The Darlinghurst Courthouse is located in Paddington (Paddington), a community east of the Sydney centre of the capital city of New South Wales, about two kilometers from the centre of the city.
Located on Oxford Street (Oxford St), Darlinghurst Courthouse is a Greek Renaissance sandstone stone building, very striking, built in 1835, still in use. Darlinghurst Courthouse building has significant national heritage value, it includes three courtrooms, galleries, vestibule, office, central portico and flanking colonnade, and exquisite gable and shield emblem. The court's back garden was full of trees, flowers and a whole green meadow to be visited with other attractions such as the Darlinghurst Fire Department.
Darlinghurst Courthouse has played a great role in both Sydney and Australian law history. From the founding of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 until the 1920s, the High Court did not have its own buildings and had to use existing court facilities in state capital cities. Part of the Darlinghurst Courthouse is used in Sydney,. These facilities soon became inadequate, however, as the workload and the status of the High Court continued to rise and the Commonwealth government accepted the need to provide new buildings in Sydney, for which Darlinghurst Courthouse alterations and extensions were made in 1907,1913,1914 and 1921.
