Canterbury Street and Dover Street
2-46, 84-102 and 5-95 CANTERBURY ST, 1-11 and 2-10 CHATHAM ST, 6-20 and 27-41 DARTFORD ST, 1-37 and 2-70 DOVER ST, 3-35 ELM ST, 1-9 and 2-14 JOHN ST, 1-9 and 10 GEORGE ST, 1-11a and 2-8 OAK ST, 1-19 and 10-22 STURT ST, 41-77 RAILWAY PL WEST, 6-20 TUNBRIDG
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Statement of Significance
The Canterbury Street and Dover Street precinct in Flemington is a residential precinct comprising housing from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century. The houses include Victorian and Edwardian cottages and villas, and inter-war bungalows and maisonettes. The following elements contribute to the significance of the precinct:
1. The houses and any associated early/original front fences at:
- 5-33, 43-45, 57-95, 2-18, 30-32, 34-36,40-46 & 84-102 Canterbury Street
- 1-9, 8 & 10 Chatham Street
- 27-39 & 14-20 Dartford Street
- 1, 3, 6, 9, 10, 19-27, 33-37,16-32, 36-62 & 66-70 Dover Street
-1, 7-9, 2-8, 10 & 14 John Street
- 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11 & 11A Oak Street
- 43-45 & 55-77 Railway Place
- 1-9, 13-19 & 10-22 Sturt Street
- 6-20 Tunbridge Street
-3-35 Elm Street
2. The former shop at 31 Dover Street and the former stables at 47-53 Canterbury Street and 2 Chatham Street.
Key attributes that contribute to the significance of this precinct include:
- the consistency of scale (one or two storey), form, siting (uniform or similar front and side setbacks), and original materials and detailing (weatherboard, face brick or render with iron or tiled hip or gable roof, verandah with cast iron or timber detailing) of the contributory houses
- the high degree of intactness to the late nineteenth century and early-mid twentieth century development dates with contributory buildings that typically survive with their presentation to the street being largely intact
- low height of front fences meaning that dwellings are visible from the street
- road alignments and allotment patterns resulting from the nineteenth century subdivision
- the absence of vehicle accommodation including driveways and crossovers
- the remnant bluestone kerb and channel and mature street trees (Platanus sp.) in various streets throughout the precinct.
Other houses in the precinct, post-WWII fences, and alterations or additions to contributory places are not significant.
How is it significant?
The Canterbury Street and Dover Street precinct in Flemington is of local historic significance to the City of Moonee Valley.
Why is it significant?
It is historically significant as a typical example of a residential area, which demonstrates several successive phases of development from the boom era of the 1880s to the late 1930s. The consistency of built form in each main period and the extent to which phase is clearly apparent provides a tangible illustration of the 'stop start' pattern of development that characterised suburban development in Melbourne in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The former stables buildings are significant as a tangible reminder of the equestrian activities that were a constant presence in this part of Flemington in the early twentieth century. (Criteria A & D)
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Canterbury Street and Dover Street - Physical Description 1
This is a residential precinct comprising Victorian, Edwardian and inter-war housing that illustrates the key phases of development described in the History.
The Victorian houses in the precinct are concentrated in the south-eastern corner, although isolated examples are scattered throughout and there is a large group on the east side of Tunbridge Street. The most common form is single-fronted timber cottages with hipped rooves and verandahs; these are typically block fronted, although there are some of conventional weatherboard construction. Chimneys are mostly rendered (or occasionally bi-chromatic brick) with moulded coping. Verandahs are usually bullnosed, although some are skillion or ogee profile (e.g., 14-16 Canterbury), variously supported on turned timber posts or, less commonly, cast iron columns (e.g., 75 Railway Place West). Ornate Lacework friezes are common. Several rows of such cottages survive (notably 6-20 Tunbridge, but also 16-22 Sturt, 12-16 Canterbury, and 4-8 John) as well as pairs (e.g., 19-21 Oak; 10-12 Sturt; 9-11 Oak), and isolated examples in Dover (Nos. 40 & 48), Oak (No.11a) and Elm (No.17).
Less common are the single fronted brick cottages. There is an (unfortunately over-painted) example at 14 Dartford Street, with slate roof and cast iron lace, and two interesting semi-detached pairs in Dover Street (Nos. 56-58, 60-62). The former pair has been altered, but the latter retains face bi-chromatic brickwork and ogee profile verandah roof with cast iron lace.
Larger Victorian houses are mostly in the form of double-fronted villas with symmetrical facades. Again, most are block-fronted, with hipped rooves of corrugated galvanized steel (or, less commonly, slate) and verandahs with cast iron columns, stop-chamfered or turned posts and lace friezes. One example, at 68 Dover Street, is distinguished by a pair of rectangular bay windows. Intact groups also survive in Railway Place (Nos. 67-71), Dover (23-27 and 66-68) and Elm (Nos. 23-27), and isolated examples in Tunbridge, Chatham, Sturt, John and Oak. The less common asymmetrically fronted villas survive in Canterbury (Nos. 29 & 30), Railway (Nos. 73 & 77), Dover (Nos. 50-54) and Oak (No.4). Several Victorian villas have had their verandahs rebuilt (e.g., 23 Dover, 30 Tunbridge, 6 Oak and 77 Railway).
Like their single-fronted counterparts, double-fronted Victorian villas of brick construction are somewhat anomalous in the precinct. There is a single example of a brick villa with symmetrical facade, at 66 Canterbury, although it has been over-paited and otherwise altered. A row of three rendered brick villas survives at 33-37 Dover; the two outermost retain much original detailing, including quoined corners, while No 35 has been altered by new windows and a rebuilt verandah.
Edwardian housing in the precinct tends to follow the Victorian form, materials and detailing, consisting of block-fronted cottages with asymmetrical facades. Their Edwardian origins are revealed by the use of steep gambrel rooves clad in corrugated galvanised steel, red brick chimneys (often with roughcast banding), half-timbered gable ends and bull-nosed verandahs with turned timber posts and, usually, timber slat friezes. The best examples survive at the eastern end of Canterbury (Nos. 5-23) and in Sturt (1, 5-9 & 13-19), and several in Railway Place (43-45 & 57). Single-fronted Edwardian cottages, similarly detailed, are less common; examples are mostly located in Dover (Nos. 6, 19-21, 22-26 & 32).
There are three distinctive non-residential buildings in the precinct: a former single-fronted weatherboard shop (c.1892) at 31 Dover Street, with a stepped timber parapet clad in sheet metal, and original shop front with splayed central entrance and timber framed shop windows with paneled spandrels below. Until recently used as a milk bar, it has since been converted to a residence. Even more conspicuous and distinctive, is the former stables in Canterbury Road, at the rear of the park. This is a red brick building with a cathedral-like form, comprising a central double-height space with flanking single storey wings. It is now used as a community hall. There is another former stable at 2 Chatham Street (c.1934). This, however, has been largely demolished, leaving only the red brick facade with a new residential development behind.
Inter-war housing in the precinct is most frequently represented by maisonettes, mostly situated at the western end of Canterbury Street. These semi-detached dwellings are typically of face brick or textured render, with clinker brick quoining or diaper work, and have hipped or gabled tile rooves. Those in Canterbury Street include some in the Tudor Revival idiom, with raked parapets and eaves corbels (Nos. 81-83, 87-89 & 93-95); others are Art Deco (Nos. 61-63, 92-94) while others have the distinctive solomonic columns of the Spanish Mission style (Nos. 88-90, 96-98). There are also groups of similar Tudor Revival maisonettes in Dartford Street (Nos. 29-31, 33-35 and 39-41). Other examples also survive at 3-5 and 7-9 Chatham Street.
There is a small number of detached 1920s bungalow-style houses scattered throughout the precinct, typically with canted or curved walls with bay windows and distinctive porches. These include a tuck pointed red brick house at 8 Canterbury Street, a roughcast rendered example at 9 John Street, a weatherboard one at 2 Canterbury Street, and a larger attic-storeyed bungalow at No.33, with a prominent half-timbered gable end infilled with roughcast render and shingles. There is also a pair of identical brick bungalows at 8-10 Chatham Street, with shingled gables, canted bay windows and a columned porch; No.8, however, has been much altered by the rebuilding of the porch and insertion of new windows. Another notably large bungalow at 79 Railway Place has been altered by unsympathetic over-painting.
Other features that contribute to the historic character of the precinct include the mature Plane trees (Plantanus sp.) and remnant bluestone kerbs and channeling in various streets and bluestone-pitched rear laneways. The Plane trees, in particular, provide a unifying element throughout the precinct and mitigate the visual impact of the non-contributory buildings.
Note: The former stables at 47-53 Canterbury Street is of individual significance - please refer to the individual place record, which provides further information.
Heritage Study and Grading
Moonee Valley - Review of HO precincts
Author: David Helms HPM
Year: 2010
Grading: LocalMoonee Valley - City of Moonee Valley Heritage Review 2004
Author: Heritage Alliance
Year: 2004
Grading:
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