Granville Town Hall

About

Granville Town Hall is a heritage-listed former town hall at 10 Carlton Street, Granville, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. It was designed by Charles Harding of Sydney (council chambers) and J. W. Hill (auditorium). The council chambers were built in 1888 by Banks and Whitehurst, with the auditorium added in 1900, to serve as the seat of the Municipality of Granville. The property is now owned by Cumberland Council since 2016, having been owned by the City of Parramatta since 1949. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 5 December 2003.

The township of Granville developed following the construction of the railway from Sydney in 1855 with timber and then fruit-growing as early industries. By the mid-1870s Granville had become a popular site for the erection of "gentlemen's villas". John Nobbs was a major figure among the early group of gentlemen, tradesmen and workers who settled at Granville. In 1878 the locality received its own post office, which was then part of the station master's house. The township retained the name of Parramatta Junction until 1880 when public meetings voted to change the name to Granville, in honour of the Earl of Granville, a former colonial secretary, in honour of the then British Foreign Minister, Lord Granville. A significant boost to the area came with the establishment in 1881 of the Hudson Brothers engineering works nearby at Clyde. A workforce had to be recruited and housed.

On 12 February 1884, a petition calling for incorporation of the area was published in the Government Gazette, and in January 1885, Granville was officially gazetted and incorporated as a municipality. John Nobbs was elected the first Mayor, and enjoyed a reputation as the "Father of Granville". Council meetings were initially held in the School of Arts building in Good Street, north of the railway line.

In 1888 Granville Council decided to erect its own Town Hall to celebrate the centenary of European settlement in Sydney. Architect Charles A. Harding of Sydney designed the Town Hall, and Banks and Whitehurst were selected to complete the building. The foundation stone was laid by John Nobbs on 5 September 1888.

In his speech at the ceremony, John Nobbs as Mayor referred to the rapid growth of Granville over the decade. From 12 or 13 houses, it had grown to 900 buildings including 760 houses, 60 shops, two banks, three public halls including a School of Arts, seven churches, two public schools and 13 factories, of which, two were the largest in the colony: Hudson Brothers and Brunton's (Flour) Mills.

The official opening of Granville Council Chambers was held on 16 January 1889. The opening ceremony was held in the Council Chamber which was lit by two chandeliers. According to the press report, the Council Chamber was built on "true Australian lines in the matter of ventilation freely afforded by windows all around the room." It was reported that the site had cost 600 pounds, and the building's contract price was 1090 pounds without fittings. Offices for the Council Clerk, Engineer, Overseer, Inspector of Nuisances, and library were on the ground floor. A spacious staircase led to the first floor where the Council Chamber was located, 11m x 9m and Mayor's Room. A balcony, 3m x 1.5m was erected over the porch.

The auditorium (i.e. the main hall) was added in 1900, designed by James Whitmore Hill, a Parramatta-based architect.

The Municipality of Granville was merged into the Parramatta City Council from 1 January 1949 and the regular council meetings of the new Parramatta City were held at the Granville Town Hall from 1948 until 1958, when the new Parramatta administration centre opened.

On 12 May 2016, the Cumberland Council was proclaimed as a new local government area, combining parts of Auburn City Council (south of the M4 Western Motorway ), the Woodville Ward of the Parramatta City Council (which contained the Town Hall), and the majority of the Holroyd City Council. The first Special Meeting of Cumberland Council was held on 19 May 2016, at the Granville Town Hall.

The Granville Town Hall is a largely intact example of a Victorian Free Classical local government building.

The original 1888 section is a two-storey, rendered brick building on an almost square plan with a hipped corrugated iron roof. The facade to Carlton Street is designed in the Italianate manner and features a two-storey projecting port and flanking piers with second-storey paired pilasters. Fenestration is bi-partite on the ground floor and tri-partite on the upper floor. The interior consists of offices and the original Council Chamber. Of interest is the timber joinery, especially the elaborate architraves and the timber Honour Boards in the Council Chamber. The auditorium or hall, added in 1900, is a plain painted brick gabled structure running westward behind the front section. Internally the large hall is distinguished by restrained Doric pilasters supporting a panelled vault ceiling. Restoration work undertaken in early 2003 by architect Graham Edds involved removing the modern plaster covering the walls and ceiling of the auditorium, and revealing an unusual ripple iron ceiling, painted pale blue with gold stars, and three large decorative ventilation domes. To the south of the front section of the town hall there is a former council workers office, now used by the Granville Historical Society. This is a Federation brick building, with the stretcher brick bond tuck pointed on the northern and eastern sides. It has a gabled Marseilles tiled roof and exposed beams in the eaves. It has two equal sized rooms. On the west and south-western sides of the hall there is a variety of non-significant skillion roof structures.

The current allotment covers an area of 2739.4 sqm and is located on a gentle sloping site fronting Carlton Street, Granville. Today it is bounded along the northern side by a laneway leading to the library carpark. To the south and west of the property now abuts residential development. A driveway from Carlton Street located south of the Town Hall and between it and the former council workers office provides limited on-site vehicular access and car parking. The site contains the:

- former Council Chambers / Town Hall complex

- former council officer's building, now used by the Granville Historical Society

The Granville Town Hall was reported to be well maintained as at 6 June 2003. Urgent repair works involving re-roofing and installation of a dampproof course commenced in early 2000. Since then, Parramatta Council has undertaken conservation works to the former Town Hall Chambers involving conservation of both the interior and repainting of the exterior.

The separate 1922 Council Offices building is in fair condition although access for internal inspection is yet to occur (Form, 2016 (2), 17).

The archaeological potential of the site is considered to be low. This is due to the Town Hall being the first building on the site and occupying the whole site.

Despite the extent of modifications to the building over its life, little original fabric has been removed and conservation works have taken place in accordance with a Conservation Management Plan (2000).

Construction of the Town Hall commenced in 1888. There have been 5 main stages of construction.

The original Council Chambers (designed by Charles A Harding) comprised four offices for staff and library on the ground floor, and the Council Chambers and Mayor's Room on the first floor with a balcony located over the entrance porch.