Erskine Street Police Station

Erskine Street Police Station
Erskine Street Police Station
	Erskine Street Police Station (former)
Location	82 Erskine Street, Sydney, City of Sydney, Australia
Coordinates	33°52′00″S151°12′18″E / 33.8666°S 151.2049°E
Built	1827
Architect	William Dumaresq
New South Wales Heritage Register
Official name	Watch House
Type	state heritage (built)
Designated	2 April 1999
Reference no.	501
Type	Gaol/Lock-up
Category	Law Enforcement
	Location of Erskine Street Police Station in Sydney Erskine Street Police Station (Australia)

Last updated December 10, 2024

Erskine Street Police Station is a heritage-listed former police station at 82 Erskine Street, Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by William Dumaresq ^[1] and built in 1827. It is also known as the Erskine Street Watch House. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.^[2]^[1]

History

Close to Darling Harbour, Erskine Street developed initially during the early decades of the nineteenth century as residential and mercantile, servicing the trading character of the Harbour. Its proximity to an area considered by authorities to be potentially dangerous, frequented as it was by convicts, sailors and labourers, encouraged the city to locate a watch-house within the residential group. The watch-house at No. 82, built in 1827 and still operating until recently became closely linked with this row of houses.^[1]

The former Erskine Street Police Station was designed by William Dumaresq (1793–1868) and is a part of Sydney's early history as well as being an important link with early government law and order ideals.^[1]

Additions were made to the original building in 1910 and in the early 1920s.^[1]

In 1978, the former police station was formally reserved for use by charitable organisations.^[3] It is now occupied by "The Station", a drop-in centre for homeless youth.^[4]

Description

The building at 82 Erskine Street is a small two-storey former police station with sandstone construction to the ground floor and brick with stone quoins, string courses and parapet capping to the first floor. The verandah to Erskine Street has been added during the twentieth century and infilled c. 1920. It was originally single storey with an attic, and the roof, now clad in corrugated iron, was originally clad in shingles. The building was burnt out in the mid-twentieth century and the interiors were reconstructed at that time. The building is set at the top of the Erskine Street terraces and next to Laurence & Wherry in Clarence Street, making its location as part of this rare surviving terrace group, of pivotal importance.^[1]

The window opening detail to Clarence Street appears to have been altered and the interior was refitted following the fire. The building was reported to be in poor condition overall as of 2005.^[1]

Significance

The former Watch House is of historic, aesthetic, social and streetscape significance as one of the early surviving buildings of Sydney. It is a rare example of early Sydney building on a small scale demonstrating construction techniques of the time. The twentieth century additions are well considered and demonstrate the adaptation of early buildings that has taken place. It is part of the Erskine Street group of nineteenth century buildings that is one of the major groups in the city. The building is in a pivotal location on the corner of Clarence and Erskine Streets linking the Erskine Street terraces to 105A Clarence Street and having high street architecture value.^[1]

Heritage listing

Erskine Street Police Station was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.^[2]

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Former 'Watch House' Including Interiors". State Heritage Inventory. Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
1 2 "Watch House". New South Wales State Heritage Register . Department of Planning & Environment. H00501. Retrieved 13 October 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence .
↑ "RESERVES FROM SALE". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales . No. 56. New South Wales, Australia. 19 May 1978. p. 1891. Retrieved 25 December 2018– via National Library of Australia.
↑ "The Station Ltd" . Retrieved 25 December 2018.

Attribution

This Wikipedia article was originally based on Watch House , entry number 501 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence , accessed on 13 October 2018.
This Wikipedia article was originally based on Former "Watch House" Including Interiors , entry number 2423717 in the New South Wales Heritage Database published by the State of New South Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence , accessed on 25 December 2018.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[shi-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Former 'Watch House' Including Interiors". State Heritage Inventory. Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 25 December 2018.

[nswshr-501-2] 1 2 "Watch House". New South Wales State Heritage Register . Department of Planning & Environment. H00501. Retrieved 13 October 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence .

[3] "RESERVES FROM SALE". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales . No. 56. New South Wales, Australia. 19 May 1978. p. 1891. Retrieved 25 December 2018– via National Library of Australia.

[4] "The Station Ltd" . Retrieved 25 December 2018.

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v t e Sydney central business district historical attractions
Government buildings	Anzac Memorial Central Local Court House Chief Secretary's Building Clarence Street Police Station (former) Customs House Department of Education Building Department of Lands Building Downing Centre First Government House General Post Office Government House Hay Street Nos. 181–187 Haymarket Post Office Health Department building (former) Hyde Park Barracks Hyde Park Obelisk Parliament House, Sydney Registrar-General's building State Library of NSW Supreme Court of NSW Banco Court Greenway Wing Old Registry Wing Sydney Cenotaph Sydney Mint Sydney Water Head Office (former) Treasury building (former)
Commercial buildings	AMA House APA building AWA Tower Australian Hall Bathurst Street (Nos. 107–109) Bulletin Place warehouses Burns Philp building Challis House CML building Corn Exchange Erskine Street Police Station George Street No. 341 No. 343 Nos. 348–352 No. 354 GIO building Grahame's Corner Hawken and Vance Produce Exchange Hinchcliff House Hong Kong House International House John Bridge Woolstore Judges House, The Kyle House Liner House Metters Building MLC Building National House New South Wales Club building Perpetual Trustee Company building Pinnacle House Public Trust Office Qantas House Queen Victoria Building Red Cross House Royal Automobile Club of Australia building Sir Stamford Hotel State Savings Bank building Strand Arcade Sussex Street Nos. 121–127 Nos. 139–153 No. 161 Nos. 163–169 Sydney School of Arts building Trades Hall The Sydney Club Transport House Trickett's Hotel (former) Trust Building Wales House York Street No. 22 No. 73
Residential buildings	History House Phillip Street Terraces Young Street Terraces
Churches and other places of worship	St Andrew's Cathedral Christ Church St Laurence Great Synagogue St James' Church St Mary's Cathedral Pitt Street Uniting Church St Stephen's Church
Pubs and hotels	Arthouse Bristol Arms Crown (pub) Dundee Arms Grace George Hollywood Hotel CBD Metropolitan Royal George Skinners Sussex
Transport infrastructure	Central railway station St James railway station Martin Place railway station Museum railway station Pyrmont Bridge Railway Square road overbridge
Cultural institutions and parklands	Australian Museum Capitol Theatre Hyde Park Justice and Police Museum Macquarie Place Park Royal Botanic Garden State Theatre Sydney Conservatorium of Music The Domain
Other significant historical features	Darling Harbour Carousel HMAS Sydney I – SMS Emden Memorial Little Hunter and Hamilton Street Precinct Man O'War Steps Sharpies Golf House Sign Sydney Town Hall Tank Stream