Pambula Court House and Police Station. Courtesy of the George Family Collection.
LISTEN NOW to the story of The Old Court House
Imagine being so determined to evade arrest that you would bite through an artery in your arm – that’s exactly what one prisoner in the Pambula lock up did.
In June 1924, after making a sensational escape from a lavatory at the Supreme Court in Sydney, notorious criminal and prison escapee Louis Hart made his way down the coast to Pambula where he took a room in the Hotel Royal. After brazenly attending a function at the School of Arts, local police found him asleep in bed and took him into custody. He was escorted to the Pambula lock-up, but during the night, “in a…desperate attempt to get beyond the reach of the law he bit through an artery in one of his arms and was found bleeding freely from the wound…”
Despite having lost a considerable amount of blood, he was treated by a medical officer, who declared him fit enough for the steamer trip back to Sydney.
This site has been associated with law and order in Pambula since 1857 – when a slab lock up was built here – until 1990 when the police residence closed.
Over that period, it served as a police barracks, police station and residence, prisoner lockup, courthouse, and paddock and stables for police horses.
Surprisingly, the cells were still in use up until 1978. The police station closed in 1979, the courthouse in 1984, and the police residence as late as 1990.
In March 1992, the Bega Valley Genealogical Society leased the building from the NSW Lands Department for use as a research centre. After a two-and-a-half-year campaign by members and interested residents, it was handed over by the NSW State Government to Bega Valley Shire Council for public use. Pambula Courthouse is now the oldest remaining public building in the town and hosts an historic policing and justice exhibition as well as other special displays.
TO CONTINUE, CROSS MONARO STREET AND HEAD DOWN THE HILL TO 23-27 MONARO STREET, OPPOSITE THE SWAMP, TO THE CHINESE GARDENS