Lyons Cottage

Lyons Cottage, on the corner of The Esplanade and Knuckey Street, Darwin, Australia.

Lyons Cottage is a building in the Darwin central business district.

Early history

Also known as BAT House, Lyons Cottage was built by Harold Edward George Snell in 1925 as accommodation for staff of the “Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company,” better known as British Australia Telegraph, who operated the underwater cable connecting Australia to Britain.[1] A number of cable company managers, engineers and their families occupied the cottage, and enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle as part of the upper echelon of Darwin society. Completed in 1872, the Overland Telegraph Line (O.T.L.) was a 3200 km telegraph line that connected Adelaide to Darwin, and then to London and the rest of the world via an underwater cable to Java. This ended Australia’s isolation from the outside world, and a letter that once physically took three months to travel from London to Sydney via ship, could be telegraphed in less than seven hours using the Overland Telegraph Line.

Architecture

Located on The Esplanade overlooking Darwin Harbour, the simple stone cottage constructed of locally quarried porcelanite stone, is the only remaining example of colonial bungalow style architecture to be found in Darwin. Featuring shuttered windows and high ceilings, the design of the cottage echoes the distinctive architectural style of British colonial dwellings in India, Malaysia and Singapore.

World War II and after

Lyons Cottage Circa 1978. Lyons Cottage was damaged in Cyclone Tracy in 1974. Reconstruction work commenced in 1978.

During World War II the house was occupied by the US Army and later the Royal Australian Navy, and fortunately it survived the Japanese raids of 1942 and 1943 which destroyed much of Darwin city. The old Cable Company residence was leased and later purchased by a lawyer named John Lyons and his family. Lyons became the Mayor of Darwin in 1959 and was subsequently elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Council where he remained until 1968.[2] The cottage lost its roof and ornate ceilings during Cyclone Tracy in 1974. The building was gazetted under the Northern Territory Heritage Register on 4 August 1993. Lyons Cottage is now under management of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and operates as a cafe and shop run by Aboriginal Bush Traders.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Northern Territory Heritage Register". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL IN ORDER OF ELECTION OR APPOINTMENT". Northern Territory Government. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  3. ↑ "Media Release: Lyons Cottage Gets a New Occupant" (PDF). Northern Territory Government. Northern Territory Government. 14 April 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2016.

Coordinates: 12°27′52″S 130°50′23″E / 12.46455°S 130.83975°E / -12.46455; 130.83975

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/13/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.