Redbanks Road 56 Willaston
| Place type: | Building |
|---|---|
| Address: | 56 Redbanks Road |
| Town or Locality: | Willaston |
DESCRIPTION:
This grandly proportioned double-fronted Federation-era villa of tall proportions is set on a substantial ‘country’ allotment at the entrance of the Redbanks Road precinct. It is constructed of dressed sandstone and red face brick dressings, with an overpainted corrugated metal hip roof, and prominent red brick chimneys with moulded-brick caps. Windows are timber-framed, double-hung and door is panelled with timber frame, sidelights and fanlight. The bullnose return verandah is clad with corrugated metal and supported on turned timber posts. Stable structure to Haines Road, and privy to the rear of the property, both of rubble sandstone with red brick quoins and dressings, are also of note. A non-original brush fence with woven wire gate define the Redbanks Road frontage, with large palisade gates to Haines Road.
STATEMENT OF HERITAGE VALUE:
Likely built in the early 1900s for Percy Campbell Dawkins of the well-known Dawkins family of Gawler, responsible for Dawkins & Co Ironmongers and Timber Merchants, demonstrates the ongoing demand for generous residential allotments north of the North Para River, beyond the initial subdivisions of Willaston and Waltham at a time of renewed industrial and commercial activity in Willaston. Its high-quality of construction and detailing, as well as its substantial proportions and generous setting, reflect the prominence of its setting on a corner allotment to Redbanks Road.
BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The original plan of Gawler Town prepared by Light, Finniss and Co in 1839 was extended as additional townships were added over the next two decades. These townships included: Willaston in 1848; Gawler East in 1849; Bertha in 1850; Evanston in 1853; Gawler North, Gawler West and Bassett Town in 1857; and Gawler South in 1858. Later smaller subdivisions included the Edith/Blanche Street area of Gawler East in 1873, Gulf View in 1876, and Waltham in 1878. A later stage of development saw the creation of Olive Hill in 1891 and Berrett Town in 1910. By the turn of the twentieth century the town boundaries had extended into adjoining farming lands and larger allotments were gradually being subdivided and developed.
Section 692 in the Hundred of Mudla Wirra, County of Gawler, was first granted in 1853 to Eli Holmes, Publican, and Thomas Lacey, Mining Captain, both of Gawler, and subsequently partitioned with part to Alfred Atkinson, gentleman of Adelaide. Though not included in the nearby formal subdivision of section 134 named Waltham this locality in the vicinity of Redbanks Road came to be known in the early 20th century as Waltham. The township name is no longer used.
The four-acre allotment comprising a portion of section 692 in the Hundred of Mudla Wirra, County of Gawler and located at the corner of Redbanks and Parker (now Haines) Roads was transferred to Percy Campbell Dawkins of Gawler, ironmonger, on 20 October 1907. A few days earlier at Redhill, Percy had married Evelyn Grace Wake (1883-1974) a daughter of Mr Laban Russ Wake of ‘Gum Park’. The following year, in April 1908 Percy transferred the title in the property to his wife’s name. It would remain in her ownership until 1943, when it was transferred to Hedley George Schoff of Willaston, a dentist.
In 1910 Evelyn’s parents Laban and Mary Wake purchased a nearby property at 50 Redbanks Road on which they built a large villa as their retirement home, having sold their 4,000 acre grazing property ‘Gum Park’ at Redhill in 1908. They lived at Redbanks Road until their deaths in 1934, after which the property was transferred to Evelyn.
Percy Campbell Dawkins (1881 - 1966) was born in Gawler son of William and Eliza Dawkins and worked initially in the family business. His father William was the proprietor of Dawkins & Co Ironmongers and Timber Merchants in Gawler Street, and served several terms as a town councillor and mayor in 1908 & 1909. In later life Percy became a farmer and grazier. Evelyn and Percy raised a family of four children. Evelyn died in 1974, her husband having predeceased her in 1966. Both are buried in Willaston cemetery. The large stone villa and outbuildings which occupy the expansive grounds pre-date Dawkins’ acquisition by at least several decades.
Please <click here> to view photos of 56 Redbanks Road Willaston.
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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