Grafton Court House 1880 .New South Wales.
Grafton.
Grafton is situated on the Clarence River, one of the fast flowing north Coast Rivers infamous for flooding after rains storms on the Great Dividing Range. Grafton was first explored by white Europeans in 1831 when an escaped convict reached the area. He later led an exploration party to the fertile area and received a pardon. The district was then opened up for the Red Cedar trade by John Small, a Sydney shipbuilder. A few timber cutters and settlers moved there prompting the government to survey the area in 1839. William Darke arrived to survey a town which was called “The Settlement” until 1848. In that year the Governor named it Grafton after his grandfather, the Duke of Grafton. The town grew quickly to become a municipality in 1859 and a city in 1885. Sugar grew well on the cleared volcanic river flats and in the 1860s sugar became the mainstay of Grafton’s growth. Sugar mills opened and the town boomed. It has an early Court House (1846), major churches and a public grammar school. Once the north coast railway crossed the Clarence River in 1932 the town grew even more. It became known for its stately Jacaranda trees which flower in November. Most were planted in 1874.
St. Mary’s Catholic Church was completed early in 1867 but the wooden Anglican Church was re-built as a Cathedral by well known NSW architect John Horbury Hunt in 1884. We will see more of his work in Armidale where he also designed the Anglican Cathedral, Booloominbah, Treveena and the Armidale hospital. Hunt was a Canadian who studied as an architect in Boston before moving to Sydney in 1863. Here he met the Government Architect, James Barnet and he accepted work with Edmund Blacket the leading architect of NSW at that time. In 1869 Hunt went out on his own with commissions for churches, cathedrals and mansions for the Sydney business elite. He was a foundation member of what became the Institute of Architects, NSW. He was an eccentric and his work was always distinctive- he often used coloured bricks, fancy brick work patterns or bonds and he extensively used wooden external decoration in the Canadian style when neither brick work nor wooden decoration was fashionable. His Grafton cathedral was built in the Gothic style but with salmon coloured bricks, not the then fashionable grey stone. Hunt personally selected a local clay to get the exact colour of brick he wanted for the Cathedral. He watched the brickies closely to check their work. The foundation stone was laid in 1874 and it took ten years to complete. The wide Gothic arch, all in brick, above the Cathedral entrance is magnificent. After completing the Cathedral Hunt return in 1890 to oversee the construction of the church hall behind the Cathedral. He used similar bricks to those in the Cathedral. Hunt also designed the western entrance which was added in 1934 (Hunt died in 1903) but it was erected according to Hunt’s original design.
Grafton has a number of fine old buildings including: the “ new” Court House of 1880; the nearby Crown Prosecutor’s Office ( 1881); the Post Office ( 1874); the Grafton Gaol ( 1893); the Anglican Rectory ( 1850)- now the Cathedral bookshop; the original Commercial Banking Company bank ( 1877) in Prince Street( now a NAB bank); and the former Police Station ( 1881). The city has many fine Victorian and Edwardian houses set on tree lined avenues.
Grafton Court House 1880 .New South Wales.
Grafton.
Grafton is situated on the Clarence River, one of the fast flowing north Coast Rivers infamous for flooding after rains storms on the Great Dividing Range. Grafton was first explored by white Europeans in 1831 when an escaped convict reached the area. He later led an exploration party to the fertile area and received a pardon. The district was then opened up for the Red Cedar trade by John Small, a Sydney shipbuilder. A few timber cutters and settlers moved there prompting the government to survey the area in 1839. William Darke arrived to survey a town which was called “The Settlement” until 1848. In that year the Governor named it Grafton after his grandfather, the Duke of Grafton. The town grew quickly to become a municipality in 1859 and a city in 1885. Sugar grew well on the cleared volcanic river flats and in the 1860s sugar became the mainstay of Grafton’s growth. Sugar mills opened and the town boomed. It has an early Court House (1846), major churches and a public grammar school. Once the north coast railway crossed the Clarence River in 1932 the town grew even more. It became known for its stately Jacaranda trees which flower in November. Most were planted in 1874.
St. Mary’s Catholic Church was completed early in 1867 but the wooden Anglican Church was re-built as a Cathedral by well known NSW architect John Horbury Hunt in 1884. We will see more of his work in Armidale where he also designed the Anglican Cathedral, Booloominbah, Treveena and the Armidale hospital. Hunt was a Canadian who studied as an architect in Boston before moving to Sydney in 1863. Here he met the Government Architect, James Barnet and he accepted work with Edmund Blacket the leading architect of NSW at that time. In 1869 Hunt went out on his own with commissions for churches, cathedrals and mansions for the Sydney business elite. He was a foundation member of what became the Institute of Architects, NSW. He was an eccentric and his work was always distinctive- he often used coloured bricks, fancy brick work patterns or bonds and he extensively used wooden external decoration in the Canadian style when neither brick work nor wooden decoration was fashionable. His Grafton cathedral was built in the Gothic style but with salmon coloured bricks, not the then fashionable grey stone. Hunt personally selected a local clay to get the exact colour of brick he wanted for the Cathedral. He watched the brickies closely to check their work. The foundation stone was laid in 1874 and it took ten years to complete. The wide Gothic arch, all in brick, above the Cathedral entrance is magnificent. After completing the Cathedral Hunt return in 1890 to oversee the construction of the church hall behind the Cathedral. He used similar bricks to those in the Cathedral. Hunt also designed the western entrance which was added in 1934 (Hunt died in 1903) but it was erected according to Hunt’s original design.
Grafton has a number of fine old buildings including: the “ new” Court House of 1880; the nearby Crown Prosecutor’s Office ( 1881); the Post Office ( 1874); the Grafton Gaol ( 1893); the Anglican Rectory ( 1850)- now the Cathedral bookshop; the original Commercial Banking Company bank ( 1877) in Prince Street( now a NAB bank); and the former Police Station ( 1881). The city has many fine Victorian and Edwardian houses set on tree lined avenues.