Courthouse and site (former)

Item details


Name of item:	Courthouse and site (former)
Other name/s:	Courthouse and site
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Law Enforcement
Category:	Courthouse
Location:	Lat: -32.5854444761 Long: 151.7793711340
Primary address:	49 Grey Street, Clarence Town, NSW 2321
Parish:	Uffington
County:	Durham
Local govt. area:	Dungog
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Worimi

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
LOT	19		DP	729796
LOT	20		DP	729796

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
49 Grey Street	Clarence Town	Dungog	Uffington	Durham	Primary Address

Owner/s

Organisation Name	Owner Category	Date Ownership Updated
Clarence Town Police Station	Private	29 Mar 99
Dungog Shire Council	Local Government	29 Mar 99

Description


Designer/Maker:	James Barnet
Construction years:	1868-1869
Physical description:	Small single storey timber building with steep gabled corrugated galvanised iron roof and integral hipped verandah roof. Associated with nineteenth century police station/residence adjacent (RNE).


Current use:	Museum and garden, events
Former use:	Aboriginal land, town lot, Courthouse

History

Historical notes:

Clarence Town: The area was originally inhabited by the Wanaruah Aboriginal people who called it Erringhi.There is a hotel in the main street of Clarence Town built in 1913 called The Erringhi Hotel.

The township is most famous for building and launching the William IV paddle steamer in 1831, although the town was still called Erringhi at this time. It was later renamed in 1832 after the Duke of Clarence, who became King William IV in 1830 (Wikipedia).

Clarence Town like many places on the Hunter, Paterson and Williams Rivers was first visited by timber getters, with land grants made as early as 1825. With its deep water river frontages, Clarence Town was early a place from which timber and other goods could be transported and many of the grantees further up the Williams River made application for small grants at this head of navigation to establish stores for their produce awaiting transshipment. Clarence Town was proclaimed a town in 1832, the third in the Hunter district after Newcastle and Maitland, and provided with a generous street plan. Also established here was a shipbuilding industry where Australia's first ocean-going steamer was built. The early establishment of relatively small farms on the river and the ease of river transport led to rapid growth. Along with tobacco factories and steam driven flour mills, one of the earliest National Schools was founded here in 1849.

Despite its early establishment and river traffic, Clarence Town was not provided with services as quickly as either nearby Paterson or Dungog. By the 1860s, regular coach services connected the steamer services of Clarence Town with Dungog and other rural towns, and a new courthouse was erected in 1869. In the 1880s, many of Clarence Town's most prominent public buildings and private houses were built and it was in this period that the functional river steamers began to be supplemented by pleasure cruises from Newcastle. Although the decline of Clarence Town in the 20th century is generally attributed to the railway route running through Dungog, there is evidence that even before this it was affected by the tobacco tax, four floods and the depression of the 1890s.(Karskens, Dungog Heritage Study, in website: History in the Williams River Valley).

When Wallarobba Shire was formed in 1906, it remained based at Dungog and from the reports of its deliberations in the Dungog Chronicle rarely, if ever, concerned itself with its smaller towns such as Clarence Town or Gresford. Clarence Town seems to have been left to its own devices as far as town management was concerned and possibly had a Town Committee, though what its legal status was is unclear; certainly a Progress Association also existed to help with local improvements (Website: History in the Williams River Valley).

Clarence Town was the area's centre for shipping until the railway reached Dungog in 1911 (www.australianexplorer.com/clarence_town.htm).

The slow decline in Clarence Town's population has reversed in recent times as it has gradually transformed into a commuter suburb for those working in Newcastle (Website: History in the Williams River Valley).

Court House:
Designed by Colonial Government Architect James Barnet, it was built from 1868-9 (NTA (NSW)).

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).

The former court house is now the site of a local history museum which focuses on Clarence Town as a terminal of navigation and river port. Its collection encompasses shipbuilding, exploration, maps, documents photographs, memorabilia, household items, timber-getting, agriculture and history of the settlement of Williams River (www.visitnsw.com/destinations/hunter/barrington-tops/dungog/attractions/clarence-town-and-district-historical-museum-association).

In addition to the above, a native cottage garden is in the process of being established, together with a replica pioneer settlers cottage about to be constructed, materials on site, containing names, photographs (where available), and information on Pioneer Settlers; all surrounded by native trees. In this manner there will be provided a background to Clarence Town's heritage and a support to the Historical Museum (www.visitnsw.com/destinations/hunter/barrington-tops/dungog/attractions/clarence-town-and-district-historical-museum-association).

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-
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 suburban-
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	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	A quiet Rural District-
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	Creating landmark structures and places in regional settings-
7. Governing-Governing	Law and order-Activities associated with maintaining, promoting and implementing criminal and civil law and legal processes	Dispensing justice-
7. Governing-Governing	Law and order-Activities associated with maintaining, promoting and implementing criminal and civil law and legal processes	court house-
7. Governing-Governing	Law and order-Activities associated with maintaining, promoting and implementing criminal and civil law and legal processes	Police Station-
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.	Designing in an exemplary architectural style-
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.	Adaptation of overseas design for local use-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	Going to a museum-
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	Developing collections of items-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	Visiting gardens-
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	Visiting heritage places-
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-

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	Heritage Act	maintenance of building on the site Order Under Section 57(2) to exempt the following activities from Section 57(1): (1) The maintenance of any building or item on the site where maintenance means the continuous protective care of existing material. (2) Routine garden maintenance. (3) Change of use	Mar 11 1988
CMP-Endorse	Conservation Plan submitted for endorsement	Conservation Management Plan Lodged for endorsement		Jul 2 2019
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		00558	02 Apr 99	27	1546
Heritage Act - Permanent Conservation Order - former		00558	11 Mar 88	52	1591
State Environmental Planning Policy	Hunter REP 1989		03 Nov 89
Local Environmental Plan			06 Apr 90
Register of the National Estate	Clarence Town Courthouse and Former Police Station	1353	21 Mar 78

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Tourism		2007	Courthouse and site (former)	View detail
Tourism	Attraction Homepage	2007	Courthouse and site (former)	View detail
Written	Le Sueur, Angela	2016	Colonial Architects - part 2

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:	5045711
File number:	S91/01459 & DHC 872009,

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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