Kardinia Heritage Area
Kardinia Heritage Area Belmont, Greater Geelong City
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Statement of Significance
The Kardinia Heritage Area has significance as a substantially intact interwar residential area and for its smaller number of Victorian, Edwardian and Federation era dwellings. Most of the dwellings are single storey with detached compositions, constructed with corrugated sheet metal roof cladding and timber weatherboard wall cladding. They feature hipped and/or gabled roof forms (with a roof pitch between 20 and 35 degrees), and front or side verandahs (with details matching the style of the dwelling), timber framed windows and wide eaves (often with exposed timber rafters). The area is also distinguished by its unusual terraced layout following the contours of the topography, as identified in the properties fronting Seaview Parade, Riverview Terrace and Kardinia Street. The properties fronting Mount Pleasant Road and Collins Street form part of a more typical subdivision layout. The visually permeable timber, woven wire and cast iron palisade front fences, front garden settings, grassed nature strips (including the early concrete steps in Riverview Terrace) and flowering gum trees in Riverview Terrace, Collins Street and Seaview Parade further contribute to the heritage values of the area. It was in 1836 when Dr Alexander Thomson established his Kardinia property overlooking the Barwon River. The vast estate was initially subdivided in 1890, with subsequent subdivisions known as the Kardinia Extended Estate and Belmont Estate occurring in the late and early 20th centuries, and interwar years. Thomson's original residence, Kardinia, continues to form an important landmark in the area. A more modest local landmark is the former confectionary shop at 56A Mount Pleasant Road, while the Macintyre Foot Bridge spans the Barwon River and is a noticeable feature at the northern end of the area.
The Kardinia Heritage Area is architecturally significant at a LOCAL level (AHC D.2, E.1). It demonstrates notable original and early design qualities associated with the late 19th and early 20th century, and particularly the interwar era residential developments. These qualities are expressed in the substantial number of interwar and late interwar Bungalows (of varying compositional types) and in the smaller number of Edwardian and Federation dwellings. Intact or appropriate qualities include the predominantly single storey heights, detached compositions, hipped and/or gabled roof forms (with a pitch between 20 and 35 degrees), wide eaves (with exposed timber rafters), projecting chimneys, timber weatherboard wall construction, corrugated profile sheet metal roof cladding, timber framed double hung or casement windows and front or side verandahs (with detailing matching the style of the dwelling). The detailing to the dwellings is typical for the Victorian, Edwardian interwar eras. For the Victorian era, the detailing includes decorative timber eaves brackets. For the Edwardian and Federation eras it is shown in the decorative gable infill (timber shingling and ventilators or battening and paneling). For the interwar era the detailing is especially identifiable in the brick verandah piers (expressed as one pier or with squat concrete verandah columns). The regular front and side setbacks and visually permeable timber, woven wire and cast iron palisade front fences also contribute to the significance of the area.
The Kardinia Heritage Area is aesthetically significant at a LOCAL level (AHC E.1). It is distinguished by the unusual terraced subdivision layout comprising Seaview Avenue, Riverview Terrace and Kardinia Street. Garage outbuildings are a traditional streetscape feature in Riverview Terrace and Seaview Parade. Other aesthetic qualities include the front garden settings, grassed nature strips (including the early concrete steps in Riverview Terrace) and flowering gum trees in Riverview Terrace, Collins Street and Seaview Parade, and the rear and side lanes with surviving bluestone kerbs and spoon drains.
The Kardinia Heritage Area is historically significant at a LOCAL level (AHC A.4, H.1). It is associated with the once vast property, Kardinia, established in 1836 overlooking the Barwon River by Dr Alexander Thomson. He was one of Geelong's earliest pioneers and the first elected Mayor. The bulk of the area is especially associated with the Kardinia Estate and Belmont Estate subdivisions from 1890 until the 1930s. The small number of dwellings of the Victorian period reflect the earliest residential developments in the area, prior to the financial difficulties of the late Victorian period when the world-wide economic recession halted building developments. The contextually few Edwardian and Federation dwellings are a tangible legacy of further growth in the area prior to the First World War. The more substantial growth of the interwar years is embodied in the large concentration of interwar Bungalows, reflecting a time of prosperity in Belmont as a result of affordable land prices and the result of easier accessibility to the area (or impending greater accessibility) from Geelong as a result of the construction of a new bridge over the Barwon River in 1926 and the arrival of the electric tram in 1927.
Overall, the Kardinia Heritage Area is of LOCAL significance.
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Heritage Study and Grading
Greater Geelong - City of Greater Geelong Belmont Heritage Reports
Author: Dr David Rowe
Year: 2007
Grading:
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RSL MonumentGreater Geelong City
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