English, Scottish & Australian (ES&A) Bank, later Bank of New South Wales, 137-139 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
English, Scottish & Australian (ES&A) Bank, later Bank of New South Wales, 137-139 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 103929
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
Graphic materialsTextual material
Part of:
Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)
Access restrictions:
UnrestrictedOpen access.
Use restrictions:
UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
General notes:
RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2021:DATE: 1924;ASSOCIATIONS: English, Scottish & Australian (ES&A) Bank; Bank of New South Wales;DESIGNER: Gibbs, Finlay & Morsby;BUILDER: Clements Langford Pty LtdIMAGE: https://flic.kr/p/2mf1ak8.CONTEXT (WITH GJM HERITAGE) 2020, HODDLE GRID HERITAGE REVIEWStatement of SignificanceWhat is significant?137-139 Flinders Lane, the former ES&A Bank, constructed in 1924.Elements that contribute to the significance of the place include (but are not limited to):• The building’s original external form, materials and detailing;• The building’s very high level of integrity to its original design;• The recessed entrance porch, concrete reveals, spandrels and mouldings;• The pattern and size of fenestration and large multi-paned windows with continuous hood moulding;• The gothic window arches on the upper levels and square window heads on the middle level;• Central door with hood moulding and gothic arch;• The industrial style metal frame windows and pavement level windows on the Oliver Lane façade; and• The timber parquetry floor, marble steps, central handrail, and highlight window in the entry foyer.Later alterations are not significant.How it is significant?137-13 Flinders Lane is of local historic, representative and aesthetic significance to the City of Melbourne.Why it is significant?The former ES&A Bank at 137-139 Flinders Lane is historically significant as a demonstration of the recovering city economy after the depression of the 1890s. It is clearly associated with this period which saw many banks close, followed by a sustained recovery period from the early 1900s until the late 1920s, helped by Melbourne’s brief role as the nation’s capital until 1913. (Criterion A)137-139 Flinders Lane is a notable example of an interwar bank building. Like many other banks of the period it adopts a revival style, though unusually it employs the Gothic rather than the more common Greek or Renaissance revival styles. While it is conservative in adopting a nineteenth century idiom, the design is expressed through the medium of reinforced concrete, a relatively new construction material at the time. (Criterion D)137-139 Flinders Lane is aesthetically significant for its contribution to the Flinders Lane East Precinct and its contribution to Oliver Lane. It is aesthetically significant for the manner in which reinforced concrete is moulded and articulated to form features of the Gothic style. This is evident in the windows and their hood mouldings and the moulded spandrel panels beneath the top floor windows. Other attributes of aesthetic value include the generous recessed entry with marble steps. (Criterion E)Primary sourceHoddle Grid Heritage Review (Context & GJM Heritage, 2020).GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites parapet__________________________________________________CITY OF MELBOURNE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONShttps://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/60672/images/44777_349577-002411920 March 2591 ₤646 alts to warehouse1923 June 5283 alts to bank etc.- see imagesEnglish, Scottish & Australian (ES&A) BankGibbs, Finlay & MorsbyClements Langford Pty LtdDone by Oct 1924.CONTEXT (WITH GJM HERITAGE) 2020, HODDLE GRID HERITAGE REVIEWFlinders Lane East Precinct and Significant (HO1292)RECOMMENDATIONSRecommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay of the Melbourne Planning Scheme as an Individual Heritage Place.Extent of overlay: Refer to mapSUMMARY137-139 Flinders Lane, the former ES&A and Bank of New South Wales, now Flinders Lane Gallery dates from 1924 and is a reinforced concrete building with Gothic revival styling..SITE HISTORYFlinders Street and Flinders Lane were named after navigator Captain Matthew Flinders who claimed the discovery of Port Phillip in April 1802 aboard the Investigator, but who later conceded the prior arrival of Acting Lieutenant John Murray on the Lady Nelson in February 1802 (RHSV). Flinders Lane was also known as Little Flinders Street until 1948 when the Melbourne City Council declared Flinders Lane the official name (Age 8 June 1948:2).The subject site is located on Crown Allotment 20 of Block 7 (Fels, Lavelle and Mider 1993). By the 1880s, there was a three-storey hotel known as ‘Commercial Hotel’ on the site (Figure 1). By 1910, the Commercial Hotel was converted to a furnished apartment (Mahlstedt Map Section 1, no 6,1910).In 1922, the Bank of New South Wales (NSW), then owner of the subject site, sold the building ‘at a very substantial profit’ of £1687, and bought a new building at 253 Flinders Lane (Herald 2 November 1922:22; Daily Telegraph (NSW) 5 June 1922:7). Following the Bank of NSW, Eastaugh Ltd, men’s wear manufacturer, owned the property for about a year in 1923 (RB 1922/3).In 1924, the former brick warehouse was demolished, and a new three-storey reinforced concrete bank with a basement was erected for the new owner, the English, Scottish & Australian (ES&A) Bank (RB 1924/5). In 1924, the Sands & McDougall Directory of Victoria noted that construction was occurring on the site and by late 1924, a new branch of the ES&A Bank opened on the site (Figure 1) (S&Mc 1924). In 1925, the Net Annual Value (NAV) of the newly built building was £1100, a significant increase from the previous year’s NAV of £350 (RB 1923/4-1924/5). The bank occupiedthe ground floor premises and the basement was occupied by tenants A Beckett, piano importers. By 1927, the first floor was subsequently occupied by Mutual Manufacturing Co Pty Ltd, knitted goods manufacturers, and the second floor by Young & Co, mantles and robes manufacturers (S&Mc 1925-27).Figure 1. Showing the subject building (occupied by ES&A Bank) in 1925 shortly after the completion in 1924. (Source: Mahlstedt Map Section 1, no 6,1925)In April 1927, ES&A Bank left the premises, selling the property back to the Bank of New South Wales (owner of the site in 1922) at a price of £12,000 (Herald 20 April 1927:20). By the end of the year, the Bank of NSW, which had been occupying a small building opposite, moved in to the subject building (Herald 20 April 1927:20; S&Mc 1928). It is likely that the current lettering ‘Bank of New South Wales’ was added around this time.137-139 Flinders Lane was known as the ‘eastern branch’ of the Bank of NSW, which amalgamated with the Commercial Bank of Australia to form Westpac Banking Corporation in 1982. The branch operated up until February 1984, when the branch closed (Age 21 March 1984:35). On 4 April 1984, the three-storey building was sold by public auction, as part of the new Westpac’s rationalisation program. According to the auction notice, the ground floor banking chamber was vacant, with the basement and two upper stories occupied by businesses at that time (Age 21 March 1984:35).After the property sale in April 1984, the ground floor showroom and warehouse space were advertised for long-term lease (Age 28 July 1984:78). It is unclear who occupied the ground floor premises during the late 1980s, as multiple businesses had been addressed as 137-139 Flinders Lane, without references to particular floor levels. In the late 1980s, Intercity Appliances, kitchen appliances sellers, D & P Manufacturers, ladies clothing manufacturers, and Holmes Commercial Printing, printers, were tenants at 137-139 Flinders Lane (Age 17 September 1988:241; 21 January 1989:196; 11 July 1989:5).By November 1989, Flinders Lane Galley was established on the ground floor of the subject building and continues to operate today (Age 10 November 1989:35; CoMMaps)..REFERENCESAge, as cited.City of Melbourne Maps (CoMMaps), http://maps.melbourne.vic.gov.au/, accessed 20 February 2018.City of Melbourne Municipal Rate Books (RB), as cited.Context 2012, Thematic History: A History of the City of Melbourne’s Urban Environment, prepared for the City of Melbourne.Fels, M, Lavelle S, and Mider D 1993, ‘Archaeological Management Plan’, prepared for the City of Melbourne.Herald, as cited.Mahlstedt, G 1910, Index to City of Melbourne detail fire survey, Mahlstedt, Melbourne.Mahlstedt's Pty Ltd 1925 City of Melbourne detail fire survey. Section 1, Mahlstedt Pty Ltd, Melbourne.Mahlstedt's Pty Ltd 1948 City of Melbourne detail fire survey. Section 1, Mahlstedt Pty Ltd, Melbourne.Melbourne Planning Scheme (MPS), 'Melbourne and its Heritage Precincts', reference document to Clause 22.06 Heritage Precincts Policy of the Melbourne Planning Scheme, https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/heritage-precincts-history-significance.pdf, accessed 2 February 2018.Sands and McDougall, Melbourne and Suburban Directories (S&Mc), as cited.Savill, Barbara 1987, 'First land owners in Melbourne', Royal Historical Society of Victoria, http://www.historyvictoria.org.au/Early%20Melbourne/First%20Melbourne%20Settlers.htmlaccessed 23 January 2018..VICTORIAN HERITAGE INVENTORYH7822-19334th land sale 1839, Block 7, Allotment 20, Thomas Walker. 1866 - building.1877 - Rudds Commercial Hotel, yards & 2 sheds.1888 - 3 storey hotel, Commercial Hotel.1905 - Commercial Hotel..STOREY, ROHAN 2019. HODDLE GRID INTERIORS THEMATIC STUDY (DRAFT): MAY 2019Bank of NSW, 137‐139 Flinders Lane, 1924 Chamber architecture of columns and beams generally intact, creating a tall space, but lacks drama, and there is almost no elaboration of finishes or detailing.NEWSPAPERS (TROVE)The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954)Wednesday 11 June 1924 - Page 14In Flinders lane, south side, east of Russell street, the E. S. & A, Bank are building a 'small branch in concrete.The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954)Wednesday 20 April 1927 - Page 20BANK PREMISES BOUGHT Flinders Lane Property rho Hunk of New South Wales has purchased from the English, Scottish and Australian Bank premises in Flinders lane east. The price, it is understood, is about ₤21,000. At the end of the year the Bank of New South Wales, which is now represented in a smaller building opposite, will occupy the premises just bought.The Argus 7 June 1938:ALEXANDER EASTAUGHBecause of the expanding demand for the products of Alexander Eastaugh and Co Pty Ltd, manufacturing specialists in hosiery, underwear, and knitwear, the company has taken over the entire plant floor space and fittings and fixtures of Pawson and Co 137-139 Flinders lane. Directors of Alexander Eastaugh and Co L announce that all this plant and floor space will be used in the manufacture of specials and as a finishing plant for the company's Romney -mills Showrooms will be located as usual at Pawson House, 141-143 Flinders lane '.DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL1920137-139 Handley, Mrs TheresaOliver's In141-143 Slutzkin, L., Pty Ltd, blouse mnfrs1925137-139 E. S. & A. Bank137-9 Basement—Beckett, A , piano imprtrsOliver's la1930137-139 Bank of N.S.W.137-139 Beckett, A., piano importers137-139 Mutual Mnfgr Co Pty Ltd, knitted goods137-139 Hughes, W. R., Pty Ltd, costumiersOliver's lane
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Record number:
1208330
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 103929 | 1 JPEG : 507 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |