Byron Bay Railway Station and yard group

Item details


Name of item:	Byron Bay Railway Station and yard group
Type of item:	Complex / Group
Group/Collection:	Transport - Rail
Category:	Railway Platform/ Station
Location:	Lat: -28.6444602854 Long: 153.6116385490
Primary address:	Casino-Murwillumbah railway, Byron Bay, NSW 2481
Local govt. area:	Byron
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Tweed Byron

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
LOT	1		DP	1001454

Boundary:

The listing boundary is within the rail property boundaries commencing at the southern end of the station platform, the western boundary is the rail property boundary and adjoining Butler Street, the eastern boundary is formed by the rail property boundary and Jonson Street and the northern boundary is the Lawson Street rail crossing.

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Type
Casino-Murwillumbah railway	Byron Bay	Byron	Primary Address
Johnson Street	Byron Bay	Byron	Alternate Address
Butler Street	Byron Bay	Byron	Alternate Address

Owner/s

Organisation Name	Owner Category	Date Ownership Updated
TAHE - Sydney Trains	State Government	21 Oct 98

Statement of significance:


	Byron Bay station group is a coherent group of railway buildings with good detailing and containing a number of unusual features including the round water tank on a brick base and the railway hotel attached to the station building. The station building is an excellent example of the timber standard roadside type and the location of the station and residence in the main street of Byron bay contribute in a significant way to the streetscape of the town. The water tank is one of two tanks of this design known to survive and is therefore of high significance.
	Date significance updated: 24 Nov 00
	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:	NSW Dept. Of Public Works: Railway Construction Branch
Builder/Maker:	William Mitchell (construction contractor)
Construction years:	1893-1913
Physical description:	BUILDINGS Station building - type 4 timber standard roadside building, c. 1894, LEP, HS Signal box - timber skillion roof, 1913, LEP Out of shed - timber, 1894 Station Master's Cottage - 1904 STRUCTURES platform face - brick, 1894 water tower - brick base, rivetted iron tank, Butler St, c. 1894, LEP, HS The station consists of a single storey platform building with a steeply pitched corrugated iron gable roof. The eastern side of the main building is fronted by a verandah, which has decorative cast iron support columns, fretwork and intricate valance board. This includes an intact chimney and fireplace, attached outbuildings and decorative timber window frames and surrounds. The roof over the platform is cantilevered on cast iron brackets. There is a louvred ventilating lantern in the roof of the former toilets building - a feature typical of many large buildings in the town (cf Norco factory, Police Station and various commercial properties of the town). These simple buildings are typical of the Federation period country town public architecture expressed in the subtle but elegant detailing and the harmonious combination of roof shapes. A tribute to the builder of this public building is the fact that it has survived at least four cyclones without damage (LEP, 2014). Byron Bay Visitors' Centre/fmr. Station Master's Cottage (1904): A small single storey weatherboard cottage, on the southeast side of the railway precinct. The building has a gabled roof in galvanised iron with a dominant pair of brick chimneys defining the profile. The building is set in substantial grounds, unusual in the commercial area. A verandah extends across the front of the building, with bullnose roofing iron and there are rear extensions, originally for cooking and washing facilities. Exposed windows have traditional fixed awnings as protection from strong sub-tropical sun and rain. The building is particularly harmonious with the other single storey buildings of the precinct (LEP, 2014).
Modifications and dates:	C 1905, a long rectangular shaped railway refreshment room was added to the southern end of the passenger station. A descendant of this building is now licensed as the Rails Hotel. The buildings are likely to have been renovated a number of times (LEP, 2014). 1993: Station Master's Cottage: Last known renovation - 1993


Current use:	Disused station. Former Station Master's Cottage is now Visitors' Information Centre
Former use:	Aboriginal land, Railway Station

History

Historical notes:

Local Background
The area around Byron Bay and the Brunswick River was inhabited by the Bunjalung people, when the area was first encountered by European visitors to the continent in 1770. Between 1828 and 1860, European pioneer cedar cutters and a very small number of pioneer settlers became active there, but the Byron area, also known as the Big Scrub, remained largely untouched by development until the 1880s, when a town was surveyed and a wharf for seagoing vessels was built at Byron Bay, mainly to service the dwindling red cedar industry and the emerging dairying industry. When the railway was pushed through from Lismore to Byron Bay in 1894 it provided a reliable link between a river port and seaport and facilitated the reliable export of local products. The timber and dairying industries were provided with a major boost. Dairy farming in the hinterland of the Far North Coast was responsible for opening the district to settlement, and this, together with the invention of large-scale refrigeration techniques at this time (1880s) enabled the marketing of dairy products from the North Coast region throughout Australia and to the British butter market (LEP, 2014).

The township of Byron Bay was probably at its most prosperous between 1900 and 1928, when grand hotels were built, dining and amusement parlours were popular, the (by then) Grafton to Tweed railway provided a comfortable form of local transport for tourists to the Bay and the presence of a Literary Institute was evidence of local interest in cultural pursuits such as a library, films, community organizations and recreational clubs. During these years a police station/ courthouse and Post Office were also added to the town and a number of banks were established (ibid, 2014).

By 1972, when the great Norco butter factory closed in Byron and the allied industries such as whaling and meat processing had disappeared or were about to disappear, when the Jetty and the shipping companies had long since gone (1945 and 1954 respectively), the industrial character of the town began slowly shifting, and during the following 30 years the next major industries emerged, tourism, the surf culture, the seachange and alternative lifestyle cultures (ibid, 2014).

By 2000, as with the development of industries of the previous 120 years, these new cultures showed evidence of developing their own internal tensions within the town, and recent history reveals residents and civic authorities grappling with the responsibilities and consequences of the new cultures (ibid, 2014).

Byron Bay Railway Station site:
Entwined in the politics of the Lismore to Tweed Railway in the early 1890's was the notion that Byron Bay was destined to perform the role of the port for the Northern Rivers, New England and North-West Slopes. The local member of parliament, Thomas Thomson Ewing (later Sir), had large holdings of land in Byron Bay. In 1884 he and others instigated development of a government-surveyed town on the shores of Byron Bay, under the name Cavanbah (ibid, 2014).

Byron did not however secure the twin position of head railway town, which went to Lismore. Despite that, Byron Bay was an important focus of passenger and goods services. It was provided with goods sidings connected to the Jetty, and the goods sidings and shed were most unusually situated, beyond the station yard and on the connection to the Jetty (ibid, 2014).

A photograph c 1914 ('Byways of Steam', Eveleigh Press, Sydney, 2002, p82) is a good indication of the passenger traffic on this branch line, with at least 60 people shown as disembarking from a train (ibid, 2014).

On 21 November 1893, Mr William Mitchell is recorded as having secured Contract no 6 (Railways Branch, Public Works Department) for the construction of 6 railway station buildings, including Cavanbah (Byron Bay) (op cit 'Byways ..' p 26). When built, it was the second staffed station on the Lismore to Murwillumbah line, with a platform attendant, and was the site of goods sidings and a rail-served jetty. A fireman's cottage was erected in 1898 (op cit. 'Byways', p 60; ibid, 2014)

The first stationmaster, Mr Baker, was appointed in 1904 (M Ryan, 'Time and Tide' Northern Star Press, Lismore, 1984, p47), and by 1908 the stationmaster was assisted by two porters, two junior porters and a female gatekeeper (op cit., p 61). It appears likely therefore that the building dates from c 1904. In 1908 fire damaged the refreshment rooms, but they were obviously a successful enough enterprise to be rebuilt. According to one source ('Byways of Steam', Eveleigh Press, Sydney, 2002, p88) the building was a standard design for the line.

Again in 1914, fire damaged the refreshment rooms, and in that year they were rebuilt, and general repairs and improvements (unspecified) were made to the station (ibid, 2014).

Again in 1921, improvements were made to the refreshment rooms (ibid, 2014).

In May 2004, with the discontinuation of the rail service from Casino to Murwillumbah, the station was closed (ibid, 2014).

The Station Master's Cottage has become the Byron Bay Visitor Information Centre. Two trends are evident in the development of the town contribute to the significance of this building:
* The first is the loss of early timber residential buildings. A number of these original cottages have disappeared with the division of land associated with the growth and increasing density of settlement of the town.
* The second is the impact of development on town lots near the commercial zone. This building, originally railway property, is now owned by the Shire Council, and could at some future point be expected to become the subject of speculation regarding its redevelopment potential.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Other open space-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Changing the environment-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Commerce-Activities relating to buying, selling and exchanging goods and services	Developing discrete retail and commercial areas-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Commerce-Activities relating to buying, selling and exchanging goods and services	Developing Commercial Enterprise-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Significant Places: How are significant places marked in the landscape of Parramatta by, or for, different groups?-Monuments and Sites
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Developing local, regional and national economies-National Theme 3
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Landscapes of urban and rural interaction-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Landscapes of urban amenity-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Landscapes of institutions - productive and ornamental-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Landscapes and parklands of distinctive styles-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Events-Activities and processes that mark the consequences of natural and cultural occurences	Developing local landmarks-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	Building the railway network-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	Railway Station-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	Railway Station-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Building settlements, towns and cities-National Theme 4
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Building settlements, towns and cities-National Theme 4
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal	Administering and alienating Crown lands-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal	Changing land uses - from rural to tourist-
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	20th century Suburban Developments-
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	Impacts of railways on rural development-
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	Developing ports-
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	Suburban Consolidation-
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	20th Century infrastructure-
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	19th Century Infrastructure-
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	Evolution of railway towns-
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	Cultural Social and religious life-
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	Creating landmark structures and places in regional settings-
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	Developing suburbia-
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	Planned towns serving a specific industry-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Utilities-Activities associated with the provision of services, especially on a communal basis	Railways to inland settlements-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Utilities-Activities associated with the provision of services, especially on a communal basis	Railways connecting coastal settlements-
5. Working-Working	Labour-Activities associated with work practises and organised and unorganised labour	Working on public infrastructure projects-
5. Working-Working	Labour-Activities associated with work practises and organised and unorganised labour	Working in the public service-
5. Working-Working	Labour-Activities associated with work practises and organised and unorganised labour	Railway work culture-
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.	State government-
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.	Local government-
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.	Developing roles for government - building and operating public infrastructure-
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.	Developing roles for government - building and administering rail networks-
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.	Developing roles for government - conserving cultural and natural heritage-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	Activities associated with relaxation and recreation-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	Visiting lookouts and places of natural beauty-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	Tourism-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	Leisure-Includes tourism, resorts.
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Social institutions-Activities and organisational arrangements for the provision of social activities	Community volunteering-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Social institutions-Activities and organisational arrangements for the provision of social activities	Community organisations-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	This item is assessed as historically rare. This item is assessed as scientifically rare. This item is assessed as arch. rare. This item is assessed as socially rare.
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.

Recommended management:

Recommendations

Management Category	Description	Date Updated
Recommended Management	Produce a Conservation Management Plan (CMP)
Recommended Management	Carry out an Archaeological Assessment
Recommended Management	Prepare a maintenance schedule or guidelines
Recommended Management	Carry out interpretation, promotion and/or education

Procedures /Exemptions

Section of act	Description	Title	Comments	Action date
CMP-Endorse	Conservation Plan submitted for endorsement	CMP submitted for review and endorsement by Extent Heritage.		Sep 28 2020
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Standard Exemptions	HERITAGE ACT 1977 ORDER UNDER SECTION 57(2) TO GRANT STANDARD EXEMPTIONS FROM APPROVAL I, Penny Sharpe, the Minister for Heritage, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales and under section 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977: revoke the order made on 2 June 2022 and published in the Government Gazette Number 262 of 17 June 2022; and grant an exemption from section 57(1) of the Act in respect of the engaging in or carrying out the class of activities described in clause 2 Schedule A in such circumstances specified by the relevant standards in clause 2 Schedule A and General Conditions in clause 3 Schedule A. This Order takes effect on the date it is published in the NSW Government Gazette. Dated this 29th day of October 2025 The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC Minister for Heritage For more information on standard exemptions click on the link below.	Nov 7 2025

Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - State Heritage Register		01107	02 Apr 99	27	1546
Heritage Act - s.170 NSW State agency heritage register
Local Environmental Plan	Byron Bay Railway Station	I078	21 Jul 14

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
Byron Shire Community Based Heritage Study	2005	1.1	Donald Ellsmore and Ian Fox	P.Stolz	Yes

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title
Written	Conybeare Morrison	1992	Publication: Vol 2, Building Inventory, Byron Bay
Written	Eveleigh Press	2002	Byways of Steam: The Tweed Railway (18)
Written	M Ryan & R Smith	2001	Time and Tide Again
Written	Office of Rail Heritage	2012	Railway garden and landscape conservation guide
Written	Planning Workshop/ T Shellshear	1983	Byron Shire Environmental Study

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:	Heritage NSW
Database number:	5011962
File number:	EF14/4503

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