Timaru Courthouse

Timaru's 1877 Courthouse is a survivor.

This building has seen a fair amount of history, with one of the most violent riots in Canterbury history taking place in Timaru two years after the courthouse was built. The stoush was between Irish migrants of Catholic and Protestant origin, who took to the streets and each other for several days, starting on boxing day 1879. There were injuries, and nine men arrested, and tried in this courthouse.

Despite a few design faults and multiple structural and aesthetic alterations over the years, this house of justice is standing firm, tall and sound, in the middle of town and next door to the Timaru Police Station. A round of changes carried out in the 1970s, mean there is not much left to see of the Victoriana which used to grace the exterior.

The most recent alterations were carried out in 2010 by Opus, and carried out by C Lund, involving a rear extension to add capacity for jury trials, resulting in a New Zealand Architecture Award for Sustainable Architecture and Public Architecture.

Image Credit: Google Maps

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