St. Arnaud Court House, 6 Napier Street, ST ARNAUD

The St. Arnaud Court House, 6 Napier Street, St. Arnaud, was built in 1867 with a recessed entry and gable roof. In 1887-88 it was altered when the distinctive gabled iron and timber verandah with double entry into the court were added. Relatively intact, the building has been associated with law and order in the town for over 100 years. It also has significance as being the central building of an unusual grouping of former government and civic 19th and early 20th century buildings in a predominantly Victorian town, of which many are visually linked to the Queen Mary gardens.

The St. Arnaud Court House is architecturally significant at a LOCAL level. It demonstrates original design qualities of a Victorian Free Classical style, including the alterations of 1887-88. These qualities include the dominant central gable, flanking hipped roof wings and a central elaborate verandah that has a middle skillion roof and flanking gables. Other intact qualities include the: unpainted brick wall construction; slate roof and galvanised corrugated iron verandah roof cladding; five unpainted brick chimneys with corbelled and rendered tops; modest eaves; segmentally arched, timber framed, two paned double hung windows; two timber panelled entrance doors; large timber framed windows under the verandah; and the decorative features (polychrome brickwork including the multiple stringcoursing, voussoirs forming the segmental arches of the windows and above the narrow window in the gable, gable corbelling and decorative dentillated banding, vestigial pilasters, crafted timber eaves brackets, bargeboards, cast iron verandah columns and timber brackets and gable infill, and the decorative mouldings on the ridge and eaves lines of the gable and the verandah). The polished timber ceiling of the court room with its king post trusses, together with the court room bench, clerk's desk and witness stand also contribute to the significance of the place.

The St. Arnaud Court House and site are historically significant at a LOCAL level. They are associated with the successful establishment of the St. Arnaud township and more particularly with the development of the local court functions between 1867 to the present day. The building has been the centre for some of the most important hearings affecting the St. Arnaud community. The building is also associated with the Public Works Department architectural branch and the builders, Cormack and Company (1867 building) and J. Moore and H.T. Bolger (1887-88 additions).

The St. Arnaud Court House is socially significant at a LOCAL level. It is recognised and held in high esteem by the St. Arnaud community as a place of law and order.

Overall, the St. Arnaud Court House is of LOCAL significance.

Group

Law Enforcement

Category

Court House