High Street 4
| Place type: | Building |
|---|---|
| Address: | 4 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 rubble with overpainted brick quoins and dressings. The double transverse gable roof is clad with corrugated metal, with parapeted side walls with brick coping, and overpainted brick chimney to the north. Windows are timber-framed, double-hung multipaned sashes to either side of the central door with multipaned fanlight, all with arched heads.
STATEMENT OF HERITAGE VALUE:
Constructed prior to 1872, the mid-Victorian era cottage at 4 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. 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 holdings. 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, 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 also surveyed at this time. An undated plan (c.1859) 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 207 of Gawler Town) was owned by William Paxton.
Allotment 207 fronting Murray Street was assessed from 1859 with two rateable cottages, both with a Murray Street address. One was rated to ‘Higgins’ and the other to Thomas Webster. This development increased to seven rateable places in 1860; ‘Higgins’ was listed as owning three and William Francis the other four. Again, all had a Murray Street address, with the exception of one place owned by Francis which was listed as ‘Ford Place’ and which was rated together with a property on the adjoining Lot 208 to the south. The number of rateable properties on Lot 207 varied between three and four throughout the late nineteenth century.
The earliest available Certificate of Title, dated 1875 suggests, however, that these Murray Street properties may have not had any connection with the subject land which is recorded as ‘Part Section 4’, being a portion of the Section of the Hundred of Nuriootpa, which had been laid out as Gawler East in 1858. In this case the property was owned by James Dawson, of Gawler, Miller. 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 4 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
.
References
- [[Duval ‘Plan of Part of Gawler Town’ n.d. [c.1859?]]]
- 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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