Former police station and quarters

What is significant?

The former police station and quarters at the corner of Camp and Church streets, Kangaroo Flat, dates from the 1880s and operated intermittently as a police station until 2006. The original 1883 components are on the south of the allotment and comprise the weatherboard police station and quarters which is asymmetrically planned, has a pair of transverse gables with roofs clad in corrugated galvanised steel, and a timber-posted verandah. This is connected to a rear wing of similar age and appearance. Each of the gables is fronted by long finials with square bases; large brick chimney are also attached to the gables, which are in overpainted brick with broad backs and brick cornices, tapering in to the stacks. The timber gable finials, accentuated bargeboards and chimney details are broadly expressive of the Gothic Revival. The stepped chimneys and serrated ornamentation are prominent elements. The demountable block facing Church Street is a standard timber school room of the post-war period. The 1960s police station, at the Smith and Camp Streets corner, is also timber with vertical planking and a low pitched roof. Open landscaped areas are located to the south of the site and at the south-east corner. There is a large concrete area to the north of the buildings, and there are a number of freestanding lock-ups and demountables at the site, used for storage.

How is it significant?

The former police station and quarters at Kangaroo Flat is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance.

Why is it significant?

The former police station and quarters at Kangaroo Flat is of local historical, social and aesthetic/architectural significance. The property is of historical significance (Criterion A) as the focus of policing activity in Kangaroo Flat for a long period from 1883, albeit intermittently, having been closed between 1922 and 1963, and again between 1971 and 1974, before operations finally ceased in 2006. The disused facility recalls the early development of the township and the formalisation of the settlement in the build-up to the proclamation of Kangaroo Flat in 1886. The former police station and quarters is also historically significant as a surviving example of a standard Public Works Department design of a timber police station with quarters dating to the 1880s. The former police station is additionally of some local significance as the focus of police work and activity in Kangaroo Flat, over periods from the 1880s to 2006 (Criterion G). With regard to its aesthetic/architectural significance (Criterion E), and while it is a standard Public Works Department design for a timber police station with quarters of the period (1880s), and subsequently modified and extended, it remains a picturesque and highly detailed building which retains many of the original Gothic Revival architectural elements. These include the asymmetrical planning; striking combination of three transverse gables; gabled ends with long finials and accentuated bargeboards; and the stepped chimneys with tapered tops.

Group

Law Enforcement

Category

Staff Accommodation