The former Brighton Town Hall is located in

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th c ...

, a suburb of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Its address is 388 Brighton Road, Hove.

Background

The Brighton Town Hall was built in 1869 and was just the fourth Town Hall built in the colony of South Australia. The architect and builder was George William Highet who arrived in the colony in 1836. G. W. Highet served as a town clerk and Councillor and died in Brighton aged 80 years. The hall was constructed of stone from Ayliffe's quarry in the Adelaide Hills laid on concrete foundations. The pioneers built it not just as a place for the business of Government but as a place "to serve the wants of the citizens" for many different activities. On 10 May 1869 a foundation stone was laid by the Hon John Hodgkiss a member of the

Legislative Council of South Australia The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly. It sits in Parli ...

in a ceremony attended by many of South Australia's most important pioneers. Under this stone was placed a

time capsule A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy relics dates ...

containing copies of the newspapers of the day.South Australian Register, Thursday 23 September 1869, Page 3 As the City of Brighton and the population grew the hall expanded. In the early 1900s the original building was added to which allowed the library to house more books in a larger reading room. In 1936 the Brighton Council moved to new chambers and in 1937 the Brighton Town Hall was then leased to the RSL. In 2008 after 70 years the RSL moved. Since 2008, after nearly 150 years of continual community use, the building has been left empty. It is a heritage listed building and an important part of the history of Government in South Australia. It still stands as a landmark.

References

{{coord, -35.0121, 138.5229, type:landmark_region:AU, display=title Buildings and structures in Adelaide Town halls in South Australia South Australian Heritage Register Former seats of local government