Butchers Shop

A history of Deagon

The development of Deagon, a suburb located 16 kilometres north of central Brisbane, dates to the 1860s. However, while the first land sales in Deagon took place in the 1860s, ten years after land was sold off in Sandgate and Shorncliffe, much of the suburb’s residential development dates to the years after the Second World War. Unlike Sandgate and Shorncliffe, large allotments of land between 23 and 49 acres in size characterised the subdivisions sold off in the Deagon area. Many of these lots were bought for investment purposes by local landowners, such as John McConnel, a pastoralist and later a member of the Queensland Legislative Council who also owned allotments in Sandgate.

Deagon developed slowly in the years leading up to the First World War. In 1887, both the Deagon railway station and the Shorncliffe railway station opened, five years after Sandgate station. Named after William Deagon, Mayor of Sandgate between 1882 and 1884, the station sat on the Sandgate to Brisbane train line that opened in 1882. In the same period, the Sandgate Amateur Turf Club began holding horse races on land that subsequently became the Sandgate, then later Deagon, Racecourse. Before the First World War, local residents felt that Sandgate Town Council did not properly look after their interests. One resident wrote to The Brisbane Courier suggesting that they might have to ‘appeal to the Home Secretary to create the Deagon district into a divisional board. By 1911, Deagon's population stood at just 122 residents. 

While Deagon shared in the interwar boom period that brought prosperity to Sandgate in the 1920s, it was after the Second World War that significant growth came to the area. Residential growth occurred in piecemeal manner between 1911 and 1939, with development concentrated around Board, Loftus, Coward, Drouyn and Washington Streets. The remaining areas, including the area west of Braun Street, were developed after the Second World War. By 1976, the population of Deagon stood at 3,378.

The construction of the Butchers Shop at 64-66 Adams Street, Deagon

In 1922, Elsie Pritchard, a spinster, purchased resubdivision one and two of subdivision A of resubdivision four of subdivision A of portion 82 in the parish of Nundah from Herbert Matthew Dodd. This land was located on the corner of Adams Street and Main Street, now known as Barclay Street. In November 1922, Pritchard took out a mortgage on this site for £325. This money was used to construct a building on the site that by 1925 was described in the Post Office Directory as housing a store run by an Edith Peter. Peter ran the store until the 1930s, and in 1925 she was fined £1 for failing to close her shop at the prescribed time of 6 pm on 29 January.

In 1937, local registered butcher Kenneth Neal Clark purchased the 32 perch site and building on the corner of Adams and Main Street from Pritchard. Before Clark purchased this corner site, he and Robert Clark had operated a butcher shop on the left-hand side of Main Street from 1921 onwards. The emergence of Clark’s butchery business, both in its original location and later location at 64-66 Adams Street, is illustrative of the development of Deagon in the area around the train station in the years between the First and Second World Wars.  After purchasing the corner site in July 1938, Clark submitted a building application to Brisbane City Council to make additions to the shop and dwelling. By 1941, the Post Office Directory recorded the butcher shop as being located on Barclay Street, as Main Street was then known.

By the late-1930s, Clark was investing in property in the Deagon area. For example, in September 1938, Clark applied to Brisbane City Council to build two houses on the site formerly occupied by his butchery on the left-hand side of Main Street. Moreover, in 1940, Clark again applied to Brisbane City Council to erect a new house on a site further up on the left-hand side of Main Street. After Clark died in 1950, the shop and site on the corner of Adams and Barclay Street were transferred to Gertrude, his widow. At his time of death, Clark was described as a ‘Master Butcher.' Since the 1950s, the site has been used for various businesses. 

The butcher’s shop at 64-66 Adams Street is located at the junction of Adams, Barclay and Loftus streets, Deagon. The double-storey timber building possesses a hipped roof built-form that features a prominent half-timbered gable to the Barclay Street façade. A simple mid-20th Century tiled shopfront remains with later period-style timber joining the window and door openings at ground floor level. A simple skillion verandah with fascia signage extends partway along the Barclay and Adam streets elevation of the building. It is a simple yet prominent example of commercial construction representing the development of Deagon during the early-20th Century and makes a significant contribution to the surrounding streetscape.

General description

The building is a double-storey chamfer board clad structure, with a corrugated-sheet metal hipped roof and projecting eaves, incorporating a prominent half-timbered gable façade to Barclay Street. A simple skillion-roof verandah, with fascia signage, extends along much of the street ward (Barclay and Adams streets) elevations of the building. The rectilinear plan consists of later skillion-roofed additions, comprising brick, corrugated sheet metal and fibre-cement sheet, constructed at the side (north-east) and rear (south-east). At the rear, a cantilevered porch supports an open riser flight, switch back staircase to ground level.

At the ground floor level, a simple tiled shopfront exists along the Barclay Street façade, comprising a body of white square tiles with a line of smaller profile blue tiles forming a stringcourse along the base. The original fenestration pattern of single-leaf entry door flanked by two large shop windows remains intact to the façade, however, timber joinery details are later period-style additions. Glazed signage above the entry spelling ‘REGD BUTCHER SHOP, NO. 18’ is an early feature original to the tiled shop front. At the left of the tiled shop front, a former door opening concealed by non-original wall-mounted signage is evident with a timber-battened top light with sheet metal awning overhead. On the Adams Street elevation, the chamferboard-cladding and associated glazing beneath the verandah is a later alteration. At the first-floor level, original fenestration and window joinery remain and include timber double-hung sash windows at the front, side, and rear of the building. An originally open balcony/verandah, since enclosed, remains evident on the front (Barclay) and side (north-east) elevations.

The interior of the building was not inspected. 

A concrete paved setback to the neighbouring building is separated from the footpath by a low-height wrought iron fence and gate to the northeast of the building. The style of the fence suggests it is a non-original element. The concrete paving in this side area extends to the building's rear yard accessed from Adams Street. The rear yard is open to the street.

There are significant views to the place from Barclay, Adams and Loftus streets.

Significant features

Features of cultural heritage significance include:

• Original building form and composition, including:
  • Double-storey hipped roof form with prominent half-timbered gable
  • Chamferboard external linings.
• Verandah details, including:
  • Simple skillion roof
  • All structure, including steel verandah posts and roof structure
  • Timber fasicas to verandah ends
  • Under awning signage. 
• Exterior design details, including:
  • Tiled shop front and associated fenestration pattern
  • Glazed shopfront signage that reads 'REGD BUTCHER SHOP, NO. 18'
  • Timber double-hung windows (first-floor level only)
  • Low wrought iron fencing to side area fronting Barclay Street
  • Chamferboard external linings. 

Non-significant features

Non-significant features include:

• Non-original skillion roof additions to the side (north-east) and rear (south-east) of the building
• Timber framed shopfront glazing and entry door to Barclay Street elevation
• Double-hung window and chamferboard lining (to verandah underside) fronting Adams Street
• Glazed and sheet infill to first-floor verandah/balcony
• Timber stair at rear of building.