St Raphael’s Catholic Church Catholic Raphael’s St 4 ‘Oxley Plains’ after his superior, the Surveyor General. Surveyor the superior, his after Plains’ ‘Oxley area the named Evans situated, now is Cowra houses the bell which is over 100 hundred years old. years hundred 100 over is which bell the houses Macquarie. After exploring up river, near to where where to near river, up exploring After Macquarie. with a Spanish tiled roof. The 27 metre high tower tower high metre 27 The roof. tiled Spanish a with He named the river in honour of Governor Lachlan Lachlan Governor of honour in river the named He third church in 1937. It is of Romanesque architecture architecture Romanesque of is It 1937. in church third 1815. in Lachlan the of banks the at arrived and The second church was demolished to make way for the the for way make to demolished was church second The Bathurst left He River. Lachlan the of exploration Convent. Brigidine the into incorporated The park was established to recognise George Evans’ Evans’ George recognise to established was park The on true Gothic lines and may be seen today today seen be may and lines Gothic true on Surveyor Evans Park Evans Surveyor stone of built was It 1861. 13th February Wednesday The first St. Raphael’s Church held the first mass on on mass first the held Church Raphael’s St. first The 2 Australian Arms and later to the Australian Hotel. Australian the to later and Arms Australian it is now. About 1870, the name was changed to the the to changed was name the 1870, About now. is it Lamplough and he extended the eastern end to where where to end eastern the extended he and Lamplough who served in the First World War. World First the in served who from 1852 to 1854. It was purchased in 1906 by John John by 1906 in purchased was It 1854. to 1852 from representing over 450 soldiers from Cowra and district district and Cowra from soldiers 450 over representing of David Middlemiss, it became the local post office office post local the became it Middlemiss, David of but also beautify the district. 400 trees were planted planted were trees 400 district. the beautify also but of extensions and improvements. Under the ownership ownership the Under improvements. and extensions of the verandahs and converted the property into flats. into property the converted and verandahs the trees would not only act as a memorial for the soldiers soldiers the for memorial a as act only not would trees were frequent changes of management and a number number a and management of changes frequent were In 1941 it was purchased by Mrs Foster who enclosed enclosed who Foster Mrs by purchased was it 1941 In As an alternative to a conventional monument, the the monument, conventional a to alternative an As was a low building with a shingle roof. Over time, there there time, Over roof. shingle a with building low a was destroyed by fire in 1915 and was rebuilt by James Muir. Muir. James by rebuilt was and 1915 in fire by destroyed 1917. in Club Woman’s the of work 1846 during the governorship of Fitzroy. Originally it it Originally Fitzroy. of governorship the during 1846 hotel over the next few years. The building was partially partially was building The years. few next the over hotel approaches to Cowra, the Avenue of Honour was the the was Honour of Avenue the Cowra, to approaches hotel, The Fitzroy Arms. The Fitzroy Arms was built in in built was Arms Fitzroy The Arms. Fitzroy The hotel, hotel in 1869 and alternated as a boarding house then then house boarding a as alternated and 1869 in hotel Planted each side of the Grenfell and Boorowa road road Boorowa and Grenfell the of side each Planted The Australian Hotel stands on the site of Cowra’s first first Cowra’s of site the on stands Hotel Australian The was often inundated by flooding. It ceased trading as a a as trading ceased It flooding. by inundated often was Australian Hotel Australian Avenue Memorial Built about 1862 and situated near the river, the hotel hotel the river, the near situated and 1862 about Built Great Western Hotel Western Great 3 1 5 16 Squire Pepper Cowra & District & Co Building Historical Society Originally owned by J.E. Taylor the building was The Historical Society rooms are located purchased by Phillip Squire in 1883 and later became at the rear of the Cowra Visitor’s Centre, known as the Squire Pepper & Co building. The original Olympic Park, Mid Western Highway, Cowra store was replaced in the mid 1930’s. The second store was destroyed by fire in 1949. The Art Deco building Open: Thursday 9am - 12pm occupied by Target now stands on the original site. Saturday 9am - 12pm Other times by appointment Contacts: Norm Egan 6342 2895 Annette Pringle 6342 4586 HERITAGE Lawrance Ryan 6341 3337 Aboriginal History Madeleine Rankin 6342 9282 The Cowra district is part of Wiradjuri country, one of the largest Aboriginal language groups in Australia. In Wiradjuri dialect, the word ‘coura’ means rocks, an appropriate name for a town with rocky granite surrounds. About 1847 the river The Cowra HeritageAcknowledgements Walk brochure has been prepared by crossing at Coura Rocks became known as Cowra. the Cowra and District Historical Society. In 1849 it was proclaimed a settlement. Take time to see the Aboriginal paintings under We would like to acknowledge the assistance the main bridge. of Cowra Tourism Corporation. Cowra Shire Council for funding to print this pamphlet. Other Sites of Interest Some of the interesting residences of Cowra can be seen by walking along Liverpool, Lachlan Take a stroll... and Keswick Streets. Cowra Visitor Centre Olympic Park, Mid Western Highway back in time... (PO Box 34) COWRA NSW 2794 P: 02 6342 4333 F: 02 6342 4563 E: [email protected] www.cowratourism.com.au 6 Garden & Montgomerie 9 Allan Gray & Co Opened on April 16th 1875,Solicitors the building was owned by The Allan Gray & CoAuctioneers building was built in 1861 by Charles Moore and, later, his widow Margaret. Stephen Alford. As it was a very wet year, one of the The Joint Stock Bank, managed by A. P. Stewart, leased walls collapsed during construction. the building until 1903. It is currently owned by Garden The building has changed hands many times and the & Montgomerie Solicitors. facade has been altered. The original building can only be seen from the rear. Current owners, Allan Gray & Co 8 purchased the building from the E.S & A Bank. 7 Education beganCowra in Cowra Public in 1851. It wasSchool some years The mill wasOld built Stone in 1860 for PatrickFlour and ThomasMill Walsh. before a permanent school was built. On July 1st It was opened on Wednesday January 13th 1861 before 1858, the National Board of Education approved the a large crowd of townsfolk. To celebrate the occasion, establishment of a public school in Cowra. a grand ball was held on the top floor. Prior to this, the Madame Rigout was the teacher and so this date marks closest mill was in Carcoar. the beginning of public education in Cowra. Lachlan River Redfern St Liverpool St 15 Uniting Church 10 3 11 In 1854 two land grants were made to the Cowra Lachlan St Bartlett Ave Logan Court Wesleyan Methodist Church. The foundation stone was Logan Court was built in 1896 and was then known laid in November 1889 and, six months later, the church 4 6 9 Macquarie St 16 14 Brisbane St Darling St as Lachlan Stores. It is remembered for its shady lace was opened on June 29th 1890. The sanctuary was Kendal St verandah and the many shops that traded there. remodelled in 1950 as a memorial to those who served in 2 13 10 12 15 It changed ownership six times up to 1951. World War 11 and to those who pioneered Methodism in The verandahs were removed in the 1950’s and the Cowra. A porch was added in 1989. 5 building was fully renovated in 1996. Mid Western Highway Railway Lne Railway St 1 7 8 Fitzroy St Lachlan V Vaux St alley Way Brougham St Olympic Highway 13 12 11 14 Reid Smith Building Ilfracombe Residence St Peter’s In 1924, Reid Smith and Co purchased two blocks of land Ilfracombe was built as a private residence by Nicholas Presbyterian Church The Court HouseCowra was built Court by Mr Ford House using Lane bricks. on the corner of Kendal and Macquarie Streets and built Challacombe in 1879. His wife died suddenly so he The foundation stone of St Peters was laid on September It was opened on August 28th 1880 but remained unused a two storey department store. Reid Smith and Co sold sold the house to I.J.Sloan. For many years, it was the 20th 1860. The first Protestant church along the Lachlan until furniture arrived in April 1881. Three additional everything from bobby pins to furniture, farm supplies to residence and surgery of Dr Alex and Dr Enid McLaren. River, St Peters opened for worship in 1861. rooms were built in 1882 and, in December that year, food. In 1988, the building was extended and renovated Hugh and Judy McLaren restored the building and It was built using Lane bricks on local granite Cowra was appointed a District Court jurisdiction. to create a modern shopping plaza. The refurbishment of converted it to a restaurant. foundations. The original still stands behind the present Cowra Plaza was completed in 2000.