Frog Hollow

Frog Hollow, pictured in 1901, prior to resumption and demolition

There is a considerable height difference between Harrington and Gloucester Streets and for the entire nineteenth century there were no buildings with a Gloucester Street frontage at the northern end of the block; rather single- and two-storey buildings were located in the hollow below, which became known as Frog Hollow. The housing in Frog Hollow was of a much lower standard than the terrace that developed fronting Harrington Street. These buildings had no street access other than via stairs and passageways. Frog Hollow contained 12 dwellings of which ten were identical in plan, containing a single room on the ground floor, with a fireplace, and a single room above. The front door opened directly into the ground floor room and the staircase was located along the back wall. Of the remaining three dwellings, one was of the same type, but extended considerably and a second was a single-storey block containing three rooms.^[1]

The residences in Frog Hollow and lining Harrington Street were all tenanted. It was a characteristic of The Rocks that the lower-standard accommodation was in the back lanes, with a higher quality of house fronting the streets. By the mid 1880s a set of stairs had been built from the corner of Essex Street leading down into Frog Hollow. These passages and steps provided the only access to the houses in Frog Hollow.^[1]

By 1900 the buildings in Frog Hollow were the property of Peter Francis Hart (1840–1917). Hart, a builder and contractor, had served as the Alderman for the Gipps Ward of the Council of the City of Sydney from 1883 until 1899. Despite his ownership of properties later condemned, Hart appears to have been interested in urban improvements, serving on various Council committees including the Refuse Committee, the Specifications and Tenders Committee, the Heights of Buildings Committee and the Electric Lighting Committee. Hart had other properties in the vicinity, and Harts Buildings (now Hart's pub) at 10-14 Essex Street built in the 1890s still bear his name.^[1]

Resumption, demolition and redevelopment

Following the outbreak of bubonic plague in December 1900, an extensive cleansing of the perceived slum areas was undertaken and the entire area from Millers Point, where the outbreak occurred, as far south as Charlotte Place (Grosvenor Street) was resumed by the state, under the Public Works Act.^[1]

It is no wonder that the group of dwellings in Frog Hollow was condemned, as the record plan shows that for the 12 dwellings there were only three privies. One dwelling had a designated kitchen, although one of the ground floor rooms of the house in the middle of the group is also likely to have served as a kitchen. The remainder of the houses had one room on the ground floor which was used as combined kitchen and living room. There were no bathrooms. Frog Hollow was demolished between November 1901 and April 1905.^[1]

The irregular allotments at the intersection of Gloucester and Essex Streets were regularised and 20 new lots created, each with a street frontage. A survey was undertaken in April 1905 and the first "auction sale of the Observatory Hill lands" occurred on 4 December 1905.^[1]

Drawings for a building on the corner site were prepared by the Government Architect's Branch under the jurisdiction of George McRae, dated 28 February 1909 and designated as a "Factory and Dwelling". The factory was designed with the health of the workers in mind, providing natural light, fireproof construction and a staff dining room. No. 120 Gloucester Street is the only surviving example of a model factory within the resumed areas.^[1]

The structure contained storage space in the basement level, warehousing on the ground floor, workrooms on the first floor, and a three-bedroom flat on the second floor. A letter to the town clerk written in 1911 refers to the "new factory at 120 Gloucester Street". Council's rate book for the Gipps Ward for the years 1911–1913 notes that a store and factory at 120 Gloucester St was rated to Chung Lun and owned by the Government of NSW (Rocks Resumptions).^[1]

Chung Lun previously held premises at 28–30 Essex Street, operating as "soft-goods warehousemen". Chung Lun continued his links with 120 Gloucester Street until 1926. The building was then rated to Ella Beatrice Steward who operated the refreshment rooms until the mid-1940s. In a document dated 30 March 2011, the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage incorrectly named the building at 120 Gloucester Street "the Housing Board Building". This seems to result from its confusion with another building in The Rocks built to house the Resumed Properties section of the Department of Public Works which was located at No. 16-18 Grosvenor Street,^[1] namely the NSW Housing Board Building in Grosvenor Street.

Developments since the 1990s

The building continued to function as a shop and residence until c. 1990 when it was used as a site office for the construction of the "Quay West" apartment building on the opposite side of Essex Street. In 1997 builder, R. E. Charles Constructions Pty Ltd was engaged to undertake repair and maintenance works at 120 Gloucester St which amounted to $26,359. Work continued into 1998 on the roof of the building. In December 2003 the NSW Heritage Council approved a development application for the upgrading of the building and its combination with the adjoining building at 117–119 Harrington Street. The proposal was prepared by the architect, John Graham & Associates. These plans were used as a basis to attract expressions of interest for the conservation and adaptive re-use of the building to be funded by the future developer/occupant of the building in return for a long lease to the building. In June 2004 title to the building was transferred from the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority to the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority. In 2005 a revised development application was lodged by HEG Holdings Pty Ltd which was prepared by architects, Noosphere Ideas Pty Ltd. whilst combining the buildings at 120 Gloucester and 117–119 Harrington Streets, the revised proposal deleted the already approved new top floor to 117–119 Harrington Street and substituted a two-storey, lightweight penthouse of unambiguously modern design. The 1950 lift shaft and stairs were retained in their original location within 117–119 Harrington Street. The 2006 work uncovered a severely deteriorated interior to 120 Gloucester Street.^[1]

Application was sought and approval given to vary the conditions of consent so that the interior timbers could be removed and replaced with new timbers. This work necessitated the gutting of the building back to its masonry walls. All the original internal fabric was lost including timber floor structure and flooring, timber staircase, corrugated metal ceilings, internal non-masonry walls, etc. In addition the roof top laundry and chimneys were also lost along with the roof structure. The parapet along the east side of the building adjoining 117–119 Harrington Street was demolished so that the terrace area of the penthouse at 117-119 Harrington Street could be extended over part of the roof area of 120 Gloucester Street. This work was carried out in 2006.^[1]

In 2005 a 99-year lease was signed with HEG Holdings Pty Ltd who developed the building project and in 2006 the lease was transferred to the current lessee, Downey Day Walden. 117–119 Harrington Street is now known as Dawnay Day House and is the Australian headquarters of the Dawnay Day Group. In addition to containing the offices of Dawnay Day Walden, the combined building of 117–119 Harrington Street and 120 Gloucester Street contains the offices of various tenants which are accessed from the four entrances to the combined buildings. The four entrances are located at 117–119 Harrington Street, 7 Essex Street, 5 Essex Street and 120 Gloucester Street.^[2][1]

Archaeology notes: Site of Frog Hollow (reputation for being a slum), demolished c. 1901. Housing board erected the current shop/ dwelling/ warehouse in 1909.^[1]

Condition

Archaeology Assessment Condition as of 27 April 2001: Mostly disturbed. Assessment Basis: Basements terraced into hill slope.^[1]

Modifications and dates

• 1997 – Repair and maintenance works. Work continued into 1998 on the roof of the building.
• 2003 – Upgrading of the building and its combination with the adjoining building at 117-119 Harrington Street.
• 2005 – A revised development application combining the buildings at 120 Gloucester and 117-119 Harrington Streets, the revised proposal deleted the already approved new top floor to 117-119 Harrington Street and substituted a two-storey, lightweight penthouse of unambiguously modern design. The 1950 lift shaft and stairs were retained in their original location within 117-119 Harrington Street. The 2006 work uncovered a severely deteriorated interior to 120 Gloucester Street.
• 2006 – All the original internal fabric was lost including timber floor structure and flooring, timber staircase, corrugated metal ceilings, internal non-masonry walls, etc. In addition the roof top laundry and chimneys were also lost along with the roof structure. The parapet along the east side of the building adjoining 117-119 Harrington Street was demolished so that the terrace area of the penthouse at 117-119 Harrington St could be extended over part of the roof area of 120 Gloucester Street.^[1]

Further information

The façades are substantially intact with regard to expressing the original 1911 form of the building including the external brickwork, roughcast render, timber window and door frames, the suspended awning over the Gloucester Street shopfront and the dramatically curved parapet around the flat roof. The addition of the penthouse to the roof of 117–119 Harrington Street alters the view and appreciation of the building looking east down Essex Street. The tiling around the Essex Street entry to the lowest floor and the subsequent removal of the tiles (leaving a cement-rendered area) impacts on the integrity of the Essex Street façade. The interior structure of mild-steel stanchion and mild-steel main beam remains, but all the timber joists and flooring have been removed and replaced. Interior wall and floor tiling and all the sanitary fixtures have been removed.^[4][1]

Bibliography

• Higginbotham, Kass & Walker (1991). The Rocks and Millers Point Archaeological Management Plan.
• Robertson & Hindmarsh P/L (2008). Conservation Management Plan 120 Gloucester Street, The Rocks.
• Rod Howard Heritage Conservation P/L (1994). 120 Gloucester Street & 117-119 Harrington Street, The Rocks Conservation Plan.
• Hayes, I.; Sydney Cove Authority (SCA) (1994). The history, description and cultural significance of 117-119 Harrington Street, The Rocks.
• Sydney Cove Authority (SCA) (1998). SCA Register 1979-1998.

Attribution

This Wikipedia article was originally based on Housing Board Building, entry number 1552 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 14 October 2018.