Beatrice Lane

It became one of a large number of public and private lanes that allowed tradesmen and horse-drawn delivery vehicles to gain access to the loading docks and other facilities located at the rear of many CBD buildings. Such lanes were common within Brisbane’s growing commercial precincts, particularly within the CBD, South Brisbane and Fortitude Valley. But most of the lanes that had serviced South Brisbane’s commercial centre were lost to the redevelopment of the area that occurred in preparation for World Expo’88.

The Margaret Street service lane was then further extended, at a right angle, to Albert Street by 1895. The porphyry carriageway was most likely laid at this time. The porphyry (Brisbane tuff) stonework was laid in two rows to provide a carriageway for the wagons and drays that serviced these buildings. The porphyry would have ensured horse-drawn carts did not become bogged down in the dirt lane, which would have been a muddy slope during periods of heavy rain.

During the twentieth century, with the increasing congestion on the CBD’s streets caused by motor cars, trucks, trams and buses, these lanes also became a quick and popular way for city workers to cross from one City block to another, thereby avoiding both road traffic and City crowds.

This lane appears to have been given the name of ‘Beatrice Lane’ circa 1989. Around the same time, the CBD’s service lanes were given a more formal recognition as part of the streetscape of the CBD. Thus apart from the allocation of names for the purposes of identification, the Brisbane City Council erected street signage to mark the entrance to each lane and they were marked as such on the various street Brisbane directories that were published later. Other examples are Stereo Lane and Esk Lane.

From the late 1980s onwards, many of the CBD’s lanes were lost or reduced in size to make way for redevelopment of those parts of the CBD that they serviced. The clearing of the Roma Street Markets precinct (later to become the site of the new Magistrates Court) saw the demise of Little Roma Street. Parbury Lane was lost to the Brisbane Riverside Markets and Riparain Plaza redevelopment. Patrick Lane went with the construction of Admiralty Towers beside the Brisbane River. Old Burnett Lane disappeared when the Criterion Hotel was redeveloped as a high-rise building. Alvis Lane, running off Charlotte Street was also lost to high-rise redevelopment. The unnamed lane running between Queen and Elizabeth Streets was resumed for the Myer Centre. The L-shaped service lane running off Queen Street in the block between George Street and North Quay, and the T-shaped lane running off Turbot Street in the block between George Street and North Quay have also been lost. Stereo Lane is soon to disappear as part of a high-rise development fronting Elizabeth Street.

Isle Lane was halved in size and ceased being a thoroughfare between Adelaide and Queen Streets when Post Office Square and its underground car park were built. Rich Lane has also been reduced in size due to surrounding development. Both the remnants of Raff and Bowen Streets that ran off Adelaide Street were incorporated into Cathedral Square. Of the remaining 14 public and private lanes located across the CBD, only six are similar to Beatrice Lane, in that they still provide two-street access.

The Beatrice Lane Carriageway demonstrates the development of this part of the Central Business District (CBD) as a warehouse and light industry precinct in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Beatrice Lane remains the only Central Business District laneway with exposed porphyry stonework, thereby serving as an illustration of the fabric of the many service lanes that used to run throughout the CBD. All other CBD lanes have had their porphyry base (if it existed) covered over with tar, bitumen or concrete. Beatrice Lane is one of the few surviving service routes left from many lanes that were once an important part of the streetscape of Brisbane’s commercial centre. It is also the only remaining private service lane that acts as vehicular thoroughfare and connection between two CBD streets.

1. Brisbane City Council Aerial Photos 1946, 2001, 2005

2. Brisbane City Council, Sewerage Map 1913

3. Brisbane City Council, City Plan Heritage Register citation – Fish Lane, South Brisbane, (Brisbane: Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit, 2002)

4. Cole, John R. Shaping a City: Greater Brisbane 1925-1985. Brisbane: William Brooks Queensland. 1984

5. John Oxley Library, photographic collection.

6. Mahlstedt & Son, City of Brisbane Detail Fire Survey Maps, 1951

7. Queensland Post Office Directories, 1868-1949

8. UBD, 2006 Brisbane Street Directory 50th edition, (Brisbane: Universal Press, 2006)

9. UBD, Refidex Street Directory of Brisbane 30th edition, (Brisbane: Universal Press, 1986)