The former Toodyay Court House in

Toodyay, Western Australia Toodyay (, nys, Duidgee), known as Newcastle between 1860 and 1910, is a town on the Avon River in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, north-east of Perth. The first European settlement occurred in the area in 1836. After flooding i ...

has been used as municipal offices for Toodyay since the 1950s.

History

The main part of the building (designed by

George Temple-Poole George Thomas Temple-Poole (born George Thomas Temple, 29 May 1856 – 27 February 1934) was a British architect and public servant, primarily known for his work in Western Australia from 1885. As Superintendent of Public Works, and then Pri ...

) was constructed in 1896 and opened in January 1897. It replaced the first courthouse on the site built in 1867 from plans by

Richard Roach Jewell Richard Roach Jewell (1810 in Barnstaple, Devon, England – 1891 in Perth, Western Australia) was an architect who designed many of the important public buildings in Perth during the latter half of the nineteenth century. He was employed to sup ...

. The site had also been the location of a

convict hiring depot A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as " prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former conv ...

; one of four established in the colony after convicts were introduced in 1850. In 1902, after only 5 years of use, the last resident magistrate was withdrawn and the building was vacated. Many of the records that had been stored in the building were lost in the ensuing years. Surrounding buildings associated with the convict depot also declined, the old warders' quarters were demolished around 1931. In October 1956 the Under Secretary for Law (Mr Green) and Resident Magistrate, Northam (Keith Hamilton Hogg) met to discuss the restoration of the Court House after the Toodyay Health Inspector reported on the bad state of the building's drains. In 1957 the Minister for Works approved the proposal for the Crown Law Department and the Toodyay Road Board to share the use of the Toodyay Court House. Most of the projected cost estimates for renovations were to be shared between the Public Works Department (£750) and the Road Board (£150) with a total cost of £1,000. The Board would have a 10-year lease of the building (with a right of renewal) for £5 or £10 per annum. The Board later accepted the terms offered. In 1958 the Public Works Department let the contract to Mr Broderick for the removal of an old building adjacent to the Court House. This building, constructed in 1854 as the Toodyay Convict Depot Infirmary, was Toodyay's first public hospital. (The purpose built

Newcastle Hospital Newcastle Hospital in Toodyay, Western Australia was completed in 1894 and was the only purpose-built hospital for the town then known as Newcastle. It ceased operating as a hospital in 1940. History Construction of this building commenced in ...

replaced it in 1896.) The old building was then used as a drill room and store and later as the home of Norman Campbell until his death in May 1958. On 1 January 1959 the Toodyay Road Board moved into the restored Court House building. In 1985 additions were made to the eastern end of the building by Spadaccini Bros of Northam. The tendered amount was $104,130 to add 120m² of office space. English bond style brickwork was used to complement the original 1896 Court House.

Description

The building is a single storey building constructed of brick with a corrugated iron hipped roof in a Federation Free Classical style. The building sits upon a rendered plinth and has stuccoed archways, keystones and string courses with feature timber cornices.

Heritage value

The former Court House building was classified by the

National Trust of Australia (WA) The National Trust of Western Australia, officially the National Trust of Australia (W.A.), is a statutory authority that delivers heritage services, including conservation and interpretation, on behalf of the Western Australian government and co ...

on 7 June 1977 and included on the

Shire of Toodyay The Shire of Toodyay is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, beyond the north-eastern limits of the Perth metropolitan area. The Shire covers an area of , and its seat of government is the town of Toodyay. Hi ...

's Municipal Heritage Inventory on 27 August 1998. On 14 February 2003 it was placed on the permanent state heritage register. In 2010, an archaeological excavation of a site around and including the former court building revealed the foundations of the convict depot. The entire site was added to the state heritage register in June 2014.

History

Description

Heritage value

References

Further reading