Twelfth Street 17-17a and 19-19a
| Place type: | Building |
|---|---|
| Address: | 17-17a and 19-19a Twelfth Street |
| Town or Locality: | Gawler South |
DESCRIPTION:
This is a pair of attached double-fronted cottages constructed of random coursed tooled bluestone with a tuck-pointed finish to the façade, and random rubble bluestone, tuck-pointed, to the side walls. A rendered masonry wall with arched coping separates the two dwellings. The hipped roof is clad with corrugated galvanised iron and features red face brick chimneys with corbelled caps. Windows are timber-framed, double-hung sashes to either side of central timber panelled doors with fanlights. The concave hipped verandah is clad with corrugated galvanised iron and is supported on square timber posts with carved timber corner brackets. The stone wall to the east boundary along Glenelg Lane is also of note.
STATEMENT OF HERITAGE VALUE:
The attached pair of mid-to-late Victorian-era dwellings at 17-17a and 19-19a Twelfth Street demonstrate the intensity of residential development in Gawler West (now South) and the need for modest accommodation during a phase of rapid growth in the township during a period of industrial and commercial activity in the 1870s and 1880s. The attached dwellings are a good and largely externally intact example, constructed of local materials in the distinctive Gawler ‘paired villa’ typology.
BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
Twelfth Street was, along with Tenth and Seventh Streets, originally named ‘Bridge Street’ on the registered plan. The property comprises Allotments 129, 130, 131 and a portion of 132 of the subdivision of a portion of Section 2 laid out as Gawler West Extension. The properties are bounded by Twelfth St (formerly Bridge Street) and Thirteenth Street (formerly Commercial Road)
The Township of Gawler West was initiated to take advantage of the railway link to Adelaide completed and opened for passenger traffic on 5 October 1857. Set out on part of Section 8 of the Gawler Special Survey originally property of James Fotheringham. Fotheringham had been one of the twelve original Proprietors of the Gawler Special Survey of 1839 and had huge land and business interests in the district.
Around 1878 nephews of James Fotheringham, David and his brother, Robert John Moir Fotheringham, developed a cordial and aerated water factory in Water Street, Goose Island, known as D and RJ Fotheringham Cordial Factory.
The New Township of Gawler West adjoining the Railway Station was announced by ‘preliminary notice’ placed by Wicksteed Botting Townsend & Co on behalf of the proprietors in the Adelaide Observer on Saturday 22 August 1857. A few weeks later an advertisement announced that an auction would be held on the ground on Monday September 28 and that a special train would provide transport to prospective buyers from Adelaide, gratis, and that a champagne lunch would also be provided. The Adelaide Times reported on the day following the auction that some 300 persons had attended, a most spirited competition prevailed throughout, very high prices were achieved, especially for those allotments nearest the station.
Rupert Algernon May (engineer) was in ownership of the allotments from March 1914. They transferred to Emily Mortimer (married woman) and Brenda Mortimer (spinster) in June 1915 and subsequently to Percy Hewith (jockey) and Walter Homann (trainer) as tenants-in-common in March 1920. In May 1921, the property transferred to Aileen Allington (married woman) and thereafter to James Douglas Alexander (retired farmer) in September 1930. The property was transferred to Douglas Graham Alexander (bank officer) in March 1948.
The date of construction of the dwellings is unknown however it would appear to have been constructed in the mid-1870’s or early 1880’s.
Please <click here> for photos of 17-17a and 19-19a Twelfth 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
- LT Adelaide Observer on Saturday 22 August 1857 (p1)
- SA Register 25 Sept 1857 (p4)
- LTO Certificate of Title CT 988/8
- Hignett & Co 1981
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