Remaining brick road and footpath paving and stone guttering

Item details


Name of item:	Remaining brick road and footpath paving and stone guttering
Type of item:	Landscape
Group/Collection:	Urban Area
Category:	Streetscape
Primary address:	Victoria Street (near 2 Bishop Street), St Peters, NSW 2044
Local govt. area:	Inner West

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
Victoria Street (near 2 Bishop Street)	St Peters	Inner West			Primary Address

Statement of significance:


	An extremely good example of an early road complex comprising brick pavements, sandstone guttering and brick road surface. No other examples of brick road paving have been identified in the Municipality. The following is from a DES Committee Meeting Report of August 1996 " The brick paved road is an early example of brick paving laid in a herringbone pattern with sandstone kerb and guttering, assumed to be from the 1920s. It is unknown as to whether the road was constructed by the brickworks or as depression relief work in association with the former Town Hall site. The road is associated with the early extractive clay brick industries of the St Peters district for it leaad to the former brick pit belonging ro Austral/Speares/Cenrtal Brick Company Brickworks. The road is located beside the former St Peters Town Hall site and connects to the former Cooks River Road, one of the earliest roads leading from the township of Sydney. In mid-2004 the two bricked strips of herringbone pattern on the road surface were asphalted over. The brick footpaths have been removed. Only some of the sandstone kerbing and guttering and sectionat the east end of the street are now visible (reported in the Marrickville Heritage Society newsletter, September 2004).
	Date significance updated: 22 Dec 11
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Physical description:	The brick road, footpath paving and stone guttering of Victoria Street south of the Princes Highway. An early road complex which includes a partially exposed brick road surface in a herringbone pattern. Timber boarding separates the sandstone guttering from the road. The footpaths have also been brick paved.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	Poor to fair. The following is from a DES Committee Meeting report August 1996. " The reconstructed brick paving is generally in sound condition except for a selection of paving near the driveway to No 9 where the paving has become unstable. The original brick paving exists as two large areas approximatly 5m wide x 10m long, restrained by bitumen road surface for about 1/3 of the width of the road. A third section exisits where the originial brick pavement has become unstable at the edges. Unfortunately two other areas approximatly 5m long are in very poor condition with extensive potholes in the bitumen with only remnant brick paving remaining, sometimes under the surface of the bitumen. In mid-2004 the two bricked strips of herringbone pattern on the road surface were asphalted over. The brick footpaths have been removed. Only some of the sandstone kerbing and guttering and sectionat the east end of the street are now visible (reported in the Marrickville Heritage Society newsletter, September 2004).
	Date condition updated:08 Dec 04
Modifications and dates:	There have been concrete footpaths added to the site. Stone and bitumen has been placed over some parts of the road and some of the original road has been replaced with concrete in places.


Current use:	Road, footpaths and guttering

History

Historical notes:

Much of the brick footpath paving in the Municipality was laid as Depression Relief Work in the 1930s, but council records show that over 20% of footpaths had brick paving in the early 1920s. No reference has been noted for street paving.

The following is from a DES Committee Meeting Report from August 1996. "The Marrickville Heritage Study listed the large site at the eastern end of Victoria Street as a potential heritage item, which included a large brick pit, two chimneys with kilns and a cluster of brick and corrugated iron buildings to Princes Highway. The significance of the Austral Brickworks formerly Speares Brickworks was as the last of the operating brickworks in the Municipality. The site was an important remnant of an industry which was a major feature in the district for over 100 years. The area became of major importance for brickmaking during the residential land boom of the 1870s and 80s. The remains of the brickwork site were gradulaly removed and documented. The Sydney City Council purchased the eastern half of Victoria Street, Bishop and Cowper Streets from 1988 in order to redevelop the Austral Ralford brickpit into a new Waste Disposal Depot.

A report to Council on 17 May 1988 stated that Victoria Street " was in a bad repair because of the heavy machinery and vehicles being used in under the construction work." Council's traffic engineer on 6 June 1988 recommended that the road was required for access to No 9 Victoria Street.

A DA had been received from No 22 Victoria Street, which although it fronted 21 Bishop Street, was recommended as retaining its access from Victoria Street because of the close proximity to the traffic signals at the corner of Bishop Street and Princes Highway. This development proceeded but retained only a pedestrian entrance to a cottage at No 22 Victoria Street.

Recommendationse also made to remove the heritage listing from Victoria Street because of the high cost of reinstating theexisting paving material which would "unlikely be appreciated by the public in view of its isolation in an industrial zone, and that the road should be closed east of No 9, and the remaining street be reconstructed using normal paving materials."

These recommendations were not adopted. On 15 December 1987 the Heritage Council approved the removal of 36 metres of paving at the eastern end and recommended that Council undertake restoration of the balance of Victoria Street, and that liaison should take place with officers from the Heritage and Conservation Branch, Department of Environment and Planning with a view to having the whole of the Victoria Street pavement and guttering repaved or restored. The Council resolved on 9 August 1988 to prepare estimates for reconstructing the road in concrete and for replacing the roadwork in brick paving. These costs were reported to Council as being $65,000 and $45,000 respectivly.

Council resolvedon 9 August 1988 to remove the s130 order and confine the heritage item in draft LEP 50 to a section 23m long, 48m from the intersection with Victoria Street and Princes Highway. Because Council did not have the current funds, the Sydney City Council were required to reinstate part of Victoria Street as part of their development proposal as an adequete representation of brick road and footpath paving.

In mid-2004 the two bricked strips of herringbone pattern on the road surface were asphalted over. The brick footpaths have been removed. Only some of the sandstone kerbing and guttering and sectionat the east end of the street are now visible (reported in the Marrickville Heritage Society newsletter, September 2004).

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	Local
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	Local
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	Local - This brick road, footpath paving and stone guttering is the only example existing in the Municipality.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	Local - This brick road, footpath paving and stone guttering is representative of relief work which was undertaken in the area during the Depression years.
Integrity/Intactness:	The road retains the some of its integrity, however, it is not very intact. Portions have been removed or ashpalted over.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Recommended management:


	Remove weeds and conservation program required.

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Local Environmental Plan	Marrickville Local Environmental Plan 2011	I283	12 Dec 11	2011/645
Heritage study

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
Marrickville Heritage Study	1986	4.16	Fox and Associates	November 1984	No
Marrickville Heritage Study Review	1997	2030187	Tropman & Tropman Architects	1997-1999	Yes

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written		2004	Marrrickville Heritage Society newsletter (Sept, Vol 21, number 3)
Written	Marrickville Council, Planning Services		Development and Environmental Services Committee Meeting August 1996, Conservation of Victoria Street, St Peters

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Local Government
Database number:	2030187
File number:	4.16

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