Dittmer's Store is a heritage-listed shop at 92–94 Churchill Street, Childers,

Bundaberg Region The Bundaberg Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the city of Bundaberg, and also contains a significant rural area surroundin ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It was built circa 1902. It is also known as Isis Town and Country, Butler & Ker, and James Butler. It was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...

on 21 October 1992.

History

Dittmer's Store was erected c.1902 for chemist, Thomas Gaydon and stationer and tobacconist, William Hood, after a fire destroyed many of the shops along the southern side of Childers' main street. The town of Childers grew up around a railway terminus opened in 1887 to facilitate timber getting in the

Isis Scrub The Shire of Isis was a local government area located in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, to the south of Bundaberg. The Shire, administered from the town of Childers covered an area of , and existed as a local government ...

. What became the main street was subdivided into small allotments in the 1890s. In 1894, Frederick John Charlton and Henry Jardine Gray sold some to tinsmith, James Slater. In 1899 the property was sold to Gaydon and Hood. In March 1902 a fire destroyed the existing timber shop, which may have been operated by Slater and later, Hood. Soon after the southern side of the street was resurveyed resulting in the blocks becoming doglegged in shape. The new masonry shop was occupied by Hood, whilst next door the partners erected this store. After a second fire in the 1920s, the shop was operated as a men's mercer by LR Stevens and Benjamin Foley. Later it became an electricians shop, then a toy shop and sports store. In 1929 the shop was purchased by Thomas Gaydon's wife, Mary and remained in the Gaydon family until 1970 when it was sold again. Gustav Dittmer was a stationer who lived in Childers from the 1920s to the 1940s. His son

Felix Dittmer Felix Cyril Sigismund Dittmer (27 June 1904 – 29 August 1977)

was a Member of the

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for

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and an

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Description

Dittmer's Store fronts Churchill Street, the main street of Childers, to the north with rear access off Macrossan Street to the South. The single-storeyed masonry building, with an

ogee An ogee ( ) is an object, element, or curve—often seen in architecture and building trades—that has a serpentine- or extended S-shape (Sigmoid curve, sigmoid). Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combination of two semicircle, semicircula ...

-shaped

corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...

awning An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of Acrylic fiber, acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tight ...

, is located within a cohesive group of predominantly 1900s shops with street

awnings An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tightly over a ligh ...

and decorative rendered facades. The building has a corrugated iron

gabled roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its roof ridge, ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The roof pitch, p ...

with a central

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History O ...

to the east and west. The rendered street facade is surmounted by a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

with a heavy

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

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 ...

and a rounded broken

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

supporting a single

urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape ...

. The shop front has a central recessed entry with display windows to either side and a

pressed metal ceiling A tin ceiling is an architectural element, consisting of a ceiling finished with tinplate with designs pressed into them, that was very popular in Victorian buildings in North America in the late 19th and early 20th century. They were also popu ...

with fixed

arctic glass Frosted glass is produced by the sandblasting or acid etching of clear sheet glass. This creates a pitted surface on one side of the glass pane and has the effect of rendering the glass translucent by scattering the light which passes through ...

windows above. The rear of the building is of face brick with supporting

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

and barred windows. A freestanding brick toilet block is located adjacent to the rear entry to the building, and the rear of the site is grassed. Internally, the building has a horizontal boarded ceiling which is raked from four sides in the centre to the clerestory skylight. Walls are rendered with some partitioning at the rear and the floor is concrete.

Heritage listing

Dittmer's Store was listed on the

on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The building, erected , is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, representing the development of Childers as a prosperous timber and sugar town, forming the heart of the Isis Shire, in the early 20th century. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of an early 1900s country town commercial building, in particular its intactness it forms part of a cohesive group of adjoining early 1900s shops. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. It is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the Childers community, in particular its interior, clerestory skylight, and decorative facade; its unity in form, scale and materials with the adjoining store; as part of a cohesive group of adjoining early 1900s shops; and its contribution to the streetscape of Churchill Street and to the Childers townscape.

References

Attribution

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Dittmer's Store Queensland Heritage Register Childers, Queensland Commercial buildings in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Shops in Australia