History Ramble 3: East Westgarth

Route: Begins at All Saints Church and ends at former Sutton Tools.
Terrain: Paved footpath. Some gradients.
Easy Access: No.86 Tram – Walker St stop

A relatively short stroll packed full of early Northcote history, from the beginnings of High St through remnants of past glories and a parade of building styles in East Westgarth.

The area between Westgarth St and Merri Creek was the original gazetted village of Northcote - land was sold in the 1850s and houses built soon after. Within a decade of this establishment, another area was settled on top of Northcote Hill and it became clear that the population center would be on the hill. The original area became known as Westgarth around 1912, though it continued to be known as Lower Northcote, Northcote South and Northcote Bridge for some years after.

While mostly residential there has been some industry in the area over the years, including a large dye works and dry cleaning factory, the Exhibiton Boot Co, the Sutton Tool & Gauge (a precision machine tool company) and an extensive plant Nursery.

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START AT ALL SAINTS CHURCH, HIGH ST
High St: Former Plenty Rd. Part of the ‘Hoddle Line’, a north-south axis that was used for early Melbourne maps.
A cable tram ran up to Dundas St from 1890.

LOOKING SOUTH DOWN HIGH ST TO THE MERRI CREEK
Just over the Merri Creek there used to be a railway line crossing High St. A Railway bridge was built in 1925. The road underneath the bridge dips because double-decker buses replaced the cable trams in 1940. Electric trams did not arrive until 1955.
All Saints Church (1859): One of quite a number of early surviving buildings, typical of an early English parish church. The bluestone blocks were quarried at Bacchus Marsh.
Rockeries (1905-7) & Twin Cannons (1884/5): Vestiges of the rockeries substantial plantings announcing the entrance to Northcote. Encouraged by the Northcote South Pioneers Assoc. Two cannons came to Northcote in 1913 from the South Channel Fort.

HEAD NORTH AND TURN RIGHT INTO WALKER ST
24 Walker St. (1861) Former Police Station with slate roof. A police reserve had been part of the original allocation of land to the Northcote Township. This was built in 1861 and moved west of railway line in 1877.
Train Line (1877 / 2009): Cross the railway line safely. The ‘Nowhere to Nowhere Railway Line’ ran from Fairfield Park to Clifton Hill was only for speculative housing development. For over 130 years the track between Westgarth and Clifton Hill was a single track.
34 Walker St (c1870): In 1856, William Henry Dennis bought this site and took over an extensive bluestone quarry located between Heidelberg Rd and Merri Ck. He had connection with All Saints Sunday School and was one of the dynastic family of councilors in Northcote including his sons W J and Samuel.
A plaque, on the corner of Urquart & High Sts, commemorates Cr S Dennis.

TURN RIGHT INTO ROSS ST, HEADING SOUTH
9 Ross St is a Federation weatherboard (c1915) (west side). Symbol of the rising sun – the birth of a new country post Australian Federation. Diagonally opposite was the former extensive property of Alfred Dyson’s Nursery. Alfred lived at No 20 - ‘Dysonia’, which is now a set of flats.

HEAD back up Ross St – going uphill
32-42 Ross St: (The corner of Walker & Ross Sts- east side) Here you can see a set of speculative Victorian single-fronted brick cottages (1880s). The brick is unusual in Northcote as the houses are mostly timber houses. In the 1870s there was just one house on west side that belonged to Michael Flynn, a merchant.
50 - 52 Ross St (east side) In 1857 this was owed by Edward J Witton, who was a land dealer and had a large property bounded by Cunningham St and Short St.
Cunningham’s were an early family with dairy/school on the corner of Westgarth St and Cunningham St. The north side still has some very old surviving houses.

TURN LEFT INTO CUNNINGHAM ST AND HEAD TO THE RAILWAY.
47 Cunningham St. (c1866): This is the oldest surviving houses in this tour. Richard G Westlake a sail maker, first lived here until 1890s.
51 Cunningham St (c1860s) was formerly ‘The Lawn’ Now flats. Francis Burdett and his wife, Catherine Mary, lived here from the 1870s. They initially owned most of the block. The Exhibition Boot Co (in Westgarth St) is at back of their land.
55 Cunningham St (c 1880s) ‘Stawell’. Around 1914 C.A. Howden an estate agent lived here. His son – Capt. H C Howden received the military cross in Jan 1917 and died later at Gallipoli.

TURN AROUND AND RETRACE YOUR PATH
56 Cunningham St. (c 1950s) Lady Gladys Nicholls House: Site of former church manse connected with All Saints Church and Sir Douglas Nichols (1906-1988) an Aboriginal who made his name in football and then as a clergyman and activist. He lived at the Northcote Footbal

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