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| Berrima
Court House Museum |
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| The
site for the Court House was chosen by Governor Bourke
on a visit in 1834. However, difficulties with the original
architect and contractors meant that little was achieved
before the appointment of Mortimer Lewis as government
architect in 1835. |
East
View of Court House |
| A
foundation stone was laid by Governor Bourke in March
1835, and instructions given for quarrying sandstone at
Church Hill (behind Holy Trinity Church of England today). |
|
Eastern
elevation showing the wing house,
petty jurors' room, museum entrance
and skylight to "lantern" over jurors room |
It
took another 3 years for the building to be completed,
after further difficulties with contractors.
Even
then, it was apparent that sub-standard workmanship
(leaking roofs and water seepage from the foundations)
was rapidly affecting the condition of the building,
necessitating expensive repairs for the next 20 years.
Nevertheless,
Mortimer's imposing building was opened in April 1838
with a salaried Police Magistrate, Clerk of Petty
Sessions, and nine police constables. The
Court House, built of hand-hewn sandstone, was designed
in the Regency Style (1810-30).
The
roof was originally of timber shingles, later replaced
by slate. The internal rooms had decorative plasterwork
cornices, and doors and mouldings of pure cedar from
the forests between Robertson and Fitzroy Falls.
The
facade consists of four Doric columns with classic Greek
bases and capitals (but without the traditional fluting
of the shafts), with irregularly tapered tops.
Above
is a stone architrave of three courses, the topmost
of which protrudes to form the base of the Greek triangular
pediment. The entrance doorway is deliberately overwhelming,
and designed to instill awe into the visitor, as are
the columns and the four tall pilasters on the facade.
The
recessed niches with rounded tops are a Roman technique,
to emphasise the (apparent) thickness and strength
of the walls.
This
central two-storey construction houses the courtroom
itself, the similarly tall internal dimensions adding
to the grandeur and majesty of the court.
|
Court
House facade showing the
classic columns and pediment |
|
| On
Lewis' original design, the courtroom was topped by a
vast "lantern", a 'greenhouse' type structure
on top, which allowed natural light to fill the interior.
From inside, the lantern effect is retained, although
now recessed below the pitch of the roof and illuminated
by skylights set into the roof. |
Detail
of roof showing parapet,
stone chimneys and lantern
Detail
of curved wall joining the rear
apartments to the western wing
|
| Adjoining
the courtroom are two single storey wings, which house
the juror's rooms (petty jurors and female cell on the
right, grand jurors and male cell on the left.) |
| Although
lower than the central section, they are not of modest
proportions, and a parapet, which rises above the edge
of the roofline, accentuates the height of the walls.
Each wing is topped by a smaller 'lantern' to allow natural
light into the interior, and the external walls have a
'rusticated' finish to give a rougher and more grooved
appearance to contrast with the clean lines of the facade. |
| A
single storey extension is placed across the back of the
building, with curved walls connecting the wings with
the straight lines of the sides and the recessed wall
across the back. This extension housed the Housekeeper's
rooms (now the audio-visual display area), a dressing
room for the staff, judge's retiring room or chambers,
an office for the Clerk of the Court, and a Witness Room
(now closed.) |
| From
the outside can be seen the chimneys over the fireplaces,
(three of which were originally reported to have had carved
cedar mantle pieces - now lost), which heated the interior
rooms, although the court itself had no heating. |
The
rear wall showing Georgian windows
and recessed section housing the
apartments for administration |
The
windows at the back are of Georgian appearance, two high
windows on the sides can be seen which let extra light
into the courtroom itself, and two narrow slits high in
the walls of the wings, which allowed dim light into the
cells. There are a number of "blind" windows
and doorways let into the walls to provide architectural
balance. Above the curved doorways can be seen cornices
on carved supports. |
| At
that which is the entrance of the museum today, the visitor
can see the first of a number of carved and curving doors
made out of solid pieces of cedar. |
| In
all, Berrima Court House is an experience which must be
shared by the tourist and heritage lover alike - not the
least because of its setting in the beautifully preserved
village of Berrima. |
| The
visitor today can capture the feeling of this old building,
and visualise the many hundreds of people brought before
its bench: hoteliers petitioning for licenses; litigants
seeking mediation for disputes; escaped convicts and notorious
bushrangers, cattle stealers, sly grog sellers, thieves,
and murderers brought to justice, many to end their days
in the forbidding walls of the Gaol next door. |
| When
you take the tour through this magnificent building you
will see a brand new audio visual called "The Berrima
Story" this chronicles the village from the 1830s
to the present day. |
Also
you can view the special berrima photographic exhibition
with over 150 black and white photos depicting the life
and times of early berrima including the WW1 German
internment at the berrima prison. |
In
2006 Berrima celebrated its 175th Anniversary! |
That
means that Berrima is one of the oldest villages
in the Southern Highlands!
It
proudly maintains its early colonial atmosphere
by preserving many of the original buildings and
adhering to the original layout of roads and building
blocks, designed by the Surveyor Hoddle.
At
an informal village meeting in April 2006 to arrange
functions to celebrate Berrima’s 175th anniversary,
a member of "Friends of the Berrima Court
House", Sherri Gates proposed the making
of a quilt to hang in the Court House. Artist
Alison Sutherland was asked to design the quilt
and these two residents saw the project through
to its completion.
Literally
thousands of man-hours (whoops woman hours) were
put into the project. In fact Sheri ever the perfectionist
was known to fall asleep near the quilt after
a late night visit for a small alteration or a
stitch here and there. |
This real work of art is now housed
in the Berrima Court House. |
|
Nobody
was sure how the quilt would happen. |
| There
was just the idea that it would be made by friends living
in the village – the response was amazing with
eventually more than 80 individuals and businesses involved.
|
| All
the diverse groups in Berrima quickly adopted and embraced
the idea: Town Life, The Residents Association, Friends
of the Berrima Court House, The Berrima Business Houses
and others belonging to no particular organization all
joined in. |
Even
more amazing were the skills and imagination used. Alison
planned each small piece of the design and the villagers
selected a piece – sometimes their own home –
and brought an individual interpretation to it. Sherri
made her home available for weekly gatherings to sew
and the quilt evolved. It became obvious that with so
many willing hands the quilt could be completed within
the anniversary year. |
| Only
started in July 2006 the objective was to have the quilt
completed for public viewing on Australia day 2007.
The quilt is now a reality all seven square metres of
it. It is a picture of the present day village seen
through the historic buildings, trees, birds and animals.
|
This
real work of art is now housed in the Berrima Court
House. |
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