Windmill & Wishing Well

Statement of Significance

Windmill and Wishing Well, a model windmill and wishing well in a parkland setting has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:

The place has a picturesque landmark quality at the corner of Albany Highway, Shepperton Road, and Asquith Street, at the entry to the Town of Victoria Park, and the Causeway, a principal entry to the City of Perth;

The place is significant in the diversity of cultural features of the State, as one of the very few surviving and most complete outdoor product display centres built by H. L. Brisbane and Wunderlich Ltd.;

The place is a fine example of an ornamental windmill and wishing well, in a park setting, which draw on traditional design motifs, giving rise to intrinsic picturesque qualities;

The place is valued by the community of the Town of Victoria Park, and the wider community of Western Australia, for aesthetic reasons and its landmark qualities, which contribute to the community’s sense of place; and,

The place demonstrates the creative and design skill of prominent architect Marshall Clifton, who designed the product display for H. L. Brisbane & Wunderlich Ltd.

The present landscaping immediately surrounding the two built elements partly obscures the original intention and has low significance.

Physical Description

Windmill and Wishing Well comprises a model windmill and wishing well in a park land setting, designed by Architect Marshall Clifton as a display for H. L. Brisbane & Wunderlich Ltd.

Windmill and Wishing Well is located on a roughly triangular shaped piece of land on the south eastern approach to the Causeway in Victoria Park. The busy Shepperton Road runs along its northern side, the closed off section of the Albany Highway to the south, and Asquith Street along its eastern side.

The edges of the park have concrete barrier kerbs, and there is a bitumen path along the southern side and a concrete path along the eastern side, together with a small section of concrete path on the northern side. None of these treatments are part of the original concept. The eastern edge has a line of four Peppermint or Lace trees (Agonis flexuosa) and a further row of the same species set on an angle to the present kerb line is a reminder of the time when the road alignments were slightly different to those of today. The southern boundary has a pair of Queensland Box trees (Lophostorum conferta). The major part of the park setting around the Windmill and Wishing Well is grassed with couch grass.

Windmill and Wishing Well are set towards the south-east corner of the site, with the windmill at the western end of this arrangement and the model wishing well at the eastern end. The two built elements are almost surrounded by dense mixed planting. Once visible from all sides, the planting has matured and all but obscured the wishing well from view. The planting around the model windmill is lower and this low planting combined with the raised platform on which the windmill stands allows the windmill to retain its landmark quality.

Windmill
The model windmill is set on a raised area, which is retained by coffee rock pitching, and the immediate ground around the building is planted out with plumbago (Plumbago carpensis). Planting hangs over the shallow pitch brick steps that lead up to the windmill’s door. The windmill itself is a stylised model of the type found in Suffolk and Norfolk. It has a face brick base on an octagonal plan and stud framed upper walls, which have a bell house shape at the timber and brickwork junction. The sides are clad with rusticated weatherboards. The eaves corbel out from the walls and then the roof takes a mansard form in two section of about 78 and 30 degrees respectively. The roof is covered with plain natural terracotta clay tiles, laid on timber battens.

The windmill sail, a replacement for the original, is a four part element made up of timber sections and the sail is set into the roofed section. The roof and sail are fixed so that neither rotates. There are four pane fixed windows, though the window at the lower level has been broken and the opening boarded up. The front door is ledged and boarded with decorative wrought hinges.

The cavity brick plinth does not use squint bricks, so that the junction of the octagonal planes of brickwork are crude straight joints, which is somewhat ironic for a company who specialised in making bricks, leaving the joints to be of such a primitive finish.

Maintenance on the exterior fabric has not been systematic and elements such as the weatherboards, windows, plain tiles and door are in urgent need of attention.

The interior of the windmill simply reveals the framing to the structure. It comprises timber studs, cross bracing, wire ties, the back faces of weatherboards, and tile battens. Though the floor structure is in place and appears to be quite sound, the floorboards are missing and have been replaced with weldmesh as a temporary repair strategy.

There is no obvious physical evidence of change, other than deterioration and repair work. The condition of the exterior is fair to poor and the interior is in fair condition.

Wishing Well
The wishing well is set on the edge of the grassed area and is surrounded on thee sides by a garden bed. The planting encroaches on the wishing well and a Wisteria (Wisteria spp.) has been trained up over it. There is evidence to suggest that the wisteria is causing damage to the plain tile roof and the timber work, in addition to the fact that the creeper is visually overwhelming the structure.

The wishing well comprises a brick paved floor, the wishing well and a timber framed steeply pitched roof shelter.

Stretcher bond brick paving with header course edges make up the finishes of the low plinth on which the wishing well is centred. The well itself comprises a low brick circular plinth with arched decorative wrought iron work over the mock well shaft. The well wall uses standard brick in combination with tapestry textured bricks and panels of other Wunderlich products as decorative elements. Pieces of tile and over-burnt bricks or clinkers are used in abstract patterns on four sides of the well. The interior of the well is rendered out. The wrought iron work over the well is simply treated with decorative elements applied to the main structural elements. A bucket hook is located at the junction of the supporting members. Some of the decorative elements have been broken off and are missing.

The shelter structure comprises a timber frame and plain tile roof. Column members are 8” (200mm) square with a 6” (150mm) x 3” (75mm) perimeter roof beam, 4” (100mm) x 2” (50mm) shaped rafters and tile batters and a covering of natural terracotta plain tiles. The ends of the rafters are decoratively carved and the deep barge board is treated with the same decorative treatment. A decorative knee brace connects each column to the edge beam at the gable ends. Further, the gables are braced with a timber cross brace and the top of the gable decoratively treated with vertical timbering.

The roof form is a striking feature with the steeply pitched gable form belling out at the eaves and the sculpted rafter ends providing visual support to the roof. The plain tiles are well suited to the scale of the building and demonstrate their flexibility in sculpting roofscapes.

Maintenance on the fabric has not been systematic and elements such as plain tiles and timber components are in urgent need of attention. Consideration should be given to removing or controlling the wisteria, which obscures the building and is the source of some of the building defects.

There is no obvious physical evidence of change, other than deterioration and repair work. The
condition of the exterior is fair to poor and the interior is in fair condition.

History

Windmill and Wishing Well comprises a wishing well and model windmill (1939-40). They were designed by Architect Marshall Clifton, as a display for Brisbane & Wunderlich Ltd.1
Windmill and Wishing Well were constructed of brick and timber for the company in 1939-40, by Ernie Banks.2

The Western Australian Gold Boom of the 1890s, led to the suburbanization of Perth in the last decade of the late nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century, including the area known as Victoria Park. The Municipality of Victoria Park was gazetted in 1897.3
In the first decade of the twentieth century, Victoria Park grew rapidly as a suburb of Perth, from a population of 546, and 335 houses in 1901, to a population of 2,267, and 546 houses in 1911.4 The majority of the population was working class from New South Wales and Victoria.5

In 1917, under the City of Perth Act of 1914 amended, Victoria Park joined the Perth City Council.6 By 1920, the Albany Road, the future Albany Highway, was a major road to the Causeway and thence to the city, with much of the development in Victoria Park centred on the road.7 The Council considered the possibility of purchasing the triangular block of land at Victoria Park bounded by Albany Highway, Ascot Road (later Great Eastern Highway), and Asquith Street, which was a portion of Lot 1x of Swan Location 36.8 In November 1920, the Mayor reported:

This block is just across the Causeway and faces the visitor as he enters the suburb of Victoria Park. This is low lying land, and it was considered that it would be well to acquire it for the City, and lay it out for recreation purposes. The land was eventually submitted to auction, and fetched a higher figure than was anticipated by the Council, consequently the purchase on behalf of the City was allowed to lapse.9

In 1929, Piercy and Pitman sold their company, Westralian Potteries, founded in 1905, to H. L. Brisbane and Company Ltd., who subsequently began to expand the facilities with the construction of new kilns at the works in Grandstand Road, Belmont.10

There was fierce competition in Western Australia between H. L. Brisbane and Company Ltd. and Wunderlich Ltd, and in the period following the Great Depression, as the building industry revived, there was a price war on tiles.11 Wunderlich Ltd. had been formed in 1908, with the amalgamation of W. H. Rocke & Co. and Wunderlich Patent Ceiling & Roofing Co. Ltd.12 From 1910, the company produced terracotta products at their own works at Brunswick, Melbourne, and also continued to import Marseilles tiles.13 The company expanded and opened branches in all the Australian States and New Zealand.14

In the early 1930s, on a residential lot leased for the purpose in Stirling Highway, Claremont, not far from Lance Brisbane's family residence, H. L. Brisbane and Company Ltd. built the first landscaped outdoor display area in Perth, to exhibit the company's products.15 It featured a large waterwheel.16 Over the next twenty years, numerous display parks were developed in the Perth metropolitan area.They were generally on small plots of land which were too small for other purposes, leased from a local authority and maintained at the company's expense, located alongside major traffic arteries, and near to developing residential areas.17

In February 1936, H. L. Brisbane and Company Ltd. proposed to the Belmont Park Roads Board that some land in the district 'be put aside for ornamental and display purposes, as had been undertaken by various companies in the Victoria Park locality.'18 The Roads Board agreed to lease the company an area of land at Reserve 20562 Swan Location 3275, along Ascot Road (now Great Eastern Highway), where the company built a small display house featuring the company's products in 1937.19

On 8 January 1936, the City of Perth became the sole proprietor of a portion of Lot 1x of Swan Location 36, three roods and 38 and three tenths perches in area (4,002 square metres), bounded by the PerthAlbany Road and Asquith Road.20 On 10 July 1936, the Government Gazette advised the land was compulsorily acquired from John Park Armour, and 'set apart for the purpose of the following public work namely: Road Widening - Albany road and Asquith street, Victoria Park.'21

On 5 July 1937, Perth City Council passed a motion that, subject to the approval of the Finance Committee, the City Engineer should be authorised 'to proceed with the construction of the roadway along the new frontage of the owner's remaining land, at an estimated cost of £350, in accordance with the terms of the settlement of the claim for compensation' of the triangular piece of land resumed at the corner of Asquith Street and Albany Road.22

In 1937, the Tile Producers' Association was formed to stabilise tile prices.23

In November 1937, the Daily News reported that Victoria Park was 'steadily growing', and that 'Notable for its steady expansion and progressiveness, Victoria Park is one of the most popular suburbs of the City of Perth.'24 The newspaper reported that provision had been made for 'the connection of Albanyroad with Shepperton-road.’25

By late 1937, H. L. Brisbane and Company Ltd. 'had the Western Australian market sewn up for clay -products industry.'26 In May 1938, a plan showing the Causeway with recent reclamation along of the Swan River, shows the future site of Windmill and Wishing Well as a triangular piece of land bounded by Ascot Road, Albany Road, and Asquith Street, with the electric tram way routed across the Causeway and along Albany Road.27

On 3 June 1938, part of the land reserved at Lot 1x portion of Swan Location 36 was declared a public highway:

All that portion of Lot 1X of Swan Location 36 bounded by lines commencing on its south-eastern boundary 3 chains 56.7 links from its south corner and extending south-westward 2 chains 10.9 links along part of the north-western side of Asquith street; thence by a circular convex arc 94.7 links long; thence 272 deg. 22 min. 1 chain 65 links; thence by a circular convex arc 1 chain 30.8 links to the northeastern side of Albany road; thence north-westward 5 chains 76.1 links along the north-eastern side of Albany road; thence 118 deg. 43 min. 93.1 links, 111 deg. 11 min. 93.2 links, 103 deg. 39 min. 93.2 links, 96 deg. 8 min. 93.1 links, 92 deg. 22 min. 3 chains 99.5 links and a circular convex arc having a length of 62.3 links to the starting point.28

In July 1938, Alfred Wunderlich approached Lance Brisbane with the suggestion that H. L. Brisbane and Company Ltd. amalgamate with Wunderlich's operations in Western Australia.29 On 12 September 1938, the agreement to amalgamate was adopted formally by the Board of Directors of H. L. Brisbane and Company Ltd.30 On 29 September, a special general meeting of shareholders approved the change in name to H. L. Brisbane & Wunderlich Ltd.31

In April 1939, H. L. Brisbane & Wunderlich Ltd. applied to the Perth City Council for a lease of the triangular strip of land fronting Albany Road, Asquith Street and Shepperton Road, Victoria Park, in order that same may be laid out as a public garden and used as an advertisement for their tile products.32

The Council passed a motion that, subject to the approval of the Governor, a ten year lease be granted 'on the lines suggested in the correspondence', without rental. 'The ground to be laid out and maintained by and at the expense of the Company to the satisfaction of the City Gardener.'33 Further, 'No building, hoarding or advertising device' was to be erected or maintained on the ground without the approval of the Council.34

Circa 1939, H. L. Brisbane & Wunderlich Ltd. commissioned Architect Marshall Clifton to design a display centre for the site at Lot 1x, portion of Swan Location 36.35 The site's prominent location bounded by the Perth Albany Road, Shepperton Road and Asquith Street, ensured many people would see the display. The commission was in keeping with the established practices of both Wunderlich Ltd., which had strongly promoted their company during the company's expansion in the 1920s, with catalogues and brochures designed by artists and designers, including William Dobell, and H. L. Brisbane & Wunderlich Ltd., which had been building landscaped outdoor display parks in Perth from the early 1930s.36

Marshall Clifton (1903-75) completed his Articles of Cadetship with the P.W.D. in Western Australia in October 1926.37 Elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of Architects of Western Australia, he received the Institute's bronze medal for 1925-26.38 Appointed Assistant Architect, he worked for the P.W.D. to October 1929, followed by a period working with Architect George Herbert Parry, prior to going to England to widen his knowledge and experience in mid 1930.39 Clifton obtained a position with E. Vincent Harris, one of London's leading architects, and studied at the School of Architecture at the Royal Academy.40 After travelling in Europe in 1932, he returned to Western Australia, where he joined George Herbert Parry in partnership to 1937.41 Well-known buildings from this partnership include the Captain Stirling Hotel (1935), the Inglewood Hotel (1935), and the Big Bell Hotel (1936).42

Windmill and Wishing Well was designed in the early years of Marshall Clifton's practice, in which many of his independent commissions were for houses, for which he gained a reputation as 'a competent and empathetic designer.'43 In the period 1937- 1942, Clifton established his architectural reputation in Western Australia, in particular as the architect of a number of projects designed in "the Spanish style".44 Key works constructed in the period include his own home (1937) at 70 Johnston Street, Mosman Park, the Day house (1939) at 166 Victoria Avenue, Claremont, and the Burnell house (1940) at 52 Alexander Road, Dalkeith.45

In 1939-40, Windmill and Wishing Well was built by Ernie Banks, an Englishman, who had worked in Canada, U. S. A., Mexico and Argentina, prior to coming to Australia.46 Banks had been contracted originally to build kilns for H. L. Brisbane & Co.; however, he remained to become a permanent employee, and built each of the special display centres for the
company.47 Windmill and Wishing Well comprised an ornamental windmill constructed of timber weatherboards, on a red brick base, with timber sails, and a tile roof, with red brick steps leading to the door of the windmill; and a wishing well constructed of brick and tiles, on a brick base, with an ornamental wrought iron frame, and covered by a timber structure
with an open gable tiled roof. The bricks and tiles utilised in the display were from the current range of products manufactured by H. L. Brisbane & Wunderlich Ltd. Windmill and Wishing Well became a well recognised landmark at the exit from the Causeway and at the entry to Victoria Park.

On 4 October 1940, the Government Gazette announced that the Albany main road 'from the eastern end of the Causeway at Perth to its junction with York street (sic) at Albany' was named 'Albany highway' (sic) from 2 October.48

In December 1940, Perth City Council adopted the Estimates for expenditure in 1941, including the sum of £149 for path and improvements for the land at the corner of Asquith Street and Albany Highway, less £30 paid by H. L. Brisbane & Wunderlich Ltd.49

In 1941, Shepperton Road was extended northwards towards the Causeway, and Windmill and Wishing Well was henceforth bounded also by Shepperton Road.50

On 29 September 1941, a meeting of Perth City Council considered a letter from H. L. Brisbane & Wunderlich Ltd., and the report by the City Engineer, which recommended that, subject to reference to the Finance Committee a concrete slab path be constructed around their display park bounded by Albany Road, Shepperton Road, and Asquith Street, at an estimated cost of £110, on the basis of the company contributing £30 towards the cost.51

A motion to that effect was duly carried.52

On 31 October 1941, in the City Gardener's Report, H. N. Braithwaite reported regarding the display park at 'the corner of Albany Highway and Shepperton Road':

Last year this land was leased to Messrs. H. L. Brisbane & Wunderlich Ltd., and it has been converted at their own cost into an attractive display park. A concrete slab path has now been laid on all frontages, and trees planted, the Company paying portion of the cost.53

In 1945, the Perth City Council resumed portion of Lot 1x Swan Location 36, bounded by Albany Highway, Great Eastern Highway (formerly Ascot Road) and Asquith Street for recreation ground and road purposes from F. J. Deacon at a cost of £3,600.54

On 23 May 1975, the Government Gazette gave notice of the intention to resume portion of Lot 1x of Swan Location 36, the site of Windmill and Wishing Well, for widening of Albany Highway.55

Circa 1989, the blades of the windmill of Windmill and Wishing Well had to be replaced.56 Replica blades were made, and the work implemented under the direction of the City of Perth, as Victoria Park was part of the City at that date.57

In 1993, the Towns of Victoria Park, Vincent, and Cambridge were separated from the City of Perth, to become separate municipalities. The Town of Victoria Park has had responsibility for the place since the separation.

In 1997, Windmill and Wishing Well was reported to be 'in the process of being upgraded by Midland Brick in conjunction with the Council.'58 No details of the proposed work and whether it was implemented have been located. There appears to have been no work implemented and it would have been somewhat inconsistent for Midland Brick to carry out work on a rival company’s original promotional display.

In May 1998, Windmill and Wishing Well was listed in the Draft Municipal Heritage Inventory for the Town of Victoria Park, with the Category B.59 Category B recommends a high level of protection, the encouragement of conservation and the preparation of a more detailed assessment. The historical information recorded the date of construction as 'around 1938', and the stated that the park in which the place stands 'was commonly known as Asquith Park'; however, this name does not appear on plans of the locality.60 Further, that a sculpture of a lion had been on display at the site until damaged by vandals, 'who frequently placed a bottle of beer between its paws'; and that consequently the sculpture had been removed.61 The Draft Municipal Heritage Inventory Statement of Significance stated that the place 'has aesthetic and historic significance', it was in good condition, and its integrity was good.62 It was noted that Windmill and Wishing Well was one of the few H. L. Brisbane & Wunderlich Ltd. displays extant in the Perth metropolitan area, and was representative of 'a particular era of commercial advertising.'63

On 23 June 1998, the Council of the Town of Victoria Park considered correspondence from the Heritage Council of Western Australia regarding the referral of Windmill and Wishing Well under Section 9 of the Heritage Act of Western Australia, and a memorandum from the Acting Manager Environmental Health and Building Services, Ron Hurdle, regarding the condition of the place, following inspection of the place by Council's Land and Building Officer, R. Grickage, with a subcontractor, B. Clynk.64 The place was 'currently in a state of disrepair.'65 It was estimated that a professional assessment of the costs to make the windmill structurally sound would cost $5,000, and the estimated cost of remedial works to the windmill to make it structurally sound either in its present location or to reconstruct it in an alternative location would be $20,000.66 The Council resolved to support the listing of the place on the State Register of Heritage Places, and to 'allocate $5,000 in the Draft Budget for 1998/99 for
investigations by a structural engineer into the options of restoration or relocation of the windmill to a more visually prominent position'.67

On 25 June 1998, John Bonker was directed to make the windmill safe and to do some cosmetic repairs to the place.68 In 1998-99, steel bracing was inserted inside the windmill as a temporary measure to ensure the safety of the place.69

In early 2000, Windmill and Wishing Wellremains in its location at the corner of Albany Highway, Shepperton Road, and Asquith Street, Victoria Park. The place is less visible than in its earlier years as it is somewhat obscured by the growth of the tree plantings in the surrounding park. Nonetheless, it remains a significant landmark in Albany Highway, at the northern gate way to the Town of Victoria Park, and is highly valued by the community for its aesthetic characteristics.70

Integrity/Authenticity

INTEGRITY: Medium
AUTHENTICITY: High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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.