NAME
DATE REGISTERED:
VHR NUMBER:
LOCATION
CATEGORY:
FILE NUMBER:
HERMES NUMBER:
ARMYTAGE HOUSE
27 JULY 1977
VHR H0405
263 PAKINGTON STREET, NEWTOWN
HERITAGE PLACE
10/019303
879
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RECOMMENDATION TO THE HERITAGE COUNCIL:

That the record of the above Heritage Place in the Victorian Heritage Register be amended under the Heritage Act 1995 to include the addition of land [Section 27(1)].
TIM SMITH
Executive Director
Recommendation Date: 10 July 2015
Name: Armytage House, Newtown
Hermes Number: 879
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No. 405 Armytage House (formerly The Hermitage), 263 Pakington Street, Newtown, Geelong.
[Victoria Government Gazette No. 64 July 27, 1977 p.2479]
DRAFT ONLY: NOT ENDORSED BY THE HERITAGE COUNCIL
All of the place shown hatched on Diagram 405 encompassing all of Lot 1 on Plan of subdivision 333804.
.
The extent of registration of Armytage House in the Victorian Heritage Register affects the whole place shown on Diagram 405 including the land, all buildings, roads, trees, landscape elements and other features.
Name: Armytage House, Newtown
Hermes Number: 879
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REASONS FOR RECOMMENDING THE INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL LAND IN THE VICTORIAN HERITAGE
REGISTER
Following is the Executive Director's assessment of the place.
The cultural heritage significance of the registered place would be substantially less if the land or any part of it were developed [Section 27(1)(a)]
The land surrounding the registered place is important to the protection, conservation or understanding of that place [Section 27(1)(b)]
The significance of Armytage House, Newtown has been recognised by its inclusion in the Victorian Heritage
Register (VHR). This is an early listing (1977) and only the building and not the land on which it stands is included in the registration.
Armytage House, Newtown and the land on which it is sited has been used for residential, educational and local council purposes since 1858. Any development of the land on which the building is located or which immediately surround the building would have the potential to negatively impact the cultural heritage significance of the registered place. It is therefore recommended that the cadastral block – defined as all of the place shown hatched on Diagram 405 encompassing all of Lot 1 on Plan of Subdivision 333804, be included as part of the registration of the place.
The existing Statement of Significance is considered to be deficient and does not allow for a clear understanding of why the place is of state level cultural heritage significance. It reads:
The Hermitage was upon completion in 1860 one of the finest Colonial Regency style mansion houses in
Victoria, evocatively recalling the architecture of Van Diemens Land of the 1830s. The ionic portico and exquisitely proportioned, encircling wrought iron verandah is the most distinctive feature of this mansion, which is undoubtedly Edward Prowse's most impressive work. The mansion has considerable and important historical associations, firstly with the Armytage family and finally with the Geelong Church of England Girls
Grammar School (1905-1973).
Former Van Diemens Land farmer and early Victorian pioneer, George Armytage, acquired the property, The
Hermitage, from Geelong's retiring Police Magistrate N A Fenwick in 1851. Edward Prowse, architect, designed this two storey Colonial Regency style mansion for Armytage and construction from Barrabool freestone ashlar and basalt rubble was undertaken in 1859/60. The facade is dominated by an intricate wrought iron verandah and ionic portico.
The Hermitage, which was renamed Armytage House in 1973, has been restored and converted to the City of
Newtown Council Offices. The fabric is largely intact, although the parapet entablature was not reinstated during restoration in 1973.
It is recommended that the Statement of Significance be updated as follows:
Name: Armytage House, Newtown
Hermes Number: 879
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DRAFT ONLY: NOT ENDORSED BY THE HERITAGE COUNCIL
WHAT IS SIGNIFICANT?
Armytage House, consisting of a large two storey house and surrounding landscaping, including a circular driveway and Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla) in the centre of the circular lawn.
History Summary
Armytage House was constructed in 1858 for pastoralist George Armytage to designs by local architect
Edward Prowse. Armytage acquired the original 7 acre (2.8 hectare) property and timber cottage known as
The Hermitage in Pakington Street, Newtown in 1851 from the former Police Magistrate N A Fenwick.
Armytage then relocated his family to Geelong, from his property, Ingleby, near Winchelsea (VHR H364).
George Armytage died in 1862, however the Hermitage property remained in the ownership of the
Armytage family for many years. It was leased by pastoralist Thomas Guthrie for more than thirty years after George’s wife’s death in 1874. In 1905 the property was sold to the Trustees of the Church of England to be used as a school for the education of girls in Geelong. The existing building was converted to school rooms and new buildings were added to the site. It remained in use as an educational facility until 1972 when the property was sold to a developer after relocation of the school. Twenty three allotments were created with the largest, of 1.5 acres (0.6 hectares), containing the original house and driveway. This allotment was acquired by Newtown City Council and the municipal offices were transferred to the renamed
Armytage House. The property passed into private ownership in 1995.
Description Summary
Constructed in a Colonial Regency style, Armytage House is a two storey sandstone building with slate roof.
It is of simple rectangular form with an Ionic entrance portico at the centre of the symmetrical front façade.
A two storey verandah, with decorative wrought ironwork, surrounds three sides of the building, with the rear facade constructed of rubble bluestone. Sandstone detailing includes corner quoining, architraves, portico columns and pilasters, with a stone balustraded parapet removed in 1973. The general form of the original front circular driveway and an associated Norfolk Island Pine have been retained to the east of the house.
This site is part of the traditional land of the Wathaurung.
Armytage House is of architectural and historical significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criterion for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register:
Criterion A
Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history.
Criterion D
Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural places and objects.
Criterion H
Special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in Victoria’s history.
Name: Armytage House, Newtown
Hermes Number: 879
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Armytage House is significant at the State level for the following reasons:
Armytage House is historically significant for its associations with the prosperous and influential pastoralist period in Victoria. It reflects the wealth acquired by pioneer pastoralists such as the Armytage family through the development of the wool industry in the Western District of the State. [Criterion A]
Armytage House is architecturally significant as a fine example of a homestead in Victoria and as a major surviving work of the Geelong architect Edward Prowse. [Criterion D]
Armytage House is historically significant for its associations with the distinguished pioneering Armytage family, in particular George Armytage for whom the house was built in 1858. [Criterion H]
Name: Armytage House, Newtown
Hermes Number: 879
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