Building Construction Practice in the Colony of New South Wales from the Arrival of the First Fleet to the End of the

Primitive Era and Its Influence in Later Time

John L Guy The first European settlement of Australia commenced at Sydney Cove, a small bay in Port Jackson on the East Coast. This little patch of land now flanked by two of Australia’s great icons; the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House; was the site of the first colony – the world’s largest outdoor prison. INTRODUCTION

Australian architecture began from nothing; there was no architect in the expedition, no one skilled in the organisation and integration of building techniques. Men from all walks of life had to adapt themselves as best they could to a set of circumstances that could scarcely have been worse, for not only was there little or no architectural skill, but implements and materials were of poor quality[….]

Trial and error was man’s first method of learning building technique, and so it was in Australia. Although,[…], substantial buildings were commenced straight away, the majority of shelters were so primitive that it was only after several attempts that they could be made to stand up at all. Ignorance of the most elementary principles of building caused disaster after disaster until the rough lessons were learnt.

(Herman 1954, pp. 3-4)

Commencing on 26th January 1788 the settlement was initially formed by the transportation of convicts, marines as their guards and seamen from Great Britain. By 1800 the colony had begun to include free settlers out to seek their fortune. Of the 212 marines and 775 convicts who embarked (Clark 1950, p. 42) 1 marine and 24 convicts died on the voyage (Tench 1789, p. 46). Considering that the convicts were “emaciated from confinement and in want of clothes and almost every conveniency to render so long a passage tolerable” Tench regarded the voyage as an “unhoped for success” (1789, pp. 46-7). Its formation differed from that of other British colonies in regard to its needs: "It was assumed that adequate supplies of suitable timber, which would constitute the material for the first houses, would be found locally, as they had been in all the newly settled American colonies." (Cowan, 1998, p. 3)

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Supplies sent out with the fleet included 2 years provision of food, tents, a range of tools, a portable hut for the Governor, a small amount of lime and up to 10,000 bricks as ballast (Cowan 1998, p. 3). Food and shelter were the two immediate challenges. Although there was a small core of people with building skills the majority lacked or had limited skills in building construction. As a result, although a few selected buildings were erected using the technology of the times, the majority were built by people relatively unskilled in construction techniques. Materials presented problems. Limited supplies of lime, made from local sea shells, were available. Although brick moulds were included in the cargo of the First Fleet, brick making was an art which still had to develop. The characteristics of the local timbers were very different and it took several months before their problems became apparent. The group arrived in a country with no obvious tradition of building construction. Native life required few building skills and no permanent buildings. Their bark covered shelters were seen as being inferior and it took several years before bark was adopted as a roofing material by the settlers. This time in the evolving new colony, known as the Primitive Period, was one of trial and experiment.

Figure 1. View of Sydney Cove, August 1788. (Garran (ed), 1886, p. 17) Its end coincided with the arrival of Governor Macquarie on 1st January, 1810. By now the early lessons had been learnt. The Sydney town which greeted him was neat and well-manicured. There were many two and three storey buildings “of stone, brick, and lath and plaister;

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weatherboarded; and the houses durable.” There were two churches, and a chapel with a school and, of course, two jails “and a great number of extensive and handsome houses, the property of private individuals” (Mann 1979, p. 56). Governor Macquarie was a man with vision and strong determination and a requirement for an architect “with ideas, taste, and a drawing board complete” to be sent out. He eventually got his wish, with the arrival of Mathew, Greenway, Watts and Kitchen (Herman 1954, pp. 29, 39-43), ushering in the second phase of Sydney’s development, the Colonial Period. I now propose to examine the labour skills, equipment and tools, materials, early experience, construction techniques and look at some surviving examples of this primitive period of Australian building construction in detail. LABOUR SKILLS Previous English experience of convict transportation was to America, where the local free population provided the infrastructure and required only unskilled labour. These colonies had been founded by enthusiastic voluntary emigrants who included a fair proportion of people with agricultural and building skills. However proposals to include skilled free settlers in the new colony of Sydney were rejected. Exacerbating the problem was the fact that convicts selected for transportation had been confined in the prison hulks for two or more years prior to transportation and then subjected to a voyage of 8 months before arriving in Sydney Cove on 26th January, 1788. They were unlikely to be fit for hard manual exertion by the time of their arrival. Also, as Herman observed, although “the convicts built snug little huts for themselves with alacrity they barely exerted themselves beyond what was necessary to avoid punishment for idleness when employed on public works” (1954, p.7). Arriving convicts included some tradesmen, totalling 12 carpenters, 2 brickmakers, 2 bricklayers and a plasterer. Phillip described the situation at this time in his first dispatch, written on 15th May, 1788 to London in the following words:

As there are only 12 convicts who are carpenters, as many as could be procured from the ships have been hired to work on the hospital and store-houses. The people were healthy when landed, but the scurvy has, for some time, appeared amongst them, and now rages in a most extraordinary manner. Only sixteen carpenters could be hired from the ships, and several of the convict carpenters were sick

(HRA Series 1 Vol 1, p. 20).

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One marine was a mason. Phillip had also hired two men with whom he had worked before, Augustus Alt, appointed Surveyor-General, and Henry Brewer, a clerk of works. An artillery officer, Lt. William Dawes was a skilled draftsman.

Also artificers from the Marine Detachment were employed on a part-time basis. These included 10 carpenters, 5 masons, 7 shinglers, 5 sawyers and 2 file cutters. Over the period from 17th May to 30th September, 1788 they worked an average of 106 days out of a possible 137 days on construction work for the new colony (HRA Series 1, Vol 1, p. 81).

In his dispatch of 9th July, 1788 Phillip wrote to Lord Sydney:

I should hope that few convicts will be sent out this year or the next, unless they are artificers, and after what I have had the honour of observing to your Lordship I make no doubt but proper people will be sent to superintend them.

(HRA Series 1 Vol 1, p.47).

The need for skilled people was finally met. The Rt. Hon. W. W. Grenville, in a dispatch to Phillip on 24th August, 1789 informed him that:

Your proposal of sending out a few artificers you will find upon the arrival of the Guardian has been attended to, by the embarkation of twenty-five convicts of that description.

(HRA Series 1, Vol 1, p.130).

Unfortunately the Guardian, carrying both the wanted artificers and badly needed stores, struck an iceberg and sank off the Cape of Good Hope on the Christmas eve of 1789. (Clark 1962, p. 119).

From this humble beginning in January 1788, a general return of male convicts and their employment on 23rd July, 1790 listed the following:

40 brick and tile makers.

50 brick carters.

19 bricklayers and labourers.

8 carpenters.

14 axemen assisting the carpenters.

14 sawyers.

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9 smiths.

18 timber carters.

4 stonemasons.

3 thatchers.

(Hunter 1793, p. 304)

The settlement continued to grow despite the continuing hardships of famine and poor tools.

EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS

The First Fleet arrived with a broad range of provisions and equipment. These included saws, axes, hatchets, nails, hinges and hooks, wheel barrows, bellows, grindstones, glass, hammers, augers, gimlets, files, chisels, box rules, smith’s tools, pit saws, wedges, brick moulds and mason’s chisels.

However their quality was found wanting. Referring to the tools sent with the First Fleet, in his 28th September, 1788 dispatch Phillip stated:

“The tools and articles in the inclosed lists will be much wanted by the time they can be sent out, and I cannot help repeating that most of the tools were as bad as ever were sent out for barter on the coast of Guinea.”

(HRA Series 1, Vol 1, p. 86).

MATERIALS There were local supplies of timber and rushes, stone, as a freestone and clay suitable for brickmaking. Phillip’s description of the materials found is:

The timber is well described in Captain Cook’s voyage, but unfortunately it has one very bad quality, which puts us to great inconvenience; I mean the large gum-tree, which splits and warps in such as manner when used green, and to which necessity obliged us, that a store-house boarded up with this wood is rendered useless.

(HRA Series 1, Vol 1, p.23)

The stone of this country is of three sorts: Freestone, which appears equal to Portland stone, a bad firestone, and a stone that appears to contain a large proportion of iron. We have good clay for bricks, but no chalk or limestone has yet been found.

(HRA Series 1, Vol 1, p. 24)

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The timber growing in the near vicinity of Sydney Cove included the Red Gum (Angophera Costata), described by Phillip as “the large gum-tree”. In a list describing twelve species of trees used by the colony the Red Gum was classified by Lt. Bradley as “fit for little but the fire, but very good for that” (Bradley 1969, p.232A-B). Other timber available, and probably, used, included Forest Red Gum (Eucalyptus Tereticornis), the Cabbage Tree Palm (Livistona Australis), Red Bloodwood (Eucalyptus Corymbosa) – a tree whose bark was stripped by Aborigines and used for their shelters, boats and shields and She Oak (Casuarina Glauca). Vines and bushes, such as Lomandra Longifolia, suitable for use as twine grew in the vicinity. Branches of the Wattle tree (Acacia) were found to be very supple and most suitable for wattle and daub work. Rushes, used for thatching roofs, (Phragmites Australis) grew in most of the coves of Sydney Harbour. Cockle Bay and Rushcutters Bay were early sources (Peter Hind, botanist, Botanic Gardens, Sydney and Benson & Howell, 1990, pp. 42-3). The limited supplies of lime and glass brought out in the First Fleet were not even sufficient for the Governor’s house. Small quantities of lime were manufactured from shells collected by convict women from aborigine middens. Timber gathering and sawing, brickmaking and stone quarrying all commenced early in the Colony’s development. A map of the Colony, drawn 3 months after landing, showed the location of 14 sawpits, a stone quarry, a brickfield, 2 shingling parties and a blacksmith’s shop. Also a farm had been established at Farm Cove (the present Botanical Gardens) (McCormick, Irving, Imashev, Nelson, Bull, 1987, p. 37) EARLY EXPERIENCE Building work commenced as soon as the ships of the Fleet arrived. Tench’s description of the first few days shows great optimism.

Business now sat on every brow, and the scene, to an indifferent spectator, at leisure to contemplate it, would have been highly picturesque and amusing. In one place, a party cutting down the woods; a second, setting up a blacksmith’s forge; a third, dragging along a load of stones or provisions; here an officer pitching his marquee, with a detachment of troops parading on one side of him, and a cook’s fire blazing up on the other.

(1789, p. 60) Between their arrival and the decision to establish the colony at Sydney Cove, a sawpit had been constructed at Botany Bay, at Point Sutherland, only to be dismantled when the colony moved to Sydney Cove (Collins 1975, p3). By late January, 1788 the framework for the Governor’s temporary house and hospital tents had been erected. By the end of February a parade ground had

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been cleared (Phillip 1970, pp. 29 & 36). However, sadly two convicts cutting rushes up the harbour (either at Cockle Bay or Rushcutters Bay) were killed by natives (Flannery (ed) 1996b, p55).

The first huts that were erected here were composed of very perishable materials, the soft wood of the cabbage palm being only designed to afford immediate shelter. The necessity of using the wood green made it also the less likely to prove durable. The huts of the convicts were still more slight, being composed only of upright posts, wattled with slight twigs, and plaistered with clay. Barracks and stores were afterwards formed of materials more lasting. Buildings of stone might more easily have been raised, had there been any means of procuring lime for mortar.

(Phillip 1970, p. 70) March 1788. A hospital 84’ long by 23’ wide was commenced, constructed of wood covered with shingles of fir (Casuarina Glauca). Barracks were also commenced. Problems with the local timber had become apparent, the timber (Angophera Costata) being described as shaky and rotten. Cabbage tree palms were being cut from the lower part of the harbour, where they were plentiful. Brickmaking had commenced at Long Cove and rushes were being cut for thatching. The posts and plates for the huts being constructed were in pine (Casuarina Glauca) and the Cabbage Trees (Livistona Australis) were cut to fill the sides and ends. This surface was then plastered over with clay (Collins 1975, pp. 15-18). April 1788. Huts for the female convicts commenced, as well as a storehouse 100’ by 25’ of timber construction covered with thatch and a stone building for the Lt Governor (Collins 1975, pp. 19-20). Eight wood barracks were planned for the soldiers, however due to the badness of the timber and the scarcity of artificers, only four were commenced and there was doubt that they could be completed by the end of the year. By this time convicts were permitted to erect their own dwellings as leisure permitted (Flannery (ed) 1996a, p. 63-4). May 1788. Shingling of the roof of the hospital commenced. The shingles were fixed with wooden pegs made by female convicts. A bricklayer was found amongst the convicts. The first stone of the Governor’s house was laid (Collins 1975, pp. 22-3). June 1788. Huts of cabbage tree palm and green wood were being erected but at least some convict huts were being constructed of upright posts wattled with slight twigs and plastered with clay. For the

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Governor’s small house lime was manufactured from oyster shells gathered by female convicts (Phillip 1970, pp. 70-1). July, 1788. Tench’s observations now differed markedly from his early optimism.

Nor were our exertions less unsuccessful than they were laborious. Under wretched covers of thatch lay our provisions and stores, exposed to destruction from every flash of lightening, and every spark of fire. A few of the convicts had got into huts; but almost all the officers, and the whole of the soldiery, were still in tents.

(1793, p. 2) August 1788. Heavy rains caused the brick kiln to collapse several times, destroying bricks and damaging huts so badly that their repairs required almost complete rebuilding (Collins 1975, p. 35). A new settlement was commenced at Rose Hill (Parramatta). It was to be the agricultural base for the colony as the soil around Sydney Cove proved to be of poor quality (Collins 1975, p. 37). December, 1788. The governor’s house, the first two storey building in Australia, was completed and occupied (Flannery (ed), 1996b, p.96). July 1789. Brick making capacity increased to 30,000 bricks per month with the completion of a new kiln. The previous capacity had been 10,000 bricks per month (Collins 1975, p. 60). August, 1789. Two of the barracks, commenced in March, 1788, were completed. A third, commenced at the same time, had been converted to a store and the fourth was dismantled and used for other purposes (Collins 1975, p. 62). November 1789. Collins noted that the huts, erected soon after first landing, were slight and temporary, with every shower of rain washing away a portion of the clay between the interstices of the cabbage tree from which they were constructed (Cobley 1963, p 117). December, 1789. The original thatched stores had to be abandoned (Collins 1975, p. 74).

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August 1791. The shingles of the hospital roof, erected in May, 1788, had decayed and were falling off. The roof was re-covered with tiles (Collins 1975, p. 146). April, 1792. Brick huts were replacing the original wattle and daub huts. These new huts were 26’ by 14’, comprising two rooms (Collins 1975, p. 172). Although from about this time more permanent forms of construction materials were being employed some major buildings were still being constructed using primitive materials. A courthouse was erected in 1796 in lath and plaster, due to the shortage of sufficient building materials (Collins 1975, p. 403). The first church in Sydney, St Phillips, was a wattle and daub construction even though it was not erected until 1798. 1793. Lt Governor’s house illustration shows a shingled roof, shutters for windows but no glazing. Surrounding houses are all shingled (McCormick, Irving, Imashev, Nelson, Bull, 1987, p. 49). 1793-4. Other illustrations show a mixture of thatched and non-thatched roofs (McCormick, Irving, Imashev, Nelson, Bull, 1987, p. 55) Repairs continued to be a heavy burden. April 1798. Floor of the Governor’s House collapsed and had to be repaired (Collins Vol. 2 1975, p. 78). 1800. Illustration of housing appears to show glazed windows (McCormick, Irving, Imashev, Nelson, Bull, 1987, p. 84). May, 1803. Article in the Gazette recommended the use of straw as a superior material for thatched roofs rather than grass (Gazette, 29/5/1803, p. 3), as thatching was still a common roofing material away from Sydney. July, 1803. The price of bricks in the colony was forcing people to construct chimneys of wood, increasing the fire risk (Gazette, 10/7/1803, p. 3).

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1808. Extensive oyster shell beds discovered at Newcastle allowed lime burning to commence there, providing Sydney with its first major source of lime (Turner, 1980, pp.18-9) CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES Brick and stone were used from the beginning of the colony however the time and skills available, and the lack of lime, resulted in their limited use. Timber log construction with interstices filled with pipe clay was the first walling construction commonly attempted. Its use was curtailed by limits to the supply of Cabbage Tree palms available and the rapidity with which they decayed, or were attacked by termites, in a wall. Wattle and daub became the standard low cost alternative. The first material chosen for roof covering was thatched rushes. This was soon supplanted by shingles when the fire hazard associated with thatching was experienced. After brickmaking had commenced some tiles were manufactured but they were of poor quality and limited availability. By 1803, when both a greater range of timbers would have been available and tools were of a better quality, homes in the Rocks area of Sydney being offered for sale were described as weatherboarded and shingled (Sydney Gazette, 10th April, 1803, p. 3). Since it is not mentioned whether the houses are glazed until 1804 (Sydney Gazette, 8th January, 1804, p. 3) it can be assumed that glass was a scarce commodity in the early community. Whilst lime had still not been found locally until 1808, sufficient was being imported in 1803 for a recipe for an oil paint to be published which included lime as a major ingredient (Sydney Gazette, 27th May, 1804, p. 3). Also clay pipes were being manufactured by 1804 (Sydney Gazette, 23rd December, 1804, p. 4). In 1805 houses being offered for sale started to include in their description the fact that they were brick nogged, as “…at Chapel Row, No 42, is weatherboarded, brick-nogged and shingled.” (Sydney Gazette, 29th September, 1805, p 2). Despite the early observations made on native shelters:

Their habitations are as rude as imagination can conceive. The hut of the woodman is made of the bark of a single tree, bent in the middle, and placed on its two ends on the ground,[…..]On the sea-coast the huts were larger, formed of pieces of bark from several trees put together in the form of an oven with an entrance,[…]Their unserviceable canoes were commonly broken up and applied to this use.

(Collins, 1975, p 460)

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The waterproof nature and availability of bark was not exploited by the colonists for a number of years, possibly not until 1820. Collins also notes that an early source of lime included the collections piled at the entrance to native huts, finding the ground in front of the huts “rich in shells and other manure”. EXAMPLES These following examples include information obtained from archaeological sites around Sydney, particularly of convict built huts at Parramatta and pictorial records of the early settlement. Included are some details of remains found in rural areas. These show interesting local variations or detailed information on techniques used and are surviving illustrations of the early building techniques of the colony. All of these examples come from NSW. Buildings examined, of which some are still standing, are:

1. Early huts in Sydney. Early building construction was illustrated in “An Eastern View of Sydney” in a book by David Collins called ‘An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales’ published in 1798 in London.

2. Convict hut remains at Parramatta. 3. Government House, Sydney Cove. 4. The first St Phillips, erected on Church Hill. 5. Elizabeth Farm, near Parramatta. The original building was erected in 1794 the core of

which remains.* 6. St John’s Church at Parramatta, commenced prior to 1800 and completed in 1803,

however the building as it stands dates from 1814, the previous building having collapsed.*

7. Government House at Parramatta (Rose Hill), commenced in 1799.* 8. Ebenezer Church, on the Hawkesbury River, built in 1809.* 9. Dundullimal, a split slab house at Dubbo, erected around 1841.* 10. A Hill End cottage, from a photo, built in the 1870’s.

* These buildings are extant.

Early Convict Huts, Sydney Herman (1954, p. 5) and Irving (1975, p. 87) both attempted reconstructions of early huts based on illustrations and diary notes. Three written sources and two illustrations are of value in understanding what these huts were like.

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An unknown woman convict wrote home in November 1788:

We have now two streets, if four rows of the most miserable huts you can possibly conceive of deserve that name. Windows they have none, as from the governor’s house, etc, now nearly finished, no glass could be spared; so that lattices of twigs are made by our people to supply their places

(British Museum papers, newspaper extracts, cited in HRNSW II, pp.779-80).

Collins description of the early construction attempts was:

[T]he longboats of the ships in the cove were employed in bringing up cabbage-tree from the lower part of the harbour, where it grew in great abundance, and was found, when cut into proper lengths, very fit for the purpose of erecting temporary huts, the posts and plates of which being made of the pine of this country, and the sides and ends filled in with lengths of cabbage-tree, plastered over with clay, formed a very good hovel. The roofs were generally thatched with the grass of the gum-rush; some were covered with clay, but several of these failed, the weight of the clay and heavy rain soon destroying them.

(1975, p. 21)

Cunningham writing about twenty years after the establishment of the colony, described the early houses as:

on the first establishment are either formed of wattle and plaster, or of split timber and plaster,- the roof being composed of sheets of bark, or thatched with blady grass, which proves by far the coolest roof in hot weather and the warmest in cold weather, thatch being such a bad conductor of heat[…]

Houses are sometimes built, too, of layers of turf and stones, where timber is scarce. In the split timber houses, a frame is first put up with a groove in the upper and lower wall plates, to slide the split timber into, after being trimmed by the axe, the width of the plank being chipped out at the corner of the outer portion of the groove of the lower wall-plate, to admit the introduction of the last timber, which is then securely nailed in;- and by this means a wooden house may be put up without having more than a dozen nails in its composition.

(1827, pp. 170-1) In conjunction with these descriptions there are contemporary illustrations of the colony which include cottages, or huts, under construction. Two are illustrated in Collins as “A View of the Governor’s House at Rose Hill[…]” and “An Eastern View of Sydney[…]” (Collins, 1975, pp. 102,

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186) and a painting by Thomas Watling in 1793 called “An Eastern View of Sydney and Port Jackson[…]” Both Herman and Irving assumed sawn framing for their huts, probably based on the number of sawpits operating in the colony. Irving also extended his assumptions on hut construction based on the description by Cunningham. By 1820 Irving’s opinion would no doubt be perfectly true. It probably was also true for a number of the early huts, constructed in 1788. There was, however a rigid hierarchy in the society at that time. The Governor built the first two storey house in the colony, using all the available glass and lime, the Lt. Governor had decided to build his house, a single storey one, in stone with a sand and clay mortar. The officers had next priority, then the marines and finally the convicts, who were permitted to build their own shelter, after first assisting those who ranked over them. Given that little time was available for the convicts to construct their own shelters, tools were generally poor and the timber unusually hard, there is also the fact that the Cabbage Tree, which was heavily used initially, was a palm and its trunk, whilst being very straight and of even diameter, had a very fibrous texture making it difficult to split or work. It is more likely therefore that the early huts of the convicts comprised poles sunk into the ground, the spaces between the poles bridged with short lengths of Cabbage Tree trunks wedged in, a roof framing tied with the vines which grew locally thatched with rushes. The walls were coated with pipe clay in an attempt to keep out wind and rain.

Figure 2. Plan of Convict Hut.

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Some contemporary illustrations show an alternative of windows and doors closed with boarded shutters, rather than a lattice of twigs.

Figure 3. Section through Convict Hut

Convict Huts, Parramatta Archaeological excavations at Parramatta (Rose Hill) have uncovered the remains of convict huts. One, at the corner of George and Smith Sts., was the site of a convict hut showing on maps dated 1792 and 1804. The remains are a series of postholes spaced irregularly but about 1 metre apart and covering an area of 6.7 metres by either 4 metres or 4.4 metres (depending on which line of postholes formed the rear wall). The holes are round, so the posts had not been worked other than to saw them to length. They are about 450 mm deep and a number had been re-cut or replaced, indicating substantial repair of the structure. There were indications of an internal dividing partition but no sign of a chimney (Higginbotham, 1990, p.21). Another site is at the corner of Marsden and Macquarie Sts., Parramatta. It was still being excavated by Higginbotham at the time of this paper. Photos of the excavation show similar information to that of the other Parramatta site. Postholes exist with the remains of posts in them and the posts are circular or half-round, indicating unsawn round or split timber. A line where wattling existed between the posts, with remains of light timber, can be seen.

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These huts date from prior to 1792. However their use continued for some years. Brick and stone flagging was laid in the huts as a floor, probably after the time they were taken over by free settlers around 1804.

Figure 4. Floor of Convict Hut, Parramatta One photo also shows a timber plank floor and a brick ramp. This was the cellar of an hotel, built around 1809.

Figure 5. Photograph of Hotel Cellar, Parramatta

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It is clear from the Parramatta examples that, whilst the size of the huts remained similar to those erected in Sydney Cove, their construction used undressed posts, either whole, or split, with a wattle and daub infil for walls. Floors originally would be packed clay, this being replaced by brick or stone flagging within a few years. Roof covering of the huts is conjectural, based on illustrations of early Parramatta. Illustrations appear to show a roof thickness inconsistent with thatch so are more likely to be shingles however a description of them in 1790 states that they are covered with thatch (Collins, Vol 2, 1975, p. 103). Perhaps by the time of the illustration, in c1796, the thatch had been replaced. The drawing reconstructing these huts has adopted these conclusions. Whilst these huts are crude by to-day’s standards it is worthwhile noting that they were of a similar standard to the rural cottages of England at the time (Knaggs, 2000, p. 46).

Figure 6. Convict Huts, Parramatta

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Government House, Sydney Cove The first portable building in Australia was the first Government House. The second Government House, completed early in 1789, was the first two storey building in Australia and was the first building constructed using lime mortar. This second Government House, in its turn, was replaced by the present building in 1837, designed by Edward Blore. St Phillips Church, Church Hill The first church erected in NSW was “of wattle and daub construction with a grass thatch roof, an earth floor and mainly unglazed lattice windows” (Kemp, 1995, p. 6). It was erected in 1793 and was burnt down, apparently deliberately, in October, 1798. It was replaced by one of brick and stone construction which took until December 1810 to complete and which had the distinction of being called “the ugliest church in Christendom with its eight bells hung in the ghastly tower” (Kemp, 1995, p. 22). Despite this reputation it survived until a new church was built to replace it in 1848 (Herman, 1963, pp. 11-12). The “ghastly tower” itself is of some interest. Herman called it “Australia’s first skyscraper: the 150-foot clock tower” (1954, p. 22), which he attributed to James Bloodsworth. Cowan however regards it as more likely being 50 feet high (1998, p. 25). A drawing in the Banks Papers at the Mitchell Library supports a 50 foot high tower. What is agreed is that it was square in plan and was of brick construction, probably using clay and sand mortar, with perhaps a little lime. It was needed because someone had the foresight to send out a church clock in 1797 and a tower was required for its installation. The tower suffered the same fate as many other structures of the time. It partially collapsed in June 1799 when one side was blown down in a storm. It was rebuilt. The clock survived this collapse. It was not so fortunate on 4th June, 1806 when a violent storm caused another partial collapse of the tower and of the west wall of the new church being built beside it (Kemp, 1995, pp. 13, 15). The tower’s replacement was a round stone structure which remained till the new church was built in 1848. Elizabeth Farm, Parramatta As with most early buildings which have survived, although the original building still exists, Elizabeth Farm has been extended and altered over time. The Macarthur family moved into their new home, Elizabeth Farm, in 1793. Elizabeth Macarthur described the building as being a very excellent brick building, 68 feet in length and 18 feet in

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width, independent of kitchen and servants’ apartments. She undertook major reconstruction work on the farmhouse in 1810, whilst her husband was absent in England, and continued to live at the house until her death in 1850 (Heritage Conservation News, Vol 3, No. 4, p4).

Figure 7. Plan and Detail of Elizabeth Farm A plan of the farm is shown, with the original section identified. This plan is based on the work of Herman (1954, p. 19) and Irving (1975, p. 131) and the differing conclusions of each are shown. It should be noted that the two rooms on the verandah which are not connected to the interior were common on rural properties and are also a feature of Dundullimal. These are Strangers Rooms and allowed the householder to provide a room overnight to travelling strangers without risking household security. In a letter from Elizabeth Macarthur to her mother in 1794 she described the house as having four rooms with a cellar and an adjoining kitchen and servants’ apartments. There is no mention of a verandah or rooms off the verandah. The verandah would have been an early addition (Lane and Searle, 1990, p. 4). Irving’s interpretation of the plan is therefore the preferred one.

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Construction materials were brick with the roof shingled. Irving had the advantage of having access to the property during a time when it was undergoing restoration. He was therefore able to gain considerable information on aspects of its construction.

Figure 8. Elizabeth Farm, circa 1795.

St Johns Church, Parramatta A brick church, commenced probably in 1800 and completed in time for its first service on 17th April, 1803 (minus pews and other interior fittings) was in urgent need of repairs by 1810 when the tower and vestry had both collapsed (Kass, Liston, McClymont, 1996, pps.59 & 81). Little of the original church has survived, apart from possible sections of nave walling and foundations. The present church owes its appearance to the efforts of Mrs Macquarie, the Governor’s wife.

Figure 9. Photograph of St Johns Church, Parramatta

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Government House, Parramatta The first Government House at Parramatta was erected for Governor Phillip in 1790, however by November 1799 its roof was falling in and was in such an advanced state of decay that maintenance and repairs were considered worthless. The building was demolished and the new two storey Government House, commenced in 1799, forms the core of the present building (Kass, Liston, McClymont, 1996, p.53). This building required extensive repairs and refurbishment in 1816 and was abandoned by the Governors in 1855, when it was considered too dilapidated to repair. From that time, it was used as a boarding house and then a school until being acquired and restored by the National Trust in 1970 (Kass, Liston, McClymont, 1996, pps.165, 188, 223). The photograph shows the present building. The original part is the two storey central portion, the portico being a later addition.

Figure 10. Photograph of Government House, Parramatta Ebenezer Church, Hawkesbury River This is the second church built in the colony out of Sydney and is the oldest remaining one intact. Erected in 1809 it is a freestone structure, local stone being available, with walls approximately 600mm thick and the overall internal dimensions being 4.570m. wide by 11.150m. long (Herman 1954, pp. 24-5).

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Figure 11. Plan of Church at Ebenezer.

Dundullimal, Dubbo This is an example of an early building, commenced in 1841, constructed at a great distance from sources of material. In constructing it, the owner adopted techniques used during the early phase of the colony, drawing on the experiences of the early colonists (Dargin, 1999, p.2). Its construction system matches that described by Cunningham and Irving.

Figure 12. Detail of Dundulllimal Construction

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Figure 13. Detail of Dundullimal Construction.

Cottage, Hill End The cottage at Hill End is a much later construction, dating from the 1870’s. It shows a roof covering of bark. Despite early observation by colonists of the aborigine use of bark for roof coverings, Europeans did not seem to adopt this material very quickly. In fact one of the first illustrations of a settler’s building with bark roofing is shown on the lean-to attachments to the miller’s slab cottage in a painting dated c1820 of Samuel Marsden’s water mill. This form of construction was common in remote areas of Australia up to the late 19th century.

Figure 14. Drawing of cottage at Hill End. (Based on photograph in Exhibition Catalogue, 2005, p. 6)

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THE END OF AN ERA By 1820 local materials and their characteristics were known. Under Macquarie, the colony was now led by a man with vision and understanding. The need was no longer basic survival but the development of a settlement with permanence and good taste. However once one moved out of proximity to Sydney the basic needs re-asserted. Dundullimal and the Hill End cottage are examples of construction techniques where the early lessons had been learnt and the appropriate construction techniques had been adapted, refined and repeated. It was now common for sawyers and brickmakers to be engaged to go into the country and manufacture the necessary building materials on site. Many examples of this exist. For example “Windermere”, in the Hunter Valley, about 150 Km from Sydney, was erected around 1821-7. Local timber (Red Cedar) was cut for framing, the bricks were made and burnt on site and shells were transported from Newcastle and burnt and crushed for lime (Turner, 1984, p.5) REFERENCES Manuscripts Mitchell Library. Ms Banks Papers, V 3, Aust 1786-1800. Turner, L, Notes on Windermere prepared for Peter Capp, c1984. Books Benson D and Howell, J, 1990, Taken for Granted: The bushland of Sydney and its suburbs, Sydney, Kangaroo Press. Cobley, J, 1963, Sydney Cove 1789-1790, Sydney, Angus and Robertson. Clark, C M H, 1950, Select Documents in Australian History, 1788-1850, Sydney, Angus and Robertson. Clark, C M H, 1963 (1974 reprint), A History of Australia, Volume 1, Melbourne, Melbourne University Press. Collins, D, Aust Ed 1975, (orig publ 1798, London, Cadell & Davies), An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Vol 1, Sydney, Reed. Collins, D, Aust Ed 1975, (orig publ 1802, London, Cadell & Davies), An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Vol 2, Sydney, Reed.

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Compilation from Phillip’s Reports, Aust Ed 1970 (orig publ 1789, John Stockdale, London), The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay, Sydney, Angus and Robertson. Cowan, H J, 1998, from Wattle & Daub to Concrete and Steel, Melbourne, Melbourne University Press. Cunningham, P, Aust Ed 1966, (orig publ 1827, Henry Colburn, London), Two Years in New South Wales, Sydney, Angus and Robertson. Dargin, P, 1999, Dundullimal, Held in Trust, Dubbo, Development and Advisory Publications. Herman, M, 1954, Early Australian Architects and their Work, Sydney, Angus and Robertson. Herman, M, 1963, The Blackets, Sydney, Angus and Robertson. Hunter, J, 1968 (orig publ 1793), An Historical Journal of Events at Sydney and at Sea 1787 –1792 by Capt John Hunter with further accounts by Governor Arthur Phillip, Lieut P G King and Lieut H L Ball, Sydney, Angus and Robertson. Kass, T, Liston, C, McClymont, J, 1996, Parramatta, A Past Revealed, Sydney, Parramatta City Council. Lane, T and Serle, J, 1990, Australians at Home, A Documentary History of Australian Domestic Interiors from 1788 –1914, Melbourne, Oxford University Press McCormick, T, Irving, R, Imashev, E, Nelson, J, and Bull, G, 1987, First Views of Australia 1788-1825, Sydney, David Ell Press. Mann, D D, facsimile reprint 1979 (orig publ 1811, John Booth, London), The Present Picture of New South Wales 1811, Sydney, John Ferguson Pty Ltd. Tench, W, 1789, A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay, London, Debrett. Tench, W, 1793, A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson, in New South Wales, London, Nicol & Sewell. Turner, J W, 1980, Manufacturing in Newcastle, 1801-1900, Newcastle, Newcastle Public Library Articles Higginbotham, E, “The Excavation of Buildings in the Early Township of Parramatta, New South Wales, 1790-1820’s”, in Australian Historical Archaeology, 5,1987, pp.3-20.

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Edited Volumes Flannery, T (ed), Aust Ed 1996a (orig publ 1827, Henry Colburn, London), Nicol, John. Life and Adventures in Two Classic Tales of Australian Exploration, Melbourne, Text Publishing. Flannery, T (ed), Aust Ed 1996b (orig publ 1827, Henry Colburn, London), Trench, Watkins, 1788 in Two Classic Tales of Australian Exploration, Melbourne, Text Publishing. Garran, A (ed), Picturesque Atlas of Australasia Volume 1,1886, Sydney, Picturesque tlas Publishing. Lee, S (ed), Dictionary of National Biography, 1891, London, Smith Elder & Co. Historical Records of Australia, Series 1, Volume 1, 1788 –96 Historical Records of New South Wales, Dissertations and Theses Irving, R, 1975,The First Australian Architecture, unpublished M Arch thesis, University of NSW. Knaggs, M, 2000, Early Colonial Townscape in New South Wales and Tasmania, unpublished M Phil thesis, University of Wales. Reports Higginbotham, E 1990, Report on the Archaeological Excavation of 79 George Street, Parramatta, NSW, 1989, December 1990, for C H Webb Bros. Higginbotham, E, 1990, The Babes in the Wood, Parramatta. Report on the Archaeological Excavation of the former Prospect Electricity Staff Car Park, Corner of Smith and George Streets, Parramatta, NSW, 1989, December 1990, for Prospect County Council. Newspapers and Magazines Heritage Conservation News, Heritage Council of New South Wales, Sydney. The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Sydney. Pamphlets Exhibition Catalogue, Eye 4 Photography, 2005, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney. Kemp, V, 1995, An Agreeable Subject of Reflection. A short commentary on the problems faced by the builders of St Phillip’s church, the first church in Sydney, Sydney.

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