The Tannery (fmr)

Statement of Significance

Refer to Heritage Council Assessment Documentation.
The Tannery (fmr) comprises a single storey c.1854 limestone building, which is located centrally in the site and a 1921 face brick warehouse façade, which faces Russell Street and is now the front of a two storey block of housing units (2000).
The c. 1854 limestone building is one of a small number of buildings remaining that have been attributed to the building style of Henry Vincent, who was influenced by Henry Willey Reveley. The form of the building and construction techniques of this building makes it an unusual example of this type of building on the Western Australian mainland (there being similar examples on Rottnest Island). The building displays aesthetic characteristics of a competently designed and built (almost utilitarian) example of the Victorian Georgian style that incorporates a Mediterranean flat-roof.
The c. 1854 building was owned and occupied by Henry Maxwell Lefroy, Assistant Superintendent of the Imperial Convict Establishment from 1854 to 1858 and Superintended from 1860 to 1875. As such, the building is associated with the development of Fremantle following the introduction of convicts to the colony in 1850, and is representative of the early subdivision and allocation of town lots in the Fremantle townsite.
The 1921 warehouse façade displays the aesthetic characteristics of a simple but competently designed and built example of the Federation Warehouse style. The façade is a landmark and its style and form creates a strong streetscape element contributing to the aesthetic values of Russel Street. Together with the surrounding residences, the 1921 warehouse façade provides a physical reminder of the townscape that demonstrates the manner of development in Fremantle, where housing and light industry formerly existed side by side.
The c. 1854 limestone building and 1921 warehouse façade are valued by the local community for their contribution to the built environment of the City of Fremantle, and as a result contributes to this community’s sense of place.
The recently constructed housing units that stand behind the façade of the 1921 warehouse building are considered to have no heritage significance.
This statement of significance is based on the Heritage Council of Western Australia’s, ‘Register of Heritage Places: Tannery (fmr)’, (2003).

Physical Description

Refer to Heritage Council Assessment Documentation.
The following physical description is a condensed version of that prepared by Alan Kelsall, Kelsall Binet Architects and updated by Palassis Architects, in the Heritage Council of Western Australia’s, ‘Register of Heritage Places– Assessment Documentation: Tannery (fmr)’, (2003).

The Tannery (fmr) is located on the north side of Russell Street, approximately 50 metres west from the junction with South Terrace. The place comprises a two-storey residential unit development which stands on the south and west sides of the site. The south face of this building is the retained façade of the tannery/warehouse building that had previously stood on this site since 1921.

A single-storey limestone building (c.1854) is also located in the centre of the site. This building contains two residences and has new additions to the rear.
Most of the site of The Tannery (fmr) is covered by two buildings: a new two-storey block of brick housing units stands on the south and west sides of the site forming an 'L' shaped floor plan. The south block of this building is built behind the former warehouse façade. The housing and its carparking are contained within the extent of this wing of the earlier building. Part of the original timber warehouse structure remains extant in the southern end of the car park to the rear of the housing.

The c. 1854 limestone building is positioned to the centre of the site behind the housing units. The long side of this largely rectangular building runs in an east/west direction. The building abuts the return wall of the housing block at the western end. The garage to the eastern end of the limestone building abuts the east boundary of the site. The two-storey wings added to the limestone building extend to the rear of the lot.

1921 Warehouse Façade
The 1921 Warehouse Façade was designed in a simplified version of the Federation Warehouse style. This façade is composed with eleven equally spaced bays formed by piers containing panels of brickwork. The walls are constructed of red coloured bricks in English bond. A single large window is set within nine of these panels of brickwork. In the other two bays the brickwork has been removed to form an opening for the width of the bay. One of these openings contains a glazed screen and door of recent construction the other forms an opening that leads to the housing behind. A 750 mm high rendered plinth, which has been painted, runs continuously for the length of this face of the building apart from the two bays noted above. Each bay is defined by brick piers that project about 100 mm. The piers support a continuous entablature that is render finished and is topped by a brick parapet that has a rendered coping.

Each window opening has a rendered flat lintel beam and a rendered sill. The windows are timber framed and contain two pairs of casements separated by a central mullion that supports a 4 pane openable fanlight. The former warehouse façade appears to be in a good condition.

c.1854 Limestone building
The c.1854 limestone building is a single-storey building built in the Victorian Georgian style with Mediterranean flat roof influences. This building is rectangular in plan and measures about 30 x 9 metres. It has a steeply pitched, hipped timber framed roof clad in ‘zincalume’. The wall plate level is about 3.3 metres above ground level.

Recent conservation works to the place have involved the preservation, reconstruction and adaptation of the existing fabric to form two residences. Throughout the building, the reconstructed limestone walls are subtly distinguished from the original random rubble limestone by a dressed limestone finish. The rendered finish, which is ‘sacrificial’, is part of a long term conservation programme to remediate the original limestone walls.
There is evidence of deterioration to the limestone walls, particularly on the southern side, due to rising damp. Where visible, the stones vary greatly in size and in places it appears that the walls consist of alternating bands of large and small stone sizes.

New rendered brick, steel and iron additions include a double garage, to the eastern end of the limestone building, and two-storey wings, with roof gardens, to the rear western and eastern ends of the building. New timber framed rooms have been constructed in lofts to the northern roof space.
The south (front) façade is rendered limestone. The façade is composed with buttresses that divide the façade symmetrically into four bays. Three buttresses project about 1200 mm from the face of the building. One of these buttresses is about 6m from the south-east corner of the building; the other is near to being central within the façade. The third buttress on this façade, which is about 6m from the south-west corner of the building, has been reconstructed and is not rendered.

The roof overhang, with exposed timber rafters, extends over the buttresses and has a deep painted timber eaves board running the length of the roof.
The half-round galvanized roof gutters discharge into round galvanized down pipes adjacent to the buttresses. There are a series of roof lights to the roof and two face brick chimneys towards the centre of the roof ridge.

Four double timber doors, with fanlights to full height, have been fitted to the former openings in each bay. These are centrally located within each of the bays, with the exception of the second bay, which is located off-centre to the west. Timber framed windows have been fitted to the original window openings, which are located in the central bays. These windows comprise a window to each side of the two central doors. The window openings have low head heights at about 1700 mm above ground level and each has a timber lintel and flat sill.

The brick paving of the car park to the south of the limestone building extends to a retaining wall, which has been constructed to the front of the limestone building to form a dry ‘moat’. This moat which has been paved with re-cycled bricks, has been constructed to provide sub-floor ventilation to the building. Timber ‘bridges’ provide access to the four doors along the south façade.

The eastern façade comprises rendered limestone with a new central door fitted to an existing opening. Attached to the eastern end of the building is a single-storey garage with an almost flat zincalume roof set below the eaves line of the limestone building. Two automated garage doors are located to either side of the steel framed opening.

The north façade of the limestone building, which is mostly rendered, has sections of the original limestone wall remaining. At the western-most end the original random rubble wall and buttress are evident. Some of this wall has been reconstructed and a timber framed window inserted. The central buttress has been reconstructed and forms part of the boundary wall between the two residences. Timber decks and brick paved courtyards have been constructed to the rear of both residences. The western-most courtyard also contains a tiled, lap swimming pool with glazed fencing.

The large openings to the central bays have been framed with steel and fitted with large sliding glazed doors. Recycled timber framing forms an upper level balcony, accessed from the loft spaces. Timber framed window have been fitted to the original window openings in the central bays. Two of the these windows have low head heights at about 1700 mm above ground level, while the remaining two windows are tall and narrow. Each of the windows has a timber lintel and flat sill.

The west end of the building abuts the return leg of the housing units that now occupies the western part of the site so that, in effect, there is no west face to the building.

Internally, the limestone building is divided into two residences (Residence 1 and 2) about the central north/south wall, which has been largely reconstructed. While the original walls of the building do not remain completely intact, where they do remain they have been retained throughout.

The ground floor of the two residences houses the kitchen, living and dining areas. A longitudinal wall runs east/west along the centre of the building. Its position within the building aligns with the two central bays on the north and south faces of the building. The only intact original room is located to the centre of Residence 2 to the south of the longitudinal wall. Two fireplaces stand on the north side of the longitudinal wall and two on its south side. The western-most fireplace, on the southern side, has been reconstructed to match the original. The fireplaces have brick surrounds and segmental arched heads.

There are three openings in the longitudinal wall. In Residence 1, there is a new opening, corresponding in size to the window opening in the southern external wall. The other opening, which is an original opening, provides access between the dining and living rooms. These openings have timber lintels. The opening in Residence 2 also has a timber lintel and has been fitted with a new door. The internal walls are generally rendered throughout. In places, such as the buttress walls, which are visible internally, and the wall between the kitchen and dining room in Residence 1, the original random rubble limestone and the reconstructed limestone are featured. No original floor boards remain. The floors to Residence 1 comprise recycled jarrah with painted timber skirtings. New timber floors have been laid to Residence 2. The timber roof structure is located over an earlier limestone slab roof, which is visible (in section) from the staircase of Residence 2 and in the roof space of the residences. This earlier roof is very low pitched, almost flat, and consists of a 'slab' of fine limestone, to which has been added a topping screed. The total construction is about 150-200 mm thick. The slab sits on butted jarrah boarding that is now slightly spaced. The boarding is supported by jarrah beams that are at about 450 mm centres. These boards form the ceiling of the ground floor. In Residence 2, the jarrah boards have been painted white and timber battens fitted underneath the gaps.

A double height steel frame to either side of the western and eastern-most buttresses on the north side of the building contains new timber stairs. These stairs, which are situated in a steel and glazed link provide access to the new two storey wings and to the loft spaces. These additions contain bedrooms and wet areas as well as additional functional spaces, such as studies. The loft rooms has been constructed on a new timber floor structure, which does transfer load to the limestone slab roof. The finishes to the new additions and loft rooms comprise painted gyprock walls and ceilings, timber floor boards and tiled floor finishes to wet areas. The flat roofs of the two-storey wings have been tiled to form rooftop gardens. The building is generally in a good condition and shows evidence of ongoing care and maintenance. The original random rubble limestone walls show evidence of deterioration due to rising damp. A long term program to rectify this has been instituted by the owners as part of the ongoing care of the building.

History

Refer to Heritage Council Assessment Documentation.
The following historical description is a condensed version of that prepared by Kristy Bizzaca Historian in the Heritage Council of Western Australia’s, ‘Register of Heritage Places– Assessment Documentation: Tannery (fmr)’, (2003).

Anecdotal evidence dates the limestone structure on Fremantle Town Lot 626 to at least 1854, when it was recorded that Henry Maxwell Lefroy and his family resided in a ‘… small but comfortable house in Russell Street, half a mile from the gaol’. Lefroy came to Western Australia in 1841 as a 22 year-old graduate of Oxford University and established a substantial farming property at York. He returned to England in 1844, became an instructor in the Royal Navy and came back to Western Australia in 1854 to take up the appointment of Assistant Superintendent of the Convict Establishment. Lefroy and his wife Annette (nee Bate) lived in their Russell Street until at least 1859.

Little information has been found regarding the original limestone building but physical evidence indicates similarities with a number of buildings on Rottnest Island that were constructed as part of the ‘native prison’. The flat limestone roof is the most striking of similarities between the buildings, which have been attributed to Henry Vincent, who was gaoler at the Round House in Fremantle before taking up the position of Superintendent of the Government Establishment on Rottnest Island from 1838 to 1849. During his time on Rottnest Island, Vincent supervised the construction of a number of limestone buildings, including a three-roomed barracks with a flat roof (1844) and a prison (1864). The latter displays characteristics of Henry Reveley’s Round House, which was built in 1830 and has flat roofs over some portions. After the ‘native prison’ was closed in 1848, Vincent returned to the mainland where he was in charge of the completion of the Perth to Albany Road (1850 to 1855). It is thought that the c.1854 limestone building may have been built under Vincent’s direction as part of the convict establishment during these years; however, no documentary evidence has yet been found to support this. In general it can be stated that the physical evidence, in the form of spaces and features such as the fireplaces and original window and door entries, does suggest that the place was built for the purposes of residential accommodation. (It should be noted that recent histories about the origins of the limestone building have discussed the possibility that it was built as a barracks to house either prison guards or convicts requiring minimum security. This has resulted in the place being known locally as ‘the old barracks’.)

With his promotion to Superintendent in 1860, an official residence was constructed for Lefroy closer to the Convict Establishment. In 1861, he applied for the purchase of five adjoining Fremantle town lots on the corner block bounded by Howard and Russell Streets and South Terrace, including Fremantle Town Lot 626. The Fremantle Town Lot was officially granted to Lefroy several years later on 20 November 1865.

Lefroy remained in the position of Superintendent up to his retirement in 1875 and the family returned to live in the c.1854 limestone building in Russell Street. Henry Maxwell Lefroy died in Fremantle on 18 July 1879. His children inherited his estate and, by October, most of his property had been put up for public auction including Fremantle Town Lot 626. The earliest rate book for the City of Fremantle shows that in 1880 the lot was still owned by the Executors of Lefroy’s estate, but the ‘house’, as the c.1854 limestone building was described, was occupied by Fremantle merchant William E. Marmion and master mariner Neil Johnssen. The next year, Marmion and Johnssen are recorded as the owners of the Russell Street property.

Marmion and Johnssen subsequently modified the interior of the building to create a number of small residences or ‘cottages’. The 1885 rate book recorded four cottages and a stable; the 1890 rate book recorded five cottages comprising two or three rooms each.

William E. Marmion died in 1896 and on 16 February 1898, ownership of Fremantle Town Lot 626 was transferred to Fremantle shipping merchants George Frederick Gallop and John Henry Payne. By this time, the portion of land on which the c.1854 limestone building was located had been subdivided and became Lot 9 Russell Street.

Although the property changed hands several times in the first two decades of the twentieth century, rate books show that the building on Lot 9 continued to be occupied by various tenants. A sewerage plan dated January 1908 shows the c.1854 limestone building on site. The ‘stone’ structure is located to the rear of the lot; other structures on the site were a well and a galvanized iron closet. The c.1854 limestone building is shown as a rectangular shaped central section running east/west, flanked on either side by long rectangular stone sections running north/south and two stone closets adjoining both these sections at the rear. (The long room to the east is recorded as a stable.) The building appears to have been divided into at least two or three smaller areas or ‘cottages’ as they are described in the rate books, with the front verandah showing divisions between the different portions.

By 1910/1911, a warehouse was also listed on Lot 9 Russell Street, which by this time was owned by William Mason Owston. This warehouse and additions to the c.1854 limestone building can be clearly seen on a sewerage plan dated May 1914. A fence, probably constructed from limestone (see physical evidence), can be seen along the Russell Street elevation (south), the western boundary and portion of the northern boundary of Lot 9. It appears that much of the area within this fence, including the area between the c.1854 limestone building and the rear boundary, had been roofed in galvanized iron. The c.1854 limestone building itself had been altered with an entry at the south-western corner of the building. Outbuildings on the site were a tank and stand, a boiler, and two vats.

On 7 September 1920, William Cleaver Robinson Alexander Doig and James McLean Dagleish became the proprietors of Lots 9, 10 and 11 Russell Street. The 1920/1921 rate books record that the new owners operated a fellmongery from the site. On 13 December 1921, approval was given for the erection of a tannery at a total cost of £1,200. [The retained façade on the Russell Street elevation was part of this building.] In 1921/1922, ownership officially changes to WA Tanners & Fellmongers Ltd (which was floated on the stockmarket by Doig, who remained the company manager). Hides were brought in from local abattoirs, and were dehaired, tanned with wattle bark, and dried. The main products manufactured at WA Tanners and Fellmongers Ltd were sole leather for shoes and embossing leather for handbags.

In 1928/1929, WA Tanners and Fellmongers Ltd became the proprietors of 35 Howard Street; the lot of land adjoining the rear of Lot 9 Russell Street. The company purchased the property from Farrell Bros. (who had owned the place from as early as 1900 and had erected an office/warehouse and stables c. 1921) and incorporated the existing buildings into their own operation. .Application was made on 14 August 1963 for the construction of a brick amenities building at an approximate cost of £1,260. Comprising toilets and a changing room, the building was designed by architectural firm Hobbs, Winning & Leighton in association with Allen & Nicholas. The existing toilet structure was demolished to make way for the new amenities building. (It is interesting to note that it was not until the 1970s that a brick ladies toilet was erected on the Howard Street portion of the property, suggesting either a lack of amenities for female employees or that no women had been employed at the tannery until this time.) As a part of its historical survey of the Fremantle area in the mid to late 1970s, the Fremantle Society allocated a ‘red’ classification to The Tannery (fmr), which means that a place contributes significantly to the unique character of Fremantle.

By 1981, the c.1854 limestone building had been all but enclosed by other structures that were part of the WA Tannery and Fellmongers Ltd business, including the erection of a saw-tooth and corrugated iron roof over the top of the still extant flat limestone roof of the building. Internal walls had also been removed and new entries introduced. The place appears to have been used primarily for storage purposes, and a 1981 description also states: ‘One complete room of the old house is intact with its original door and fittings and is used as an office by Mr Doig of the Company’.

Over the years local residents made a number of complaints to the City of Fremantle and Health Department of Western Australia with regard to the smells emanating from The Tannery (fmr). In the early 1980s, this resulted in works being carried out in an attempt to upgrade the effluent system and to kill the smell produced by the treatment of the hides. Other work also included the relocation of certain processing plants further into the factory premises, the concreting of the majority of the floors of the factory to reduce the absorbance of materials, and the re-sheeting of damaged sections of the walls.
In 1982, WA Tannery and Fellmongers Ltd was still a successful business exporting approximately $1.4 million of product and, by 1983, was the only place in the state that continued to use vegetation dyes, in this case wattle bark, in the tanning of hides. The company in 1995/96 due to financial reasons and the Russell Street property was put up for sale for $1.5 million. At the time there was recognition from both the City of Fremantle and the Heritage Council of WA of the heritage significance of the buildings on the site, in particular the ‘Lefroy House’, which was said to be an unusual building construction of the type only seen at Thompson Bay Settlement, Rottnest Island. It was therefore determined that any redevelopment of the site would have to take into the consideration the restoration and reuse of the limestone structure. A conservation plan and a contamination report were completed in 1996 and 1997.

The existing warehouse building and structures located on the 35 Howard Street portion of the property and to the rear and adjoining the c.1854 limestone building were demolished in 1996. As a condition of the approval required by the City of Fremantle, the warehouse building was fully documented prior to the works and the existing limestone wall on the western boundary of the site was retained. The demolished structures included the effluent and treatment pits and tanks, the lime and raw hide yards, store sheds, the 1963 toilets and change rooms, and the chemical storage area. One of the buildings was a storage shed built by Farrell Bros. in the early 1900s.
In 2000, the 1921 warehouse building was converted into seven residential units. In March 2001, the Heritage Council gave in principle support to a development proposal for the c. 1854 limestone building. By 2003, the c. 1854 limestone building had been conserved and converted into residential apartments. The work won the City of Fremantle and Town of East Fremantle Heritage Award for compatible adaptation in 2003.

Integrity/Authenticity

The 1921 warehouse façade is largely intact and has a high degree of authenticity. The form of the c. 1854 limestone building remains discernible and recent works, including the preservation and reconstruction of the original fabric, contributes to an understanding of the original building both externally and internally. The c.1854 limestone building has moderate authenticity.

Condition

Refer to Heritage Council Assessment Documentation.The 1921 warehouse façade appears to be in a good condition. The c.1854 limestone building is generally in a good condition and shows evidence of ongoing care and maintenance.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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This data is provided by the City of Fremantle. While every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of this data, the City of Fremantle makes no representations or warranties about its accuracy, reliability, completeness or suitability for any particular purpose and disclaims all responsibility and all liability (including without limitation, liability in negligence) for all expenses, losses, damages (including indirect or consequential damage) and costs which you might incur as a result of the data being inaccurate or incomplete in any way and for any reason. Under no circumstances should this data be used to carry out any work without first contacting the City of Fremantle for the appropriate confirmation and approval.