Historical Society - does the old courthouse have a future?

13th April 2022

History Notes

Although there were a couple of stalls missing on Saturday, the market was very successful with quite a lot of visitors and almost all the Tamworth Regional Councillors were present for at least part of the morning.  There were good sales of preserves, honey, plants and vegetables and most stalls had some sales.  Several visitors took the opportunity to inspect the museum during the morning.

Apart from the markets the week has been quiet – one visitor called in and was so impressed that he will be back to have another look in the future.  The big map showing the old County boundaries in the Barraba Shire attracted much attention and we did eventually trace the Horton River from its source to the village of Upper Horton.

Today, (Monday) we actually have visitors from the Lands Department to look at the Court House and decide what has to be done to keep this very old building standing.  The white ants are on the way out and the wooden section which has been added will probably be removed to help with the complete removable of the pests.

The Court House is the oldest brick building in town having been built in the early 1880’s along with the School down in Cherry Street.  There are a couple of wooden buildings of the same era – the Museum and the Mechanic’s Institute come to mind as being built in the 1800’s but there are not many left.

The Court House functioned for many years and there are records, especially in the Witten Diaries, of many residents summoned for small misdemeanours such as cutting down fruit trees, shooting in private paddocks, as well as rape, murder etc.  There was little privacy and most residents knew who had been to court – I’m sure some people will remember seeing that photo of a prisoner being dragged across the street to the Court House.

The back section of the Court House served as a home for the 2nd Police Officer and his family as the Policeman in charge of Barraba lived in the house on the corner of Cherry Street and Maude Street.  The Police office/station was in the building attached to the north side of the building and customers for licences etc. entered via the driveway.

Eventually the department built the Police Station in Maude Street and then the second police house beside it – thus the Court House was just that and the Department did not take very long to close it.  It has been used by a few groups but has remained empty now for more than ten years.  Can anybody suggest a use for this building – a Gallery perhaps?