Geelong. The old Courthouse in Gheringhap Street. It was built in 1880. Around 1930 it was transformed into a Spanish Mission Art Deco building with terracotta roof. Now used for community arts.
Image by denisbin
Building a city. Churches and schools were important structures for the early citizens as they signified civilisation. In 1855 Geelong Grammar School opened as an Anglican boarding school for boys. Its prestige grew as a boarding school for the wealthiest of the Western District pastoralists. It moved to its present location on Corio Bay in 1914 from 55 Maud Street Geelong. This is the school Prince Charles attended in the 1960s. The Church of England Girls’ Grammar School only opened in 1906. Yet another important educational milestone was the opening of the Gordon (named after General William Gordon from the Siege of Khartoum 1884-5) Technical College in 1888. This grand Scottish baronial style building was extended in 1891 and the matching northern wing was added in 1916. It makes a dramatic statement in Fenwick Street. Part of the campus incudes the Bostock Memorial textile laboratories and the Edward Lascelles wool laboratories. One of the city’s wool broker was T E Bostock who was also Mayor of Geelong 1905 to 1908. When he died in 1922 a public subscription fund was started to build a memorial to him. He was a founder of Strachan Bostock and Co a leading wool firm and employer in the city. The foundation stone for Gordon Institute textile laboratories was laid in 1928. The architects were Laird and Buchan. About the same time (1921) a public subscription fund was started as a memorial to Edward Lascelles another Geelong leader of the wool industry. The new Lascelles building in Art Deco style with strong vertical lines was to be joined to the Bostock Laboratories. Building started in 1944 and was completed in 1951. The architect of this Art Deco masterpiece was Percy Everett who also designed the old Courthouse into a Spanish Mission Art Deco building around 1930. Nearby is the Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary School which was established in 1856 and known as the Flinders National School for boys. It was named after the first white explorer to visit Corio Bay in 1802. It was the first state school in Geelong and became the first state school to offer high school studies. From 1864 it was also a primary school for girls and in 1939 it became a girls’ secondary school. Although the main building dates from 1856 it was extended, remodelled and given its current Italianate appearance with a three storey tower in 1880.
Outside the city centre are two other prestigious schools in Geelong from late in the 19th century –the Catholic Sacred Heart College in Newton and the former Presbyterian Geelong College. The main two storey Gothic buildings and chapel in Talbot Street Newton were designed by architects Davidson and Henderson in 1871 next to an 1860 building. Additions in 1873 and later have produced an outstanding college campus. The college began as a boy’s boarding school in 1861 and now offers co-education boarding. Presbyterian Girls College opened in 1920 in a grand house called Morongo in Newton which was built in 1860. This college amalgamated with Geelong College in 1994. Sacred Heart College for girls is in Retreat Road Newton. It was established in 1860 by the Sisters of Mercy from Dublin. The early school and chapel remained largely unchanged. The architect was T Kelly.
Early church services for Catholics, Methodists and Presbyterians were held in private homes and it took a few more years to build churches. The first church in Geelong appears to have been St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Yarra Street which for many years has been a Lutheran Church. Its foundation stone was laid in March 1841 and the simple Georgian style church opened as Scot’s Presbyterian in July 1842. It was changed to St Andrews Presbyterian in 1858. The current two storey classical façade was added in 1912 after it closed as a Presbyterian Church in 1911 and became a Scots Hall. It was purchased by the Lutherans in 1946. This heritage listed church is the first Presbyterian Church in Geelong and the oldest still standing in Victoria and the oldest Victorian church outside of Melbourne. The Catholics built an early church also in Yarra Street in 1842 which was demolished in 1872 when the nave of the current St Mary’s Church was completed. Work began on St Mary’s in 1854. Work continued on the current St Marys Basilica Church until it was completed in 1937. This grand cathedral like church with three towers and a huge rose window is befitting of Victoria’s second city. A fine two storey Catholic Presbytery is next to the church. Below the Catholic Basilica towards the harbour is the old Wesleyan Methodist Church which is now the Uniting Church and the two storey Methodist manse. This Wesleyan Church was built in 1845 but there is little of the early church visible from the street except the four partition mullion window on the street facing gable of the nave. There are several late 19th century additions around this 1845 nave. The oldest continuously used Anglican Church in Victoria is Christ Church Anglican Church in Moorabool Street. An early chapel school room was built around 1840 and it still stands on the site but the architect Edmund Blacket of NSW had work start on the church proper in 1843. It opened in 1847 with a nave and tower. It was enlarged with a transept which was completed in 1855. The spire on the tower was added later. Much of the sandstone, especially the buttressed are weathered in places.
Surprisingly Geelong also had a break away or Reformed Church of England congregation which built the magnificent Trinity Church on la Trobe Terrace in 1858. The church closed around the turn of the century and in 1907 it became the Churches of Christ Church, which it still is. It is the only independent Anglican Church known in Victoria and possibly in Australia. Almost next door to it in La Trobe Terrace and Myers Street is yet another Free Presbyterian Church built in 1858 which is now painted blue. Next to it is an earlier church and later church hall built in 1854. The Free or Reformed Presbyterians built quite a few churches in Geelong including a small church in 1862 in Fenwick Street. Almost next door to that church the Baptists built their early church around 1860 (with a raised roof) and a
later church in 1911. But the biggest Free Presbyterian Church in Geelong was built in 1861 in Gheringhap Street in basalt with sandstone quoins which are now badly weathered. Next door they began a Presbyterian school in 1854. Two school rooms of that early school remain. The church closed in 1977 with the formation of the Uniting Church but its magnificent mullion stained glass window in the gable by Ferghuson and Urie has been preserved. The main Presbyterian Church, St George’s in La Trobe Terrace was built in 1861. Behind it is a superb basalt two storey manse. The church closed in 2011 and is now vacant. By 1900 there were six Presbyterian churches in central Geelong including the Ryrie Street church of 1858 which is now incorporated into a modern building façade at 12 Ryrie Street. The Jewish community acquire land for a synagogue in 1851 in Yarra Street but they did not build a synagogue on it until 1861. It closed as a synagogue in 1984. There were Baptist, Congregational, Primitive Methodist and other Presbyterian churches in the town. Many have now been demolished but several (Catholic, Presbyterian and Anglican) still exist near the railway station. Although not a church the Protestant Hall erected in 1888 at 61 Yarra Street is worthy of mention. Conflict between Protestants and Irish Catholics in Victoria was always an issue and a lodge purely for Protestants was seen as appropriate in those times. In 1882 a Protestant Hall was built in Melbourne for the Protestant Alliance Friendly Society with the support of Orange Lodges. The Protestant Hall in Geelong survived until closure in 2013. It was basically a pro-British Empire association run by the Protestant Alliance Friendly Society which provided insurance for funerals and the like with an emphasis on loyalty to the Crown and Empire. Other lodge organisations including the Loyal Corio Lodge used the Geelong Protestant Hall for their meetings and the Protestant Alliance raised funds for the Geelong hospital and other charitable organisations. By the 1920s there were Protestant Halls in Mildura, Shepparton, Ballarat and several Melbourne suburbs.
Some of the commercial buildings of Geelong are of special historical importance. At 1 Malop St. is the former interwar stripped classical building of Dalgety Wool Merchants and shipping agents. It was built in 1924 and has now been incorporated into a 14 storey office block. Next door at 9 Malop St. is the former sandstone London Chartered Bank built in 1860 with classical elements and an almost fortress like appearance. It became an English Scottish and Australian bank in 1921. Across the street at 8 Malop St is the Trustees building. It was built in 1857. Additions in 1886 gave it the current appearance which is probably when it became the Trustees Building. On the next corner with Clare St. is the former Carlton Hotel. An old hotel on this site from the 1850s was rebuilt as a modern Art Deco building around 1930 with porthole windows, wrought iron on the doors, coloured tiled walls to the street etc .On the next corner with Moorabool St. is the National Mutual Building. It was built in stripped classical style in 1929. On the opposite corner is part of Market Square. This big square was once a park but the site was converted to shopping. The Market Square along Moorabool St. was built in 1912 and opened in 1913. It began life as Solomon’s store. Like many public buildings in Geelong it has a cupola on each street corner. Further along at 79 Malop St. is the fine CML or Colonial Mutual Life insurance building. It was built in 1923 and the fine stone and cement corner tower with its cupola has an historic clock in it dating to 1856. A clock tower was built in the middle of the 1850 square. When the square was redeveloped the clock was put into the CML tower. Further along Malop St at 138 are the Corio Chambers used for city lawyer offices. It was built in Queen Anne style in the 1890s and although it is on a corner with Yarra St. it does not have a cupola. Instead it has a small spire and three pediments in the steep angled roof. The decoration or entablature around the windows is superb. It was later known as Southern Union House as the Union Investment Company had offices here. It is still a city landmark.
In Ryrie St. A number of buildings are worthy of mention. The towered Post Office is on the corner of Ryrie and Gheringhap Streets. Postal services began around 1840. This Post Office was built 1890 but is now closed as a Post Office. At 137 Ryrie are the Hopetoun Chambers named after the then Governor of Victoria. Built in 1891 in classical style for businessman G.F. Belcher. Next door is Belchers Corner (with Moorabool St.) with another building that has Corinthian acanthus leaved pilasters against the walls. On the opposite corner is the landmark T and G Life Assurance Building with its fine Art Deco features and its six storey clock tower. When built in 1934 this would have been the tallest building in Geelong. Nearby at 161 Ryrie is the Geelong Gas Company building built in Art Deco style with bay windows, towers etc The Gas Works Co was founded in 1858 and operated until 1971 with the gas works at Geelong West. The offices in Ryrie St. were built in 1920. At 194 Ryrie is the Geelong Theatre now beautifully painted. It began theatre productions in 1913. Today it is a Village Cinema. On the next corner of Ryrie and Yarra note the Gatehouse or Ryrie Guest House. This pretty two storey red brick Art and Crafts house with some Art Nouveau decoration was erected in 1897. The plaster decoration in the gables is very Art Nouveau with a pseudo armorial shield and a French fleur de lys.
Down by the esplanade and Brougham St. the wool merchants erected their grand wool stores and offices near the port and piers. Right on the esplanade is the Sailors Rest Home built in the Art Deco style in 1912 with a cupola on the corner. The architect was Percy Everett and the building was originally known as the King Edward VII Sailors’ Rest home. It is heritage listed because it has the oldest electric advertising sign with flashing lights in Victoria which was erected in 1926. It was erected to keep sailors away from alcohol and city temptations but did it work? Just back from the Sailors’ Rest Home on the corner of Brougham St. is C. J Dennys & Co wool store. It was erected in 1872 in local basalt with cement render quoins on corners and around windows. It is now the Tourist Information Centre and the National Wool Museum. Dennys also had a tallow works and tannery. His company included his cousin Edward Harewood Lascelles who owned another wool broking company in his own right. The opening of three woollen textile mills in Geelong in 1874 helped his wool sales greatly. Later Sidney Austin of Barwon Park estate near Geelong later joined the company too. The other wool stores in Brougham St. are the Strachan and Co stores, the Dennys Lascelles red brick wool store, Dalgety and Co, Murray Shannon and Co etc. Most have been converted to offices or apartment accommodation. Also in Brougham St. is the Geelong Club. It was the wool pastoralists and the wool brokers who wanted a gentlemen’s’ club and Edward Lascelles, one of the city’s major wool brokers, worked for the opening of the club house. His son ran Dennys Lascelles wool stores. The club was formed in 1859 but Lascelles club house was only erected in 1889. The delightful Queen Anne style building still stands next to sombre three and four storey wool stores. More recently artist Jan Mitchell took hundreds of old bollard taken from the old wharves and transformed them into dozens and dozens of groups of wooden figures along the art walk on the esplanade. They are a bright and fascinating addition to the art scene in Geelong.
The civic precinct and buildings of Geelong are especially attractive around Johnstone Park. The park was named after a mayor Robert de Bruce Johnstone. When the town was laid out the area was a swamp. In the 1850s it became a dam to supply water for the growing town. Mayor Johnstone in 1865 wanted a fine park and garden there. Hence the naming of the park after him. An early bandstand was erected here but the park and gardens were beautified in 1917 when a new bandstand with a cupola was erected. In 1926 a war memorial and war memorial gates were built in the park. One the edge of the park is the Town Hall which dates from 1855 when it faced Little Malop St. Its grand classical style was befitting of a growing city. The rest of the original architectural plans for the Town Hall facing Gheringhap Street were completed in 1917. Just two years before that the Geelong Art Gallery was built on the edge of the park too. Behind the Art Gallery is the futuristic Dome (2015) which is now the city library. Although not part of the civic complex across the park is the stunning facade of the Gordon Technical College (1887) in Fenwick St. In the centre of the park is the Hitchcock Memorial Band Stand and gardens erected in 1919. On the axis from the Band Stand is the 1922 War Memorial Gates to the park. An attached building to the Art Gallery contains the War Memorial Shrine. On the north western corner of the park is the railway station. Malop St. begins at Johnstone Park and at the eastern end of it is another garden- the Geelong Botanic Gardens. 200 acres were set aside here as a reserve in 1851 when Victoria became a separate colony from NSW. An area for a botanic garden was established in 1857 when the first garden curator Daniel Bunce was appointed. In 1859 a conservatory and a greenhouse were erected as the plant collection from around the world was being established. In line with Victorian era trends a fernery was built in 1885 and a pond in 1886. The gardens contain the tiny wooden Customs House of 1838 – the oldest wooden building in Victoria.
Barwon Grange, 25 Fernleigh Street Newton. This fine mansion is now run by the National Trust. The property was developed by Geelong merchant and banker Jonathan O’Brien who built a small wooden cottage here and then a brick residence before 1856 with views across the Barwon River. This 1850s house with a steep slate roof, French doors to the veranda etc had a separate kitchen added in 1871. The house has an unusual roof line with a decorative pediment below the slate. It is now run as a furnished museum recreating the style of the mid-19th century.
The Heights House, 140 Aphrasia Street Newton. This National Trust property is the largest prefabricated house erected in the colony of Victoria. It was sent out from Germany in 1855 for local businessman Charles Ibbotson and then erected in fashionable Newton. It was owned by the Ibbotson family until it was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1975. Most of the features of the house are original and outside are the stables, a dovecote, water tower and groom’s cottage. A later member of the Ibbotson family created a 1930s kitchen and changed some windows but little else.
