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Terraces - Stafford Terrace

Statement of Significance

The buildings and sites located at 55-71 Harrington Street are of state heritage significance for their historical, aesthetic / technical and research heritage values. The items also make a contribution to the significance of The Rocks Urban Conservation Area, one of the first urban conservation areas to be established in NSW. The sites have considerable historical significance first as part of grounds of the Colony's first hospital complex and archaeological remains from this and later periods may survive under the existing buildings. The buildings on the site are subsequent phases of development and demonstrate the historical progression from small scale basic cottages erected by emancipated convicts to larger formal and well built terrace housing erected by their descendants. The buildings demonstrate the historical demand for housing and public houses close to the waterfront and commercial centre of Sydney. The surviving residences are historically significant as late 19th century speculative residential development, largely intended for the working classes. The terrace houses at 55-67 demonstrate how in the mid 19th century the density of The Rocks was increased by the insertion of terrace houses into the existing housing stock which, at the time, largely consisted of small cottages. The replacement terraces were standard mid Victorian terraces, built as an investment and were not designed to be lived in by their owners. Protected by their resumption by the government in 1900 they remained residences and today they retain some of their original configuration and remain in residential use as serviced apartments. The study area also retains evidence of the modification of the sandstone rock shelves that gave the area its name - the first bedrock cuttings to make building platforms and subsequent cuttings and retaining walls as street improvements by the Public Works Department. The place has considerable aesthetic and technical significance as an important part of a strong visual precinct, contributing to the characteristic townscape of The Rocks. The buildings enhance the human scale of the streetscape and reinforce the historic character of the precinct. The wide street and associated rock cuttings and walls are juxtaposed with the narrow and steep lanes and the siting, stepping up the hill on a rock platform, which demonstrates the character of the underlying landform of The Rocks. The architectural character of the buildings demonstrates the variety of styles of residential development in the mid nineteenth century ranging from an example of bald face Victorian Georgian terraces to examples with Italianate influenced decoration, and an example of a Victorian terrace with verandahs featuring cast iron lace. The survival of these differing styles, side by side, is rare and as a group demonstrates the transition in terrace house design from the 1830s to the 1890s. The buildings have local social value. They have survived redevelopment proposals to be part of a highly valued and economically viable precinct - valued by locals and tourists. They are tangible reminders, along with other buildings in The Rocks, of the Green Bans and the successful resident and community action to preserve the residential community a campaign that also raised the profile of urban conservation in the community and amongst heritage professionals. The buildings located at 55-71 Harrington Street and the potential archaeological resources under the modern concrete slabs have considerable research and educational value. They are an accessible resource in The Rocks for interpretation and education for students, tourists and the wider community. They offer research potential and opportunities to interpret aspects the historic development pattern of The Rocks including the range of terrace building styles, surviving elements from the early hotel, increased density, urban improvements and preservation campaigns. The site has potential to add to the knowledge about the history of settlement in this area and the occupation and activities of people who worked and lived here in the period after 1816 and a number of phases in the 19th century.
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Description

Assessed significance: State

Item type: Built

Current use: Serviced apartments

Former use: Residences

Group: Residential buildings (private)

Category: Terrace

Designer/Maker:

Builder/Maker:

Construction Years: 1886 - 0

Physical Description: 55-59 Harrington Street is a Victorian two storey terrace divided by pilasters into three houses. When constructed in c1886, the terrace consisted of seven houses and was known as 'Stafford Terrace'. The external elevation of painted brick is essentially plain capped by a curved parapet, its only decoration being a carved flower in the centre, and have first floor balconies and open lower verandahs. Windows are double hung, while doors are mainly of four panels with a plain fanlight above, and with four pane french doors to the first floor verandah. (from Collingridge 1978)It is understood that only the facades of the terrace were retained when the Stafford Apartments were built.The street numbers in this part of Harrington Street have been changed , as the address of Tourism House to the north is now No 55, and that of the Stafford Apartments is No 75 Harrington Street, and the street numbers have been removed from the properties which were Nos 55-71 Harrington Street. Style: Victorian; Storeys: Two; Facade: Brick; Roof Cladding: Corrugated Iron (original)

Property Description

Lot/Volume Number Section Number Plan Folio Code Plan Folio Number
1/0 1165724
1/0 775889

Address

55-59 Harrington Street, The Rocks 2000
LGA(s): Sydney

Historic Notes and Themes

Historical notes: The site formed part of the range of the Gadigal people that extended along the south side of Port Jackson from South Head to Darling Harbour. Most physical traces of this occupation have been obliterated during the removal of sandstone to create level building platforms and the erection of houses, shops, warehouses, bond stores and wharves. On European settlement in 1788 the area on the western side of Sydney Cove was used as the main convict encampment. The first hospital, erected between present day Harrington Street and George Street, and its grounds that extended to the vicinity of Cambridge Street, was one of the first areas of Sydney to be cleared and fenced, thus restricting access into the fenced area for activities not associated with the hospital use. Surrounding the hospital were extensive gardens where medicinal and other necessary plants were grown. Small houses were built on the slopes of The Rocks, beyond the fenced hospital garden, many by emancipated convicts. The early houses on the Rocks were built in lines known as 'rows', which followed the naturally occurring rock shelves and were accessed by tracks rather than formally laid out streets. Because of these small cliffs, houses were not initially built on the lower side of the street, as this would have necessitated building a more substantial house with a basement. The majority of the small scale cottages were modest single storey cottages built at or above the level of the access track. The western side of Harrington Street was one of these rows of largely residential buildings. By 1808 they were being sold, such as the 'weatherboarded, glazed and shingled' dwelling house sold in May 1808 and the weatherboard 'family residence' sold by William Hutchinson in June 1809. Both were simply referred to as being at the back of the hospital garden on the Rocks. Prior to 1809 the location was simply given as 'on the Rocks', giving no indication as to which of the various rows of cottage the premises that were for sale were located in. The advertisements also provide an indication of the buildings materials used, all of which were of local origin. A stone house, which had been the property of the 'now deceased' Mary Inch, at the back of the General Hospital Garden was sold in May 1809. The site of the hospital garden remained a well-known locality after the general hospital had been relocated to Macquarie Street in 1816. As late as 1829 a property in The Rocks was referred to as being 'near the hospital garden'. Harrington Street and Argyle Street, which form the eastern and northern boundary of the block on which the subject site is located, are amongst the earliest streets in Sydney. Both were given official names in 1810 by Governor Macquarie, around the same time that the decision was made to relocate the hospital to a new site in Macquarie Street. If the track and row of houses in what was later Harrington Street already had an unofficial name, it has not been identified, nor does it appear on maps dating from before 1810. Harrington Street was officially 'next to and running parallel to George Street' and Argyle Street was leading from 'George Street in a Westerly direction'.The maps prepared by Harper and Stewart in the early 1820s show that there was already a series of buildings on the western side of Harrington Street, which largely correspond to the lots identified by Robert Russell in his surveys undertaken in the early 1830s. Some of these cottages survived until the Resumption in the early 20th Century, however none survive today, having been replaced with terrace houses or demolished by the Resumed Properties Department (between 1903 and 1914). In the summary of the town allotments in Section 79, published in 1835, there were 7 landholders in the area of the subject sites, between the corner of Argyle Street and Cribbs Lane (now Cumberland Place). They were Thomas Weedon (lot 8), William Young (lot 9), William Brutus Lea (lot 10), Thomas Cooper (lot 11), Caleb Salter (lot 12), William Kelly (lot 13) and George Atherden (lot 14), all of whom had their quit rents dated 1 July 1823.The lot that is the site of the Stafford terrace group, part of which remains today at 55-59 Harrington Street, was Lot 10 on Robert Russell's 1833 survey claimed by William Archibald Brutus Lea. The site is shown as having buildings erected on it, similar to those on Harper's 1823 plan, and these are likely to have been erected by a previous occupant rather than Lea who was an assigned servant at that time. In the 1828 census, 29 year old W A B Lea was listed as being housekeeper for the baker, William Blue in Clarence Street. Lea had arrived on the Isabella in 1819 as a convict. His term was seven years and he had been convicted at Middlesex Gaol the previous year. At the time of his arrival he was in his early 20s. Lea was free by servitude and was later described as a baker and a grocer. His wife, Mary Lea, had been born in the colony and was 17 in 1828. Robert Russell identified lots on both sides of Harrington Street as being claimed by William Archibald Brutus Lea. The buildings are described as two two-storey brick houses with tiled roofs and four rooms (located south of the central passage) and one single storey brick house with a shingle roof and attached workshop. The single storey house contained four rooms. There is one outhouse shown in the south western corner which was presumably shared by all of the occupants. Other than the outline of the block shown on the 1823 plan by Harper, Russell's survey, the 1855 block plan and the 1865 trigonometrical survey, no detail as to the layout these buildings have been located nor any photos.The rate book entries show that neither William A B Lea nor any of his family ever lived in any of the properties the family owned in Harrington Street. William A B Lea Esquire died in 1857 aged 60 after 'a long and protracted illness'. His residence was listed as being 750 George Street. The 1863 Sands Directory lists Mrs Lea as living at 750 George Street, where she remained in residence until her death in 1877. She was 65 at the time of her death, and the Leas had nine children born between 1829 and 1848, all of whom survived into adulthood. William Lea set up a trust from his extensive real estate portfolio to benefit his daughters, his sons and their children. The descendants of the Lea family continued to live off the income of William Lea's substantial estate more than 50 years after his death. The Harrington Street properties were administered by the trustees until they were resumed, their names are shown on the resumption plan. There is no evidence to suggest that the family maintained or improved their property until forced to by the City Council in the mid-1880s. During the 1880s the mayor of Sydney undertook what have later been termed 'slum tours', drawing attention to 'rookeries' and 'dwellings unfit for habitation. None of the original buildings erected on the site survive, as the entire complex was deemed to be substandard by the city health and building inspectors and was condemned by the Lord Mayor in 1884. To ensure a continued income the Lea family had to erect a new building as their houses at 9-15 Harrington Street were condemned by City Council in April 1884. To maximise their return, the Lea family erected a terrace of two storey houses, each of which was not rated at much more than the substandard buildings the terrace replaced. The exact date of construction of Stafford Terrace has not been confirmed but is assumed to be c.1885. The terrace is shown on the 1887 block plan but there is no entry for Nos. 9-15 in the 1888 Sands directory. The architect Edward Buchanan tendered for the erection of houses in Harrington Street in July 1885. These houses may have been Stafford Terrace as very little else in the street dates from this period. There is a newspaper record of a William William's funeral departing from his home at No.11 Harrington Street in January 1886 (after the presumed construction date) however he also lived at this address in 1884. This may indicate indicating that part of original buildings on the site had yet to be demolished. The name Stafford Terrace is shown on the block plans dating from 1887 and first appears in the Sands Directory in 1890. The houses in the block had to be renumbered, as seven residences had been built within the same street frontage as the three original houses.In 1891 a Royal Commission was established into Chinese Gambling. The transcript of proceedings states that "the commission proceeded on a visit of inspection to the Chinese quarters in Cambridge-street, Harrington-street, Queen-street, and Suez Canal" to take detailed evidence. The commissioners visited No. 19 Harrington Street on December 2nd 1891, where a European woman Maud 'kept house' for a Chinaman. The house was described as being clean and there was no indication of illegal gambling or opium smoking. No. 19 Harrington Street was one of the houses in Stafford Terrace, two others of which were listed in the rate books with Chinese tenants, Ah Joey and May Sing. In January 1900 the bubonic plague broke out in Sydney beginning in Ferry Lane. Sections of the foreshore were resumed in May 1900 from Circular Quay, around Dawes Point and Millers Point, and into Darling Harbour. The proposal to resume the entire Rocks area was announced in November 1900, shortly before the Chief Medical Officer's report on the plague outbreak had been tabled. As the number of cases increased sections of The Rocks and Millers Point were quarantined and a thorough cleansing operation was undertaken, co-ordinated by the architect George McCredie. The cleansing operations included cleaning, whitewashing, disinfecting and demolition of substandard structures. The housing stock at the northern end of Harrington Street continued to be let as rental accommodation and almost no alterations were made to buildings in this part of The Rocks. During this period, 1900 to 1920, there were a series of long standing tenants at the northern end of Harrington Street, including the Rasmussen family, the Olaf family and the Allner family in Stafford Terrace, the Waters and Lawrence Smith in Porters Terrace and the Brennan family at No. 67. Thomas Morrison leased a substantial portion of land at the corner of Harrington and Argyle Streets including four of the houses in Stafford Terrace, which he rented out. Morrison is listed in the 1914 rate books as being the lessee, the property was still owned by NSW Government. Tenants were not well off and work at the docks was slow. Many had applied for relief and others sent their children to the benevolent kitchen to collect billy cans of soup. Finally the Minister undertook to go into the matter and see whether the conditions could not be made any easier for the tenants.During the twentieth century the street numbering of Harrington Street changed again and Harrington Street was renumbered as a continuation along Playfair Street which was connected to George Street via Atherden Street with the demolition of residences. The numbers commenced at the north end. This was presumably was related to the PWD works to regularise the streets. In the 1911 and 1921 the rate books have the old numbers with the groups of buildings being No. 7-19 (Stafford Terrace), 21-25 (Porters Terrace), then 27 and 29. By 1924 the present numbering system was in place. Later the street names have been changed again, but the numbering on Harrington Street was retained. As a result, there is now no 1-33 Harrington Street but there are still uneven numbered buildings 1-33 on the west side of Playfair Street. The revised numbering is shown on plans held by the Sydney City Council dating from 1956 and remain today.In May 1918 four of the terraces in Stafford Terrace were advertised for sale:A magnificent store site together with FOUR HOUSES erected thereon, being Nos, 9-15 inclusive, built of brick, each with four rooms, kitchen and out offices. Let at 15 shillings each. These four houses at 9-15 (new numbers 47-53) Harrington Street were adjacent his large corner site and were purchased by Edmund J Playfair. The 1921 rate books list E J Playfair as owning (rather than leasing from the Government) Nos. 1-15 Harrington Street. They also indicate a vacant lot, valued at £1,000 between Nos.3 and 9 (ie Nos. 5 & 7 indicating the buildings on those sites were demolished).Playfair only ever owned part of Stafford terrace and he demolished these four houses to make way for extensions to the meat-processing factory in 1940. The remaining houses were tenanted until the mid-1970s.In the 1930s and 40s the terraces at 57 and 59 were shared tenancies, tenants paying £1-1-6 per week. SCA tenancy records provide evidence of the everyday existential problems of tenants, noting a large turnover of tenants, endless rental arrears and requests for rental reduction. Tenancy records note a number of smaller refurbishments, repair and improvement, which the Maritime Services Board carried out on the terraces after 1927. The tenant's request for renovation and repair in the late 1940s and early 1950s indicate that by this time the terraces were in a rundown condition.A comparison of the footprint of the terraces shown on the late-19th century survey map and the survey prepared for the site of the Clock Tower development in 1986 indicates a few changes to the configuration of the property, the most obvious being the loss of four terraces at the northern end of the group. The three southern most terraces remain on the site. Minor changes included modification of the rear boundary line and remodelling of the single storey rear wing of the terraces.During the redevelopment of the block in the 1980s the single storey rear sections of the terraces were demolished. The refurbishment also involved the re-roofing of the terraces, replacement of all floors, first floor in timber boarding and the ground floor in concrete and replacement of original features such as all stairs, fire places, doors and windows with replicated elements.Due to the difficulty in housing building workers on the development site, the terraces were initially used as temporary accommodation until such time that sheds could be set up on concrete decks.The approval to name the serviced apartments 'Stafford Apartments' was given in June 1988. The initial lease to 'Sydney Visitor Apartments' was to run for 15 years from 1986, with an option for another six years. The property is now part of the international Rendevous Hospitality Group and run as the Rendevous Hotel Sydney, The Rocks, which comprises 55 serviced apartments, 35 shops, commercial office space and a car park, constructed 1986-89.

Historical significance: The land that now comprises the study area was originally part of the early, informal subdivision of the western side of Sydney Cove associated with the first hospital and staff residences. Evidence for this phase of the site's history is unlikely to survive. Subsequent levelling of individual allotments within what was once the hospital garden to create individual building platforms is likely to have removed traces of previous use of the site although levelling was an important aspect of the physical development altering the appearance of the site and the rock shelves that characterised the district as a whole. There may be physical evidence of this phase of the site's occupation under the buildings but the sandstone face on Cambridge Street and the remainder of the site was removed by the seep excavation for the Clocktower development. The phases of development of 55-71 Harrington Street demonstrate the historical progression from small scale basic accommodation erected by emancipated convicts to larger formal and well built housing erected by their descendants. They demonstrate the historical demand for housing close to the waterfront and commercial centre of Sydney. The site also has potential to contain a variety of archaeological resources related to the occupation and activities of people who worked and lived here in the period after 1816. These potential archaeological resources may include structural remains of houses and outbuildings as well as yard surfaces, internal occupation deposits and dumps. Such remains could provide information about the layout, details and function of previous uses of the site and expand knowledge about the history and development of the site itself and the local Rocks area. Should they survive, archaeological resources related to these previous land uses would provide additional information about the cultural history of the local area and so would be of archaeological research significance. The former terraces and houses are historically significant as they are indicative of the late 19th century speculative residential development (largely intended for the working class) in The Rocks. The terrace houses at 55-67 demonstrate how in the mid 19th century the density of The Rocks was increased by the insertion of two storey terrace houses into the existing housing stock which, at the time largely consisted of small single storey cottages. The replacement terraces were standard mid Victorian terraces, built as an investment and were not designed to be lived in by their owners. Despite having undergone a number of alterations, the surviving buildings demonstrate their original domestic configuration, as evident in their elevations to street, and remain in a type of residential use (albeit as serviced apartments). The survival of the building stock is in part due to the state ownership and management since the resumption in 1900. The early bedrock cuttings demonstrate the need to cut into the sandstone of The Rocks to make building platforms. The later cuttings and rock-face retaining walls are evidence of the Public Works improvement of the streets in 1905-6. The PWD plan of Harrington Street survives. The ramps and stairs at numbers 55 -69 and the cutting at number 71, along with the sloping raised footpath opposite (at numbers 42-52) show the original street level and with historic plans, record photographs and paintings enable an understanding of the former divided carriageway and less formal character of the streets of The Rocks.The place meets this criterion at a STATE level.The historical significance of the place is demonstrated by:?the building group, their facades and overall forms?record photographs, block plans and paintings that show the former configuration of the street and the Sailors Return Hotel?the level of the ground floor of all buildings, the sloping footpath at 55-59 Harrington Street and the elevated rock cutting at 71 Harrington Street?the rockface retaining walls, stone stairs to 61-67 Harrington Street and sandstone cutting on the property boundary to 67 & 71 Harrington Street

Historical association: The buildings are associated with speculative developers in the late 1800s and residents of The Rocks between the 1880s and the mid 1970s. The buildings and prior buildings on the sites are associated with the shifting populations and changing social demography of The Rocks and associations with prior owners and occupants may be able to be established by research but no specific important associations are evident. The site has few tangible links with individuals or groups who were significant figures in NSW cultural history. A number of property owners during the period between c.1820 and c.1850 had interest beyond the site but there is no evidence that these individuals, such as Thomas Weedon and Michael Gannon, resided on the site. The type and process of development of the site is typical of the residential nature of 19th century streets in The Rocks that were located behind the main commercial precinct of George Street. Should they survive, archaeological resources related directly to the site's occupants would provide information that would complement the cultural history of the local area and so would be of local archaeological research significance. The site has some associational significance at a LOCAL level.The associational significance of the place is demonstrated by:?the surviving fabric in association with the historical artworks, photographs and records

Aesthetic significance: The modest residential buildings located at 55-71 Harrington Street with the terraces opposite at 42-52 Harrington Street, the Harbour Rocks Hotel and cottages at 28-32 Harrington Street, make an important contribution to the streetscape of The Rocks precinct. The buildings enhance the human scale of the streetscape and reinforce the historic character of the precinct. They are important in demonstrating the aesthetic characteristics of The Rocks. The rock cuttings are evidence of the engineering works undertaken initially and in the early 20th century to "improve" the area and regularise the streets. The wide street is juxtaposed with the narrow and steep lanes leading from it - Cumberland Place, Suez Canal and Nurses Walk. The siting, stepping up the hill and elevated on rocky platforms, demonstrates the character of residential development in The Rocks and relates to the underlying landforms. If archaeological features are found on site and exposed as part of interpretive program they may have some aesthetic value in respect of their appearance as aesthetic 'ruins'. However, developments within the study area and the possible survival of remains only within the footprint of the extant structures are likely to inhibit any meaningful interpretation of in situ remains. It is not expected that this criterion will be met with respect to the archaeological resource and therefore the archaeology of the site does not meet the requirements for significance under this criterion. The varied architectural character of the buildings demonstrates the variety of styles of residential development in the mid nineteenth century ranging from an example of bald face Victorian Georgian terraces to examples with Italianate influenced decoration, and the typical Australianised form of the Victorian terrace with verandahs featuring cast iron lace. These differing styles are side by side. It is only in the inner ring of Sydney suburbs (particularly The Rocks and Millers Point) that the transition in terrace house design from the 1830s to the 1890s can be traced. The remaining houses in this study area contribute to an understanding of the development of the terrace house form in the nineteenth century.The item meets this criterion at a STATE level.The aesthetic significance of the place is demonstrated by:?the relationship of the buildings and the street, lanes and rock cuttings,?the range of detailing of the building facades?the scale of the buildings and elevation of the buildings above the road?the views to and from the site to the north?the transition from bald faced terrace houses to terrace houses with verandahs and cast iron laceThe technical significance / creative achievement of place is demonstrated by:?the rock cuttings and rock-face sandstone walls

Social significance: The terraces and houses have no specific strong or special associations with any particular community or group for cultural, social or spiritual reasons. The site's history has witnessed a variety of ownership and personal associations over the past two hundred years of European ownership. However no specific community or cultural group has been identified that has a particular association with the site. However the sites contribute strongly to the character of The Rocks heritage precinct which is highly valued by the contemporary community in Sydney and by visitors from elsewhere in Australia and overseas. Part of this value is as tangible evidence, along with other buildings in The Rocks, of the Green Bans and the successful resident and community action to preserve the residential community. These campaigns were also instrumental in starting to raise the profile of urban conservation in the community and amongst heritage professionals.The buildings have survived two slum clearance campaigns - that associated with the plague in 1900 and again in the late 1930s. They also survived the total redevelopment proposals of the 1960s and early 1970s to become a highly valued and economically viable precinct, valued by locals and tourists.The item meets this criterion at a LOCAL level.The social significance of the place is demonstrated by:?the retention of the buildings despite significant efforts to demolish them?historical records and publications about the green bans?continued community support for retention of the Rocks?Listing (as an urban conservation area) on the National Trust Register and the Register of the National Estate

Research significance: The buildings located at 55-71 Harrington Street are a resource in The Rocks for interpretation and education for students, tourists and the wider community. They offer potential to research and interpret aspects the historic pattern of development of The Rocks such as:?the densification and official attempts to improve sanitation, building quality and regularise street alignments in the late 19th century and early twentieth centuries.?the range of buildings styles employed for speculative terrace houses,?the surviving elements from the early hotels,?the impact of the preservation campaigns, and the resulting juxtaposition of historic and modern structures.The potential archaeological resource at the study area has some ability to demonstrate aspects of the construction and occupation of a variety of domestic dwellings during a number of phases in the 19th century. The study area has the potential to contain archaeological resources related to the occupation and activities on the site from c.1814 onwards. At this stage the nature and extent of these features is otherwise unknown. It is also likely that portions of the yards and passages associated with the earliest phase of building development may survive. These yard areas (within the later building footprints) have potential to contain remains related to the way in which services were provided (if at all) for the residences that occupied the site. The potential resources, may also include structural remains of buildings that have the potential to provide information about the layout, details and functioning of these places and expand historical knowledge about the history and development of the site itself and the local area. Should they survive, archaeological resources related to these previous land uses would provide information that would be an important complement to the cultural history of the local area and so would be of local heritage significance. Depending on their extent, integrity and type, such relics may have some research potential to yield new information, un-obtainable from other sources, regarding historic use of the site. Accordingly, such remains (if any exist) would be locally significant in terms of this criterion.Overall the item meets this criterion at a STATE level.The research significance of the place is demonstrated by:?the surviving buildings and the associated historical informationThe archaeological research significance of the place is demonstrated by:?the undisturbed ground under the floor slabs and passage, the historic plans which show the footprint of earlier structures

Rare assessment: The buildings located at 55-71 Harrington Street are not uncommon, rare or endangered. However their survival of the collection of different styles of buildings, adjacent to each other is rare. Number 71 Harrington Street is the only surviving part of the otherwise demolished Sailors Return Hotel, although insufficient detail is retained to demonstrate the principal characteristics of that building. The extent of surviving documents and images however in conjunction with the physical remains offers a rare opportunity to interpret this type of place. Also uncommon are the rock cuttings and elevated footpaths on both sides of the street. Together these historic features, on both sides, demonstrate the levelling of the road. Intact archaeological remains relating to the period between the relocation of the hospital in 1816 and 1840 occupation of the study area would be a typical example of the local area's material culture resource especially in relation to the use of the site for residential purposes. These are relatively uncommon survivals within the Sydney CBD. Sequences of building and occupation, from the period after c.1840, on other local sites throughout Sydney are numerous. The potential archaeological resource relating to other later occupation and use phases of the site are relatively common and not rare. The site meets this requirement for significance under this criterion for potential remains that pre-date 1840 at a local level.The item meets this criterion at a LOCAL level.The rarity of the place is demonstrated by:?the building fabric of the range from bald faced terrace houses to terrace houses with verandahs and cast iron lace?the surviving part of the Sailors Return (no 71) in conjunction with surviving documents and images of it and their potential for interpretation?the rock cuttings and stone retaining walls on both sides of the streetThe archaeological rarity of the place is demonstrated by:?the potential pre 1840s remains in undisturbed ground under the floor slabs and passage, the historic plans which show the footprint of earlier structures

Representative assessment: The study area is an important site as it has the ability to demonstrate the construction, operation and occupation of the area from c.1820 with otherwise unknown archaeological features predating the extant buildings on the site. The possible archaeological remains of former structures or evidence of archaeological deposits from the period between 1820 and 1900 (and possibly earlier) have the potential to provide an important contribution towards our understanding about the people who created, occupied and visited the site. The site meets this requirement for significance under this criterion for remains that pre-date 1840 at a local level. The terraces and houses of 55-71 Harrington Street are representative examples of typical designs of several "standard" terrace types prevalent throughout the inner suburbs of Sydney in the mid to late19th century. They represent the range and diversity of architectural styles and detailing used at a similar period in modest buildings at The Rocks and elsewhere in Sydney and used by speculative builders.The item meets this criterion at a LOCAL level.The representativeness of the place is demonstrated by:?the surviving buildings and their fa?ade treatmentThe archaeological representative value of the place is demonstrated by:?the potential pre 1840s remains in undisturbed ground under the floor slabs and passage, the historic plans which show the footprint of earlier structures

Intact assessment: Archaeology mostly intact

Physical condition:

Australian Theme NSW Theme Local Theme
Building settlements, towns and cities Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation ? does not include architectural styles ? use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.

Listings

Heritage Listing Listing Title Listing Number Gazette Date Gazette Number Gazette Page
National Trust of Australia Register 10122 27/02/1978
Heritage Act - State Heritage Register 01610 10/05/2002 2869 85
Heritage Act - s.170 NSW State agency heritage register Place Management NSW
Within a National Trust conservation area 10499
Register of the National Estate 1/12/036/0433 Harrington Argyle Precinct 21/10/1980 2317
Register of the National Estate 1/12/036/0433 Stafford Terrace (part), 21/10/1980 2320

References

Type Author Year Title
Management Plan      Grants index   
Written  Higginbotham, Kass & Walker  1991  The Rocks and Millers Point Archaeological Management Plan   
Management Plan      Section survey.   
Management Plan  GRAHAM BROOKS AND ASSOCIATES PTY LTD, ARCHITECTS AND HERITAGE CONSULTANTS  2007  Conservation Management Strategy   
Written  Collingridge S  1978  National Trust Classification Card: 55-59 Harrington Street: Card 7, Harrington/Argyle Precinct   
Written  Planning Workshop  1986  Proposed Development of the Clocktower Site, The Rocks. Environmental Impact Statement   
Written  SCRA  1984  Building Data Sheet CS/02   
Management Plan  Jean Rice Architect  2013  55-71 Harrington Street - Teraces - Conservation Management Plan  
Management Plan (HC Endorsed)  Strategic Planning & Heritage, Place Management NSW  2019  55-71 Harrington Street, The Rocks  

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