Comboyne’s 1905-built police station and gaol have a new lease of life, while paying tribute to history. Owners Anne-Marie and Peter Newman have restored the original cedar cottage, which served as Comboyne’s first police station, and the slab-timber former gaol in River Street.
Research into Comboyne and the site fed into the project as the Newmans set about preserving the slice of history and creating Larrikins Lock-up, a garden and woodcraft centre.
Larrikins Lock-up is located in the 1905 restored slab-timber gaol. The Newmans reused every piece of original timber in addition to locally donated timber from a 130-year-old shed. Any second-hand material used in the restoration is in sympathy with the original building. Second-hand corrugated iron adorns the roof and some of the old roofing iron was used in the retail counter.
The restored former police station/cottage, now named Bond Cottage in honour of Comboyne’s first police officer Constable Walter Bond, is rented. For more information visit http://www.larrikinslockup.com.au/ Thanks to Lisa Tisdale Port News.