Building

Item details


Name of item:	Building
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Commercial
Category:	Warehouse/storage area
Location:	Lat: -33.8625637151 Long: 151.2095826520
Primary address:	10-14 Bulletin Place, Sydney, NSW 2000
Parish:	St James
County:	Cumberland
Local govt. area:	Sydney
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Metropolitan

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
LOT	3		DP	109096

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
10-14 Bulletin Place	Sydney	Sydney	St James	Cumberland	Primary Address

Description


Construction years:	1880-
Physical description:	One of a group of former warehouses whose scale and diversity is a rare surviving reminder of the undisciplined 19th century commercial development of Sydney Cove, and gives a pleasant pedestrian character, rare in the City of Sydney, to the narrow spaces of Bulletin Place and Reiby Place. A 3-storey former warehouse of flemish bond sandstock brick. 3 bay front, 18-pane shuttered windows with sandstone sills and brick lintels. Gabled roof with modern box gutter; facade to ground floor rendered and modernised. Window layout and floor heights suggest it may have been built with No. 6-8, with faulty render since removed. Date: before 1880 (see Percy H Dove, A NEW AND COMPLETE WHARF, STREET AND BUILDING PLAN DIRECTORY OF THE CITY OF SYDNEY, 1880). The building was occupied by Elliot Bros Stores in 1883-4 (SANDS DIRECTORY). Architectural Style: 19th Century. Building Material: Sandstock brick (NTA, 1982)


Current use:	commercial, offices
Former use:	Aboriginal land, town lot, warehouse, residence

History

Historical notes:

The "Eora people" was the name given to the coastal Aborigines around Sydney. Central Sydney is therefore often referred to as "Eora Country". Within the City of Sydney local government area, the traditional owners are the Cadigal and Wangal bands of the Eora. There is no written record of the name of the language spoken and currently there are debates as whether the coastal peoples spoke a separate language "Eora" or whether this was actually a dialect of the Dharug language. Remnant bushland in places like Blackwattle Bay retain elements of traditional plant, bird and animal life, including fish and rock oysters.

With the invasion of the Sydney region, the Cadigal and Wangal people were decimated but there are descendants still living in Sydney today. All cities include many immigrants in their population. Aboriginal people from across the state have been attracted to suburbs such as Pyrmont, Balmain, Rozelle, Glebe and Redfern since the 1930s. Changes in government legislation in the 1960s provided freedom of movement enabling more Aboriginal people to choose to live in Sydney (sourced from Anita Heiss, "Aboriginal People and Place", Barani: Indigenous History of Sydney City http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/barani ).

Subject site:
The street marks the side boundaries of allotments which first appeared on James Meehan's map of 1807, sloping down to the Tank Stream from the street that became Macquarie Place.

The site was part of the grant of 1 acre 37 - 1/2 roods made by Governor Macquarie to Andrew Thompson on 1 January 1810. It seems that Mary Reibey, one of the best known early merchants, also owned the land at one time (LEP, 2005). Thompson was a wealthy emansibipst merchant and a favourite of the then Governor, Captain Bligh. When he died in September 1818, the land was sold to William Browne, a Sydney merchant, for 1075 pounds. He sold it to Prosper de Mestre in 1828 for 2100 pounds. De Mestre was a prominent mercantile and public figure, but later fell into financial trouble in the early 1840s depression. The land was taken from him and sold to an Eleanor Terry who let it to tenants.

The first reference to 'Bulletin Place' was in Sands Sydney Directory in 1867, when it was described as a lane. By 1870 it had been upgraded into a passageway, and in 1890 it was recorded as Bulletin Place (Sing, 1988).

In 1875 the property was sold again, to a Mr Edward Terry. The warehouse, at the corner of Pitt St. and Bulletin Place (leased as offices) was owned by a Mr Bernhardt Otto Holtermann who had a successful commercial agency there between 1877 and 1885. He is best known for his mine at Hill End, which yielded the largest gold reef specimen in the world. Sydney City Council paved both Bulletin Place and Macquarie Place turning them into pedestrian walkways (Sing, 1988).

Bulletin Place is the only Sydney thoroughfare named after a publication, for it was here that J F Archibald's famous weekly "The Bulletin" was published for many years following its foundation in 1880 (LEP, 2005). The Bulletin owned stores and offices at the intersection of the passageway with Pitt Street. Bulletin Place is situated on land reclaimed from the mouth of the historic Tank Stream, which today runs underneath Pitt Street. The Bulletin remained in this location until 1897, when it moved to newer and larger offices in George Street (Sing, 1988).

The building was erected before 1880, for it appears in Percy Dove's Sydney map of that year. It was occupied by Elliott Bros stores in 1883-84. Merchant brothers Mahlon, Clarke and Thomas Cowlishaw acquired it in March 1888. Council records of 1955 note that at least a part of the building was used for printing, duplicating, typing and bookbinding (LEP, 2005). The Cowlishaws retained ownership until 1955 (Sing, 1988).

Other companies which have occupied the warehouses along Bulletin Place are: Sandy & Co. Glass, Oil & Colour Stores; Chard Marshall; J.C.Steel Tanners; Harrison & Whitton Skin & Produce Merchants; and the Sydney Volcanic Aerated Water Company (Sing, 1988).

Northbourne Developments bought the three Bulletin Place properties 6-8, 10-12 and 14-18 in 1986 (LEP, 2005). In 1988 they renovated three warehouses lining Bulletin Place (6-8; 10-14; 16-18) using Clive Lucas, Stapleton & Partners heritage consultants) and constructed a $150million dollar retail and office complex on the corfner adjoining Macquarie Place development at the end of the street on the corner of Macquarie Place. The major development complex was due for completion in March 1990. The oldest building (16-18 Bulletin Place) leased to Len Evans Wine Co.) was established around 1895 as a two storey warehouse belonging to Austin's Stores. The second-oldest (6-8 Bulletin Place) leased by Bulletin Place restaurant) was originally owned by Elliot Bros. Druggists and then beame the premises of Tinsley Ironmonger. The third warehouse, is 10-14 Bulletin Place, on the corner of Pitt Street, whose history is recounted above (paraphrasing and re-odering Sing, 1988).

Restoration of the facade occurred in l990. A Japanese takeaway food business was established in l993, followed by a first floor restaurant in 1994. In May 1993 the property was sold by Depaxu Pty Ltd and acquired by Nezaba Pty Ltd.(LEP, 2005).

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Changing the environment-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Cultural - Coasts and coastal features supporting human activities-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Commerce-Activities relating to buying, selling and exchanging goods and services	Warehousing and storage for commercial enterprises-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Commerce-Activities relating to buying, selling and exchanging goods and services	Storing goods-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Developing local, regional and national economies-National Theme 3
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal	1820s-1850s land grants-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal	Naming places (toponymy)-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Macquarie's town layout-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	19th century suburban developments-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	living in the city-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Early Sydney Street-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Rare Sydney Laneway-

Procedures /Exemptions

Section of act	Description	Title	Comments	Action date
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Heritage Act	Schedule A,B,C Order Under Section 57(2) to exempt the following activities from Section 57(1): The maintenance of any building or item on the sites meaning the continuous protective care of existing materials.	Dec 22 1989
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Standard Exemptions	ORDER UNDER SECTION 57(2) OF THE HERITAGE ACT 1977 Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977. I, Donald Harwin, the Special Minister of State pursuant to subsection 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales do by this Order, effective 1 December 2020: 1. revoke the order made on 11 July 2008 and published on pages 91177 to 9182 of Government Gazette Number 110 of 5 September 2008 and varied by notice published in the Government Gazette on 5 March 2015; and 2. grant the exemptions from subsection 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 that are described in the attached Schedule. Donald Harwin Special Minister of State Signed this 9th Day of November 2020. To view the standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 click on the link below.	Nov 13 2020

Standard exemptions for works requiring Heritage Council approval

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - State Heritage Register		00652	02 Apr 99	27	1546
Heritage Act - Permanent Conservation Order - former		00652	22 Dec 89	124
Local Environmental Plan	Sydney Local Environmental Plan		01 Dec 05
National Trust of Australia register		6103	01 Nov 82

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
National Trust Suburban Register	1986	6103	National Trust of Australia (NSW)		No

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written	Griffiths, G; Shields-Brown, I.	1982	National Trust of Australia (NSW) Classification Sheet
Written	Sing, Tricia	1988	"Bulletin Place: a new retail/commercial drawcard - reminder of early Sydney"

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Heritage NSW
Database number:	5045674
File number:	S90/04407 & HC 89/1131

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