Westpac Bank Building is a heritage-listed former

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

building at 120 Charlotte Street,

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repai ...

Shire of Cook The Shire of Cook (The Shire) is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland. It covers an area ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. It was designed by

Francis Drummond Greville Stanley Francis Drummond Greville Stanley (1839—1897) was an architect in Queensland, Australia. He was the Queensland Colonial Architect. Many of his designs are now heritage-listed buildings. Early life Stanley was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on ...

and built from 1891 to 1891. It is also known as Bank of New South Wales and Queensland National Bank. It was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. A ...

on 11 March 1994.

History

This two-storeyed brick building was completed in 1891, as the premises for the Queensland National Bank. The building was designed by FDG Stanley, who was responsible for the design of a number of bank buildings in Queensland during the 1880s and 1890s. The gold rush of the early 1870s which attracted miners and speculators to the

Palmer River The Palmer River is a river located in Far North Queensland, Australia. The area surrounding the river was the site of a gold rush in the late 19th century which started in 1873. Course and features The headwaters of the Palmer River rise in ...

goldfield provided the impetus for the permanent settlement of Cooktown, becoming a municipality in 1876. Cooktown developed rapidly in the mid 1880s and the substantial nature of the buildings in Charlotte Street indicated the town's importance as a port and business centre. The growth of Cooktown and success of the Palmer River goldfields stimulated the growth of the surrounding district and settlement of the Peninsula. The Queensland National Bank commenced business in Cooktown in 1874 and built a small timber premises adjacent to the current site. These premises were demolished when the new building was completed. The other portion of the current site was occupied by John Walsh, a Cooktown storekeeper, Mayor of Cooktown in 1876 and a Member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

for

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

in 1878. The premises were purchased by the

Bank of New South Wales The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known commonly as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia, being established in Sydney in 1817 and situated on Broadway. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches throughout Australia and N ...

in 1934. Restoration work was undertaken on the premises in 1941, and dry rot and white ant activity required further maintenance work during the 1950s. The residential areas of the premises were altered during the 1960s, and maintenance has been ongoing since the 1970s. A garage was erected during the 1960s which is now used as a storage shed.

Description

Located in the main street of Cooktown, the Cooktown Westpac Bank is a two-storeyed brick building with a corrugated iron roof and timber verandahs to three sides. It has a rendered street facade, with a substantial

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or cur ...

to the ground floor, a more delicately detailed upper storey, and a central entrance portico. The building has an L-shaped plan. The street-facing wing has the bank on the ground floor, with a public banking area to the north-west, and the managers residence above, with bedrooms and lounge overlooking the street. An adjoining wing extending to the rear contains staff quarters and a single storeyed kitchen. The ground floor colonnade comprises round rendered concrete

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression membe ...

with an entablature with rectangular motifs, and a rendered concrete balustrade with shaped balusters. The first floor has cast iron columns with floriated capitals, a

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

balustrade, and a timber

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

. The entrance portico has paired columns to the ground floor flanking an arch with a keystone. An arched

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 ...

spans the width of the entry, and is surmounted by a projecting bay with arched timber work and a triangular timber pediment. The eaves have shaped timber

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 ' ...

, and a rendered masonry chimney rises above the roofline. Windows and doors to the ground floor street facade are arched, linked with string courses, and decorated with keystones. The upper level openings are rectangular. The treatment of side and rear elevations is more modest, but with fine detailing. The walls are unrendered brickwork with rectangular openings to ground and first floors, and the verandahs have paired timber posts with timber valances and capitals, boarded timber sunscreens, and cast iron balustrades. The side verandahs are partially enclosed. The building has timber double hung sash windows, and timber french doors opening onto the verandah. Internally, the bank contains fine decorative elements. It has plaster ceilings with elaborately decorated plaster

cornices 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 ...

, ceiling roses and beam encasings. Timber work includes finely carved and turned stairs, and panelled cedar doors with ventilated fanlights. The public banking area contains a particularly impressive richly carved counter inset with ventilation

grille Grill or grille may refer to: Food * Barbecue grill, a device or surface used for cooking food, usually fuelled by gas or charcoal, or the part of a cooker that performs this function * Flattop grill, a cooking device often used in restaurants, ...

s. The Cooktown Westpac Bank has a fine and intact facade which contributes to the streetscape of Charlotte Street, and contains fine interior decorative elements. In 2016, the building is no longer in use as a Westpac branch as only an ATM service is provided in the town.

Heritage listing

The former Westpac Bank Building in Cooktown was listed on the

on 11 March 1994 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The Westpac Bank at Cooktown, completed in 1891, is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, in particular the development of North Queensland, and the development of Cooktown as a port and business centre to service the important Palmer River goldfields. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. The place also demonstrates the principal characteristics of a substantial 1890s masonry bank building. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The building exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, in particular: its fine exterior detailing; its fine interior decorative elements; and its contribution to the streetscape of Charlotte Street. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. As a banking premises in Cooktown since 1891, it has a strong association with the community. The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history. It has special association with the work of architect FDG Stanley, as one of a number of premises designed by Stanley for the Queensland National Bank during the late 19th century.

References

Attribution

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Westpac building, Cooktown Queensland Heritage Register Buildings and structures in Cooktown, Queensland Former bank buildings in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Westpac