Friday, January 20, 2017

Dumas's Folly..



Described as a 'prominent landmark in Highgate, how is it possible that I have missed noticing the 38mt (125ft) Lincoln Street Ventilation Stack on my many visits! Built in the Art Deco Style in 1935 as a sewer vent which, under certain weather conditions, dispersed what gasses it vented over surrounding houses, phew! Closed six years later in 1941 it became known as 'Dumas's Folly' after Russell Dumas, Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department at the time. In 1941 the tower was secretly put into service as an antenna, to protect against Japanese air raids during WW11, not revealed until 1956.. you can see in the first shot there are still antennas up there. The vent is listed on the National Trust of Australia and the State Register of Heritage Places.. it may have been unsuccessful in some ways but served stoically in others.. and then there's the Art Deco factor :) Happy Friday, take care and stay safe.. 


22 comments:

  1. Interesting structure... and it looks like it's now fenced off.

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  2. An interesting page of history...Arianna

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  3. interesting,it's remembers me Lord of the rings'towers.... EW

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  4. Interesting how it served in such different ways.

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  5. Slap a few names on it and you have a war memorial.

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  6. I love that Deco patterning near the top, Grace!

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  7. Stuff like that fascinates me Grace! (Gracinates?)

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  8. One sleek sewer vent. What kind of vent is on the clean water supply?

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  9. Interesting structure and story. I like your composition of these photos, Grace. Well done!

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  10. What an interesting history! Sewer vent indeed! Amazing.

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  11. I am also a big fan of Art Deco!

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  12. I like it and think it has earned the right to co-exist with less attractive humans! :)

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  13. Quite impressive, Grace, both historical and by it´s architecture.

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  14. An interestings story about the tower with secrets.

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  15. What an amazing structure. It looks like a monument and I guess in some ways it is now.

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