Lismore Court House

Item details


Name of item:	Lismore Court House
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Law Enforcement
Category:	Courthouse
Primary address:	9 Zadoc Street, Lismore, NSW 2480
Local govt. area:	Lismore

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
9 Zadoc Street	Lismore	Lismore			Primary Address

Statement of significance:


	The establishment of court sittings at Lismore marked official recognition of the town's early importance. Lismore soon gained ascendancy over Grafton and Casino, as this building testifies. It is an imposing Classical style structure, still expanding. Built to the design of the Colonial Architect, James Barnet. Typical of late nineteenth century court houses. Meant to convey an image of grandeur and respectability. Let down by some recent unsympathetic work but retaining its essential fabric and characater. Contributes to townscape of the St Andrews church/civic precinct (see listing 40001). High local significance.
	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


Designer/Maker:	J Barnet (Colonial Architect's office)
Builder/Maker:	Perry and Watson
Construction years:	1877-1883
Physical description:	Late Victorian Period building. Original structure is symmetrical in design. Face brick walls in English bond. Corrugated iron roof. Gabled form with three arch portico to the front. Gable has round vent, articulated plasterwork and brick dentils. Portico is simple in design with exaggerated keystones to arches. There are hipped extensions to the sides with skillion verandahs and timber posts. Cast iron balustrades. Double-hung windows with segmental and heads. Rendered base course and string courses.
Modifications and dates:	New verandah floor in unsympathetic exposed aggregate. New verandahs connecting to side extensions. Brickwork painted. New addition under construction.

History

Historical notes:

The Court House was designed by James Barnet and built by Perry and Watson. The building was commenced in 1877 and opened in 1885. The original plan was of a single porch with arched way. The recessed verandahs to either side were added later. The first sitting of the local Court of Petty sessions was in 1862. Bridges (1986) records building works in 1860, 1876 and 1885 but there was probably only one building. The continuing pressure for expansion has resulted in recent extensions and temporary use of the former post office as an Annexe.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	(none)-
7. Governing-Governing	Law and order-Activities associated with maintaining, promoting and implementing criminal and civil law and legal processes	(none)-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	This item is assessed as aesthetically rare locally.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	This item is assessed as aesthetically representative statewide. This item is assessed as historically representative regionally. This item is assessed as socially representative locally.
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
Local Environmental Plan	Schedule 2		08 Jun 01
Local Environmental Plan	Lismore Local Environmental Plan 2012	I73	22 Feb 13
Within a conservation area on an LEP
Heritage study			01 Oct 95

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
Lismore Heritage Study	1994	20015	Perumal Murphy Wu Pty Ltd	AW, VM	No

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written		0	National Trust listing form, 1987 Bridges P, "Historic Court Houses of NSW", 1986 Commemorative plaque

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

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Local Government
Database number:	1950051

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