Heritage in Trust May 2015

Heritage in Trust www.nationaltrust.org.au Page 1

NATIONAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA

Heritage in Trust (ACT) May 2015

_________________________________________________________________

The Metric Church? St Stephen’s, Queanbeyan

Inside

From the President p5

ACT region Heritage Symposium p7

Heritage Diary p 8

Travels and at home with the Trust p9

Heritage Happenings p10

Heritage Festival 2015 report p15

Dirk Hartog - 400th anniversary p18

Mugga – Mugga Open Day photos p 20

Was St Stephen’s Church in Queanbeyan the only 19th century

Australian church designed in metric configurations? Historian

and heritage consultant, Brendan O’Keefe examines this claim

which has become part of our local folklore.

St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church in Queanbeyan was designed

in 1871 by the Reverend Alberto Dias Soares, then the local

Church of England minister, and built in the period 1872-74. In

his thirty years of practice as an ecclesiastical architect (1859-

88), Soares designed at least fifteen Anglican churches, as well

as a number of rectories, school buildings and church halls.1 St

Stephen’s is unique among his ecclesiastical commissions in that

it was the only non-Anglican church that he designed.

Cont p2

Heritage In Trust May 2015


The Metric Church? St Stephen’s Queanbeyan cont from p1

In her centenary history of St Stephen’s published in

1974, Jan Armour stated that Soares drew up the plans

for the church ‘in metric configurations.’2 The

statement has now become a part of local folklore,

even an article of faith. If it is correct, it would almost

certainly make St Stephen’s the only church designed

and built to metric specifications in Australia in the 19th

century. Unfortunately, Mrs Armour did not indicate in

her history from where she obtained this piece of

information. Asked recently where the information had

come from, she was unable to recall the source, except

that she said that she gathered all of her material for

the book from local sources in the Queanbeyan-

Canberra area. An intensive search of local historical

sources, including newspapers, has failed to uncover

the origin of the information.

On the face of it, it seems an extraordinary claim to

make that St Stephen’s was built to metric proportions.

However, if anyone was equipped to design a church

on the metric system, it was Soares. He would have

become familiar with metric measures when he lived in

Oporto for two years in 1846-48, Portugal having

adopted the system in 1814, and when he

subsequently resided in Paris for two years in 1850-

52.3 But if he did design the church to metric

specifications, there was an immediate practical

difficulty. The tradesmen engaged in construction of

the building are most unlikely to have had metric

measures. This would have been a particular problem

for the quarryman and stonemason. To overcome the

problem, Soares would have had to convert his metric

dimensions into imperial measures for the tradesmen.

Given this practical difficulty, one wonders why he

would have bothered to design the church in metric

units in the first place.

A possible answer to the question may lie in Soares’s

wish to distinguish St Stephen’s from all of the Anglican

churches he designed, which were presumably

designed in imperial measures. In this regard, it is

intriguing to note that he would almost certainly have

relied upon James Barr’s famous text, Anglican Church

Architecture, in designing his Church of England

churches. He certainly had access to a copy of this

work as one had been brought to Queanbeyan in 1844

by the builder Daniel Jordan, the father of the

carpenter who was later employed on the building of

St Stephen’s. Jordan’s copy of Barr’s book was long

held by Christ Church in Queanbeyan.4 While Soares

probably made use of Barr’s book in designing St

Stephen’s, it is conceivable that he could have resorted

to metric measures to accentuate the fact that it was a

Presbyterian rather than an Anglican church.

There is some evidence to suggest, though, that this

was not the case. On 29 May 1872, Charles Campbell,

who was then Chancellor of the Goulburn Diocese,

wrote a stern letter to Soares, saying that his attention

had been directed to an article in the Queanbeyan Age

From the editors

This is the second edition of Heritage in Trust for

2015 and the ninth that has been published on-

line. That’s right – the first on-line edition was

published two years ago, in May 2013. We’re

glad to report that the sky didn’t fall in as a result

of the change from hard copy. A small number of

members still request a paper version but

overwhelmingly members appear to be happy

reading the newsletter via their computer.

We’d like to acknowledge and thank the authors

who provide the bulk of the material contained in

each edition of the newsletter. Our main article

authors this time are previous contributor

Brendan O’Keefe on St Stephen’s Church in

Queanbeyan, and Peter Reynders on the 400th

anniversary of Dirk Hartog’s sighting of the west

coast of Australia. Another feature of this edition

is the collection of photos from the Mugga –

Mugga Open Day on 12 April.

Views and suggestions are always welcome. You

can send them by email to

[email protected] or by mail to the

Trust Office.

mailto:[email protected]



a few days previously in which Soares was reported to

have ‘furnished the Presbyterian Denomination at

Queanbeyan with a plan and specifications’, had

‘permitted [himself] to be described in a public

document’ as ‘the Architect’ of ‘their new place of

worship’ and, at a meeting of the Queanbeyan

Presbyterians, had paid his first year’s subscription

‘with best wishes’. The article in question was a report

of the laying of the foundation stone of St Stephen’s.

Campbell warned Soares that, if the report was true,

he had made himself liable to suspension and even

revocation of his licence to practise as a minister.5

No reply from Soares is on file and, in the event, he

was not sacked. Campbell’s letter reveals, however,

that he did not seek permission from his bishop, Mesac

Thomas, to design St Stephen’s. It may thus be

surmised that he saw nothing wrong with providing the

Queanbeyan Presbyterian community with plans and

specifications for the church. On this basis, it seems

rather less likely that he would have designed St

Stephen’s in metric measures to distinguish it from the

Anglican churches he designed. It is possible of course

that he did do this, but if he used metric units for the

design in the belief that the design might otherwise

cause him problems with higher authorities in the

Church of England, then he would surely have sought

permission from Bishop Thomas beforehand.

In an effort to confirm or disprove the alleged metric

dimensions of the church, heritage architect Pip

Giovanelli, in company with the current author, took

measurements of the exterior of the church in

November 2014. It turned out that another heritage

architect, Ken Charlton, had also measured the church

in 1998. Belatedly, yet another set of plans and

measurements were found by the church’s current

minister and handed to Pip Giovanelli in December

2014.6 These last-mentioned drawings are interesting

because they are accompanied by a brief summary of

the church which baldly states that it was ‘built in the

metric system’. The drawings are undated but, as the

accompanying summary goes on to state that the

church’s centenary ‘will be celebrated in 1974’, they

were clearly prepared some time before this. Both the

context and the style and text of the drawings suggests

that they were done earlier in the 1970s.

In referring to the church as having been built to

metric dimensions, these pre-1974 drawings

apparently accepted this as established fact and

accordingly recorded the measurements in

centimetres. The trouble is that the measurements do

not actually confirm that the church was built to metric

specifications. The measurements are mostly odd

numbers of centimetres that do not equate to any

regular number of metres, as might be expected, while

in two important cases they equate to imperial

measures. The exterior width of the church, for

example, is quoted as 762 centimetres, which is

virtually exactly 25 feet. The exterior length of the

church, including the porch and vestry, is given as 1858

centimetres which is almost exactly 61 feet.

St Stephen’s

The only significant measure which the drawings quote

in a regular number of centimetres is that for the

internal width of the nave. This is given as 660

centimetres (ie, 21 feet 8 inches). However, in his

careful measurement of the width of the nave in 1998,

Ken Charlton arrived at a figure of 652.6 cm or 21 feet

4 inches in the imperial system. He also measured the

interior length of the nave as 1220.5 cm or 40 feet, as

against a figure of 1228 cm in the pre-1974 drawings.



Ken Charlton and Pip Giovanelli independently

measured the exterior length of the body or nave of

the church as 43 feet 3 inches, while Giovanelli

measured the external width of the church as 25 feet,

the same as the pre-1974 drawings. Charlton did not

take this measure.

There was only one feature of the church for which

Charlton and Giovanelli found any suggestive evidence

of the use of metric units. This consisted of the length

from the front of one buttress to the front of the next,

for the rear four of the five buttresses on the northern

side and for the four buttresses on the southern side.

(There are only four buttresses on this side because of

the presence of the bell tower.) The measure from one

buttress to the next is exactly 3 metres (or 9 feet 10

inches). However, the measure from the front of the

first buttress to the front of the second on the

northern side is 305 cm (or exactly 10 feet). The

spacing between the buttresses would thus appear to

be a mixture of metric and imperial measures. But

when taken with the rest of the measurements for the

church, which look to be definitely imperial, the 3-

metre spacing between most of the buttresses seems

to be purely coincidental.

The three separate measurements carried out on the

church, coupled with other evidence, do not provide

any support for the claim that St Stephen’s was built to

metric specifications. While as a Presbyterian structure

the church is unique in Soares’s corpus of works and its

design and history exhibit several noteworthy features,

the tradition that has grown up about its metric

dimensions looks to be without substance.

Brendan O’Keefe

Brendan O’Keefe is an historian and heritage consultant who

has carried out numerous heritage in Canberra and

Queanbeyan over many years. Photographs provided by the

author.

1 For the buildings that Soares designed, see Ken Charlton, ‘Southern Spires’, Anglican Historical Society Journal, no. 25, April 1998, Ransome T. Wyatt, History of the Diocese of Goulburn, Sydney, 1937, and entries in the NSW State Heritage Register and Inventory.

2 Jan Armour, And this Stone – The story of St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, Queanbeyan, Queanbeyan, 1974, p. 27. 3 ‘Death of the Rev. Canon A. D. Soares’, The Southern Churchman, vol, 12, no. 4, 15 May 1909, p. 5; Charlton, ‘Southern Spires’, p. 1. 4Rex Cross and Bert Sheedy, Queanbeyan Pioneers – First Study, Queanbeyan, 1983, p. 67. 5 Letter, Charles Campbell, to A.D. Soares, 29 May 1872, Letter Book of Bishop Mesac Thomas, 1872-1874. 6 ‘St Stephens Presbyterian Church Queanbeyan presented by Reg Wolfe, Gary Luton and Arthur Marzalek’, undated.

St Stephen's today



From the President

Hello members.

I’m writing this shortly after the completion of yet another successful National Trust Open Day which was held this year at the historic Mugga-Mugga. I know there is a separate report on the Open Day elsewhere in this newsletter but I really have to thank Mary Johnston, Kirsty Guster and Linda Roberts for another fantastic organisational effort. Also, to all the volunteers that helped out on the day, THANK YOU. Your help is always appreciated and this is our one major event of the year where the more help we can get the better.

I’ve mentioned previously the concept of having an ‘Urban Polaris’ cycle event to heighten awareness of our heritage places. We had planned to run it in December of this year. Unfortunately there has been a change in plans and it has been decided to move the event to April next year to coincide with the 2016 Heritage Festival. I will provide more details in future newsletters.

As you would all know, membership is our major source of revenue and I thank you all for supporting the work of the National Trust by being members. The ACT Trust is one of the few remaining Trusts that has a life membership option and it is by far the cheapest. In an effort to bring our rates into line with other organisations and assist in our efforts to remain sustainable, we have decided to increase life membership rates from $750 (single) to $1,137.50 and from $1,200 (household) to $1,662.50. These rates will still be the cheapest offered by any State Trust and the good news is that you can take advantage of the old rates until 30 June 2015. So, if you are thinking about this membership option you’d better lock it in quickly! And while you’re at it, don’t forget our Patron program – if you want to be remembered as an Inaugural Patron you also need to act before 30 June 2015.

Now, without offending any of my fellow Council members I think it is safe to say that none of us are particularly ‘tech savvy’. But it’s OK as help is at hand! Our industrious Office Manager Liz has enlisted the help of her son Andrew to bring the social media side of our website up to speed. Go to our website at nationaltrust.org.au and you will see that we have a

Contents

The Metric Church? St Stephen’s Queanbeyan ___ 1

From the President _________________________ 5

People and Places _________________________ 6

Trusted Recipe ____________________________ 6

ACT & Region Heritage Partnership Symposium _ 7

Heritage Diary ____________________________ 8

Travels and at home with the Trust ___________ 9

Heritage Happenings _______________________ 10

New Council Members _____________________ 11

Keeping up with the times – social networking __ 12

Trust Tour Reports _________________________ 13

Heritage Festival Report_____________________ 15

Dirk Hartog – 400th anniversary _______________ 18

Mugga Mugga Open Day photos ______________ 20

Twitter feed and a Facebook link. And, please make us one of your friends so that we can spread the good work of the Trust to the wider community. Also, in a similar vein, while you’re on the website you will see a link to a podcast from Tony Delroy’s Nightlife radio program which I was a guest on recently. It’s more of national perspective on the Trust but worth listening to, to see what’s happening nationally.

And finally, I met with Minister Greg Hunt recently to discuss the National Trust at a national level and he outlined his vision to set up a National Lottery to help fund Arts and Heritage. Some of you may be familiar with the Heritage Lottery Program in the UK which raises over AUD$700 million annually. The Minister’s vision is still at the concept stage but I would ask that you pass on the idea to your friends and local MPs in an effort to spread the word as I suspect it will be a case of ‘community’ voice and support that will see the idea come to fruition.

Thanks again for your interest and support.

Scott McAlister President



People and Places

New members

The National Trust (ACT) warmly welcomes the

following new members:

Robert and Kath Arthur

Freda Hanley and Tim Barton

Su and Rob Bastian

Dianne and Bruce Billings

Rebecca and Grahame Butler

Gary and Frances Coble

Simon Cullen

Peter Le Cornu and Kim Cusack

Jude Dodd

Lorraine Lister and Lada Faith

Leonard and Linda Glare

Kirsty Guster

Brian and Jeanette Henry

Sharyn Sullivan and Barry Hugg

Keith Joyce

Linda Laker

Julie Macklin

Dylan and Francesca Matthews

Bronwyn and Philip McLaren

Anita Lutze and Beverley Murray

Alison Neil

Rod and Joan Nichols

Cheng Phillips

Eric and Cathy Pulford

Sharon Field and Chris Quinn

Roger and Kate Rose

Ronis Chapman and Michael Searle

Marlene Strudwick

Graham and Fiona Thompson

Adriana and Ron Travers

Katherine Campbell and Andy Turner

Ben Kempton and Sarah Webeck

Ian White

Diana White

Life Member: Dr Fiona Rothchilds

Trusted recipe

Curry Paste

With winter starting to emerge from the side

wings, here is an alternative taste to have in the

fridge at the ready for our cold evenings. It is

great to have on hand for the heart-warming

curry and rice but it is also good for stews and

left-over roasts.

Combine

2 tsp malt vinegar

2 cloves crushed garlic

½ cup oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

Mix with the following ingredients

2 tbsp coriander

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp dry mustard

¼ tsp chilli powder

1 tbsp turmeric

1 tbsp ginger

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp cardamom

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

2 tsp sugar

Stir over low heat for approximately 3 minutes

and cool to room temperature.

Makes about 1 cup.

Store in airtight container in fridge.

Use approximately 2 tbsp paste to 500g of meat.

Di Dowling





Heritage Diary February to June 2015 A selection of heritage-related events of interest to members

Details of National Trust (ACT) events are provided in Travels and at home with the Trust on page 9

Date and time Event and location

Organiser Contact

Wednesday 20 May

5.30-7.00pm

National Trust Speaker’s Night – Mark Butz,

The intriguing history of Jerrabombera

Wetlands, Menzies Room, National Archives.

National Trust Bookings closed

62300533 or [email protected]

Wednesday 20

May 6.30 for 7.00pm

CAS/CAR lecture – Prof Matthew Spriggs,

Recent Archaeology in Vanuatu (& elsewhere) Manning Clark Centre, Theatre 6, Bldg 26A,

Union Court, ANU

CAS www.cas.asn.au

Thu 23 - Fri 24 May Conference: The Archaeology of Portable Art:

South East Asian, Pacific, and Australian

Perspectives. ANU

ANU http://archanth.anu.edu.au/portable-art

Sunday 31 May Cooma Cottage Market and Car Boot Sale 756 Yass Valley Way, Yass

National Trust https://www.facebook.com/coomacottageyass

Wednesday 3 June

Postponed. Date

TBC. Please revisit page for new date.

Ngunawal 2015 Walks and Talks Series.

Managing Environmental, Social and cultural

heritage- bus tour for environment/heritage and planning professionals and post graduates. Meeting

place to be confirmed

Molonglo

Catchment

Group

http://www.molonglocatchment.com.au

RSVP

[email protected]

Wednesday 17

June 6.30 for 7.00pm

CAS/CAR lecture - Daryl Wesley, Anuru Bay.

Manning Clark Centre, Theatre 6, Bldg 26A, Union Court, ANU.

CAS www.cas.asn.au

Wednesday 15 July 6.30 for 7.00pm

CAS/CAR lecture - Simon Haberle, Lake George Project. Manning Clark Centre, Theatre 6,

Bldg 26A, Union Court, ANU.

CAS www.cas.asn.au

Saturday 18 July

8.30am to 5.00pm

ACT and Region Annual Heritage Partnership

Symposium, Sir Roland Wilson Theatrette, Building 120, ANU,

Sharing Heritage: Create, Change, Cherish

CAS,

National Trust and others

Queries to Eric Martin and Associates

([email protected])

Opens 31 July Life Interrupted: Gallipoli Stories

The stories of our soldiers at Gallipoli – all in

their own words.

National Archives, Queen Victoria Terrace

NAA (02) 6212 3600

naa.gov.au/visit-us/exhibitions

Wednesday 19

August 6.30 for 7.00pm

CAS/CAR lecture - Nick McClean, topic TBA.

Manning Clark Centre, Theatre 6, Bldg 26A, Union Court, ANU.

CAS www.cas.asn.au

7 – 11 September INTO 2015 Conference

16th International Conference of National

Trusts Cambridge UK

INTO http://www.internationaltrusts.org/10409

http://www.icntcambridge2015.org.uk/

Wednesday 16

September 6.30 for 7.00pm

CAS/CAR lecture - Bec Parkes, Googong

Heritage Project. Manning Clark Centre, Theatre 6, Bldg 26A, Union Court, ANU.

CAS www.cas.asn.au

Saturday 3 October 175th Anniversary Costume Ball

Cooma Cottage Yass

National Trust

6230 0533

Wednesday 21

October

6.30 for 7.00pm

CAS/CAR lecture - Stuart Hawkins, Vanuatu.

Manning Clark Centre, Theatre 6, Bldg 26A,

Union Court, ANU.

CAS www.cas.asn.au

Sat 24 Oct – Sun

8 Nov Tasmania by Coach and Rail U3A More info or EOIs ring Garth Setchell (ph

62901100) during May. Wednesday 18

November

6.30 for 7.00pm

CAS/CAR lecture - Billy O’Foghlu, Iron Age

Music. Manning Clark Centre, Theatre 6, Bldg 26A, Union Court, ANU.

CAS www.cas.asn.au

Notes: CAS is the Canberra Archaeological Society. CAR is the Centre for Archaeological Research. CDHS is Canberra and District Historical Society. NAA is National Archives of Australia. INTO is International National Trusts Organisation, U3A is University of the Third Age. Information on events run by organisations other than the

National Trust (ACT) is provided in good faith, but readers should check dates and times with the contacts indicated above.


http://www.cas.asn.au/

http://archanth.anu.edu.au/portable-art

https://www.facebook.com/coomacottageyass

https://www.facebook.com/coomacottageyass

http://www.molonglocatchment.com.au/






http://www.internationaltrusts.org/10409

http://www.icntcambridge2015.org.uk/






Travels and at home with the TrustLocal and Interstate National Trust (NSW) and other events

Speaker’s Event - Mark Butz “The intriguing history of Jerrabomberra Wetlands”

Wednesday 20 May 2015 - 5.30pm-7.00pm, Menzies Room, National Archives of Australia Victoria Terrace, Parkes, ACT

Mark is an environmental scientist by training, with a

lifelong interest in history, from the prehistoric to the

recent. His research into the history of the Jerrabomberra

Wetlands area has unearthed many stories beyond those

to do with wetlands and waterbirds. These include the

early days of Duntroon, siting and design of the Federal

Capital, pioneer Australian movie-making, trench warfare

training, soldier settlement, record floods, a doomed

railway, model dairies, a lost lake, some odd urban schemes

and many slender chances that led to the wetlands of today.

Cost: $10.00 NT members; $15.00 non members. Drinks & nibbles included. Bookings closed. Contact NT ACT office 02 6230 0533 or email [email protected]

Jerrabomberra Wetlands

ACT and Region Annual Heritage Partnership Symposium Theme: Sharing Heritage: Create, Change, Cherish

Saturday 18 July 8.30am to 5.00pm Sir Roland Wilson Theatrette, Building 120, ANU,

More information: See flyer on p7 Registrations opening soon. Eric Martin and Associates: ( [email protected] )

Cooma Cottage Market and Car Boot Sale Sunday 31 May 10am – 2pm Cooma Cottage, 756 Yass Valley Way, Yass

Plenty to see. Plenty to buy. 20 stalls plus car boot sale Ring Helen on 6226 3665 or Rick on 0488 963 492

175th Anniversary Costume Ball Saturday 3 October Cooma Cottage Yass

Celebrating Hamilton Hume’s 175th Year at Cooma Cottage Yass and launching the Old Hume Highway 31 Project. An evening of 1840s ballroom dancing, music, food, wine, an Opera Recital, auction, raffle & speeches.

Tickets available on-line from 19 June Ring NT ACT Office on 6230 0533 for details

U3A Tour - Tasmania by Coach and Rail Sat 24 Oct to Sun 8 Nov 2015 Special invitation for National Trust (ACT) members

Travelling mainly by coach, the tour includes at least 5 historic rail journeys plus cruises on the Gordon and Pieman Rivers. It also embraces World Heritage Areas such as Freycinet, Port Arthur, Lake St Clair, Cradle Mountain and The Tarkine, plus visits to a number of historic properties and towns, the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) at Hobart, wineries, seafood buffets and a host of other attractions.

Including 3.5 to 5 star accommodation, most meals, all the above and many other attractions, a cost in the vicinity of $4500pp dbl/twin or $5700pp sgl is indicated, plus return air fares from Canberra (for around $450pp if booked early enough).

More information and EOI: Contact Garth Setchell on 6290 1100 during May.

Watch out for future NT(ACT) events including a bus tour to the Bombala area in spring and a visit to Tharwa.


mailto:([email protected])



Heritage Happenings Lake Burley Griffin Guardians This group has been formed to press for conservation of the heritage values of the Lake and surrounds. The NT supports the group.

ACT Supreme Court A meeting has been held between the NT and representatives of the ACT Government who are managing the private/public partnership project for the new ACT Supreme Court. Although details of the two design bids were not revealed, we have been assured that the heritage values of the existing building are being considered in the new design. An opportunity to comment in more detail will be available later in the year.

ACT Supreme Court Photo: Canberra Times

Northbourne Avenue The NT participated in a charrette to consider the future of Northbourne Avenue and the light rail corridor (from EPIC to Russell) and the issues that need to be considered in developing any planning framework for the area.

ACT Planning Review The NT has made a submission on the strategic planning document that considers planning priorities for Canberra. The NT stressed the need for early consideration of, identification of, and respect for heritage places and issues.

Dickson/Lyneham Flats (Northbourne Housing Precinct) The NT is pressing for standing to have its appeal against partial listing of the precinct heard. The problem is that the public notice submission date was after the legal notice expiry date and the NT submission was received by the public notice date. This decision will be considered by 22 May 2015. The NT has also appealed the decision to demolish two towers on the Dickson side but this is being held over until a decision is made on the NT’s standing on the listing proposal.

Grants

The NT intends to submit a proposal for the conservation of the Weetangera Cemetery and possibly Reid Railway Precinct.

Yarralumla Forestry School The NT has been discussing the future of the Yarralumla Forestry School with ACT Foresters. While it is listed, the future of the site is unclear.

Ginninderra Falls The NT continues liaison with the Falls group and Riverview about the long-term proposals for the Falls and the protection of its heritage values.

Forrest Townhouses Forrest town houses by Sir Roy Grounds are included within the Blandfordia 4 Precinct but concern has been expressed to the ACT Heritage Council that the general guidelines are not specific enough to adequately protect the place. Advice received is that it is not a current priority item.

Forrest Townhouses http://www.canberrahouse.com/2006/11/08/forrest-townhouses-1959/

ACT NT Heritage Awards 2015 This will occur again this year and the announcement of the event will occur shortly.

Yarralumla Section 64 The NT has written to ACT Heritage about the dilapidated state of this area – it is a derelict building site despite its heritage listing. The NT is seeking some action to improve the site and protect heritage values. Eric J Martin AM



New Council Members

There are three new Council members in 2015. In the last

edition of Heritage in Trust, we introduced Chris Wain,

former Executive Director of the ACT Trust.

In this issue, we make another re-introduction, Bethany

Lance.

Bethany Lance is the former Research Assistant for the

National Trust ACT. She currently works as a consultant

for heritage consulting firm GML Heritage in their

Canberra office. She has been in this position since

November 2012 and since this time has been lucky

enough to work on projects at significant local and

national heritage places for a variety of clients in

Canberra and around Australia. She has also had previous

experience working for the ANU and the National Library

of Australia.

Bethany holds a Master of Liberal Arts, majoring in

Cultural Heritage, from the Australian National University

and has studied cultural heritage; archaeology; building

and object conservation; history; museum and cultural

heritage management; she also undertook professional

practice and an internship with the ANU at Kakadu

National Park as a part of her tertiary education.

Her love of all things heritage stemmed from her

experiences growing up on the farm that Miles Franklin

lived at near Goulburn. Discovering and collecting

artefacts leftover from the Franklin family's time there

was one of her favourite pastimes growing up.

Bethany is looking forward to working with the National

Trust again in a voluntary capacity and contributing to the

great work of the Trust in the ACT.

Bethany Lance (photo: GML Heritage)



Keeping up with the times – social

networking!

No doubt you have heard the term ‘social media’, the

interactive way of communicating, using modern

technology. Rather than being static like reading a

newspaper or listening to the radio, social media allows

you to interact, make comments, share information, and

‘have your say’ about pretty much anything you could

imagine and, more importantly, about the things that

matter to you!

To sign up and follow us on Facebook, simply go to

http://www.facebook.com and enter your email and

some personal details to get started, then navigate to

http://www.facebook.com/nationaltrustact and click the

like button near the top of the page.

For Twitter, go to http://www.twitter.com and enter your

name and email, and choose a password to sign up and

then navigate to https://twitter.com/NatTrust_ACT and

click the follow button.

We encourage you to join us on Facebook and Twitter

and look forward to hearing from you!

Like us on follow us on

Liz and Andrew McMillan

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T

Trust Tour Reports

Crookwell and Taralga Day Trip Sunday 1 March

A full busload of National Trust and U3A members and

friends set off on Sunday 1 March for a day’s gentle

exploring of two Southern Tablelands towns, Crookwell

and Taralga. The forecast wasn’t good – storms pending –

but we completed the journey having felt only a drop or

two of rain.

Crookwell was our first destination, population about

2,500 out of the total of 7,500 in the Upper Lachlan Shire.

We were joined on the bus by Sharon Thearle, an

enthusiastic guide from the local Information Centre who

took us on a town tour after morning tea in the park. One

of the streets we drove along was called Roberts St. Was

it just a coincidence that our leader for the day was Linda

Roberts? No, it wasn’t! Linda’s husband, Wayne Roberts,

is descended from the Horatio Roberts who arrived in

Sydney in 1864 as a 4-year old and subsequently opened

the first tavern in Crookwell.

Morning tea in the park at Crookwell

We stopped off at the Lindner Sock Factory and Shop in

the town where we were shown the sock-making

machinery and given a brief and informative talk by

fourth-generation sock maker, Andrew Lindner. Many of

us also indulged in a spot of sock buying.

Andrew Lindner demonstrating his sock-making machine

Lunch was provided at Crystal Brook Lavender Farm which

is a few kilometers off the main road between Laggan and

Taralga. Despite having hosted a concert the day before,

the owners of the farm served a fine array of fresh

sandwiches, cake, tea and coffee to the hungry horde

from Canberra.

The next stop and the main history/heritage fix for the

day was Taralga, population about 370. There is a very

active historical society in Taralga and members had

turned out in force to answer our questions at their

museum which comprises a former church, a slab cottage,

a Nissen hut, a large shed full of equipment, and a dairy

complex. Ken Fleming from the historical society gave us a

brief overview of Taralga’s history, after which we were

free to look at the various buildings and exhibits in the

museum.



Part of the Taralga Historical Society Museum display

Ken then guided us around the town, pointing out the

many stone buildings in the main street and taking us in

particular to see Christ the King Catholic Church. Sister

Bernadette told us how the building was constructed

within six months in 1934 at a cost of £18,000. This lovely

church is surprisingly large, considering the current

population of Taralga, but at one time the congregation

filled the pews.

Trust Tour Reports

Chifley Walk and Talk Saturday 28 March We met at Chifley shops at 2pm - our guide, Neville Bleakley, nine participants and me as escort - on a perfect autumn afternoon.

Christ the King Church at Taralga

After afternoon tea in the park, it was back into the bus

for the return to Canberra. Thanks to Linda for her

leadership on the day and to the various folk in Crookwell

and Taralga who helped to make the day both informative

and enjoyable.

Wendy Whitham (text and photos)

Gathering for the walk

Neville introduced himself as a long-time resident of Chifley with an interest in the history of Chifley and the broader 'Yarralumla' Valley. We learnt that older residents of the area do not approve of the name Woden Valley, believing it should be named after the Yarralumla Creek running through it so Neville uses the term ‘the Valley’.

After setting the scene before suburban development and identifying landmarks such as watercourses and a former dam, Neville outlined the history of early holdings by soldier-settlers after the First World War - properties including Melrose, Yarra Glen and Yamba (owned by the Eddison family who lost three sons in WW2). The suburb of Chifley was located on the former Melrose property.

We set off for a walk through the streets which we

learned are named after scientists and

educationalists (through a little Googling!). We then

found, much to most people's surprise, the old Long

Gully Road, quite a wide reserve through mature

gum trees but the road alignment is clearly

identifiable in places such as in this photo (next

page).



Old Long Gully Road once formed part of the route from Cooma to Tumut. It now has a cycle/walking path which we walked along. We stopped at the seat and heritage sign for which Neville had lobbied the government.

At the sign, Neville talked about the Cemetery Road and told us about his interactions with people connected with the early families who had lived in the area. A short walk took us back to the shops past the former Chifley school which Neville told us had a great gym! There is also a site for a future house for autistic children.

Our final stop was in the park at the Chifley shops for coffee and cake from the Chifley Grocer. Thanks to our enthusiastic guide, Neville, we all learnt a lot about the history of Chifley and ‘the Valley’.

Mary Johnston (text and photos)

Heritage Festival Report

The National Trust (ACT) had eight events in the Canberra and Region Heritage Festival which ran from 11-26 April. Unfortunately the walk to the Yankee Hat Aboriginal Art Site was cancelled because of the poor weather forecast for that day. All other events proceeded and we mercifully missed the worst of the weather.

Canberra Brickworks - Saturday 11 April The Canberra Brickworks is of considerable technical value because of the presence in the one location of a number of different kiln types. The Staffordshire kiln, completed in 1915, is especially significant as the only surviving example of this kiln type in Australia. To celebrate the centenary of the kiln, we partnered with the Yarralumla Residents Association to provide two short tours of the Brickworks.



Dr Peter Dowling told us that the making of bricks goes back at least 7,000 years. The first bricks were sun-dried. Later, bricks were dried by open fires and then in kilns. He explained how the geology of the area had determined the location of the Brickworks. Keith Baker told us about the contribution of the Brickworks to the building of early Canberra including the provisional Parliament House, East and West Blocks, the Melbourne and Sydney Buildings and early brick houses. Thor Diesendorf, who has operated Thor's Hammer at the Brickworks since 1994, provided commentary on the buildings as the groups walked through the site, stopping to look at the Staffordshire kiln and the fan house as well as later kilns of different designs. Thor also talked about the rich history as a creative space for artisans, artists and other community uses since the Brickworks closed in 1976. Marea Fatseas, from the Yarralumla Residents Association, finished the tour with an outline of the plans for development in the area. It would be nice to think that the Brickworks will have a bright future, perhaps, as Thor has suggested, as an Artisan and Designer Hub. Thanks to the Yarralumla Residents Association, Dr Peter Dowling, Keith Baker and Thor Diesendorf for contributing to this event. Mary Johnston

At the Canberra Brickworks

Mugga-Mugga Open Day - Sunday 12 April

This year we partnered with ACT Historic Places to hold the Trust's 5th Heritage Festival Open Day at Mugga-Mugga. With 17 hectares of rural paddocks we had plenty of room to hold various displays, including the ever popular cars of various vintages and makes. Sing Australia Canberra celebrated "Sing Australia Day" with us; the Jumptown Jammers made a big impact with their swing dancing; while the Bush Poets entertained those enjoying Devonshire tea on the deck of the Education Centre.

Tours of the cottage were very popular while one of the features of the event was Dr Jenny Gall's "Hidden Voices" talk and subsequent tours of the cottage where, with the help of Ian Blake and David Game, some of the music that would have been heard in the cottage in the past was re-created. Children were not forgotten, with Noahs Ark Farm Friends and the face painter both well attended. The Australian Great War Association was also there in vintage uniforms to recruit new young members and there were guns as well as nursing memorabilia, courtesy of the Canberra Hospital Foundation, on display.

Gun Display

Thanks to all those who participated, not least the National Trust volunteers who marshalled cars, served Devonshire teas and sausages, and generally made the day run smoothly.

The Open Day is supported by the ACT Government through an ACT Heritage Grant.

Mary Johnston (text and photos)



Lenore Coltheart, author of Albert Hall: The Heart of Canberra - Wednesday 15 April

A small, but interested, group gathered in the Menzies Room at the National Archives on Wednesday 15 April to hear Dr Lenore Coltheart speak. We heard how Dr Coltheart became involved in the Albert Hall some years ago - including the role of Di Johnstone, former councillor of the National Trust (ACT) and Secretary of Friends of the Albert Hall. We also heard about the research leading to Dr Coltheart's book about the Albert Hall. But the presentation was much broader than this - Dr Coltheart talked about working with the National Archives and gave us some clues on how to get access to documents of interest. She also gave some insights into how communities can influence governments' responses to heritage issues and some warnings about how heritage places can be 'demolished by neglect'. Dr Coltheart then engaged the small audience in a 'tutorial' by asking what places they valued most around Canberra and why. Nominations included well-known sites such as Lanyon but also some lesser-known ones such as Yarralumla Brickworks, Wybalena Grove, the Hotel Kurrajong and St Patrick’s School in Braddon. There was also discussion on whether heritage could include more modern sites and she outlined criteria that were relevant in addressing more modern buildings and locations. She encouraged those who had an interest in protecting a heritage location to find out more about it including whether there was a heritage listing and, if not, to look at how to ensure conservation and at the process for possible heritage listing. A first step is to look at the ACT Heritage website www.environment.act.gov.au/heritage. All in all, a very enjoyable and useful presentation for which we thank Dr Coltheart. Copies of the beautifully presented book on the Albert Hall are available in the National Trust (ACT) office.

Mary Johnston

A Walk in the Park - Friday 17 April

On a coolish, gloomy, misty, damp morning a small umbrellaed brigade of heritage walkers undertook the Commonwealth Park walk. This involved intermittent history information interspersed with discussions on trees and shrubs, park design, park designers and water management. We started at the initial idea for the park shown on Walter Burley Griffin's 1913 plan, then we walked through Weston's cypress plantings and past Nerang Pool. We greeted Prime Minister Bob Menzies and had a short discussion on his role in the development of the Lake and the Park. Despite inclement weather, the misty vistas added an ethereal quality particularly to the soft autumn colours of the Swamp Cypresses (Taxodium distichum) now having a strong presence in the park along with their knobbly knees. Our walk took us to Rond Terraces past various memorials. We were disappointed with the completely-dry stream valley, admired the visible tangible sculptures but found appreciation of the buried Flugleman sculpture quite challenging. The local bird community of ducks, swamphens and an odd cormorant seemed happy, no doubt because the weather suited them and there were few pesky tourists. Fruit bats were hanging from tree tops and there was plenty of evidence of rabbits enjoying park life. Despite the rather unkempt look of shrub beds and the low water level of ponds, the park was lovely as always and although we ended up with wet feet we all enjoyed the walk.

Juliet Ramsay (text and photo)

http://www.environment.act.gov.au/heritage



Why organise an event in 2016

commemorating Dirk Hartog's

1616 visit?

In 2015 we will commemorate the end of the Second

World War. We will be invited to attend the ceremonies

or watch on TV as the lines of be-medalled people

march by. The authorities will organise them, and

millions of dollars have been allocated to be spent on

the commemoration in its various forms. It will happen.

We need not plan anything. Some of us are more

involved than others because of family connections to

the fallen. After similar attention having been paid in

2014 to the beginning of World War I, we again will

commemorate war and history, this time with many of

us old enough to remember. In addition, at least five

countries in Europe will commemorate the Battle of

Waterloo, longer ago but also considered an important

historical event.

In 2016 there may not be huge international events like

this planned and government may take a break from

considerable commemorative investment, or it may

commemorate the various bloody battles of WWI

individually until 2018.

In 2016 it will be 400 years since one Dirk Hartog

chanced upon our west coast. Nobody was there to see

it. Nobody died. Will therefore nobody care? It was one

of those events that changed the vague European

perception of the possible existence of a hypothetical

southern land to an inkling that it really existed.

Sixteenth century maps had shown a fabulous land

called Beach, pronounced ''Be-ak'', in approximately the

location where Hartog charted some 400 km of

coastline.

So was this land indeed a continent and if so how big?

Hartog's chart was hard evidence and triggered a long

sequence of visits, including deliberate voyages of

exploration, until 200 years later it was finally clear

where the coastline actually lay, and hence the extent

of Australia, as it was eventually called, was revealed.

After Hartog, the rest was merely waiting to happen:

the unfolding of a continent. The land shown on

Janszoon's chart of 1606 was then still regarded as

merely an extension of New Guinea, so there was not

the same excitement about a continent having been

found.

In 2016 we should commemorate Hartog's discovery. It

was an important moment in the history of Australia,

and we who are aware of it can create something which

will stimulate wider awareness and enrich the

community's understanding of Australia's history. We

are all members of various organisations or bodies. I

suggest that you raise your voice to propose that in

2016 your club, body, institute, department, school etc.

create an event to pay some attention to Dirk Hartog's

visit. It could be planting a tree (with or without plaque

or time capsule), a lecture, a music event, even a

barbecue―ideas aplenty!

The commemoration could happen in the form of many

small and medium-sized events around the nation,

without marches or medals, with media coverage

perhaps only in local papers. When you are asked “why

remember?”, some of the following facts may help you

make your point at your next meeting.

The significance of Dirk Hartog’s 1616 visit to Australia

is still there in the year 2016.

On 25 October 1616 the Dutch East India Company

(VOC) ship Eendracht, skippered by Dirk Hartog,

encountered the west coast of Australia. Anchoring

near what is now known as Dirk Hartog Island, they

stayed for two days. Before leaving, a pewter plate

recording the visit was attached to a post on Dirk

Hartog Island. As they sailed north they charted 400 km

of the coast.

This is the first known European contact with

the west coast of Australia.

The visit by Hartog and his crew was only the

second time outsiders are thought to have

made contact with Australia according to

contemporary documentation.



The first contact was in early 1606, a result of the

voyage of the VOC ship Duyfken, skippered by Janszoon

along the western shore of Cape York Peninsula.

By erecting the pewter plate as a postal

message for other mariners who might land at

this shore after him, Hartog recognised he had

made a significant discovery in terms of

European exploration.

His recording of land there, taken together with

Janszoon’s charting of the Cape York coast, also

first raised the possibility that this land was of

significant extent, perhaps a continent.

The plate that Hartog left behind still exists. It was

replaced by another VOC expedition led by Willem de

Vlamingh in 1697 and the original now resides in the

Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

The Hartog plate is a tangible link to our past.

It is in fact the oldest relic in existence relating

to early visits and contact by outsiders with

Australia and the indigenous Australians.

It is the oldest locally written/inscribed

document in our history.

Many Australians instantly recognize a

depiction of Hartog’s plate.

It is a true icon of Australian history

Hartog’s voyage of 1616 is therefore worth

commemorating nationally as a defining event in

Australian history, as well as being of considerable

importance to the history of the Netherlands.

Therefore it is worth organising something to

acknowledge the 400th anniversary of this defining

visit. You could form a team for it and start now.

Peter Reynders

Peter Reynders is a retired town planner with an interest in

maps of many types. He is Secretary of Australia on the Map

(AOTM), a division of the Australasian Hydrographic Society.

AOTM would like to see a ‘National Navigators Park' in

Canberra, an Anzac Parade type collection of memorials of

the early visitors to our shores, making our maritime contact

history visible. It ultimately may come about, but probably

too late to place a Hartog monument in it in 2016.

Dirk Hatog Plate (Above Photo by the author) Photos below from https://eriksgaap.wordpress.com/tag/dirk-

hartog/

Dirk Hartog



_____________________________________________________ National Trust of Australia (ACT)

Office

PO Box 1144 Civic Square ACT 2608

Telephone 02 6230 0533

Fax 02 6230 0544

Email [email protected]

Net www.nationaltrust.org.au ABN 50 797 949 955

Opening times: 9.30am to 3.00pm Monday to Thursday Office Location: 1st Floor, North Building Canberra City [above Canberra Museum and Gallery], _____________________________________________________

Patron

The Hon. Margaret Reid AO

President

Scott McAlister

Office Manager

Liz McMillan

[email protected]

The e-magazine, Heritage in Trust, is produced and edited by Maree

Treadwell and Wendy Whitham assisted by Dianne Dowling and

Mary Johnston

About Heritage in Trust

Heritage in Trust is published quarterly as an electronic

magazine in conjunction with the national magazine

Trust News in February, May, August and November.

The editors invite articles and letters from Trust

members with an interest in the heritage of the ACT

and these should be addressed to The Editor,

Heritage in Trust, at [email protected].

Mugga - Mugga Open Day 2015. Photos: Mary Johnston Left: AIF recruiters Right: Nursing Display More photos below.

Deadlines for copy

mid January (February issue)

mid April (May)

mid July (August)

mid October (November)

The views expressed in Heritage in Trust are not necessarily those of the National Trust of Australia (ACT).

The articles in this e-magazine are subject to copyright.

No article may be used without the consent of the ACT

National Trust and the author.





L-R Top row: Guide at Mugga - Mugga; Face painting; Landscape painting L-R Middle Row: Hidden Voices talk; Lacemaking Bottom: Car Display



L-R Top to Bottom

Noah Ark Farm Friends Nursing Display Sausage Sizzle JumpTown Jammers Sing Australia



Top: AIF Recruiters Bottom: Stalls at Mugga – Mugga Open Day

Documents

Heritage in Trust May 2015