Anderson Stuart Building (1883)

Figure 16. Courtesy of the University of Sydney Archives, 1883 [G3_224_0373]. Anderson Stuart Building Under Construction. Photograph, https://www.sydney.edu.au/arms/archives/media/me_objects/83.[1]

For the final stop on the tour, you can see the Anderson Stuart Building with a photograph of its construction taken in 1883. See if you can match this part of the building under construction to the building today. Construction on the Anderson Stuart Building began in 1883 for the Medical School and was completed in 1889 in the same Gothic style structure as the main building.[2] To be as aligned with the main building as possible, it has a very impressive Gothic façade, with large rooms, stained glass windows, twenty-foot ceilings, spinal passageways, and motifs taken straight from its predecessor.[3] If you look up at the eastern gable, you will see the statue of Asklepios and a raven with the initials “A.S”. The bird is a nod to Anderson Stuart himself who had a prominent nose like a raven.[4]

We have come to end of our walking tour. But before you go, turn around and you will see what is probably going to be the most visited building during your time here at university, the Fisher Library, or what you will fondly start to refer to as your “second home”.  Head over to Coffee @ Fisher outside Fisher Library and show your completed tour for a free coffee. This would be a great time to upload your photos to the in-app archive. We would like to thank you for your contribution to the growing photographic archive, as today’s archive will be tomorrow’s history. We hope you enjoyed the tour and wish you well on your university journey.

     [1] “University Archives Mediabank.”

     [2] Kerr, Attenbrow, Stanborough, Ellsmore, and Marshall,  Appendix A, A29.

     [3] Kerr, Attenbrow, Stanborough, Ellsmore, and Marshall,  Appendix A, A29.

     [4] Kerr, Attenbrow, Stanborough, Ellsmore, and Marshall,  Appendix A, A29.