Out and about in Cootamundra

The HN blogger was out and about in Cootamundra recently in the New South Wales Riverina. The town has been immortalised in the song 'Cootamundra Wattle' by John Williamson where he sings about the flowers in July.

The Post Office on the corner of Cooper and Wallendoon Streets Cootamundra designed by the Colonial Architect James Barnet in 1880  (I Willis 2017)

The town was originally settled in the 1860s when gold was first discovered in the area.
The post office building shown here was designed by colonial architect James Barnet in 1880. The Australian Heritage Database describes it

The building reflects well the characteristics of Victorian Italianate architecture and its clocktower is a superb focal point in the town centre. The building is two storey and built of face brick with stucco dressings and stucco to the tower. Decoration includes stucco to window arches, and imposts and cornices; there is a dentil course to the eaves of the main roof and across the tower. A verandah has an iron roof and paired timber posts. The building's main roof is hipped and clad with corrugated iron. Of four storeys, the clocktower is the post office's major feature.

The town centre is an interesting place to wander around and the HN blogger discovered this Art Deco Style shopfront in Wallendoon Street near the Post Office in the Norfolk Building.

The Art Deco Style shopfront from the Interwar period is located in the Norfolk Building in Wallendoon Street near the Post Office. 2017 (I Willis)

The Norfolk Building that the shopfront is located in is dated 1889.

The Norfolk Building with Art Deco Style shopfront in Wallendoon Street near Post Office 2017 (I Willis)

The Norfolk Building is listed on the Cootamundra Heritage Inventory as a building of local significance under the 2013 Cootamundra Local Environment Plan Heritage Schedule. The heritage inventory lists over 140 buildings of interest in the town area.

The Cootamundra Herald (14 July 2014) reports:

Plans for the building were drawn up by his brother in law, architect TD Morrow.  Mr Burgess purchased the land on which the shops stand from the then Bank of Australasia (now Custom Accounting). The construction was completed in October of 1899, with locally-sourced labour carrying out the majority of the work. Falconer Bros made the bricks and they were laid by Ford Bros (although the contractors were named as Sorenson & Ramburg of Sydney). McBeath & Co supplied the timber. Plasterer was Mr Grinrod and T Fisher did the painting, while GH Bundock asphalted the front footpath.

Learn more about Cootamundra: 

Cootamundra Heritage Inventory 2013 LEP

Australian Heritage Database Cootamundra Post Office

Norfolk Building Cootamundra Herald 14 July 2014

Learn more about Cootamundra  at Australian Heritage