Paddington Town Hall

Paddington Town Hall

Paddington Town Hall
General information
Type Town hall
Architectural style Victorian architecture
Address Oxford Street, Paddington
Town or city Sydney, New South Wales
Country Australia
Current tenants
Construction started 1890 (1890)
Renovated August 1905 (1905-08)
Client Municipality of Paddington
Owner City of Sydney Council
Height
Tip 32-metre (105 ft) clock tower
Website
cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

The Paddington Town Hall is a town hall building located in the Sydney suburb of Paddington, New South Wales, Australia. Sir Henry Parkes laid its foundation stone in 1890 when Paddington was a separate municipality. It opened in 1891 and remains a distinctive example of Victorian architecture in Sydney. The clock tower is 32 metres (105 ft) high and being on the ridge of Oxford Street, dominates the skyline.[1]

History and description

Built in 1891 the impressive Paddington Town Hall sits at the highest point on the Oxford Street ridge. Next to the Victoria Barracks the Town Hall has a 32-metre (105 ft) high clock tower, which was completed in 1905 to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII, dominating the Paddington skyline.

Town Hall clock tower

Whilst the eastern, southern, and western faces of the clock display the conventional Roman clock-face numerals, the Roman numerals on the northern (Oxford Street) side of the clock have been replaced as follows: 1:D, 2:U, 3:S, 4:T, 5:H, 6:E, 7:VII, 8:E, 9:D, 10:V, 11:A, 12:R. This was done to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII; and, commencing at where the VIII ought to be, the northern clock-face reads E.D.V.A.R.D.U.S. T.H.E. VII.[2]

The clock was officially set in motion on Wednesday, 30 August 1905, by Mr. J.H. Carruthers, the Premier of New South Wales, who mentioned in passing that "he thought that the day on which peace had been declared between Russia and Japan was a fitting time to set it in motion" and that "he hoped there would be peace and goodwill on earth as long as the clock continued to go".[3]

Paddington Town Hall was the site of a meeting of Rugby League players in 1908, at which the Eastern Suburbs Rugby League club, now the Sydney Roosters, was officially formed. The building now houses radio studios, Paddington Library, and is a venue for private functions. The Chauvel Cinema (part of the Palace Films and Cinemas chain) has been operating in the Town Hall since 1977, inside the former Town Hall ballroom (the original floor and ceiling were retained).[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gazzard, Don. "Heritage in action".
  2. ↑ Paddington Coronation Proposal: A Town Hall Clock, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Wednesday, 16 July 1902), p.5. Paddington Town Hall: Clock for the Tower, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Saturday, 6 May 1905), p.9.
  3. ↑ Town Clock at Paddington, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Thursday, 31 August 1905), p.3.
  4. ↑ "Chauvel Cinema". Palace Cinemas. Palace Films and Cinemas. Retrieved 1 April 2015.

Media related to Paddington Town Hall at Wikimedia Commons


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