St Marks Glebe, Randwick

Randwick’s Fine St. Mark’s Glebe Heritage Houses

Heritage listed Venice, 66 Frenchmans Road Randwick, corner of Searle Avenue

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See also: Venice, Randwick Heritage

• The Frenchman’s Road site on which the Gothic house ‘Venice‘ stands was originally part of a 30 acre 3rods and 9 perches Crown Grant to the Church of England and Ireland in 1857.
• The Estate was granted to the United Church of England to be used for the upkeep of St Mark’s Anglican Church, Darling Point.
• In 1882 the Church began sub-dividing the land under the name of St Marks Glebe.
• The Glebe seems to be bounded by Frenchman’s Road to the North, and Alison Road to the South.
• In the map below, the area probably continued to the North East along Searle Avenue, to include the area of Venice, which is just off the map.
• The Glebe lies on either side of ‘Glebe Gully’, from Glebe Street in the East to Dutruc Street in the West.
  

  Duke of Gloucester Hotel, 49-55 Frenchmans Road

• Could the land of the Duke of Gloucester Hotel, 49-55 Frenchmans Road, (corner of Frenchman’s Road and St Marks Road,) have been included in the Grant? That this was Glebe land is highly likely, and If so, this must be because the sale of that Glebe land was further on sold, without a caveat as to purpose. (No noxious trades were allowed [on Glebe land], for example boiling down works, slaughter house or beer house.) – NSW Heritage (Venice)

 

St Mark’s Church, Darling Point, (1848-70) is in the Early English Gothic style.

 

The Sixteen Hectare Glebe Grant probably ran from Frenchman’s Road to Alison Road, bounded by Dutruc Street on the West, and Glebe Street on the East

 

What is the area’s significance?

St. Mark’s Heritage Conservation Area

“A fine collection of residential buildings, including nineteenth century villas and terraces and twentieth century cottages, adjacent to an important area of remnant bushland.

• The area extends west from Glebe Gully to include parts of Dutruc Street, St Marks Road, Rae Street and Wood Street.

Historic Significance:

• St Mark’s Road and Dutruc Streets have considerable historical interest. They were created by subdivision of the former Church of England Glebe Estate in 1888.
• The strong demand for land in the area ensured the establishment of substantial homes for the well-to-do, all within the significant Late Victorian “boom period”.
• The Church’s continuing ownership of the adjoining Glebe gully was also of interest, as it ensured the gully’s eventual preservation.
• Other housing in the precinct is historically representative of the wide range of house types. –St. Mark’s Heritage Conservation Area
  
  
• “Fred Hollows Reserve is an unexpected delight. It is a remarkable survival as the last of the near‐rainforested gulleys which once led down from the Coogee Basin, intersecting the rocky outcrops and sandhills of the area.
• “Formerly known as Glebe Gully because in 1857 it was a 16 hectare part of the ʹglebe landsʹ granted to St Marks Church in distant Darling Point, it was renamed in recent years for eye surgeon and environmentalist, Professor Fred Hollows (1929‐97).
• Hollows, a local, became and remains, an iconic Australian figure because of his pioneering work repairing the ravages of eye diseases amongst Australian Aborigines and the disadvantaged of several Asian and African countries.” – CIRCULAR QUAY TO SOUTH HEAD AND CLOVELLY LOOP WALK L14: RANDWICK

Aesthetic Significance:

“The St Mark’s precinct boasts the City’s largest, most consistent collection of nineteenth century dwellings. There are two or three main building groupings, which together provide a very good representation of styles, types and densities.

1. The first main grouping features several outstanding Victorian villas, on large lots, fronting St Mark’s Road and Dutruc Street.
2. The second includes impressive terraces, and more modest Victorian, Federation and Inter-War cottages and semi-detached, centred on Rae and Wood Streets.
3. A third grouping consists of a mixture of styles and periods extending north to Frenchmans Road.

“Although there are several modern and disruptive buildings present, there are two fine rows of intact buildings, one on the west side of St Mark’s Road, and one on the north side of Rae Street. Most of these are individually listed as heritage items.
The recently restored house on the pivotal corner of Rae and Dutruc Streets (“EARLSWOOD” 54 Dutruc Street, Randwick) has become something of a landmark, and is an outstanding example of a Late Victorian villa.

Earlwood, 54 Dutruc Street Randwick

“Buildings and gardens combine well with the topography and some good street planting. The street pattern provides some interesting internal vistas, and there is a notable view south along Dutruc Street to the Brigidine Convent on the other side the Coogee valley.” – St. Mark’s Heritage Conservation Area

Alison Road

by Piotr Miernik Selected for Google Earth

by Ondrej Klokoc Selected for Google Earth

 

by 王涛 – Tao Wang Selected for Google Earth