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Corowa Federation Places Group
| Source: |
Go to the Register of the National Estate for more information. |
| Identifier: |
102506 |
| Location: |
Corowa |
Local
Government: |
Corowa |
| State: |
NSW |
| Country: |
Australia |
Statement of
Significance: |
The Corowa Federation Places Group, comprising the Court House, Oddfellows Hall, Hotel Australia, Globe Hotel, Royal Hotel, Lethbridge and McGowan Solicitors' Building, and the School of Arts, is significant for its association with Corowa's role in the successful public agitation for federation during the 1880 and 1890s. Collectively, the buildings in the group reflect Corowa's close association with the federation movement, hosting a number of significant meetings and public addresses by key political figures in the period leading to federation. The Corowa conference, held on 31 July and 1 August 1893, was of particular importance because it produced a plan that played a key part in the success of federation.
The Corowa plan resulted in a decision by colonial premiers in 1895 that each of the colonial parliaments would enact legislation providing for the election of representatives to a federal convention, where they would adopt a bill for a federal Constitution to be put to a referendum in each colony. The Corowa Federation Conference, one of several held in the colonies in the processes leading to federation, was hailed by the press as the first significant expression of community support for federation outside the major cities (Criterion A.4). |
| Description: |
The Corowa Federation Group comprises the key venues
associated with the conference held at Corowa in 1893. These comprise:
Court House
In December 1885, the NSW government called tenders for the
erection of a new court house to replace the earlier court house at the corner
site on Church and Queen Streets. The new building was designed in the NSW
government architect's office, and supposedly copied the court house at nearby
Howlong, except it was designed on a larger scale. The contract was let in
January 1886 to W Squires, a local builder. The local Progress Committee
successfully protested to the government about the orientation of the building
on the corner site, and it was eventually constructed to face Church Street
rather than Queen Street. The foundations were laid in September 1887, and the
building completed by February 1888. Two wings were added in 1890, the eastern
wing serving as the local office of the Lands Department, and the western wing
occupied by the local inspector of stock. A detached brick coach house was
erected at the rear of the building. The building is a symmetrical structure
built in red brick in the Victorian Regency style. The exterior features
exposed red bricks laid in English bond, and both the central part and two
wings have hipped roofs of corrugated iron. The front verandah is supported by
timber columns with cast iron brackets featuring the letters 'VR' (Victoria
Regina). The interior walls are plastered and painted, and the court room
ceiling is constructed of wooden rafters. Elsewhere the ceiling is of pressed
metal.
Oddfellows Hall
The Oddfellows Hall was constructed as a meeting hall by and
for the Loyal Border Lodge of the Manchester Unity Order of Oddfellows on land
purchased for that purpose. Construction commenced on 24 May 1886, with the
laying of the foundation stone by local MP Henry Hay and completed on 30 July
1886. It was a rectangular plan hall of colonial bond brick with a timber
boarded, partially curved ceiling. The stage area was added to the east end,
with an elaborate proscenium, in c1890 to plans prepared by and supervised by
Mr J Parkin. In 1906 the hall was sold to Mr Sammons, a local timber merchant
who, with his partner Mr Edwards, added a new section to the front of the building
in 1912 and used it for many years as a hardware store and timber sales yard.
In c1979 it was again altered and added to by Mr Rob Goodall for a retail store
trading as Country Curtains and Blinds. Extant sections of the Oddfellows Hall
include external sections of brick wall and gable roof form, and internally a
timber boarded ceiling with vents and cornices, metal tie rods, sections of
hard plaster walls, and remnant sections of early wall finish, colours and
stencils.
Hotel Australia
This two-storey brick building was erected and opened under
the name of the Australian Hotel in April 1893. It originally had 40 guest
rooms and an upper-storey iron-lace verandah. It was the first building in
Corowa to have town water in 1899. The building front was remodelled in 1930
with an art deco facade, including stained glass windows on both the outside
and inside of the building. The brickwork is partially in English bond, while
other parts are colonial bond, suggesting two periods of construction prior to
the 1930 remodelling. It has continued to operate as a hotel since
construction.
Globe Hotel
The original hotel building was an 8-roomed weatherboard
building erected in c1860. It was demolished in 1893 and a new large two-storey
brick building was completed just before the Corowa Federation Conference. It
was used for the official conference dinner, with the delegates meeting on the
first floor balcony on 31 July 1893. The building featured a verandah along the
length of the upper storey and a coachway at the northern end of the Sanger
Street frontage. In 1902 it was the venue for a conference on the Murray River
water use, and later served as the base for the RAAF squadron in 1942.
Royal Hotel
The hotel was built in approximately 1860, and in 1875 a
billiard room and additional bedrooms were built on to the hotel. Originally
owned by Fox Martin. It was a single storey hotel later altered to two stories
and two buildings have been joined to make one. It is of brick construction
with a rendered parapet. Brick work has been painted. It has a timber verandah
to the first floor. The shop front is tiled.
Lethbridge and McGowan Solicitors' Building
The building ws purpose-built as a solicitor's office by and
for the local solicitor Percy Harkness Carne. Whilst the pediment is dated
1880, the building was erected in 1886. It is a single storey masonry building
of red brick laid in stretcher bond, and features an ornate stucco facade,
original chimneys and a corrugated iron roof. Most rooms retain their original
rafter ceilings. Example of High Victorian commercial architecture, which has
been used as a solicitors office since it was built.
Memorial Hall (School of Arts)
The first section of this building was constructed in c1873
as a simple brick structure with whitewashed walls and a brick arch serving as
a stage at its eastern end. It was lit by kerosene lamps until May 1886, when
gas lamps were introduced. In 1898 a new section (Literary Institute) was added
to the eastern side. A new facade was built on Sanger Street in 1914. A
foundation stone laid by Peter Kirkland Ritchie, a local taylor, JP, Captain of
the Volunteer Fire Brigade and member of the Corowa branch of the Federation
League, records the construction of the new front. The stone, dated 5 August 1914,
is still in place at the entrance, but has possibly been moved from its
original position. The building was remodelled and had major extensions in
1968. A large new meeting hall was added to the rear, the front was completely
redesigned to incorporate two shops, and a balcony was removed. The renovated
building was opened on 26 May 1966 as the Memorial Hall, commemorating World
War II soldiers. The original School of Arts section was 'lost' for many years,
and only rediscovered when a false ceiling in the centre of the current
building was investigated in the 1980s. It revealed the original arched wooden
ceiling, a substantial portion of which has now been exposed. The building also
has a new corrugated iron roof. The bricks are laid in colonial bond. The
original School of Arts occupies the central section of what is now known as
the Memorial Hall. The rear of the building functions as a municipal hall for
meetings, concerts and other public gatherings. The front is occupied by two
shops.
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