The Beehive Corner is a landmark in the

Adelaide city centre Adelaide city centre (Kaurna: Tarndanya) is the inner city locality of Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "the City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaide and from the City of Ade ...

, on the north-eastern corner of King William Street and

Rundle Street Rundle Street, often referred to as "Rundle Street East" as distinct from Rundle Mall, is a street in the East End of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street to East Terrace, where it becomes ...

, centrally placed between the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

and the city's shopping precinct.

History

The name gained currency from "The Beehive", a

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

's shop opened by Brewer and Robertson from October 1849 then J.V.B. Ryley from 1850 to 1858, followed by Israel Simmons (ca.1831 – 9 June 1893) who ran the shop until 1886, when his business, with many others, failed. According to one reference it had a beehive motif on the glass door portrayed in gold leaf. Nearby tenants included Edmund Wright the well-known architect, William Ekins the gunsmith and James Allen's printing shop. The name is even older – archivist G. H. Pitt found the name was chosen by the original owners to denote a busy trading centre. It had been a well-known landmark for fifty years in 1895 when what is essentially the present Beehive Buildings were built for the owner, Henry Martin to replace the antiquated structure. In the new design by

George Klewitz Soward George Klewitz Soward (27 August 1857 – 21 February 1941) was an architect and politician in South Australia. he was a partner in the firm English & Soward from 1880 to 1925, renamed English, Soward & Jackman from 1926 to 1936. Among other bu ...

, four shops had frontages on King William Street and three facing Rundle Street, each 8 ft. (2.4 m) high, with jarrah floors and plastered walls and rear access and one shop 14 ft. (5.3 m) high, all having large plate-glass windows and nickel-plated columns. It was built three storeys above the pavement, and was Gothic in character, each gable finishing with

crocket A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of crockets to a bishop's crosier. Description ...

s and a

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

, and with open

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

s between them. At the main angle an ornamental turret was corbelled out, surmounted by a gilded beehive and bee and on the shaft of the turret the words 'Beehive Corner 1895' among foliage. The piers dividing the shopfronts were of

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and ...

granite. Sliding shutters were fitted to the windows facing King William Street, with a handsome iron verandah made by Fulton & Co. The sills of the windows facing Rundle Street were fitted with a small iron railing. The architects were English & Soward. In 1950 the prime corner section of the complex was sold to confectioner C. A. Haigh for his iconic shop (

Haigh's Chocolates Haigh's Chocolates is an Australian family owned bean-to-bar chocolate making company based in Adelaide, South Australia. It was founded in 1915 by Alfred E. Haigh and now has retail outlets in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. History Alfred E. H ...

) after his leasing it for some 35 years. The

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

facade and prominent tourelle were refurbished in 1998 by the firm of Harrold and Kite.

Place in popular culture

For over a century, "Meet you at the Beehive Corner" has been a common phrase among Adelaideans when nominating a meeting-place in the city. Forgotten today, but once a familiar landmark, "Stump's Corner", directly across King William Street from the Beehive Corner, was an earlier ''rendezvous'', named for Alfred Stump (1860–1925), a photographer who had a prominent sign on his studio. This corner hosted a succession of photographers: Melbourne Photographic Company to 1885, then (briefly) Henry Jones's "Children's Photograph Company", then in 1886 R. Laming before Stump & Co. around 1890. "Muirhead's Corner", site of

Emanuel Cohen Emanuel Cohen (1892 - 1977) was an American film producer. He was vice president in charge of production at Paramount Pictures from 1932 to 1935. From 1935 he had his own production company, Major Films, making films starring Mae West and Bing C ...

's "Monster Clothing Palace", was diagonally opposite.

References

External links

I. Simmons's "The Bee Hive" ca. 1873

Haigh's Chocolates
{{coord, 34.922857, S, 138.599764, E, format=dms, display=inline,title Landmarks in Australia History of Adelaide Culture of South Australia South Australian Heritage Register