Dunedin Railway Station and Dunedin Law Courts

The Dunedin Law Courts is a notable historic building in central Dunedin, in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. They are located at the corner of Lower Stuart Street and Anzac Square, directly opposite the city's historic railway station. Since 1902, the building has been used as the city's law courts, and contains four court rooms, including the ornate High Court, as well as housing the offices and library of the

Law Society A law society is an association of lawyers with a regulatory role that includes the right to supervise the training, qualifications, and conduct of lawyers. Where there is a distinction between barristers and solicitors, solicitors are regulated ...

Architecture

The Law Courts building was one of the first major works to be designed by Government architect John Campbell, and was built in 1901–02 at a cost of £20,000 and opened in April 1902.Knight, H., and Wales, N. (1988) ''Buildings of Dunedin''. Dunedin: John McIndoe. . p. 95 The Law Courts are located alongside the former Dunedin Central Police Station, another Campbell building, though in a completely different style. While the 1890s police station (which was actually the city's gaol for most of its existence) was deliberately modelled in a Queen Anne style uncommon in New Zealand but designed to imitate London's New Scotland Yard (now the Norman Shaw Buildings), the Law Courts are in decorative but stern Victorian Gothic style similar to the buildings of Dunedin's University of Otago Registry Building.McGill, D., & Sheehan, G., (1997) ''Landmarks: Notable historic buildings of New Zealand.'' Auckland:Godwit Publishing. . pp. 228–9 As is common with many of Dunedin's more substantial historic structures (including the railway station opposite) the Law Courts are constructed of dark Port Chalmers breccia ornamented with lighter

Oamaru stone Oamaru stone, sometimes called whitestone, is a hard, compact limestone, quarried at Weston, near Oamaru in Otago, New Zealand. Oamaru stone was used on many of the grand public buildings in the towns and cities of the southern South Island, es ...

, a local compacted limestone mined to the north of Dunedin, and is topped with a roof of slate and granite. The main entrance to the court sits at the foot of a short tower which is decorated with an un-blindfolded statue of Justice in Italian white marble.

Historic precinct

The building has a category I classification on the New Zealand Historic Places Trust register of historic buildings. The courts, the railway station, the former police station, and the nearby

Allied Press Building Allied Press is an independent New Zealand media and publishing company based in Dunedin. The company's main asset is the ''Otago Daily Times'', New Zealand's oldest daily newspaper. Allied Press has a number of other daily and community news ...

and buildings of the Toitū Otago Settlers Museum together form an impressive precinct close to the heart of the city, stretching south along the city's one-way street system (part of State Highway 1) to Queen's Gardens and up Lower Stuart Street towards the city centre,

The Octagon The Octagon may refer to: *The Octagon, Christchurch, a former church in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand *The Octagon, Dunedin, the city centre of Dunedin, New Zealand *The Octagon (Egypt), the headquarters of the Egyptian Ministry of ...

One of the city's most historic public houses and hostelries, the Law Courts Hotel, is located close to the courts in Lower Stuart Street, in a large Art Deco building (also listed by the Historic Places Trust, Category II) directly opposite the Allied Press Building (the offices of the city's main newspaper, the ''

Otago Daily Times The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a c ...

''). The prime location of this hotel near these two premises has greatly contributed to its history, as has its longevity (having originally been founded as the Auld Scotland Hotel in 1863).Price, M.,
For sale: A right royal piece of history
, ''Otago Daily Times'', 4 August 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2014.

References

External links

{{coord, 45, 52, 32, S, 170, 30, 27, E, region:NZ-OTA_type:railwaystation_source:dewiki, display=title Law courts NZHPT Category I listings in Otago Courthouses in New Zealand 1902 establishments in New Zealand Tourist attractions in Dunedin 1900s architecture in New Zealand John Campbell (architect) buildings Central Dunedin