Church Street Precinct
Church Street RICHMOND, YARRA CITY
-
Add to tour
You must log in to do that.
-
Share
-
Shortlist place
You must log in to do that.
- Download report
Statement of Significance
The Church Street precinct, which comprises properties in Church Street, Darlington Parade, Dickmann Street, Elm Grove, George Street, Richmond Terrace and Waltham Place, Richmond is significant. Contributory elements include:
One and two-storey Victorian and Edwardian houses having typically:
- pitched gabled or hipped roofs, with some facade parapets;
- face brick (red, bi-chrome and polychrome) or stucco walls;
- corrugated iron, unglazed Marseilles pattern terra-cotta tiles, and slate roofing;
- chimneys of either stucco finish (with moulded caps) or of matching face brickwork with corbelled capping courses;
- typically with post-supported verandah elements facing the street;
- less than 40% of the street wall face comprised with openings such as windows and doors; and
- front gardens, originally bordered typically by timber picket front fences of around 1m height;
Shops and residences of the Victorian and Edwardian-eras, with:
- display windows and recessed entries;
- zero boundary setbacks;
- mainly one storey scale;
- attached rectilinear plan form, a parapeted roofline; and
Victorian-era ecclesiastical buildings with:
- free standing rectilinear form
- pitched roofs, some towers and spires positioned to be visible from a distance;
- fenced yards, with potential use of timber or iron pickets and a stone base for the frontage fence;
- two storey and greater wall heights;
- stone, masonry or stuccoed masonry facades, slate or tiled roofs; and
- less than 40% of the street wall face comprised with openings such as windows and doors.
Contributory elements also include:
- Civic and institutional buildings such as the Richmond United Friendly Society Dispensary, the Hibernian Hall, and the Richmond RSL.
- Public infrastructure, expressive of the Victorian and Edwardian-eras such as stone pitched road paving, kerbs and channels, and asphalt paved footpaths; and
- Individually Significant buildings (e.g., HO241, HO242, Elmhurst Flats, and the St Ignatius complex) but nevertheless are contributory to the precinct.
How is it significant?
The Church Street precinct is historically, socially and aesthetically significant to the City of Yarra.
Why is it significant?
The precinct is historically significant as one of the first parts of Richmond to be subdivided and developed, as expressed by early buildings like Messenger House 333 Church Street, from the 1840s. It is also historically significant as the chosen site for a high number of important 19th and early 20th century ecclesiastical and civic buildings, and some Melbourne landmarks, as well as substantial residential buildings that were attracted to the area by its elevated topography, high amenity and proximity to churches. (Criterion A)
The precinct is also historically and socially significant, as the site of key civic or institutional buildings in Richmond from the 19th century through to the 1920s (i.e. The Richmond RSL Hall), and the commercial development extending up Church Street from the Swan Street and Bridge Road shopping areas with shops dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as part of the cultural context of Victorian and Edwardian-era life on the hill. (Criterion A)
The precinct is aesthetically significant for its impressive collection of architecture from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century such as the William Wardell-designed St Ignatius Roman Catholic Church, which is a well-known and prominent landmark across the metropolitan area. (Criterion E)
-
-
Church Street Precinct - Physical Description 1
The Church Street precinct is a mixed area comprising buildings predominantly of the Victorian and Edwardian-era, with some interwar buildings. Large houses, religious and public buildings, some of which are Individually Significant, are key elements in the precinct.
The one and two-storey Victorian and Edwardian era houses in the precinct typically have:
- pitched gabled or hipped roofs, with some facade parapets;
- face brick (red, bi-chrome and polychrome) or stucco walls;
- corrugated iron, unglazed Marseilles pattern terra-cotta tiles, and slate roofing;
- chimneys of either stucco finish (with moulded caps) or of matching face brickwork with corbelled capping courses;
- typically with post-supported verandah elements facing the street;
- less than 40% of the street wall face comprised with openings such as windows and doors; and
- front gardens, originally bordered typically by timber picket front fences of around 1m height;At the north and south ends there are Victorian and Edwardian era shops and residences with display windows and recessed entries, zero boundary setbacks and attached rectilinear plan form with a parapeted roofline.
At the centre of the precinct on the west side is a notable grouping of Victorian-era ecclesiastical buildings, including churches and church residences, with:
- free standing rectilinear form
- pitched roofs, some towers and spires positioned to be visible from a distance;
- fenced yards, with potential use of timber or iron pickets and a stone base for the frontage fence;
- two storey and greater wall heights;
- stone, masonry or stuccoed masonry facades, slate or tiled roofs; and
- less than 40% of the street wall face comprised with openings such as windows and doors.Contributory elements also include:
- Public infrastructure, expressive of the Victorian and Edwardian-eras such as stone pitched road paving, kerbs and channels, and asphalt paved footpaths; and
- Individually Significant buildings (e.g., HO241, HO242, Elmhurst Flats, and the St Ignatius complex) but nevertheless are contributory to the precinct.Heritage Study and Grading
Yarra - City of Yarra Review of Heritage Overlay Areas
Author: Graeme Butler & Associates
Year: 2007
Grading:Yarra - City of Yarra Heritage Review
Author: Allom Lovell & Associates
Year: 1998
Grading:Yarra - Richmond Conservation Study
Author: John & Thurley O'Connor, Ros Coleman & Heather Wright
Year: 1985
Grading:
-
-
-
-
-
FORMER YARRA PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL NO.1406Victorian Heritage Register H0768
-
RESIDENCEVictorian Heritage Register H0710
-
FORMER LALOR HOUSEVictorian Heritage Register H0211
-
"1890"Yarra City
-
"AMF Officers" ShedMoorabool Shire
-
"AQUA PROFONDA" SIGN, FITZROY POOLVictorian Heritage Register H1687
-
-