House

Statement of Significance

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Description

Assessed significance: State

Item type: Built

Current use: Serviced apartments

Former use: Housing and shops

Group: Residential buildings (private)

Category: House

Designer/Maker:

Builder/Maker:

Construction Years: 1860 - 0

Physical Description: 71 Harrington Street was constructed circa 1895. Originally rated as a 'shop' it later became a 'lodging house' and, finally, a house. As far it is known the original roof was of corrugated iron.Storeys: Two; Facade: Brick and render; Roof Cladding: Iron

Property Description

Address

Historic Notes and Themes

Historical notes: The site formed part of the lands 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 was obliterated during the removal of sandstone to create level building platforms and the erection of houses, shops, warehouses, bond stores and wharves.Sydney's first general hospital was erected on the western side of Sydney Cove in 1788. In 1790 a prefabricated building, designed by the London-based architect Samuel Wyatt, and two further ward blocks were erected in the vicinity of present day Nurses Walk. Surrounding the hospital were extensive gardens where medicinal and other necessary plants were grown. The study area is located within the fenced grounds of the hospital but at a higher level and west of the hospital buildings.Contemporary views such as J W Lewin's dated 1808 show the gardens to the rear of the hospital to have been fenced with a high paling fence to protect the Apothecaries' garden. Small houses were on the slopes of The Rocks, beyond the fenced hospital garden. These 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. The majority of the dwellings 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. 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 as1829 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.A lane connecting Harrington Street and Cambridge Street, at the south of the block, was shown as Cribbs Lane on Robert Russell's 1833 block plans. This lane connected the higher section of Harrington Street (now removed and levelled) with Cambridge Street. The steps now in the lane were erected in two stages in the twentieth century when the upper carriageway was removed. Cribb's Lane (named for local publican and butcher George Cribb) was extended to Gloucester Street and beyond to Cumberland Street. Harrington Street was not nearly as steep as Cambridge Street.Harpers 1823 survey of Sydney shows a rectangular building on the site located on the corner of Harrington Street and Cribb's Lane. This structure became known as the Spread Eagle, and later the Sailor's Rest Hotel, and was operated by Thomas Weedon who is named as the proprietor in July 1830 and then shown, on Russell's 1833 plans, as the owner of Lot 8, Section 79. The Spread Eagle Hotel was located on the site of the current No. 71 and part of 67 Harrington Street. Thomas Weedon was convicted in 1806 of stealing meat belonging to Sarah Greenfield who operated a butcher's cart near the Spread Eagle in Gracechurch Street, Leadenhall, London. The Spread Eagle was an established London coaching inn, dating from the rebuilding of the City of London following the Great Fire of 1666. Weedon was 21 when tried and spent 3 years imprisoned in the hulk Retribution, moored in the Thames at Woolwich, before being transported for seven years to NSW aboard the Ann in 1809. He was assigned to Gregory Blaxland and served the remainder of his sentence on one of Blaxland's farms. After obtaining his ticket of leave Weedon set up a public house known as the Dog and Duck on Brickfield Hill. A few years later, by July 1830, Weedon was identified as the proprietor of the Spread Eagle Hotel in Harrington Street, named for the public house in London that he had been apprehended outside of.Weedon's Spread Eagle in Harrington Street was described in the Sydney Herald in 1832 asbeing capable of accommodating vehicles. The " two storey public house, commanding a fine situation, possessing a flourishing trade and situated in Harrington-Street, known by the sign of the Spread Eagle. It is very commodious, has an excellent granary, two stall stable, with chaise house attached thereto, and a good well of water."Analysis of historic plans show the stable yard was located at the northern end of the property, and the entrance was located just before the split in the carriageway of Harrington Street. The 1880 rate book describes the then No. 23 (now No. 67) as a stable of wood and iron. The series of block plans and other surveys held by the Sydney City Council show that the outbuildings surrounding the yard changed in configuration over the nineteenth century. The site of the closet (toilet) is shown on Robert Russell's plan but is now beneath the later building at No. 67 Harrington Street. The 1855 trigonometric plan shows a pair of closets near the northern boundary (again now beneath the site of No. 67). None of the later plans give any indication of where the well mentioned in the advertisement might have been located. Percy Dove's plan shows a single storey section to the rear of the main block, which may have contained closets.By 1854 the former Spread Eagle Hotel at the corner of Harrington Street and Cribbs Lane was being run by William Harrison and was known as the Sailors Return.Inquests were also held at the premises (as was common practice in a number of hotels in the area) such as the inquest in March 1857 into the death of Scottish-born carpenter John Watson who had been working on a whaling brig. When on land Watson went on drinking sprees and his excessive drinking finally killed him. Inquests into the deaths of foreign sailors were also held, such as the inquest into the death of a Chinese cook from Hong Kong who worked for the White Star Line held in July 1861.John Madden took over from Harrison as the publican of the Sailors Return in 1857 and the following year he was fined for serving liquor to a soldier "who was not a bona fide lodger or inmate or traveller seeking refreshment on a journey". Madden died in November 1858 and his wife Bridget Madden took over the running of the hotel until at least 1865. Bridget Madden also acted as agent for Thomas Weedon, collecting rents on his properties. The contents of the hotel were sold by the unidentified 'proprietor' in 1869 including 'household furniture, consisting of horsehair sofas, chairs, chiffonieres, tables, washstands, engravings, bedsteads, glassware, pier glass and sundries. Also the stock of liquors consisting of wines, spirits, bottled ale and porter &c &c'.During the 1870s the hotel was not licensed and a Thomas James was operating a grocery shop here in 1877. By 1880 James had obtained a license and he continued to operate the Sailors Return until at least 1882. Previous histories have assumed that Weedon sold the property to Frederick Oatley, circa 1870, however it appears that the property was inherited by Jane Oatley, nee Jane Weedon, the daughter of Thomas Weedon and brother of the solicitor Thomas Elijah Weedon. The family ownership is confirmed in 1885 when Thomas Weedon's son-in-law advertised for sale: "The Goodwill, Furniture and Effects, with a lease for 5½ years, Sailor's Return Hotel, Harrington-street. Apply at the hotel, or Messrs Oatley and Cahill, Elizabeth Street."The two storey house at No. 71 Harrington Street was added to in c1882 and is the only surviving remnant of the Sailors Return building complex.A series of publicans ran the Sailors Return Hotel during the 1880s and 1890s including the Edgars (Samuel and then B. Edgar) (1886-87), Terence F. Sweeney (1889), Sarah Geary (1890) and Nicholas McMahon. When resumed in 1900, the property was still in the hands of the Weedon/Oatley family and was being operated as a boarding house when it was known as 33 Harrington Street. This use appears to have commenced around 1897. Despite operating as a boarding house when the land was resumed by the NSW Government in 1900, the building's former use and name remained well known, as etchings and paintings of the Old Rocks by the artists Sydney Long and Lionel Lindsay executed between 1902 and 1912 still referred to the building as the Sailor's Return. In historic photographs the lettering can still be read on the external walls.The boarding house was run by George and Mary Jones. George Jones died in March 1903 aged 52. His wife Mary Jones took over running the establishment, assisted by her daughters.Events at the boarding house were described as a 'city sensation', when two of the Jones girls were injured by one of the lodgers, Henry Dillon, in April 1903. Twenty three year old Mary (May) Jones had decided that she was no longer interested in Dillon, having met someone else, and he attacked her. When one of her sisters attempted to intervene, Dillon shot her. Both women survived the attack. Dillon, a ships fireman, was a frequent guest at the boarding house between voyages to the South Pacific. Dillon was sentenced to death but this was commuted to 23 years imprisonment. The case was reported nationally.The road level of Harrington Street was altered by the Public Works Department circa 1905, necessitating the construction of a staircase up to Cribbs Lane/Cumberland Place. The exact date of the demolition of the original portion of the hotel is not known, however the demolition is after the 1905 alterations to the street level and likely before 1921 when the rate book shows the site as vacant land. The original portion does not appear on the 1949 aerial photograph and there are no tenancy cards for Nos. 71 or 73, indicating that the demolitions were by the Resumed Properties department, prior to the takeover of management of the area by the Sydney Harbour Trust in 1928. It is not certain in the 1921 rate books if the vacant land mentioned is the site of the Sailors Return Hotel or the hotel on the other side of Cumberland Place, both of which seem to have been demolished at a similar time.Only the two-storey addition built in 1882 survived the demolitions. The numbering changed from 33 to 71 Harrington Street in 1924.In the 1920s and 30s there was a large turnover of tenants in the building. SCA tenancy records provide evidence of the everyday problems of tenants, noting endless rental arrears and requests for rental reduction or transfer to cheaper premises. In February 1937 George Henry Johnson signed the tenancy contract for the premises. Johnson and his family remained tenant at 71 Harrington Street until 1973. Tenancy records note a number of smaller repair and improvement and the tenant's request 'to have the hall and kitchen renovated' and 'to have gas store connected' (1944). In 1946 Johnson asked the 'Board to build verandah or porch' and applied 'for a new entrance be made from the residence to Harrington Street'. The tenant's request for renovation and repairs indicate that in the 1960s the building was in a run-down condition. The building was vacant for at least 10 years then in the late-1980s it was redeveloped as part of the Clock Tower development.During the redevelopment of the block in the 1980s the rear section of the house at 71 Harrington Street was demolished. The 1986 plan indicates that half of the rear portion and the chimney stack were removed and a single brick wall built at the western end of the house. Some of the existing internal walls were removed, two doorways were bricked up and new doors and a window were fitted into existing walls at both levels. The architectural character of the street façade and the general roof form together with the noteworthy chimney were retained, but the original house lost its size, mass and form, with much of its original fabric modified. The refurbishment involved the re-roofing of the buildings, replacement of floors and replacement of original features such as fire places, doors and windows with sympathetic replicated elements. While the house was modified, it generally still presents as intact when viewed from Harrington Street.

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.Number 71 Harrington Street demonstrates a later phase of the development of the Sailors Return Hotel (previously the Spread Eagle, developed by Thomas Weedon). Number 71 appears to have been additional rooms added to the hotel by the Oatley family, Weedon's descendants.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. Numbers 67 and 71 Harrington Street are associated with the owners of the public house the Spread Eagle, initially run by Thomas Weedon. It became the Sailors Return Hotel and was inherited by Jane Oatley (n?e Weedon) and operated by the Oatley family as the Sailors Return Hotel and later as a boarding house. Number 71 Harrington Street is the only remnant of the Sailors Return Hotel, recorded in artworks from c1900 as a picturesque example of the heritage of early Sydney. The site of 61 to 65 Harrington Street has associations with speculator Michael Gannon and his descendants. The current buildings and the terraces opposite at numbers 42 to 52 Harrington Street are associated with the speculative terrace house builder Henry Dobson and the improvements made by descendants of the original grant holder.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 street The 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 treatment The 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: Potential archaeological resource may remain intact under the footprint of the building

Physical condition: Archaeology Assessment Condition: Partly disturbed. Assessment Basis: Area under building only. Terraced into hill slope.

Listings

References

Type	Author	Year	Title
Written			Section survey.
Written	SCRA	1984	Building Data Sheet CS/06,
Written	S Collingridge	1978	National Trust Classification Card: Warehouse, 71 Harrington Street: Card 10 of the Harrington Argyle Precinct
Management Plan	Graham Brooks and Associates Pty Ltd	2007	Conservation Management Strategy, 71 Harrington Street, The Rocks
Management Plan	Jean Rice Architect	2013	55-71 Harrington Street - terraces - Conservation Management Plan
Management Plan (HC Endorsed)	Strategic Planning & Heritage, Place Management NSW	2019	55-71 Harrington Street, The Rocks

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