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Dunearn Road

Dunearn Road starts at the junction of Clementi Road and Jalan Anak Bukit. The road runs parallel to Bukit Timah Road with a canal separating the two long stretches of roads. Near Adam Road, the road divides to form an underpass and a flyover - the Dunearn underpass and Farrer flyover respectively. Towards the end, Dunearn Road bifurcates into two near Newton Road. While one part of the road ends at Newton Road, another part merges with Bukit Timah Road.

History
Dunearn Road was named after Dunearn House, a mansion that served as the former Oldham Hall Boarding School located in the vicinity of the road. Little is known about the name "Dunearn", save for the fact that it is of Scottish origin and is typical of names of Singapore's early settlers. It is also not known why the road was named after Dunearn House.

The road's history dates back to 1841 when the government marked land for a road to be built 50 ft. north of a canal from a bridge near Buffalo Village to a place near Bukit Timah. Dunearn Road was built on this land and was parallel to the railway, which also was built on the same reserve of land before being moved to Tanglin Halt. Dunearn Road and Bukit Timah Road in fact served as a 2-way carriage or cart lane. The road originally connected Chancery Lane and Municipal Boundary and measured 75 ft. in 1853. It was officially named "Dunearn Road" in 1928. Redevelopment work over the years extended the road to its present state.

The road is lined with many tall trees such as Broad Leaf Mahogany, Kenanga, Droopy Cassia, Rhu and Jambu Laut, that provide shade as well as stately charm to the road. The road was home to many nurseries in the 1960s, but they had to move to other locations around 1986 because of road widening work between Coronation Road and the Swiss Cottage Secondary School on Dunearn Road. A granite quarry, one of the deepest quarries in Singapore existed at Rifle Range Road, off Dunearn Road. It was later filled, converted into flat land and used for building development work. Sheares Hall, a hostel used by students from the Universiti of Malaya, was located on Dunearn Road until it moved to the National University of Singapore campus in 1982.

Description
The Singapore Turf Club used to be located on Dunearn Road until it moved to a new site in Kranji in 1999. The Home Nursing Foundation, at the junction of Dunearn Road and Gilstead Road, was built in 1966 to originally serve as the Singapore Family Planning Centre. It is now occupied by the World Health Organisation. A Bougainvillaea Park, built in 1970, featuring a variety of Bougainvillaea and shubbery is flanked by Watten Drive, Watten Estate Road, Watten Park and Dunearn Road on its either side.

Many well known schools are located in the vicinity of Dunearn Road which include the Singapore Chinese Girls' School, The Chinese High, Swiss Cottage Primary School, Hwa Chong Junior College and Anglo-Chinese School. The site that once housed the National Junior College and Nanyang Primary School in Linden Drive, off Dunearn Road was taken over by the Nanyang Girls' High School in 1995 after National Junior College moved into a new building on the nearby Hillcrest Road.

Dunearn Road is lined with residential units, mostly private, constructed in recent years. One of the earlier ones is Chancery Court, built in 1981, a HUDC residential unit made up of 84 maisonettes and 52 studio apartments. Religious buildings along this road are the Phor Beng See Temple, Kuan Yin San Temple, Gospel Light Christian Church, Bethlehem Bible Presbyterian Church and Barker Road Methodist Church. The Korean Church in Singapore and the Life Bible Presbyterian Church are located very near Dunearn Road on the Gilstead Road.

Commercial buildings along the road are the Copthorne Orchid Hotel with the Raffles Town Club located next to it and the Novotel Orchid Inn, built in the early 1970s. Sime Darby Centre, a 13,088 sq. m commercial property, Dunearn Court, Dunearn Estate, Watten Estate, Sime Darby Building, Capitol Park, Swiss Club Park Dunearn Gardens are some other buildings along the road.



Author
Naidu Ratnala Thulaja



References 
Dunlop, P. K. G. (2000). Street names of Singapore (p. 70). Singapore: Who's Who Publications.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 DUN)

Edwards, N., & Keys, P. (1988). Singapore: A guide to buildings, streets, places (pp. 87, 99, 491). Singapore: Times Books International.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 EDW)

Savage, V. R., & Yeoh, B. S. A. (2003). Toponymics: A study of Singapore street names (p. 112). Singapore: Eastern Universities Press.
(Call no.: RSING 915.9570014 SAV)

Braema, M. (1997, March 9). New Raffles Girls' Primary can double intake. The Straits Times, News Focus, p. 3.

Lee, A. (1994, March 25). Sime (S) sees more profits from non-motor units. The Straits Times, Singapore News, p. 2.

Nathan, D. (1999, May 1). Big cover-up at Bukit Timah. The Straits Times, Home Focus, p. 62.

Neo, H. M. (2001, March 12). Bulldozers can't erase the charm of old roads. The Straits Times, Home, p. 9.

New Nanyang Girls' bigger intake. (1996, July 31). The Straits Times, Home, p. 22.

Novotel hotel's $ 14m relaunch. (1996, October 29). The Straits Times, Money, p. 35.

Reliving good old days at Sheares Hall. (2002, September 8). The Straits Times, Singapore.


Further Readings
Buckley, C. B. (1984). An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore: 1819-1867 (p. 573). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 BUC)

Fernandez, W. (1993, May 8). "Bukit Timah belt' of top schools. The Straits Times, Insight, p. 32. 

The information in this article is valid as at 2003 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Architecture and Landscape>>Streets and Places
Street names--Singapore
Arts>>Architecture>>Public and commercial buildings
Law and government>>National development>>Urban development

Librarian Recommendations
>> Gilstead Road


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