Subiaco Police Station

Statement of Significance

Subiaco Police Station, Lock-up and Quarters (fmr), 365 Bagot Road, Subiaco, is of cultural heritage significance:  For its historical value as part of the initial development of government and community services at a time when Subiaco was evolving from a sparsely populated settlement of tents and wooden houses into an established suburb.  For its social value as the centre of law and order in Subiaco for approximately 112 years (1898-2010)  As relatively rare example of a late nineteenth century cottage style police station, in which the police office, lock-up, prisoner exercise yard, officer-in-charge quarters and single constable’s quarters were provided within a continuous structure.  For the interpretive evidence it provides about the residential and work accommodation provided for suburban police officers in Western Australia in the late 1890s

Physical Description

The former Police Station, Lock-up and Quarters at 365 Bagot Road, Subiaco was originally designed in the style of a modest suburban residence, with a discrete entrance to the station office set back along the eastern side. Later additions almost doubled the frontage, but the early twentieth century character was retained until alterations to the roof and verandah posts in the mid-twentieth century created a more restrained, functional appearance. Key elements of the present building include the: Two-tone (autumn blend) tiled, hipped roof, which extends in an unbroken line over the front verandahs and as an awning over the window to the central bay. Note: the original plans (1897-1898) show that the roof has retained its original form over the first section of the building (comprising the projecting bay and the rooms to the west of this bay). This roof was shown as being tiled with ridge cresting and curved (rams-horn) finials at the hip junctions. Since that time the main roofline has been extended to the east (over the 1935 office extension) and retiled in a mid-twentieth century style. Very large face brick chimney on the western side of the central bay, with a simple projecting brick string course and stepped cap. Note: the original plans (1897-1898) show that this chimney was located at the centre point of the original ridgeline. It was built to serve four corner fireplaces, two on either side of the hallway of the officer-in-charge residence.  Smaller face brick chimney with a projecting hearth wall at the eastern end of the building (constructed as part of the 1935 additions).  Plain stretcher-bond face brick walls.  Central projecting wing, separating the verandah for the original residence (on the western side) and the verandah for the 1935 office (on the eastern side). This has a single double hung window with a rendered rectangular sill. The awning over the window extends in a continuous line from the main roof and is framed on either side by plain diagonal brackets, clad with timber panelling (consistent with the original plans). Verandah to the former residence. This has a concrete floor and step and plain timber posts. There is a low-waisted four-panel door adjacent to the central bay, with a plain highlight over. A single double hung window with a rendered rectangular sill opens onto the verandah from the front room. Note: the above detailing is consistent with the original plans with the exception of the floor (which was timber) and the verandah posts. The latter were shown with projecting timber plinths, projecting timber capitals and carved timber brackets.  Verandah to the 1935 police office. The detailing of this is similar to the verandah to the former residence, with the addition of a later concrete ramp to provide universal access. Brick pavilion to the rear of the main building with a hipped corrugated metal roof and a brick chimney. The parts of this building that are visible above the high side and rear fences show that the western façade and the western end of the southern façade has similar detailing to the main building, which confirms that it was the original semi-detached lock-up, kitchen and single constable’s bedroom. The eastern end of the southern façade (the former cells) has been rendered with later window openings. The eastern façade is face brick, confirming that this was the original extent of the building.  Demountable pavilion on the eastern side of the former prisoner exercise yard, erected in mid-2006. The front yard is finished with a low face-brick retaining wall (which appears to date from the mid-twentieth century), behind which there is a small area of lawn – divided by concrete pathways to each entrance. A driveway to the rear yard runs along the eastern boundary. A high flat-pan metal fence runs along the western (Hensman Road) boundary. The surrounding streetscape is mixed, with a combination of the Theatre Gardens (facing Bagot Road and Hensman Road), the adjacent Tom Dadour Community Centre (built as part of the police complex in c.1960 and later adapted as a community centre), buildings and car parking areas associated with the King Edward Memorial Hospital (opposite), and c.1970s residential unit development (facing Hensman Road).

History

On 13 March 1883, the Western Australian government announced it would survey a section of the Perth Commonage into suburban lots and that these would be made available for private sale. Within this subdivision, the subject site was initially set aside as part of a large Government reserve bounded by Bagot, Rokeby, Hamersley and Hensman Roads. During the period around the turn of the century some of the land along the Bagot Road and Rokeby Road frontages was excised for state government, local government and church buildings, including this block at the north-western corner of the reserve. In the wake of the gold rushes, the population of Subiaco began to develop rapidly in the mid-late 1890s: The present population of Subiaco is set down at about 1,300. At the same time last year it was about 150. (August 1896) Initially this was a somewhat ramshackle settlement of tents and wooden houses, but with the establishment of the Subiaco Progress Association and the Subiaco Roads Board in 1896 it began to take on the characteristics of an established suburb. In 1897 the population was recorded as 2,700 and rapid growth continued from that time. The construction of government buildings began in 1896, with the first post office and school, both of which were located on the government reserve at the corner of Bagot and Rokeby Roads. The establishment of a police station at Subiaco was also under consideration by July 1897 and plans had been prepared by the beginning of 1898. This showed that the officer’s quarters occupied much of the original building facing Bagot Road (comprising a sitting room and two bedrooms, with a bathroom off the rear verandah). A separate porch along the eastern side provided access to a police office at the south-eastern corner of the main building. This was attached to a rear pavilion by a walled, open-air prisoner’s exercise yard immediately behind the office. The rear pavilion included the single constable’s room and a kitchen at the western end (the latter accessed from the officer’s quarters by a covered walkway). At the eastern end there were two cells, opening onto the exercise yard. Tenders were called for the construction of this building in February 1898 (with the lowest tender being submitted by Messrs Saunders and Curry) and at the beginning of the following year the new station was described as follows: Police station and cells: Quarters of three rooms, and charge and office room, kitchen, bathroom, and single constable's room, with verandah. Lock-up, semi-detached, of two cells with enclosed exercise yard. Water supply of 1,200 gallons in tanks. Concrete foundations, brick walls, iron roof. Completed July 8, 1898. Cost £985 15s 6d. As part of a rapid expansion of government services, this was one of at least nine new police stations built in the metropolitan region in 1895 to 1899. Tenders were called for the construction of a stable in 1901, which was a modest timber framed building comprising a loose-box and attached feed room. The first constable-in-charge was Henry Charles Sampson, who lived in the quarters with his wife, Sarah, until c.1900. Most of the officers who were in charge at Subiaco during the first half of the twentieth century served terms of 1 to 6 years, but James Harris served as office-in-charge from 1911 until 1931. James married twice (his first wife dying in 1911) and had nine children who survived infancy (born between 1902 and the 1920s) – which may have placed considerable pressure on the three room quarters over time. Harris’ tenure at Subiaco ended on his retirement from the police force in 1931, at which time the following brief summary of his career was provided in The Daily News (together with a detailed report on his heroic actions during a shoot out that followed an armed robbery in Perth in 1900): Born in Victoria on May 26, 1866, James Harris joined the W.A. police force on October 11, 1895, to become P.C. 183. (Constables recently sworn have numbers nearing 1700.) As first class constable he saw service at Derby until 1899, when he returned to Perth to take over the Causeway Station. Came transfers to Claremont, Bridgetown and back to the city. In 1908 he was appointed corporal, and in 1917 second class sergeant. Since 1911 he has been in charge at Subiaco. Over time, numerous contemporary newspaper articles also referred to the day-to-day operations of the Subiaco Police Station in maintaining law and order in the suburb. The next newspaper reference found for works at the Subiaco Police Station was a tender of £213 for additions, which was accepted in 1935. PWD plans confirm that the building had remained as-designed until that time, with the new works simply extending the main façade to the east to provide a detective’s office. The front façade of this room was designed as a mirror image of the original residence, and the drawings show roof cresting, terracotta finials, door, window and verandah detailing to match the 1898 works. The original police station porch was removed and a hallway created in this area to connect the new entrance, the detective’s office and the original police office at the rear. Plans for minor alterations to the detective’s office, prepared in January 1960, show that the functions of each space within the original station and quarters had remained largely unchanged until that time. However, at some stage between 1968 and the mid 1980s the main rooms of the residence were converted for use as part of the police station, as follows: public reception (former detective’s office); general office (former living room in the projecting front wing, connected to the public reception by a new counter opening through the eastern wall); Officer-in-Charge office (former front bedroom); office (former second bedroom) and general office (original police office). The rear building and exercise yard were not shown on this plan, but historical aerial photographs suggest that the prisoner exercise yard had been roofed over by the mid-1970s. In c.1960 a new building had been erected immediately east of the original police station for the Subiaco Traffic Branch, but by c.2000 this had been adapted and re-opened as the Tom Dadour Community Centre. Proposals for the closure of Subiaco Police Station were being considered by the State Government in 2009 as part of the development of a new service delivery model for the Perth Metropolitan area, based on a Western Suburbs Hub. By the following year the station had closed, with the 26 Subiaco officers moving to the Wembley Police Station. In 2012 the property (Lot 13746 on Deposited Plan 194955) was vested with the Health Department of Western Australia. It is currently occupied as King Edward Memorial Hospital N Block, and houses the Mediation & Legal Support Services; Women’s Health Clinical Support Programs; and the Statewide Obstetric Support Unit. Historical aerial photographs (dating from 1948) show that the building envelope has remained largely unchanged since the mid-twentieth century, with the exception of alterations at the rear of the main building. These included the roofing over of the old prisoner exercise yard (c.1970s); the erection of a demountable pavilion on the eastern side of the old exercise yard (2006); and the roofing over of the courtyard between the former residence and rear pavilion (2014).

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity - Moderate: The place is no longer used as a police station and residence, but its original use is capable of interpretation. Authenticity - Moderate: The original building envelope, some of the external detailing and the internal layout of the building has been altered over time, but the changes are capable of effective interpretation (based on the 1897-1898 and 1935 plans). Rarity/Representativeness - While the building has undergone alterations over time, the former Police Station, Lock-up and Quarters at 365 Bagot Road is one of a relatively small number of suburban police buildings surviving from the mid-late 1890s – a period of rapid expansion for the police service in Perth. It is also believed to be a relatively rare surviving example of the integration within a continuous structure of the police office, lock-up, prisoner exercise yard, officer-in-charge quarters and single constable’s quarters. By the post WWI era the accommodation and policing functions had begun to be separated.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update