Former police station and quarters
7 Camp Street, KANGAROO FLAT VIC 3555 - Property No 209278
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Statement of Significance
Statement of Significance
What is significant?
The former police station and quarters at the corner of Camp and Church streets, Kangaroo Flat, dates from the 1880s and operated intermittently as a police station until 2006. The original 1883 components are on the south of the allotment and comprise the weatherboard police station and quarters which is asymmetrically planned, has a pair of transverse gables with roofs clad in corrugated galvanised steel, and a timber-posted verandah. This is connected to a rear wing of similar age and appearance. Each of the gables is fronted by long finials with square bases; large brick chimney are also attached to the gables, which are in overpainted brick with broad backs and brick cornices, tapering in to the stacks. The timber gable finials, accentuated bargeboards and chimney details are broadly expressive of the Gothic Revival. The stepped chimneys and serrated ornamentation are prominent elements. The demountable block facing Church Street is a standard timber school room of the post-war period. The 1960s police station, at the Smith and Camp Streets corner, is also timber with vertical planking and a low pitched roof. Open landscaped areas are located to the south of the site and at the south-east corner. There is a large concrete area to the north of the buildings, and there are a number of freestanding lock-ups and demountables at the site, used for storage.
How is it significant?
The former police station and quarters at Kangaroo Flat is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance.
Why is it significant?
The former police station and quarters at Kangaroo Flat is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance. The property is of historical significance (Criterion A) as the focus of policing activity in Kangaroo Flat for a long period from 1883, albeit intermittently, having been closed between 1922 and 1963, and again between 1971 and 1974, before operations finally ceased in 2006. The disused facility recalls the early development of the township and the formalisation of the settlement in the build-up to the proclamation of Kangaroo Flat in 1886. The former police station and quarters is also historically significant as a surviving example of a standard Public Works Department design of a timber police station with quarters dating to the 1880s. The former police station is additionally of some local significance as the focus of police work and activity in Kangaroo Flat, over periods from the 1880s to 2006 (Criterion G). With regard to its aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E), and while it is a standard Public Works Department design for a timber police station with quarters of the period (1880s), and subsequently modified and extended, it remains a picturesque and highly detailed building which retains many of the original Gothic Revival architectural elements. These include the asymmetrical planning; striking combination of three transverse gables; gabled ends with long finials and accentuated bargeboards; and the stepped chimneys with tapered tops.
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Former police station and quarters - Physical Description 1
The disused 1883 police station and quarters at the corner of Camp and Church streets, Kangaroo Flat, occupies a large asymmetrical site, with street frontages to the south, east and west. The built elements are located on the south of the allotment and include the 1880s police station and quarters, a demountable classroom addition to the north-east and a small freestanding police station (1963) to the south-west. Open landscaped areas are located to the south of the site and at the south-east corner. There is a large concrete area to the north of the buildings, and there are a number of freestanding lock-ups and demountables at the site, used for storage.
The original 1880s weatherboard police station and quarters addresses Camp Street (south). Asymmetrically planned, it comprises a pair of transverse gables and is connected to a rear wing of similar age and appearance. The building has a timber-framed roof clad in corrugated galvanised steel and a timber-posted verandah. The front door is in a filled-in verandah bay. Some early timber-framed windows survive, although some have been replaced. The Camp Street frontage comprises a projecting wing and recessed verandah. Each of the gables is fronted by long finials with square bases. The east end of the building is framed by a large brick chimney, repeated in the gabled block immediately behind and seen from Church Street. The chimneys are in overpainted brick with broad backs and brick cornices, tapering in to the stacks. The stacks are panelled on the two facing Church Street, and all five chimneys' upper levels have tapered tops above angled header bricks, forming notched collars and capped by cylindrical flues or chimney-cans. The timber gable finials, accentuated bargeboards and chimney details are broadly expressive of the Gothic Revival. The stepped chimneys and serrated ornamentation are prominent elements.
The demountable block facing Church Street is a standard timber school room of the post-war period, with horizontally proportioned top-hung windows and an apron of vertical planking. It has a roof clad in corrugated galvanised steel, rather rusty. The 1960s police station, at the Smith and Camp Streets corner, is also timber with vertical planking and a low pitched roof.
The 1880s police station and quarters appears to be in fair condition. Successive internal renovations and modifications, and the recent fire damage, have had some impact on the building.
Heritage Study and Grading
Greater Bendigo - Heritage Policy Citations Review
Author: Lovell Chen P/L
Year: 2011
Grading: Local
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