Preservoni ta the glebe - City of Sydney€¦ · Preservoni ta the glebe Historical Walking Tour....
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historical walking tours Front Cover Image: Glebe Point Road, early 20th century (Photograph: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW) PRESERVATION THE GLEBE Historical Walking Tour
Transcript of Preservoni ta the glebe - City of Sydney€¦ · Preservoni ta the glebe Historical Walking Tour....
historical walking tours
Front Cover Image: Glebe Point Road, early 20th century
(Photograph: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW)
Preservationthe glebeHistorical Walking Tour
George Hudson Timber Company, Blackwattle Bay, 1908 (Max Solling Collection)
Historical Walking Tours — Preservation / 01.
the glebeIn 1789, Governor Arthur Phillip granted 400 acres (162 hectares) to the Anglican Church for the new colony’s chaplain, the Rev Richard Johnson. The Glebe Point area became fashionable in the 19th century, while the southern part of Glebe became a working class district.
Glebe fell into decline in the early 20th century, but by the 1960s there was a renewed appreciation of its charms. Glebe became one of the first suburbs in Australia to experience “gentrification”, as its architectural heritage, combined with proximity to the city and Sydney University, made it fashionable again. This tour will explore a district which has not only a fascinating built environment but a long history of bohemian lifestyle, activism and intellectual pursuits.
lebe (from the Latin glaeba, meaning a clod of earth) is a piece of land which has been given to the church.
Please allow 1½ hours for this
tour.
There are many coffee shops and pubs along the
route. Start at the corner of Parramatta Road and Glebe Point Road. On your left is
University Hall (1) .
sydney’s history
is all around us. our walking tours will lead you on a journey of discovery from early aboriginal life through to
contemporary sydney.
Clover Moore MPLord Mayor of Sydney
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Sydney CoveWarrane
Bennelong PointDubbagullee
Dawes PointTar–raWalsh Bay
Darling HarbourTumbalong Royal
BotanicGardens
The Domain
Hyde Park
Beare Park
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Moore Park
Belmore Park
Wentworth Park
Harold Park
JubileePark
VictoriaPark
Centennial Park
Royal Randwick Racecourse
Cockle Bay
Blackwattle Bay
Rozelle Bay
Johnstons Bay
Farm Cove Wahganmuggalee
Woolloomooloo Bay
Elizabeth Bay
Rushcutters Bay
Sydney Park
TaylorSquare
Sydney University
Circular Quay
Wynyard
Martin Place
Town Hall
Museum
St James
Central Station
Erskinville
Redfern
Macdonaldtown
St Peters
Kings Cross
John StSquare
SydneyFish Market
WentworthPark
StarCity
PyrmontBay
Convention
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CapitolSquare
Central
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Park CityCentre
GalleriesVictoria
WorldSquare
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Preservationthe glebeHistorical Walking Tour
This was originally the University Hotel. Now University Hall, it is home to students from the nearby University of Sydney. Outside is a fountain commemorating the 50th anniversary of Glebe Municipality in 1909. If you face Parramatta Road from the fountain, on the low wall just above ground level you will see a memorial to the Aboriginal boxer Dave Sands. On it is written: “Erected by Tom Lamings Gymnasium, also Glebe supporters and admirers who knew him as he was.” Dave Sands was the Empire Middleweight champion and seemed destined for a successful career, but died in a car accident 1952. He is one of a handful of Australians in the World Boxing Hall of Fame in Los Angeles. To the right of the Sands Memorial is the stone marking the original western boundary of the City of Sydney, bearing the name of Lt-Gen Richard Bourke, Governor of NSW 1831–37.
UnIveRsITy HAll 01
Continue uphill along Parramatta Road, then turn right into Derwent Street. On the right is a War Memorial outside Glebe Public School (02).
Glebe Public School opened in 1858. The oldest building on the site dates from 1862. This war memorial lists ex-students who served in World War I, with the dead on the black tablet in front. A bust of a digger rests on top of a column. Today, Glebe Public School hosts Glebe Markets each weekend.
02 sCHool WAR MeMoRIAl
War Memorial at Glebe Public School, 1954 (Photograph: City
of Sydney Archives)
Walk up Catherine Street and then right into Westmoreland Street. On the right is the site of the first women’s refuge, Elsie (03), 73 Westmoreland Street.
The Italian-style Town Hall was built in stages from 1880 to 1891. It was designed by Ambrose Thornley Jnr, who was also responsible for Bellevue (18). Glebe was a separate municipality from 1859 until 1949, when the City of Sydney expanded to take over The Glebe and seven other suburban municipalities. In 1968, the City lost most of the areas it had acquired, and The Glebe became a part of Leichhardt Municipality. Glebe was returned to the City in 2003, and the former Town Hall is now a Council Neighbourhood Service Centre. Around the corner at 41 Lodge Street is the former Town Clerk’s House.
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Glebe Town Hall, 1930s (Photograph: City of Sydney
Archives)
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There are now more than 300 refuges in Australia for women and children escaping domestic violence. The opening of “Elsie” in 1974 marked the beginning of the refuge movement. The feminist writer Anne Summers was instrumental in finding the site. She remembers: There were a pair of little cottages that appeared to be in perfect condition. One of them had a woman’s name, Elsie, which seemed to be perfect and that, sort of, inadvertently became the first of a tradition amongst women’s refuges in Australia, of naming them after women. The cottages, owned by the Anglican Church, were unoccupied so the women of the Elsie collective moved in, claiming squatter rights. A visit by Social Security Minister Bill Hayden shortly after it opened led to Elsie receiving commonwealth funding.
03 elsIe
Continue along Westmoreland Street, tree-lined with single-story workers’ cottages on either side. Then turn left into St Johns Road. On your left at the corner of Mt Vernon Street is Glebe Town Hall (04), 160 St Johns Road.
Retrace your steps along St Johns Road to Glebe Point Road. Along the way you will see on your left the Federation style Fire Station (05), 73 St Johns Road. On your right is the St John’s Parish Hall (06), corner Derwent Street, designed by Edward Halloran and built in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Note the decorative use of coloured bricks, and the terracotta plaque bearing the Queen’s portrait. The words “Record Reign” on the plaque have led to the hall being called “Record Reign Hall”. At the corner of Glebe Point Road, on your left is St John’s, Bishopthorpe (07), 132 St John’s Road.
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Preservationthe glebeHistorical Walking Tour
sT JoHn’s bIsHoPTHoRPe07
The local Anglican parish was created in 1856, with The Rev William Macquarie Cowper (1810–1902), the first Australian-born Anglican clergyman and a godson of Governor Macquarie, as the incumbent. Of Romanesque design in Pyrmont sandstone, St John’s Bishopthorpe opened on the north-west corner in 1870. It was designed by Edmund Blacket (1817–83), one of the leading architects in NSW, assisted by John Horbury Hunt (1838–1904). Blacket also designed the church furniture and pulpit. His son Cyril Blacket added the choir, vestry and porch in 1909 and a bell tower in 1911.
The Rest Park Wireless House was opened in 1934 to allow locals to listen to the radio. It has recently been restored and today it is an internet wireless hotspot. Also note the impressive War Memorial facing Glebe Point Road, flanked by the busts of a soldier and sailor.
08 Foley PARk
Continue down Bridge Road to the Reuss Houses and The Abbey (09), 154–160 Bridge Road.
Turn left into Glebe Point Road and walk to the corner of Bridge Road. On your left is Foley Park (08).
St Johns (Photograph: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW)
This Regency villa was built for Dr James Bowman, Principal Surgeon of Sydney Hospital (1819–1836) and the son-in-law of James Macarthur. John Verge, who also designed Toxteth Park (16), completed Lyndhurst in 1837. It later became the Catholic St Mary College, while the grounds, which had covered 36 acres (14.6 hectares), were subdivided in 1878 and 1885. It was threatened with demolition in 1972 when an expressway through Glebe was proposed. After a long public campaign, including a Builders’ Labourers Federation “green ban”, the proposal was abandoned. The best view is from the rear in Darghan Lane.
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Lyndhurst, c1880 (Photograph: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW)
Ferdinand Reuss trained as a civil engineer in the British firm of Robert Stevenson, the great lighthouse engineer and grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson. After some time in the USA, Reuss came to Australia during the 1851 gold rush, eventually setting up an architecture practice in Sydney. He built houses on land he bought on either side of Pyrmont Bridge Road and rented out most of them. He lived in The Hermitage at 154 Bridge Road from 1866 until his death in 1896. Reussdale (No. 160) is perhaps the earliest example of High Victorian domestic design in Glebe. It has recently been restored. No. 177 is also attributed to him. The Abbey at No. 158 was a Presbyterian church built to a design by the American-born architect Thomas Rowe on Broadway in the 1870s, then moved stone by stone to its present site in the 1920s. It has most recently been a restaurant.
09 ReUss HoUses And THe Abbey
Retrace your steps along Bridge Road, cross over Glebe Point Road, and continue along Bridge Road into Lyndhurst Street. Turn left into Darghan Street. On your right is Lyndhurst (10), 61 Darghan Street.
Historical Walking Tours — Preservation / 04.
Wireless House in Foley Park, 2010 (Photograph: Paul Patterson / City of Sydney)
Preservationthe glebeHistorical Walking Tour
Continue along Lyndhurst Street to Bellevue Road. The stairs on the corner of Bellevue Road lead to Wentworth Park (11). A bird’s eye view of Wentworth Park is afforded along Bellevue Street.
Retrace your steps back to Glebe Point Road and turn right. On your left at the corner of Hereford Street is the former Valhalla Cinema (12), 166D Glebe Point Road.
Originally a tidal flat known as Black Wattle Cove or Swamp, its foreshores were used for abattoirs and “boiling down works” from the 1830s to the 1860s. In 1876, the swamp was filled in to eliminate noxious smells. Beginning in 1882, Wentworth Park was built on the land that had been reclaimed. Across the northern edge of the park runs the Glebe Railway Viaduct, which now carries the Sydney Light Rail. Built in 1916, this is the longest section of brick arch viaduct on the NSW system, a major engineering work with the brickwork sitting on timber piles. Greyhound racing began at Wentworth Park in 1932, with Saturday night “Wenty Dogs” soon becoming a part of Sydney life. The current grandstand was completed in 1987.
WenTWoRTH PARk11
FoRMeR vAlHAllA CIneMA12
The Art Deco cinema’s original name, the Astor, can be seen on the Hereford Street elevation. In the 1970s, as the New Arts Cinema, it hosted live shows, including the first Australian production of The Rocky Horror Show. It later became a cinema again known as the Valhalla, specialising in independent films and revival showings of classics. In the 80s and 90s its 6-month program calendar seemed to be on every Sydney student share house wall. In 2008 the cinema was converted into offices.
Valhalla, formerly The Astor, 1950s (Photograph: Leichhardt Local Studies Library)
HoMoeoPATHIC HosPITAl
Benledi House was built in the late 19th century and occupied by the Moore family. The Sydney Homoeopathic Hospital was founded in Redfern in 1902 to dispense homoeopathic treatment. This was a popular form of medicine in the 19th century, but its popularity declined with the introduction of antibiotics and improved surgical skills. The hospital moved to Glebe in 1915, where it was increasingly used as a general community hospital. Despite its name, it is believed that homoeopathy had effectively ended there by 1945. The park on the corner of Wigram Road was previously the site of the Sydney Hospital for Sick Children, founded in 1880. It was renamed the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children in 1904, and moved to Camperdown in 1907. The Sydney Homoeopathic Hospital later took over this building, which was demolished in 1968. The Sydney Homoeopathic Hospital was abruptly closed in 1989. Benledi is now part of the Glebe Library.
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Continue up Glebe Point Road. On your left at 186 Glebe Point Road is Benledi House, formerly the Homoeopathic Hospital (12).
Continue up Glebe Point Road. On your right is Bidura (14), 357 Glebe Point Road.
Glebe Point Road, 19th century (Lithograph: City of Sydney)
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Turn left into Boyce Street, then walk to the corner of Mansfield Street to reach Tranby (15), 13 Mansfield Street.
14
Bidura was built about 1860. Blacket is believed to have lived here while he was designing the Great Hall of the University of Sydney. Bidura served for many years as a residence for the merchant Fred Perks, and has a fine ballroom. Bidura House has a long association with the Community Services Department and from 1920 until the mid-1960s was used as a residence for state wards, including many Aboriginal children separated from their families. Bidura Children’s Court is situated directly behind Bidura House.
bIdURA
Bidura, the Blacket family residence, 1865 (Image: Mitchell
Library, State Library of NSW)
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Tranby cottage was built in 1858 before the subdivision of the Toxteth Estate. Since 1958 it has been the home of the Tranby Aboriginal Cooperative College, the oldest independent adult Aboriginal education centre in Australia. With an average of 150 students, it seeks to provide self-determination for Aboriginal Australians. Courses include Applied Aboriginal Studies, Community Development, National Indigenous Legal Advocacy and Business Studies. The Co-operative has also developed affiliate organisations such as Blackbooks, the Aboriginal Development Unit and the Aboriginal Homeless Persons Hostel.
TRAnby15
Continue up Mansfield Street into Avenue Road to reach the site of Toxteth Park, now Saint Scholastica’s College (16), 4 Avenue Road.
Students at Tranby in 1973 (Photograph: City of Sydney
Archives)
ToxTeTH PARk16
George Allen (1800–1877) was the first solicitor to be trained in Australia. By 1831 he had acquired 96 acres (38.8 hectares) of Glebe land, which became the Toxteth Estate, and commissioned John Verge to build Toxteth Park. His son, George Wigram Allen (1824–1885) added a third storey, tower and ballroom. In 1901, it was sold to the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, a Benedictine Order, which founded today’s St Scholastica’s College, a Catholic school for girls. It has 700 students in years 7–12, including 80 boarders.
You may wish to explore nearby Arcadia Road, which contains some of the most attractive houses in the area. Alternatively, proceed downhill along Avenue Road, right into Victoria Road then left into Edward Street. On your left is the Sze Yup Chinese Temple (17).
The Sze Yup Temple was built by immigrants from the area known as Sze Yup in the province of Guangdong, China. It is dedicated to Kwun Ti, a warrior and patriot in the era of the Three Kingdoms 220–265 AD, who was famous for his loyalty, physical prowess and masculinity. In Australia, immigrant Chinese worshipped him as a wise judge, a guide and a protector. There are only four temples of this type in Australia, and the Sze Yup temple is the most renowned. The central temple was built in 1898. Principles of Feng Shui are seen in its location on land that sloped from the temple to the waters of Rozelle Bay. In 1904 the central temple was flanked by two chapels, the Chapel of Departed Friends and the Chapel of Good Fortune.
17 sze yUP CHInese TeMPle
Sze Yup Temple in Edward Street, 1904 (Photograph: Town and Country Journal, State Library of NSW)
Allen family residence, Toxteth Park, 1890 (Photograph: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW)
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In 1966, the Sydney Fish Market was relocated from Haymarket to this site. There was major reconstruction and expansion in the 1980s, with the former John Fairfax Limited bulk paper store becoming the location of a computerised auction room. The Fish Market today is open to the public and incorporates a working fishing port, wholesale fish market, fresh food retail market, food and beverage outlets and a seafood cooking school.
20 FIsH MARkeT
Your tour ends here. Across Bank Street is the Fish Market Light Rail Station. You can also connect here with “Port”, the City of Sydney’s walking tour of Pyrmont.
Sydney Fish Markets, 1999 (Photograph: City of Sydney Archives)
18 bellevUe
Built in 1883, the house was designed by Ambrose Thornley Junior, who was responsible for many houses and shops around Glebe. Overlooking Blackwattle Bay, it was one of many mansions around Glebe Point. They gradually disappeared as industry took over the area in the 20th century. The growth of industry in Glebe, especially along the foreshores, had been encouraged by the development of wharfage in Rozelle and Blackwattle Bays. By 1945 there were 158 factories in Glebe, and they employed 4,496 workers. Bellevue has now been restored for community use and houses the Blackwattle Cafe.
Bellevue House, late 19th century (Photograph: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW)
Retrace your steps along Edward Street and Victoria Road, then turn right into Alexandra Road to reach Jubilee Park and Bicentennial Park. You can then take the foreshore walk to Bellevue (18), a Victorian villa on the Point.
Continue along the foreshore walk to the Burley Griffin Incinerator (19) at the rear of the park near Forsyth Street.
Built in 1933, this was the smallest of 13 incinerators in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia designed by Walter Burley Griffin, designer of Canberra, and his partner Eric Nicholls. Others included those at Pyrmont (now demolished) and Willoughby. Before building the incinerator, Glebe Council would load garbage onto barges at the Council depot in Forsyth Street, tow it 10 kilometres out to sea and dump it. This resulted in beaches being polluted by refuse carried in by the currents. Griffin and Nicholls promoted their incinerators as hygienic, efficient and aesthetically pleasing. The incinerator building has been preserved for community uses and forms a striking architectural feature along the Glebe foreshore walk. Look out for the interpretive signs.
19 bURley GRIFFIn InCIneRAToR
Architectural drawing showing the Burley Griffen Incinerator at Glebe, 1930s (Image: National
Library of Australia)
Walk along Taylor Street, past Glebe High School to Pyrmont Bridge Road. You can turn right to reach Glebe Light Rail Station and end your tour, or you can make your way back to the tour starting point through what was once the Glebe Estate, owned by the Anglican Church (some streets are named after Anglican bishops) until it was sold to the Commonwealth Government in 1974. It eventually passed to the NSW Housing Commission to be used for public housing. Alternatively, turn left and walk to the Fish Market (20).
Council Depot at the end of Forsyth Street in Glebe, incorporating the former Glebe Destructor
(Photograph: City of Sydney Archives)
This brochure was prepared by the History Program at the City of Sydney. 6th edition, November 2011.
historical walking tours
Think before you bin this guide.After reading, pass it on to someone else who might find it useful or recycle it.
HWT 9
Discover more of historic Sydney with the other walking tour brochures in this series.
More information can be found at the City’s website: www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/history or call the City of Sydney on 9265 9333 We welcome your feedback: [email protected]
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