Heritage Citation Report – HO302 - Shire of Glenelg · HO 295 Place Citation Report Page 3 and transporting heavy loads on poor roads could be avoided. The key to the survival of

Heritage Citation Report – Shop, 5 Julia Street, Portland

Shop, 5 Julia Street, Portland

HO 295 Place Citation Report Page 1

Heritage Citation Report – HO302

Name Shop

Address 5 Julia Street, Portland

Place Type Commercial

Citation Date 27 June 2016

Heritage listings VHI D7221-0113

Recommended heritage protection Glenelg Shire Planning Scheme (PS) Heritage Overlay (HO)




Figure 1 : The Shop at 5 Julia Street, facing southwest.

Figure 2 : Proposed HO extent

History and historical context

James Trangmar is listed as the owner of the land where the Shop is located in 1874. James took over his

brother Charles’ grocery and hardware business, after Charles’ death in the 1860s. James had arrived in

Portland in 1844 from Tasmania, where he had worked as the manager of a grocery business. He set up a

business in Portland together with Mr Crouch. James was the President of the Shire Council in the 1860s and

was elected as the Mayor of the Borough Council from 1875 to 1879 (Portland Guardian, 19 December 1888).

An early twentieth century photo shows the Shop when it was LA Stubbs Boots and Shoes (Figure 3).

The Shop is a brick building. Up until the 1870s bluestone was the primary building material in Portland.

However, the establishment of the Portland Brick and Tile Company in 1876 and two additional kilns in 1880 led

to brick replacing bluestone as the commonly used building material in Portland. These bricks were large and

had the company name pressed into the brick (Wilson Sayer Pty Ltd, 1981: 35). Regional brickworks developed

in Victoria due to the high demand for locally produced building materials where transport costs would be lower




and transporting heavy loads on poor roads could be avoided. The key to the survival of these brickworks was

their location in areas that had high demand and economic growth (Stuart 1987:37).

The term ‘Portland Brick’ is used to refer to bricks made at the Parker’s Brickworks around 1900. These bricks

are quite large and can range from ‘first class’ which is brown in colour, to the ‘clinker’ or overfired brick which is

dark purple, and the ‘dough boy’ or ‘callow’ brick which is underfired and is yellow ochre in colour. These bricks

have no depression or ‘frog’ on them. They are similar in appearance to those made by the Portland Brick and

Tile Company but these had the name pressed into the brick (Gordon Stokes pers. comm. 20 May 2016).

In 1938 5 Julia Street was listed as the address for JR Hocking, an agent for Goldsbrough Mort and Company

Ltd (stock and station agents, wool and produce brokers and land salesmen). The office opened in 1938 and

people were invited to inspect the new (D and M) wool press at the office. In addition, advances against wool

and stock could be arranged at the office (Portland Guardian, 20 October 1938; 1 August 1938).

Title searches indicate that Norman Guy, a hairdresser, was the owner of the property in 1949, although his

address was listed as Julia Street as early as 1933 (Portland Guardian, 20 July 1933). Figure 4 shows the Shop

when it was a hairdresser. Norman also opened a ladies beauty parlour in the Martell Building in Bentinck Street

in 1933 (Portland Guardian, 31 July 1933). Between 1979 and 1987 the property was owned by John Barry

Guy, also a hairdresser. The Shop is currently a café called The Lido Larder.

Based on the above information, the Shop would have been built after 1880, most likely around 1910.

Figure 3 : The Shop at 5 Julia Street, as a shoe shop, sometime between1920-1940 (Source: State

Library of Victoria, Image H32492/1641).




Figure 4 : The Shop at 5 Julia Street, as a hairdressing salon after 1949 (Source: State Library of

Victoria, Image H32492/7488).

Relevant Historical Australian Themes

3 Developing local, regional and national economies

3.19 Marketing and retailing

4 Building settlements, towns and cities

4.5 Making settlements to serve rural Australia

Description

Physical description

The Shop is a variegated brick building with a rendered and painted façade. The building has a corrugated iron

gabled roof concealed by a parapet. There are two horizontal bands across the parapet. Below this is a

cantilevered verandah. Below the verandah is a row of small square windows above a large glass window. A

door is located on the right. The eastern side of the building has a variegated brown brick wall with two timber-

framed double-hung windows. There is red brick detailing around the windows and in a band running the length

of the building above the windows. There is a door at the rear of the left side of the building within a section of

the building that juts out.

There is an earlier building to the west of the Shop and an open laneway to the east of the Shop.

Physical condition

Good




Usage/Former usage

Commercial

Recommended management

Maintain generally as existing.

Comparative analysis

HO400 Pair of Shops, 91 and 91A Bell Street, Penshurst, Southern Grampians Shire

The pair of single storey rendered brick shops, designed by W.J. Schooling, architect, in 1913, have a traditional

asymmetrical form with paired recessed entrances. The facade is completed by a heavy parapet with no

pediment but with panels created by slightly projecting piers standing on a deep cornice and overlapping a

smaller frieze. There is a substantial post supported timber verandah on the Bell and Martin Street elevations.

The frieze of the verandah is solid timber and this is supported by blank brackets. The posts have been

truncated at their bases with steel poles being substituted at a height of 300mm. The stall board of the eastern

shop retains its bright green tiles laid in stretcher bond. One door has been replaced. Otherwise the shop fronts

are intact. The design included a tearoom behind the baker's shop. Behind the butcher's shop, there is an office,

cool room, anteroom, machinery room and engine shed. This shop has been extended in the mid-20th century

in cream brick and this appears to have been a work room for pickling meats.

The pair of shops is historically important for its early association with Frank Liles Olle, a member of the

important merchant family, the Olle's, but also an influential and important early settler in Penshurst. Frank Liles

Olle was historically important in the development of Penshurst as a commercial centre, and served on a

number of committees, including the Mount Rouse Shire Council, the Penshurst Progress Association and was

an elder of the Presbyterian Church. The pair of shops is of further significance for its long continual use as the

local butcher and baker shops, traditionally placed near each other, a tradition which continued in Penshurst

well into the twentieth century. The late construction date of the pair of shops indicates that Penshurst was still

developing as a commercial centre in the early twentieth century. The pair of shops are of architectural

significance for its traditional asymmetrical form, and for its association with local architect, W. J Schooling. It is

of further architectural significance as an intact surviving example of the Free Classical style applied in

commercial federation architecture.

HO233 Turner’s Shops and Residence, 23-25 Memorial Road, Glenthompson, Southern Grampians Shire

Turner's shops and residence are located on Memorial Road, in the centre of Glenthompson. The commercial

building, built in 1900, is a pair of painted brick shops which are symmetrically arranged. The entrance to each

shop is adjacent to the exterior wall, and has an identical recessed timber door with a six pane glass panel. The

shop front windows are in three large panes along the street front. The roofs of each shop are identical, being

simple corrugated iron gables, with an elementary brick pediment built across the facade of both shops to unite

the structure. A simple timber and corrugated iron verandah extends over the pavement. The verandah posts

are unturned square posts, and the corrugated iron has been painted blue.

The shops and residence, known as Turner's are of historical significance for the sites connections with the

important John McLennan, who built the first substantial structure on this site in the 1870s, Mac's Hotel. The site

is of further historical significance for its changing use over time, to have been subdivided several times, and

large portions donated to the Glenthompson Mechanic's Institute, and to create a public road. Of further interest

is the later occupation of the residence and pair of shops by a variety of businesses, the most important of

which was the Turner's who operated the shop and lived in the residence for many years.




Summary

The comparative analysis indicates that brick single-storey shops built in the early twentieth century in regional

Victoria have a similar structure and are significant for their association with commercial activities over a long

period of time.

Statement of significance

What is significant?

Significant elements of the Shop include:

• The large unpainted brown and red brick wall on the eastern side of the building.

• The rendered brick parapet

• The front of the Shop, with its large windows and recessed entrance

How is it significant?

The Shop is of historical significance (HERCON criterion A) and demonstrates principal characteristics of a

class (HERCON criterion D).

Why is it significant?

The Shop is of historical significance as it demonstrates development of the commercial centre of Portland in

the early twentieth century, and continues to demonstrate its association with the commerce of the town.

The Shop demonstrates the principal characteristics of the architecture of a Victorian era brick shop front. The

use of local Portland bricks, rendered brick parapet, large windows and recessed entrance provide a

representative example of the typical style of the period which has made a contribution to the evolution of

Victoria’s built environment.

Recommended Controls (2016)

External Paint Controls Yes

Internal Alteration Controls No

Tree Controls No

Fences & Outbuildings No

Prohibited Uses May Be Permitted Yes

Incorporated Plan No

Aboriginal Heritage Place No

References

Stuart, I. 1987. A History of the Victorian Brick Industry: 1826-1920. Australian Archaeology, No. 24, June 1987:

36-40.

Wilson Sayer Pty Ltd. 1981. Portland Urban Conservation Study. A report to the Town of Portland and the

Department of Planning.




Newspapers

Portland Guardian, Portland, Victoria, 1876-1953

Personal communications

Gordon Stokes, Representative, National Trust, Portland, 20 May 2016.

This information is provided for guidance only and does not supersede official documents, particularly the planning scheme. Planning controls should be

verified by checking the relevant municipal planning scheme.

Documents

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