Bay View Terrace Commercial Heritage Precinct

Child Places

• 07591 National Bank (fmr)
• 00483 Claremont Post Office
• 25979 Drabble Building (fmr)
• 25554 Commercial Building
• 00486 Claremont Railway Station
• 25620 Shop
• 25611 Shop
• 25547 Commercial Building
• 25558 Commercial Building
• 25621 Shop
• 25610 Shops
• 25617 Shop
• 25603 Shop
• 25619 Shop
• 25561 Commercial Building
• 14772 Commonwealth Bank of Australia
• 25551 Commercial Building
• 25609 Shop
• 00483 Claremont Post Office
• 25979 Drabble Building (fmr)
• 07591 National Bank (fmr)
• 03991 Claremont Hotel (fmr)
• 25613 Shop
• 25612 Shop
• 03991 Claremont Hotel (fmr)
• 25623 Shop

Statement of Significance

Bay View Terrace Heritage Area demonstrates the earliest and ongoing commercial heart of the Town of Claremont, represented by the form and fabric of most of the original buildings and later infill of a similar form. Bookended at the significant Claremont Hotel, and the Post Office historically located opposite the railway station, Bay View Terrace is the social and historic heart of retail Claremont.

Physical Description

Cohesive group of one and two storey commercial buildings demonstrating predominantly the Federation Free Classical period of architecture, with appropriate scaled infill.

History

In 1886 when the Claremont railway station was built on its current site the future of Bay View Terrace as the central shopping area of Claremont was secured. Initially named Humble Street, the thoroughfare, with the station at its termination, was renamed Bay View Terrace in 1894, that name being considered by residents as more in accordance with the middle class aspirations of the suburb.

The Municipality of Claremont Rate Books begin at 1903-04 and some of the shops were in existence at that time. Others were added over the following years but it is impossible to be entirely sure what was built when, as the Rate Book entries are not consistent in the early years as to the location of the buildings, or what the buildings comprised. In some cases, especially on the east side of the Terrace, the groupings of the shops is difficult to discern now, owing to the alterations of the parapets, and some shops have been altered internally to combine spaces and later divide them again.

For clarity and continuity, the existing shop configurations have been used to identify the buildings, and these are the same as those used in the Duncan Stephen & Mercer Streetscape Study.

Regardless of the alterations, the shops on the east side of the Terrace provide the more original streetscape, with the major alterations being toward the southern end in the area of Old Theatre Lane. The shops located between the Post Office and what is now Walter Drabble Lane, were built on Lots 56, 57, 63 and 64, which were owned by Horace Stirling (See plan Image 1). Some of these shops were in existence by 1903-04, and others were added over the following few years. All were in existence by 1910-11. In that year, the owner of these premises was Bullock Bros. A 1915 photograph (See Image 2) shows the early streetscape and the way the buildings at No.2-8 and No.24-36 'bookend' the multi-shop building in between with its reduced height parapet, creating a balanced streetscape.

The west side of the Terrace developed more slowly and some of the earlier buildings were not in place until the 1920s. This area has also had the most intervention with fewer of the early buildings remaining.


The first shop in Claremont was established by the Koeppe family on the corner of Leura Avenue and the Perth to Fremantle Road (Stirling Highway) in the late 1880s. They later moved to the corner of Bay View Terrace and Stirling Highway and were recorded there in 1897. A Post Office was located on the eastern corner of Bay View Terrace and Gugeri Street in 1886 and Edward Massey had a substantial stone store and bakery on the western corner by 1894. The Claremont Hotel was built on this site a few years later. Other shops and businesses were established down the Terrace to its junction with the Perth-Fremantle Road, their architecture a direct result of the gold boom period of the 1890s and early 1900s. Horse drawn cabs had their rank outside the railway station, which was later the terminus for the United Bus Line. Trams ran down the Terrace from the railway station from 1924 to 1936.
The Municipality of Claremont Rate Books begin at 1903-04 and some of the shops were in existence at that time. Others were added over the following years but it is impossible to be entirely sure what was built when, as the Rate Book entries are not consistent in the early years as to the location of the buildings, or what the buildings comprised. In some cases, especially on the east side of the Terrace, the groupings of the shops is difficult to discern now, owing to the alterations of the parapets, and some shops have been altered internally to combine spaces and later divide them again.
For clarity and continuity, the existing shop configurations have been used to identify the buildings, and these are the same as those used in the Duncan Stephen & Mercer Streetscape Study.
Regardless of the alterations, the shops on the east side of the Terrace provide the more original streetscape, with the major alterations being toward the southern end in the area of Old Theatre Lane. The shops located between the Post Office and what is now Walter Drabble Lane, were built on Lots 56, 57, 63 and 64, which were owned by Horace Stirling (See plan Image 1). Some of these shops were in existence by 1903-04, and others were added over the following few years. All were in existence by 1910-11. In that year, the owner of these premises was Bullock Bros. A 1915 photograph (See Image 2) shows the early streetscape and the way the buildings at No.2-8 and No.24-36 'bookend' the multi-shop building in between with its reduced height parapet, creating a balanced streetscape.
The west side of the Terrace developed more slowly and some of the earlier buildings were not in place until the 1920s. This area has also had the most intervention with fewer of the early buildings remaining.

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.