Customs House, Sydney

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Customs House, Circular Quay, Sydney
Customs House, Circular Quay, Sydney

The Customs House is an historic Sydney landmark located in the city's Circular Quay area. Constructed initially in 1844-1845, the building served as the headquarters of the Customs Service until 1990. Ownership was then transferred from the Commonwealth Government of Australia to the City of Sydney Council in 1994, when it became a venue for exhibitions and private functions. After being refurbished in 2003, it has also become the new home of the City of Sydney Library.

The ground floor of the building houses a 4.2m x 9.5m scale model of Sydney's CBD, viewed through a glass floor. The model was built by Modelcraft in 1998 and weighs one tonne. Images of the various versions of the building across its history are also displayed.

[edit] History

People of the Eora tribe are said to have witnessed from the site, in 1788, the landing of the First Fleet. Convict David O'Connor was hanged on the site in 1790 and it is said that his ghost haunts the Customs House to this day, offering people rum.

The driving force behind the construction of the original sandstone edifice on Circular Quay was Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes, the Collector of Customs for New South Wales for a record term of 25 years between 1834 and 1859. Colonel Gibbes persuaded the then Governor of NSW, Sir George Gipps, to begin construction of the Customs House in 1844 in response to Sydney's growing volume of maritime trade. The building project also doubled as an unemployment relief measure during an economic depression which was afflicting the colony at the time. (The new Customs House replaced cramped premises located in The Rocks). The original, two-storey Georgian structure was designed by Mortimer Lewis and featured large windows to afford a clear view of shipping activity in Sydney Cove. It opened for business in 1845. The Customs House was partially dismantled and then expanded to three levels under the supervision of the Colonial Architect, James Barnet, in 1887. Various additions were made over the next century, particularly during the period of the First World War, but vestiges of the original Gibbes-Lewis building still remain.

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[edit] Gallery

Coat of arms of the United Kingdom above Customs House. The coat features both the motto of English monarchs, Dieu et mon droit (God and my right), and the motto of the Order of the Garter, Honi soit qui mal y pense (Shamed be he who thinks ill of it) on a representation of the Garter behind the shield.