Visit Sydney Australia

Sydney Town Hall

Location: George Street, Sydney Central Business District
Standing opposite the Queen Victoria Building and alongside St Andrew's Cathedral, the Sydney Town Hall is one of Sydney's landmark sandstone buildings. Sitting above the busy Town Hall station and between the cinema strip on George Street and the Central Business District, the steps of the Town Hall are a popular meeting place.

The Town Hall was built in the 1880s on the site of an old cemetery from local Sydney sandstone in the grand Victorian Second Empire style, and has been described as having "lavishly ornamented composition with focal tower and fanciful roofs". It remains the only non-religious city building from the era to retain its original function and interior. The building houses the Sydney City Council Chamber, reception rooms, the Centennial Hall and offices for the Lord Mayor and elected councillors.

The Centennial Hall (main hall) contains Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ, the world's largest pipe organ with tubular pneumatic action, built from 1886 to 1889 and installed in 1890 by the English firm of William Hill & Son. This organ possesses one of only two full-length 64' organ stops in the world (the Contra-Trombone in the pedal). Before the opening of the Sydney Opera House and its Concert Hall, the Town Hall was Sydney's premier concert hall, and many notable performances took place there.

Built between 1869 and 1889, it is one of Sydney's most elaborate buildings, a remarkable feat considering it was created by a succession of architects who strove to outdo each other with their own individual ideas of what the end result should be. The first was RJ Wilson who was replaced initially by Albert Bond when Wilson s design proved impractical. Bond completed the vestibule with its crystal chandelier, stained glass windows and ornate plaster work; the Bradridge brothers added the clock tower in 1884 and three other architects were employed to complete the Centennial Hall with its coffered zinc ceiling and mighty 8,500 pipe organ.


George Street and the Old Burial Ground in the 1840s

Old Burial Ground

The land upon which the Sydney Town Hall was built was considered the outskirts of town in 1792. The site, at the corner of George and Druitt Streets in Sydney, was chosen by Governor Arthur Phillip to be the colony of New South Wales' primary burial ground. By 1820, however, the cemetery had become full, and was closed as a result. It fell into a period of dereliction and neglect, gaining a reputation as a place to avoid, especially on hot days and at night. In the 1840s, it had been suggested that the burial ground be used as the site of a town hall for Sydney. Despite vehement opposition in some sectors, plans went ahead. The Sydney City Council applied for and received a grant of a portion of the burial ground in 1865. Reinterment of the bodies took place in 1869, with most moved to Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney's west. Records of where all of the bodies were buried at the Old Burial Ground were badly kept and many graves remained, only to be discovered from time to time whenever renovations or other work was undertaken in the cellar of the town hall building.

Stone carvings

A carving of a lion's head on the George Street side of the Sydney Town Hall has one eye shut. This was done by a stonemason as a back-handed salute to a building supervisor who used to close one eye and look along the stonework to verify it had been laid correctly.

Apart from lion's heads placed strategically around the building, the only other significant motif carved into the sandstone of the Town Hall is a simplified version of the Common Seal of the City as adopted by the first Council in 1842. The work of a draughtsman in the City Surveyor's Department, M. de St Remy, it features a shield supported on one side by an Australian aborigine, and on the other by a British sailor. The shield featured a beehive, reflecting industry, and a sailing ship, recalling Sydney's connections to the sea. The City's motto "I take but I surrender" is incorporated into the design. Although de St Remy's original design was never formally endorsed, it formed the basis for subsequent developments and was used with slight variations throughout the 19th Century.