Camden Police Station and Court House

s Camden Police Station and Residence

35 John Street

Camden 

Lot 2 DP 826795

Camden Police Station 1997 J Kooyman Camden Images

Camden Court House

33 John Street

Camden

Lot 1 DP 826795

Camden Court House 1991 CWTimes Camden Images

Camden Police Station and Residence

History and Description

 Camden Police Station is a single storey brick building typical of many official police buildings of the last quarter of the nineteenth century

Before the John Street building was constructed, police used a timber lock-up and adjoining residence (c.1844). (http://www.camdenhistory.org.au/chhistoricplaces.html)

The police barracks was built in 1878 and probably the work of the Colonial Architect James Barnet. It was initially constructed in 1879 as two adjacent police cottages.

Historical sources consider that the Police Sergeant lived in the west end of the building, and the constable lived in the east end. The mounted constable boarded elsewhere. The police horse was kept in the non-presbyterian church area (1925-1950's). Wooden posts tethered the horse.  (NSW SHI)

Camden Police Station has a corrugated iron hipped roof and brick chimneys. The building has a paved verandah with carved timber posts and brackets. It has a four panelled timber entrance door with a highlight window, and eight double-hung pane windows with sandstone sills. The front façade is symmetrically designed with two projecting wings and a central recessed verandah. It is sited adjacent to the courthouse. (NSW SHI)

Condition and Use

These police barracks were built in 1878

Constructed in face brickwork.

Picket fence along footpath has been removed.

The building has been restored and modernised to facilitate its continuing use as a Police Station.

Alterations and additions, 1972 1980. (NSW SHI)

The verandah was once enclosed but has been fully restored in recent times.

The building is no longer used as a police station since the new Local Area Command Police Station was opened at Narellan in 2011.  

Heritage Significance

The building retains functional integrity and intactness. (NSW SHI)

The building is representative of the style of official or important early buildings in the town. The building's value lies in its relationship to the other important buildings in the John Street Group. (Australian Heritage Database)

Heritage Listing

Local Environment Plan                       Item  44

Read more

 Phillip Haylock, The Very Sociable Policeman, Camden History, Volume 3 No 7 March 2014, pp. 256-258,

Charlotte Hemans, 'Policing Camden in the early years, Camden Police Station, 1805-1878', Camden History, Vol 2, No 8, September 2009, pp. 305-312

The District Reporter, 6 March 2017

Camden John Street Precinct with the courthouse on the right-hand side of the street before the police station was built. The police station was eventually built between Macaria and the courthouse in 1878.  Image is the early 1870s (Camden Images)

Camden Court House

History and Description

 Camden Court House is built on land set aside for this purpose by James and William Macarthur at the time the town allotment plans were laid down. The brothers also offered £100 towards the cost of the building.

The first buildings on this site were a timber lock-up and Chief Constable's residence. The present construction was commenced in 1855 and completed in 1857 with cells underneath and at the rear. The building was designed during William Weaver's term as Government Architect. A new lock-up was built to replace the old one between 1859-61.

A Court of Petty Sessions at Camden was established by Proclamation on 20 July 1841 after lengthy opposition from both Campbelltown and Picton. They were requesting that the Cawdor Court be removed either to Campbelltown or Picton. Until that date, the Court was still at Cawdor. (http://www.camdenhistory.org.au/chhistoricplaces.html)

The first Clerk of the Bench in the area was James Pearson who was Clerk at Cawdor until his death on 13 July 1841. John Downes Wood, a nephew of Charles Cowper, was appointed the first Clerk of Petty Sessions for Camden by Government Proclamation on 23 September 1841. When the new courthouse was completed the Clerk of the Bench was J.B. Martin, who retained this position for 35 years. (http://www.camdenhistory.org.au/chhistoricplaces.html)

Camden Court House is a small Italianate court building with a temple front loggia with three arches. It is a painted ashlar building with painted chimneys and a gable shingled roof. There is a circular window on the front facade, and twelve panes and two-pane double-hung windows on the side facades. The entrance door is a six panelled timber door. The cells were constructed underneath and at the rear. (NSW SHI)

Condition and Use

Camden Court House was built between 1855-1860.

The building is in good condition. (NSW SHI)

In 2013 the NSW Government spent $200,000 on the refurbishment of Camden courthouse. (Camden Narellan Advertiser, 25 September 2013)

Heritage Significance

Camden courthouse, like its neighbouring police station, is of little value alone. Its value lies in its relationship to the other important buildings. It is probably the work of colonial architect Alexander Dawson. (Australian Heritage Database)

Heritage Listing

Local Environment Plan                       Item  43

Australian Heritage Commission        Australian Heritage Database  ID 3230

Read more

Iliana Stillitano, 'Court shut down', Camden. Narellan Advertiser, 1 July 2014

Camden Vale Milk Depot Development Proposal v2

Camden Vale Milk Depot Development Proposal v2

11 Argyle Street

Camden

Lot 1, DP 219757

The new DA is located here

Screen shot from original plans (2016) for the new building with old milk depot to the left.

Camden Vale Milk Depot Development Proposal v2

This is the second development proposal for the former Camden Vale Milk Depot site at the entrance to the Camden Town Centre.

Screen Shot show views of differing perspectives of Camden Vale Milk Deport from Revised Plans submitted with DA (2017)

Screen Shot of Perspective from Argyle Street from revised plans of Camden Vale Milk Depot DA (2017)

The former proposal was lodged in April 2016 to a great deal of controversy and adverse publicity with objections from a number of community groups. Radio personality Alan Jones became involved in 2016 and there were many newspaper articles. There were protest meetings and general disquiet by members of the community.

The developer CMCM Holdings Pty Ltd has lodged another development application for 5 restaurants and a decked car park at the rear of the site. The restaurants range in size from 22 sq m to 504 sq m. The $8.8 million project has 79 car parking spaces provided on site, with 4 of the tenancies in the new additions. The plans have been put together by De Angelis Taylor and Associates of Liverpool.

Some concerns

It appears that the developer has listened to some of the concerns. While the development is far from ideal it is better that the first attempt which was a lazy design with little effort made to showcase the milk depot building. This design appears to feature the 1926 milk depot in a more prominent position free from unnecessary alterations to the building facade that hid the original fabric of the building.

The bulk of the new proposal still dominates the site and the visitor as they enter the town centre from Narellan. The development could be scaled back to greater enhance the original milk depot. Those approaching the town centre along Argyle will still be struck by an effective three storey building even if ameliorated by trees.

A major shortcoming of the development proposal is the lack of a conservation management plan for the milk depot building itself. This would provide greater clarity around the impact of any new proposal for the site and how the industrial depot building will be treated under the Burra Charter. The charter is the Australian measure for conservation, preservation and adaptation of heritage sites and buildings.

History

The current industrial building on the site was opened in 1926 and was a milk depot for Camden Park Estate's Camden Vale Milk Company. The plant was regarded at the time as one of the most modern for the scientific treatment of milk. The current building replaced a former timber construction that burnt down in 1926. The timber building that was originally constructed in the 1890s.

Current Exhibition Period for DA 2016/169/1

There is an exhibition period for the development proposal. Written submissions are to be sent to Camden Council by 20 April.

For further enquiries on this matter contact Miss A McGrath at Camden Council on 02 4654 7773. Miss McGrath is the Executive Planner in the Planning and Environmental Services Division of Camden Council

More reading

Camden Vale Milk Depot, History Notes  (2016)

Development at Camden Milk Depot site, History Notes, (2016)

Janice Johnson Back Then The District Reporter 1 April 2016, 8 April 2016,

Camden Vale Milk Depot, NSW State Heritage Inventory, Click here

St Johns Church Camden NSW

St John’s Church Camden

6-22 Menangle Road, Camden, NSW 2570
Lot 1 DP 1024949
Lot 1 DP 2399467

St Johns Church Camden 2010 (I Willis)

History and Description

The St Johns Church Precinct includes the church and church grounds, and also includes the

cemetery, the Rectory and Stables, and church hall.

The church is set within a fine group of other ecclesiastical buildings that includes the Rectory

(1859) and church hall (1906), together with the cemetery in a rural landscaped environment

resplendent in native and exotic mature trees, fence lines, paths and memorials. (NSWSHI)

1874 Chancel extension complete.

Rectory built 1859. The rectory and associated lands remained in the ownership of the Macarthur family up to November 1905.

St Johns Parochial School located at the intersection of Hill and Broughton Streets was founded in 1850 as a denominational school.

Original church hall built 1906 and second hall in 1973.

The church cemetery forms part of the original Macarthur family endowment of 1841. The first burial is believed to be that of Thomas Budd of Narellan made in March 1843. (NSWSHI)

Condition and Use

Split timber shingled roof replaced with terracotta shingles in 1929.

Electric motors replaced manual winding mechanism of clock in c1950.

Tower lourves replaced in 1970.

Render of the spire removed and replaced in 1973.

The church, rectory, stables, churchyard and slopes retain good integrity and intactness. (NSWSHI)

Heritage Significance

 St John the Evangelist at Camden was the first 'archaeologically correct' Gothic church to be completed in the colony of New South Wales. It was probably designed in England by Edward Blore under instructions from the Macarthur family.   In its architectural innovation and picturesque placement in a controlled landscape, it is among the most important parish churches in Australia. (Hector Abrahams, Christian church architecture, Dictionary of Sydney, 2010)


St Johns Church is perhaps the finest example of early Picturesque Gothic Revival style church architecture in Australia. The church, with its tower and spire, is a landscape monument in the rural lands and town of Camden. It is also a monument to the pioneering pastoral Macarthur family, who built it, and has become an icon in consideration of these values. (Noel Bell Ridley Smith and Parters Pty Ltd, Conservation Management Plan Addendum 2010, St Johns Anglican Church Precinct, Camden. Sydney, p7)

The church precinct is rare in New South Wales as a complete ensemble. The church building
is complete with tower, spire, clock, stained glass and all its furniture. Its relationship to the
town and landscape are deliberate. It possesses an equally well-treated, though not grand, rectory, graveyard and originally had a church school. It can be said to be one of the most
complete church groups achieved in New South Wales in the nineteenth century. Equivalent
groups are rare. (Clive Lucas, Stapleton and Partners Pty. Ltd., St. John’s Anglican Church Precinct
Menangle Road, Camden, Conservation Management Plan. Sydney, 2004, pp. 43-44)

Heritage Listing

Local Environment Plan                       Item 63
NSW State Heritage Inventory

Australian Heritage Commission        National Estate Database

Read more

Sydney Architecture St Johns Church Camden

Australian Heritage Database Rectory and Stables

Australian Heritage Database St Johns Church