Old Court House, Perth

Old Court House is the first court building constructed in Perth, Western Australia. It is located between Stirling Gardens and Supreme Court Gardens, off Barrack Street, adjacent to the Supreme Court building. It is a single-storey cream rendered building, with a wooden shingle roof.

The Old Court House is the city's oldest surviving public building and is one of two remaining examples of the work of Henry Reveley, the colonial civil engineer. It is one of the few remaining buildings designed in the classical Greek revival style of the 19th century in Perth.

The Old Court House building stands at the south-east corner of Stirling Gardens in Perth. It is a simple looking building of Georgian style architecture. It is of stone rubble construction with a stucco finish. It is a small simple building with a hipped roof which was originally clad with slate. The entry portico, which was added later, is supported by doric pillars. The area around the north and west of the building is paved in sandstone coloured interlocking concrete paving bricks.

In 1836, Governor James Stirling gave orders for the construction of a Court House in Perth. In February 1836, Henry Willey Reveley, the colonial civil engineer from 1829-1938 prepared plans and specifications for the new building. Reveley was responsible for the design and construction of several early public buildings in the colony including the Round House in Fremantle, the Commissariat Store, the Government Offices, the first Soldiers' Barracks and Government House in Perth.

The Court House in those days stood close to the original shoreline of the Swan River. The Court House was completed in December 1836. The first Court of General Quarter Sessions was held in the building on 2 February 1837. The building was officially opened with a Church service conducted by the Reverend John Burdett Wittenoom on Good Friday, 24 March 1837. The Courthouse continued to double as a place of worship until St George's Church was built in 1842.

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