of the townspeople in 1886. The building is still held in high esteem as demonstrated in the enthusiastic response of the community in ensuring the future of the building after its decommissioning as a courthouse and subsequent sale. The Berry Courthouse has been a prominent feature of the landscape of the Berry for over a century, provides the local community with permanent link with the past, and is significant to the past and present community's sense of place. This association contributes to its local heritage significance. The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. The original Barnet building of the Berry Courthouse is a rare 19th century institutional building with most of the original 1891 building fabric intact. The original building fabric and configuration can be clearly and easily identified and the skills of designers and the tradesmen of the time are clearly evident. Much of the fabric of the courthouse building represents a style of building and some methods of construction which are no longer utilised, making the building a valuable research resource. There is also recorded evidence of the fittings of a typical country courthouse. The place has the potential to yield oral history information, archaeological and horticultural data as well as technical information. The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. As one of the last designs completed by Barnet in his role as Colonial Architect, the Berry courthouse demonstrates the synthesis of the skills and design abilities gathered over his 28 years in that role. Its construction having been supervised by the incoming Government architect, Vernon is also a rare example of the crossover of two very different approaches to the design of government buildings. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales. The Berry Courthouse is a rare example of a small scale early rural courthouse designed by Barnet. It is a fine, elegant design, embodying the complex architectural ideas and processes of one of the most talented of the early Australian architects. Barnet's courthouses were variations on a type which was responsive to colonial hierarchy of the time. Two of his courthouses, Bathurst Courthouse and Goulburn Court House, are classics of the period. Similar in plan