The Long's Lane Precinct, also Longs Lane Precinct, comprise a series of heritage-listed terrace houses located at 130 Cumberland Street, 132–134 Cumberland Street, 136-138 Cumberland Street, and 140–142 Cumberland Street, in the inner-city Sydney suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The terrace houses were built from 1888 to 1914, and they are also known as 130 Cumberland Street, 132–134 Cumberland Street, 136–138 Cumberland Street, Watson's Butchery, and 140–142 Cumberland Street. The properties are owned by NashCap, an Australian-based real estate private equity firm. The precinct and the terrace houses were added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 10 May 2002.
, 140–142 Cumberland Street operated as the Sydney Harbour Bed and Breakfast.
History 130 Cumberland Street Occupation on this site dates from when George Cribb constructed a row of tenements along Cumberland Street to Longs Lane. These were demolished and replaced by a row of single-storey terraces around 1834. The first recorded grant was to Benjamin Ford in January 1839, and the site of No. 130 was then known as Allotment 10, Section 74, comprising 2.5 perches.NSW Government Gazette, 18 January 1839.
In 1845, the City Council noted the building on Allotment 10 was a two-room brick and stone house with a shingled roof in "middling repair". The "date of taking" is noted as 1833, which may imply a date of construction or earlier assessment by the Town Surveyor. The tenant in this year and until was the owner, Benjamin Ford, described as either a dealer or a cooper.Sands Directory Between 1845 and , the demolition date, the building was described as a letted "shop" or "house and shop" of brick and/or stone construction. In 1861 Council noted that the "floor (was) under (the) footpath".
In 1888 the site's present building was erected as a speculative venture (owner not determined) and was first tenanted by William McGee, a tobacconist. Council described it in 1891 as a three-storey seven-room brick house with an iron roof. Magee resided in the house until 1895. In 1903 the land and building were resumed by the NSW Government under The Rocks Resumption Act, 1901.
The building at No. 130 remained tenanted as a residence until 1976. In the 1980s, the building was boarded up, with squatters intermittently occupying the building for the next ten years. Accordingly, a period of vandalism ensued during which much of the joinery and many fixtures were stolen. The timbers were subject to termite activity during this time. The original plan of the building has remained intact together with some of the authentic architectural detailing.SCRA, 1984: CU/04Clive Lucas Stapleton, 1991
The Sydney Cove Authority undertook extensive work in the precinct in the mid-1990s. The work included the conservation and restoration of the buildings and rear yards of 103-117A Gloucester and 130-142 Cumberland Streets, the construction of four new sensitively sited and designed infill dwellings, and the conservation and reopening of the two historic laneways, namely, Long's and Caraher's Lanes. The work involved retaining as much of the significant fabric as possible from the various stages of the buildings' lives and was carried out in several stages from 1992 to 1997.Mountstephens, 1997 The conservation work carried out on the Long's Lane precinct won the Royal Australian Institute of Architects 1998 Lloyd Rees Award for Outstanding Urban Design.
132–134 Cumberland Street In 1807, this site was shown on Meehan's Survey to contain what appears to be a well-defined building line. Artists' views of this section of The Rocks from confirm a cluster of modest houses in the region. However, in 1822, the date of Harper's Plan, only one building outline is apparent in this section of Cumberland Street. Occupation on this site dates from when George Cribb constructed a row of tenements along Cumberland Street to Longs Lane. These were demolished and replaced by a row of single-storey terraces around 1834.
The first official land grant on the site of 132–134 Cumberland Street (referred to as Allotment 11 of Section 74, comprising 4.5 perches, in the Land Title records) was a Town Grant to Isaac Moore in January 1839. Moore had purchased the two adjoining dwelling houses on this allotment in 1833 from a John Jones. These dwellings were built before the first Council Rates were collected in 1845, at which time the houses were described as single-storey stone dwellings with two rooms apiece. These adjoining houses were demolished in 1880, and the land remained vacant until at least 1891. According to the Council Rates records, the existing conjoined two-storey terraces were constructed in the early 1890s; they were two-storey, five-room brick and cement dwellings with iron roofs.
132–134 Cumberland Street remained in continuous family ownership from 1833 until their resumption by the NSW Government in the early 1900s. The first owner, Isaac Moore, was the brother-in-law of Edward Brady (owner –1867), and his niece was Mary Ann Smith, née Brady (owner –1902). Moore sold to Edward Brady in 1840, according to Land Title records. On Brady's death in 1869, his will stipulated that Isaac Moore's sons, Edmund, William and Thomas Moore, were trustees and were required to provide for Mary Ann Smith during her life and her children after death.
Much of the land and many of the buildings in The Rocks, including the subject properties, were resumed by the NSW Government under The Darling Harbour Resumption Act in the early 1900s. The buildings at Nos. 132–134 Cumberland remained tenanted as residences until the 1970s. The buildings were boarded up in the 1980s, and for the next ten years, squatters intermittently occupied the buildings, and a period of vandalism ensued during which much of the joinery and many of the fixtures were stolen. The timbers were probably subject to termite activity.
The original internal layouts of the buildings have remained intact together with some of the original architectural detailing. The Sydney Cove Authority undertook extensive work in the precinct in the mid-1990s. The work included the conservation and restoration of the buildings and rear yards of 103–117A Gloucester and 130–142 Cumberland Streets, the construction of four new sensitively sited and designed infill dwellings, and the conservation and reopening of the two historic laneways, namely, Longs and Carahers Lanes. The work involved retaining as much of the significant fabric as possible from the various stages of the buildings' lives.
136–138 Cumberland Street In 1807, this site is shown on Meehan's Survey to contain what appears to be a well defined building line in Cumberland Street – its western boundary, and a lane to the south. Artists' views of this part of Sydney from confirm a large number of small houses in the region. Occupation on this site is known from when George Cribb constructed a row of four tenements along Cumberland Street to Longs Lane. These were demolished and replaced by a row of single-storey terraces around 1834). The first official land grant on the site of Nos. 136-138 Cumberland Street (referred to as Allotment 12 of Section 74, comprising 4.5 perches, in the Land Title records), was a Town Grant to Thomas Garrard on 19 April 1839. There were originally two adjoining dwelling houses on this allotment (possibly the Cribb terraces referred to above). These two buildings/dwellings had been erected prior to the first Council Rates being collected in 1845, at which time they were described as single-storey stone houses with two rooms apiece. The two buildings at Nos. 136-138 Cumberland Street remained in continuous family ownership from 1833 until 1876, when they were sold to Richard Egan. He in turn sold to local resident and entrepreneur, John Johnson in , who oversaw construction of the existing building on the site.
The two stone buildings at Nos. 136–138 Cumberland Street were "pulled down" by according to Council Rates records for this year. The existing building on the site was constructed by 1882; according to the rates records, it was a three-storey commercial building (a shop) with residential quarters above. The building was brick with an iron roof and had ten rooms.
John Johnson sold the new three-storey building to Kellas Watson, a draper, in . Johnson had made a healthy profit on his investment; in 1880 Egan sold the land at Nos. 136–138 Cumberland Street to Johnson for £525. The following year, in August 1882, Johnson sold to Watson for £1800. Johnson's brief ownership of the site, during which time he built a substantial building, suggests that this was a speculative investment. Kellas Watson was an owner-occupier, and it is possible that he operated a drapery shop on the site. Watson sold the property to Henry Edward Castle, Sydney, commercial broker, in late . Thereafter the shop was used as a shop, leased to Frederick Smith, butcher (–87) and King Hing and Co. (1888–90). Peter. A. Nelson ran a boarding house in the building from to .PWD, 1986: 14
Much of the land and many of the buildings in The Rocks, including the subject property, were resumed by the NSW Government under The Darling Harbour Resumption Act in the early 1900s. Nos. 136-138 Cumberland Street remained tenanted until the 1970s, probably as boarding house accommodation. The building was boarded up In the 1980s, and for the next 10 years, squatters intermittently occupied the building, and a period of vandalism ensued during which much of the joinery and many of the fixtures were stolen. It is likely that the timbers were subject to termite activity during this time.
The original internal layout of the building has remained intact together with some of the original architectural detailing. The Sydney Cove Authority undertook extensive work in the precinct in the mid-1990s. The work included the conservation and restoration of the buildings and rear yards of 103-117A Gloucester and 130–142 Cumberland Streets, the construction of four new sensitively sited and designed infill dwellings, and the conservation and reopening of the two historic laneways, namely, Longs and Carahers Lanes. The work involved the retention of as much of the significant fabric as possible from the various stages of the buildings' lives.
140–142 Cumberland Street Early plans and images, such as Watling's (attrib.) painting Sydney – Capital New South Wales and Meehan's 1807 Plan of Sydney Town show that present-day Cumberland Street between Essex and Argyle Streets was closely settled along a defined building alignment. These dwellings are likely to have been flimsy timber houses, built by the occupants (convicts and free settlers). The earliest reference to Long's Lane is made in Meehan's 1807 map, where the present day lines of Cumberland and Gloucester Streets are shown to have been formed with an interconnection along the alignment of Long's Lane. Development within the precinct occurred predominantly in the 1880s and in the first decades of the 20th century.
This property includes part of allotment 18 of section 74, along with 113-115 Gloucester Street, which was formally granted to William Long in 1839, legitimising his claim to ownership of the property. Previous to this, Long had assumed de facto ownership of the western section of allotment 18, fronting Cumberland St, upon the passing of Mary, his wife of two years, in 1829. Mary had owned the property since the death of her former husband, Richard Walker in 1825.