Tall Stories
Showing Off
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| The Town Hall illuminated
for the Duke and Duchess of York’s visit in 1927.
(image: City of Sydney Archives, CRS 80/88)
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When the Main Hall was finally opened on 27 November 1889, not
many citizens could have named the architects nor any of the people
involved in its making, but many of them sensed that this was a
significant occasion. Regardless of its construction history, the
building is one of great importance to the citizens of Sydney.
In the English-speaking world, town halls date only from the nineteenth
century, following the 1835 British Municipal Incorporation Act,
which gave municipal councils in England and the colonies, and the
town halls they built, their raison d’être.
This building was (and still is) for the use of the citizens, for
whatever use they might make of it. Town Halls are ‘for hire’,
to all comers, at least in theory, and so are symbols of the rule
of the citizenry.
View from the top
In 1873 the top stone
for the clock tower was laid. The height of the tower from the
pavement in George Street was reported to be 189 feet. A series
of photographs were taken in 1873 to showcase the view from
the top. A journalist who climbed the tower with Mr Bradridge,
the city surveyor, and Mr McLeod, the contractor, described
the breathtaking view as ‘surpassingly grand’:
'Not only is the whole city, with all its hills, undulations,
parks, churches, and harbour at your feet, but you have
also an uninterrupted view of the whole of the environs
of the metropolis and the entire adjacent country. …
The most curious thing in the view is the effect produced
by the great height in nullifying the eminences on which
the city is built. King Street seems almost flat, and Brickfield
Hill becomes a gentle slope with Christ Church steeple at
the end of it.' (The Australasian Sketcher, 14 June
1873)
In this particular photograph, Park Street extends through
to Hyde Park and the Australian Museum dominates College Street
and the park. William Street, Woolloomooloo and East Sydney
can be seen extending into the distance. The church steeple
on the right is St George’s Free Presbyterian Church
on Castlereagh Street, and the Obelisk on Elizabeth Street
is close by. The classical facade of the Congregational Church
on Pitt Street [now Pitt Street Uniting] is also prominent.
These landmarks still exist today, but their impact on the
landscape has been diminished by surrounding high-rise development.
(image: City of Sydney Archives,
SRC photographic files)
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City skyline
With its tall clock
tower, the Sydney Town Hall was designed to dominate the city
skyline. This is a view across from Darling Harbour rail goods
yard across to the city in c.1890: a panorama no longer available
to us today.
(image: Private Collection, Shirley Fitzgerald)
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Ours is bigger than yours
The Main Hall of Sydney
Town Hall was seen as symbolic of the aspirations and potential
of a young and dynamic nation. It was planned to be the biggest
in the world. A list was drawn up comparing the dimensions of
the principal halls in Britain and the colonies. The length,
breadth and area of the halls were all recorded and these statistics
were trotted out at various ceremonial occasions. Melbourne
Town Hall was listed 9th, while Adelaide Town Hall was at the
bottom of the list.
(image: City of Sydney Archives,
SRC information files)
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Invitation to the opening
| The fact that this
building would serve more than just the limited area of the
city administered by the Council was acknowledged by the colonial
government, which declared the day of its opening – the
27th November 1889 - a public holiday: not just for the city,
nor for simply the metropolis, but for all the County of Cumberland.
Some Sydney citizens took advantage of the public holiday by
going to Coogee or Manly, or they caught one of the special
trains to the races at Rosehill or Warwick Farm or visited the
shops, many of which stayed open to take advantage of the city
crowds. But thousands went to the midday opening of the Town
Hall. After the formal proceedings at noon, a Mayoral Ball was
held for 5000 of Sydney’s high society. This is the hand
coloured invitation.
(image: City of Sydney Archives,
CRS 71/88)
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A novelty
The Main Hall, or Centennial
Hall, is an impressive space. The roof was particularly admired
in 1889 for its large, column-less expanse and ‘novel’
material: zinc. The Sydney Morning Herald reported,
‘A novelty has been introduced on the recommendation of
the city architect on the construction of the ceiling. Instead
of lath and plaster being used, the ceiling will be made entirely
of zinc moulded and enriched.’ (Sydney Morning Herald,
11 April 1889). The roof was executed by Wunderlich.
(image: City of Sydney Archives, CRS 385/16)
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The people’s orchestra
The centrepiece of the
Main Hall is its Grand Organ, which was the largest organ in
the world at the time of its construction. Organs of imposing
dimension had become customary in town halls of the nineteenth
century and an instrument of unprecedented scale was planned
for the Sydney Town Hall due to its extravagant proportions.
The organ, designed by Messrs William Hill and Son of London
at a cost of £14,241, included a new feature: a full length
64 foot pedal stop (sounding two octaves below the lowest C
on a pianoforte). This was considered an acoustic triumph. Organs
fulfilled many of the symbolic purposes of town halls themselves:
equality of access; secular cultural achievement; civic possession
and municipal improvement.
(image: City of Sydney Archives, CRS 904/1214)
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The Centennial Hall – 360 degree view
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