FORMER OATE'S STABLES (DEMOLISHED), 38 DOURO ROAD

Statement of Significance

DEMOLISHED- retained on MHI database for historical information purposes only.

Physical Description

DEMOLISHED

History

Between 1900 and 1930, Chesterfield was a separate suburb, focused around Douro Road. The street is named for the Duke of Wellington, who was also the Marquis of Douro, after the Battle of the passage of the Douro River in the Peninsular War. Douro Rd meets Marine Tce, which was formerly Wellington Tce. A 1908 PWD drawing shows a Church of England Sunday School on the south-west corner of Douro Road and Walker Streets, and shops to the street frontage on Douro Road on the corners of Thomas, Hulbert (Jane) and Chester streets. Large stables were also located on the south-east corner of Hulbert and Douro Road. In 1934, plans were approved for a brick residence on Lot 64 of Subdivision 12 (38 Douro Road) for David Oates. The house was built by D Drysdale of Dalgety Street, East Fremantle, at a cost of ₤540. A timber and corrugated iron stables building (in the shape of an L) was built at the rear of the house for Oates. The stables were named ‘Gloaman’ after one of Oate’s horses. Dave Miller lived took over the stables in 1965, when ‘horseracing was still a big, although shrinking, industry at South Beach.’ Dave Miller created a track through the dunes to the South Fremantle Power Station on which he trained his horses. By 1997, this track had become a popular cycleway. The stables closed in 1997 after a protracted battle between the City of Fremantle and the developer of the adjacent blocks. By-laws regarding the distance between the stables and residences limited the development potential of the adjacent land and this was strongly fought by the developer. Although the City of Fremantle fought to retain the working stables, it was ruled that the stables must close. Mr Miller dismantled the stables to recycle the timber on his Hope Valley property. The place was included in the "Heritage Study South Fremantle", prepared by John Taylor Architects, for the City of Fremantle, June 1993. The place was included on the original Municipal Heritage Inventory that was adopted in 2000 and the Heritage List in 2008. During the 2019 Annual Update of the Municipal Inventory and Heritage List the heritage significance of this place was reviewed and it was found that the heritage listing referred to a building or structure that had legally been demolished in the past. It also found that the existing buildings and structures on the site do meet the threshold for inclusion on the Heritage List. On 25 July 2019 Fremantle Council resolved to remove this place from the Heritage List and to change the Municipal Heritage Inventory category to Historic Record Only to record the earlier history of the site.

Integrity/Authenticity

DEMOLISHED

Condition

DEMOLISHED

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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