The former Avoca Court House, now the headquarters of the Avoca and District Historical Society, is one of the town’s public buildings.

Designed in the Renaissance Revival style by the Public Works Department, the Avoca Court House was built by a firm contractors, Smith and Scott, who were awarded the contract in September 1858. A second contract to enlarge the building followed a month later. Hearings commenced in 1859, although additions and improvements to the building continued throughout the following decade. The court was elevated to a Court of General Sessions in 1863.

The court house was part of the Government Camp established in Avoca during the late 1850s. A permanent police station was completed in 1859, followed by a powder magazine in 1860. In 1867 a substantial bluestone lock-up replaced the two portable lock-ups erected in 1860. The court house was beside the post and telegraph offices, and a gold sub-treasury occupied the land behind it. These associated government buildings have since been removed.

Construction of the court house and the other buildings in the Government Camp reflected a period when revenue from Victoria’s gold-mining industry funded an ambitious programme of public works throughout the colony.

The Avoca Court House is constructed of brick on stone footings. It has a shallow hipped roof of corrugated iron (originally slate). The building has a rectangular court room with an adjoining magistrate’s room, a clerk of courts office, and a gable-roofed entrance porch. 

The building was designed to accommodate both the local Court of Petty Sessions and the local Court of Mines (or gold warden’s court). 

Courts of Mines were established throughout Victoria in 1857 to hear disputes over mining operations. This replaced the earlier system of Local Courts and Local Mining Boards that had operated from 1855 in several major goldfields, including Avoca. Courts of Mines continued until 1969.

In 1856 the Avoca Local Court heard more mining cases than any other Victorian goldfield except Ballarat and Bendigo. This contributed to the decision to construct a substantial permanent court house.

The building served as Avoca’s courthouse for more than a century. Magistrates’ Court and Children’s Court sittings continued until 1971, when the building was last visited by a magistrate.  It was formally closed as a court  in 1979. 

The former court house was briefly occupied by Scouts Victoria then in 1988 leased to the newly-formed Avoca and District Historical Society. 

In 2024 Helen Harris, who founded the Society in 1984, gave a talk on the Society’s early days. She recalled:

“In 1988 we were given a lease on the Courthouse, but what a double edged sword that was.  There were broken windows and spouting, bird nests inside, plaster had fallen from the walls, there were holes in the floor, dry rot, the timber doors were rotting and the brickwork in places degraded.  Serious fundraising was undertaken,  with street walks, cemetery tours, raffles, garage sales and donations.  A year later we had raised $4,000, and eventually, with the aid of grants, we finally opened in April 1993.  The official ceremony was something to behold.  I had discovered that the then Chief Commissioner of Police, Neil Comrie, was a descendant of a local family, so we had the police band escort us, all in period costume, through the township to the Courthouse.  Some 400 people attended the event.”

The Avoca Court House is of architectural and historical significance. It is a rare example of a small country court house constructed during the late 1850s and remains a reminder of the rapid establishment of government institutions on Victoria’s goldfields.

Further reading:

• Public Record Office Victoria (PROV), VA 687, Avoca Courts, agency description, accessed 3 August 2026, PROV Agency VA687 
• Pyrenees Shire Heritage Precinct Study 2001. Volume 2: Datasheets of the Heritage Places in the Beaufort, Snake Valley, Snake Valley Memorial & Waubra Heritage Precincts. Prepared by Authentic Heritage Services Pty Ltd for Pyrenees Shire Council. December 2001. Retrieved through https://www.pyrenees.vic.gov.au/Plan-Build/Planning/Overlays-Heritage-Native-Vegetation/Heritage-Information
  • Avoca Court House, 85 High Street, Avoca (Property No. 217016700), Approx. date: 1859, Section 32, Allotment 10, Pyrenees Shire Heritage Precinct Study 2001, vol. 2, p. 126. 
• Avoca and District Historical Society, “Pyrenees Pioneers,” no. 302 (June 2024): Report on 40th Birthday Celebrations ~ Sunday 26th May
• Heritage Council of Victoria. “Avoca Court House (H0003).” Victorian Heritage Database. Accessed 3 August 2026. Victorian Heritage Database – Avoca Court House (H0003)