Grafton Things to Do

There is nothing much I can tell you about this street of extremely large Fig Trees, that dominate the houses in the street. All I know, is that they are very old, and are on the Heritage list, so they will not be cut down!
Located near the river and the bridge, go and have a look at just how big they grow, and how shady the street is.

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Around this location are many fine buildings.

Another couple are the Court House & Original Police Station.

The 1st Courthouse, situated on the river bank in Victoria Street, was a small wooden building that was opened about 1846. It was too small, so a new one was built in 1861. This building also was not big enough, and the present Court House was built adjacent to the old building, and opened in April 1880.

In the same year a new front was added to the ‘old’ Court House, and was then used as the Police Station until 1975. The Clarence River Historical Society has placed a Historic Marker on the ‘old’ section of this building.

Of interest about the Court House, is it was constructed of sandstock brick with Sandstone flagging and cornices, all were transported from Sydney in lightloads by small schooners.
The roof was of Welsh slate and when the building was re-roofed a few years ago, slate from the same quarry in Wales was used. Carved cedar woodwork and panelling was used in the interior, and today is considered one of the finest examples in this type of work in N.S.W.
It is built in what is known as "Classic Revival" style.

In January, 1881 a plaque was unveiled to commemorate the centenary of this Court House. This building has National Trust Classification.

A little bit of History......

Due to gold rushes on the Clarence in the early 1870’s, banking businesses boomed. The Banking Companies were encouraged to erect new banks, some since have been demolished, but not all.
All were very grand and impressive buildings for their day, and now days too!
The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney still stands today.

I think this is a stunning old building! It features pillars, carved stone and iron lace work. Inside, and there is beautifully carved woodwork, outside, it is built of local sandstone.
The bank was built on a ‘platform’ above the height of the 1876 flood but unfortunately the 1890 flood rose to a record height and went into the bank itself to a depth of about 65 cm.
Amazing that the River rose so high!

Between the years 1980-1 this building was restored to its former glory.

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Schaeffer House was built from 1901 to 1903, and is now a Museum.

Its an attractive old home on the outside, and I have read that inside, there is beautiful china, glassware & furniture. As it is not open a lot of hours, it was closed when we arrived there to have a look through it! It was built around 1900, and was the home of Mr. F Schaeffer, who became the first City Architect in 1909.
His home was originally named “Kia Ora”

After changing hands several times and being turned into flats, it was bought in 1966 and restored by the Grafton City Council to house the records and material collected by the Clarence River Historical Society.

Mrs Schaeffer was a noted gardener and the grounds in the early days were very fine, with statues, a sunken garden and rare plants, they still are very nice. One very large tree that is still standing is a Norfolk Island Hibiscus.

A great deal of Historic information on the Clarence and its people can be found at the Clarence River Historical Society

OPEN from 1-4pm, Tuesday to Thursday, and from 2-4pm on a Sunday.

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Located on the Heritage Trail, this brochure can be picked up at the Tourist Information centre, at the corner of Spring street and the Pacific Highway in South Grafton.

The imposing Gothic style Christ Church Anglican Cathedral was designed by a Canadian Architect. The foundation stone was laid in 1874, and the church was built with all bricks that were manufactured locally, between the years 1880- 1884, with some additions in 1934.
The salmon-coloured bricks were locally manufactured from over 100 different design moulds.

There is a small church hall to the rear [1890] and two adjacent cottages, one dates from the early 1850s and one from 1890. The former is now the Cathedral Bookshop and the latter the Cathedral Ministry Centre.
Across the road is the deanery, built 1872 as a rectory.

This is one of Graftons many buildings classified by the National Trust.

OPEN 9.00am - 5.00pm

GRAFTON POST OFFICE & COURT HOUSE, I loved the style of these Heritage Listed buildings.

In the year 1840, Grafton's mail service was from a slab-hut store run by a private person. 1859, and the 1st Government paid Postal Service was run at another store on the banks of the Clarence River.
From 1862, when the Telegraph Office was housed in the Court house, there has been many changes and moves, with the final one being in 1874, when the new Post and Telegraph Office, was built in Victoria Street.
The foundation stone was laid, and was followed by an offical luncheon and a ball that night. The Post Office building was still not completed over three years later. 1878, the main building had been completed and the staff quickly moved in, although the new furniture and fittings did not arrive until late the following year.

The clock was built to replace the 1 o'clock time gun (which mysteriously disappeared in 1874), was not installed until 1879. Although this clock did strike, it could not be seen clearly, so a more centrally located clock tower was added for the Jubilee Memorial in 1909.

The Post Office is part of the National Trust Victoria Street Classified group.

There are many beautiful buildings in this area.

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Grafton, and the city has more than its fair share of Hotels, many of them with beautiful lace verandah's like Weiley's Hotel.
Weileys Hotel was first established in 1889 in South Grafton, originally called The Globe.
A single-storied building, it was destroyed by fire in 1908 and rebuilt as it stands today.

The family is thought to have had the oldest continuous family licence in Australia until 1981, when it passed to other hands. It is still owned by the family.

[photo 2] is of another Heritage listed Hotel.....Walkers Marina Hotel, located in South Grafton. It is one of the oldest pubs located in Grafton and has been restored back to it's orginal grandeur, which includes a grand cedar staircase, and pressed Metal ceilings.

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Grafton is the hometown of the Jacaranda tree, and every year in November when the magnificent Jacaranda's bloom to their full potential, the town of Grafton celebrates with festivities and fun for young and old. A Jacaranda Queen and Princess are selected, along with a junior jacaranda princess as a tradition that has been going on for many years.
A must SEE