90-553: The Elsie Refuge for women and children was a women's refuge set up in Glebe , Sydney in 1974. The project was the beginning of the NSW Women's Refuge Movement that responded to the needs of women and children escaping domestic violence by providing access to specialist accommodation and support services operating within a feminist framework. In November 1973, Women's Liberation activists Anne Summers and Jennifer Dakers called
180-658: A greyhound racing track, is on the border with Ultimo . Glebe mini skateboarding ramp is located in Bicentennial Park off Chapman road, in between Glebe and Annandale. The mini was originally 3.5-foot (1.1 m) tall with a hump in the middle. Circa 2005 the original mini was removed and replaced with a traditional 4-foot (1.2 m) ramp, sans hump. Balmain South Sydney Cricket Club play at Jubilee Oval in Glebe. Glebe Dirty Reds compete in
270-743: A high church Anglican clergyman. Three of Blacket's sketchbooks from this period of the architectural details of buildings in the United Kingdom (1929-1941) are now held at the University of Sydney Library . On 13 June 1842, Blacket and his new wife left England on the passenger vessel Eden , bound for Sydney, but with New Zealand as their intended final destination. Blacket later wrote, "Neither my Father or Mother would bid me good bye, so my old Uncle offered to see us off." He had letters of introduction to prominent residents of Sydney, including Sir Charles Nicholson , Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and
360-474: A brass plaque on his door, advertising himself as "Architect and Surveyor" and writing to his brother Frank in London: "There is nothing to be gained here by hiding ones talent in a bushel." In the same letter he wrote of his aim to "improve the taste of the discerning public upon ecclesiastical architecture". In July of the same year, he began this by giving his first lecture, on Norman architecture , presumably at
450-692: A church that reminded them of one in Cornwall, Yorkshire or East Anglia, Edmund Blacket was to become a very popular man. Although probably at his best when designing in the Medieval ecclesiastic styles and the Florentine palazzo style which he employed for commercial premises, Blacket followed the trends of Victorian architecture in London through his subscription and library membership. Some of his later churches, particularly those in brick, were to have
540-458: A cost." On 1 December 1849, while the construction of St Andrew's Cathedral was proceeding, Blacket was appointed Colonial Architect for New South Wales , succeeding Mortimer Lewis . He occupied this position for nearly five years, but there are few buildings remaining in Sydney from this employment with the exception of the small Water Police Office in a robust Classical style. His largest job
630-614: A cricket bat. They were one of a number of activist groups who squatted in derelict houses in the Anglican Church owned "Glebe Estate" in the pathway of a proposed freeway, part of which was to pass through the area. The building, along with the other 700 dwellings on Glebe Estate, was purchased from the Anglican Church by the Whitlam government in 1974 and the refuge was granted a lease. The Whitlam government established
720-410: A flamboyant arch rising to the level of the ornate parapet . These are more strongly modelled than at York, and meet the obliquely set pinnacle above them in a continuous upward-sweeping movement. Another such flamboyant moulding rises from the tall central window to overlap the gable in a manner both complex and inventive. The interior, despite its small scale, and the large size of the piers, has
810-466: A food court and cinema complex, and completed a renovation in July 2007 which added a fourth floor. Glebe has a popular market which is held on Saturdays in the grounds of Glebe Primary School. Arts, crafts, clothing and edibles are sold. They are known as the alternative markets for the alternative lifestyle goods that are offered. New and second-hand goods are sold there. Wentworth Park , which features
900-566: A letter from him, and in addition he has regularly directed and posted to me the Illustrated London News and Punch ." The first edition of the former paper was published shortly before he left England, and would have kept him informed of architectural developments in England. In England, towards the end the 18th century, architecture was dominated by the simple symmetrical Classical forms of Georgian architecture . This style
990-432: A lofty, spacious and elegant appearance. It was furnished with richly carved furniture designed by Blacket himself and a cycle of 27 windows by John Hardman & Co. of Birmingham depicting the life and teachings of Jesus Christ . The cathedral was opened and consecrated on 30 November 1868 by Broughton's successor, Bishop Frederic Barker . Joseph Kinsela writes, "Such is Blacket's grasp of English Late Gothic style that
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#17328012047651080-428: A meeting at Women's House in Sydney to discuss the setting up of a "refuge" to provide free accommodation for women in various distress situations. In March 1974, Summers, Dakers and other women activists, including Bessie Guthrie , Robyn Kemmis, Kris Melmouth , Margaret Power, Carol Baker, Diana Beaton, Christina Gibbeson and Trudy Brickwood squatted an abandoned property at 73-75 Westmoreland Street, Glebe and set up
1170-401: A mortgage. Glebe Point Road is the main road through the suburb, featuring a shopping strip, known for its specialty shops and cafés and for its variety of ethnic restaurants – Indian, Thai, Italian, Nepalese, Dutch-Indonesian, and other minority ethnic tastes. Broadway Shopping Centre was built on the landmark site of the former Grace Bros department store. The shopping centre includes
1260-815: A prominent citizen and politician of Brisbane , Queensland . Blacket's brother Russell, who joined him in Australia in 1858, ran a school in Wollongong and was the father of Wilfred Blacket , barrister, and great-great-great-grandfather of the Australian poet David Musgrave . All his other brothers and sisters remained in England, and their descendants include his great nephews Patrick, Lord Blackett and Basil Phillott Blackett . The breach with his parents and in-laws apparently healed. After his father's death in 1858 he wrote to his mother-in-law that "there has never been an instance in which I have failed to receive
1350-520: A recommendation to Bishop William Grant Broughton from the Archbishop of Canterbury . Blacket suffered from sea-sickness for the first month, although Sarah did not. After about 55 days the ship called at Bahia in Brazil, where he made sketches of church doors and other items that interested him. He also acquired a marmoset monkey which disturbed his sketching for the rest of the voyage. He spent
1440-531: A replica. Blacket was masterly at designing in the Perpendicular style and, as with other designs (such as the spire of St Mark's), he produced alternative versions which he slotted into place on the drawing or glued on as flaps, so that the Parish Council could choose. In this case they selected a design with double the usual number of windows in the clerestory level, and also two large windows in
1530-513: A robust quality, often with Early French Gothic rose windows with plate tracery or a simple quatrefoil . Blacket quickly adopted the colonial Georgian form of domestic architecture, to which he then applied a variety of details. He was also introduced to the architectural trends in both North America and Scotland by John Horbury Hunt and James Barnet respectively. From the 1870s his commercial and domestic buildings began to acquire eclectic details and incised ornament . The early 1840s were
1620-743: A service from a feminist perspective that focused on helping women escape domestic violence. The management of Elsie Women's Refuge was handed over to the St Vincent de Paul Society in August 2014. The records of the Elsie Women's Refuge for the years 1974-2014 are held in the collection of the State Library of New South Wales . Glebe, New South Wales Glebe is an inner-western suburb of Sydney in New South Wales . Glebe
1710-490: A staircase, and the bank vault among others – remained. Many of his small shops and commercial premises exist in other parts of Sydney such as Redfern and King Street, Newtown, but invariably with the street level façade altered beyond recognition. Other commercial buildings included Mort's Wool Stores at Circular Quay , which are now demolished, and David Cohen's & Co general store in High St Maitland , which
1800-805: A time of economic depression in New South Wales brought on by a severe drought in 1839, so Blacket was very fortunate to immediately gain employment from Bishop Broughton as Inspector of the Schools in connection with the Church of England in the Colony . This position involved the design and supervision of the building of schools, churches and parsonages. As the colony rapidly expanded, many school buildings were designed to be multi-purpose, serving as churches on Sunday and sometimes as court houses. Blacket began work on 1 January 1843, and on 18 January delivered to
1890-691: A veranda with open cast-iron pilasters . In 1859, Blacket received his last letter from his father, who died in November 1858. At the University of Sydney, Blacket built the Anglican St. Paul's College and supervised the building of the Catholic College of St John's after the resignation of its designer William Wardell . Insofar as the building was completed, he was faithful to Wardell's design, but he omitted several features, such as
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#17328012047651980-564: A wing to either end of the building, respecting the proportion of the original, but with two floors where the earlier stage had one, and with the centre of Hallen's building having a Doric portico. The portico was not constructed until 157 years later, and in the intervening period, the design looked strangely vacant in the middle. Blacket also designed the Avoca Street front of the Prince of Wales Hospital at Randwick , Mudgee Hospital and
2070-515: Is a large oriel window . The building has many rich details including the angels, which are carved on every hammer beam. The glass, by the English firm Clayton and Bell , represents men of learning, and is said to be the oldest complete cycle of Victorian stained glass . The Senate is said to have asked Blacket to sign his buildings; the Blacket coat of arms are on a chimney on the south wall of
2160-487: Is a locality sited along the road of the same name, which is located on the border of Glebe, Chippendale and Ultimo. Glebe's name is derived from the fact that the land on which it was developed was a glebe , originally owned by the Anglican Church . 'The Glebe' was a land grant of 162 hectares (400 acres) given by Governor Arthur Phillip to Reverend Richard Johnson , Chaplain of the First Fleet , in 1790. In
2250-514: Is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) southwest of the Sydney central business district in the Inner West region. Glebe is surrounded by Blackwattle Bay and Rozelle Bay, inlets of Sydney Harbour , in the north. The suburb of Ultimo lies to the east and the suburbs of Annandale and Forest Lodge lie to the west. The southern boundary is formed by Parramatta Road and Broadway . Broadway
2340-553: Is no figurative decoration, but the east window by James Powell and Sons of Whitefriars, "variegated with flowers and interspersed with texts", cost £200 and is one of the finest non-pictorial windows in Sydney. Blacket's association with St Andrew's, the Anglican Cathedral of Sydney, began in 1846. Grand plans for a square church had been made by Governor Lachlan Macquarie and his architect Francis Greenway , but these had been abandoned after proceeding no further than
2430-416: Is the most derivative of other Victorian models, the arrangement of triple aisles of almost equal height, each with an open timber roof is repeated many times in the work of Pugin and his followers. However, the window traceries, which are of the most complex of the three English styles and for which drawings still exist, display Blacket's mastery of Gothic design. For St Mark's, Darling Point, Blacket showed
2520-953: The 2021 census , 11,680 people were living in Glebe, compared to 11,532 people at the 2016 census. In 2021, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.3% of the population. Of people attending an educational institution, 13.5% were in primary school, 10.8% in secondary school and 44.5% in a tertiary or technical institution. 57.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were England 4.4%, China 4.0%, New Zealand 2.7%, Vietnam 2.2% and United States 1.4%. 68.2% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 4.4%, Vietnamese 2.7%, Spanish 2.1%, Cantonese 1.7% and Greek 1.0%. The most common responses for religion were no religion 51.6% and Catholic 15.6%. Of occupied private dwellings in Glebe, 47.2% were semi-detached, 46.0% were flats or apartments and 5.0% were separate houses. 61.4% were rented, 19.4% were owned outright and 19.4% were owned with
2610-573: The Cambridge Camden Society for comment. His design was acceptable to both, the Oxford Society in particular waxed lyrical, saying that his design "had realised the idea of a cathedral, as diverse from a parish church". However, Oxford wanted the roof of the aisles to be of steeper pitch, and a decorative moulding (or string course ) around the interior walls, while Cambridge wanted more pinnacles and just one large window in
2700-751: The Elsie Refuge . This was one of many properties left empty in the area due to government plans to build the North-East Expressway. The demolition of parkland and houses in Glebe was averted after the NSW Builders Labourers Federation placed bans on such work. The original vegetation was the Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest . A veteran Ironbark still grows at the grounds of St John's Anglican Church, at Glebe Point Road. At
2790-569: The New South Wales Rugby League . The Glebe Dirty Reds were formed in 1908 and played in the first seasons of rugby league in Australia, with home games at Wentworth Park . The foundation club did not win a premiership and was excluded from the competition in 1930. In the 1970s, feminist activists took over an abandoned terrace house in Westmoreland Street and set up Australia's first women's shelter,
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2880-644: The Perpendicular Gothic style with a front of 410 feet (125 metres) broken at the centre by a tower of 89 ft (27 m), beneath which there is a lofty archway, and surmounted by large pinnacles. The façade is broken by two gabled bays to the left, and one to the right, the right side of the building terminating in the Great Hall . While the whole exterior of the building, with its glowing sandstone , battlemented roofline and array of glinting leadlight windows give an imposing effect on top of
2970-613: The Ron Massey Cup . Schools in the suburb include Glebe Public School (on Glebe Point Road), St James Catholic School (on Woolley Street), Forest Lodge Public School (Bridge Road) and St Scholastica's College (on Avenue Road). The Blackwattle Bay Campus of Sydney Secondary College sits on the site of the old Glebe High School. Tranby Aboriginal College is located in a heritage-listed house, Tranby , in Mansfield Street. The Inner West Light Rail has two stations in
3060-508: The University of New South Wales . 19th century housing stock is largely intact, having undergone restoration as a result of gentrification . It is popular with city-workers and students due to its proximity to the Central Business District as well as University of Sydney , the University of Technology Sydney , and the University of Notre Dame Australia . Glebe is a popular destination for backpacker tourism due to
3150-452: The drought . In 1846 Blacket, who was seen by the committee to have a greater grasp of architectural principles and design than Hume, was appointed to replace him as architect of the cathedral. While the cathedral was under construction, a temporary wooden cathedral was erected, and one of Blacket's first jobs was to create a stained-glass window for it. Being unable to acquire coloured glass, he painted plain glass and fired it, using part of
3240-498: The 1860s, "The real architects of Sydney, in general, liked, respected and helped each other as friends. This peaceful situation was partly due to the overpowering presence of Edmund Blacket. Blacket bestrode the Sydney Architectural scene like a colossus." During the period of the building of Sydney University, Edmund and Sarah added another two children to the family; Cyril was born in 1857 and Horace in 1860, taking
3330-417: The 19th century, Glebe was home to the architect Edmund Blacket , who had migrated from England. Blacket built his family home, Bidura , on Glebe Point Road in 1858, designing it along conventional Victorian Regency lines. He also designed St John's Church, on the corner of Glebe Point Road and St Johns Road. The church was built from 1868 to 1870. The suburb of Glebe was home to a first grade football team in
3420-485: The Bishop the plans for the church of All Saint's, Patrick Plains (now Singleton). He estimated that it could be built for £700. It was eventually completed in 1850 for £713.11s.6d. Other churches that he supervised, designed or extended were St John's Ashfield (1843), St Mary's Balmain (1843), St Paul's Carcoar (1845), the old St Stephen's, Newtown (1845) and Christ Church St Laurence , Sydney. In May 1843, he put up
3510-474: The Blacket family moved to a rented house in Glebe . It was a wild place at that time and Sarah feared for Edmund's safety as he walked home. The family had expanded to six children: Edith, was born in 1844, Alice in 1846, Arthur in 1848, Marian in 1850, Owen in 1851 and Hilda in 1854. The cost of living greatly increased owing to the gold rush and with six children to support and earning £300 a year, Blacket left
3600-518: The Blackett family as "a man of the strictest probity with a great love for his profession, who also studied the classics, and was considered the leading authority on Classical Greek in Sydney, loved music, playing the organ at the temporary wooden pro-Cathedral, was a competent wood-carver and an amateur mechanical engineer". Edmund Blacket was born on 25 August 1817 at 85 St Margaret's Hill (later Borough High Street ) Southwark , London, England,
3690-461: The Department of Urban and Regional Development, which fought back against the proposed expressway and redevelopment projects, and provided funding for the refuge. Later the refuge was moved to larger premises in nearby Derwent Street. Although crisis accommodation for women had been available for a long time, it was very limited. Elsie Refuge and its feminist counterparts were the first to run
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3780-467: The Government for some months. One of his first tasks as University Architect was to persuade the august committee to accept the notion that Perpendicular Gothic really was the only right and appropriate style for the building, because of its association with most colleges of both Oxford and Cambridge. The notes that he made for this speech are still in existence. Blacket was able to show the committee
3870-658: The Manly area. Blacket also built several Anglican Church rectories, most of which are in a simple, asymmetrical, Gothic Revival style with gables and some Gothic detailing in the bargeboards and verandas, such as those at Berrima and Bega . He also remodelled Thomas Sutcliffe Mort 's house Greenoaks in the Gothic style—it was since renamed Bishopscourt as the residence of the Archbishop of Sydney until its sale to private interests. A common residential commission late in
3960-627: The Public Service in September 1854, to be succeeded by William Weaver . Blacket was involved with the foundation of Sydney University from the outset, and played a role in selecting the site on the Parramatta Road at the top of a rise overlooking Grose Farm (now Victoria Park ). He was appointed University Architect on 23 May 1854, several days before he resigned as Colonial Architect, and he continued to supervise building for
4050-526: The Sydney School of Arts. Towards the end of the year, he and Sarah rented a house from Dr Hammett in Stanley Street, off College Street, where he was soon to receive an important architectural commission. Their first child, Edith, was born at Stanley Street the following year. Christ Church St Laurence was designed by Henry Robertson in 1840. From 1843, Blacket undertook the completion of
4140-493: The aisle windows. The challenge to Blacket was to create a building which worked within the limitations of scale but still had the imposing quality of a cathedral. Once again, Bishop Broughton's aim was to have a replica of the Magdalen College tower, but Bishop Selwyn of New Zealand had laid the foundation stone in 1842, and his recommendation had been for two towers. Blacket initially designed towers that accommodated
4230-465: The architect, and was paid for privately. At St Philip's, Church Hill , Blacket was to replace the church built by Governors Hunter and Bligh and justifiably known as "the ugliest church in Christendom". Bishop Broughton, both here and at St Paul's, wanted the design based on his beloved Magdalen Tower at Oxford. But although Blacket used the paired windows at St Philip's, the design was not
4320-480: The banks and offices that Blacket designed within the Sydney CBD , several survived into the 1970s but were eventually demolished to make way for high-rise development. One bank's neoclassical exterior survives on the corner of George and King Street, but the interior was gutted in 2011 to accommodate Louis Vuitton's flagship Sydney store. As late as 2008, when it housed the Blacket hotel, a few internal fittings –
4410-501: The bars and cafes of Glebe Point Road and the aforementioned proximity to the city. At its south-eastern end is the Glebe Estate, an area of Housing Commission properties, mainly consisting of low density affordable Victorian terrace houses (similar to the surrounding private houses), single cottages and small complexes, purchased by the government of Gough Whitlam as a massive urban renewal project to provide public housing for
4500-508: The building industry lost its workforce. While work on many of the ecclesiastical buildings that Blacket had designed and continued to supervise came to a standstill, the Government had a sudden requirement for coach houses, escort stations and lockups, as well as a design for a secure coach to transport gold. Designs for all these were provided by the Colonial Architect, probably closely following plans sent from England. In 1853,
4590-500: The committee a design based upon an engraving of the church at Horncastle, Lincolnshire . Unlike St. Paul's, St Mark's has a high nave lit by small clerestory windows with trefoil lights above the aisles. The building work was interrupted in 1851 by the departure of men for the Australian gold rushes . The spire , which is a feature of the leafy streetscape of Darling Point Road, was chosen from 14 different versions prepared by
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#17328012047654680-466: The crypt beneath St James, King Street, as his studio. This window, which predated commercial stained glass manufacture in Australia, has been lost. Blacket was very pleased with it and wrote to his brother Frank "the folk who come to see it ... can hardly believe it is not stained glass." Blacket's design for the cathedral was restricted by the foundations that were already in place and the existence of Perpendicular tracery built to Hume's design in two of
4770-483: The hill, it is the Great Hall that is regarded as the finest part of the design. The interior is loosely based on that of the Great Hall of Westminster , having a magnificent hammer-beam roof and a large mullioned and transommed window at each end. The windows of the long sides are placed high above an ornamented course in order that portraits may be hung beneath them, except at the south western corner where there
4860-505: The historic styles promoted the formation of the Oxford Architectural Society and the Cambridge Camden Society which, though differing in their philosophies, both promoted the medieval styles—Gothic in particular—as being those suitable for church architecture and its correct liturgical function. The purpose of the architect was seen as being to create designs of such archaeological correctness that they reproduced
4950-527: The interior and then in the 1850s he built the tower and spire. This was to become a highly significant project for Blacket. The Church of England in Sydney had been founded in 1788 by the first Anglican priest in the colony, Richard Johnson . This foundation came at a time of austerity within the Church of England, predating the Oxford Movement . The first churches in Australia, such as St James', King Street , were essentially "preaching boxes" in which
5040-414: The interior could be taken for the product of the fifteenth century. There are no Victorian clichés.... Not many Australians are aware of the architectural status of St. Andrew's Cathedral...[it] is the equal of the best 19th century work in this style." However, not everyone was enthusiastic at the time, one critic writing, "We are compelled to say that seldom has so dull an inanity been produced at so great
5130-725: The issue was in Chancery . In about 1837, although lacking formal training, Blacket began work for the Stockton and Darlington Railway as a surveyor . This was the period of rapid expansion of the railways and in railway engineering and innovation. As a railway surveyor one of Blacket's jobs would have been the design of railway stations. He continued in Yorkshire until 1841, taking every possible opportunity to draw ancient buildings and their details, which included spending his 23rd birthday surveying Whitby Abbey . In June 1841, Blacket
5220-433: The laying of the foundation stone in 1819. By the time of Blacket's arrival, St Andrew's was under construction to a design by James Hume . It was to be a Neo Gothic structure of a relatively timid design and scale, cruciform and with narrow transepts . The foundations were laid, the south transept was almost complete, and in places the walls were 15 feet (4.6 m) high. The work had ceased through lack of funds owing to
5310-568: The little Methodist Chapel with its Doric portico in Princes Street. Sarah wrote home that "almost everyone keeps a carriage" and that Sydney Town had just achieved the status of a city, the first mayor having been elected. Blacket was a prepossessing young man, handsome, well-mannered, elegantly dressed and with £600 in capital. He soon found suitable employment and the Blackets relinquished their plans to travel on to New Zealand. Blacket
5400-476: The main wing, and his initials, ETB, are on the façade of the Great Hall. Completed in 1861, the university soon became a tourist attraction; Anthony Trollope wrote home in 1874 that the Hall was "the finest chamber in the colonies", and that he could remember no college of Oxford or Cambridge which possessed a hall "of which the proportions are so good". J. M. Freeland says of the architectural scene in Sydney in
5490-594: The needy. Some houses in the Glebe estate have been sold off to private real estate, including a high density tower block, and a large complex. This area has the third highest Aboriginal population in Sydney. Glebe has a number of heritage-listed sites, including the following sites listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register : The following buildings are listed on other heritage registers: Edmund Blacket Edmund Thomas Blacket (25 August 1817 – 9 February 1883)
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#17328012047655580-485: The new cathedral, these structures had strongly Classical elements beneath their medieval detailing. Blacket was the first architect in Australia who truly understood the principles of the Gothic style and who could design a church that would satisfy the august societies of Oxford and Cambridge. Since it was the wish of so many colonials, not the least of whom was the Bishop, to assuage their homesickness by at least attending
5670-724: The ornate Blind Asylum on the corner of William Street. Many of Blacket's banks date from the 1850s and 60s, as do many of his houses. Whereas churches and associated buildings were generally of the Gothic and occasionally of the Romanesque style, the Classical style was more usual for banks, many of them stylistically based upon the palaces of Renaissance Florence. These included The Bank of Australasia and The English, Scottish and Australian Bank, both on George Street, The Exchange Buildings on Spring and Gresham Streets and The Liverpool and London Insurance Company on Margaret Street. Of
5760-499: The profession. . On leaving school, Blacket went to work in his father's office and three years later, at the age of 20, took a position in a linen mill in Stokesley , Yorkshire . This mill was owned by his father in partnership with a Thomas Mease and operated by Edmund's brothers John and James. However, the Blackets ended the partnership with Mease in July 1837 as they were unhappy about certain financial matters, and by March 1838,
5850-465: The pulpit was placed centrally against one of the long walls and surrounded by tiered seating of box pews, each designated for a family. Blacket was instrumental in introducing to Christ Church St Laurence all the elaborate High Church details in the style of the great Catholic architect, Augustus Welby Pugin. Sydney Evangelicals were shocked at the furnishing, the liturgy and the robed male choir, seeing it as "scandalous", and "papist". Later, Blacket
5940-477: The refuge in response to the lack of services and support available to women and children suffering from domestic violence . It was estimated that lesbians made up about 50% of the activist staff at the Elsie Refuge and associated Rape Crisis Centre set up nearby in Glebe by Kris Melmouth. Initially, there was no support from governments, with the staff at the centre providing security with nothing more than
6030-534: The rest of the voyage carving a wooden crucifix. The Eden sailed into Sydney Harbour on 4 November 1842 with Blacket, who kept a shipboard diary, writing that he had never seen such "an exquisite scene". The Blackets were also greatly impressed by the crew of Māori oarsmen in the pilot boat. The first building that Blacket saw in Sydney Town was the simple copper-clad steeple of Francis Greenway 's St. James's Church. He went ashore and found lodgings opposite
6120-515: The seventh child of James Blacket and Margaret Harriot née Ralph. His father was a prosperous draper or slopseller of Smithfield , London. The family were Nonconformists , and Edmund's grandfather Edward Ralph, a former clockmaker, had been minister of a Congregational church at Maidstone . Blacket was educated at Mill Hill School , near Barnet , and although he showed an early interest in architecture, spending his holidays sketching and measuring old buildings, his father opposed him taking up
6210-476: The sort of building that he intended, having to hand J. T. Emmett's design of the Congregational College on Finchley Road, north of London. Blacket asked his friend, the artist Conrad Martens , to create a watercolour drawing from his plans and elevations. Although the plans can not be located, the drawing is owned by the university and was engraved to appear in a newspaper. The building is in
6300-530: The southern side of the chancel as well as the six-light window in the eastern end, so this church, in contrast to St Paul's, Redfern, is unusually light. Unlike the Decorated Gothic tracery at St Paul's, the Perpendicular Gothic tracery is repetitious in its form. The visual effect of the church is one of harmony and elegance of proportion. Because of the Evangelical nature of this church, there
6390-429: The styles of ecclesiastical architecture prior to the Reformation , as is demonstrated in the work of the renowned Augustus Welby Pugin . On his arrival in Sydney, Blacket possessed a small library of architectural books, and he kept abreast of the latest trends by subscribing to journals. Although there were a number of buildings with Gothic details in the colony at the time, in particular the existing south transept of
6480-508: The suburb, Glebe and Jubilee Park, with the journey from Glebe to Central railway station taking just under twenty minutes. Transit Systems route 431 runs from Martin Place via Elizabeth Street , Broadway and Glebe Point Road, terminating at Glebe Point . Route 433 runs from Railway Square , along Glebe Point Road and continuing to Balmain . Transdev John Holland route 370 runs from Glebe Point to Coogee via Newtown , Alexandria and
6570-485: The total to eight. In 1857, Edmund designed and built a home for his family, " Bidura ", on Glebe Point Road . Nearby was "Toxteth Park", home of the solicitor, George Allen, a grand house built by the Regency architect, John Verge . The presence of this house seems to have influenced Blacket's design as the house he built for himself is entirely of a Colonial Regency style, with a hip roof and French doors opening onto
6660-417: The transept ends. Blacket obliged by making such changes as he could, but the string course and the rebuilding of the paired windows in the existent transept were impractical. Blacket had the model-maker J.C. White construct a detailed cardboard model of a scale 1 inch to 8 feet. This pleased the committee and the cathedral was finished much as demonstrated on the model, but with one very significant change:
6750-445: The west front, while retaining its form, had it details redesigned, in the light of the drawings that he received from Yorkshire. Blacket's modification of the west front is to a much richer and more vertical design. This was achieved by the adoption of several features of the famous façade of York Minster, including abandoning the paired "Magdalen College" windows in the uppermost stage in favour of large mullioned windows framed by
6840-590: The western cloister, for lack of funds. In 1881, Blacket designed the Clarke Buildings of Trinity College , a residential college affiliated with the University of Melbourne . These residential buildings were executed in brick, with decorative stone features and carved columns. He later also added a kitchen and staff accommodation block. A design for a chapel at the college was not proceeded with. The Clarke Buildings were extended and completed and Arthur Blacket in 1888. One of Blacket's best known commissions
6930-472: The wishes of both Bishops, but he also wrote to a relative in Yorkshire asking them to send drawings of the façade of York Minster . By 1847, all of Blacket's proposed changes, including the elaborate façade and lengthening of the nave had been accepted. In order to make sure that his design was truly the best possible solution, he sent copies of his plans to England, to both the Oxford Society and
7020-408: Was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney , St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and St. Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn . Arriving in Sydney from England in 1842, at a time when the city was rapidly expanding and new suburbs and towns were being established, Blacket was to become a pioneer of the revival styles of architecture, in particular Victorian Gothic . He
7110-481: Was an enthusiastic writer, leaving a shipboard journal in the form of an ordinary school exercise book and sending many letters to his family in England, and to his children, particularly his youngest daughter Hilda, to whom he once sent thirty stamps, as an encouragement to write back. In 1849 Blacket assisted his cousin Thomas Blacket Stephens in his immigration to Sydney. Thomas went on to be
7200-399: Was at the family home on Brixton Hill , when his father entered him on the census returns as "Draper". During the same year, he worked for the Archbishop of Canterbury in London as Inspector of Schools, and at that time learnt the craft of making stained glass He spent the year "in misery", being in love with Sarah Mease, the daughter of his father's former business partner. Their marriage
7290-416: Was highly influential in the development of Australian architecture. He worked with a number of other architects of both Australian and international importance: James Barnet , William Wardell and John Horbury Hunt . Among his children, Arthur, Owen and Cyril followed him into the profession. The successful architect William Kemp also trained in his practice. Edmund Blacket is regarded by descendants of
7380-583: Was officially appointed Diocesan Architect for the Church of England, while still continuing with his private practice. The designs of three of Blacket's most significant churches date from 1847 to 1848. These are St. Paul's, Redfern , St. Mark's, Darling Point and St. Philip's, Church Hill . As Joan Kerr points out, Blacket has used these three buildings as essays on the three main periods of English Gothic architecture : Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular, his motive being perhaps to impress Sydney with his scholarship. Of these three buildings, St. Paul's
7470-477: Was one of the grandest houses in Australia and certainly the grandest of this baronial Gothic type. Its demolition was an appalling loss...." Henry Gilbert Smith , the founder of Manly , was a favourite client whilst Blacket was in private practice, having designed his Georgian house, Fairlight House , two versions of the Style Hotel (both since demolished), and St Matthew's Church (also demolished), all in
7560-535: Was opposed by the families, and having been in love probably from 1837 or earlier, they were finally wed on 27 April 1842 in the medieval parish church of Wakefield , (which later became Wakefield Cathedral ) with neither set of parents present. Blacket's diaries indicate that he had become a member of the Church of England and had a great love for the Anglican Liturgy . His brother Henry Blackett became
7650-460: Was originally three stories but only the ground floor, occupied by Centrelink , is now remaining after a fire in 1970. Blacket built houses both great and small. They ranged from a little five-room house for E. O. Heywood on Glebe Point Road to Henry Cary Dangar 's castle-like Grantham , formerly on Pott's Point. With its battlements, turrets, grand staircase and magnificent harbour views, Grantham rivalled Government House. Joan Kerr writes, "It
7740-682: Was the Glebe Island Abattoirs and the Moreton Island Lighthouse was also a significant undertaking. He spent much of his time in the country, supervising the building of wooden bridges, some of which have survived. When in Sydney, he was called out frequently to look at the leaking roof of Government House, but roof drainage was not one of Blacket's talents. In 1851, gold was discovered, both in New South Wales and in Victoria. While trade and commerce thrived,
7830-549: Was the extension of Sydney Grammar School in 1855. The building, occupying a highly visible position fronting onto College Street and overlooking Hyde Park in the City of Sydney , was begun by Edward Hallen in 1832, to a Regency design, but considerably smaller than intended. Because of the structure of the school board, Blacket's plans for the extension had to go before the Legislative Council for approval. He added
7920-490: Was the most favoured architect of the Church of England in New South Wales for much of his career, and between late 1849 and 1854 was the official " Colonial Architect to New South Wales ". While Blacket is famous for his churches, and is sometimes referred to as "The Wren of Sydney", he also built houses, ranging from small cottages to multi-storey terraces and large mansions; government buildings; bridges; and business premises of all sorts. Blacket's architectural practice
8010-559: Was to be one of the architects to transform Greenway's St James in keeping with a High Church mode of worship (as it remains today). The Reverend WH Walsh at Christ Church St. Laurence enthusiastically helped Blacket to gain other important commissions. Blacket also had a private practice during this time, one of the most notable of his commercial commissions being the Kent Brewery for Henry Tooth . From 1843 onwards he also began receiving commissions for private houses. In 1847 Blacket
8100-509: Was transported to Sydney along with the first English settlers and the accompanying military regiments. However, among England's elite there was a growing taste for the picturesque Gothic style. This too was introduced to Australia, and Sydney's convict architect, Francis Greenway , employed it in the construction of the Government Stables with battlements and towers. Changes within the Church of England and an academic interest in
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