# Lyons Cottage

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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
[[File:LYONS COTTAGE - DARWIN - NORTHERN TERRITORY.jpg|thumb|Lyons Cottage, on the corner of The Esplanade and Knuckey Street, [Darwin City, Northern Territory](/source/Darwin_City%2C_Northern_Territory), [Australia](/source/Australia). ]]
'''Lyons Cottage''', as so known as British Australian Telegraph Company Residence,  is one of the oldest remaining heritage buildings in the central business district in  [Darwin City](/source/Darwin_City%2C_Northern_Territory) in the [Northern Territory](/source/Northern_Territory) of [Australia](/source/Australia).

== Early history ==
Also known as BAT House, Lyons Cottage was built by [Harold Edward George Snell](/source/Harold_Edward_George_Snell) in 1925<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3381113 |title=TOWN TALK. |newspaper=[Northern Territory Times and Gazette](/source/Northern_Territory_Times_and_Gazette) |location=Northern Territory, Australia |date=27 October 1925 |accessdate=19 May 2017 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> as accommodation for staff of the “Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company,” better known as British Australia Telegraph, who operated the underwater cable connecting [Australia](/source/Australia) to [Britain](/source/United_Kingdom). Its construction followed the completion of the [Overland Telegraph Line](/source/Overland_Telegraph_Line) in 1872 which linked Adelaide to Darwin and then onto London via an underwater cable to [Java](/source/Java). This ended Australia’s isolation from the outside world, and a letter that once physically took three months to travel from London to [Sydney](/source/Sydney) via ship, could be telegraphed in less than seven hours using the Overland Telegraph Line. A number of cable company managers, engineers and their families occupied the cottage.<ref name="Fact Sheet">{{cite web|title=Lyon's Cottage|url=http://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/heritageregister/f?p=103:302:93055200046642::NO::P302_SITE_ID:87|publisher=Heritage Branch, Northern Territory Government|accessdate=19 May 2017}}</ref>

== Architecture ==
Located on The Esplanade overlooking [Darwin Harbour](/source/Darwin_Harbour), the stone cottage is constructed of locally quarried [porcelanite](/source/Porcellanite) stone. It is the only remaining example of colonial bungalow architecture left in Darwin. It features shuttered windows and high ceilings, similar to the distinctive architectural style of British colonial dwellings in [India](/source/India), [Malaysia](/source/Malaysia) and [Singapore](/source/Singapore).

== World War II and after ==
[[File:Lyons Cottage Circa 1978.jpg|thumb|Lyons Cottage Circa 1978.
Lyons Cottage was damaged in [Cyclone Tracy](/source/Cyclone_Tracy) in 1974. Reconstruction work commenced in 1978.
]]
During [World War II](/source/World_War_II) the house was occupied by the [US Army](/source/United_States_Army) and later the [Royal Australian Navy](/source/Royal_Australian_Navy) and survived the [Japanese raids of 1942 and 1943](/source/Air_raids_on_Australia%2C_1942%E2%80%9343) which destroyed much of Darwin. The cottage was then leased and later purchased by a lawyer named John Lyons and his family from which the cottage takes its name. Lyons became the Mayor of Darwin in 1959 and was subsequently elected to the [Northern Territory Legislative Council](/source/Northern_Territory_Legislative_Council) where he remained until 1968.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nt.gov.au/lant/members-of-parliament/MEMBERS_OF_THE_LEGISLATIVE_COUNCIL_IN_ORDER_OF_ELECTION_OR_APPOINTMENT.docx |title=MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL IN ORDER OF ELECTION OR APPOINTMENT |last= |first= |date= |website=Northern Territory Government |accessdate=26 June 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312063627/http://www.nt.gov.au/lant/members-of-parliament/MEMBERS_OF_THE_LEGISLATIVE_COUNCIL_IN_ORDER_OF_ELECTION_OR_APPOINTMENT.docx |archivedate=12 March 2016 }}</ref>

The cottage lost its roof during [Cyclone Tracy](/source/Cyclone_Tracy) in 1974.  The building was listed on the now-defunct [Register of the National Estate](/source/Register_of_the_National_Estate) on 26 March 1985 and on the [Northern Territory Heritage Register](/source/Northern_Territory_Heritage_Register) on 4 August 1993.<ref name="Fact Sheet" /><ref name="NRE">{{cite AHD|12 |British Australian Telegraph Company Residence, 74 The Esplanade, Darwin (sic), NT, Australia  - listing on the now-defunct  Register of the National Estate |date=26 March 1985|accessdate=16 March 2019}}</ref> Lyons Cottage is now under management of the House of Darwin and operates as a cafe, On Country Club and head office.<ref>{{Cite web |title=House of Darwin |url=http://www.houseofdarwin.com/ |website=House of Darwin |access-date=20 May 2025}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}

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Category:Northern Territory Heritage Register
Category:Buildings and structures in Darwin, Northern Territory
Category:Houses completed in 1925
Category:Northern Territory places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lyons Cottage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyons_Cottage) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyons_Cottage?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.