Fleece and Spindle Craft Gallery

185 Warrandyte Road, Langwarrin

Citation:

History
During the 1920s George J. Wickes, storekeeper, was rated for a brick store on 16½ acres of land in Crown Allotment 52B, Parish of Langwarrin.1 This was part of a 50-acre allotment owned by R.J. Clark in 1891 (Parish of Langwarrin. Parish Plan) and subsequently subdivided. This store was on the site of the present Odds & Ends shop.

By the mid-1920s Wickes was leasing his brick store to Harry Naughton and Stanley John Chester.2 Wickes "store and building" was rated at £20 in 1936-37.3

During the 1930s it is said that dances were held in a hall in Warrandyte Road, located alongside the Langwarrin store. At this time Langwarrin was mainly a farming, dairying and orcharding area.4 The former store subsequently became a craft shop.

An earlier Langwarrin store with a residence was run by Edward C. Berry during the First World War period. This building was located on 15 acres in Crown Allotment 49, an allotment in Warrandyte Road, north of North Road.5

Berry was one of the pioneer settlers in the new Langwarrin village established in the vicinity of the railway station. By the end of the century Berry had built a post office and store 1½ miles east of the station. Berry was appointed post master in 1913 and was a Shire representative from 1919-1921.6

George Wickes was rated for the former Berry store in Crown Allotment 49 in 1921 and 1922.7

It is thought that remnants of a much earlier store exist within the present Odds and Ends Shop. This might be confirmed by a physical examination of the fabric or further rate book searching in the nineteenth century.

Description
This building is reputed to be the remains of an early weatherboarded house and former general store behind the added/altered brick front. The age of the place is not directly apparent externally but is reputed to be evident by the low doorways and ceilings in parts of the interior. There is some mature exotic planting on the land to the north.

Condition
Both the brick and timber sections have been altered and added to; the bricks have been painted.

Context
Set in semi-rural environs on the west side of the road facing large school complexes and housing on the east side.

Significance
Given the earliest known date of occupation of this building as a store is the 1920s, this former Langwarrin store has local historical significance as an important part of the Langwarrin village settlement, during an era when farming and orcharding flourished throughout the district. It has been recognised in the community as one of the landmarks of the area as reflected by its recording by the National Trust.

Boundaries
The brick and timber sections of the building, with associated land.