Motor Museum Workshop

Parent Place or Precinct

26586 Central York Heritage Area

Statement of Significance

York Motor Garage is significant in demonstrating ways of life no longer practiced, and association with W.T.Davies who established the garage, the Army during World War Two, and the York Motor Museum. It makes a contribution to the Avon Terrace streetscape and the townscape of York.

Physical Description

The single storey masonry building has a half-timbered fibrocement clad gable frontages above a more recent bullnose veranda across the expansive double frontage that is supported by square timber posts. It is not clear which half of the building was constructed first. The south section has a vehicle opening flanked by single windows, and the north section that extends along the secondary street frontage, has a central entry flanked by shopfront glazings. The front wall has a door entry and a small window.

History

When the new York Town Hall was built in 1911, W. T. Davies bought the old Council Chambers and the two adjoining blocks for ₤750. He sold the Council Chambers to the newly formed York Volunteer Fire Brigade for ₤750 but retained the land on which he built the first portion of the York Motor Garage. Davies bought plant from a Perth engineering firm consisting of a ten-foot lathe, a milling machine, heavy drilling machines, and all the necessary tools that went with this plant. He bought them as a going concern for ₤900 and ran it as a workshop before leasing it to Thomas Humphrey. The business changed hands several times prior to World War Two before it was acquired by the Army for war work, and the plant was transferred back to Perth. The Army occupied the workshop until after the war. Later the York Motor Museum and Garage and Workshop occupied the place, and more recently it’s been a second-hand shop.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: Moderate Authenticity: Moderate

Condition

Poor

Uses

Creation Date

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