Darlinghurst Courthouse

Darlinghurst Courthouse
The courthouse, in 2014
Darlinghurst Courthouse Location in Greater Sydney
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Courthouse
Architectural style	Old Colonial Grecian
Location	Taylor Square, Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, New South Wales
Country	Australia
Coordinates	33°52′49″S 151°13′04″E
Groundbreaking	1826
Construction started	1835
Completed	1844; 1888
Owner	Government of New South Wales
Landlord	Department of Justice
Technical details
Material	Sandstone; slate; internal timber joinery; marble
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Mortimer Lewis (1826-44) James Barnet (1884-88)
Architecture firm	Colonial Architect of New South Wales
Website
Darlinghurst Court House
New South Wales Heritage Register
Official name	Darlinghurst Courthouse
Type	Built
Criteria	a., b., c., d., e., f., g.
Designated	2 April 1999
Reference no.	00792

The Darlinghurst Courthouse is an heritage-listed courthouse building located adjacent to Taylor Square on Oxford Street in Darlinghurst, New South Wales in Australia. Constructed in the Old Colonial Grecian style based on original designs by Colonial Architect, Mortimer Lewis, the building structure was completed in 1880 under the supervision of Barnet's successor, James Barnet.

The courthouse is predominately used for sittings of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

Heritage listing

On the 2 April 1999 the court house building was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register with the following statement of significance:

Darlinghurst Courthouse and Residence is the finest Old Colonial Grecian public building complex surviving in Australia. Commenced in the 1830s, it has a long and continual association with the provision of law and order in Sydney, along with the neighbouring Darlinghurst Gaol complex. The building has variously contained District Courts, Supreme Courts and the High Court throughout its history and has been the site of many high-profile trials and inquiries, including sittings of the Royal Commission into Espionage in 1954 within the High Court wing. The Darlinghurst Courthouse and Residence is associated with Sir Richard Bourke, Governor of New South Wales from 1831-1837, who made a number of significant changes to the New South Wales justice system during his time as governor. Governor Bourke called for the construction of a new courthouse in Sydney to relieve pressure on the King Street Court and allow better transfer of prisoners between court and the proposed Darlinghurst gaol. Darlinghurst Courthouse and Residence is one of the few remaining examples of public buildings designed by Colonial Architect Mortimer Lewis. The many additions and alterations to the building over its history have been the responsibility of successive Government Architects and the Department of Public Works. The extension facing Victoria Street was designed by the Government Architect's Office and completed c. 1963.

— Statement of significance, New South Wales State Heritage Register.

See also

• Australian non-residential architectural styles
• Bathurst Courthouse
• Darlinghurst Gaol
• Goulburn Court House

References

Attribution

 This article incorporates text by New South Wales State Heritage Register available under the CC BY 3.0 AU licence.

Further reading

• Apperly, Richard; Irving, Robert; Reynolds, Peter (1989). A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture: Styles and Terms from 1788 to the Present. Sydney, Angus & Robertson. ISBN 0-207-18562-X
• Faro, Clive (2000). Street Seen: A History of Oxford St. Carlton South, Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0-522-84967-9
• Jahn, Graham (1997). Sydney Architecture. Sydney, The Watermark Press. ISBN 0-949284-32-7

External links

• Darlinghurst Court House at Service NSW