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The Grove / Sydney Road
1-83 & 14-88 THE GROVE AND 84-164 & 105-165 SYDNEY ROAD AND 38-40 DE CARLE STREET AND 67 NICHOLSON STREET AND 18, 1-3/20 & 30 THE AVENUE COBURG, MERRI-BEK CITY
The Grove / Sydney Road
1-83 & 14-88 THE GROVE AND 84-164 & 105-165 SYDNEY ROAD AND 38-40 DE CARLE STREET AND 67 NICHOLSON STREET AND 18, 1-3/20 & 30 THE AVENUE COBURG, MERRI-BEK CITY
All information on this page is maintained by Merri-bek City.
Click below for their website and contact details.
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Merri-bek City
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![HO172 - The Grove Sydney Road Precinct HO172 - The Grove Sydney Road Precinct](https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/vhd-images/places/000/234/165.jpg)
HO172 - The Grove Sydney Road Precinct
![HO172 - The Grove Sydney Road Precinct HO172 - The Grove Sydney Road Precinct](https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/vhd-images/places/000/234/165.jpg)
![The Grove (1) The Grove (1)](https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/vhd-images/places/000/152/418.jpg)
![The Grove (4) The Grove (4)](https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/vhd-images/places/000/152/462.jpg)
![The Grove (2) The Grove (2)](https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/vhd-images/places/000/152/419.jpg)
![The Grove (2) The Grove (2)](https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/vhd-images/places/000/152/461.jpg)
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
The Grove / Sydney Road Precinct, comprising houses at 50a Barrow Street, 38-40 De Carle Street, 67 Nicholson Street, 105-165 and 84-164 Sydney Road, 18, 1-3/20 & 30 and 31The Avenue and 1-83 and 14-88 The Grove, Coburg is significant. Buildings and features that contribute to the significance of the precinct are:
- The houses constructed on the before 1945 or immediately after the end of World War II.
- Non-residential buildings constructed during the key development period of the precinct, including a former bowling club pavilion (built as an assembly hall of the Moreland Park Estate in the 1880s) at 38-40 The Grove, a postwar chapel at 43 The Grove and commercial buildings in Sydney Road.
The street trees at The Grove, between Nicholson Street and Barrow Street, as well as mature trees in private gardens, contribute to the significance of the precinct.
Recent alterations and additions to the significant and contributory places are not significant.
Significant properties include:
- Holyrood, 22 The Grove (c.1891)
- Koorali & Kalimna, 23-25 The Grove (c.1887)
- Oak Hill and Waratah, 45-47 The Grove (c.1887)
- Moreland Park Buildings (Australia House), 148-164 Sydney Road (1888)
- Palm Avenue Hotel, 84-902 Sydney Road (1891)
- Dental Surgery, 127-129 Sydney Road (c.1906)
Non-Contributory properties include:
- Barrow Street: 50a
- De Carle Street: 38-40
- Sydney Road: 92, 114-120, 117-119, 132, 137, 141, 155-157 and 165.
- The Avenue: 30, 31
- The Grove: 1-6/1, 2-3/3, 7, 9, 13, 15, 16, 17, 27, 1-4/30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38-40 (except for the former bowling club pavilion), 41, 46, 48, 50, 50A, 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 60, 61, 63A, 69, 75, 76-78, 77, 1-5/78, 81 and 2/83
How is it significant?
The Grove / Sydney Road Precinct is of local historical, representative and aesthetic significance to the City of Merri-bek.
Why is it significant?
The Grove / Sydney Road Precinct is of local historical significance for its association with the speculator Montague Dare and the prolific 19th century architect T. J. Crouch. The precinct is also significant as it comprises notable businesses in Sydney Road. Merri-bek’s oldest hotel, the Palm Avenue Hotel is of historical significance as one of the oldest surviving buildings in the Coburg/Brunswick area, having operated as a hotel continuously on the one site for over 140 years. The dental surgery at 127-129 Sydney Road is also significant for its continuous use as a dental surgery over 80 years and its strong associations with the locally important French family who conducted their dental practice here from 1922 to 1989. (Criterion A).
The Grove / Sydney Road Precinct is of representative significance, comprising fine representative examples of residential and non-residential from the Victorian to postwar periods. Examples of Crouch's standard Italianate villa house designs can be seen at 3, 11, 14, 18, 22 and 24 The Grove. The precinct also includes many good examples of Edwardian houses, including 66, 65, 73 and 86 The Grove. There are also several bungalows, including exemplars at 71 and 75 The Grove. Post-War buildings include the triple fronted bi-chrome brick house at 41 The Grove and the chapel at No.43. Moreland Park Buildings (Australia House), 148-164 Sydney Road is a representative example of a Victorian Italianate shop row, which contributes to the historic character of Sydney Road. (Criterion D)
The Grove / Sydney Road Precinct is of local aesthetic significance as a notable 1880s land boom residential subdivision that contains many individually significant buildings. Notable buildings include the two pairs of two-storey Italianate mansionettes designed by T. J. Crouch at 23-25 and 45-47 The Grove which are typologically rare and excellent examples of the use of polychrome brickwork. The Palm Avenue Hotel is notable as being one of the first buildings and few hotels exhibiting the American Romanesque Revival detailing, and as a major landmark on Sydney Road. The dental surgery at 127-129 Sydney Road also contributes to the aesthetic significance of the precinct, as a locally rare, although altered, example of a commercial building and residence with unusual Federation detailing. It is complemented by a mature Liquidamber, which indicates the original extent of the garden, which was established by the French family. The canopy of mature street trees and well maintained private gardens contribute greatly to the character of the precinct. Relatively more intact group of mature plantings in the eastern part of The Grove contribute strongly to the heritage character of the area. They reflect Victorian era planting schemes and represent a style and choice of planting that is uncommon within the municipality. (Criterion E)
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The Grove / Sydney Road - Physical Description 1
Address:- 84-146 & 105-165 Sydney Road
- 1-83 & 2-88 The Grove
- 67 Nicholson Street
- 38-40 De Carle Street
- 18, 1-3/20, 30 and 31 The Avenue
- 50a Barrow Street
The Grove Precinct includes the predominantly residential properties of The Grove itself, as well as a group of one- and two-storey retail buildings in Sydney Road.
The Grove is a wide street comprising blocks with wide frontages, unusual in Coburg, and all of the houses are set back from the street front. The street comprises a mix of 19th century houses, following Dare's subdivision, Edwardian and inter-War houses, interspersed with houses constructed after World War Two.
There are several houses of architectural note in The Grove. The two pairs of two-storey Italianate mansionettes designed by T J Crouch at Nos. 23-25 and 45-47, are typologically rare and excellent examples of the use of polychrome brickwork. Of Crouch's standard house designs examples probably include the Italianate villas Holyrood (No. 22) and Ormsby (No. 11). The Precinct contains many good examples of Edwardian houses, including Strathmore (No. 66), and Nos. 65, 73 and 86. There are also several bungalows, including No. 71. Post-War buildings include the triple-fronted bichrome brick house (c.1950s) at No. 41, and the chapel at No. 43 (c.1950s). Other non-residential buildings in The Grove are the Moreland Bowling Club (No. 38-40), and the former Moreland High School (now the Kangan-Batman College of TAFE) at 31 The Avenue, at the corner of De Carle Street. A number of one- and two-storey flats have been constructed on this site from 1887 to the 1980sc 1960s and 70s. The site comprises four buildings: Building A (a 1980s three-storey Brutalist style building), Building B (a 1970s two-storey building with elements of International style), Building C (a 1887 school substantially altered in the 1920s and 1970s) and Building E (a 1960s single-storey building), as well as a mature peppercorn to the west of Building C. Although not consistent with the overall development of the precinct, Building A is architecturally interesting and a striking landmark at the corner of The Grove and De Carle Street. Building B is also of some architectural interest.
Street planting in The Grove is substantial, with mature Eucalyptus and planes, the latter forming a canopy across the street at the Nicholson Street end. Generally well-maintained private gardens enhance the landscape character of the street. Bluestone kerbs and gutters have been retained in part, and footpaths and vehicle crossings are concrete.
In Sydney Road, the buildings are mostly one-and two-storey shops dating from the 19th century. The Precinct includes the Palm Avenue Hotel (No. 84-92) and the Australia Hotel (No. 148). The facades of the shops are largely intact at first floor level, but most of the shopfronts have been substantially altered. Traditional street elements retained in Sydney Road include bluestone kerbs and gutters, and an early post box on the corner of The Grove.
The following buildings have individual datasheets in the Moreland Heritage Review: Building Citations (1998):- Palm Avenue Hotel, 84-92 Sydney Road (1891)
- Holyrood, 22 The Grove (c.1891)
- Koorali & Kalimna, 23-25 The Grove (c.1887)
- Oak Hill and Waratah, 45-47 The Grove (c.1887)
The following places have individual datasheets in the Moreland Local Heritage Places Review (2004):- 127-129 Sydney Road - Dental Surgery
- 148-164 Sydney Road - Moreland Park Buildings (Australia House)
A notable plantation of mature, exotic street trees.
Remnant Fabric (Man Made): None noted.
Remnant Fabric (Vegetation): The street tree plantings consist of mature English Elm (Ulmus procera), located towards the eastern end of the street at the intersection of Nicholson Street. All the trees have been lopped at various times but have regained much of their natural form. Power lines are located on the northern side of the street.
Potential Threats: Unnecessarily hard pruning or lopping, particularly to trees on the southern side of the street to maintain clearances from power lines. Works within the root zones of the trees, particularly to underground services, may reduce the potential amenity life of the plantings. Interplanting between the trees with an inappropriate species, or failure to replace senescent specimens with the same species will reduce the heritage character of the place. Elm Leaf Beetle and Elm Bark Beetle are both serious pests of this species, capable of causing major damage and even killing mature trees. As yet, Dutch Elm disease is not known in Australia.
Heritage Study and Grading
Moreland - City of Moreland Heritage Review
Author: Allen Lovell and Associates
Year: 1999
Grading: Local
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FORMER MELVILLES GRAIN STOREVictorian Heritage Register H0705
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GLENCAIRNVictorian Heritage Register H0375
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THE AMERICAN COTTAGEVictorian Heritage Register H0139
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