LIMESTONE FEATURE(S), 89 ATTFIELD STREET

Statement of Significance

Use of limestone as part of the Fremantle landscape gives the City coherence and character. Limestone walls are one commonly encountered example of use of this stone as a building material, most of them dating from the 19th century and early years of the 20th century. It is not known how old this particular wall is.

Physical Description

A limestone retaining wall.

History

Attfield St is named after Dr George Attfield, Imperial Surgeon 1854-1879, who qualified in London in 1850. He attended Fremantle Gaol and was Superintendent at Fremantle Lunatic Asylum. Attfield married a daughter of Surveyor-General Roe. He died in Brighton UK c1923. The street was developed from the late 1890s, with the majority of the houses dating from the first two decades of the twentieth century. 89 Attfield Street was formerly 125 Attfield Street. Numbers changed in1935/36. 89 Attfield Street is first listed in the Post Office directories in 1900. The 1908 sewerage plan of the site shows a stone wall between the properties at 89 and 91 Attfield Street. This wall extended approximately half way along the property boundary from the street frontage. The limestone features apparent on this lot are probably remnants of the first buildings on the site. Retaining walls and foundations were most often of the local limestone either quarried on site or transported from the nearby quarries. This place was identified in the "Heritage Report on 19th century limestone walls and steps in Fremantle" prepared by Silvana Grassadonia, for the City of Fremantle, 1986.

Condition

Condition assessed as fair (assessed from streetscape survey only).

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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