Addresses

At 53 High Street, Toowong, Queensland 4066

Type of place

Shop/s

Period

Victorian 1860-1890

Style

Queenslander

Carver and Co. building (former)

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This is an image of the local heritage place known as Peerless Dry Cleaning

Carver and Co. building (former)

Carver and Co. building (former) Download Citation (pdf, 564.07 KB)

Addresses

At 53 High Street, Toowong, Queensland 4066

Type of place

Shop/s

Period

Victorian 1860-1890

Style

Queenslander

Constructed circa 1885, this late nineteenth century, two-storey, masonry commercial building, which is located along the commercial High Street of Toowong, was occupied by the prominent Toowong drapery company of Carver and Co., for more than 65 years.

Also known as

Peerless Dry Cleaning

Lot plan

L1_RP71876

Key dates

Local Heritage Place Since —

Date of Citation —

Construction

Roof: Corrugated iron;
 Walls: Masonry - Render

Criterion for listing

(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (H) Historical association

Interactive mapping

City Plan Interactive Mapping

Also known as

Peerless Dry Cleaning

Lot plan

L1_RP71876

Key dates

Local Heritage Place Since —

Date of Citation —

Construction

Roof: Corrugated iron;
 Walls: Masonry - Render

Criterion for listing

(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (H) Historical association

Interactive mapping

City Plan Interactive Mapping

History

This property was purchased by Henry Pears from Heannah Ward in August 1876.  The present building was erected on the site sometime during the mid 1880s. In May 1886 a £750 loan was taken out by trustees and the POD of 1885-6 lists the occupant of a building on the property as, 'Carver and Co.'  This firm, which may have been established as early as 1876, were drapers and outfitters.

Photographic evidence indicates the facade of the building underwent some alteration prior to the 1920s. Although Carver and Co remained at the premises until 1951, historical title deeds show the property was never registered in the name of Carver and Co. The property remained within the Pears family until purchased by Peerless Drycleaners Pty. Ltd. in 1953.

The building was a local landmark for a number of years. It was a two-storey masonry building surrounded by lesser timber structures and housed the well-known drapery firm Carver and Co., making it a distinctive feature on High Street.

Description

This is a two-storey rendered brick commercial building with front wall and parapet on the alignment.  The side boundaries, and building walls, are skewed to the frontage.  The overall character this building conveys is that of a prosperous nineteenth century town-centre building.

The building originally had a generous straight-roofed, post-supported awning over the footpath. The ground floor shopfronts have been modified and the awning replaced with a suspended structure. The original parapet profile is intact with the exception of a missing central masonry finial; the three upper floor double-hung windows are existent, as is the ashlar coursing to the rendered front wall. Decorated rainwater heads exist on the front corners of the building, typical of nineteenth century design. A pitched corrugated steel clad roof with ventilators is visible behind the parapets to all sides of the building.

Statement of significance

Relevant assessment criteria

This is a place of local heritage significance and meets one or more of the local heritage criteria under the Heritage planning scheme policy of the Brisbane City Plan 2014. It is significant because:

Historical

Criterion A

The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of the city's or local area’s history

as it is a late nineteenth century masonry retail building located in the commercial centre of Toowong.

Rarity

Criterion B

The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of the city’s or local area’s cultural heritage

as it is an uncommon late nineteenth century masonry commercial building in Toowong.

Historical association

Criterion H

The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organization of importance in the city’s or local area’s history

as it is a remnant local landmark two-storey commercial building at Toowong which operated as Carver and Co, drapers, for over 65 years.

Supporting images

This is an image of ‘Horse team pulling a log jinker in High Street, Toowong, ca. 1920’, showing the Carver & Co. building concealed by a street tree with a horse team posing at the front, viewed from near the intersection of High and Ebor streets, Toowong, looking west.

Unidentified photographer,
‘Horse team pulling a log jinker in High Street, Toowong, ca. 1920’,
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.

A view of the Carver & Co. building with horse team posing in the foreground, viewed from near the intersection of High and Ebor streets, Toowong, looking west.

References

  1. Brisbane City Council Water Supply and Sewerage Detail Plans No: 855

  2. Department of Natural Resources, Queensland Certificates of title and other records.

  3. Environmental Protection Agency

  4. JOL Estate Map Collection and photographic collection

  5. Lawson, Ronald Brisbane in the 1890s: A Study of an Australian Urban Society. St Lucia U of Q Press, 1973

  6. McKellar's Map of Brisbane and Suburbs. Brisbane: Surveyor-General’s Office, 1895

  7. Postal Pioneers: A History of Post Offices in Queensland. Graham Dawson & Lorelei Baum, Public Relations Office, Australia Post (Queensland: Australia Post.1987). Vol 1

  8. Donald Watson and Judith McKay, Queensland Architects of the Nineteenth Century, South Brisbane: Queensland Museum, 1994

Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised September 2020)

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Victorian 1860-1890
Queenslander
Shop/s
At 53 High Street, Toowong, Queensland 4066
At 53 High Street, Toowong, Queensland 4066 L1_RP71876
Historical, Rarity, Historical association