Two sites in Newcastle have been awarded heritage status, with the addition of the Toll Cottage (formerly Rose Cottage) and Segenhoe Flats to the NSW State Heritage register.
Toll Cottage is one of the city’s oldest buildings and a rare surviving example of Victorian Georgian-style domestic housing.
It was built in 1857 at the time of Newcastle’s transition from a small town to major port and rail terminus, demonstrating the domestic living conditions of an 1850s working class family.
While, Segenhoe Flats is a rare example of the modernist architecture of Emil Sodersten, regarded as a prominent member of the early modern movement.
The site is significant as an early 1930s example of modern city living, it is historically important in Newcastle and demonstrates the changing attitudes to housing in the 1930s, moving to dense, high-rise apartment living.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Catherine Cusack said she was delighted to announce the sites’ entry on the Register.
“These listings highlight the amazing heritage of Newcastle as it developed,” she said.
Both state heritage-listings are the culmination of community campaigns to have the sites formally protected.
“It’s important to applaud the efforts of the local community and owners who have been advocates for the preservation of Newcastle’s colonial and modernist heritage,” she said.
Listing will ensure that the significance of Toll Cottage and Segenhoe Flats will be protected for future generations.
