Hanmer Street Heritage Precinct

How is it Significant?

The Hanmer Street Heritage Precinct is of local historic and aesthetic significance to the City of Hobsons Bay.

Historically, Hanmer Street is an integral part of the Government Survey precinct and contributes to an understanding of an important period in the development of Williamstown during the nineteenth century. It also of interest for the associations with the Melbourne-Williamstown railway including the Williamstown Railway Station and the former Terminus Hotel. (AHC criteria A4 and D2)

Aesthetically, Hanmer Street contains groups of cohesive late nineteenth and early twentieth century development, which makes an important contribution to the historic character of the Government Survey precinct. Hanmer Street exhibits characteristics that are typical of the broader precinct as well as elements that are unique. The typical characteristics include:

- Unusual or rare building styles and types such as the basalt houses and the timber duplex houses with no dividing wall that are characteristic of this part of Williamstown but less common elsewhere in the metropolitan area.

- The unifying effect throughout the precinct of groups of predominantly Victorian and Edwardian era houses with common or similar characteristics of design, siting and scale that creates cohesive and homogeneous streetscapes. Many are externally intact and others, although altered, still retain their distinctive form and siting and hence contribute to the precinct.

- The sections of the roadway in its basic early layout and the mature exotic street planting that combines with exotic planting in private gardens to reinforce and enhance the period expression of the precinct.

The distinctive elements of Hanmer Street are:

- The contrast of the single storey residential buildings with the larger commercial and civic buildings that include:

- The traditionally styled (two-storey, stuccoed and parapeted) early commercial buildings located on corner or mid block sites and constructed to the building line.

- The adjacent Williamstown Railway Station precinct.

On this basis, the following properties contribute to the significance of the precinct:

- Hanmer Street (odd) 67, 77, 81-93, 97 and 119-129 and the land adjacent Williamstown Railway Station.

- Hanmer Street (even) 6-14, 18, 20, 22, 26, 38, 40, 42, 46, 64-68, 84, 86 and 90 (inclusive).

Please note that some heritage places within this precinct may also have an individual citation in this Study.

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

Residential Precinct