Curban Hall

Item details


Name of item:	Curban Hall
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Community Facilities
Category:	Hall Public
Location:	Lat: S 31º 32.451’ Long: E 148º 35.207’
Primary address:	Curban Railway Road, Curban, NSW 2827
Local govt. area:	Gilgandra

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
Curban Railway Road	Curban	Gilgandra			Primary Address

Statement of significance:


	Curban Hall is a surviving element of the infrastructure of the village of Curban. The hall was built by residents of the Curban district after the epic 1955 flood and has been used by the community for over 50 years. It is representative of halls built by rural communities in the early to mid 20th century. The building has local historical and social significance, representativeness and a high degree of integrity.
	Date significance updated: 23 Oct 08
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Construction years:	1956-1956
Physical description:	Curban Hall is a simple carpenter style building with gable roof and large roof vents. It is clad in corrugated galvanised iron and has timber-framed hopper windows and ledged and braced timber doors.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	The hall is well maintained and in good condition. The site is considered to have low archaeological potential.
	Date condition updated:23 Oct 08
Modifications and dates:	Construction of new toilets and amenities - 2008


Current use:	Public Hall
Former use:	Public Hall

History

Historical notes:

John Ross Patterson was one of the early European settlers on the Castlereagh. He was evidently an employee of James Walker of Wallerawong, who held large runs in the region from the 1830s. In partnership with fellow employee James Gibson Patterson took up a run named Bimble. He later managed Curban for Robert Bennett. Patterson expanded Curban by adding extra portions. (Back to Gilgandra Committee 1937:21-22) Bennett built the first house at Curban (Dormer 1983:53). By 1841 17 people were living at Curban. The census undertaken in that year recorded 13 adult males, two adult females and two female children. (Dormer 1983:15)

During the mid to late 19th century horse drawn coaches ran from Dubbo to Coonamble via Gilgandra three days per week. Coach drivers included James Brown, Paddy Murray and William Walden. (Back to Gilgandra Committee 1937:15) On the black soil plains coaching roads became almost impassable in wet weather. In some places sections of corduroy road were laid to provide an all-weather surface. Corduroy involved the placement of small cut logs or saplings side-by-side across the direction of travel to provide a relatively stable, if rather bumpy, surface for the mail coaches. A section of corduroy road with an associated milepost and gateway survives on the East Coonamble Road between Curban and Gulargambone. This was evidently built by Charles Law, owner of the nearby Wattle Park selection from 1895 (Gulargambone Historical Society 1992:87).

A police station was established at Curban in 1878. At this time the locality was also known as Terribile. A village had been surveyed and building allotments offered foe sale in the Village of Terribile in 1866. Dormer 1983:54) The police station was relocated to Gilgandra after that town overtook Curban in population. (Back to Gilgandra Committee 1937:40) The decline of Curban was exacerbated by the construction of the Dubbo to Coonamble Railway Line to the west of the village. The village was situated on high ground between Terrabile Creek and the Castlereagh River and was easily cut off by floods.

The original Curban Hall was located within the old village. In the 1955 flood the hall was washed from its site and drifted to a point near the present Curban Community Bridge over the Castlereagh River. The building’s motion was so gentle that the piano remained on stage with a glass of water still in place when it came to rest. This building was broken up and some materials used in the construction of the new hall in Curban Railway Road.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	(none)-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	(none)-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	Curban Hall is a surviving element of the infrastructure of the village of Curban. It has local historical significance.
SHR Criteria d) [Social significance]	Curban Hall was built by residents of the Curban district after the epic 1955 flood and has been used by the community for over 50 years. It has local social significance.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	The hall is representative of halls built by rural communities in the early to mid 20th century. It is has local significance in this regard.
Integrity/Intactness:	The hall is considered to have a high degree of integrity.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Local Environmental Plan	Gilgandra Local Environmental Plan 2011	I19	09 Dec 11
Heritage study

Study details

Title	Year	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
Gilgandra Shire Community Based Heritage Study	2008	Ray Christison	Ray Christison	Yes
Gilgandra Shire Community Based Heritage Study	2008	Ray Christison		Yes
Gilgandra Shire Community Based Heritage Study	2008	Ray Christison		Yes
Gilgandra Shire Community Based Heritage Study	2008	Ray Christison		Yes

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title
Written	Back to Gilgandra Committee	1927	Back to Gilgandra Souvenir Booklet
Written	Dormer, M.	1983	The Bushmans Arms
Written	Gulargambone Historical Society	1992	Gulargambone Homes & Holdings
Oral History	Lummis, D	2008	Information on Curban Hall

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Local Government
Database number:	1590072

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