Heritage Protection

Manningham’s link to the past through heritage listed buildings is thanks to the people who have stepped in to protect them  MANNINGHAM’S heritage-listed buildings have survived fires, floods, demolition orders and multiple tenants, with no small thanks to a dedicated team of volunteers.  This week Manningham Leader takes a look at the bricks and mortar of the heritage-listed properties and the people behind them ahead of the Manningham Heritage Festival on May 3.

WARRANDYTE MUSEUM

111 Yarra Street as it once was. Picture: Warrandyte Historical Society

VAL Polley, Warrandyte Historical Society secretary, said the group’s museum at 111 Yarra St, operated as a post office under several well-known Warrandyte families.
111 Yarra Street as it once was. Picture: Warrandyte Historical Society
“It survived fire and flood and in 1972 the business was moved,” Ms Polley said.

“The historic post office building survived years of neglect, a demolition order, road-widening plans and a suspicious fire in 1982 before preservation and restoration became possible.”
Ms Polley said the Warrandyte State School was built by stonemason miners.
Other well-known heritage buildings include The Mechanics’ Institute, The Old Fire Station, War Memorial and goldmining sites such as the Pound Bend Tunnel.
A member of the society, on and off for years, Ms Polley has lived in Warrandyte for more than four decades.
“The society was formed in 1976 after the centenary of the old school building,” she said.
“Shirley and Ted Rotherham held an exhibition and decided Warrandyte needed a society to record all of the history.”
The society has between 60-80 members, who support the group through subscriptions. Active members do archiving and take photographs.
“We just opened a Facebook page and it’s amazing the amount of young people who are interested in the history of the area.”
She said getting a building on any of the heritage lists was a lengthy process.
The society is about to release a book, Wonderful Warrandyte — A Portrait, on May 3.

Friedensruh
PAUL and Edna Collyer own Friedensruh, a former fruit farming orchard complex, built by Paul’s great-grandfather Johann Gottlieb Thiele in 1853.
Mr Collyer, 79, says he and his brother Eric, 77, are the fourth generation to live at the settlement, which was home to Doncaster’s first Lutheran settlers.
Their mother’s family, the Thieles, pioneered irrigation, were the first to build dams in the area and were one of the first to use cold storage for fruit.
The property, part of which is now in Ruffey Park, is classified by the National Trust because of its traditional wattle and daub construction method. It was faced with stucco in about 1900.

Paul and Edna Collyerith and Paul's brother Eric Collyer outside Friedensruh homestead.

The garden’s main feature is a cedar of Lebanon, given to Johann by original Melbourne Botanical Gardens director Ferdinand von Mueller.
Extensions were added in the 1860s and 1898.
Johann arrived from Germany in 1849 and tailored uniforms for Governor Charles La Trobe from his shop in Burke St.

THE Old Grand Hotel is the last remaining hotel in ­Warrandyte.
The 19th century building has undergone additions and alterations, including the enclosing of the veranda in the 1960s and the construction of a drive-in bottle shop.
It maintains much of its Victorian grandeur with a double-storey veranda, with cast iron valance while much of its internal form remains intact.
The hotel flirted with the introduction of poker machines but has reverted to providing traditional hotel services and restaurant.

THE former Wine Hall has operated as Folkart since the mid-1970s and is protected with local, state and federal heritage ­listings, through council, Heritage Victoria and the ­National Trust.
The former Wine Hall at Yarra St, Warrandyte. Picture: Warrandyte Historical Society
The two-storey, Italianate building has been a feature of Yarra St, close to the bridge, since the late 1800s.

The former Wine Hall at Yarra St, Warrandyte. Picture: Warrandyte Historical Society

It was operated firstly as a wine hall by Heinrich Kruse in the early 1900s before being sold to the Robertson family, who ran tea rooms on the site.
Les Gilholm ran a milk bar on the ground floor during the 1960s.
The building fabric has deteriorated but repairs are expected to take place soon.

DONCASTER
JOHN Boylett has opened the door on one of Doncaster’s most historic buildings.
The Doncaster Templestowe Historical Society treasurer took the Leader on a guided tour of Schramms Cottage in Rieschiecks ­Reserve.
The cottage and Finger’s Barn were reconstructed in the early 1970s to establish the museum.
The site has been maintained by the Doncaster Templestowe Historical Society since 1967 and was relocated to the cottage complex in 1976.

John Boylett at the entrance to Schramms Cottage in Doncaster. Picture: Mark Wilson

It was built in 1875 and originally stood where Manningham Council offices are now and had to be moved when Doncaster Rd was widened.
Rieschiecks Reserve is of archaeological significance and is renowned for its connection with the Lutheran Church and orchard farming by the Finger family.
The society is in the process of reconstructing the pathways in the cemetery after receiving a $2000 community grant from the Rotary Club of Templestowe.

The majority of the area’s significant buildings were heritage listed decades ago, including Templestowe Primary School on Anderson St, Templestowe which was built in 1874.

The Shire Hall on the corner of Doncaster Rd and Council St, now the Doncaster Templestowe Artists’ Society, the Lutheran Church on Victoria St, Doncaster and the historic Doncaster Playhouse building owned by the Department of Education, are all heritage listed.

The playhouse was built in 1886, was the first school in the Doncaster area and is now a community theatre, used for musical productions and community events.

MANNINGHAM Heritage Festival is on Thursday, May 3, 2-4.30pm. The council’s heritage adviser, Willys Keeble, will lead a tour along Manningham’s traditional riverside and ridge line routes. Bus departs from the Old Shire Hall, Doncaster. Details: 9840 9129 or go to Manningham Council.

FAST FACTS
BUILDINGS can be heritage listed through Manningham Council or Heritage Victoria for their local, state or regional significance.
THE poor condition of a heritage place should never justify its demolition
THE first heritage controls were introduced into the former Doncaster and Templestowe Planning Scheme in 1992. They have been applied to more than 200 places out of about 400 individual properties within the municipality.

From: ANNA CHISHOLM MANNINGHAM LEADER APRIL 14, 2014  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/east/manninghams-link-to-the-past-through-heritage-listed-buildings-is-thanks-to-the-people-who-have-stepped-in-to-protect-them/story-fngnvlxu-1226881308834