Stirling Terrace Precinct, Albany

Child Places

• 00053 Rotunda
• 00060 Western Australian Bank (fmr)
• 00064 National Bank (fmr)
• 27069 House
• 00077 Empire Buildings
• 00066 Edward Barnett & Co Building (fmr)
• 00051 Albany Court House Complex
• 00061 Ballybane Tearooms (fmr)
• 15549 Commercial Building
• 15548 Everett Buildings
• 15552 Drew Robinson & Co (fmr)
• 27067 House
• 00061 Ballybane Tearooms (fmr)
• 27067 House
• 00052 J McKail & Co.
• 00062 Glasgow House
• 15553 Commercial Building
• 15550 Norman Brothers
• 00079 Taxi Rank & Women's Rest Room
• 00064 National Bank (fmr)
• 03339 London Hotel
• 00067 White Star Hotel
• 00066 Edward Barnett & Co Building (fmr)
• 15550 Norman Brothers
• 00065 Royal George Hotel
• 00077 Empire Buildings
• 00030 Old Albany Post Office
• 15553 Commercial Building
• 00067 White Star Hotel
• 15551 Sandover & Co.
• 15552 Drew Robinson & Co (fmr)
• 27063 House
• 00079 Taxi Rank & Women's Rest Room
• 00059 Argyle House
• 00058 Albany House
• 00063 Edinburgh House
• 03339 London Hotel
• 00059 Argyle House
• 00068 Buildings
• 00060 Western Australian Bank (fmr)
• 00052 J McKail & Co.
• 00062 Glasgow House
• 00065 Royal George Hotel
• 15551 Sandover & Co.

Statement of Significance

Stirling Terrace Precinct, Albany has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
by virtue of the topography of its location, its segmented crescent plan form and harmonious architectural composition of diverse building types and styles, Stirling Terrace Precinct has high aesthetic value and is a fine collection of late Victorian and Federation buildings dating from 1867 – 1915 forming a significant and rare townscape;

the place is significant for its associations with the establishment, early occupation and expansion of Albany - the State’s first settlement - from the 1820s and its role in the development of the surrounding district. For many years it was a commercial and civic centre, providing retail, commercial, shipping, entertainment, hospitality and banking services for the town and region;

along with the defining topography of Princess Royal Harbour, Mount Melville and Mount Clarence, Stirling Terrace Precinct takes it position as one of the places that contributes to the sense of place and identity of Albany;

the place contains G. T. Poole’s Post Office and Albany Court House, together with J. T. Hobbs’ Sandover
& Co store (later Drew Robinson & Co.’s store), which represent high levels of artistic achievement, and several other buildings designed by prominent WA architects such as J. Manning and J. Herbert Eales;

the place was historically the premier street of Albany and despite the change of the focus of business, it remains highly valued for its historic associations, the aesthetic values of the setting and the townscape, and for the landmark and individual buildings in the townscape; and,

the place was the location of many businesses begun and run by significant Albany and regional identities and families including Sherratt, Moir, Robinson, Drew, Dymes, Barnett, Hassel and E. G. Everett.

Physical Description

Stirling Terrace Precinct, Albany is located on a rise overlooking the Princess Royal Harbour in the City of Albany. It comprises the northern and southern sides of Stirling Terrace, Albany between Spencer and Collie Streets, and including the Albany Court House (1898) situated at the north-western corner of Collie Street.

The street has a segmented crescent plan form and intersects with York Street, which is now Albany’s principal commercial street. Buildings on the street date predominantly from 1867 to 1915 and feature the stylistic characteristics of the Victorian and Federation periods of architecture.

Most of the built fabric is located on the northern side of Stirling Terrace with the development to the street boundary of the lots. Generally speaking this is a continuous wall of buildings and the majority are substantial, two storey masonry structures.

The finer pieces in this section include: Albany Court House (1898); the London Hotel (1909); the Union Bank (fmr) (1885); the Empire Buildings (1912); the original Western Australian Bank (1891) and the attached Drew Robinson & Co. store (1891; 1916); Sandover & Co. store (later Drew Robinson & Co. (1891; 1915); Edward Barnett & Co. building (c. 1888; 1892; 1911); the National Bank (fmr) (1881); Drew Robinson & Co/Dylan’s ‘On the Terrace’ (1880s); White Star Hotel (1910); Royal George Hotel (1910/1911); Glasgow House (1882; 1911); Edinburgh House (1882); Argyle Buildings (late 1880s; 1890s); and, Everett Buildings (1908; 1912).

To the south are the public open spaces and vistas that provide views towards Princess Royal Harbour. Featured within this landscape is the richly decorative and complex Albany Post Office (fmr) (1869; 1896), the timber Queen’s Park Rotunda (1897) and the Taxi Rank and Women’s Rest Room (1909) in the Federation Queen Anne style.

(Refer to Section 2 Considine & Griffiths Architects and Kris Bizzaca, Historian, ‘Conservation Plan for Stirling Terrace, Albany’, prepared for City of Albany, March 2001.)

History

Assessment 2007
On 25 December 1826, a party of officers and convicts arrived at what later became Albany to establish a penal outpost for the British Government and, on 21 January 1827, the place was proclaimed and named Frederickstown. Subsequent to the foundation of the Swan River Colony, the outpost was abandoned and in March 1831 King George’s Sound officially became part of the fledgling colony. Soon after the first surveys of the townsite were undertaken and plans show the layout of streets and town blocks; including Stirling Terrace, as it is today.

From this time well into the twentieth century, Stirling Terrace was the commercial and civic centre for the town and its surrounding district mainly as a result of its close location to the port and later the railway. The majority of the building fabric dates from the 1880s through to the 1910s during which time Albany prospered because of increased trade due to the Western Australia goldrushes and increased use of the port as a major point of entry to the goldfields. These buildings were designed by some of WA’s pre-eminent architects and many were built for prominent citizens and institutions.

The Albany port went into decline as a result of the development of the Fremantle Inner Harbour as the principal port of WA in the 1890s. Although the town remained an important regional harbour and played a strategic role in the World War One effort, it was not really until the economic boom of the post World War Two period that it again gained prominence.

This had a significant affect on Stirling Terrace as there was a shift in the commercial focus of the town to York Street where new premises were built and institutions such as banks and the post office were relocated. This in fact has benefited Stirling Terrace which, by and large, has been without the threat of high development pressure that many other main streets have faced in towns throughout the State. Only one major loss has occurred during this time and this was the demolition of the Freemason’s Hotel in c. 1972/1972.

The intactness of the building fabric of the street and its prominent landmark location have made it of special interest to heritage groups and a favourite tourist destination.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.