This served Tamworth for 17 years before prominent local builder William Dowel made a successful tender of 3 500 pounds to construct this, the pictured second Court House on the 'government' side of the river, situated on the northern corner of Darling and Peel Streets.

Sections of the 1861 building can be seen incorporated within the present PCYC building.

Darling Street was at that time a centre of government operations, having been located as our main street in Surveyor-General Thomas Mitchell's 1849 Town Plan, with the main river crossing being at its lower end, prior to any bridge construction.

Hence this Court House, our second 'Watch House' Gaol, first Public School and first Town Hall all being in close proximity.

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Using 20 000 bricks and 6 000 feet of timber, Dowel had finished the Court House construction by November, 1861.

The entrance to the building was originally in Peel Street, but was eventually relocated to higher ground in Darling Street after the 1864 flood.

The 1898 Caretaker's Cottage still stands alongside at 4 Darling Street.

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The five hanging sentences incurred in Tamworth between 1876 and 1909 were all judgements in the 1861 Court House, which was replaced by the Marius/Fitzroy Street structure in 1939.

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