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Charing Cross Civil & Comm Prec
Beaconsfield Emerald Road BEACONSFIELD UPPER, Cardinia Shire

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Cardinia Shire

Charing Cross Civic & Commercial Precinct - Rotunda ca.1916

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Statement of Significance
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Statement of Significance

Charing Cross Civic & Commercial Precinct has significance to Cardinia Shire for its associations with the development of the Upper Beaconsfield area as an important health and tourist resort. The earliest remaining structures are from the 1880s.

The Rotunda (1916), is significant as an important focus of the group, set within a park reserve. The Victorian Orchardists Cool Store and Fruit Packaging Company, opened on the site in the 1920s, is also significant as a reminder of when Upper Beaconsfield became a prosperous orcharding district. Other significant components of the precinct include the former Salisbury House boarding house, the Assembly Hall and nearby war memorial, all closely linked to public life in the town over an extended period.

Regional Significance

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- Physical Description 1
  
  Charing Cross Civil & Comm Prec - Physical Description 1
  
  Precinct includes:
  
  * the reserve and planting,
  
  * the timber framed rotunda (1916),
  
  * packing shed,
  
  * former tea rooms (now the milk bar),
  
  * the post office,
  
  * Salisbury House (former guest house),
  
  * tennis courts
  
  * the Assembly Hall and
  
  * the nearby war memorial.
  
  These elements represent the early community centre of the settlement and its major structures grouped compactly around the main intersection in the town. Later elements of a related type (but not era), include the RSL hall and the Ash Wednesday Memorial Park.
  
  Just outside of the precinct, on the other side of the Emerald Road, was the site of the Anglican Church which was rebuilt after destruction of the church in the 1983 fires. Although rebuilt in an empathetic form to the rest of the precinct, this church is unrelated historically to the heritage qualities of the early civic structures of the precinct.
  
  Physical Conditions
  
  Charing Cross Civil & Comm Prec - Physical Conditions
  
  Most of the elements are in fair to good condition with only the assembly hall being altered more than in detail.
  
  Historical Australian Themes
  
  Charing Cross Civil & Comm Prec - Historical Australian Themes
  
  Historical Themes
  
  7.1 Gentlemen's rural retreats
  
  8.3 Farming townships, e.g. Pakenham Upper, Bunyip
  
  8.5 Tourist centres, e.g. Upper Beaconsfield, Gembrook
  
  9.12 Parks and gardens, sporting grounds, street plantings
  
  Heritage Study and Grading
  
  Heritage Study and Grading
  
  Cardinia - Cardinia Shire Heritage Study 1996
  
  Author: Graeme Butler & Associates
  Year: 1996
  Grading: Local
- Show:
- Charing Cross Civil & Comm Prec
  
  Cardinia Shire
- 13 Flinders Street, Queenscliff
  
  Queenscliffe Borough
- 162 Nicholson Street
  
  Yarra City
- 164 Nicholson Street
  
  Yarra City