Extracted
from : "The City of Grafton" a 1981 CRHS Publication.
GRAFTON
COURT HOUSE
AND POLICE STATION
The
first Court House was situated on the river bank in Victoria
Street and was a small wooden structure opened about 1846.
It was soon found to be too small and in 1860 tenders were
called for the construction of a new Court House. This was
completed in 1861. The builders were Messrs French and Wray.
The building was of handmade sandstock bricks with stone
cornices and blocking with a shingled roof, and was sited
at the corner of Duke and Victoria Streets. The first Court
of Quarter Sessions in this Court House was held in October
1861 with Judge Francis presiding.
This
building also became inadequate as the town developed and
the present Court House was built adjacent to the old building,
and pened in April 1880.
In
the same year a new front was added to the ‘old’ Court
House complementing the style of the ‘new’ Court
House building. This building was then used as the Police
Station until 1975. when the present Police Station was opened.
The Clarence River Historical Society has placed a Historic
Marker on the ‘old’ section of this building.
The
present Court House was built to the plans of James Barnett,
Colonial Architect, by Mr. J. C. Lowe, who came from Maitland.
The building was constructed of sandstock brick with Pyrmont
Sandstone flagging and cornices, which were transported from
Sydney in lightloads by small schooners. The roof was of
Welsh slate and when the building was re-roofed a few years
ago slate from the same quarry in Wales was used. Carved
cedar woodwork and panelling was used extensively in the
interior, and today is considered one of the finest examples
in this type of work in N.S.W.
In
January, 1881 a plaque was unveiled to commemorate the centenary
of this Court House. This building has National Trust Classification.
