Surrey Hills English Counties Residential Precinct
Albion Street and Anderson Street and Arundel Crescent and Durham Road and Essex Road and Kent Road and Middlesex Road and Norfolk Road and Suffolk Road and Thames Street SURREY HILLS, BOROONDARA CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant
The Surrey Hills English Counties Residential Precinct is a large and irregular precinct located in Surrey Hills, between Canterbury and Riversdale roads. The precinct boundary captures comparatively intact streets, and sections of streets, with high proportions of 'contributory' and some 'significant' heritage properties. Streets predominantly run north-south, with generally lesser (shorter)streets running east-west. There are two main periods of residential development, with some intervening bursts of building activity,including late Victorian and Federation era development of the 1890s through to 1910s, followed by the next major phase of developmentin the1920s through to c.1940 periods. Houses in the precinct are constructed in timber and brick, and range from some more modest dwellings to larger and more substantial villas. Established gardens are also a feature of the precinct area, many with deciduous trees of somesize and age infront gardens, as well as mature street trees, often planted non-consecutively and thus providing a treescape of Variety and interest.
How is it Significant
The Surrey Hills English Counties Residential Precinct is of historical and aesthetic/architectural significance to the City of Boroondara.
Why is it Significant
Surrey Hills English Counties Residential Precinct is of historical significance, as an expansive and long-standing residential area in Boroondara which demonstrates aspects of the growth and consolidation of Surrey Hills in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Popularly known as the 'English Counties' area, the precinct evolved after the railway was extended to Surrey Hills in the 1880s,encouraged by developers and estate agents who promoted the suburban lifestyle ofthe area and used street names which evoked English countiesand places. Names such as Middlesex, Norfolk, Durham, Suffolk, Essex and Kent helped give a sense of establishment to the new area, and attracted the aspiring middle classes. Although there were land sales in the precinct in the 1880s, the majority of sites remained undeveloped until the early twentieth century, largely due to the 1890s depression. Houses were then built in the 1900s and 1910s, with development again slowed by World War One, followed by a post-war burst with numerous houses in the precinct built from the 1920s through to c.1940. This stop-start nature of development is reflective of a common pattern in Boroondara, and elsewhere in Melbourne, where development was impacted by economic down turns and world wars.
The expansive and irregular precinct is also of aesthetic/architectural significance. It comprises 'significant' and'contributory' dwellings from the 1890s through to c.1940, and has a comparatively high level of intactness. It demonstrates two main periods of development, albeit with some intervening bursts of building activity,including late Victorian and Federation dwellings through to interwar houses. Dwellings with Victorian Italianate styling display transverse and bracketed hip roofswith a projecting wing or canted bay; cornicedchimneys in stucco or exposed red face brick; some block front or ashlardetailing to resemblestone; and a variety of verandah forms. Federation houses in the precinct have hipped roofs with a single projecting gable or two projecting gables set at right angles, reflecting Federation diagonal planning; half-timbered projecting gabled wings; some Art Nouveau detailing; and chimneys with criss-cross strapwork or raised courses,and corbelled stack crowns. For the interwar dwellings, there are bungalow variants of the 1920s, often with a horizontal emphasis and conspicuous transverse roofs with gable ends; and forwardslopingroofs linked with (integrated) front verandahs which in turn are enclosed by medium height walls with square-plan timber columns or solid piers. Later inter war houses in the precinct have Art Deco detailing and some referencing of 'past' styles such as Tudor Revival, conveyed inclinkeror tapestry brick.
Grading and Recommendations
Recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay of the Boroondara Planning Scheme as a precinct.
For a full list of individual place gradings within the precinct, please refer to the attached PDF citation, or individual child records attached to this parent record.
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Surrey Hills English Counties Residential Precinct - Physical Description 1
[Note: unless otherwise indicated, all properties identified below are of 'contributory' heritage value.]
Precinct boundaryThe Surrey Hills English Counties Residential Precinct is a large and irregular precinct area located in Surrey Hills, between Canterbury Road to the north, and Riversdale Road to the south. It is also substantially situated between Union Road to the east (although the precinct does not extend through to Union Road) and Middlesex Road to the west. Houses on the west side of Middlesex Road are included in the precinct, as are a group of houses extending further west on Albion Street.
The precinct boundary captures the most intact heritage streetscapes within the general precinct area, with high proportions of heritage properties (mostly of 'contributory' value, with some also being 'significant' (see 'Gradings' below). It generally excludes the less intact streets and sections of streets, where post-war redevelopment has had a significant impact on the valued built form. There are also 'non-contributory' properties within the precinct, including some contiguous (immediately adjoining) 'non-contributory' properties, the retention of which largely depends on their location in the precinct. The retention of 'noncontributory' properties occurs where these properties are located in sensitive sections of streets, including at some corners, or within a row or collection of 'contributory' properties.
Surrey Gardens, South Surrey Park and Mary MacKillop Reserve, as well as the former St Joseph's Home on the corner of Kent and Middlesex roads, and Wyclif Congregational Church and hall in Norfolk Road, although in the general precinct area, are excluded from the precinct boundary, due to the focus being on residential development and housing. However, several of these properties are subject to a separate heritage assessment.
Overview
Streets in the Surrey Hills English Counties Residential Precinct predominantly run northsouth, with generally lesser (shorter) streets, other than Kent Road, running east-west. Streets are rectilinear, only following a curving alignment in the southern area of the precinct, where Arundel Crescent and Thames Street follow the original Surrey Reserve subdivision pattern, in the area of (today's) South Surrey Park (which is outside the precinct area). An informal grassed pedestrian pathway runs between Kent Road in the north and Arundel Crescent in the south, approximately continuing the alignment of Norfolk Road. A more modest pathway links Arundel Crescent and Delta Street. The latter is an informal (gravel-surfaced) road. No precinct properties have an address to Delta Street, although some 'contributory' and 'non' contributory precinct properties on the south side of Arundel Crescent back onto Delta Street.
In terms of the topography, the precinct is undulating, with a ridge running east-west broadly along the alignment of Kent Road. Streets generally slope upwards (southwards) from Canterbury Road towards Kent Road, then level off before falling again to the south where the Back Creek valley is located, albeit largely in South Surrey Park.
In the precinct area, there are a large number of dwellings constructed of timber, a building material less common in other parts of Boroondara, but more characteristic of Surrey Hills. There are also brick buildings in the precinct.
As seen elsewhere in Surrey Hills, there are two main periods of residential development in the precinct, albeit with intervening bursts of building activity. These are the late Victorian and Federation era periods of development, following the initial sales of the 1880s which resulted in houses being built from the late 1880s (a limited number) into the 1890s to 1910s; then the second major phase of development following World War One with numerous houses in the precinct dating from the 1920s through to c.1940 (and effectively the early years of World War Two). Again, houses constructed in the precinct in these periods were executed in both timber and brick.
They range from large brick and block-fronted timber houses, constructed on generous allotments in the earlier period, to more modest timber bungalows, constructed in the interwar period. Also notable within the precinct are a number of late 1930s single-storey semi-detached brick villas; these are concentrated at the intersection of Thames Street and Durham Road, continuing along the north side of Thames Street, and on the east side of Durham Road, between Thames Street and Riversdale Road. Less common split-level pairs are located at 66-72 Durham Road. However, free-standing residences are the predominant typology in the precinct.
Established gardens are also a feature of the precinct area, many with specimen deciduous trees of significant age and size in front gardens, as well as mature, indigenous and nonindigenous street trees, often planted non-consecutively and thus providing a treescape of variety and interest. Fences within the precinct have generally been replaced, with timber pickets, reproduction cast iron fencing and brick walls predominating. The exception is the interwar semi-detached brick villas which generally retain their original brick dwarf walls to the property frontages. No 46 Suffolk Road, c. 1927 ('contributory') retains a pair of aged cyclone wire and scrolled metal gates set between two roughcast rendered brick pillars, with a simple timber and wire fencing to the remainder of the property frontage.
Gradings
Regarding the property gradings, the majority of properties in the Surrey Hills English Counties Residential Precinct are of 'contributory' heritage value, with a number also of 'significant' value (see the Schedule of Properties which accompanies this citation).
Properties of 'significant' heritage value are defined in Boroondara's Clause 22.05 'Heritage Policy' as:
'Significant' heritage places are individually important places of State, municipal or local cultural heritage significance. They can be listed individually in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay. They can also be places that, when combined within a precinct, form an important part of the cultural heritage significance of the precinct. They may be both individually significant and significant in the context of the heritage precinct.
The 'significant' buildings within this precinct are generally individually important in the precinct context, due to exhibiting particular architectural merit or unusual or distinguishing characteristics. They are also typically highly intact, with few if any visible external changes (as seen from the principal streetscape). A large 'significant' property, with a prominent corner siting is 8 Kent Road. Others sited on large allotments, mid-block, include 43 Kent Road, 22 Suffolk Road and 38 Essex Road. Select images of the 'significant' buildings are included in this citation.
Unusually, a high proportion of properties in the precinct are also named properties, including significant properties such as 'Klota', 'Cumbrae' and 'Neerena', as well as a number of 'contributory' properties such as 'Cora Lynn'.
Properties of 'contributory' heritage value are defined as:
'Contributory' heritage places are places that contribute to the cultural heritage significance of a precinct. They are not considered to be individually important places of State, municipal or local cultural heritage significance, however when combined with other 'significant' and/or 'contributory' heritage places, they play an integral role in demonstrating the cultural heritage significance of a precinct.
In this precinct, the 'contributory' value of the properties generally derives from the 'contribution' they make to the overall heritage character of the precinct. This generally includes retaining the fabric, form, detailing and largely original external appearance (as visible from the principal streetscape) of buildings constructed in the major development phases of the precinct. This includes the late Victorian and Federation style dwellings of the late 1880s-1890s through to the 1910s; and the interwar dwellings of the 1920s through to c.1940 (and the early years of World War Two). For 'contributory' buildings, some additions may also be visible including potentially large two-storey additions to the rears (or rear halves) of dwellings; minor changes to the principal facades of these dwellings may also be evident.
'Non-contributory' buildings in the precinct include more recent infill development (including some buildings which adopt a faux or mock heritage form). They also include dwellings from the major development phases that have undergone substantial alterations, including prominent or jarring additions and alterations which dominate the original front portions of dwellings, or otherwise significantly impact on the historical presentation and appreciation of the original form of the dwellings. Again, as per Clause 22.05, these are defined as:
'Non-contributory' places are places within a heritage precinct that have no identifiable cultural heritage significance. They are included within a Heritage Overlay because any development of the place may impact on the cultural heritage significance of the precinct or adjacent 'significant' or 'contributory' heritage places.Heritage Study and Grading
Boroondara - Surrey Hills South Residential Precincts Heritage Study
Author: Lovell Chen
Year: 2015
Grading: Local
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EYRE COURTVictorian Heritage Register H0817
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CULLYMONTVictorian Heritage Register H0811
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JEFFERIES HOUSEVictorian Heritage Register H0461
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