Grenfell Street () is a major street in the north-east quarter of the Adelaide city centre, South Australia. The street runs west-east from King William Street to East Terrace. On the other side of King William Street, it continues as

Currie Street Currie Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.Map
of the

Pulteney Street is encircled by

Hindmarsh Square Hindmarsh Square/Mukata (formerly Mogata) is one of five public squares in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia. It is located in the centre of the north-eastern quarter of the city, and surrounds the intersection of Grenfell and Pulten ...

. A dedicated

bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, often on certain days and times, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway ...

runs the whole length of both Grenfell and Currie Streets, limiting private vehicles to one lane for most of its length, and carrying nearly all bus traffic traversing the city in an east-west direction. At the eastern end of Grenfell, a dedicated bus track carries buses across East Terrace into the O-Bahn tunnel under Rymill Park.

History

Grenfell Street was named after

Pascoe St Leger Grenfell Pascoe St Leger Grenfell (5 November 1798 — 27 March 1879) was a British businessman and patron, and a key backer of the South Australian Company. He was a committee member of the South Australian Church Society, and is known for donation of ...

, a Cornish businessman and member of the

South Australian Church Society The South Australian Church Society was a British based organisation concerned with the establishment of churches in the new colony of South Australia. The committee (in 1836) included William Wolryche-Whitmore, Raikes Currie, Pascoe St Leger Gren ...

. His significant donation of an acre of land on North Terrace was used for the construction of the

Holy Trinity Church Holy Trinity Church may refer to: Albania * Holy Trinity Church (Berat), Berat County * Holy Trinity Church, Lavdar, Opar, Korçë County Armenia * Holy Trinity Church, Yerevan Australia * Garrison Church, Sydney, South Wales, also known as ''H ...

— one of the first churches built in the city. Grenfell also donated another of country land for the use of the church as glebe lands. This land later became the suburb of

Trinity Gardens Trinity Gardens is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. The name is taken from '' Holy Trinity Church''. History On 28 March 1840 the trustees of Holy Trinity – Osmond Gilles, Charles Mann and James Hurtle Fisher – were given approximate ...

. In July 2012, dedicated bus lanes were introduced along the full length of Grenfell Street in both directions, in operation from 7am to 7pm each weekday. When operational, taxis, cyclists and

emergency vehicle An emergency vehicle is a vehicle used by emergency services. Emergency vehicles typically have specialized emergency lighting and vehicle equipment that allow emergency services to reach calls for service in a timely manner, transport equipment a ...

s are also able to use the lane, but private vehicles can only travel up to in the bus lane. In December 2016, after the O-Bahn extension tunnel was built underneath Rymill Park at the eastern end of the street, buses formerly routed along North Terrace were permanently routed along Grenfell (although they had been temporarily diverted from North Terrace via East Terrace, since construction of the

Botanic Line Until 1958, trams formed a network spanning most of Adelaide, with a history dating back to 1878. Adelaide ran horse trams from 1878 to 1914 and electric trams from 1909, but has primarily relied on buses for public transport since the mid-20t ...

of the

Adelaide trams Until 1958, trams formed a network spanning most of Adelaide, with a history dating back to 1878. Adelaide ran horse trams from 1878 to 1914 and electric trams from 1909, but has primarily relied on buses for public transport since the mid-20t ...

had begun in early October that year). After this, nearly all buses travelling in an east-west direction across the city use Grenfell.

Description

Grenfell Street runs from King William Street to East Terrace. It is one of the intermediate-width streets of the Adelaide grid, at wide. On the other side of King William Street, the western continuation of Grenfell Street is Currie Street, named after

Raikes Currie Raikes Currie (15 April 1801 – 16 October 1881) was Member of Parliament (MP) for Northampton from 1837 to 1857. He was a partner of the bank Curries & Co, along with his father, Isaac Currie, in Cornhill, City of London, and had several int ...

, a member of the

South Australian Association British colonisation of South Australia describes the planning and establishment of the colony of South Australia by the British government, covering the period from 1829, when the idea was raised by the then-imprisoned Edward Gibbon Wakefield ...

and South Australian Company. The section of the street which runs parallel to Rundle Mall (west of Hindmarsh Square) features many retail outlets, as well as the southern entrances of many of the arcades, side-streets, and eateries of the mall. Office buildings and night spots also populate the street. The eastern end is occupied on the south side by the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, an art and cultural museum also used as a venue for the

Adelaide Fringe The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, i ...

and other events, and on the north side by the East End Markets redevelopment.

Heritage-listed buildings

On the corner of Grenfell Street and East Terrace there is the old

Grenfell Street Power Station The Electricity Trust of South Australia (ETSA) was the South Australian Government-owned monopoly vertically integrated electricity provider from 1946 until its privatisation in 1999. Precursors Early days (1882–1900) Charles Todd, an ea ...

building. Much of the building now houses the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, facing Grenfell Street, which was

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

on the

SA Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...

in November 1984, while the old

converter station An HVDC converter station (or simply converter station) is a specialised type of substation which forms the terminal equipment for a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line.Arrillaga, Jos; High Voltage Direct Current Transmission, se ...

s face East Terrace. There is an "Historic Engineering Plaque" on a ground level plinth just east of the north-east corner of the Tandanya building, which was dedicated by the

Institution of Engineers, Australia Engineers Australia (EA) is an Australian professional body and not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to advance the science and practice of engineering for the benefit of the community. Engineers Australia is Australia's recognized org ...

, the Electricity Trust of South Australia and the

Adelaide City Council The City of Adelaide, also known as the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and Adelaide City Council is a local government area in the metropolitan area of greater Adelaide, South Australia and is legally defined as the capital city of Sout ...

on 6 April 1995. Other heritage-listed buildings in Grenfell Street include: *the Wiggs Building (former home of stationers E. S. Wigg & Son) * the Crown and Anchor Hotel (first licensed 1853, rebuilt 1880s) *parts of the former

Adelaide Fruit and Produce Exchange Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The demo ...

facing the street *the British & Foreign Bible Society office (Bertram Hall) *several other office buildings The Griffins Hotel, built in 1886, is on the corner of Grenfell Street and Hindmarsh Square; its address is 40 Hindmarsh Square.

Junction list

References

{{commons category, Grenfell Street, Adelaide, Grenfell Street Streets in Adelaide

History

Description

Heritage-listed buildings

Junction list

See also

References