Enfield Council Chambers
The
Municipality of Enfield was established in 1889 and abolished in 1949. The
former Enfield Council Chambers, built 1930, are one of three remaining Enfield
Municipal properties still in existence; the others are the Enfield Olympic Pool
in Henley Park and Coronation Arch in Plymouth Street. After the cessation of
use as a Council Chambers, Strathfield Council has continued ownership and the
building has had a variety of uses including its current use by Wesley Mission.
The headquarters of the Strathfield Special Emergency Services [SES] has been
added to the rear of the building.
The former Enfield Council Chambers are heritage listed on Strathfield Council’s
Local Environment Plan. The Enfield War Memorial is located at the front of the
Chambers. From 1889 to 1949, Coronation Parade was located in the west ward of
Enfield Municipal Council.
In 1888, the population of Enfield had reached 1500 and local residents
submitted a petition to the NSW Governor requesting the formation of a
municipality. Enfield Municipal Council was incorporated on January 22 1889 and
elections were held on March 23 1889.
The boundaries of Enfield Council, according to the 1890 Sands Sydney Directory,
were described as ‘From the corner of Greenhill Street and Liverpool Road;
thence southerly along the west side of Greenhill Street to the George’s River
road; thence westerly along the north side of the George’s River road to the
Burwood road; thence southerly along the west side of Burwood road to Cook’s
river; thence along the north bank of Cook’s river to the bridge on the
Liverpool road to the point of commencement of Greenhill Street’. The first
Aldermen elected to Enfield Council were: Thomas Hodson, Hugh Cadden, Frederick
H. Lipscomb, Herman H. Groth, Thomas S. Richardson, George Westbrook, James Eve,
William Foy and Luke West.
Enfield Council rented premises in Tennyson Parade at first, moving to a new
Town Hall on the corner of Liverpool Road and The Parade in 1893. This site
later became Greenwood Hall, once used as the Burwood Children’s Library but
recently sold by Burwood Council. The final Enfield Council Chambers was built
on the corner of Liverpool Rd and Coronation Parade in 1930. The architects of
the 1930 Council Chambers were DT Morrow & Gordon, who appear to have been
engaged to design numerous Municipal buildings including extensions to the
Strathfield Council Chambers, design of the Strathfield Council Baby Health
Centre Redmyre Rd Strathfield [late 1940’s] and Strathfield Branch Library in
High St [1956] and many buildings for Burwood Council.
When the Chambers were built, the tram service was still in operation
and ran alongside the eastern side of this building. The
former Council Chambers are listed by Strathfield Council as a heritage
item.
The Strathfield Emergency Services headquarters are housed at the rear of
this building.
In 1947, the NSW Labor Government legislated the ‘Greater Sydney Plan’, which
advocated the amalgamation and reduction of 67 shires and municipalities in the
County of Cumberland to 39. Many small Councils were amalgamated at this time
such as Rookwood with Auburn Council, Mascot with Botany Council, Vaucluse with
Woollahra Council and Homebush with Strathfield Council. Enfield Municipality
was split with the west ward of Enfield Council joining Strathfield Municipality
and the central and east wards joining Burwood Municipality. The last meeting of
Enfield Council was held in December 1948 and on 1 January 1949 the western ward
of Enfield formally transferred to Strathfield Council.
Author and Copyright information
This article was written by Cathy Jones, 2006
© Cathy Jones 2006. This article is subject to copyright and may not be
reproduced without permission of the author.
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