Wrights Tce - Pridham St - Bayview St
Wrights Terrace, Pridham Street, Bayview Street PRAHRAN, Stonnington City
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
The Wrights Terrace Precinct is a residential area comprising most of the properties in Bayview Street, Pridham Street and Wrights Terrace, Prahran. These streets had been laid out by the mid 1850s although development proceeded slowly until the land boom of the 1880s.Speculative development during this period saw the construction of rows of near identical single-storey timber workers cottages and modest villas. Development halted abruptly with depression of the early 1890s leaving a number of vacant lots. Building activity resumed in the early 1900s and by c1920 the precinct was effectively fully developed. The area remains largely intact to this c.1920 state.
Elements which contribute to the significance of the precinct include (but are not limited to):
-high degree of intactness of the area to its c1920 state arising from the low proportion of modern infill;
-intactness of individual buildings to their original states. Dwellings typically survive with their presentation to the street largely unaltered retaining verandahs and decorative timber or cast iron detailing;
-consistent single-storey height and modest scale of built form;
-face brick, timber or render materiality and gabled or hipped roofscapes with chimneys and slate or terracotta tiles or plain galvanised corrugated steel;
-generally uniform pattern of small front and side setbacks;
-consistent low fence height in most sections of the precinct;
-road alignments and allotment patterns resulting from nineteenth and early twentieth century subdivisions; and,
-the almost total absence of vehicle accommodation in front or side setbacks.
How is it Significant?
The Wrights Terrace Precinct is of historical and aesthetic significance at a local level.
Why is it Significant?
The Wrights Terrace Precinct is of historical significance for its capacity to illustrate the two major phases in the development of Prahran during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Rapid speculative development in 1880s created densely packed rows of near identical cottages and modest villas. The second phase of development took place in the early 1900s when housing activity resumed after the 1890s depression. This cycle of boom then bust then recovery is made apparent by the high proportion of building stock surviving from the late-Victorian and Edwardian periods of development (Historic Theme: 3.3.5 Recovery and infill 1900-1940). The urban form of the precinct, including the narrow street pattern, high density and housing typology also provides evidence of Prahran's important role as an artisan or working class area (Historic Theme: 8.5.1 'Struggletown' - working class housing in the nineteenth and early twentieth century).
The Wrights Terrace Precinct is of aesthetic significance for its substantially intact sequence of representative late nineteenth and early twentieth century workers' or artisan housing, including rows of single-storey, single-fronted timber cottages, modest double-fronted villas and later brick semi-detached pairs. The precinct is of particular note for the repetitive character of its early housing stock, consistent single-storey height and uniformly small front and side setbacks. The high density, narrow streets and long vistas within the precinct also create a distinct urban form which is in contrast to the grander mansions and villas found on wider streets to the east and west.
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Wrights Tce - Pridham St - Bayview St - Physical Description 1
The precinct comprises most of the properties fronting Wrights Terrace, Pridham Street and Bayview Street. These three narrow streets run in an east west direction between the wider, busier thoroughfares of Williams Road and Chatsworth Road.
Housing stock is predominately modest Victorian workers cottages but includes a smaller number of Edwardian semi-detached pairs. Victorian building stock is almost exclusively of timber construction and typically adopts a single storey, single fronted expression to the street. A large number have timber block-fronted facades and weatherboard clad side elevations. Roofs are generally clad in corrugated iron and are either hipped or gabled in form, some retaining decorative timber barge boards and timber eaves brackets. Front gardens are small with timber picket fences common (although most fences appear to be of modern construction). Interspersed amongst the workers cottages are a smaller number of modest double-fronted Victorian dwellings.
The later Edwardian dwellings in the precinct typically occur as semi-detached pairs which reinforce the scale and setbacks of nearby Victorian dwellings. They are either of brick or timber construction with characteristic period detailing including timber casement windows and half-timbered gable ends to the street. The highest concentration of semi-detached pairs is found on the north side of Pridham Street.
The precinct also contains a small number of late interwar dwellings which fall outside of the key Victorian and Edwardian periods of development. They nevertheless exhibit a scale, form and architectural character compatible with the earlier building stock. Examples include the row of three identical timber bungalows at 3, 5 and 7 Pridham Street.
A number of high timber or brick fences have been constructed in the area but these are not typical and have had little impact on the character of the area generally. Modern extensions to houses are typically located at the rear of properties where they have minimal impact on the streetscape. There are also very few carport or garage additions as a consequence of the narrow property widths and small side setbacks. In recent decades the precinct has undergone a process of gentrification reflecting broader demographic changes taking place across inner Melbourne. However, none of these recent developments has had a substantial impact on the character or significance of the area
Wrights Tce - Pridham St - Bayview St - Historical Australian Themes
The following themes are drawn from the Stonnington Thematic Environmental History (Context Pty Ltd, 2006, Addendum March 2009):
8.5.1 'Struggletown' - working class housing in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.
3.3.5 Recovery and infill 1900-1940.
Wrights Tce - Pridham St - Bayview St - Local Historical Themes
8.5.1 'Struggletown' - working class housing in the nineteenth and early twentieth century
3.3.5 Recovery and infill 1900-1940
Heritage Study and Grading
Stonnington - City of Stonnington Heritage Overlay Gap Study - Heritage Overlay Precincts Final Report
Author: Bryce Raworth P/L
Year: 2009
Grading: Various
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PRIMARY SCHOOL NO. 1467Victorian Heritage Register H1032
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FORMER RECHABITE HALLVictorian Heritage Register H0575
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MANDEVILLE HALLVictorian Heritage Register H0676
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