I.B. Best Butchers Shop (former)

A history of Sandgate

Sandgate, including the suburb of Shorncliffe, is located 17 kilometres from central Brisbane. The first land sales in the Sandgate area occurred during the 1850s and much of the early development centred on the area now known as Shorncliffe. On 29 April 1880, Sandgate was declared a constituted municipality. During the 1880s, the area around Pier Avenue and Yundah Street became the town’s communal and civic centre. The first Town Hall, constructed in 1882, the Court House, and the first two police stations were located in this area. 

From the 1880s onwards, Sandgate became increasingly popular as a residential and seaside resort town. The opening of the train line to Brisbane in 1882 (extended to Shorncliffe in 1897) and the construction of the Sandgate Pier boosted the development of Sandgate. The train line to Sandgate was the first suburban line built solely for passengers in the Brisbane area. The train line provided a quick and efficient service for the growing number of residents commuting to Brisbane, and holidaymakers and day-trippers. Numerous attractions catering for visitors were also developed around this time. For example, separate bathing areas, dressing sheds, a caretaker’s cottage, office and licensed area were built close to the already established Sandgate Pier. In the 1930s, an enclosed area protected by railway lines, a shark net and stone wall was constructed as a shark-proof swimming enclosure lit at night. Additionally, Flinders Parade (then known as Brighton Esplanade), between First Avenue and Gladstone Street (now Twelfth Avenue), was dotted with cafes, refreshment rooms, flats and boarding houses. Attractions on the foreshores included sand-garden competitions, donkey, goat and gig rides, canoe hire and a miniature railway. 

In 1910, a fire destroyed the original Sandgate Town Hall. Subsequently, a new Town Hall opened on Deagon Street (now Brighton Road) in 1912. This opening of the new Town Hall, alongside the relocation of Sandgate Rail Station to its current site in 1911, marked a shift in the location of Sandgate’s town centre away from the Shorncliffe area to the vicinity of the present-day Rainbow Street, Brighton Road and Bowser Parade. This area proved to be more accessible for neighbouring Deagon and Brighton residents. 

The 1920s saw another period of prosperity for Sandgate. In 1925, Sandgate became a founding ward of the newly created Greater Brisbane City Council. While Shorncliffe continued to be a popular destination, the Sandgate and Brighton foreshores also drew crowds of holidaymakers. However, the building of the Hornibrook Highway Bridge in 1935 brought mixed blessings for Sandgate. This was because while the highway brought more passing trade to the area, it also enabled visitors to travel further north, typically by public transport, to the Redcliffe Peninsula for holidays rather than vacationing in Sandgate as had traditionally been the case. After the Second World War, increased car ownership also led to a further decline in the area's popularity as people were able to travel further beyond Brisbane’s city limits for a holiday. Car ownership also brought the expansion of Brighton, Deagon and Nashville as outer suburbs became more attractive. 

The development of Brighton Road, Sandgate

During the 1920s, Brighton Road developed to become Sandgate’s leading commercial and shopping area. In 1913, by which time Isaac Best had opened his butcher shop on Deagon Street, as Brighton Road was then known, the Post Office Directory recorded that the street had a store, two butchers, a laundry, a blacksmith, a bank, and a plumber. In comparison, when Best died in 1925, Brighton Road was recorded in the Post Office Directory as having numerous shops, businesses, services, including two butchers, two cafes, two hairdressers, two bootmakers, builders, outfitters, a furniture store, a watchmaker, a newsagent, a dentist, a chemist, a fruiterer, and a grocer. As well as the former I.B. Best Butchers, notable buildings built on Brighton Road before the Second World War included commercial buildings such as the Nugent’s Buildings on the corner of Fourth Avenue and the Decker Building at the southern end of Brighton Road. In the 1960s, several buildings, such as the former Bank of New South Wales, were built on Brighton Road. These buildings broke up Brighton Road’s traditional streetscape. 

The construction of I.B. Best Butchers Shop (former), 37 Brighton Road

Designed by Brisbane-based architect Edward M. Myers in 1912 and built by 1913, the former I.B. Best Butchers shop was built for Isaac Benjamin Best. Best, who was described in a 1924 article in The Brisbane Courier as the first European to be born in Sandgate, was a leading resident and businessperson in the Sandgate area before his death in 1925. When interviewed in 1924, Best recalled several memories of growing up in Sandgate, including the ‘capture of a mammoth whale in front of where Deagon’s Hotel used to stand.’ As Best’s obituary in The Brisbane Courier recorded in 1925, he was: 

an old and highly respected resident of Sandgate, and had taken a prominent part in the activities of the town. He was a member of the local Masonic Lodge, the local Bowling Club, and the Brisbane and Sandgate Gun Clubs.

Before opening the butcher shop on Deagon Street, Best had operated another butcher shop on Loudon Street. This previous establishment has been described as the ‘oldest butchering establishment in Sandgate.’ This shop was described in the Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser as being ‘near the post-office.’

In 1911, Best acquired the land on the corner of Deagon Street (Brighton Road) and Cooksley Street, now known as Third Avenue. In 1912, Best commissioned Myers to design the single-storey, Federation-style brick commercial building. After Best died in 1925, the building remained in the Best family’s ownership, but by the late-1930s, the butcher shop was being run by Joseph Hill. Hill subsequently took ownership of the land in early-1946 and ran the shop under the name ‘J. Hill Butcher.’ Hill built a separate non-significant shop to the north of the Butcher Shops in the mid-1950s. In around 2000, an additional building fronting Third Avenue was constructed adjoining the former butcher shop.  

Born in Adelaide in 1864, Edward M. Myers was a long-serving member of Brisbane’s architectural community during the late-Victorian and Federation periods. However, many of his works have been described as ‘unidentified.’ After working for John Hall and later F.R. Hall, Myers established his own practice in 1896 that he ran until he died in 1926. After this point, the practice was taken over by J.C. Richards. In 1888, Myers became an Associate of the Queensland Institute of Architects. In addition to serving two terms as a councillor of the Institute, he also served as its Secretary between 1900 and 1905 and as Vice-President between 1912 and 1923. He was made a Fellow of the Queensland Institute of Architects in 1913. A notable later example of Myers’ work was Turbot House at 65 Turbot Street, which was constructed in 1916 for the Farmers Co-Operative Distributing Company.

The former I.B. Best Butcher Shop has dual frontage along Brighton Road and Third Avenue and is an intact example of a single-storey, masonry Federation-style retail building. The built form and composition of the building include a narrow, symmetrical façade, distinctive parapets concealing a hipped roof, and an awning and shopfronts in place of the original elements. Notable design details include English bond masonry construction, a decorative, bayed parapet on the Brighton Road façade, a stepped parapet on the Third Avenue façade and mouldings that emphasise the composition. The prominent corner position and wide thoroughfare make this building highly visible from the street. 

General description

The Brighton Road façade is narrow and symmetrically arranged, with a decorative parapet that conceals the roof behind. The main facade parapet consists of two peripheral bays, and a central bay. A change in height and shape marks the junction of these bays. The linear parapet running the length of the Third Avenue façade steps up to a curved parapet. Molded cement capping is used to emphasise the composition and visually tie the bays. Together, the curved and linear parapets conceal a metal hipped roof. 

A 1917 photograph of 37 Brighton Road shows a hipped metal-roofed awning supported by timber posts, decorative capitals and details, and timber and glazing shopfronts on Brighton Road and Third Avenue, with fanlights above. The Brighton Road façade now consists of a flat-roofed footpath awning. The awning across the footpath (along Brighton Road) is fixed to the brickwork using tie rods and metal brackets, and the building now has contemporary shopfronts located in the exact location as the original.

All exterior faces of the original c.1913 building are constructed of painted English bond masonry but originally consisted of unfinished face brickwork. An original window on the Third Avenue façade has been filled in, and the windowsill has been removed. 

Beyond the original building's footprint, alterations and additions have been made, including changes to the awning and shopfront (1964) and an additional building that was constructed and abutted to the former butcher’s shop (c. 2000). These do not contribute to the significance of the place. 

The interior of the building has undergone extensive change and alterations to accommodate various subsequent uses. It is unknown whether original fabric remains behind the contemporary fit out. 

The Federation-style shop is one of the few earliest remaining shops along Sandgate’s main commercial street of Brighton Road, which was developed in the early 20th Century. The surrounding commercial setting and the building’s contribution to that setting are significant to the place. 

There are significant views to the place from Brighton Road and Third Avenue. 

Significant features

Features of cultural heritage significance include:

• Original form and composition, including
  • Corner position, with main facade facing Brighton Road
  • Narrow proportions of the building frontage to Brighton Road
  • Curved and linear parapets
  • Metal hip roof concealed behind parapets
  • Location of glazed shopfronts
  • Location of awning along Brighton Road and Third Avenue facades. 
• External wall detailing, including
  • English bond brick masonry
  • Curved and linear parapets.
• Exterior design details, including:
  • Composition of Brighton Road parapet, with two peripheral (linear) and one central (curved) bay
  • Molded cement capping to curved and linear parapets.
• The setting of the place, including:
  • The surrounding commerical setting
  • Views from Brighton Road and Third Avenue. 

Non-significant features

Non-significant features include:

• Non-original shopfront glazing and framing
• Non-original signage, either fixed or painted
• Paint finish to external bricks
• External cladding
• Additions, including
  • Immediately adjoining building constructed c.2000
  • Various non-original fit outs.