City Court, also Melbourne Court of Petty Sessions, Magistrates Court, 325 Russell Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Title:
City Court, also Melbourne Court of Petty Sessions, Magistrates Court, 325 Russell Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 108556
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
Graphic materialsTextual material
Part of:
Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)
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UnrestrictedOpen access.
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UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
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RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2022:__________________________________________________DATE: 1911;ASSOCIATIONS: Victorian Government;DESIGNER: Marsden, J H Public Work's Department Chief Architect, George B H Austin project architect.;BUILDER: Swanson Bros.Style: Neo-RomanesquePeriod: EdwardianMaterials: Moorabool limestone.VICTORIA HERITAGE REGISTER H1010Statement of Significance'What is significant?The former Magistrates Court was built by Swanson Brothers between 1911 and 1913 to the design of Public Work's Department architect George B H Austin. The two storey court sits on a massive plinth of rock-faced Batesford limestone. Dressed limestone faces the brick, Gippsland marble and iron construction with interior joinery of blackwood. Roof materials are variously slate, corrugated iron or steel. Built on the site of the earlier Supreme Court, the building retains fittings from the earlier court including the Gothic canopy that judge Sir Redmond Barry sat under during the trial of Ned Kelly in 1880. The architectural style is Norman, otherwise known as the French Romanesque. The facade is a composition of gables, towers, turrets and arches. The main entrance sits on the prominent corner site of Russell Street and Latrobe Street and is an intricate symmetrical essay in the Norman style rising as a tower. It consists of copper clad turrets and grouped semi-circular headed windows over an entrance of five nested jamb shafts on squat Romanesque columns. The spreading staircase is of a basalt stone. The main entry vestibule rises to a drum over the marble staircases. The three principal court rooms have hammer beam roofs and consistent Norman detailing to the wall panels, the docks and benches. Within the internal fabric is a late version of the patented Tobin tube ventilation system.How is it significant?The former Magistrates Court is of architectural and historical significance to the State of Victoria.Why is it significant?The former Magistrates Court is architecturally significant for the adoption of the Norman or French Romanesque style. The style was considered appropriate for a court of law. The revival of the pure Norman style of Romanesque had associations to the underlying ancient heritage of English law and contrasted strongly to the American Romanesque developed in the late nineteenth century by the American architect HH Richardson, a style which itself had found a strong resonance in Victoria.The former Magistrates Court is historically significant for its long and continuous association as a site of law court buildings, from the erection of the old Supreme Court in 1843 to the closure of the current building in 1994. The retention of furniture and fittings from the old Supreme Court contributes to the understanding of a continuous legal process. The site has been the setting of many historically significant trials, including at the old Supreme Court the Eureka rebels in 1855 and Ned Kelly in 1880, and in the former Magistrates Court several cases against Leslie (Squizzy) Taylor in the 1920s..GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites source 77, page 30___________________________VICTORIA HERITAGE REGISTER H1010Statement of Significance___________________________HERITAGE BRANCH, MINISTRY FOR PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT 1987 CITY OF MELBOURNE CENTRAL CITY NOTABLE BUILDINGS CITATIONSSTATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCEThe City Court is the most grandiose example of American Romanesque Revival architecture in Victoria. It was designed by GBH AustIn of the Public Works Department and bUilt in 1911___________________________NATIONAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA (VIC)Statement of SignificanceIndividual Statement of Significance: A two-storeyed building in Norman Revival style reflecting traditional legal derivations; designed in rock-faced Batesford lime-stone with massive arched entrances by Public Works Department architect G.B.H. Austin. Opened in 1914.Classified: 15/04/1976Revised: 25/02/1994Also Part of Group Classification with File B4653 - City Watch House B2773 - R.M.I.T. Building No. 1,B116 Old Melbourne Gaol Group Statement of Significance : This group consists of the RMIT Building, 124 Latrobe Street, the City Court on the Latrobe Russell Street corne, the City Watch House and the Old Melbourne Gaol in Russell Street. Each of the four notable buildings has already been Classified in its own right. The former Working Mens College, now an RMIT building, was completed in 1891 in the Gothic Revival style and is architecturally compatible with the adjacent mediaeval style City Watch House which was built in 1907-8. The Melbourne Gaol bluestone perimeter wall and other gaol buildings are not only architecturally but also socially and historically linked with the City Watch House and City Court and together they form a notable streetscape in Russell Street.___________________________Victorian Heritage Inventory H7822-2178Heritage Inventory Significance:The Melbourne Magistrates' Court (known as the Court of Petty Sessions until 1970) was built between 1911 - 14 by the contractors Swanson Bros. to a design by GBH Austin of the Public Works Department. The court replaced the original Supreme Court building, constructed in 1843 and used after 1884 as the Court of Petty Sessions.* The Magistrates' Court is an essentially intact and exceptionally well detailed example of an institutional building designed in the Norman Romanesque style. The adoption of this specific style is itself highly significant, while the use of Romanesque styles in general was advocated for court houses and gaols because of their potentially "grim and forbidding" aspect, the revival of the pure Norman style of Romanesque, in contrast to the revived Romanesque of mixed parentage and freer form popularised in the late nineteenth century by the American architect HH Richardson, would by association have been seen as underlying the ancient heritage of English law.* The building's location at the corner of Russell and La Trobe Streets has a long association with the administration of justice in Victoria. The site is part of a precinct which includes the Old Melbourne Gaol, the City Watch House and the former Russell Street Police Complex. The building and its location demonstrate the interrelationship between the various elements of the criminal justice system.* As the central Magistrates' Court for Melbourne, it is an extradordinary example of the process of justice and demonstrates the importance of the judicial branch in the structure of Government in Victoria. The Magistrates' Court administers much of the civil and criminal process dealt with by the States' courts including minor criminal and regulatory offences, a wide range of civil cases and the commitment of offences for trial on indictable offences in the County and Supreme Courts.* The Court is an important and unusual example of the works of George BH Austin, a Public Works Department architect, whose other works include the Melbourne State College building of 1888 and the Camperdown Court House (1886-87).* The significance of the building is substantially enhanced by its essentiallyintact condition and the retention of details and fittings of consistent quality, including the jointery, court room furniture, decorative plaster, masonry and glazing.* The imposing scale of the Romanesque style building, described by the contemporary press as expressing the "grim majesty of the law", symbolises the importance of law and order in Victoria society.___________________________NEWSPAPERS:1910https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/100532838NEW CITY COURT.To-day the Minister for Public Works accepted the tender of Messrs. Swanson Bros, for the erection of the new City Courts, Russell-street, the price being £47,593. The building is to be of brick, with Moorabool stonc facings, the basement being of bluestone..see https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/227622709 for article on old City Court House from 1842, for demolition..1911https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/198152161THE NEW CITY COURT.The laying of the foundation stone of the new City Court at the corner of Russell and Latrobe streets was .performed on Thursday by the Attorney-General, Mr. J. Drysdale Brown. Two lines of bunting . Overhead were the external indications that the function was taking place, and soaking rain falling at the time interest in the event was confined to Parliamentarians, law civic, and departmental officers. The building, which is being erected on the site of the first Supreme Court, is of Norman style, a type quite unique to Melbourne. The "made in Australia ' principle has been accepted for every detail, as far as can be judged at present, and the buildings when finished will cost from £47,000 to £50,000, without fittings and furniture. The stone used is from Moorabool, near Geelong, and is being utilised for the first time locally.The Attorney-General, having quickly performed the formality, an adjournment was made to the adjoining building, where .various toasts were honored. Associated with the Attorney-General at the head of the table were Sir Henry Weedon, M.L.A, the Lord Mayor (Cr. J. T. -Davey), and Mr.J. A. Panton (ex-P.M.), among the others present being Messrs. Cresswel', W. W.. Greene and P. Dwyer. P.-M.'s,; Mr. E. Drake; Secretary for Public 'Works and Mr T. O'Callaghan, Chief Commissioner of Police. A scroll placed in the casket contained the names of prominent present-day public officials and copies of newspapers. Messrs. Swanson Bros;, are the contractors', and Mr. Austin,, of the Public , Works department is the supervising architect....https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/241627691 illust.NEW CITY COURT. CLASSIC GOTHIC STRUCTURE.The front elevations of the new City Courthouse, at the corner of Russell street and Latrobe street, are now practically completed, and afford a fair Indication of how the building will appear when ready for occupation. In this work Mr Austin, the Government architect, has made a studied effort to give a complete reproduction of Norman-Gothic architecture, and It Is evident from the building as it stands to-day, that It will be a monument of this beautiful style, and a distinctive ornament of the city.The effect of the design Is greatly enhanced by the use of one of the .finest Victorian limestones. No pains have been spared to secure the best of this material that the quarries could produce. The stone is obtained at Moorabool, it Is of a rich orange color, and appears to improve with exposure. Its hardness and durability are beyond all comparison with the best freestones. Its warm tone contrasts strikingly with the dull grey freestone of the Working Men's College adjoining. The building extends 130ft. along Latrobe street, and 130ft. along Russell street, and tho sum allocated for Its completion was £47,000,Three courts will be accommodated In the new building— the City, District, and Licensing— with docks In each for use simultaneously for police court work when required. Each court measures 44fL by 31ft, and has a height of 28ft. Being situated at the back of the building, the courts should be out of range of the noise of street traffic. The front portion of the building is used for male and female waiting rooms, barristers' rooms, and so forth. An open court yard, with verandah roof, divides the courts from tho main building. Refrigerating and heating plants will be Installed to regulate the temperature. The dock in the police- court is connected with the cells, and there are separate entrances for male and female prisoners. The work Is being carried out by Messrs Swanson Bros., contractors.
Related material link:
325-343 Russell Street, Melbourne (Butler14432\\)325-343 Russell Street, Melbourne (Butler14433\\)325-343 Russell Street, Melbourne (Butler14434\\)Magistrates' Court, 325-343 Russell Street, Melbourne (Butler16691\\)Magistrates' Court, 325-343 Russell Street, Melbourne (Butler16692\\)Magistrates' Court, 325-343 Russell Street, Melbourne (Butler16693\\)325-343 Russell Street, Melbourne (Butler14435\\)
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Record types:
Research and reports
Record number:
1262382
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 108556 | 1 PDF : 2,477 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |