High Street 2
| Place type: | Building |
|---|---|
| Address: | 2 High Street |
| Town or Locality: | Gawler |
DESCRIPTION:
This small, single-storey mid-Victorian worker’s cottage is constructed on a sloped site, with a second, lower storey to the rear. It is constructed of overpainted sandstone rubble with red brick dressings. The transverse gable roof is clad with corrugated metal, with parapeted side walls crowned with an overpainted squat brick chimney and brick coping. Windows are timber-framed, double-hung multipaned sashes to either side of the door which features a glazed fanlight. The later bullnose verandah is clad with corrugated metal, supported on timber posts with cast-iron brackets, and is enclosed by a non-original timber picket fence along the street boundary.
STATEMENT OF HERITAGE VALUE:
Constructed prior to 1872, the mid-Victorian era cottage at 2 High Street, Gawler East, is associated with the early settlement of Gawler East and provision of small worker’s cottages to meet the burgeoning demand for accommodation due to the rapid industrial growth and increase in Gawler’s population at the time. Notably, the pattern of development of the narrow, rear lots behind Murray Street for worker’s cottages, in this case developed by a distinguished Gawler businessman, James Dawson, owner of the Albion Mill, was quite possibly as a speculative investment or staff accommodation.
This development is in distinct contrast to the development of very large allotments on the eastern side of High Street at the time by such Gawler identities for their own grand residences; Dawson built ‘Mars Hill’ opposite as his own residence.
Characteristically, the cottage is constructed of local stone and brick and displays a distinctive design response to the steep topography of the site with a second level to the rear, making the most of the shallow allotment size.
BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The Gawler Township was planned by Colonel William Light and laid out by William Jacob in 1839 with Gawler’s first building, The Old Spot Hotel, constructed in Murray Street by David Scherbener. At that stage development on the east side of Murray Street only extended to one allotment deep, the land further east remained unsurveyed as part of William Paxton’s extensive holding. In 1849 Paxton’s land between Lyndoch Road and the South Para River and between East Terrace and High Street was surveyed and subdivided for sale as ‘Gawler East’, forming the High Street roadway.
It would appear that a narrow strip of land on the western side of High Street, backing onto the Murray Street premises and extending from Lyndoch Road in the north to the most southern lot on Murray Street was formed at this time. A plan of Gawler produced in 1863 suggests that it was undivided. An undated plan (c.1859) however includes annotations which suggest that the land had been divided and had been partly sold. That plan indicates that the larger allotment facing Murray Street (Lot 208) was owned by Henry Calton and that the southern end of the land fronting High Street was separately owned.
Rate assessment books indicate that the land to the rear of Lot 208 fronting Murray Street was first developed by Wililam Francis with a ‘Pine Cottage’ in 1859. Francis went on to develop a number of other cottages and dwellings on the broader allotment. In 1868 the property assessment included notes for two lots ‘at ‘rear of 208’, one of which was a ‘lean to’ owned by Ephraim Coombe and the other ‘fenced land’ owned by Christopher Cox. More substantial development appears from the early 1870s with three rateable addresses on Lot 208 in High Street including a house for James Dawson, a house for James Nolan and a cottage for Michael Nolan.
Certificates of title do not exist for this period, however a historic photograph taken around 1872 from ‘Mars Hill’, opposite, illustrates the subject dwelling. The image indicates that the cottage was originally constructed without a verandah. James Dawson had arrived in Gawler in 1868 and established the Albion Flour Mill off Cowan Street, a major business and employer of Gawler’s labour force. Dawson was also Mayor of Gawler and ‘a pillar of the Presbyterian Church’. Notably, Dawson owned and occupied the imposing mansion and large landholding, ‘Mars Hill’ located directly opposite the subject cottage from 1868. This would suggest that Dawson had purchased the land on the western side of High Street either as an investment or to develop accommodation for staff.
Please <click here> to view photos of 2 High Street.
Acknowledgments
This report has been prepared by the following people:
• Nancy Cromar (Flightpath Architects)
• Deborah Morgan (Flightpath Architects)
• Kate Paterson (Flightpath Architects)
• Douglas Alexander (Flightpath Architects)
The study team would like to acknowledge the assistance of the following people:
• David Petruzzella (Strategic Planner; Town of Gawler)
• Jacinta Weiss (Cultural Heritage Centre Coordinator; Town of Gawler)
• Jane Strange (Senior Development and Strategic Policy Officer; Town of Gawler)
Gawler History Team Inc. thanks:
Flightpath Architects, Ryan Viney and the Town of Gawler for allowing us access to this important document of Gawler History.
www.flightpatharchitects.com.au
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Related Articles
References
- [[Duval ‘Plan of Part of Gawler Town’ n.d. [c.1859?]]]
- [[1]]
- _James
- Gawler Rate Assessment Books East Ward
- Hignett Gawler Heritage Study: Stage 1 1981
- Warren ‘Plan of Gawlertown and its Suburban Townships’ 1863
- Whitelock Gawler: Colonel Light’s Country Town 1989
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