Waymouth Street

(Redirected from Woodards House)

East–west street in Australia

Waymouth Street South Australia

Waymouth Street, looking east from Bentham Street towards King William Street (2010)

West endEast end
Coordinates	34°55′35″S 138°35′16″E / 34.926354°S 138.587717°E / -34.926354; 138.587717 (West end) 34°55′33″S 138°35′59″E / 34.925768°S 138.599728°E / -34.925768; 138.599728 (East end)
General information
Type	Street
Location	Adelaide city centre
Length	1.1 km (0.7 mi)
Opened	1837
Major junctions
West end	West Terrace Adelaide
	Light Square Morphett Street
East end	King William Street Adelaide
Location(s)
LGA(s)	City of Adelaide

Waymouth Street, often spelt as Weymouth Street in the early days, is an east–west street running between King William Street and West Terrace in the Adelaide city centre in South Australia. The street is named after Henry Waymouth, a founding director of the South Australian Company, whose name was also sometimes spelt as Weymouth.

Description

The street runs between King William Street and West Terrace, on the western side of the city centre. It is intersected by Light Square.

Eastern section

The section of Waymouth Street from King William Street to Light Square is lined by commercial office buildings with many restaurants and cafes at ground level. It is the location of the state headquarters of organisations including ANZ, the Department for Environment and Water, Beyond Bank Australia, EY and News Corp Australia. At the intersection with King William Street, there is a pedestrian scramble crossing and a Glenelg tram line stop named after Pirie Street, which continues to the east.

Central section

Waymouth Street forms the southern boundary of Light Square, an open grassy park in the centre of the north-west quadrant of the city centre. This section of Waymouth Street is one-way traffic to the west; east-bound traffic must detour around the square. Traffic signals control the intersection with Morphett Street where it divides to go around the square. A few bars, nightclubs and restaurants are located on the southern side of Waymouth Street and around Light Square.

Western section

The section from Light Square to West Terrace has for most of its history had lower-scale retail and residential buildings, along with hotels and hostels. Formerly a low-rise and quiet part of the city, the western end of Waymouth Street is now the site of high-rise residential buildings. There is a 17-storey student accommodation tower opposite the Grace Emily Hotel, which was described as "ugly" and "unsympathetic" by two city councillors during its construction in 2017. As of June 2024 there are plans to redevelop the site on the corner of Waymouth and Gray Streets (262-268), creating a 52-metre (171 ft) high apartment building. There is an existing 17-storey student accommodation block on Gray Street.

Across from the intersection with West Terrace is a service road for Adelaide High School and an entrance point to shared pedestrian and bicycle tracks in the western parklands.

History

The street was named after Henry Waymouth, a founding director of the South Australian Company, by the Street Naming Committee in 1837. Until 1863 it was almost invariably spelled "Weymouth"; the eponymous director was then given either spelling interchangeably.

The original three-storey Advertiser building was on the southern corner with King William Street, with a new five-storey building constructed alongside it in Waymouth Street (37 yd (34 m) west of King William and extending 22 yd (20 m) along Waymouth, completed in early 1924. Both buildings were replaced in 1959 by a 12-storey building, and then again in 2005 by a 9-storey glass building.

Incidents

On 2 March 1994, a bomb exploded in the National Crime Authority offices in a building on Waymouth Street, after being sent to NCA Senior Investigator Detective Sergeant Geoffrey Bowen, killing him and severely injuring lawyer Peter Wallis. The initial suspect, Domenic Perre, who was released for lack of evidence shortly after being arrested, was re-arrested in 2018. Perre was standing on top of a nearby carpark and was later arrested at his house. He entered a plea (of not guilty) for the first time in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on 17 February 2020 but his lawyer conceded that there is a case to answer and he was committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court of South Australia.

The Grace Emily

The Grace Emily Hotel, at number 232, is well known for its live music, and for some time and as of 2024 it has a regular Monday night gig called "Billy Bob's BBQ Jam", an open mic night and jam session which is hosted by Billy Bob and the BBQ Boys. Each Wednesday is a jazz night, and there is live live music on most nights, including touring acts and local musicians on the weekend. Marlon Williams, Julia Jacklin, Justin Townes Earle, the Mountain Goats, Tim Rogers (many times), and Ringo Starr's backing band have played at the venue. The hotel also plays host to musicians as part of festivals such as the annual "Guitars in Bars".

The first establishment on the site, the Launceston Hotel, opened in the early days of the colony of South Australia, in 1839, serving the working-class poor who lived in the area. It functioned as a front parlour, dance hall and coroner's court. In 1894, it was run by publican John L. Lander, and had a bagatelle room. By 1941, the Victorian-style architecture with its ornate windows, decorative ironwork on a small balcony, and bluestone facade had been replaced by a rendered frontage and balcony stretching the length of the building, as it stands today. Its name had changed slightly, to Hotel Launceston, and the publican was James T. Bryan. The hotel has also been known as the Whaler's Return (for a few years in the late 1800s) and Rupara Hotel.

In 1998, Hotel Launceston was put on the market. A bikie gang's bid was refused by authorities, and South Adelaide Football Club teammates Greg Kleynjans and Craig Dewhirst stepped in and bought the pub. They renamed the pub the Grace Emily Hotel after their "footy mum", a woman called Grace Emily who lived locally and would pop in every evening for a cup of tea. They renamed the pub before her death in 2004. Symon Jarowyj took over the business in 2010, with business partner George Swallow, after Kleynhans moved to Melbourne.

The Grace Emily won Best Music Venue in the South Australian Music Awards in 2016 and 2017. In 2017, the venue was inducted into the SA Music Hall of Fame, for its commitment to live music. It also won SA Live Music Venue of the Year in the National Live Music Awards of 2017

The Grace Emily played host to Adelaide Jazz Festival gigs in April 2023 and April 2024.

In September 2023, the Grace Emily was one of seven independent music venues in South Australia to form the Independent Live Venues Alliance (ILVA), with funding from the state government through the Music Development Office. The other venues are: Jive and the Broadcast Bar in the city centre; inner-metro venues The Governor Hindmarsh and Wheatsheaf Hotel; along with the Semaphore Workers Club in Semaphore and the Murray Delta Juke Joint on the Fleurieu Peninsula. The group's first event was the four-day "Everyday Event", with 14 gigs hosted across the venues between 19 and October 2023.

Historic buildings

There are several locally heritage-listed buildings on Waymouth Street, and as of 2024 two on the South Australian Heritage Register:

Woodards House, originally an office building designed by prominent architect F. Kenneth Milne (then in practice as F. Kenneth Milne, Evans & Russell) for Norwich Union Fire Insurance Society, which included ground floor offices for the Commercial Bank of Australia. The building contractor was prominent local builder Frederick Fricker, who died suddenly while on holiday, in Port Said, before the building was completed. The building was officially opened on 5 June 1929, after a dinner the previous night attended by many local dignitaries. The building was state heritage-listed on 23 August 2013, and described as "an outstanding example of a building constructed in the Inter-War Commercial Palazzo style". An additional floor was added in 1953.

The Cumberland Arms Hotel, at no. 205, was designed by Henry Colls Richardson for Sir Edwin Thomas Smith and built in 1883. It was heritage-listed in 1986.

References

"Waymouth Street" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
2003 Adelaide Street Directory, 41st Edition. UBD. 2003. ISBN 0-7319-1441-4.
Map of the Adelaide CBD, North Adelaide and the Adelaide Parklands
"'They're going to complain': Apartments squeeze city music pubs". InDaily. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
Wilson, Roxanne (26 June 2017). "Is Adelaide's 'ugliest building' this new student accommodation in Waymouth St?". adelaidenow. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
"Clean Energy Finance Corporation gives Adelaide student accommodation project a boost". ArchitectureAu. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
"High-rise apartment proposal for Waymouth Street". InDaily. 25 June 2024. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
"Family Notices". South Australian Register. Vol. XII, no. 841. South Australia. 7 June 1848. p. 2. Retrieved 3 December 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
"Nomenclature of the Streets of Adelaide and North Adelaide" (PDF). State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
This Trove newspaper search shows continuing variations.
"Waymouth Street, Adelaide". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
"I miss the old Advertiser building on the corner of King William and Waymouth Streets". Facebook. Adelaide Remember When. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
"Photographs of The Advertiser Building [B 71301/3]". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
"View to a kill: Alleged NCA bomber tours crime scene".
Dayman, Isabel (14 September 2018). "Domenic Perre plea over NCA bombing murder charge delayed for legal aid negotiations". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
Dillon, Meagan (17 February 2020). "Domenic Perre pleads not guilty to murder, attempted murder over 1994 NCA bombing". ABC News. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
"Grace Emily Hotel". Adelaide Gigs. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
Buxton-Collins, Alexis (2 September 2024). "The Best Adelaide Bars For 2024". Australian Traveller. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
^ Marsh, Walter (23 March 2024). "'We've had one fight in 15 years': is the Grace Emily hotel Australia's best music venue?". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
^ "The Grace Emily". Broadsheet. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
"Guitars in Bars returns to Adelaide Guitar Festival this September". Glam Adelaide. 21 August 2024. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
"Waymouth Street, North Side". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
^ Davies, Nathan (4 March 2017). "The Grace Emily's commitment to live music has been recognised with the hotel's induction into the SA Music Hall of Fame". adelaidenow. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
"Hotel Launceston, Waymouth Street, Adelaide". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
"Past Winners (2012-2018)". South Australian Music Awards. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
"Winners". National Live Music Awards. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
Von Einem, Johnny (17 April 2023). "Adelaide Jazz Festival". CityMag.
"Home". Adelaide Jazz Festival. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
Robinson, Ellie (22 September 2023). "Government Backs Aus-First Independent Live Venues Alliance". The Music. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
"Introducing South Australia's own Independent Live Venues Alliance". The Note. 7 November 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
"Heritage Places, keyword search "Waymouth"". The South Australia Heritage Places database: SA Heritage Places Database Search. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
"Home Plots and Houses". News (Adelaide). Vol. XII, no. 1, 795. South Australia. 17 April 1929. p. 10 (Home edition). Retrieved 22 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
"Woodards House". Experience Adelaide. Heritage Places of Adelaide. City of Adelaide. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
"Mr. F. Fricker". The Chronicle (Adelaide). Vol. LXXI, no. 3, 762. South Australia. 27 October 1928. p. 36. Retrieved 26 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
"Death of Mr. F. Fricker". The Register (Adelaide). Vol. XCIII, no. 27, 205. South Australia. 24 October 1928. p. 19. Retrieved 26 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
"Norwich Union Building". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 6 June 1929. p. 11. Retrieved 22 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
"Norwich Union Building". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 5 June 1929. p. 12. Retrieved 22 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
"47-49 Waymouth Street Adelaide". The South Australia Heritage Places database: SA Heritage Places Database Search. Retrieved 22 April 2024. ...an outstanding example of a building constructed in the Inter-War Commercial Palazzo style... additional floor constructed in 1953...
"205 Waymouth Street Adelaide". The South Australia Heritage Places database: SA Heritage Places Database Search. Retrieved 22 April 2024. originally licensed as the Crown and Anchor Hotel on a site further along Elizabeth Street, the current Cumberland Arms Hotel building dates from 1883 and was designed by H C Richardson for Sir E T Smith, brewer and philanthropist. It is a typical corner hotel with chamfered corner and verandah/balcony, but features some ebullient detailing which makes it out of the ordinary. It also serves as a reminder of the once dense residential development in the west end of Adelaide. The interior is significant for its fine entrance hall and staircase and for its upstairs rooms being largely intact.

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