Why is this place significant?

Why is this place Category 1 / Category 2?

The former Cromwell Courthouse, designed by pre-eminent Dunedin architect Robert Arthur Lawson, and completed in 1872, sits on Inniscort Street, overlooking the former business centre of Cromwell on Melmore Terrace. The small but impressive classically detailed building is constructed of stone. It served as the centre for justice and administration in the former gold mining town for over 100 years. For a further ten years it housed the Clutha Valley Development Authority, and since the mid 1980s has been used as a residence or holiday home. The history of the town of Cromwell is linked with the history of the discovery and mining of gold in Central Otago. Gold mining began in Central Otago with Gabriel Read's discovery of gold in Gabriel's Gully, near present-day Lawrence, in 1861. The following year Hartley and Reilly left this gully and travelled further into Central Otago. They spent the winter prospecting in the now-flooded Cromwell Gorge between present day Clyde and Cromwell. The 1862 discovery precipitated a rush to the area. The town of Cromwell developed at the confluence of the Kawarau and Clutha Rivers, at the head of the Cromwell Gorge. The town was first known as The Junction and was located only a mile or so from Hartley's claim. The town was surveyed in 1863, and given its official name of Cromwell by its Irish surveyor, Connell. Cromwell was declared a municipality in 1866, when it had a population of 470. The area was also well known for its orchards. The New Zealand legal system was first established by the 1840 Royal Charter which allowed the Legislative Council to make laws, and in 1841 the first Criminal Courts were established. By the end of that year the Supreme Court had also been established. By the 1860s a three tiered system was running: Resident Magistrates' Courts, District Courts and the Supreme Court. The Wardens Courts, set up to manage the administration of the goldfields, were established in the early 1860s. The courts were established by proclamation in October 1862 under the Gold Fields Act 1862. The proclamation established courts within the Gold Fields at Gabriel's District, Waitahuna District; the Dunstan District; the Nokomai District. The Warden managed gold mining, disputes about mining, allocated residential and business licenses, and water rights. The warden also administered pastoral and agricultural land within the gold field and heard criminal and civil cases. According to Archives New Zealand, Cromwell had wardens court was a sub-office of Clyde c. 1864. Clyde was initially the administrative centre of the goldfields, with an office based here in 1862 for the first goldfields commissioner and warden, Jackson Keddell. The first courthouse in the goldfields was a calico and scantling structure built in Clyde in the same year. Parcell notes that wardens were powerful figures on the goldfields, who could adjudicate on a wide range of matters covered under the Goldfields Act. They were “literally itinerant law courts. The 1985 interpretation plan for the Alexandra Courthouse notes that 'mining law regulated much of the economic life of the goldfields and thus the Warden's Courts played a central role in the life of goldfields communities', it continues 'the wide responsibilities and jurisdiction of the Warden's Court meant that they exercised a pervasive and highly significant influence not onl upon mining but also upon the general economic development and life of the goldfields. The Wardens themselves were thus central figures in their communities'. Cromwell agitated for a resident warden in the early 1860s, without success, but a court was opened there and the first sitting took place in November 1864, with the warden presiding. A series of wardens were appointed in the 1860s, with Vincent Pyke, based at Clyde, appointed in 1868. In Cromwell Court hearings were held in a wood and iron shed 16 feet by 12 feet, on the site of the later Athenaeum building. Local historian Parcell gives a good description of the 'indescribable confusion' in this inadequate structure, where 'the two lawyers, supposed for the occasion to be deadly enemies, argue their cases across a two-foot table, with the unfortunate litigants, the clerk, the Bench and the witnesses not three feet from their noses.' Conditions were so bad that hearings were moved to Kidd's Hotel hall. The Otago Provincial Government received a report on the administration of the Clyde District in 1868, which noted the increasing importance of Cromwell within that gold fields district: This District embraces Clyde, Cromwell, Alexandra, and Nevis. At Clyde, which is the headquarters, is stationed the Warden and Resident Magistrate, who holds also the appointments of Coroner, and Registration and Returning Officer for Goldfields, Goldfields Town, and the District of Manuherikia. He is also Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages for Clyde. The Warden holds Courts at Clyde once a week, at Cromwell once a week, and at Nevis once a month....the duties of Receiver stationed at Clyde are, comparatively speaking, small , while the mining Population is almost nil; but, being a mercantile centre and the seat of the District Court, we are of opinion that Clyde ought to remain the head quarters of the District....At Alexandra, there is at present stationed a Receiver, acting as Clerk to the Bench, who holds the appointment of Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages...The necessity for having the Assistant Receiver and Clerk in the Dunstan District residing at Cromwell, arises from the growing importance of that Sub-District,...In reference to the Nevis, which the Warden at present visits once a month, we are of the opinion that its requirements are not such as to necessitate the holding Courts there, occasional visits would be amply sufficient. Cromwell residents agitated to have a new courthouse constructed. Tenders were advertised in April 1871, but the work delayed until William Grant's tender was accepted in February 1872, and the court opened later that year. James Ritchie, Senior, completed the stonework. The Cromwell Argus described the plans of the courthouse: The building will be of stone plastered with Roman cement. The main building will be of stone 35ft by 17ft [10.7 by 5.2m] floor to ceiing. At either end will be the Magistrate's and Receiver's rooms each 9ft by 12 ft with outer and inner doors. The building will be lighted in front by four semi circular windows and in the centre by two large roof lights. The iron roof will be borne upon principals, with purloins - a plan calculated to ensure the greatest amount of strength in the upper part of the structure. The interior walls will be wainscoted to the height of 4ft 6 inches throughout. The time specified for completion of the work is four months; and we can safely predict that the new Court House when finished, will be a credit to the builder and an ornament to the town. The plan is exactly similar to that Courthouse at Lawrence, of which Mr R.A. Lawson was the architect. The plans of the Courthouse as built may have been changed, as the structure as built does not resemble the Lawrence Courthouse. The original plans have not been located. District Court sittings were held at Cromwell Courthouse from 1876. Additional offices were built to the side, one a strongroom, constructed in 1898 by William Gair, the other, to the right, the judge's retiring room and records office. In 1913 the Minister of Justice closed the courthouse. There was an immediate local outcry. The indignation was such that the Minister reversed his decision. Plans of the courthouse dated 1939 show the building sitting on a large section of land, with some sections subdivided off the original block; further subdivision of the land subsequently took place. Other buildings shown in the plan include a lockup, residence and office. Court sittings continued at the courthouse until 1974, when the Justice Department declared it redundant. The Clutha Valley Development Authority then used the building during the development of the Clyde hydro-electric dam and Lake Dunstan until 1980, when they no longer required it. Discussions followed about uses for the building, with demolition threatened, because of the costs of earthquake strengthening. After local action the Crown offered it for private sale. A structural report in 1981 reported the condition of the courthouse at that time. The front walls of the courthouse were plastered, while the majority of the rear walls were unplastered, but the mortar had been repointed. A toilet had been added, with a room adjacent to the courtroom being converted to a kitchen. There was some concern about the structural strength of the building. The Courthouse was first sold in 1983, on a site of 1695 square metres, with many of the original fixtures and fittings removed. The building has had some modifications to make it more suitable as a residence. The central courtroom was divided into two, providing a living area and a bedroom. The original reception area was converted to a guest room, and the room to the side of this (added to the building in the 1930s) also used as a bedroom. The court vault remains in situ. The magistrates room now houses the kitchen, and the living area still has the judge's platform. The plaster was removed from some of the exterior walls. It was purchased by its current owners in October 2001. In 2004 a bathroom was added to the west elevation with the NZHPT's approval. In 2006 the building in used principally as a holiday home.

The Courthouse (Former) is a small but impressive structure, sitting a block back from and above Melmore Terrace, the site of Cromwell's former main business street, now largely flooded as a result of the inundation following the building of the Clyde Dam and the associated formation of Lake Dunstan. The Courthouse is a classically detailed single storey stone building. It has a main central block, which previously housed the courtroom, and two flanking wings on either side of main block. On the south elevation is a further addition. The main facades facing Inniscort Street are unplastered. The contrasting classical round headed stone facings on the doors and windows are painted. The main double doors to the courtroom are panelled, with an arched fanlight over. The arched windows and main doorway of the façade are large for the small scale of the building itself, and give it an imposing air. The side additions have the same arched windows.

Information Sources

Other Information

A fully referenced registration report is available from the NZHPT Otago/Southland Area Office Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rarangi Korero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions.