The Newcastle Court House is a heritage-listed former court house located at 9 Church Street,

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

City of Newcastle The City of Newcastle is a local government area in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. The City of Newcastle incorporates much of the area of the Newcastle metropolitan area. The Lord Mayor of City of Newcastle Council is Counci ...

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 now owned by

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice (Japan), Minister of Justice, in 1889. ...

. 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 Newcastle Court House was designed by the Colonial Architect,

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 construction was supervised by his successor,

Walter Liberty Vernon Colonel Walter Liberty Vernon (11 August 184617 January 1914) was an English architect who migrated to Australia and pursued his career as an architect in Sydney, New South Wales. In his role as the New South Wales Government Architect he is ...

. The Court House was constructed by the contractor C. Coghill and completed in 1892 at a cost of £14,798/12/2 pounds. This building replaced an earlier Court House built in 1841 which after several additions had outgrown its usefulness. The building was used as a

court house A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English- ...

from 1892 until February 2016 when a new court house building was completed in Newcastle's Civic Place. In December 2016 the former court house building was sold for 6.6 million and was converted in an offshore campus for the

of Japan.

Description

The Newcastle Court House is a Victorian Italianate building that provides a terminating focal point to Bolton Street. The design is symmetrical, comprising a large arched tower entrance to the central Court Room with a recessed portico decorated with classically derived moulded details. This building is flanked on either side with single storey wing buildings, which also have decorative mouldings with raised

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 pedim ...

s and pilasters dividing the window openings. The Newcastle Court House is constructed in rendered brick with applied cement moulded details. The court house of 1890-2 was extended to the east for offices and court rooms. Two trial courts were later added to the west of the building. There were extensive alterations and additions carried out to the 1892 and the 1949 buildings in 1982. Repairs following the

1989 Newcastle earthquake The 1989 Newcastle earthquake was an intraplate earthquake that occurred in Newcastle, New South Wales on Thursday 28 December. The shock measured 5.6 on the Richter magnitude scale and was one of Australia's most serious natural disasters, ki ...

were undertaken in 1991. It was reported to be in good condition as at 30 October 2000.

Heritage listing

The Newcastle Court House is a fine and impressive building sited prominently in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

Street, Newcastle. Designed in the Victorian Italianate style it remains substantially intact and a grand example of late 19th century civic architecture within the town. The building has a lengthy association with the provision of justice in the district. Newcastle Court House was listed on the

on 2 April 1999.

References

Bibliography

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Attribution

External links

{{City of Newcastle suburbs Courthouses in New South Wales Government buildings completed in 1892 1892 establishments in Australia James Barnet buildings Walter Liberty Vernon buildings Courthouse Courthouse New South Wales State Heritage Register