WOODVILLE RAILWAY STATION
HERITAGE VALUE ASSESSMENT
May 2010
McDougall & Vines
Conservation and Heritage Consultants
27 Sydenham Road, Norwood, South Australia, 5067
Ph (08) 8362 6399 Fax (08) 8363 0121 Email:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background
1.2 Objectives of Report
1.3 Existing Heritage Listings
1.4 Location of Site
1.5 Current Ownership and Management of Station Site
2.0 HISTORICAL OUTLINE AND ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS 3
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Historical Development of the City to Port Adelaide Railway
2.3 Physical History of Woodville Station
2.4 Comparative Analysis with other Railway Stations
3.0 BUILDING AND SITE ANALYSIS 11
3.1 Site Analysis and Condition
3.1.1 General
3.1.2 Platforms
3.2 Existing Buildings
3.2.1 Building One - Kiosk
3.2.2 Building Two – Platform 3 Shelter
3.2.3 Building Three - Platforms One and Two Shelter
3.2.4 Building Four – Train Control and Storage
4.0 STATEMENT OF HERITAGE VALUE 17
4.1 General Statement
4.2 Relative Heritage Value within Charles Sturt and South Australia
4.2 Delineation of Significant Fabric and Components
5.0 OPPORTUNITIES AND CONSTRAINTS 18
5.1 Heritage Value
5.2 External Statutory Requirements
5.3 Development Opportunities for the Site
5.4 Expectations of Stakeholders
6.0 CONCLUSIONS 20
6.1 General Approach to Retention of Heritage Value
6.2 Policy for Site and Structures
6.3 Adaptation and Interpretation Policies
APPENDICES 21
1. Sources of Information
2. List of early photographs
3. List of Archival Drawings
· Heritage Value Assessment · Woodville Railway Station ·
· McDougall & Vines · 27 Sydenham Road, Norwood, SA, 5067 ·
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Page
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
This reassessment of the heritage value of the Woodville Railway Station has been prepared at the request of the Charles Sturt Council planning department. The Woodville Station is closely associated with the planning for a transit-oriented development (TOD) by the South Australian Land Management Corporation (LMC) on the land immediately north of the station/rail corridor.
[and the proposed land swap of the former Actil factory site for the St Clair Reserve ]
1.2 Objectives of Report
This reassessment of the heritage value of Woodville Railway Station will determine its significance and importance in the establishment of the transit-oriented development adjacent to the Station Precinct. The current level of documentation is minimal and does not give Council or LMC sufficient information to make appropriate planning decisions about the site.
1.3 Existing Heritage Listings
The Woodville Railway Station was identified in the Woodville Heritage Survey 1994, prepared by Danvers Architects for the City of Hindmarsh and Woodville and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. It is included in the Development Plan of the City of Charles Sturt as a Local Heritage Place.
1.4 Location of Site
The Woodville Railway Station is located 7.5 kilometres from Adelaide Railway Station, on the north-west side of Woodville Road. The Adelaide-Port Adelaide rail line runs between Port Road and Torrens Road.
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Location Plan
1.5 Current Ownership and Management of Station Site
The rail corridor and station are owned by the Minister for Transport and managed by TransAdelaide
Aerial view of station area - Railway corridor outlined in blue
(Note former Holden factory site in triangular section)
2.0 HISTORICAL OUTLINE AND ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS
2.1 Introduction
The development of a railway system in South Australia reflected the economic and social development of the state. The concepts for early rail lines, designed for both freight and passengers, were based on the experience in Britain, and the South Australian Railway Company was set up in London in 1839. A number of other railway companies were also established in the early years of settlement. These included the Adelaide Railway Company (1845), the South Australian Colonial Railway Company (1849) and the City and Port Railway Company (1848). The colonial government was encouraging, but opposition to a new form of transportation frustrated the attempts of these early companies to establish rail lines, and it became the responsibility of the colonial government to initiate and complete rail projects.
The Railways Clauses Consolidation Act, March 1847, which was passed to regulate the construction and operation of railways in South Australia, was the first piece of legislation in Australia to do this.
2.2 Historical Development of the City to Port Adelaide Railway
After a select committee had investigated the matter, a Private Act was passed by the Legislative Council in 1851 enabling the construction of the Port Adelaide Line. This legislation authorised a Board of Undertakers to oversee the construction of a railway from Adelaide to Port Adelaide within five years. On 8 February 1856 a small steam engine, ‘Adelaide’, hauled the first train in a trial from the Adelaide Railway Station yard, and it became the first locomotive to be derailed in South Australia.
The initial design for the line had no level crossings included and after many complaints from residents around the railway line, level crossings were eventually installed at Morphett Street, Bowden, Croydon, Kilkenny, Woodville, Cheltenham and Yatala.
In September 1856 the Woodville Railway Station was opened. It was the second station on the line after Bowden. The third station was located at Alberton. As the only station in the district, the station at Woodville proved to be a focal point for the development as the centre of the area.
There were three classes of travel on the new railway line, with corresponding fares: first class to Adelaide was ten pence, second class was seven pence and third class was five pence. Six trains each week day meant that Woodville station was very busy, particularly as the next station was some miles away at Alberton. In April 1865 there was a railway accident at Woodville, when the carriages of a special train carrying the Governor, Bishop Short, and their daughters, Lady Charlotte Bacon, and the Railway Manger left the line and overturned. Fortunately no one was hurt, and the accident was blamed on recent incomplete relaying of the railway tracks between Bowden and Woodville. (Register, 14/4/1865).
The first telegraph office in the district was opened at the Woodville Railway Station in 1867 and piped water was laid on to the station site in 1869. By this stage the railway was managed by the Railways Department which became the South Australian Railways (SAR).
The railway line was to prove an advantage to developers in the district as a whole. As the district's only railway station, Woodville's position as 'the centre of everything' was reinforced. People who worked at the Port or in the city could live at Woodville because travel in either direction was so convenient. (Marsden p73) New subdivisions such as Woodville Park were undertaken in the late 1870s and advertised as being situated within three or four minutes walk of the Woodville Railway Station. Between 1880 and 1883, subdivision in Woodville was a major activity as a direct result of the existence of the railway station. There were horse tram services along sections of Port Road, but residents in the district continued to rely on the railway services.
The line between Bowden and Port Adelaide was duplicated in September 1880. Previous to that all trains had to cross at Woodville because the service had been set up as a single line from the city to the port. In July of 1882 the Woodville Grange Line opened as a private railway but was taken over by SAR in 1893.
Adelaide Railway Station in 1863
(Source: State Library of South Australia B 9875)
1895 view of Alberton Railway Station
(Source: State Library of South Australia B 27135)
Port Adelaide Railway Station in 1870
(Source: State Library of South Australia B 1868)
The other station buildings on the 1856 railway line
1942 view of Woodville Railway Station, just prior to demolition
(Source: State Library of South Australia B 11391)
New stations, including Croydon and Cheltenham, were constructed on the line during 1910-1920 as the population of this part of Adelaide grew. The next period of industrial development supported by the railway was in the 1920s, when the Holden company established their motor body builders plant in Woodville in the triangle between the Grange line and the original line. Hundreds of Holden’s workers living outside Woodville were able to catch the daily trains into the area. By 1925 the Holden Plant had expanded to forty acres, most of the land between the Grange and Port railway lines.
Railway lines and stations in 1926
(Source: extract from Reconnaissance Surveys, c1926, Sheets 1 and 4, W H Edmunds)
The Woodville Railway Station was rebuilt in the 1940s as part of infrastructure upgrades during the Second World War. A spur to Finsbury Munitions Factory was built in 1941 and industrial development continued in the area after the war because of the availability of rail transport and large tracts of land to develop as industrial sites. The Finsbury line has been taken up, thus removing evidence of the response to the War requirements.
The unfortunate outcome of an accident at the Woodville Railway Station crossing in 1925
(Source: State Library of South Australia B 34593)
2.3 Physical History of Woodville Station
Woodville Station has changed greatly as a consideration of historic photographs indicates.
The original station building at Woodville followed the design of the first stations along the line. It was a small stone building with an arcaded front which provided shelter for passengers. This 1856 building was adapted over time, until in the mid 1940s it was demolished and new passenger shelters were constructed on each platform.
The significant elements of first station were:
· Two lines to allow for trains crossing, and two platforms (three lines after opening of Grange line)
· Large signal cabin at Woodville Road
· Station building on southern platform, with arched/arcaded front elevation typical of other early stations on this line
· Pedestrian bridge from northern platform to southern platform
· Level crossing gates at Woodville Road
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Layout of the station precinct
Historic Photographs of Woodville Station
The following photographs provide some indication of the character of the station during the period 1890 to 1942.
Platform 1 and pedestrian bridge - c 1890
(Source: State Library of South Australia B 20174)
Station building and Woodville Road level crossing - c1920
(Source: State Library of South Australia B 31383)
East of Woodville Road - c1920
(Source: State Library of South Australia B 30324)
Station building and signal box from Woodville Road - 1942
(Source: State Library of South Australia B 21376 )
Platforms and pedestrian bridge - 1942
(Source: State Library of South Australia B 21377)
1942 view of Woodville Railway Station, just prior to demolition
(Source: State Library of South Australia B 11391)
2.4 Comparative Analysis with other Railway Stations
The design of the original 1850s station building had close similarities with the other early stations on the Port Adelaide line. All were designed with arcaded front sections to provide passenger shelter. Alberton (in Port Adelaide Enfield) and Bowden (in Charles Sturt) are the two stations on the Adelaide-Port Adelaide line which remain intact, and this form of design can still be seen in the early station buildings which remain, even though both these station buildings are used for other purposes now. These two stations State Heritage places.
Alberton and Bowden Station buildings 2010
Early stations also typically had large signal boxes for the station master to control train and track movements. These have all been removed with the automation of train control. All stations with more than one platform had a pedestrian crossover bridge with metal railings. The only crossover that remains is at Alberton.
The design of later station buildings changed over time and the relative importance of the station also dictated the type of building constructed. The typical station building from the 1880s was constructed in bluestone with gable end wings and timber post verandah between, such as those still extant on the 1883 Hills line. Also from 1880 to about 1910 small stations along suburban passenger lines were provided with weatherboard structures known as Class 2 station buildings (see the early photo of Croydon railway station below). By the 1920s major new stations followed the architectural trends of the time with expansive roofs with bracketed awnings/wide eaves for passenger shelter, such as those at Angaston and Penola. Small stations continued to be served by small weatherboard structures.
Along the Adelaide-Port Adelaide line only Bowden and Alberton retain early structures. All other stations have recent passenger shelters of an extremely minimalist design, replacing earlier station buildings.
Croydon Station c1910
(Source: State Library of South Australia B46592)
3.0 BUILDING AND SITE ANALYSIS
3.1 Site Analysis and Condition
3.1.1 General
AnalysisThe rail reserve has been fenced with simple recent metal picket fencing on the southern side and wire mesh fencing on the northern side.
The Grange track divides east of Woodville Road. Signal gates operate across Woodville Road.
Bike lockers are provided on the northern side of the crossing point.
There is a ten metre wide unused part of the rail reserve on the northern side before the mesh fencing. Commuter parking is provided on both sides of the station reserve.
3.1.2 Platforms
Platform One is faced with off the form concrete.
Platforms Two and Three are faced with masonry (sandstone and bluestone) which has been painted at various times.
Platform levels have been adapted for disabled access in certain sections
The tracks have been relaid on concrete sleepers
Detail of stonework to platform walls
3.2 Existing Buildings
3.2.1 Building One - Kiosk