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30-705: Strathalbyn Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 37 Commercial Road, Strathalbyn , South Australia , Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004. The Strathalbyn Post Office was constructed by the South Australian Public Works Department on behalf of the Commonwealth government in 1911–12, under the Superintendent of Public Buildings, Charles E. Owen-Smyth. The building

60-425: A general interior refurbishment including joinery, installation of suspended acoustic ceiling and finishes. At an unknown date before 1980, the dwarf wall in southern end of the front porch was demolished and a flagpole installed on front gable. At an unknown date before 1995, additional private boxes were installed in the south elevation within and beneath existing window bays and a small timber-framed awning to match

90-454: A harmonious element in the historic streetscape context, and as a backdrop to the Angas River parklands opposite. The integrity of the external form, detailing and fabric contribute to its aesthetic importance, and its visual prominence within the local context. Strathalbyn Post Office is a highly successful and well composed post office building displaying design excellence and craftsmanship. It

120-472: A lobby, office, telephone exchange, retiring office and bathroom for staff. A free-standing shed in the rear yard appears to be contemporary with the post office and was used as the telephone line technicians' office and store. The post office did not contain a residence as the original post office on the northern portion of the site (1859) was used for this purpose after the new building was completed. The original post office (then residence) on an adjoining site

150-456: A public building in the 'Commonwealth' style. Strathalbyn is recognised internationally for its main street full of antique shops with London House being one of the most historic. Andrew Douglas Ambrose Murrell, b. 22 July 1945 was a prominent South Australian art and antiques dealer operating out of the well-known London House in the 1980s who later went on to become an oil painter . Skillion roof A single-pitched roof can be

180-527: A quarry east of the town, injecting an estimated $ 29 million into the local economy and creating around 100 jobs. The mine was expected to yield zinc and lead, with small quantities of silver, gold and copper, and operate for seven years. This proposal was opposed by "The Residents for a Future Strathalbyn Inc." who were concerned about ecologically unsustainable development within their district. The mine stopped operating in October 2013 due to low metal prices and

210-461: A smaller addition to an existing roof, known in some areas as a lean-to roof, and a “outshot”, “catslide”, or skillion roof in others. Some Saltbox homes were expanded by the addition of such a roof, often at a shallower pitch than the original roof. Single-pitched roofs are used beneath clerestory windows. One or more single-pitched roofs can be used for aesthetic consideration(s). A form of single-pitched roof with multiple roof surfaces

240-465: A vent trio above. The triple vent motif is repeated at the front with two large post hall windows below. These are flanked by two fielded panels shaped from the rendering, and the rusticated piers. These set up an elevational instability characteristic of the Edwardian Baroque and of early twentieth century mannerism. This is also carried through on more Free Style terms on the open side wing, where

270-437: Is a highly characteristic regional example of a combined post and telegraph office and telephone exchange. Stylistically, Strathalbyn Post Office is a fine and substantially externally intact example of an Edwardian Baroque and Arts and Crafts hybrid applied to a public building in the "Commonwealth" style. It is substantially unaltered and comparatively rich in decorative detail. Aesthetically, Strathalbyn Post Office constitutes

300-735: Is a town in South Australia , in the Alexandrina Council . In 2016, the town had a population of approximately 6,500. Strathalbyn is 60 km southeast of Adelaide on the banks of the River Angas , at the southeastern edge of the Adelaide Hills and beginning of the Fleurieu Peninsula . Strathalbyn has a warm-summer mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csb ). Aboriginal Australian people are indigenous to

330-453: Is clad with corrugated galvanised steel with a central lantern ventilator. The projecting street wing has a rendered façade marked by four quasi-Doric rusticated piers and a stepped parapeted gable end. The porch alongside it has two Tuscan columns in antis, a concrete roof and non-original quarry tiling. The side wing, and matching bay on the north side, is in exposed stone with solidly proportioned cement dressing around three large windows and

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360-592: Is considered to be one of Owen-Smyth's most triumphant compositions, demonstrating a simultaneous command of both Classical and Edwardian Baroque detailing. [REDACTED] This Misplaced Pages article was originally based on Strathalbyn Post Office , entry number 105432 in the Australian Heritage Database published by the Commonwealth of Australia 2019 under CC-BY 4.0 licence , accessed on 15 May 2019. Strathalbyn, South Australia Strathalbyn

390-554: Is host to an annual collectors, hobbies and antique fair, held the third weekend of August every year. Other popular events are the Strathalbyn Rotary Club's renowned Duck Race, the Strathalbyn Show, and the collaborative Street Parade and Carols by Candlelight. There is a Sunday market, once per month, at Gilbert’s Motor Museum on High Street. In 1975, street scenes from the film Picnic at Hanging Rock were filmed in

420-505: Is relatively intact and clearly able to demonstrate its original typological and architectural intentions. Notwithstanding rear additions and some minor alterations, the original post office component remains legible and contributes positively to the streetscape. Key components which remain are the original roof form and detail (excluding ribbed metal sheeting), the face brick and stonework to walls, gable ends, plinth and dressings, fenestration, window joinery, signage and chimney . Internally,

450-469: The River Angas for recreation purposes, plus a site for a Presbyterian Church and cemetery. The community was soon the centre for a large pastoral and farming population, many of Scottish origin. Mining later became important in the area. The District Council of Strathalbyn was established in 1854. In 1868 a municipal council, the Corporation of Strathalbyn, was formed by the secession of section 2600 of

480-514: The Hundred of Strathalbyn from the district council. The town and district councils re-amalgamated in 1976. Strathalbyn was connected by broad gauge horse tram to Goolwa and Victor Harbor from 1869. The Victor Harbor railway line was extended to Mount Barker and Adelaide and was upgraded for steam engines from 1884. It was isolated again in 1995 when the Adelaide-Melbourne railway line

510-517: The area in which Strathalbyn is now located. Among them were tribes which are now commonly described as the Ngarrindjeri people, a generic ethnonym popularised by English missionary George Taplin for the various, distinct groups of people who occupied much of the Fleurieu Peninsula, lower Murray River and Coorong regions prior to and after colonisation . The town was founded in 1839,

540-406: The central windows are flanked by two doorways at a contrasting level, and all are accentuated against the stone with a thick-chord cement rendering. The rear wing of the original building is defined by a simple skillion roof form and the more utilitarian window groupings and entrance doors are screened by distinctive curved timber-framed and bracketed awnings . Externally, the original building

570-516: The economic ore reserve running out. The closure resulted in over 100 jobs being lost to the town. It is possible that the zinc mine will reopen to extract more ore if the sale price increases. A 5MW/10MWh Compressed air energy storage demonstration project is scheduled for the mine. Strathalbyn has four pubs on the centre of town, The Victoria , The Robin Hood , The Terminus , and the Commercial . It

600-464: The first landholders being Dr. Rankine , followed by Donald McLean . In 1846, the cadastral division, the Hundred of Strathalbyn , was proclaimed including the township of Strathalbyn at the south-western corner of the division. Strathalbyn was once a major stop on the route from Adelaide to Melbourne. The streets were laid out in a broad and liberal manner, with a large area reserved on either side of

630-431: The original awnings elsewhere constructed across the windows. It underwent additions c. 1995 with the relocation of a transportable building from another property, providing post office boxes and delivery centre. The new building was linked to the original by an enclosed corridor. All post boxes were removed from the original building, and the openings in the east wall of the front porch were fitted with sash windows and

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660-622: The original plan form of the public hall and mail room has been altered by the simple reorientation of the counter area, originally the defining element between the two spaces. Refurbishment has concealed or removed most original finishes and fittings, replacing them with modern ceiling lining, carpet, tiling, wall framing and standard retail fit out joinery. Externally and internally, the building appears to be in relatively sound condition and generally well maintained other than for ongoing maintenance issues with bird droppings, blocked gutters and associated flooding of roof space. Strathalbyn Post Office

690-461: The porch altered to accommodate a disabled access ramp and quarry tiling. Strathalbyn Post Office is at 37 Commercial Road, Strathalbyn. It is a style fusion of simplified Edwardian Baroque , Federation, and Arts and Crafts movement domestic. The post office is located in a fairly open wayside site in Commercial Road, the main commercial street of Strathalbyn. Although the northern portion of

720-497: The site is grassed, it originally contained Strathalbyn's first post office, a prominent building which completed the fine nineteenth and early twentieth century streetscape. The post office is sited opposite the Soldiers War Memorial and public gardens surrounding the Angas River. The post office is an L-shaped building, tightly formed and massed, with a corner porch entry flanked by two wings. The steeply pitched gabled roof

750-444: The south windows were reconstructed with the area beneath filled with rendered panels. It also underwent a substantial internal refurbishment of the front areas at this time, including removal of the former post master's office partition walls, demolition of original fireplace, reorientation of original counter, installation of standardised post shop retail fittings. The original front doors were replaced with automatic sliding doors and

780-488: The town. The Children's Bridge is a pedestrian bridge over the river in the park. The Strathalbyn Post Office was entered in the Commonwealth Heritage List in 2004. The Strathalbyn Post Office, constructed in 1911–1912, is historically important for its association with the development of the township of Strathalbyn. It is an example of an Edwardian Baroque and Arts and Crafts movement hybrid, applied to

810-512: Was constructed adjacent to the original post office which had been built in 1859. The original building was used as the post master's residence until around 1968, when a new residence was completed elsewhere and the old building was demolished to provide access to a new telephone exchange at the rear of the allotment. The 1912 post office comprised a lobby, office, telephone exchange, retiring room and provided two public telephones. The new post office and telephone exchange constructed in 1911 included

840-511: Was converted to standard gauge . The SteamRanger historic tourist train runs on the isolated broad gauge line, including stops at Strathalbyn. Small lead, zinc, gold and copper mines operated in the area in the later part of the 19th century. These have all been long closed, and did not have a significant effect on the development of the town. In 2008, mining company Terramin Australia Ltd established an underground zinc mine situated in

870-408: Was demolished in 1965–66 to make way for access to new telephone exchange site. In 1968, a new telephone exchange was constructed at the rear of the site and the original exchange was removed from the post office building; the space was converted to a lunch room and kitchen. It possibly included subdivision of room in southeast corner to create store and toilet. In c. 1960s, the post office underwent

900-419: Was listed on the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004. The Strathalbyn Post Office, constructed in 1911–1912, is historically important for its association with the development of the township of Strathalbyn. It is an important visual and symbolic landmark for the local community, as one of the few manifestations of the Commonwealth government in the town. Typologically, Strathalbyn Post Office

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