Inverell Shire Council Building is a heritage-listed former bank and council chambers and now retail premises at 56 Byron Street,

Inverell Inverell is a large town in northern New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Macintyre River, close to the Queensland border. It is also the centre of Inverell Shire. Inverell is located on the Gwydir Highway on the western slopes of the No ...

Inverell Shire '' Inverell Shire is a local government area in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia adjacent to the Macintyre River and the Gwydir Highway. The Mayor of Inverell Shire Council is Cr. Paul Harmon, who is unaligned wit ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It was added to the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

on 2 April 1999.

History

The Bank of New South Wales was first established in Inverell in 1872. In 1890, the bank wanted new premises which was designed by

Varney Parkes Varney Parkes (4 June 1859 – 14 May 1935) was an Australian politician, architect and son of Henry Parkes. Life and career Parkes was born in the Sydney suburb of Ryde, the seventh child of Henry Parkes and Clarinda Varney. He attended p ...

on Byron Street at the end of Ortho Street, a prominent position in the town. In 1963, it was converted to council chambers for the

Municipality of Inverell A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and its successor the Inverell Shire Council. The building is now used as retail premises.

Description

The two-storeyed

Victorian Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

rendered brick bank building has a

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

(now tiled) and large rendered

chimneys A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

. The asymmetrical facade features a small entrance

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

near one end with small

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

at roof level supported on

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...

; three- bay two-storey

veranda A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

h under the main roof with arched opening and masonry

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

; roundheaded doors and

French windows A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materi ...

, The facade features Corinthian pilasters,

dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Reviv ...

lated

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

and swag mouldings in the

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

between floors around the entrance portico. The interior retains original

stairs Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

, joinery,

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

pieces, arches and plaster and

pressed metal ceiling A tin ceiling is an architectural element, consisting of a ceiling finished with plates of tin with designs pressed into them, that was very popular in Victorian buildings in North America in the late 19th and early 20th century. They were als ...

s. The asymmetrical street façade reflecting its use as both a manager's residence and bank chamber. The residence has three bay arched and two storied verandahs with Corinthian pilasters and masonry balustrades. The chambers have entrance with windows on each side with pediment at roof level supported with pilasters. The building's ground floor is raised to avoid flooding, and the basement floor opens to the rear. The building has

foundations Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

four metres deep and reinforced with railway lines to combat movement on the black soil which is a common problem in Inverell. It has remained structurally sound.

Significance

This building is one of the few Victorian buildings left in the business centre of the town. When built it was a very grand building for Inverell and reflected the mining boom of the 1880s. It occupies the most important streetscape location in the town opposite the end of Otho Street, and contributes significantly to the surviving nineteenth century character of the town centre. It is an outstanding intact Victorian Italianate style bank building and one of the finest and most sophisticated buildings in the Shire. Its presence is enhanced by the raised ground floor level.

Heritage listing

Inverell Shire Council Building was listed on the

on 2 April 1999.

References

Attribution