Mount Barker Heritage Survey (2004) ~ Part 2 4 Current State Heritage Places Office, former 1860 post office Place no.: 1027 Address 33 Hutchinson St, Mount Barker ASSESSMENT OF HERITAGE VALUE Description Two-storey building constructed of All original masonry, including stone walls, dressings, detailing, porch, plinth and chimneys; hipped cgi roof, timber frames to openings, all original timber doors, and timber-framed multi-paned double-hung sash windows. Statement of Heritage Value This is an outstanding building which is significant for its high integrity, its fine design by prominent colonial architect GE Hamilton, its outstanding construction, its significant associations with the early development of Mount Barker and as a significant landmark on Gawler Street. Relevant Criteria (a) it demonstrates important aspects of the evolution or pattern of the State's history, being one of the least-altered and most representative mid-19th-century post offices in the State, and providing authentic representation of the early development of the Postmaster General’s Department. (b) it has rare, uncommon or endangered qualities that are of cultural significance, being an uncommon surviving example of an intact and little-altered mid-19th-century post and telegraph office with attached residence. (d) it is an outstanding representative of a particular class of places of cultural significance, namely a Colonial post office. (e) it demonstrates a high degree of creative, aesthetic or technical accomplishment or is an outstanding representative of particular construction techniques or design characteristics, especially its little-altered external form and construction, and its well-preserved architectural design by AE Hamilton. RECOMMENDATION This place is recommended for retention in the State Heritage Register. Anna Pope & Claire Booth ~ Heritage Online 211 Mount Barker Heritage Survey (2004) ~ Part 2 4 Current State Heritage Places Office, former 1860 post office Place no.: 1027 ASSESSMENT OF HERITAGE VALUE Criterion (a) it demonstrates important aspects of the evolution or pattern of the State's history. Every inhabited town in South Australia acquired its own post office soon after establishment, but it was only South Australia’s most important towns which were provided with such an outstanding two-storey structure as was constructed in Mount Barker in 1860. The quality and scale of the building is directly related to the significance of Mount Barker at the time of construction, and from the appearance of the building, it is apparent that Mount Barker was indeed one of the Colony’s major towns around 1860. By this date, the town already contained 4 hotels, several churches, dozens of shops and businesses, important industries including Dunn’s mill, and several hundred houses and cottages. Mount Barker’s fine new post and telegraph office was constructed by the Post Master General’s Department in 1860 to designs by AE Hamilton. Additions were made to the building in 1875, and in 1914, a new post office was constructed next door, at which time the old post office became the postmaster’s residence. The 1860 post office was sold into private ownership in 1983, and has since been used mostly as an office. This building is one of Mount Barker most outstanding historical landmarks. It also retains a high integrity and has significant representative qualities of the Colony’s earliest post & telegraph offices and associations with the early development of the Post Master General’s Department. Criterion (b) it has rare, uncommon or endangered qualities that are of cultural significance. Because the former Crown Hotel retains its original form and has been so little altered since it was first constructed in 1860, it is now an uncommon surviving intact example of a Colonial post office & residence. Criterion (d) it is an outstanding representative of a particular class of places of cultural significance. This building was Mount Barker’s post office from 1860 to 1914, when a new post office was constructed next door. The original post office was then used as a dwelling, and no major alterations or additions were carried out on the building during the 20th century. Because it has been so little altered, the former post & telegraph office is an outstanding representative of a Colonial post office building. The high integrity provides outstanding interpretative qualities and reveals authentic information about the construction and appearance of Colonial post office buildings. It also notable for its design by prominent Colonial architect AE Hamilton. Criterion (e) it demonstrates a high degree of creative, aesthetic or technical accomplishment or is an outstanding representative of particular construction techniques or design characteristics. The former post and telegraph office is notable for its high integrity and the fact that it retains its original 1860 form and detailing. The authentic qualities of the building demonstrate Colonial post office design and construction to an extent that is rarely found in South Australia today, given that most of our surviving early post offices have been much altered and added to during over a century of development. The major feature of the building is its elegant symmetrical design and Classical detailing, with cambered-arch-topped openings, multi-paned double-hung sash windows and central entry porch with semi-circular-arch entry and fan-lighted door. 212 Anna Pope & Claire Booth ~ Heritage Online Mount Barker Heritage Survey (2004) ~ Part 2 4 Current State Heritage Places Office, former 1860 post office Place no.: 1027 REFERENCES Australian Heritage Commission, Register of the National Estate, Report no. 7541. Gardiner, F 1997, Interim Mount Barker & Nairne Townships Heritage Register, Vol 2 SH6 pp 245-7. Heritage Online 2003, Gawler Street Conservation Management Plan, MB48. Hignett & Co. 1983, Mount Barker District Heritage Survey, p 69. Jensen, Elfrida & Rolf 1980, Colonial Architecture in South Australia, pp 291. Local History Centre, heritage files & photographs. Martin, Vivien S 1982, Mostly Mount Barker. Mount Barker Courier, 13 January 1911. National Trust 2001, Then and Now, Photographic Mount Barker. National Trust of SA (Mount Barker branch) photographic collection. Schmidt, Bob 1983, Mountain upon the Plain, A History of Mount Barker and its Surroundings. State Heritage Branch, file 10512. www.heritage.gov.au/ahpi, www.slsa.sa.gov.au, www.southaustralianhistory.com.au View down Gawler Street in 1860 as telegraph poles are being erected. Post & telegraph office to LHS. Photo courtesy of National Trust of SA (Mount Barker Branch), photo no. 289 Anna Pope & Claire Booth ~ Heritage Online 213 Mount Barker Heritage Survey (2004) ~ Part 2 4 Current State Heritage Places Office, former 1860 post office Place no.: 1027 SITE RECORD Location 33 Hutchinson St, Mount Barker Description Two-storey office building Significant fabric All original masonry, including stone walls, dressings, detailing, porch, plinth and chimneys; hipped cgi roof, timber frames to openings, all original timber doors, and timber-framed multi-paned double-hung sash windows. Condition Vulnerable Land Description Lot 10, Section , Hundred of Macclesfield CT 5514-372 Local Government Area District Council of Mount Barker Current Use Office Original Use Post & telegraph office, and attached residence Date (approximate) 1860 State Heritage Status SHR 80 State Heritage File No. 10512 Other Assessments District Council of Mount Barker 2002, S251 Gardiner, F 1997, Interim Mount Barker & Nairne Townships Heritage Register, S2:251 Heritage Online 2004, Mount Barker Heritage Survey, included in the proposed Heritage Area MBA Heritage Online 2003, Gawler Street Conservation Management Plan, MB48 Hignett & Co 1983, Mount Barker District Heritage Survey, S12 Register of the National Estate, report no. 7541 Photograph File Mt Barker Heritage Survey\MBHS Photos\MB ex Gawler St\MB Hutch 33# Map Reference MBA 6.5 Report by Anna Pope 214 Anna Pope & Claire Booth ~ Heritage Online Mount Barker Heritage Survey (2004) ~ Part 2 4 Current State Heritage Places Office, former 1860 post office Place no.: 1027 33 Hutchinson St from SW (showing 1914 post office to rear), 2002 Side of 33 Hutchinson Street, 2002 Side of 33 Hutchinson Street, 2002 Anna Pope & Claire Booth ~ Heritage Online 215 Mount Barker Heritage Survey (2004) ~ Part 2 4 Current State Heritage Places Court House Place no.: 1028 Address 37 Hutchinson St, Mount Barker ASSESSMENT OF HERITAGE VALUE Description Single-storey court house constructed of random coursed stone with squared coursed stone pilasters to corners and a hipped cgi roof. Features include porch with semi-circular arch entry, parapet, plinth, cornicing, coursing, timber-framed openings and semi-circular-headed windows with glazing bars. Statement of Heritage Value This is one of the best-preserved examples of a mid-19th-century court house in South Australia and has significant associations with the early development of law & order in Mount Barker and the State, as well as displaying 1860s detailing and construction. Relevant Criteria (a) it demonstrates important aspects of the evolution or pattern of the State's history, having significant associations with the early development of law and order in the State, and especially with the town of Mount Barker. (d) it is an outstanding representative of a particular class of places of cultural significance, being an outstanding surviving example of a mid-1860s