Block of old shops to be demolished

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32957, 1 July 1972, Page 11

Block of old shops to be demolished

(By

W.J.A. BRITTENDEN)

Gould’s Building, on the northern corner of Cambridge Terrace and Victoria Street, is to be demolished next week to make room for a car park on which, at some time in the future, will be built the administrative buildings to accommodate the City Council and its many departments.

Gould’s Building was one of four, designed hy C. S. Farr, mentioned in “The Press” of July 5, 1873, in an article on substantial buildings recently completed or in the course of erection.

"These (buildings),” said "The Press,” “stand upon a very advantageous site facing the Whately road near the Victoria Bridge, and when completed will form quite a feature in that part of the city, the ground being high enabling them to be seen from Market Place and adjacent localities.

“The buildings comprise shops of a very superior character, having attached to them apartments en suite for the accommodation of the occupants who may desire to live on the premises. There are five shops, each having a gold plate glass front; two of them have a frontage of 20 feet each and, the centre shop, 37 feet 6in and the remaining two, 17 feet each. A veranda on Farr’s O.G. principle runs the entire 110 feet of the front, the posts being ornamented from a very good design and are now being cast at the Canterbury (Anderson’s) Foundry.” Does anyone today know what Farr’s principle is? Is

it the concave curve to the roof next to the building with a convex curve down to the posts? “The centre shop,” continued “The Press,” “. . . has a large showroom on the floor above, a fitting room adjoining and a small office at the back. The other shops —those on either end of the block — have each a sitting room, two bedrooms and a kitchen attached.” The upper floor of the centre shop, subsequently divided into two. is the Social Welfare “6A” centre for adolescents. Hill removed The paper goes on to describe the facade, mentions 12 windows, thus making it clear that the three shops facing Cambridge Terrace were built later. An 1878 photograph of Market Place, shows them there, looking brand new. Incidentally. “Market Place” was, las' century, not only the name of Victoria Square but also that stretch of Cambridge Terrace between Armagh and Colombo streets although the piece from the Supreme Court to Armagh Street was restricted to a footway only, in 1872. The “hill” which existed there was removed to provide fill for the approaches to the Cashel Street bridge, about to be built. Oxford Terrace, from Armagh Street to Colombo Street was not formed until 1879 Much of the decoration remains, including the bas-

relief wreaths and, surprisingly, the parapet and “vases.” There was one rather exotic detail. The paper reported that a “lifesize effigy of a lion couchant” was to be placed in the centre of the balustrade parapet “Life-like” would be more accurate. The lion, about three feet long, is still there although it has moved along to the comer where, in more recent years it has been over-shadowed by a larger neon species the like of which George Gould could hardly have imagined. Chemists Next week the demolition experts may be able to test the contention that the 32foot high brick building was “very strongly built” and will, no doubt, come across the iron hooping which banded the building at each two feet of height. This was an attempt, no doubt, to prevent a recurrence of the damage suffered by buildings during the earthquakes of June, 1869.

The changing of street numbers and apparent inconsistencies in directories

make it difficult to be precise about the tenants of Gould’s Buildings. The only pre-1873 reference I have is Mrs Mary Hawdon’s (nee Barker) description of the artist who had a shop on the comer, to the door of which he had fastened a large painting of Hell which he was unable to sell. It was realistic, or at all events effective, because the young Barker girl was scared to go past. The new building did attract two professions — pharmacy and photography. The dates I quote are for the only street directories to which I had access. Obviously a tenant could have started business up to four or five years before the first date given and equally could still have been in occupation a similar time after the second date. J. Stevens, chemist, was on the comer in 1878 and in 1890 while W. Barnett was listed in 1890 and 1900.

On the Cambridge Terrace frontage was the photography studios of Grand Dunlop (1878-1885) to be followed by A. Gadd (1894), Fred Hughes (1905-1910) and F. Burrell who occupied shops on both sides of the

comer. That he called his business “The Coronation Studios” would suggest that he commenced in 1911. He was replaced by Henry Hampton, who appears in 1926, and was still there in 1939, to be followed by Father Divine’s Peace Mission. Early hotel At the comer of Kilmore and Victoria Streets was the Britannia Hotel (1860-1894) and in Victoria Street between Kilmore and Cambridge were a number of long-lived businesses. Older readers may remember William Dickenson, tobacconist (1916-1939), or one of the three herbalists—M. E. Kornberg, 1890, William Taylor Dawson, 1905, and Fred Webb, 1929. Other long term tenants were Shrewsbury Kingsford, 1885-1920, Alfred White, bookseller, 1878-1895, and Rex Leathercrafts which have occupied the comer for the last 28 years. Almost a century ago Gould’s Building was an outstanding edifice of its type.