Flemington Post Office

About

Flemington Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 2A Wellington Street, Flemington, Victoria, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 8 November 2011.

Flemington's first official post office was established during the 1880s, replacing the various "non-official" post offices that had operated in the area since the 1850s. Architect J. R. Brown from the Department of Public Works prepared plans for a new post office in 1888, under the supervision of John Thomas Kelleher. The tower was detailed by architect Alexander James Macdonald, and the builder was B. Pratt. The post office was moved from its original site south of Buckland Street, Flemington, to Wellington Street in 1890 so that it was close to the developing commercial centre along Racecourse Road.

Timber public telephone booths and a cast iron pillar box were installed on the footpath opposite the main entrance c. 1920s. The domed side porch roof was replaced at an unknown date between 1917 and 1963 with a parapeted flat roof which involved creation of semi-circular arched openings in lieu of original three-pointed arch and Moorish detail. The cast iron gates were removed from the porch as part of the work. A stamp vending machine and postal slips were installed in the northern wall of the porch. By 1963, all external stucco and bluestone detail including the tower roof had been overpainted in white; signage and insignia had been added to main tower; the windows in tower ground floor had been overpainted and the original clock faces replaced.

General alterations were made at an unknown date to internal fittings and services included overpainting of polished timber joinery, installation of a sliding timber door between the original mail and letter carriers' rooms, replacement of lights, installation of heating and fans. The skirting boards were also replaced in the former dining room (later parcel room) and vinyl flooring and carpet laid throughout. Around this time, the rear of the original counter was altered to accommodate modern equipment. The rear single-storey wing had been re-roofed with corrugated galvanised steel roofing by 1975.

In 1989–90, extensive rear additions were constructed to provide a mail room, bicycle/scooter shed, cleaner's store, post office box lobby, covered loading bay and plant enclosure. This involved demolition of the original rear veranda and pantry and subdivision of the original ground floor pantry to provide a passage to the new building. The southern half of the original dining room east wall was demolished to facilitate access to the passage. Alterations at first floor level included construction of a small kitchenette in the former sitting room and installation of staff amenities in the western half of the plan. A galvanised steel tube handrail installed at the main entrance doors and concrete topping was poured over main bluestone step. General internal refurbishment of finishes was also carried out.

Flemington Post Office is at 2A Wellington Street, corner Shields Street, Flemington, comprising the whole of Lot 15B/4/2541.

The Flemington Post Office, Wellington Street, was erected in 1888–89 by the Public Works Department (PWD). The working drawings are signed by J. R. Brown, who probably designed the building in consultation with the district architect J. T. Kelleher. The contractor was P. Pratt. The two storey brick structure with stucco mouldings is dominated by an octagonal tower with conical roof, onion dome and crescent moon finial.

The building utilises an acute-angled intersection between Wellington and Shields Street and being 50 metres from the Racecourse Road shopping centre, is complemented by William Wolf's Kennedy Terrace of 1888, a wedge-shaped housing development, in addition to the Public Works Department's own Court House and Police Station, completed several years after the Post Office.

The rear service yard occupies the broad northern portion of the triangular site and crossovers from Wellington and Shields streets provide vehicular through access. A steel-framed canopy shelters the rear loading dock directly into the non-original mail room wing which has an integral bicycle shed. The Wellington Street frontage is partly screened by an original cast iron and bluestone palisade fence, while the remaining boundary is defined by a more recent corrugated steel fence and steel gates. Elsewhere, the building is essentially constructed to the property boundary.

Flemington Post Office is a substantial two-storeyed building with corner tower which makes dramatic use of its triangular corner site and unusual Moorish detail. Brickwork is Tuckpointed and polychromatic with brown body bricks, red, white and black string courses and red dressings to openings. Cornices, parapets and windows are enriched with deeply moulded stucco work and the facetted corner tower has a facetted conical sheet metal clad roof surmounted by an onion-domed sphere and finial recalling Moorish architecture. Similar references occur in the corbel table to the main cornice and the cusped window heads.

The complex roofscape is variously composed of mansard and jerkinhead forms and clad with slate, however original cast iron cresting has been removed. The single-storey rear section is hipped and finished with recent corrugated galvanised steel.

Fenestration is regular between the long elevations and between floors, however openings are variously defined by alternative arch and tracery types according to hierarchy and each contains a timber-framed double-hung sash window.

Entrances contain panelled timber doors and the former private entrance is surrounded by matching panelled side and highlights finished with etched ruby glass. The side panels have been infilled with timber boarding.

Barry Humphries declared in 2005 that his favourite building in Melbourne was the Flemington Post Office.

The slate roof and tower require very careful restoration. The cast iron palisading and finials on the roof have been removed.

Externally, Flemington Post Office's ability to demonstrate its original design is very good with regard to the architectural conception, principal materials and detail despite rear additions constructed in 1989 and replacement of the private porch roof. The rear addition is a low-key design, and it attempts to not compete with the original from a distance; however, closer inspection indicates subtle difference in detail. The exterior appears generally well maintained, and conservation works in the late 1980s have generally restored the building's aesthetic and stylistic attributes.

Internally, the 1989 additions have partially diminished the legibility of the original planning and program towards the rear of the complex; however, elsewhere, it is generally very good. More superficial refurbishment such as overpainting of joinery and installation of floor coverings and the like is largely reversible. The main entrance, public space and former mail room, for example, are all largely intact in form and fabric with added features such as the original curved counter and arcaded screen intact.

It is apparent that the building overall is generally well maintained; however, there is evidence in a number of instances of rising and falling damp which is starting to damage the adjoining fabric. Repairs are required to some sections of pointing mortar in the bluestone plinth and brickwork, and tuckpointing needs repointing. Wall cracking is evident in the southeast corner of the postmaster's office, but the ceiling has been repaired.

The slate roof and tower require very careful restoration. The cast iron palisading and finials on the roof have been removed.

Externally, Flemington Post Office's ability to demonstrate its original design is very good with regard to the architectural conception, principal materials and detail despite rear additions constructed in 1989 and replacement of the private porch roof. The rear addition is a low-key design, and it attempts to not compete with the original from a distance; however, closer inspection indicates subtle difference in detail. The exterior appears generally well maintained, and conservation works in the late 1980s have generally restored the building's aesthetic and stylistic attributes.