Narrabri Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 138-140 Maitland Street,
Narrabri
Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highway. At ...
,
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. It is also known as Narrabri Post Office and former Telegraph Office. It was designed by the
NSW Colonial Architect's Office under
James Barnet
James Johnstone Barnet, (1827 in Almericlose, Arbroath, Scotland – 16 December 1904 in Forest Lodge, Sydney, New South Wales) was the Colonial Architect for Colonial New South Wales, serving from 1862 to 1890.
Early life
Born the son of a ...
and built by FA King in 1888. It was added to the
Australian Commonwealth Heritage List
The Commonwealth Heritage List is a heritage register established in 2003, which lists places under the control of the Australian government, on land or in waters directly owned by the Crown (in Australia, the Crown in right of the Commonwealth ...
on 08 November 2011.
History
The first pastoral activities in the area occurred in the 1830s, with a town forming in the late 1840s. A hotel was licensed in 1858 and the town was proclaimed in 1860. The first post office and police station were established but a major flood devastated the township in 1864. A court house was also constructed in the 1860s, but after the
Robertson Land Act of 1861 the area was slowly opened up to smaller selectors and wheat-growing began in 1873. The railway arrived in the district in 1882 and generated further settlement.
[
The Narrabri Post Office was constructed, with quarters, by FA King in 1888 to a design by the New South Wales Colonial Architect's office, under ]James Barnet
James Johnstone Barnet, (1827 in Almericlose, Arbroath, Scotland – 16 December 1904 in Forest Lodge, Sydney, New South Wales) was the Colonial Architect for Colonial New South Wales, serving from 1862 to 1890.
Early life
Born the son of a ...
.[Warmington and Ward 1990][
The post office was flooded in January 1910.]
In the original four-arched design was extended to six arches.[
]
Description
Narrabri Post Office is at 138-140 Maitland Street, corner Doyle Street, Narrabri, comprising the whole of Lot 21 DP775501.[
The Narrabri Post Office is a single storey brick building with a timber floor and ]corrugated iron
Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a bu ...
roof.[
The original building is on a corner site at the intersection of Maitland and Doyle Streets, in the main shopping precinct. James Barnet was architect for the four-arched 1888 design. It incorporates an L-shaped quarters juxtaposed behind the arcaded front to Maitland Street, and two parallel wings running back across the site to the rear and the later Telephone Exchange.][
The arcaded front originally comprised four arches, with the c.1914 addition adding two more. The arcaded front was originally a ]verandah
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 ...
but now, in its filled-in form, comprises the main public hall, the entry porch
A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...
and an enclosed return loggia
In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...
housing the PO boxes. The block immediately behind housed the post office and part of the quarters originally, to judge from their expression in the roof plan. This now houses the back office, clerical area and loading bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
.[
It has a timber-framed roof constructed in hipped ]gables Gables may refer to:
* The plural of gable, portion of walls between the lines of sloping roofs
* Ken Gables (1919-1960), Major League Baseball pitcher
* Gables, Nebraska, an unincorporated community in the United States
* Gables, New South Wales, ...
, clad in corrugated galvanised iron
Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a bu ...
, supported on a cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
with intermittent bracketing in pairs, and punctuated by a 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 ...
at the Doyle Street end. There are three other chimneys remaining above the lunch room, postmaster's office and rear toilets area. The chimneys are corniced and in exposed face brick, and the roofs' gabled hips have small lunette
A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void.
A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...
ventilators.[
The ]arcade
Arcade most often refers to:
* Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine
** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware
** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board
* Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games
* ...
front formed a panel in face brick and stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
to Maitland Street. The loggia was topped by a stucco-rendered 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 ...
bearing the name Narrabri Post Office, in the manner of Barnet's other larger post offices of the time, the arch keystones
A keystone (or capstone) is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allo ...
rise up to support the entablature immediately overhead. The arches themselves are dressed in robust stucco archivolts
An archivolt (or voussure) is an ornamental moulding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch.
It is composed of bands of ornamental mouldings (or other architectural elements) surrounding an arched opening, corresponding to the ...
and spring from a set of astylar brick piers Piers may refer to:
* Pier, a raised structure over a body of water
* Pier (architecture), an architectural support
* Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name)
* Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...
. A date plaque in stucco with scalloped corners and the inscription 1888 sits between the second and third arches. The four inset sash windows
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass.
History
T ...
form arched openings within each arch, one of Greenway's signatures and carried through in a similar way, with a tuck pointed and differently coloured arch over the window inside each arch screen. The north side, facing Doyle Street, is plainly surfaced in face brick with rectangular windows, plain-paned in the lower sash and multi-paned in the upper, each with a dressed sill in stone and overpainted.[
The quarters' elevation to Maitland Street is linked to the post office loggia by a timber framed porch which leads into the current retail area via a single leaf door, and into the former postmaster's office by another. In its present form this was probably added later, around 1900. The quarters are expressed with a hipped roof component held clear of the main post office mass, with a corniced chimney in exposed face brick at each end of its ridge. The west front of these quarters presented one segmentally arched double-hung sash window to Maitland Street, above a short and hefty sill on two ]brackets
A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...
. A timber-framed verandah, hipped and with square-sectioned, quasi-Tuscan posts on pedestal
A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ci ...
-bases, faces south onto a side yard.[
For these purposes the 1888 and c.1914 components are regarded as the original building. Parts of the quarters' verandah were later walled in with glazing and ]weatherboard
Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping.
''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...
aprons
An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...
, which now seems to have been removed. A diagonal-latticed screen was added to the verandah at its west end and screened occupants from Maitland Street. This screen runs partway across the first south-facing bay of the verandah and creates an irregular post rhythm. A pitched and gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
-roofed wing runs back along Doyle Street, probably also an addition, and a central wing with a self-contained hipped roof projects from the rear centre of the post office building, again running eastward. This is connected to the main post office roofing with a flat roof
A flat roof is a roof which is almost level in contrast to the many types of sloped roofs. The slope of a roof is properly known as its pitch and flat roofs have up to approximately 10°. Flat roofs are an ancient form mostly used in arid c ...
porch area described in Dawson's roof plan as "modern infill". A group of public telephones were placed along Doyle Street, but these are no longer in evidence. At the back of the block on the Doyle Street boundary, there is a generator room in front of the microwave tower. At the rear of the post office lunch room there is a bicycle shed
A shed is typically a simple, single-story roofed structure that is used for hobbies, or as a workshop in a back garden or on an allotment. Sheds vary considerably in their size and complexity of construction, from simple open-sided ones de ...
. These were all evidently added much later. Where the microwave tower now stands, in the former back yard, were two more outbuildings, a power and battery room building and a second building, probably for storage. These have since been demolished.[
A larger telephone exchange building was added, probably in the late 1960s. This presumably replaced earlier telephone exchange facilities. Architecturally this does not relate to the earlier Post Office buildings, being crowned with a massively proportioned box-framed metal roof and ]fascia
A fascia (; plural fasciae or fascias; adjective fascial; from Latin: "band") is a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches to, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs. ...
, with aluminium-framed windows and finished in smooth faced cream bricks. The exchange is basically a simple cube in form, indented on the north side with a path and entry steps space and a water tank area. This is now separated from the Post Office by a chain-link fence and in part by a rolled top mesh fence around the Post Office's rear wing.[
The post office was generally refurbished, probably in the 1980s and again in 2002, as part of its conversion to ]Australia Post
Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post o ...
retail outlet format. The 2002 plan shows a simple oblong retail area with a counter running the entire length of one side, and a mail room, postmen's area and clerical area in an open-plan back office. The present bicycle storage area has been moved into part of the rear central wing, and lunch and contractors' rooms had been fitted up there as well. The former main wing of the quarters has been converted into toilets, a locker room, a store room and a postmaster's office, generally used as another store room. The ramp has been discreetly slipped into the screened area at the west end of the verandah, and leads through a single leaf door to the merchandising area. The original ceilings and cornices are retained in the public areas. Over the former loggia area the ceiling is a flat board-lined ceiling. The ceiling then rises much higher over the main public space and beyond, with fibre or plasterboard linings, the original ceiling rose
In the United Kingdom and Australia, a ceiling rose is a decorative element affixed to the ceiling from which a chandelier or light fitting is often suspended. They are typically round in shape and display a variety of ornamental designs.
In mod ...
ventilators. The cornices are curved metal, probably corrugated galvanised and painted iron.[
]
Condition
Faithful upgrading of the interior. Exterior and surrounds which include a picket fence have commenced.
The building is generally in sound condition.
Externally and internally the buildings ability to demonstrate key aspects of the original (and later extended) James Barnet design is good, with generally minor alterations at the front including signage and ramped access. The front and side elevations are generally as designed.[
Internally the plan form of the building retains most aspects of the original design. Alterations relating to the merchandising area has utilised low framed walls that could be removed and which can be clearly seen as alterations. These generally do not detract from the original retained internal finishes, especially the ceiling.][
]
Timeline
1888 (additions), 1895 (repairs), 1914 (additions)[
]
Heritage listing
The significant components of Narrabri Post Office include main postal building and quarters wing comprising fabric dating from 1888 through c.1914 (the latter includes additions). Narrabri Post Office was listed on the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List
The Commonwealth Heritage List is a heritage register established in 2003, which lists places under the control of the Australian government, on land or in waters directly owned by the Crown (in Australia, the Crown in right of the Commonwealth ...
on 08 November 2011 having satisfied the following criteria.
Criterion A: Processes
Narrabri Post office, constructed in 1888, is an important building within the main street of Narrabri. The original smaller post office with a four arch loggia was designed by James Barnet; the loggia was later sympathetically extended to six arches. The post office is indicative of Narrabri's status as an important township during the late nineteenth century, for which it provided postal communications and services at the centre of an expanding region.[
The significant components of Narrabri Post Office include main postal building and quarters wing comprising fabric dating from 1888 through c.1914 (the latter includes additions).][
Criterion D: Characteristic values
Narrabri Post Office is an example of:][
* Post office and telegraph office with quarters (second generation typology 1870–1929)
* Victorian arcade-fronted post offices
* the work of Colonial Architect, James Barnet.
Typologically, the Narrabri Post Office is an example of a second generation building with post and telegraph and quarters. The building was originally designed as a smaller post office with a four arch loggia to the street elevation, but in 1888 the street frontage was extended to a six arch loggia. These alterations were designed by James Barnet in the same style as the original building. Internally, the original plan form of the post office has been altered, but it is unusual in its location of the quarters on the ground level and not an upper level.][
Stylistically and architecturally, Narrabri Post Office embodies Barnet at a turning point in his design of regional buildings, and early in the development of types and details that kept returning in later years. It is an important example of Barnet's single-storey arcade-fronted post offices, which later became a recurrent genre in his designs, and also introduced Barnet's use of concentric arches in post office design. Other post offices in this arcaded face-brick genre all had their quarters directly overhead, which arguably gave them more presence. Narrabri, however, is no less interesting, being an early move on Barnet's part to express a quarters in direct juxtaposition with a public component on the same floor level. Further, the early additions to the street frontage of the building were designed by Barnet in the same style as the original building, effectively stretching (and emphasising) the original design.][
]
References
Bibliography
* GS Warmington and AC Ward et al., Australia Post Survey of Historic Properties in New South Wales, Volume 1, 1990
*Register of the National Estate, ID 443
*Savills, APPD Property Valuation Report, June 2005
*Historical notes, Narrabri Shire website.
Attribution
External links
{{Australian Post Offices, state=collapsed
Commonwealth Heritage List places in New South Wales
Narrabri
Post office buildings in New South Wales
Articles incorporating text from the Australian Heritage Database
James Barnet buildings
1888 establishments in Australia
Government buildings completed in 1888