting of the Avenue of Honor along Beaufort Avenue in 1916-17 and known as "Monash Avenue" continues as a physical and cultural legacy of the substantial impact of the First World War on the local area.
D.2: Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of the range of human activities in the Australian environment (including way of life, custom, process, land-use, function, design or technique).
Most of the existing allotment pattern within the Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Heritage Precinct reflects the important subdivisional land sales of 1863, 1869 and 1888. The existing significant housing stock demonstrates the design techniques of the important phases of building development in the area in the Victorian, Edwardian and interwar periods. While most of the dwellings are modestly scaled, they are generally moderately-highly intact examples of their particular types (Victorian, Edwardian and interwar Bungalow stylistic types) that collectively provide a significant aesthetic understanding of the three main building phases in the area.
E.1: Importance for a community for aesthetic characteristics held in high esteem or otherwise valued by the community.
The landscape features within the precinct - notably the Avenue of Honor in Beaufort Crescent, row of Elms in Creswick Road, Pin Oaks on the east side of Baird Street, mix of Plane, Elm and Ash trees in Macarthur Street grassed nature strips, and the small front private gardens - make a critical contribution to the aesthetic heritage character of the area. The street trees within the public domain are valued by the local community. In association with the landscaping is the early engineering infrastructure such as the bluestone spoon drains and graveled and grassed road verges that further contribute to the heritage character and appearance of the area.
G.1: Importance as a place highly valued by a community for reasons of religious, spiritual, symbolic, cultural, educational or social associations.
The Avenue of Honor of Maple and Ash trees known as "Monash Avenue" in Beaufort Crescent commemorates those local soldiers who fought and died in the First World War. This memorial avenue continues to be valued by the local community for cultural and commemorative reasons, although the cultural associations with the fallen soldiers is now not well-known throughout Ballarat.
The dwellings that are significant within the heritage precinct are:
. 2 Baird Street. . 424 Creswick Road.
. 4 Baird Street. . 426 Creswick Road.
. 5 Baird Street. . 428 Creswick Road.
. 6 Baird Street. . 430 Creswick Road.
. 8 Baird Street. . 432 Creswick Road.
. 9 Baird Street. . 434 Creswick Road.
. 11 Baird Street. . 436 Creswick Road.
. 11A Baird Street. . 438 Creswick Road.
. 12 Baird Street. . 701 Macarthur Street.
. 13 Baird Street. . 702 Macarthur Street.
. 16A Baird Street. . 704 Macarthur Street.
. 17 Baird Street. . 705A Macarthur Street.
. 18 Baird Street. . 705 Macarthur Street.
. 19 Baird Street. . 706 Macarthur Street.
. 23 Baird Street. . 707 Macarthur Street.
. 25 Baird Street. . 708 Macarthur Street.
. 27 Baird Street. . 710 Macarthur Street.
. 3 Beaufort Crescent. . 712 Macarthur Street.
. 5 Beaufort Crescent. . 801 Macarthur Street.
. 25 Beaufort Crescent. . 803 Macarthur Street.
. 314 Creswick Road. . 805 Macarthur Street.
. 316 Creswick Road. . 807 Macarthur Street.
. 318 Creswick Road. . 808 Macarthur Street.
. 320 Creswick Road. . 809 Macarthur Street.
. 322 Creswick Road. . 811 Macarthur Street.
. 404 Creswick Road. . 812 Macarthur Street.
. 408 Creswick Road. . 3 Ronald Street.
. 410 Creswick Road. . 5 Ronald Street.
. 420 Creswick Road. . 7 Ronald Street.
The dwellings that may have individual significance are:
. 9 Baird Street.
. 406 Creswick Road.
. 434 Creswick Road.
. 702 Macarthur Street.
. 710 Macarthur Street.
. 803 Macarthur Street.
. 811 Macarthur Street.
. 812 Macarthur Street.
The properties that are not considered to have significance within the precinct are at:
. 412 Creswick Road.
. 2A Baird Street. . 414 Creswick Road.
. 7 Baird Street. . 416 Creswick Road.
. 8A Baird Street. . 418 Creswick Road.
. 10 Baird Street. . 422 Creswick Road.
. 10A Baird Street. . 699 Macarthur Street.
. 14 Baird Street. . 703 Macarthur Street.
. 15 Baird Street. . 709 Macarthur Street.
. 16 Baird Street. . 714 Macarthur Street.
. 7 Beaufort Crescent. . 802 Macarthur Street.
. 9 Beaufort Crescent. . 804 Macarthur Street.
. 11 Beaufort Crescent. . 806 Macarthur Street.
. 13 Beaufort Crescent. . 810 Macarthur Street.
. 27 Beaufort Crescent. . 817 Macarthur Street.
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Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Precinct - Physical Description 1
Precinct Boundaries (refer to map in the images section of this citation) The Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Heritage precinct includes the allotments fronting onto Macarthur Street (between Creswick Road and Beaufort Crescent), Baird Street, Ronald Street, Beaufort Crescent and the east side of Creswick Road. The area also includes the avenue of memorial trees on the east side of Beaufort Crescent.
Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Precinct - Physical Description 2
Physical Evidence 1.3.1 Building Character & Appearance (refer to photos in the images section of this citation)
The Creswick Road and Macarthur Street heritage precinct is predominantly a residential area comprised of 85 dwellings, one former hotel building and one shop (with attached dwelling).
HeightAll of the dwellings in the Creswick Road and Macarthur Street heritage precinct are single storey in appearance and height. The former Canberra Hotel 812 Macarthur Street (corner of Creswick Road) represents the only two storey building in the area (Photo 3.01).
Form, Design and Scale, Construction and FinishThe Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Heritage Precinct comprises a variety of architectural styles that reflect the residential development of the area throughout the 19th century, early 20th century and interwar eras.
The 19th century era dwellings are Victorian and Late Victorian in style and largely of the following type: . Hipped roof forms that traverse the site, with front or return hipped, bullnosed or convex verandahs. These Victorian types also feature timber verandah posts, cast iron or timber verandah valances and brackets, corbelled brick chimneys, timber framed double hung windows (arranged singularly, paired or as tripartite windows), timber framed front doorways (often with timber framed sidelights and highlights), narrow eaves (some with decorative timber brackets). Most of these dwellings are constructed of horizontal timber weatherboards with galvanized corrugated steel (non-zincalume) roof cladding. Examples of this typeinclude the dwellings at 426 Creswick Road (Photo 3.02), 701 Macarthur Street (Photo 3.03)32 and 4 Baird Street.
. A variation of this type are Victorian dwellings that feature much of the fabric listed above, but are also characterized by asymmetrical compositions having gable roof forms that project towards the front.
Examples include 23 Baird Street (Photo 3.04) and 712 Macarthur Street (Photo 3.05).
The early 20th century era buildings are largely designed in Edwardian styles and reflect the following type: . Recessive hipped roof forms with minor gables and hipped bullnosed verandahs that project towards the street frontage, or front verandahs formed under the main roof. These dwellings also feature modest eaves with timber brackets or exposed timber rafters, and prominent corbelled or strapped brick chimneys. The verandahs are largely supported by timber posts and feature timber fretwork valances and brackets (or occasionally cast iron verandah decoration), timber framed double hung windows (arranged singularly or in pairs) and timber framed doorways with sidelights and highlights. Examples in the dwellings at 801 and 807 Macarthur Street (Photos 3.06-07). Most of these dwellings are constructed of horizontal timber weatherboards with galvanized corrugated steel (non-zincalume) roof cladding.
. Variant examples of this type include the dwellings at 5 Ronald Street (Photo 3.08), 12 Baird Street (Photo 3.09) and 406 Creswick Road (Photo 3.10).
The interwar era dwellings are designed as interwar Bungalows and include the following types: . Interwar Californian Bungalows generally with a gable or hipped roof form that traverses the site, together with a minor gable and/or verandah that project towards the street frontage or at the side. These dwellings have timber framed double hung windows, arranged singularly, in pairs or as projecting bays. The verandahs are mainly supported by timber posts and brick piers, or solely with brick piers. There are plain rectilinear brick chimneys, with some featuring rendered or soldiercoursed tops. The gable infill is predominantly rudimentary, consisting of simple battening and paneling. Most dwellings are constructed in horizontal timber weatherboards with galvanized corrugated steel roof cladding. Examples include the dwellings at 8 Baird Street (Photo 3.11) and 404 Creswick Road (Photo 3.12). A brick and stuccoed and tiled variant of the Californian Bungalow is the dwelling at 805 Macarthur Street (Photo 3.13).
. Rudimentary interwar Bungalows with multiple hipped roof forms having front or side verandahs and several of the features listed for the interwar Californian Bungalows. Examples include the dwellings at 322 and 410 Creswick Road (Photos 3.14-15).Late Edwardian dwellings that are largely composed of the forms of the Edwardian house of the early 20th century, but without the decorative timber eaves brackets or verandah detailing. The verandahs are largely plain and supported by timber posts and/or brick piers, typical for the interwar period. Examples include the dwellings at 11 Baird Street (Photo 3.16) and 432 Creswick Road (Photo 3.17). These dwellings are also largely constructed of horizontal timber weatherboards and galvanized corrugated steel (non-zincalume) roof cladding.
The former Canberra Hotel at the corner of Creswick Road and Macarthur Street forms a local landmark (Photo 3.01). It is designed in a Late Victorian Picturesque style, with its complex roofs comprising steeply pitched gabled and jerkin head forms. The two storey building has a rendered brick wall finish and slate roof cladding. There is a balcony and verandah with arched openings and timber framed double hung windows (including tripartite windows) and a corner door opening. As a landmark, this building has significance within the precinct but is atypical of the general scale, height, character and appearance of the building stock in the area.
At 710 Macarthur Street is a brick interwar shop (Photo 3.18). It has a stepped parapeted brick facade with timber framed shopfront windows and central ingo below the cantilevered verandah. This building also has significance within the precinct but is atypical when compared to the majority of the building stock in the area.
Garages and Carports No garages and carports project forward of the dwellings and are therefore not streetscape features in the Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Heritage precinct. There are some introduced carports that are attached to the side of the dwellings, but these structures are recessive from the front of the dwellings.
Most garages and carports are situated at the rear.
Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Precinct - Physical Description 3
1.3.2 Urban Design & Engineering Infrastructure Layout and Subdivision The allotments within the Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Heritage precinct follow a triangular grid pattern, a consequence of the alignment of Beaufort Crescent resulting from the adjacent Ballarat-Ararat railway line. The allotments fronting Beaufort Crescent are therefore stepped to account for the alignment of the road. The southern portion of Creswick Road (south of Macarthur Street) is also angled, which has caused a stepped arrangement of allotments fronting this road. Most other allotments within the precinct (in Baird, Ronald and Macarthur Streets) are more regular and rectangular in form.
Two unmade (graveled) Rights of Way are entered off Macarthur and Ronald Streets, following the layout of the original subdivision of 1853.
Setbacks Throughout the precinct are regular front setbacks. Most dwellings form a consistent front setback pattern.
Apart from very few dwellings that abut a side boundary, most dwellings have side setbacks with clear visual building separation.
Engineering Infrastructure The Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Heritage precinct is characterized by some early infrastructure. This includes the early open bluestone spoon drains in Baird Street (Photo 3.19), Beaufort Crescent (Photo 3.20), and Creswick Road (Photo 3.21) (and the accompanying concrete cross overs and culverts).
In Macarthur and Ronald Streets are concrete kerbs and channels. There are also concrete upstands to the bluestone drains at one end of Beaufort Crescent.
Another early engineering infrastructure feature in the area are the grassed and graveled road verges. These are identified in Beaufort Crescent (Photo 3.20), Baird Street (Photo 3.19) and Creswick Road (Photo 3.21) (north of Macarthur Street). Concrete or gravel cross overs are also identified in most streets.
There are important views from the precinct to other significant nearby places.
They include views to the railway line and signal box from Macarthur Street, views to the cemetery from Creswick Road and Macarthur Street, views to the landmark chimney stack off Creswick Road (south of the precinct), and views to the landmark railway lines and workshops from Beaufort Crescent.
In Macarthur Street and Beaufort Crescent (one end only) there are bitumen footpaths (Photo 3.22). There are concrete footpaths in Baird Street and Creswick Road, while in Ronald Street there are no footpaths.
Front Fences The streetscapes within the Creswick Road and Macarthur Street heritage precinct are identified by early and sympathetically introduced front fences.
The design and construction of these fences relates directly to that of the dwellings. The types of fences are: . Timber picket fences (maximum 1200 mm high) for 19th century era timber dwellings. Examples include the fences at: - 5 Baird Street (Photo 3.23).
- 18 Baird Street (Photo 3.24).
. Capped timber picket fences (maximum 1200 mm high) for early 20th century and interwar era houses. An example is the fence at: - 410 Creswick Road (Photo 3.15).
. Timber post and woven wire or cyclone fences (maximum 1200 mm high) for early 20th century and interwar era dwellings. Examples include the fences at:- 11A Baird Street (Photo 3.25).
- 25 Baird Street (Photo 3.26).
- 406 Creswick Road (Photo 3.10).
. Low (up to 700 mm) interwar era fences with brick piers and plinths having geometric trussed steel panels or cyclone wire between - the design and construction largely matching the interwar era dwellings. A typical example is the fence at: - 11 Baird Street (Photo 3.16).
. Low interwar era solid brick fences of construction and detailing to match the interwar era dwellings. An example includes the fence at: - 322 Creswick Road (Photo 3.14).
There are also some properties without front fences and a small number with introduced solid rendered brick, cast iron or aluminium palisade or other fences that do not relate to the design and construction of the interwar and postwar dwellings.
Landmarks and Views The two storey former Canberra Hotel at the corner of Creswick Road and Macarthur Street forms a local heritage landmark, given its location, height and scale. Another local heritage landmark outside (but visually connected to) the precinct is the brick chimney stack off Creswick Road, forming a physical legacy of the pottery factory in this location from the late 19th century.
Creswick Road and Macarthur Street Precinct - Physical Description 4
Landscaping One of the most notable surviving landscapes in the Creswick Road and Macarthur Street heritage precinct is the memorial avenue of Maple and Ash trees on the northern side of Beaufort Crescent (Photo 3.27). Other important treelines within the precinct include the Pin Oaks in the east side of Baird Street (Photo 3.19), Elms on the east side of Creswick Road (Photo 3.28), and the mix of Plane, Elm and Ash trees on both sides of Macarthur Street (Photo 3.22).
Grassed nature strips represent another important landscape feature in each of the streets, although they are substantial in Macarthur Street (Photo 3.22).
Several properties within the heritage precinct have small front gardens. These gardens include grassed areas, often bordered with flower beds or shrubbery.
Heritage Study and Grading
Ballarat - Ballarat Heritage Precincts Study
Author: Dr David Rowe and Wendy Jacobs
Year: 2006
Grading:
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PROVINCIAL HOTELVictorian Heritage Register H0432
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BALLARAT RAILWAY COMPLEXVictorian Heritage Register H0902
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FORMER REID'S COFFEE PALACEVictorian Heritage Register H0469
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