CBA Bank (former)

Item details


Name of item:	CBA Bank (former)
Other name/s:	CBA Bank, Comfort Lodge, Former Commonwealth Bank
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Postal and Telecommunications
Category:	Telegraph Station
Location:	Lat: -30.5137894873 Long: 151.6665841440
Primary address:	164 Beardy Street, Armidale, NSW 2350
Parish:	Armidale
County:	Sandon
Local govt. area:	Armidale Regional
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Armidale

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
LOT	1		DP	123572

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
164 Beardy Street	Armidale	Armidale Regional	Armidale	Sandon	Primary Address

Owner/s

Organisation Name	Owner Category	Date Ownership Updated
Jo Barbado Pty Ltd	Private

Statement of significance:


	The former CBA Bank (former Telegraph Office) is a significant element in one of the finest groups of civic buildings in New South Wales. The building is prominently located in the Beardy Street pedestrian mall, in part of the Armidale Conservation Area as identified by the National Trust. Its arcaded portico complements the arcade on the adjacent Post Office (158-160 Beardy Street). Together these buildings provide historic and aesthetic streetscape elements of importance to the people of Armidale (Heritage Office file). The building has historic significance as an example of the work of James Barnet, Colonial Architect, and as a link in the telegraph communications network established by the state in the second half of the 19th century.
	Date significance updated: 06 Oct 06
	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 Colonial Architect's Office (James Barnet and later, Walter Liberty Vernon)
Builder/Maker:	C.T. Cook
Construction years:	1882-1885
Physical description:	GENERAL DESCRIPTION The former CBA building is situated on Beardy Street, a main street of Armidale which has been closed to traffic creating a pedestrian mall. The building fronts onto the footpath with no setback. The building is a two storey brick building, rendered and painted on the street side only. The facade is symmetrical and the street level portico has four round arches. A decorative central parapet with scrolled edges rises above the portico, and the upper storey has four segmental-arch openings with double hung sash windows. The slate roof has been described as hipped (Heritage Office File); photographs seem to indicate that it may even be pyramidal. STYLE The facade bears elements of the Victorian Italianate style as defined in Identifying Australian Architecture (Apperley et al, 1994:72): stuccoed facade, segmental arch window openings, arcaded loggia, and bracketed eaves. A pyramidal roof is another feature which typically appears on some Italianate buildings, usually on tower features. James Barnet built many regional New South Wales post offices and government buildings in the Italianate style. MATERIALS AND MODIFICATIONS External decoration, on the facade only, includes rendered masonry bracket supports to the eaves, rendered string courses, label moulds, and keystones over the arches . The rear and side walls contrast with the street facade. They are brown brick with red-brown brick lintels over the flat-arch openings. Stone lintels are evident on the lower storey windows to the rear of the building.The roof is slate, and has been repaired and elements replaced over the years, with the ridge cappings having been replaced several times. No chimneys are evident. The interior has been altered with fireplaces removed (Heritage Office file). Adjoining the rear of the main building is a single storey brick building which is square in plan. Its construction date is unknown. The smaller building has a corrugated iron roof which features small ventilation gables at its apex and a tall brick chimney. Application to replace the roof was received in 1997.
Modifications and dates:	Ca. 1936 - the arcaded portico openings were filled in with framed glazing and doors. Unknown date - post-1936 - chimneys removed to main building. Unknown date - apparently terra cotta ridge cappings were installed on roof; later returned to original style galvanized capping. Ca. 1986 - Glazing to portico arches removed and original openings restored. Timber shop fronts installed. 1991 - Aluminium and glass projecting shop windows installed under arcade. 1996 - Hail damage to slate tiles, parts of the roof replaced. 2005 - Painted.


Current use:	Commercial/ retail
Former use:	Aboriginal land, farm, town lot, government offices, telegraph office, bank

History

Historical notes:

TELEGRAPH OFFICE, BACKGROUND HISTORY
The former CBA Bank was built for the Land Board Office in the early 1880s, designed by the Colonial Architect, James Barnet. According to a historical reference the building was begun in 1882 and finished 1885, built by C.T. Cook (Heritage Office File).

James Johnstone Barnet (1827-1904) was made acting Colonial Architect in 1862 and appointed Colonial Architect from 1865-90. He was born in Scotland and studied in London under Charles Richardson, RIBA and William Dyce, Professor of Fine Arts at King's College, London. He was strongly influenced by Charles Robert Cockerell, leading classical theorist at the time and by the fine arts, particularly works of painters Claude Lorrain and JRM Turner. He arrived in Sydney in 1854 and worked as a self-employed builder. He served as Edmund Blacket's clerk of works on the foundations of the Randwick (Destitute Childrens') Asylum. Blacket then appointed Barnet as clerk-of-works on the Great Hall at Sydney University. By 1859 he was appointed second clerk of works at the Colonial Architect's Office and in 1861 was Acting Colonial Architect. Thus began a long career. He dominated public architecture in NSW, as the longest-serving Colonial Architect in Australian history. Until he resigned in 1890 his office undertook some 12,000 works, Barnet himself designing almost 1000. They included those edifices so vital to promoting communication, the law and safe sea arrivals in colonial Australia. Altogether there were 169 post and telegraph offices, 130 courthouses, 155 police buildings, 110 lockups and 20 lighthouses, including the present Macquarie Lighthouse on South Head, which replaced the earlier one designed by Francis Greenway. Barnet's vision for Sydney is most clearly seen in the Customs House at Circular Quay, the General Post Office in Martin Place and the Lands Department and Colonial Secretary's Office in Bridge Street. There he applied the classicism he had absorbed in London, with a theatricality which came from his knowledge of art (Le Sueur, 2016, 6).

In the middle or late 1880s the building housed the Telegraph Office. The telegraph master in 1889 was Robert W. Arnott. He was also 'Money Order and Government Savings Bank Agent' (Heritage Office File).

In those days a telegraph master or post master was expected to reside as well as work in their office. It is likely that the subject building was used as a residence. By the 1890s the telegraph office functions were apparently combined with the post office and moved into the Armidale Post Office building adjacent. The subject building then housed other government offices.

It has been said that under the direction of Walter Liberty Vernon Government Architect 1890-1911, the single storey portico was added, to match the portico on the post office which was adjacent; but this has not been verified (Heritage Office File). Stylistically the Telegraph Office (former CBA building) loggia is in harmony and well integrated with its own faade design.

The Armidale Post Office loggia was added in 1897 designed by Vernon (Heritage Office File). In the early 20th century the Post Office loggia was extended again, reaching closer to the former telegraph office. Although it has not been confirmed exactly which building copied which, it is certain that through much of their early history the two buildings were linked in their function and form.

Walter Liberty Vernon (1846-1914) was both architect and soldier. Born in England, he ran successful practices in Hastings and London and had estimable connections in artistic and architectural circles. In 1883 he had a recurrence of bronchitic asthma and was advised to leave the damp of England. He and his wife sailed to New South Wales. Before leaving, he gained a commission to build new premises for Messrs David Jones and Co., in Sydney's George Street. In 1890 he was appointed Government Architect - the first to hold that title - in the newly reorganised branch of the Public Works Department. He saw his role as building 'monuments to art'. His major buildings, such as the Art Gallery of New South Wales (1904-6) are large in scale, finely wrought in sandstone, and maintaining the classical tradition. Among others are the Mitchell Wing of the State Library, Fisher Library at the University of Sydney and Central Railway Station. He also added to a number of buildings designed by his predecessors, including Customs House, the GPO and Chief Secretary's Building - with changes which did not meet with the approval of his immediate predecessor, James Barnet who, nine years after his resignation, denounced Vernon's additions in an essay and documentation of his own works. In England, Vernon had delighted his clients with buildings in the fashionable Queen Anne style. In NSW, a number of British trained architects who were proponents of the Arts and Crafts style joined his office and under their influence, Vernon changed his approach to suburban projects. Buildings such as the Darlinghurst First Station (Federation Free style, 1910) took on the scale and character of their surroundings. Under Vernon's leadership, an impressive array of buildings was produced which were distinguished by interesting brickwork and careful climatic considerations, by shady verandahs, sheltered courtyards and provision for cross-flow ventilation. Examples are courthouses in Parkes (1904), Wellington (1912) and Bourke, Lands Offices in Dubbo (1897) and Orange (1904) and the Post Office in Wellington (1904)(Le Sueur, 2016, 7).

CHANGE OF USE AND MODIFICATIONS
In 1918 the building was sold to the then State Savings Bank which was taken over by the Commercial Bank of Australia in 1932 (Heritage Office File). Modifications occurred during the late 1930s such as the enclosure of the portico openings. A 1936 photograph shows two chimneys (no longer extant) positioned on either side of the centre of the roof.

By 1985 the building had been unoccupied for several years. A new owner proposed to remove the fenestration from the arched portico opening thereby restoring its earlier arcaded appearance. Whilst this was strongly supported from a heritage viewpoint, it was felt that these and future alterations should be carried out under the guidance of the Heritage Council. This led to the Interim Conservation Order in September 1985, followed by the Permanent Conservation Order being placed on the building 21 March 1986, signed by Bob Carr, the then Minister for Planning and Environment. Retail shops have occupied the building since that time.

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.	Gardens-
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	Banking-
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	Communication-Activities relating to the creation and conveyance of information	Communicating by telegraph-
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-
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.	Adapted heritage building or structure-
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.	Accommodating workers in workers' housing-
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.	Victorian era offices-
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	Townships-
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	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Subdivision of urban estates-
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 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	Beautifying towns and villages-
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 - facilitating telecommunications-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities.	Architectural styles and periods - Victorian Italianate-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	Associations with James Barnet, Colonial (Government) Architect 1862-90-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	Associations with Walter Liberty Vernon, Government Architect 1890-1911, private architect-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	The former CBA Bank is associated with the historical development of Armidale's civic core. It demonstrates the growth of government commitment to services, especially communication, for the region between Sydney and Brisbane during the 19th century. The building is associated with Colonial Architect James Barnet, under whose direction the original building was designed and built. The building illustrates changing commercial patterns through the 20th century.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	The former CBA Bank is part of an important historic precinct centred on the Beardy/Faulkner Streets intersection. Its pleasantly symmetrical façade shares aesthetic similarities to many of the adjoining buildings resulting in a particular streetscape harmony. It relates well to the Post Office at No.158, and the Court House.
SHR Criteria d) [Social significance]	As a prominent civic building in a historic precinct, the former CBA Bank is considered to be significant to the Armidale community’s sense of place.
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	The site has the potential to contain an archaeological resource, which may provide information relating to the previous use of the site, and to use by the Telegraph Office.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	Part of the group of NSW government buildings. Representative of the work of the Colonial/Government Architect's office.
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	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
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 Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - State Heritage Register	00433	02 Apr 99	27	1546
Heritage Act - Permanent Conservation Order - former	00433	21 Mar 86	49	1320
Local Environmental Plan		23 Sep 88	147	5047
Local Environmental Plan		30 Nov 90	154	10537
Local Environmental Plan		20 Mar 92	38	1900
Register of the National Estate		21 Oct 80

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
National Trust Country Register	0		National Trust of Australia (NSW)		No

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title
Written		2006	Government Architect website
Written			Heritage Office File
Written	Le Sueur, Angela	2016	Government Architects - part 2
Written	Richard Apperly, Robert Irving, Peter Reynolds	1994	Identifying Australian Architecture

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:	5045355
File number:	S90/01181 & HC 33406

Every effort has been made to ensure that information contained in the State Heritage Inventory is correct. If you find any errors or omissions please send your comments to the Database Manager.

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