Charles Wood's corn store, later Priestly and Co's hide and skin store, also Wood & Co Pty Ltd, dairy produce merchants, 139-141 Franklin Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Title:
Charles Wood's corn store, later Priestly and Co's hide and skin store, also Wood & Co Pty Ltd, dairy produce merchants, 139-141 Franklin Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 104082
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:Period: Early Victorian/ VictorianDATE: 1860s-ASSOCIATIONS: Charles Wood and Charles McAuley; Priestly, E. R, and Co, hide and skin merchants; Buckland, Wm. L., Pty Ltd,;Wood & Co Pty Ltd, dairy produce merchants.RBA ARCHITECTS 2013, CITY NORTH HERITAGE REVIEWStatement of SignificanceWhat is Significant?The extant building, primarily the front two/three storey section, and in particular the façade with unpainted brickwork and basalt.How is it Significant?The former store is of historic and aesthetic significance to the City of Melbourne.Why is it Significant?The building is historically significant as it is representative of the development that occurred in this part of Melbourne during the 19th century. A stone store was built on the site during the early 1860s and during the latter part of the century, it was altered and enlarged with brick sections. It has been put to a wide range of uses, including a store for corn merchants, a livery stables and a butter factory.(AHC Criterion A4)The former store is of aesthetic significance as it consists of a rare combination of building materials – basalt and red brick – though another example is located directly behind at 104 A'Beckett Street. The basalt sections feature varying treatments and the red brick areas have moulded bricks and remnants of tuck-pointing.(AHC Criterion E1).GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM.VICTORIAN HERITAGE INVENTORY H7822-2064A two and three storey brick and bluestone building with a rooftop garden..DE GRUCHY & LEIGH, 1866. ISOMETRICAL PLAN OF MELBOURNE AND SUBURBS IN 1866shows one storey hipped roof building..MAHLSTEDT FIRE INSURANCE PLAN SERIES STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIAMahlstedt c1923139-141 W Wood & Co P/L 2 storey freezing and churn rooms, factory at rear, backs on to large stable and yard(143 stable).LEWIS, M- AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE INDEX:KURSTEINER Tenders wanted - erection of a store, Franklin St, North Melb.Argus 16.5.1860 p 8?.RBA ARCHITECTS 2013, CITY NORTH HERITAGE REVIEWThe part two and three storey building has a symmetrical façade with an unusual combination of dressed basalt forming a dado with the rest of the wall being red brick in stretcher bond. Many of the rock-faced basalt blocks have a draft margin, including the window sills and quoining, and project slightly forward of the other bloccks. The red brick sections include moulded bricks, for the string courses and cornices at each level, and there are remnants of tuck-pointing evident. Below the string course is a stucco band, now painted, and there is also a large stucco panel to the parapet.There is a regular pattern of openings, all of which have modern aluminium-framed windows or doors. To the ground floor there are two doorways with a smaller window either side, however the existing doorway had been a larger window and the full length fixed pane window had been a door. To the first floor there are three windows..HistoryThe site is part of the one quarter acre Crown Allotment (no 11, section 41) which was purchased in 1850 by C. Rochward.145 There was some development, mostl y small-scale commercial operations, in this part of Franklin Street from 1857 but it increased around 1860.146 In 1863 there was a stone store on the site, which probably consisted of two separate parts but it was unoccupied and described as dilapidated. In the following year however, it was occupied by a W. Phillips.147 For the next three years (1865-67), it was occupied by Charles Wood, a corn dealer, who was listed at the site for another two years, in partnership with Charles McAuley. 148 In 1869 the land was acquired by Charles Wood and Charles McAuley, produce merchants located at 280 Elizabeth Street.149 They continued to occupy the site for another year or so, but by 1871, E. R. Priestley, a hide and tallow merchant, took over the site and remained there until at least 1875.150 From 1879 Charles Wood had acquired ownership of the site and retained it until his death in 1924.151For much of the 1880s, the site was being used as livery stables by Nicholas Newton. By 1890 the current numbering was in place, and at this time two separate businesses were listed at the site: no. 139 by T. Anthony & Co., supplying doors, and no. 141 by P. McCabe, who operated livery stables (where horses could be hired or cared for).152 MMBW plans from the mid-1890s show the footprint of the masonry part of the building extending about ¾ of the length of the block, corresponding with the extant section, as depicted in 1923. This suggests that the rear masonry section was single storey, and as such, the building consisted of a two, three and single storey section. In the mid-1890s there was a timber stables to the rear about a small pitched yard.153By 1923 the site was being used as a butter factory by Wood & Co, for whom additions and alterations were made including the construction of most of the later, three storey block to the rear (that is behind the gable roof section). The works were undertaken by J. S. Wright of Melbourne at a cost of £2500 and designed by the architects Beaver & Purnell.154 The new sections of wall to the east lane were initially red face brick with stucco bands and the roof consisted of a pair of hips.In 1928 the site was in the ownership of the Trustees Executors & Agency Co., and further alterations were made to the building, mostly to the interior, to the value of £600. They were undertaken by W. N. Gray and completed in the same year. 155 In addition, multi-paned, steel-framed windows were introduced to the façade (subsequently removed) and new doors were installed to the entry, then at the west end. At this stage, the two smaller openings to the western half of the ground level were niches rather than windows.During the 1940s William L. Buckland P/L operated a bicycle and car parts business from the site. 156 In the early 1960s Meltex Trading were based at the site. 157.RecommendationsIt is recommended that the former store be included in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay.Extent of DesignationThe land and the original building.Previous Studies/IdentificationCentral Activities District Conservation Study 1985, Graeme Butler & Associates..References145 Township Plan, Melbourne North M314(10)146 Sands & Kenny directories147 Melbourne Rate Books, (VPRS 5708) Bourke Ward: 1863, entry nos 1145-46; and 1864, entry no. 1181148 Melbourne Rate Books, (VPRS 5708) Bourke Ward149 Certificate of Titles, vol. 181/folio 104, vol. 297/folio 378150 Melbourne Rate Books, (VPRS 5708) Bourke Ward, Sands & McDougall’s directories, 1872+1875151 Certificate of Title, vol. 1081/folio 161152 Sands & McDougall’s directories153 MMBW plan 25 (1894) and detail plan 1024 (1895)154 Application 5163: VPRS 11,200/P1/U572 and VPRS 11,201/P1/U65155 Application 10,332: VPRS 11,200/P1/U1273 and VPRS 11,201/P1/U128156 The Argus, 1 December 1948,157 Mahlstedt Fire Insurance Plan, map 12A (1962 series, section 2 north).DIRECTORIES OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE-SANDS AND KENNY, SANDS & MCDOUGALL1942Elizabeth st137 Austn Medical Institute137 Bothamley, A. J., physician137 Purvis, Glover En grng Pty Ltd (depot only)Buckland pl139-141 Buckland, Wm. L., Pty Ltd, mtr accessrswhlsie1935, 1930Elizabeth at133-135 Purvis, Glover Engrng Pty LtdBuckland p/139-141 Buckland, Wm. L., Pty Ltd, mtr & cycle accessories143 Royal Saxon Stables1925139-141 Wood & Co Pty Ltd, dairy prod mers1910123 McCaffrey, Michael J., livery stablesOld Lamb Inn—Gleeson, PatrickElizabeth1893111 Kerr, Andrew, & Co Ltd, timber yard115 Scully, Patrick, livery stablesElizabeth st1880Franklin St W-N sideElizabeth stRight- of -wayPriestly, E. R, and Co, hide and skin merchants5 VICTORIA ICE WORKS -Umphelby, Chas W secretaryMcEwan J., and Co, implement yardRight- of -way
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1210538
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 104082 | 1 JPEG : 215 KB ; A4 | Single Item (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |