Murray Street 147-151
| Place type: | Building |
|---|---|
| Also known as: | Tops Shop |
| Address: | 147-151 Murray Street |
| Town or Locality: | Gawler |
DESCRIPTION:
This single-storey, parapeted, mid-Victorian-era shopfront is located on a corner block and was constructed in the 1880s. The walls are of coursed stone construction, rendered on the Murray Street façade and overpainted on the Lyndoch Road façade, with rendered dressings and cornice mould. The shopfront has a simple timber-framed display window with recessed, half-glazed door to the corner and glass panel door to Murray Street. The reconstructed return straight verandah is of corrugated metal on timber supporting posts with cast iron frieze and corner brackets.
STATEMENT OF HERITAGE VALUE:
The shops at 147-151 Murray Street Gawler are associated with the phase of substantial commercial growth of Gawler township during the mid-nineteenth century based on Gawler’s position as an important service town in parallel with its development as an industrial town which occurred as a result of substantial economic stimulus and growth. They demonstrate ongoing use of the site for over 160 years, possibly longer, and the present shops have provided a service to the local community for an extended period. The pair of shops represent a good and substantially intact example of single-story commercial premises constructed of local stone and brick.
BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
Allotment 195 was first allocated to Patrick Tod in 1839. At some stage Tod disposed of his title and it is noted on an undated plan indicating it had been purchased by ‘Cotter’, possibly Dr Thomas Young Cotter. As shown in historic rate books, up to five rateable buildings were located on the full allotment in 1859 and 1860. Henry Edward Bright was in ownership of the part allotment adjoining the Lyndoch Road corner for a significant number of years between 1861 until at least 1890 at which time it included an ‘Iron Store’. By 1886 the store was occupied by Penna fruiterers, run by William and later John, for the same duration. This is confirmed on a historic plan of Murray Street, dated 1886, which indicates a single storey iron shop, ‘J Penna, Fruiterer’ aligned to the corner and ‘FK Fowler, Builder, Cabinetmaker & Co.’ adjacent to the south. Rate books concur they were owned by Bright.
Bright arrived in Adelaide in April 1850 as a child with his father, Henry Edward Bright Snr, and mother, Jane Prudence (née King). His father was a member of the South Australian Colonial Parliament, serving as a member for Stanley in the South Australian House of Assembly from March 1865 to February 1875, and for Wooroora from February 1875 to April 1884. From July 1873 to June 1875, he was Commissioner of Public Works in the Government of Sir Arthur Blyth, and was elected to the Legislative Council of South Australia in May 1885, remaining a member until May 1891. Henry Edward Bright Junior himself served as Mayor of Gawler in 1879 and 1880.
It is likely that the title was transferred to Bright’s sons following his death in 1904. The earliest certificate of title indicates a transfer of the ownership from Bright’s sons, Thomas Robert Bright and William Stuart Bright, to Seth Hibbard, a fruiterer, in 1913.
The date of construction of the building is unknown, but its stone and rendered construction suggest it dates from the 1890s or early 1900s, replacing the original iron store. Photos from the 1880s show shops without a parapet and wide verandahs. Several images from the 1920s show the structure with the existing parapet, and a straight verandah with carved timber detailing, typical of early Federation construction.
Openings in early images appear to coincide with openings in the existing structure, suggesting the possibility that the walls are original, and the parapet was added later.
Please <Click here> to view photos of 147-151 Murray 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
.
References
- Gervaise & Associates with McDougall & Vines Murray Street Main Street Study Corporation of the Town of Gawler July 1989.
- LTO
- Certificate of Title CT 953/114
- Gawler Rate Assessment Books East Ward
- [[‘Gawlertown plus details of original ownership of Gawler lots’ [Edited from LTO GRO 138/1863]]]
- Pierce ‘Plan of Gawler South Australia surveyed and drawn by T Pierce’ 1886
- Duval ‘Plan of Part Gawler Town’ n.d.
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