Military Barracks, Toodyay

The Toodyay Barracks (also referred to at various times as the Military Barracks, Police Station or Police Barracks) and its stables, erected in 1842, were the first buildings constructed in the townsite of Toodyay, Western Australia. The Barracks were also the first government buildings within the Toodyay district. Situated on the left bank of the Avon River and a little upstream from the ford, the Barracks overlooked a long pool, which soon became known as the Barracks Pool. In the early 1840s, Toodyay Resident Magistrate John Scully requested military protection to control a problem with the local indigenous people. Governor John Hutt agreed at the time to temporarily station a mounted native policeman to keep order. The Toodyay Barracks were built by William Criddle, a local farmer, for 60 pounds. Completed in September 1842, they stood on what became lot L1. The main building measured 30 by 12 feet (9.1 by 3.7 m) and was built of rammed earth with a thatched roof. It contained two rooms with a central chimney and an earthen floor. Each room had a door and a shuttered window. Two beds, two tables, dishes, plates, pots, buckets, an axe, shovel and such were provided. The stables, built of wooden upright slabs with a thatched roof, measured 30 by 12 feet (9.1 by 3.7 m) and were considered adequate for the number of horses it would shelter. It also contained areas set aside fo

Data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).