-• • " I

.. rrI-IE GREAT WESTERN

BETWEEN

LEURA AND KATOOMBA

An Historical and Archaeological Study

Grace Karskens M.A.

July, 1990

THE GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY

LEURA ~~d KATOOMBA

AN HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL S~UDY

by

GRACE KARSKENS

Historian/Historical Archaeologist

for

ROADS AND TRAFFIC AUTHORITY

Central Mountains Division, Lithgaw

June-July, 1990

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I wish to thank the following persons and organisations for their assistance and advice:

Mr Mark Broderick, Blue Mountains City Council

Blue Mountains City Council

Ms Helen Haliwell, Blue Mountains Local History Library, Springwood

Mitchell Library

Mr Ted Sadler, Blue Mountains City Council

Mr Bob Walker, R.T.A. Central Mountains Division

Mr Bruce White, R.T.A. Central Mountains Division

Ms Margaret Williams, Corpers Business Service-s

Dr Richard Waterhouse, Waterhouse's Capable Babycare Service

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CONTENTS

1.00 INTRODUCTION

2 .. 00 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

2 . 1 OVERVIEW: THE ·BLUE MOUNTAINS

2.1.1 2.1.2. 2.1. 3 2.1.4

Aboriginal Occupation Early European Exploration and Settlement The Railways and Establishment of Towns The Twentieth Century

2.2 DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDY AREA

2.2.1 2.2.2 2.2.3 2.2.4

Chateau Napier Precinct Early Leura Township Precinct Marmion Estate Precinct North Katoomba Precinct

3.00 THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD

3 . 1 • J

THE SURVEY, AND THEMATIC CONTEXTS

3.2 ROAD BUILDING

3.3 RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT

3.4 MOUNTAIN RETREATS

3.5 TOWNSHIP DEVELOPMENT

3 . 6 COMMUNITY FACILITIES AND SERVLCES

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3 • 7 TOURISM

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4.00 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

5.00 IMPACT ,OF PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AND, CONSERVATION RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 CHATEAU NAPIER PRECINCT - ITEMS 1-5

5.2 EARLY LEURA TOWNSHIP PRECINCT _ ITEMS 6-14

5.3 MARMION ESTATE PRECINCT - ITEMS 15-18

5.4 NORTH KATOOMBA PRECINCT - ITEMS 19-26

NOTES

APPENDIX A'

INVENTORY OF HERITAGE ITEMS LOCATED IN THE STUDY AREA

APPENDIX B

LOCATION PLANS

1 . CHATEAU NAPIER PRECINCT

2 . EARLY LEURA TOWNSHIP PRECINCT 3 . MARMIAN ESTATE PRECINCT

4 . NORTH KATOOMBA PRECINCT

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1.00 INTRODUCTION

This study was commissioned by the Roads and Traffic

Authority (Central Mountains Division) as a preliminary

investigation of archaeological/heritage sites along the

Great Western Highway between Leura and Katoomba, New South

Wales. The stu~y area is the corridor along which highway

widening and reconstruction is proposed it is bounded by

the Great Western Railway along the south and the northern

boundaries of properties fronting the hlghway along the

north, and extends from Mt Hay Road in the east to 230m west

of Bowling Green Avenue in the west (see map I}.

The study's function is primarily to identify and evaluate

sites of cultural significance within the study area, to

assess the impact of the proposed new work and to devise

strategies for conservation where necessary and appropriate.

Some understanding of the area's historica~ development is

essential for these tasks, although the project brief did

not include a detailed and exhaustive investjgation of the

area or the individual sites. Such research, however, is

certainly warranted for some of the items located ..

Accordingly, this study includes a brief historical overview

of the development of the Great Western Highway, Leura and

Katoomba, from which major historical themes may be drawn in

order to interpret and assess the material record. More

specific data on the study area itself is also presented,

based largely on the subdivision plans for the area.

Section 3 is a discussion of the present material record

within the study area and the extent to which it represents

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past activities. Each item is also recorded individually in

the inventory (Appendix A). Section 4 present$ a statement

of significance for the study area. Statements of significance for each item have been included on the

inventory sheets. Section 5 discusses the impact of the

proposed highway on the heritage items located and the

conservation strategies considered appropriate for each site.

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HISTORICAL

DEVELOPMENT

OVERVIEW - THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

Aboriginal Occupation

It is believed that the central area of the Blue Mountains

was the territory of the Dharug tribe, whose region also

extended over the Cumberland Plain below. The Gandangara

people occupied the Southern Highlands and the southerly

part of the Blue Mountains, while the Wiradjuri lived to the

west; whether or not they occupied the western slopes is unclear.

Data about Aboriginal occupation of the mountains comes

mainly ~rom archaeological'sites such as rock shelters, art'

sites and open (scattered) sites. While these qo show that

the mountains were inhabited, it is not known for certain

whether the people were plain dwellers who moved seasonally

into the area, or whether they were permanent occupants.

Since European activity has focused on the Great Western

Highway, most of the sites so far investigated fall within

this corridor along the ridge. The vast areas still in

their natural state offer a resource from which we may learn

more of Aboriginal lifeways in this region'1

No Aboriginal sites were located within the study area.

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2.1.2 Early European Exploration and Settlement

There had been numerous attempts to cross the sandstone

barrier of the Blue Mountains before the successful

expedition of Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William

Charles Wentworth in 1813. The earlier attempts were

motivated more by scientific curiosity than economic

necessity, and by 1805 Governor King concluded that if the

mountains were not, in fact, impassable, they were "so

di ff icul t as to be not worthl-.'h i le" . It is thought that

Blaxland and Lawson often talked with the botanist George

Caley whose failed journey, like those before, demonstrated

the wrong methods of exploration. Perhaps the "famous

solution of keeping to the heights" emerged in these

conversations. It is possible, too, that the continuous

ridge linking the Grose and Cox Valleys was an Aboriginal

route and that the famous explorers owed much to Aboriginal

guides'2

The steep ridge they followed became the focus of European

activity in the Blue Mountains to the present day. William

Cox's men, convicts hand-picked fo= their strength and

willingness, hacked out a rough, at times impassable, track

along it in 1814-15, and were rewarded with emancipation,

land and stock.. Improvements were made continuously over

the 1820s and 1830s, especially during the period of the

ambitious Surveyor General, Thomas Mitchell. By the late

1830s, the rough track had become the Great Western Road,

endowed with handsome bridges, retaining walls and huge

cuttings blasted out from the mountains ides by convict gangs

Fig. 2 ,\ugustus Earle' s "I\ing' s Table Land, Blue '!0lJnt;,in c ";PF ~(\llth ~'31",,,, +:!:~ ::>'~I='('~'.:-2:':c neh' road" c 1826. \\01'1, on the Western 01'

Hoad h'a undcrh'a~' conti nU311)' during the> 1830s.

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now working as punishment rather than for rewards. Like the

Great Roads to the North and South, the Western Road was

powerfully symbolic of the colony's progress towards a

civilized state within the course of empire. The mountains

themselves, however, ~emained in the European mind a

threatening barrier of bleak and blasted landscapes

separating the comforting and fertile green valley floors to

the east and west. The scatter of early rough roadside inns

became more genteel towards the 1840s as the early trickle

of travellers grew to a throng during the gold rushes of the

1850s. Few lived in the mountains though; most were passing

through from Sydney to the west and back again'3

2.1. 3 The Railways and Establishment of Towns

··The hazardous days of road travel seemed final~y over when a

railway ~.as opened over the mountains to Bathurst between

1867 and 1879. A station was opened at Weatherboard (now

Wentworth Falls) in 1867, and another in 1874 at The

Crushers (later Katoomba) where, apart from the heavy stone­

crushing machinery for the road and railway, the area was deserted. 4

At the same time a shift in cultural outlooks and taste was

beginning to transform the mountains in the Victorian mind

from a desolate wilderness to "God's workshop", where

evidence of the almighty hand could be r~garded with "

sublime

almost pantheistic reverence. From the 1870s the mountains

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offered, to those who could afford it, a retreat from the increasing congestion and grime of booming Sydney. Influential and well-to-do families built elegant homes and laid out extepsive English-style gardens along the ridges, and several paid for private platforms to be erected on the railway lines.5

During the 1880s tourism boomed in the Blue Mountains as hundreds crowded onto the trains in order to take in the sights. Katoomba, propelled by astute local businessmen into a thoroughly modern "model" tourist town, bepame the focus of attraction. J.B. North's South Katoomba Coal Mines established in 1870 had inadvertently initiated this boom by . leading to the discovery of the breathtaking sights at Echo Point and the Three Sisters'6

Land around the various railway stations was broken up and sold off in suburban allotments in the 1880s and 1890s, and cottages and villas, most of timber with iron roofs, appeare~ on them! particularly fro~' the turn of the century. The Victorian and early twentieth century obsession with fresh ~ir and physicai/spiritual renewal as an antidote for life in the increasingly crowded and diseased city led to the establishment of large numqers of guest houses {by 1917 there were sixty in Katoomba alone}, hospitals t health resorts (such as the Hydro Majestic) and boarding schools where children could experience the joys of the "strenuous life".;

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Fig. 3 :\n to

aerial view of Katoomba showing its proximity the valleys {from Julie Stockton, "Health and

tion", in Spearri tt and Bushell, p. 83. I

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2.1.4 The Twentieth Century

The boom continued through to the

with the growth of motor transport,

was improved after years of neglect.

1920s and particularly

for which the highway

By the 1930s Katoomba was the honeymoon capital of New South Wales, while Leura

traded on a more refined image of gracious houses and smart shops.

After World War 11, though, and with the enormous changes in

outlooks, population, technology, education and transport of

the post-war period, the Mountains lost favour to the new

hedonistic cult of the beach. Compared to the freedom of

sun, sand and surf they seemed old fashioned, constricted and tame. The guesthouses became seedy and dilapidated. the

town centres languished, the man-made "improvements" to the

various natural sights seemed tiresome and ugly. In 1957 a

bushfire swept over the ridge destroying many older homes

and buildings of the upper mountains. During the 1970s and

1980s, a new wave of nostalgia for all things old fashioned,

and days which seemed simpler and safer, led to the

repopularisation of the Blue Mountains as a holiday retreat

for those seeking rest in the clear air and spectacular

views, and "old world charm" in the old guesthouses and streetscapes of the towns.

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2. 2 DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDY AREA

The study area reflects several of the historical themes

outlined above. For ease of discussion and reference, the

area has been broken up into four precincts, each with

distinguishing historical development, viz:

2.2.1

1. Chateau Napier Precinct - from Mt Hay Road to Leura Mall.

2. Early Leura Township Precinct - from Leura Mall

to Wentworth Street.

3. Marmion Estate Precinct - from Wentworth Street to Queens Road.

4. North Katoomba Precinct - from Queens Road to 230m

north of Bowling Green Avenue.

Chateau Napier Precinct

When the railway station at Leura opened in 1891 the land

east of Leura Mall was still large portions : G.S. Goyder

and David Brown owned eighty acres ~overing this precinct,

while the "island" formed by the road and railway was Crown "

Land. In 1895 the latter area, comprising sandstone

formations, light soil and bounded along the railway by a

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three rail split fence, was put up for sale by the

government and the outlines of the present subdivision

pattern were established. Leura Mall south of the highway

had been-laid out 100 links (2? yards/20.1ml wide and Mt Hay

Road 200 links (44 yards/40.2m) wide. Building development

was gradual: by about 1910, with the sale of the Leura

Station Estate, two houses existed on the south side of the

highway (on portions 171 and 172) one of which may be Item 2

(cottage); and another, The Sisters, probably named for the

celebrated Three Sisters, fronted Leura Mall. It is thought

that the fine paling fence still in situ (Item 5) belonged

to this house.

The Leura Station Estate (c1910) subdivided land on the

north side of the highway between west of Leura Mall and Mt

Hay Road. The four blocks ease of Leura Mall were puchased

by Justin McSweeney who built a large timber guesthouse,

Chateau Napier (Item 4) on Lots 2 and 3 in 1911; another

large wing fronting Leura Mall on Lot 1 appears to date from

the 'twenties. Houses and cotta;;'tes app,eared' on the- 'blocks

further east'," among them No. 21 (Item 1), a small gabled

cot tage, and No. - 27 (Item 3), a timber bayed house set high

above the road in a well planted terraced garden.

The Willow Park subdivision of 1914 advert,ised as the "last

of the Bathurst Road Frontages" in the area, showed Leura

Public School on the Mt Hay Road corner opposite the study

area. The disasterous 1957 bushfire burnt Ch~teau Napier to

the ground, leaving its shape outlined by ruins and the

grounds marked by large conifers and brick and stone walls.s "

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2.2.2 Early Leura Township Precinct

Although the boom in Katoomba real estate led to a

subdivision attempt (Towarra Estate, c1898-90) south of the

line at Leura even before the establishment of the station

there, the earliest buildings in the area appear to have

occurred north of the highway, within the study area.

The stationmaster's cottage (Item 10) may be contemporary

with the station (1891), and the local Rate Books also show

a house and store owned by R.E. Waddington on Lot 4 of

Section 5 by 1894. This would have stood between Wentworth

Street and Highlands Road, formerly called Station Street.

R.E. Waddington himself prepared a plan of his land for

subdivision in 1896 ~.Jhich showed his house "Tl.Jyford" at the

corner of Wentworth Street, and a Post Office and a store on

the allotment at the corner of Highland Street (now a

factory/bus depot). The area behind was fenced off and used

for poul try sheds and yards; the ground was "h'ell trenched"

and a row of pines and other trees ran along the whole frontage.

By 1897 another house belonging to C.H.E. Lindeman, a

prominent local figure, had been built on the next block

eastwards (Section 6, portions 1, 2 and 3). It was occupied

by T.S. Manuel in 1899, and by 1905 Lindeman also owned a

shop/dwelling, probably the corner site, in this section

(both house and shop now archaeological site - Item 13).

Two more houses had also appeared near Twyford in Section 5 b;\T 189'9.

The sale of the huge Marmion Estate from 1897 onwards also

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spurred growth. It covered much of the study area from just

east of Highland Street, westwards to the present-day site

6~ Blue Mountains District Anzac Memorial Hospital. Those

par~s fr~nting the highway opposite Leura Station were

apparently re-subdivided and sold off in subsequent years.

The roadside "village" was more consolidated by 1912, with a

smithy shop on Lot 3 of Section 3 (just west of Leura Mall)

and a shop on Lot 1 (extant - Item 11). The cottage at No.

57 Great Western Highway (Item 12) appears in the Rate

for 1914-16. By that time Lindeman's shop/dwelling

13) was occupied by Barnes Bros General Store, and

Books

(Item

the adjacent house was known as Landsbury or "Welshe's

Residental" (sic). One of the subdivision plans also shows

a school in the vicinity of the Lindeman house.

By 1907 Leura, south of the railway line was also attracting

development although subdivision plans show a cluster of

houses and shops north of the line. By about 1910 a

Professor Butler appears to have been in residence at

Yallambee, a splendid Queen Anne style residence built for a

wealthy shipping broker, Mr Schoffels, and perched on one of

the early Crown Lands allotments overlooking Leura Mall and

the station. The Alexandra Hotel nearby was built in 1902,

its first wing facing the railway station, a later wing

(c19151) facing the road and its increased motor traffic.

An archaeological site at 46 Great Western Highway was a

house and garden which may date from this period.

The 1957 bushfire also took its toll from this precinct, "

burning out the shop, dwelling and house at the northeast

corner of Highland Street, and probably all the early houses

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Fig. 11 An early vie~ of the Alexandra Hotel, Leura (from Old Leura and Katoomba, p. 184).

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between Highland and Wentworth Streets. The latter sites

have been redeveloped, but the former still lie in ruins.9

2.2.3 Marmion Estate Precinct

The Marmion Estate, first subdivided in 1897, covered the

area north of the highway between Leura and Katoomba, apart

from a small, narrow section between Eastview and Mount

Streets. The subdivision created Kings and Queens Roads and

the allotments were aimed at home-builders. Surviving

examples of early development are Pine Glen cottage (Item

16) and Hailsham (Item 17) at 141 and 157 Great Western

Highway respectively. The Federation style house at 129

Great Western Highway (Item 15) was built on two lots of the

later Leura Heights Estate (c1905) .10

2.2.4 North Katoomba Precinct

Although the main centre of present day Katoomba lies on the

south side of the railway, it was the area north of the

road/railway that was first laid out as the village of

Katoomba in 1882. Its all uut deserted bushland was mapped

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out in a rectilinear pattern typical of nineteenth

town planning, and a cemetery and recreation/park

was set aside. The latter became the site of Katoomba's

showground and of the Anzac Memorial Hospital. David Jones'

30 acres between Camp Street and Bowling Green Avenue

(formerly Winifred Street) was left undivided, and the

curving highway formed its frontage. Surveyor Potter marked an "old church" on this site (see Item 24), and the

archaeological survey located early-style stonework along

the property frontage, which may be either an early section

of road works or an early property boundary. A quarry from

which the stone may have been taken stood at the present day

Hospital Road junction.

In 1888 the Katoomba Township, north of the highway, was on

the market, and the section fronting Orient and Camp Streets had been bought up. James H. Neale's 40 acres, adjacent to

David Jones' land, was subdivided but still not sold off in 1890. By 1897 it had several residences on it, including The Rocks on the site of the later Ht St Mary Convent. David Jones' thirty acres was sold off as Grimley's subdivision in 1897 (Camp Street to Bowling Green Avenue)

and the highway frontages were regularised at this stage.

The Victorian/Federation style Rathmines (Item 25) was built

on one of these allotments. Further north, RosEwood Cottage

(Item 23) was built on one of the township allotments first to be sold off. It appeared, with two others between Orient

and Camp Streets, on the 1912 Clearscene Estate subdivision

plan. A bowling green had also been established on Winifred

Street/Bowling Green Avenue, and by 1919 there were houses

all ''along the highway front.H ge .1 I

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Grimley's Estate. subdivided in 1897. Rathmines ( T I pm 25) I;as bui 1 t at the corner of ~d\.:i n Lane.

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Mount St Mary's convent and boarding school (Item 26) opened

in 1901 and the present large Italianate building was

commenced in 1909 on the site of The Rocks. The latter was

removed to the corner of Bowling Green. Avenue and the

highway where it remained until it was recently demolished.

The Catholic sisters sold off part of their land fronting

Bowling Green Avenue and Station Street from 1923.12

The 'twenties also mark the establishment of service

buildings for the growing

grandstand was erected at the

community. A solid brick

showground (Item 22) and the

neo-classical style Anzac Memorial Hospital in its site set

well back from the highway was opened in 19Q7.13 Part of

the large frontage to the highway was given over as a war

memorial garden set with small plaques and planted with

shrubs and firs.

Fig. 14 South facade of Ht St Hary's convent and boarding school n.d. (from Old Leura and Katoomba p. 120).

SHAO£D fOTS ONLY TO Bf SOLD

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THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RECORD

3 . 1 THE SURVEY AND THEMATIC CONTEXTS •

The study area was examined via windscreen survey and foot on June 25 and 27, 1990. The nature of the area

on

is tied fundamentally to road and rail-side development, the narrow ridge along which the road and railway run is

for

and has been the main focus of European activity in the Blue

Mountains. The survival of the archaeological (physical)

record has been dependent on the l±fespan of materials used . in early buildings, on successive phases of highway widening

and deviation, to a lesser degree on development pressures,

and to a dramatic extent on bushfires which destroyed so

much of the evidence of past activity.

The twenty six items located in the study area fall into the

following historic~thematic context ·and may be interpreted within them:

1. RQad building.

2. Railway development.

3. Mountain retreats.

4. Township development.

6. Tourism.

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3 • 2 ROAD BUILDING

Two examples of early twentieth century road construction

were located in Precinct 2 (Early Leura Township) there

are remnants of early municipal roadworks on Highland Street

(Item 14). Timber kerbs and stone carriageway edging occur

on the eastern side of the road. Timber kerbs are rare

survivors, although other examples have been located at

Wentworth Falls'14 The features probably date from after

the Marmion Estate subdivision of 1897 and the growth of the

Leura township along the highway in the 1890s and 1900s.

Another interesting road construction feature is the

sUbstantial rock faced retaining wall between Kings and

Queens Roads in Precinct 3 (Item ,18). It rises to

approximately 2.5m' supporting the embankment carrying the

'highway above. It comprises 3 to 10 courses of dry laid

stone, and is thought to date from the early twentieth

century, for its style matches other work of the period (for

example, on Leura Mall and at the Chateau Napier site

Items 4, 5 and 6). The raising of the road at this point

was most likely a response to the increase in motor transport at the time.

One further possible example of roadwork is the low wall

fronting the vacant blocks between Camp Street and Edwin

Lane (Precinct 4, Item 24). Although at present

undocumented, the dry laid ashlar stonework with its

sparrow-picked finish closely resembles convict-built

retaining ~alls of the 1830s which OCCur elsewhere on the

Great Western Highway (for example at Lapstone Bridge and Mt

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Victoria Viaduct) and on the Great North Road around

Wiseman's Ferry. The wall is about 15-20m long and 60cm

high and lies well below the level of the adjacent footpath.

Its other possible origins are as a boundary wall for the

early church marked nearby on the 1882 survey, or for early

houses built on the Grimley Estate after 1897. Further

historical and archaeological research is thus required in

order to assess the wall's significance.

3 . 3 RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT

The study area contains two railway. buildings, both in

Precinct 2 Leura Railway Station (Item 9) and the

stationmaster's cottage (Item 10) at 70 Great Western

Highway. The brick and render station is substantially

intact, with a hipped roof, and falls within the National

Trust L~ura Conservation Area. The old statiorimaster's

cottage is a very plain asymmetrical cottage of Flemish bond

brickwork with a gabled bay and sash windows. The verandah

has been partly infilled with fibro, and the roof recovered with unsympathetic tiles.

the oldest buildings in

generally.

It is, nowever, probably one of

the study area and in Leura

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3.4 MOUNTAIN RETREATS

Leura and Katoomba and many other mountains towns attracted

numerous wealthy families from the 1870s onwards. They'

built substantial homes which were often intentionally

romantic and picturesque to blend with the sublime views.

Yallambee, in Leura Mall (Item 6), is a good example of an

early twentieth century mountain retreat. It is set in a

mature garden with a curving pathway and a massive rock faced

fence and steps to Leura Mall. Its romantic Queen Anne

design, with steeply pitched tile roof, half timbered twin

gables with shingles and brackets, was typfcal of some of

the mountains' large scale domestic architecture. Similar

buildings are The Ritz Guest House (now a nursing

nearby, and Jenolan Caves House. Yallambee, together

its many ancillary buildings and gardens appears

intact and falls within the Leura Conservation Area.

3 • 4 TOWNSHIP DEVELOPMENT

home)

with

to be

Most of the items located in the study area are houses,

ranging from small timber cottages to large brick villas.

They were built on allotments subdivided around the railway

~tation and along the highway from the 1890s onwards,

typically of timber with iron roofs and pretty details.

Early plans '6f the area ~how rows of these houses radiating

from both Leura and Katoomba; the items identified here are

thus the intermittent survivors of those early streetscapes.

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- 19 -

Among the more modest houses are weatherboard Federation style cottages (Items 12 and 16) which are intact although run down. Such houses were very common in the early twentieth century and could be bought prefabricated from firms like George Hudson & Co. Rosewood Cottage (now a restaurant - Item 23) demonstrates how these houses can be restored, particularly through appropriate paint colour schemes, and sympathetically extended. Other less intact cottages face one another across the highway in Precinct 1 (Items 1 and 2). Two larger Federation style houses, both set in mature gardens are 129 Great Western Highway (Item 3, Precinct 1) and Hailsham, 157 Great Western Highway (Item 17, Precinct 3). At No. 129, a stone flagged path and steps lead up successive densely planted terraces to a bayed timber house with a hipped and gabled iron roof and timber detailing. Hailsham, by contrast, nestles on slopes below the road surrounded by an extensive terraced garden with established stands of conifers, the rare Eucalyptus Oreades (Blue Mountains Ash), poplars and azaleas. At the rear the mature orchard is bordered by blue spruce, rhododendrons, maples and conifers.ls Both these houses have unsympathetic alterations, for example infilled verandahs and foundations, but in both cases restoration appears to be feasible. In their fine gardens they, like Yallambee, offer evocative views on the establishment and evolution of mountains homes during the first half of the twentieth century.

Another earlier timber house, Rathmines (Item 25), was probably built soon after the Grimley's subdivision of 1897. Although the symmetrical facade has been partly altered by an enclosure, the side elevation reveals intact Jours, windows and verandah details of a transitional Victorian/

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Federation character. The steeply pitched roof has symmetrically placed brick chimneys.

A large brick and roughcast villa, (Item 15, c1910-15) stands on ~n elevated block above the highway on the Leura Heights Estate. It has lost its original roof material (now

modern tiles) and its timber balustrade, but retains the

timber-floored· return verandah with bevelled posts and

curvilinear valences, as well as bays of casement windows

with some diamond-patterned top lights. A row of large firs

flanks the house to the east, but there is little else remaining of the garden.

One further site within this thematic context is the site of

a ruined house at 46 Great Western Highway (Item 7). A

fence and c1910 gate open onto a small garden of rockeries.

The overgrown ruins of a house, possibly that shown on the

c1910 Leura, Station Estate subdivision plan, terrace apove this garden. Further

lie on a

historical/ archaeological investigation may reveal its significance,

"

age and the nature of occu~ancy.

3 • 5 COMMUNITY SERVICES AND FACILITIES

Early Australian towns and suburbs relied largely on pr~vate initiative for their basic services. If the populations

grew large, and insistent enough, the towns were eventually

endowed with public schools, hospitals and recreational

- 21 -

facilities. Thus the earlier services in the study area

were the shops, Post Office, and school at Leura (Precinct

2). Of these, the site of C.H. Lindeman's shop/dwelling and

hOQse survives at the corner of Great Western Highway and Highland Street (Item 13) , comprising wall walls, foundati6ns, steps, mounds of rubble and a scatter of

surface artifacts. A small rendered brick shop built hard

on the property boundary (Item 11) at the corner of Leura

Mall is the only other material evidence of the early village.

More substantial community facilities appeared in the 1920s; . three are located in Precinct 4. The Blue Mountains

District Anzac Memorial Hospital (Item 20) was opened in

1927 on a large Crown Land s~te set back from the hlghway.

The red brick and sandstone main wing with its large

classical pediment and sandstone portico appears to be

intact but is obscured by the many more functionally-styled buildings around it. Part of the grounds fronting the highwa~ were·given over to an Anzac Memorial Garden (Item 19 c1920s or 30s, or possibly later) staked on either side of a gravel timber posts with memorial plaques.

planted with firs and

path with small, white

The showground adjacent

small brick grandstand to the hospital was endowed with a

(Item 22 - 1920s) topped by an ornamental ventilator. This structure is also largely intact, although in need of-maintenance. Mens' and Ladies' conveniences in matching style and materials are perched on the slopes behind it.

At the western end of the study area the former Mt St Mary's "

convent and boarding school (item 26, 1909-10) forms a gateway landmark for Katoomba. It is a very large 3-storey

building of pared-down Italianate style, with round arched

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windows and loggias, pilasters and a square four-storey

tower. The main building is flanked on the west by a

Spanish Mission style wing (1930s) and on the east by an unsympathetic 1960s blond brick wing ..

3 • 6 TOURISM

The study area contains two sites which demonstrate the Blue

Mountains' traditional economic reliance on' ~ourism: the Chateau Napier site and the Alexandra Hotel .

. The Chateau Napier site (Item 4, Precindt 1) is marked by a

cluster of promirient mature conifers standing on the

elevated site above the highway. The remains of a once­

balustraded fence and an intact stuccoed archway and steps

still stand on Leura Mall. Beyond are th~ burnt out remairi~ of two main· wings of the guest house, the older timber

section on the two middle portions, and the 1920s stYle wing

on the western side. The ruins comprise partly intact walls

(1920s wing), wall foundations, a long pathway and series of

steps leading from the highway to a terrace/landing, a large

expanse of concrete paving, possibly a tennis court, the

concrete floors of garages to the rear (near Britain Street)

and a high brick perimeter wall curving around the

northwestern corner. The highway frontage is bounded by a

substantial rock-faced wall 3-4m in height of uncoursed

l"'andolll bonded ashlar masonry. The extent to which the site

has been altered since the 1957 bushfire is not known, but

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no evidence of new structures was found.

some shrubs and ground Cover plants

survive along the highway frontage.

Mature trees and

(e. g. agapanthus)

The Alexandra Hotel (Item 8, Precinct 2) on the opposite

side of the highway has two facades : the older 1903 facade

(which may incorporate more than one building stage) faces

Leura Railway Station, its picturesque timber detailed style

greeting visitors as they alighted from the train. A later

small wing (c1915) tacked onto the rear of the timber house

faces the road, acknowledging the rise in trade from

motorists. While the railway side features ornate brackets,

spindles, arches and posts surmounted by a "tudor" gable of

half timbering and roughcast, the road side resembles a shop

front, with a simple curvilinear paparet.

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STATEMENT OF

SIGNIFICANCE

The study area is significant for the following reasons:

4.1 Historic

4.2 Archaeological

"

The present Great Western Highway

runs along the line of earliest European

exploration and movement into the interior, and the area has served this

purpose continuously sin~e 1815.

significance is enhanced by

This

the existence of early twentieth century

engineering features such as retaining

walls, kerbs and carriageway edging, and

a retaining wall possible dating from

the 1830s (Items 14,18 and 24). The road itself is also historically significant because of the role it

played in attracting and shaping town

development along its route ..

The area contains three sites of

archaeological potential, including the Chateau Napier site, the Lindeman shop/ dwelling and house site and the house site at 46 Great Western Highway (Items 4, 7 and 13) . Another unconfirmed site is that of an early Church (pre 1882) and early roadworks (Item 24). These

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sites represent a repository of

information about late nineteenth and

early twentieth century life in these

areas.

4.3 Architectural The area contains a range of

4.4

domestic architecture of the 1900-1920s

includin~ cottages, villas and a mansion

which, although contrasting in scale,

are typical of Blue

architecture in material~,

Mountains

style and

detailing. They are physical reminders

of the character of early township and

roadside development

'Katoomba.

in Leura and

Natural/Cultural Parts of the study area are notable

Land'Scape J for th~ir vistas of natural and man-made

landscapes. These include views to the

,north over escarpmen~s and valleys (for

example from 129 Great Western HighwaY)J

stands of large, dark conifers (for

example, at the Chateau Napier site),

valley vistas of exotic deciduous trees

and stands of the rare Eucalyptus

Oreades (Blue Mountains Ash around

Hailsham, and opposite the hospital),

and terraced, fenced, mature gardens "

which surround early twentieth century

homes (for example, 127 Great Western

Highway, Yallambee and Hailsham).

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Statements of significance for each item are given in the Inventory (Appendix A).

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IMPACT OF PROPOSED

DEVELOPMENT AND

CONSERVATION

RECOMMENDATIONS

The study area contains a considerable number of sites of great variety and consequently, differing levels of significance requiring a range of conservation strategies.

The historic nature of the highway itself (see 4.1 above)

will not be compromised by the new work, since the latter is

part of its ongoing historical function, and, in any case,

much of the highway has already been modernised. Some of

the items identified by this study, however, would be

destroyed by the new work as proposed, and in a few cases

they are considered to be of such valu'e that ·all e'fforts

should be made to conserve them, including

examination of all development options and

historical/archaeological research. The

careful

further

following discussion and assessment is based on the new ~orks J as planned at ~resent and on consultation made with designers

from the . R.T.A. 's Central Mountains Division. The

recommendations are made in accordance with the Australian

ICOMOS Charter for the Conservation of Places of Culteral

Significance (The Burra Charter).

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5 . 1 CHATEAU NAPIER PRECINCT

Item 1 Cottage, 21 Great Western Highway

The present plans do not affect this cottage. Should it be

affected by future planning, a photographic and plan record

should be made in case of demoliton; if possible the

structure could ·be sold off for removal and re-erection

'elsewhere.

Item 2 Cottage, 8 Great Western Highway

The present plans do not affect this cottage.

conservation should be as for Item 1.

Strategy for

Item 3 House and Garden, 27 Great Western Highway

The front fence, garage and a limited sect"ion of the garden

are to be destroyed by the proposed work. As the house is

set well back in the terraced garden and above the highway,

this is considered acceptable as long as suitable fencing

and trees are reinstated along the new work.

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Item 4 Chateau Napier site, Great Western Highway, Corner Leura Mall

The proposed work will involve the demoliton of the fine

stone retaining wall on the highway frontage of this site

and it is thought that construction work may destabilise the

extant archway, wall and steps fronting Leura Mall, as well

as significantly altering their visual context. As the

stone wall and archway are of considerable townscape/

aesthetic value, as are the mature conifers behind them, it

would be preferable not to disturb this site at all. If

such disturbance is, in the final analysis, unavoidable, is recommended that:

it

1.

2.

3.

4.

The site as a whole be subject to a full historical/

archaeological investigation and recording.

The retaining wall be recorded before dismantling,

re-erected as part of the new work.

As many trees as possible are retained.

and

The archway and steps are stabilised and retained in situ.

Item 5 Timber Paling Fence, East Side of Leura Mall

This item is not affected by the present roadway "

If it is '~ffected by fuLure plans, the fence proposals.

should be dismantled and reused to define the property boundary,

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5 • 2 EARLY LEURA TOWNSHIP PRECINCT

Item 6 Yallambee, 117-121 Leura Mall

The proposed work runs well clear of Yallambee and its

garden and ancillary buildings. The site must not be

disturbed or destroyed by future work.

Item 7 House and garden site, 46 Great Western Highway

This site is not affected by the work as proposed. If it is

affected by future proposals, it should first be subject to

an historical/archaeological investigation and recording.

Item 8 Hotel Alexandra, Great Western Highway, west of Leura Mall

The proposed work will only affect part of the property

frontage to the highway; this is considered acceptable as

this area seems of no particular significance. Future

proposals should avoid destruction of either of the wings

and consider landscaping to enhance the vista to the hotel.

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Item 9 Leura Railway Station

The proposed work will not affect the station.

Item 10 Stationmaster's Cottage

Part of the front yard of the cottage will be taken by the

work as proposed. This is acceptable, though sympathetic

fencing and planting would soften the impact and improve the

vista to the cottage. Although the cottage is at present

nondescript and in need of restoration, it is likely to be

one of Leura's earliest buildings; future p~anning should avoid its demolition.

Item 11 Shop, Great Western Highway, corner Leura Mall

This building is not affected by the proposed works. If it

is affected by future work, it should be. fully recorded before dem6litlon.

Item 12 Cottage, 57 Great Western Highwaz

The proposed work will involve demolition of this cottage.

As there are many examples of this type in the mountains,

and probably thousands in Sydney, demolition is considered

acceptable. A photographic/plan record should be made

beforehand, and ideally the house should be sold for removal elsewhere.

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Item 13 Lindeman's shop/dwelling and house site, Great

Western Highway, corner Highland Street

The front (south) boundary of this archaeological

including wall foundations, will be destroyed by the site,

works as proposed. This is acceptable only if a full historical

and archaeological investigation is undertaken beforehand.

Item 14 Road construction features, Highland Street

These features are relatively rare and should be left

situ as far as possible. Any remaking of Highlands

should if possible match the stone and timber features the old work.

5 • 3 . MARMION ESTATE PRECINCT

Item· 15 House and row of pine trees, 129 Great Western Highway

in

Road

of

The work as proposed involves the demolition of this house;

if it is retained, its front bay will stand only 2m from an

approximately 7m drop to the highway below. The

significance of the house is not outstanding; it is a fairly

plain and to some extent altered example of its type.

However, it is a large, spacious house, capable of

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restoration, on a high site with views over the valleys to the south,and a large rear yard. It is considered that the house might well be worth saving if possible, even with the higpway close to its frontage; proceeds from its resale (and hence possible restoration) may outweigh the cost of demolition/retention.

Item 17 Hailsham and garden, 157 Great Western Highway

At this stage the R.T.A. proposes to dismantle and relocate Hailsham and to clear its front (south) gardeh in order to make way for new work. If the house is left in situ, the highway will pass within 2m of the south facade. This site is considered to be of such significance that neither of these actions are acceptable on conservation grounds, since the house derives much of its importance from its garden setting. The house in isolation, and in its present altered state, +-would ,not warrant" the expense of removal. Further, the Australian ICOMOS Charter f'"or" the" Conservation o"f Places of Culturql Significance (The Burra Charter) states that buildings should remain in their historical location, except as a last resort (Article 9).

Conservation strategies for this site include:

1. Close examination of all alternatives to the present highway design with a view to conserving Hailsham and its garden intact and along present boundaries.

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2. Close examination of all alternatives with a view to

mitigating the impact of the new work., for example

through resuming only a portion and relocating the

fence, ornaments and plantings.· This should be

underta~en together with (3).

3. Commission a conservation plan for the site to be

prepared by

architectural

consultants qualified

and historic gardens

in historical,

research and

assessment. This plan should involve the working out

of a design option which does least possible damage to

the site.

Item 18 Retaining Wall, Great Western Highway between

Kings and Queens Roads

The work as ·proposed will involve the demolition of this

retaining wall. While it would be pr~ferable {o'··preserve

the wall in situ, if this is not possible, its recording,

dismantling and re-erection as part of the ~ew ~ork would be

an acceptable alternative.

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Item 19

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NORTH KATOOMBA PRECINCT

Anzac Memorial Garden within the grounds'of Blue Mountains District

Anzac Memorial Hospital

This item is at present unaffected by the proposed work. If

it is affected by future planning, it is considered

acceptable to remove and replant the garden elsewhere in the

hospital grounds, subject to consultation with relevant

community groups.

Item 20 Blue Mountains District Anzac Memorial Hospital

The significant buildings ~.;i thin the hospital complex are

unaffected by the Pl'oposed work and are unlikely to be

affected .. by future plans. The foreground of the hospital

frontin.<;. t·he Great Western Highway is 'of no heritage

significance.

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Item 21

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Remnant Stand of Eucalyptus Oreades (Blue

Mountains Ash) Great Western Highway opposite

Blue Mountains District Anzac Memorial Hospital

The work as proposed involves the destruction of this stand.

The trees are listed on Blue Mountains City Council

Significant Tree Register as rare remnants of the original

high mountain forest and hanging swamps at the headwaters of

Leura Cascades.I6 The new highway design ~hould be re­

examined to see whether. the trees might be preserved. It is

recommended that consultation be carried out between the

R.T.A., Blue Mountains City Council and local conservation

groups.

Item 22 Grandstand and Auxiliary Buildings

These struc~ures are not affected .by the proposed works and

"are,unlikeli to be affected by future designs.

Item 23 Rosewood Cottage, now restaurant, Great Western

Highway, corner Orient Street

This item is not affected by the works as proposed. Any

future designs should ensure the preservation of the house,

fence, surrounding mature trees and the vista to the site.

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Item 24 Possible 1830s retaining wall and early church

The Hork as - proposed will most likely involve the

destruction of this wall. Too little is known of its

origin, significance and the archaeological potential of

this site as a whole to devise appropriate conservation

strategies at ~his stage. Further histor~cal/archaeological

research is required in order to ascertain 1) the history of

- the wall, and 2) the location of the early church and

~hether or not subsequent development (housing, etc.) is

likely to have eliminated all archaeological trace of it.

Item 25 Rathmines, Great Western Highway, corner Edwin

Lane

The work as proposed will either involve the demolition of

this house or of much of its front garden. Although run­

down and with its front facade partly altered, the house is

interesting in its tra~sitional Victorian/Federation style

and could be one of Katoomba's earliest houses in this

earliest area of subdivision. It is recommended that the

site be further investigated for its history, architectural

intactness and whether it is a rare example in Katoomba or

not. It is further recommended that the highway design be

reassessed to see whether an adjustment could preserve

Rathmines with an adequate curtilage.

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Item 26 Former Mt St Mary Convent and Boarding School

The work as proposed does not affect the convent building.

Any future work should allow for the presenvation of the

building and the vista to it, and ideally enhance that

vista.

'1

Lr ,

,r ~,

I:, .. j'

f 1111' Ipr r lif '., '" I

1·'lf

I1I I 1,,11

'11 \

III I: 11 III I I~ , I'l' " ,

" , ,j-

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

NOTES

Nola Robertson, "Aborigines of the Blue Mountains", in

Peter Stanbury and Lydia Bushell (eds) , The Blue

Mountains - Grand Adventure for All, Sydney, 1985, pp.

31 - 41.

See Theo Barker, "The Crossing of the Mountains and the

founding of Bathurst A Sesqui-Centenary Review",

Journal of Royal Australian Historical Society, 51 : 2,

98-100; T.M. Perry, Australia's First Frontier - the

Spread of Settlement in New South Wales 1788-1829,

Melbourne, i965, pp. 26 - 27.

See Grace Karskens, Cox's Way Historical and ~~-=----~~--~~~~~~==~---=~

Archaeological Study of Cox's Road and Early Crossings

of the Blue' Mountains New South Wales, Lands

Department, Sydney, 1988.

Anne Burke, "Awesome Cliffs, Fairy Dells and Lovers

Silhouetted in the Sunset - A Recreational History of

the Blue Mountains, 1870 1939", in Spearritt and

Bushell, The Blue Mountains, pp. 96, 98.

Ibid. ; see also Grace Karskens "Historical and

Architectural Development of Caves House Precinct", in

Robert Moore, "The Caves House Precinct, Jenolan Caves

Reserve C,onserva tion Plan" , unpublished report

prepared for the Tourism Commission of New South Wales,

1988, Volume 2 pp. 4, 7.

----------=-.:..::.-'----------------------------= ........ ---

.)

, '";

I I I I I I ~

I '"

n

I I I I I I I I

- 2 -

6. Burke, loco cit.; Hugh Speirs, Landscape Art and the

Blue Mountains, Sydney, 1981, pp. 64 ff.

7. Burke, op. cit.; Julie Stockton, "Health and Education

- Local Industries Built on Air", in Spearritt and

Bushell, The Blue Mountains, pp. 82 - 94.

8. See series of maps and plans in Subdivision Box

Leura, Mitchell Library; Katoomba Municipality, Rate

Books, 1911, 1912-13. I am indebted to Helen Haliwell

of Blue Mountains City Local Histori Library at

9.

Springwood for her assistance in the Rate

research,. and other details of local history. Books

Ibid.; Amanda May Kaloila, "Katoomba and Leura: An

Architectural History", B.Arch. thesis, University of

New S~cith Wales, 1980; Anon., Old Leura and Katoomba,' A

Rotary Publication, Katoomba,

Books, 1893-1916. 1982?, p. 184; Rate

10. Subdivision Boxes

Mitchell Library. Katoomba (1 & 2) and Leura,

11. C. Potter, Plan. of the Village of Katoomba, 1882, Subdivision Box Katoomba (2) and series of subdivision

"

plans, Mitchell Library.

.~ .. -. -------

I~ ! I II~ 1111-'Ill I -\

1111'

III

11*

11' I' ill

.1,11' i .I

I'j I-III 11 11 i I III

III " I ! I'

" III : jJ qL.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

- 3 -

Subdivision plans, ibid., Old Leura and Katoomba, p.

120.

Stockton, op. cit. p. 87.

See Meredith Walker, "The Character of Towns and

Buildings" , in Spearritt and Bushell,T ~~h~e~~B~l~u~e~

Mountains, pp. 123 - 124.

Andrew Flatau, et. al., "A Submission to the Roads and

Traffic Authority, Central Mountains Division,

concerning the proposed reconstruction of the Great

Western Highway between Leura Mall and Bowling Green

Avenue Katoomba by residents and landowners of the

valley bound by Kings Road, Queens Road and the Great

Western Highway", unpublished submission, November

1989.

Pers corn. Mark Broderick, Town Planning Department,

Blue Mountains City Council.

"

APPENDIX A

INVENTORY OF HERITAGE ITEMS

LOCATED IN THE STUDY AREA

I

- 2 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No 1

. Precinct 1 - Chateau Napier Precinct

Title Cottage

Location 21 Great Western Highway, Leura

History The cottage was most likely built after

t4e subdivision of the Leura Station

Estate (c1910) and appears to date from

c1915-20.

Description A small, gabled, weatherboard cottage

with simple detailing, including

shingling to the gable and panelled

doors with side and fanlights. The

house is sympathetically painted but has

lost its return verandah as shown on

1956 sewerage plan. The garden features

a timber picket fence.

Ilr

\1" ~I" 11 ' If lip 11 ..

'If If If If Ilr

~Ir

,I: In In In :In

IM In M , .

Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategy

- 3 -

A pleasant example of small-scale

domestic architecture typical of Blue

Mountains township/suburban development

of the early twentieth century.

Not affected.

If affected by future development,

record before demolition.

C !~ EAT W L S T E /( N fI I G 11 WAY LE U /( A TO KAT 0 0 M BA

fI J S TO HIe A I. / A It C 11 A EO LOG J C A L S lJ H V E Y J U L Y, 1 9 9 0

GRACE KAHSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

ITEM 1 Cott~£~: 21 Great Western Highway, Leura

r.

fr

" j. 1

i; I ~ __ '"". ""'''_'"'''<' __ -''''~~~~:'

'T~ I P~f!;C.iNc.rr I CO"T'T'" AGe: eJ lPEC,A.-r \VC!.S.-re..c:N HIGHWA., ........ L..;EuIf::.A..

o :J 10",."" L..' ___ ..... ' - _____ I

,

l'l-\ ~="lr AGE.. I-tAS

f...OST

'-'~DAI-i

......

6

'(

- 4 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No. 2

Precinct 1 - Chateau Napier Precinct

Title Cottage

Location 8 Great Western Highway, Leura

History :rhe co..ttage appears to have been in situ

on Lot 171 by the time the Leura Station

Estate was subdivided (c1910). It

stands on a lot sold off in" the Crown

Lands sale of 1895.

Description A small, gabled, timber cottage with an

encircling pitched verandah and intact

early twentieth century style chimneys.

The iron roof has been replaced by

unsympathetic orange liles. An

overgrown garden has several very large

conifers at the rear.

I

I I • I I I I

I • I • I • I I

I • I •

Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategy

- 5 -

Built between 1895 and c1910, this is

possibly one of Leura's oldest cottages,

and demonstrates typical small scale

township/suburban

development of

century.

Not affected.

Blue

the early

Mountains

twentieth

Retain if possible; if affected by

future development, conduct

historical/architectural

record before 'demolition.

'I

further

research;

Cr ..

• • 11

(; I{ I': 1\ T W E ~; T E f( N II J G 11 W A 'i

III S'1'OI( I CALl AHCIIAEOLOC J CAL SUHVEY JULY, 1990

(;h'ACE EAJ{SKENS, IliSTORIAN/HISTOHICAL AJ{CHAEOLOGIST

iTEM 2 Cottage, 8 Creat Western Highway, Leura

! .

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11 .

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ITE:-/A. e. p'~e:c.-INcr I ccrrrAa.e: t::> G~-r \'.'ve.6.-rE:s::-N I-i1(:;.H'vA.'V"

L.£.u~

-

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I '"

- 6 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No. 3

Precinct 1 - Chateau Napier Precinct

Title House and garden .

Location 27 Great Western Highway, Leura

History This house was most likely built after

the subdivision . of the Leura Statipn

Estate (c1910) and stylistically dates

from c1910 - 1915. Its set back and

Description

garden demonstrate the long,

blocks of that subdivision.

large

A largely intact Federation house of

weatherboards and a hipped and gabled

iron roof. The gabled bay features

coloured lights and timber brackets and

finial and. the ver-andah, although

infilled, retains a valence of turned

---"""'-----------~~--'-"' .. ~-- .. - .. ~- .

I _I li

-"! -' l J --~ ~ , , , •

Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategy

- 7 -

spindles. The house also has tesselated

tiles and a prominent chimney. It is

sited high above the road overlooking

Leura in a terraced garden planted with

mature, cold climate trees and shrubs,

including hydrangeas and rhododendrons.

The garden features a small timber

pergola over a stone paved pathway and

steps, and a timber spaced paling fence.

A good and externally intact example of

the Federation style executed in timber,

typical of Blue Mountaini homes of the

early twentieth century. It retains its

original curtilage and mature garden.

Front fence and garage to be removed.

This impact is acceptable if the front

fence and plantings are reinstated to

provide a partial screen from the new highway.

I1 I ~; 'I' 0 I J (' /\ L ! /\ It CH A EO LOG I C /\ L :) \J It V E Y JlJI,Y, 1990

(; lU\ (' (,: K A H:) KEN S, !I 1ST 0 f{ I /I. N ! 11 1 ~; TO I{ I C t\ L .f>. It C Il /\ EO L 0 (; J S T

House and garden, 2 7 Great Wes te rn H j~h\.Jay, Leura

1-

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IT~A -3 PRe:.CINC-T I HOUse:...AND GAJ1:..(7'eN 2.7 ~e.A..T vE.ST'e:.R:N HlG~\VAY" Le.0f:<:.,A.

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- 8 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS,

Item No.

Precinct

Title

Location

History

HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST •

4

1 - Chateau Napier Precinct

Site of Chateau Napier Guesthouse

Great Western Highway, corner of Leura

Mall, Leura.

The first sectio~ of the guesthouse was

built for Justin McSweeney on Lots 2 and

3 of the Leura Station Estate in 1911.

The present large conifers were probaply

planted at that stage and the stone

retaining wall fronting the Great

Western Highway erected. A second brick

and stucco wing was built c1920 on Lot

1, closer to Leura Mall. The early

guesthouse advertised "spacious

verandahs and·. balconies U and a

"promenade roof tt for talring' the air J "

as well as a motor garage, tennis court and

Description

Significance

r.

- 9 -

billiards room. The 1957 bushfire burnt

Chateau Napier to the ground, leaving

the site much as it is today.

The site comprises a complex of ruined walls, wall and pier foundations and paths and steps leading up from the road frontages. Near Britain Street at the. rear of the site are the concrete floors of the garages, and the perimeter walls,

include a curved dry-pressed brick wall,

a substantial sandstone retaining wall,

a smaller brick and render retaining

wall, and a rendered archway entry. The

site has a number of large conifers and

some other mature shrubs, and the ruin site is

materials,

scattered

including

bathroom tiles.

with

1950s

building

style

The site is significant for its

archaeological potential in relation to

the history of recreation/tourism which

has played such a fundamental role in

the development of the Blue Mountains.

The stone wall, group of conifers and

the archway entry are also a well-known

landmark along the highway in this area.

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategy

- 10 -

Identified in Blue Mountains Heritage

Study.

The large stone retaining wall will be

destroyed/possibly reconstructed as part

of new work. New work may also destroy/

destabilise the arched entry to the site

on Leura Mall.

It would be preferable not to disturb

the site at all. . If no alternative is

available, it is recommended that:

1. The site as a whole be subject to

full historical/archaeological

investigation and recording.

2. The retaining wall be re-erected as

part of the new work.

3.

4 .

As many trees as possible

retained. are

The archway

Leura Mall

and

be

retained in situ.

steps fronting

stabilised and

•

1

111

,

~lllr 1111!l r ~II·"

1111 .

Ilr:r 'I r 11 r Ilr 11 il" I ., r I I

',1;1 T \,1 TlllN 111CIIW,IY LHIII\I'() h i\ T ( )( l :'1 Il ;1

J [I I, Y, 1 (J :J 0

C ILI\ (' I' IL\ 1< ~; hEN S, fI 1ST () H I 1\ N I HIS T () I{ I C 1\ L

I T I ~1 \ l(]l(; Vi(~h' or Chatedu Napicr' heroI'(' 11 ' • .J(iS

d st.!' () y (~cl by bus h r 1 re. T h (~ 0 i del' 1 lJ 1 1 h' i fI g 1 S 11

the right, the 1920 hling on the l('i"

--------_._------- ..

G et E /\ T \.J EST E H N 11 1 C 11 Iv A Y LI·;U/lA TO KATOOMBA

11 1 S T 0 Hie A L / A It C 11 A E 0 LOG 1 C A L S U J( V E Y JULY, 1990

C HAC E K A H ~) KEN S, 11 1 S TO I? 1 A N I Jj J S T () HIe A L A E C If A E 0 L () G 1 S T

iTEM 4

.-----

Four concrete pier foundations of the 1920s wing. Scale lm in 20cm divisions. View to west

r :r I

!

r r r r

r r r r r Ir Ir Ir Ir

G rl EAT W EST E /{ N fI I G 11 WAY !,!<:U!{A TO KATOOMBA

11 1ST 0 R [ CA L / A It CH A EO LOG I CA L SUR V E Y JULY, 1990

G HAC E K A H S KEN S, Il 1ST 0 H I AN / II 1ST 0 I~ [ CA L A I< CH A EO LOG 1ST

ITEM 4 View down the steps and pathway which led up to the old wing, showing the stumps of original "urn" balustrading. Scale lm in 20cm divisions

I,J, l! IU\ I ( I hI T (l\) ,"1 1\ ;\

If I . T () I{ I (. A L / ;\ 1{ ( 11 i\ H) L () (; j C:!\ L S lJ /{ V I', Y JULY, I ~J ~J ()

C; i U\ E K !\ I { SKI. N :;, 11 I S T 0 It I !\ N / II 1ST 0 1 ( I (' i\ L ;1 U C !l 11 E (J L 0 (; 1ST

I'rHl

ilafl,jc";1 i)(dld('d ash 1 al" masonry l'('ta i III rll: hil I I f~"Of1; I ne: (;r"":1'. hC:-:t.t'I"n I!jgtl\';il\,; \'i1.1 (.

c11VI:-:I'ltlS

Vie \, a t t h co n () r UH< est co!' n e r 0 f t h (' S 1 t c

the (; u r" \" e d b r i c k r C' n c p / f'(~ t a j Tl i n g \.; Cl 1 1 . In 20cm divisions

I []I 1 [\ ()crn

t () h" a ["(j s

Sc;;]e lrn

I

I I I I I

CI-fA:r-e_"""-J NAPle::.ot. G:.Us;::.sTt-tou....E. '$"-re

GeE..A."" 'f../e:.s-rer..~ 1-1~"""V C\:::>1eN£e '-Et..J~ /~ '-l!!:...u..-:: .......

o 10 eo ...... 1...--__ ..1..-__ .... '

6~1CK A.~

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\'VALL--'S i"-lTA.C:.--r

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~""""'D ~e:.p S>-J~

\V..6..LL- P'AJ2:TL.V ~S.D r eelC-o<: ~DA.:r'ON.s

~11:::'NE:. lC:uol3~

Re.rAlNING \VAI-.L.

"

f

- 11 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS" HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No. 5

Precinct 1 - Chateau Napier Precinct

Title Spaced paling fence and trees and shrubs

behind.

Location On the east side of Leura Mall,

bordering the caravan park.

History The fence was probably erected around

"The Sisters", a residence built on one

of the Crown Lands subdivision lots of

1895. The house is shown on a c1910

plan, and appears to have been still in

situ on the 1956 sewerage plans.

Description

Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategy "

- 12 -

A well crafted, spaced-paling fence

with square posts, painted green, set on

two courses of rock faced stone and

backed with trees and shrubs. The fence is approximately 55 metres long with a

stone pier and gateway at the south end.

Part of the panels are in need of repair.

The fence and shrubs have townscape

significance as an extensiye, attractive

street feature within the Leura Urban

Conservation Area.

reminder of the It is also a visual

early house, "The Sisters", which stood on the site.

Falls within National Trust's Leura

Urban Conservation Area and recognised

as such in Blue Mountains City Council's L.B.P.

Not affected.

Repair and preserve. Should future plans affect the fence, should as a

last resort be removed and repositioned

to make a boundary on this side of Leura Mall.

(; 1 ( I,: 1\ T ... 1 EST E j( N "J C I1 'vi ;\ Y Lf':lJIII TO hll'!'O()MB/\

If 1 S TO l{ j C /\ L I /\ Hell /\ E () L () C J (. /\ 1, . lJ I{ V F Y .J lJ L Y, 1:1 9 0

Cl? /\ C E h /\ I{ S I{ F N S, 11 1ST () J{ 1 11 t~ /11 I S 'j' 0 J( I ell L 1\ IU~ fj /\ EO L 0 c; 1 S T

J TE!'l ;) Timber spaced-paling fence along the east side of Leura ~1a 11

r

r r r. r r.

r

('

LE.URA

R..A..'l-J..VAY STATION

o

\V Eo sre:RJ-..I

SPAC-E..D PA..L-It-...IG I=ENCE

ON -S'-oI-,.JE. FOU,,-,O.'>,;TlONS

, I

~!

- 13 -

GREAT WESTERN HiGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No. 6

Precinct 2 - Early Leura Township

Title Yallambee, outbuildings and garden

Location 117-121 Leura Mall, Leura

H~~tory Yallambee was built on an allotment

which ~a·s part of the Crown Lands sale

of 1895. While one other subdivision

"

plan shows one "Small" as the

the house was built for a occupant,

wealthy

shipping broker, Mr Scoffels, and was

later occupied by a Professor Butler, a

millionaire named Miss Hill, and. Captain

and Mrs Bruce.

I I1II

JI.i ~I

! 11_'

11-

li_

11

11_

III

11-

I,­ll. III I:.

I.

Description

Significance

Other Listings

- 14 -

A fine English romantic/Queen Anne style

mansion of brick and· render with

Marseilles tile roof. The picturesque

half-timbered gables and other rustic

detailing were much favoured for

mountain locations. Yallambee is set in

a large mature garden with a curved

pathway and matching outbuildings. A

massive rock-faced wall with steps

fronts Leura Mall and has an Art Nouveau style wrought iron gate.

An externally intact example of the

Queen Anne style employed for an Upper

class mountain retreat. It is related

stylistically to other intentionally

picturesque mountain architecture (e.g.

The Ritz N~rs~ng Home, formerly a

guesthouse, ~nd Jenolan Caves House).

The house retains its curtilage,

gardens, fences and outbuildings.

Included in the National Trust's Leura

Village Urban Conservation Area; this

area is recognised by Blue Mountain City Council's L.E.P.

.,

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategy

"

- 15 -

Not affected.

Avoid disturbance/alterations.

.. ,. .... ",": ~ - f.' .'~ . ~ • ".

\I{ !

Jr ~{ I

\I(

I(

I(

I(

I1 , I I

I I I I I I

III STOI{ I ('AI./ Al( 'IIAEOLOGI CAL lJHVEY ,JULY, ]990

C; f( ACE l{ A H S KEN S, If J ;) TO f{ J A N I HIS T ()f( I C A L A It C H A E () L () G r S T

ITHl 6

I'1'El'l 6

-.~~ -,-----."" .~

~-..:\

- -.

"~ ' .. ' .'':, -'It

Yallambee and garden, 117 121 Lcura Mall, Lcura

Hock faced retaining wall/fence and art nouveau gatb of Yallambee, Leura

I I I I I I I I

/AATVe:E DE:NSE.L..--Y

PLAJ-...l-rED

c:;.A.C<:I>E:J..J

________________________________________________ ~,hl~~!~~" _~!~ __ __

--------------------------- ---

- 16 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No. 7

Precinct 2 - Early Leura Township Precinct

Title Site of house and garden

Location 46 Great Western Highway, Leura

History The land on which the site occurs was

part of the Crown Land ~-subdivision of

1895, and the house may have been the

structure marked north of Yallambee on the c1910 subdivision plan for the Leura

Station Estate. The remaining fence and

gate and rubble on the site suggest a

house dating from- c1910-20. More

research is required to ascertain the

age and importance of the house.

- J

",-1'1' fl_

I!I' Iq

"

11 /1 11 II a

Description

Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategy

- 17 -

An intact fence and gateway open onto a

former garden set with ro~keries and, on

a terrace above, the remains of a house.

The house site includes a short, narro~ flight of walled steps, mounds of earth

and rubble and the base of a toilet.

Dry pressed bricks and brick fragments,

including a bullnosed brick suggest a

house dating from 1910-20.

The item may have significance as a

potential archaeological site which would provide data on early township

development ~nd domestic life in Leura.

Falls within the National Trust's Leura Conservation Area, recognised by Blue Mountains City Council's L.E.P.

Not affected.

If affected by future planning, the site

should be the subject of a full

historical/archaeological investigation and recording.

, ,

"

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- 18 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORI9AL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No. 8

Precinct 2 - Early Leura Township Precinct

Title Alexandra Hotel

Location Great Western Highway, West of Leura

Hall.

History

Description

The Alexandra Hotel ~as built in 1903

with its main facade facing Leura Railway Station to welcome the growing

number of guests. The land had been

part of the 1895 Crown Land sale. Another later wihg was added at the rear

to face the highway (c1915-20) and its

increasing motor traffic.

The south-facing facade features an

ornate verandah detailed with

spindle valences and balustrade, turned

I

-I I

-I

. -.

I

'-I

tI I I

Significance

I

I

I

I '(

I

I I

- 19 -

posts, curvilinear valences and

brackets. The verandah unifies a part

brick, part timber two storey structure

built on two levels with a central

·panelled door and sash windows with

coloured margins. The Marseilles tile roof is gabled and features a large central gable detailed with half timbering and roughcast and Art Nouveau style lettering. The north-facing building, a single storey small bar and

bottle shop, abuts the rea~ of the early

wing and features a curved, stuccoed parapet (c1915) and a pitched verandah.

The cast iron columns and lace brackets

.appear to be a recent,

addition. unsympathetic

The hotel is a material record of the .. tourism boom

century which

Katoomba and

interesting

in the

focused

Leura.

early twentieth

particularly on

It has an

townscape/visual and historic relationship with Leura Railway

Station, demonstrating how rail and tourism were inextricably bound together, and the later wing also shows the impact of the use of motor transport. The facades appear to be

largely intact and the south facing wing

is a well maintained example of early

twentieth century taste in architectural embellishment.

' ------ -~ ---- ~,- --,",--

, 11

-'

~ ~ L 111-----.

other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategy

- 20 -

Included in National Trust's Leura Urban

Conservation Area, recognised by Blue

Mountains City Council's L.E.P.

The proposed development will pass over

part of the property frontage.

Future possible proposals should avoid

destruction or damage to the building

and cons ider the enhancement of, the

vista towards it.

"

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Alexandra lIotel, fncadc t,owards the south, facing Leura I?ailway Station

Alexandra Hotel, facade towards the north, facing the highway

11 \ -

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- 21 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST . .

Item No. 9

Precinct 2 - Early Leura Township Precinct

Title Leura Railway Station

Location On Great Western Railway, west of Leura

History

Description

Mall.

Leura Rai~way Station was opened in 1891

after m~dh speculation by real estate

developers over its location. Its

establishment spurred the land sales of

the next thirty years and the development of Leura.

A small, intact, brick and stucco

station building with a pitched iron

roof typical of late Victorian station design. "

Significance

other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategy

- 22 -

A good, intact example of a small, late

Victorian station, the site is also

historically important for its ce~tral

role in the establishment ~nd

development of Leura and the surrounding

area.

Included in National Trust's Leura Urban

Conservation Area, recognised as such in

Blue Mountains City Council's L.E.P.

Not affected.

Preserve intact.

I

~ ~ ~ , ~ ~ ~ , • • ~ ~

• ~

C !( EAT WE S T EH N il r G H WAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

11 1ST 0 fl 1 C A L I A H C H A EO LOG I C A L S U Ft V E Y .] U L Y, 1 990

CHACE KA[<SKENS, HlSTOHIAN/HlSTOHlCAL AHCHAEOLOGIST

ITEM 9 Leura Railway Station, view to east

"

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- 23 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS,

Item No.

Precinct

Title

Location

History

Description

a

HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST .

10

2 - Early Leura Township Precinct

Stationmaster's cottage

70 Great Western Highway, Leura.

The house was pro~ably ~uilt in the .. . -.

. 1890s to house the Leura stationmaster.

A plain, brick cottage with a hipped and

gabled roof extending over the front

verandah. The brickwork is Flemish

bond; there are three stepped brick

chimneys and

bracketing to

unsympathetic

some simple

the gable.

alterations

timber

Several

include

partial infilling of the veiandah, ~he~

handrail to the steps, and a steel mesh

fence.

- -,.--_ .. _--_ .. _----

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Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategy

- 24 -

One of Leura's earliest buildings and

historically associated with the

important railway statio~; the house is

capable of restoration.

Part of the front yard will be taken by

the work as proposed.

Re-fence front yard.with sympathetic

fencing and screen house with

appropriate plantings. Future planning

should avoid demolition.

I

,

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, I , I I I I

(;!,EAT wESTEHN HIGIIWAY LEUHA TO !\ATOOMBA

II J S TOR I C A L / A Hell A E 0 L 0 (; 1 C A L S U H V E Y J U I. Y. 1 9 9 0

CllACE KAHSKENS, 1I1STOHJAN/1I1STORICAL AHCIIAEOLOGIST

ITEM 10 Leura Stationmasters Cottage, 70 Great Western Highway, Leura

I--------------------------------------------~· __ Ir

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- 25 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST •

Item No.

Precinct

Title

Location

History

Description

Significance

11

2 - Early Leura Township Precinct

Shop

Great Western Highway, north west corner

of Leura Mall.

• 4- TheJshop was bu.ilt about 1912 ?pposite "

Chateau Napie~ and is part of the

roadside village developme.nt of the

period.

A small, plain, brick and render shop

built right up to the property boundary.

A survivor from the early twentieth

century"toadside virlage, largely Qfped

out by the 1957 bushfire.

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Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategy

- 26 -

Not affected.

If affected by future development this

shop should be fully recorded before

demolition.

(,

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- 27 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No. 12

Precinct 2 - Early Leura Township Precinct

Title Cottage

Location 57 Great Western Highway, Leura

History The cottage was probably built after the

subdivision of the Marmion Estate from

1897, or a subsequent estate. It dates

stylistically from c1910-1920 and Rate

Book records indicate its existence by

1914. It may have been one of the many

prefabricated cottages on the market at that time.

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Description

Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategies

"

- 28 -

A small, simple, timber cottage with a

hipped and gabled iron roof and pitched

verandah. The house retains paired sash

windows to the front and 4-paned windows at the side.

An intact example of small-scale

domestic architecture typical of Blue

Mountains township/suburban development

of the early twentieth century. It is

also part of the now-vanished roadside village development.

The development will involve the

demolition of the cottage.

Since there are many examples of this

type of house in the Mountains, and

probably thousands in Sydney, demolition

is considered acceptable. A record

should be made of the house beforehand

and ideally, the house could be sold for

removal and re-erection else~herc.

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(; It CAT W I·: S T E It N If 1 G 11 WAY LELJHA TO KATOOMBA

11 1ST () I ( I C A L / A fl. C 11 A EO LOG J C A L SUR V E Y ,) U L Y, 1 Y 9 0

GI(ACE KAJ{SKENS, HI STOHIAN/HJSTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

lTE~l 12 Cottage, 57 Great Western Highway, Leura

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JTE/A ,Z Pe:.eCIr-.JC.. Z c..c:nr~ 57 <:;;12!e.A,...- 'V'e.sre:.eN HIGHWAY ~E.Ue::A

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- 29 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTO~ICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No.

Precinct

Title

Location

History

13

2 - Early Leura Township Precinct

Site of C.H. Lindeman's shop/dwelling

and house

Great Western Highwiy, corner Highlands

Road.

C. H. Lindeman' s hous~ .. on this site date's

from at least·1897 and the shop/dwelling

at least from 1905. The house was

occupied by T.S. Manuel in 1899, and by

c1915 the streetscape comprised Barnes

Bros General Store on the corner,

adjoining "Welshe's Residental"

possibly a boarding' or guesthouse~

buildings were still owned by

(s ic ) ,

Both

C.H.

Lindeman, a local figure of some note.

Both structures were burnt down in the

1957 bushfil"~e and some rubble ap'pears to'

have been dumped at the rear since then.

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Description

Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

- 30 -

The site comprises wall foundations

along the highway frontage,

sandstone foundation walls of

intact

four

courses, sparrow-picked stones down the

western frontage and a series of flights

of steps at the rear, and what appear to

be fountains/cellars at the rear to the

east. The central section has overgrown

mounds of earth and rubble, with some

wall foundations visible, and

artifacts (pottery, glass shards,

were visible on the surface.

some

etc. )

The site is significant for its

archaeological potential in exploring

the character of the late nineteenth and

early twentieth century structures which

stood here, and to examine their usage

ind role in the early roadside village.

Identified in Blue Mountains Heritage

Study.

The front (south) section of the site

will be destroyed by the proposed work.

Conservation

strategy

"

- 31 -

The destruction of the site is only

acceptable if full historical/

archaeological investigations are

carried out beforehand.

F - "-.--~- ",~ ~ ,.f;

; le EAT wET E I(N 11 I G 11 WAY L /., U HAT 0 KAT 0 0 M H A

11 1ST 0 HIe A L I A In: It A E 0 LOG 1 C A L S U H V E Y ,JULY, 1990

C le ACE K A H S J\ ENS, H] S TO In AN / il 1 S TO IU CA L A H CH A EO L 0 C 1ST

I TEt>1 13 Lindeman's shop/dHelling and house site, Great Western Highway corner Highland Street. View south of the intact stone foundations on western frontage along Highland Street. Scale lm in 20cm divisions.

to the

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se-v"noN ~ CI2/A.=--rr ~~-re WAI-L- =o.JO-It:>A.TO'-l

- 32 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCH~EOLOGIST

Item No. 14

Precinct 2 - Early Leura Township Precinct

Title Road construction features.

Location Highland Street, near intersection with

Great Western Highway.

History Highland Street was originally darned

Station Street, as it was sited opposite

Leura Railway Station. The road was

laid out by 1898, by which time the footpaths to

constructed

Council. The

the highway

by Katoomba

timber kerbs

had been

Municipal

and stone carriageway edging may date from the

early twentieth century when shops and

houses appeared on the highway here.

The use of timber beams as kerbs was

described in Coane's AusLralian Roads (1903).

'I II II

jtl.

- 33 -

Description Large hardwood beams form the kerbs down

Highlands Road and a course of sandstone

blocks mark the edge of the now-sealed roadway.

Significance The use and survival of timber beams as

kerbing is rare (other examples have

been located at Wentworth Falls) while

the roadway features are interesting

relics of early municipal works in what

was then the village centre.

Other Listings

Impact of ,

Development The new highway will probably destroy

the features at the south end/junction.

Conservation

Strategy As much of these features should be left

in situ as Possible; the new

intersection should match the old layout

and reuse the old material if possible.

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•

- 34 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORI"AN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

~Item No. 15

Precinct 3 - Marmion Estate Precinct

Title House and row of pine trees.

Location 129 Great Western Highway, Leura

History The t~tensive Marmion Estate was first

subdivided 'in 1897, although the site of

129 appears not to have been'part of it,

but Lots 1 and 2 of the c1910 Leura

Heights Estate. Eastview Street behind

the house was created by this

subdivision. The house is stylistically

dated c1915.

Description A large Federation style villa of brick "

and roughcast walls, bay windows with

casement windows and diamond-patterned

--------................... _.

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Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Developme~t.

Conservation

Strategy

• J

- 35 -

top-lights and some curvilinear incised

timber detailing to the return verandah.

The balustrade has been removed and the

roof unsympathetically retiled. Inside

the house retains some original jOinery

and restrained plaster ceilings. The

front garden has little significance

although the curved row of mature pines

along the eastern boundary are of note.

There are good views towards the south.

An example of a large Federation stYle

villa retaining some original features I

and well sited on a ridge overlooking

the escarpment and valley to the south.

Proposed·~o be demolished; if retained

the front bay of the house will be about

2 metres from the drop to the new highway below.

Although the house is not of outstanding

significance and has been altered, it is

recommended that its retention and

resale after roadworks are complete be

investigated. The structure is in sound .... f{ •

~s capable of restoratlon and

has large, well-proportioned rooms.

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- 36 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST .

Item No.

Precinct

Title

Location

Histol1,y

Description

16

3 - Marmion Estate Precinct

Pine Glen - cottage

141 Great Western Highway, Leura

The .cottage was erected on the Marmion

Estate c1914. It may have been a

prefabricated building brought up and

erected on the site.

A painted Federation style timber

cottage with gabled bay and pitched

verandah, hipped and gabled iron roof

and brick chimney. It has some timber

detailing to the verandah, gable and

T.o!indows. "

,a.:. ___________________ - _______ . ___ . ______ ... _ ---'-

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Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategy

- 37 -

An intact example of a modest, timber

cottage of the early twentieth century

which demonstrates the town/subdivision

development o~ Leura/Katoomba in that

period.

To be demolished.

As there are many obher examples of this

type of house in the Mountains and in

Sydney, its removal is

acceptable if the site is considered

recorded

first. Ideally tl-le house could be "sold

for r8ffioval elsewhere.

'(

~---- --

•

I eRE A T WE S T E f{ N H I G I1 WAY LEUHA TO KATOOMBA

•

I IIISTOHICAL/ARClIAEOLOGICAL SUHVEY JULY, 1990

GHACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/lIISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST •

I •

I •

I •

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ITEM 16 Pine Glen, 141 Great Western Highway, Leura

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- 38 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST,

Item No. 17

Precinct 3 - Marrnion Estate Precinct

Title Hailsham and garden

Location 157 Great Western Highway

History Hailsham stands on land sold off from

the huge Marmion Estate subdivision ~f

1897 onwards. A c1905 plan shows its

blocks still for sale, and the house

dates stylistically from 01910. The

garden was probably originally

established when the house was built,

but has also evolved considerably since.

The house has been in the hands of the

present owners, the McClures, for the

past fifty years, and Mr Wally McClure's

mother":apparently created many of the

ornaments in it.

Description

Significance

"

- 39 -

A Federation style asymmetrical timber

house whose bay roof is unusually

hipped, like the main roof, rather than

gabled. A verandah, now partly

enclosed, runs along two sides of the

house and is detailed with fretted and

spaced slats, turned spindles and

ornamental brackets. The house also

retains its original door and window

joinery. The foundations have been

unsympathetically infilled, although

this is probably reversible.

The house nestles in a valley slope

surrounded by an extensive mature

garden, the front ,terraced with stone

work and with many enclosed gardens,

ornaments, a picket fence and a wide

range of exotic and native plants. The

back garden features a mature orchard

bordered by blue spruce, rhododendrons,

poplars, maples and conifers. Around

the garden to the north, a stand of the

rare Eucalyptus Oreades (Blue Mountains

Ash) forms a fine backdrop.

The house in its siting/setting of an

extensive, complex and mature garden is

a rare and evocative survivor,

demonstrating early twentieth cenlury

taste in domestic architecture and

gardens in the Blue Mountains.

r r I J I I I I I I I I I r.'II' • I I 11 I'

~ ~ ~ •

other Listings

Impact Qf

Development

Conservation

Strategy

- 40 -

At present plans are to raze the garden

and either demolish or relocate the

house. If the house is left in situ,

the new highway will pass within 2m of

its front bay.

, Hailsham and its garden are considered

to be of such significance that none of

the above actions are acceptable, since

the house derives much of its

significance from its setting/siting,

and, furtper, that relocation is not

considered a conservation strategy,

according· to the Burra Ch~rter.

recommended that~

It is

1.

2.

Close examinatioI1 of all

alternatives to the present highway

design with a view to conserving

Hailsham and its garden intact and

along present boundaries.

Close examination of all

alternatives with a view to ., mitigating .L.L _ impact of the ne\.J 1.-11t::

work, for example through resuming

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- 41 -

only a portion and relocating the

fence, ornaments and plantings.

This should be undertaken together wi th (3).

Commission a conservation plan for

the site to be prepared by

consultants qualified in

historical, architectural and historic gardens

assessment. This research and

plan should

involve the working out of a design

option which' does least possible

damage to the site.

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fTE/A 17 Pl::=:S'CI .... ~;.,-.3 H,4..JI-SH"A/A- ANP ~ IS"? e:;e.~ ...... ~JU"-' Ht.::#'-4'W'.o.V"

L.,...ts.W Ii!::A

~, ~ m

"

- 42 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No. 18

Precinct 3 - Marmion Estate Precinct

Title Retaining wall

Location On the north side of the Great Western

Highway between Kings and Queens Roads.

History

Description

The exact date of the wall is not known

but its -style Jis common to the early

twentieth century. Possibly the road

~'as improved for increasing motor

traffic of that time.

A substantial rock-faced battered

retaining wall rising from three to nine

courses, up to approximately 3m in

height. It is similar in style to walls

on local domestic sites, for example "

ILems (Chateau Napier) , 5

(timber/stone fence of The Sisters), and

6 (Yallambee). The wall appears to be

in sound condition.

, ----I

'It I,t I,r

,11,f 1111, I

II,t , ,I

11,'

lilt ! I

Illf

lit ,

" , ,.

Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategies

- 43 -

The wall is part of improvements to the

historic Great Western Highway, which

has carried European traffic since 1815.

It most likely demonstrates the response . to the use in motor transport in the

early twentieth century.

The wall will be demolished by the new work.

It would be preferable to retain the

wall in situ; if this is not possible,

it should b~ dismantled and re-erected,

as part of the new work, and identified as such.

I

( ,/; !~, 'I \, I" :;1 I, I { 11 I (; 11 w\ ')

J IJ I, Y , ] ~ J (J ()

C It /\ C E K t\ I( S l\ E t~ S, 11 1ST () It I 1\ t~ / !I J :.; TU It I (' ;\ L All. C /1/\ EO L 0 (J I T

, 11:-1 I H 1\(H:I,j';\;'(,d r'('t:llfllfl~ h)\l he\I,'('cn Ki1\~~~: (.\ \ .' t' ( , r 1 :',

I () ii d:-;, ,(: J Id. ( , : \ 1 c 1 fil J n :::' 0 ( 'In d 1 \' ! \, j \ '\-..

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ITEM 18 Vie ,,' t () \,' s t () r [' Cll' k fa c e d re t a i n i n ,I.( 1< il. 1 1

• .' 11 11 11 11 11

• • • • • 11 L

t~A. IS P-~NC-" :3 Src" .. .,!!! 1ii!t!!:--r~IN6 \VAL...L-. GCS-A. .. \Vs::!:!.TEA="-J HI4!>HWAV 8e:-n.v~ K.<1'-IC::>s 4NP GI.~~ R:oAP'S LE.U1il!!A.

o 10

I

"

I - 44 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No. 19

Precinct 4 - Katoomba North Precinct

Title Anzac Memorial Garden

Location

. ~ Hlstory

Description

Significance

On the Great Western Highway, in the

grounds of Blue Mountains Anzac Memorial

Hospital.

The 'garden was possibly established in

the 1920s after the hospital was opened

(1927), or later in the century.

A small, plain garden mainly of firs

with a curved, white gravel, central

pathway edged with undressed stones.

Small, white, timber posts with engraved

metal memorial plaques line the pathway.

The garden is a community tribute and

memorial to the war-dead of the Blue

Mountains.

r t t

~r ~ .. ~r I~r 1~l.r I/

i

, I .

/ 1,1 illll

'1 1,1 I:r

!

1I I I I I I

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategies

- 45 -

The garden is not affected by present

plans.

If the area were affected by future

planning, the garden could most probably

be removed to another section of the

hospital grounds, since l~ndscaping and

planting are fairly rudimentary .

• • • • • 11

• .. ..

(; It F 1\ T W EST J': IUJ 11 J (; 11 W 1\ Y LEUh'1\ TU kl\TOOMBI\

IlISTOHICI\L/I\JtCIlI\EOLOGICAL SUHVEY JUl,Y, 1990

CHACE KAHSKENS, IIISTOHIAN/I!ISTOHJCAL AHCIIAEOLOGIST

ITEM 1 9 Anzac Memorial Garden, in grounds of hospital, showing central pathway, plantings and memorial plaques

r :;'J:--

\tl

--:/ :~r j"f 1;11

:~r

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if I r r f r

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t~A '9 Pll::ec..'''-Ic--r 4-

;&../V~ '~C!.J..:>.L.. .:::;;.. .. eOEN ~.,... \VE:"'''rE;R::t-.! 1-(1a,.1-("",,,,,,-V, N

,4N~ ~AC>-1A.t... 1-(0.5""""""""1- <:;;.e:OUNP'S I<:A Tl::>o.-...zs "'"-

C> 100-1-1 -_L--_ ...... I

- 46 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No. 20

Precinct 4 - North Katoomba Precinct

Title Remnant stand of Eucalyptus Oreades

(Blue Mountains Ash).

Location On the south side of the Great Western

Highway, opposite Blue ~ountains Anzac

Memorial Hospital.

History

Description

These trees were once common in this

area, forming the old high

forest and hanging swamps

mountain

at the

headwaters of Leura Cascades. Very few

of these trees survive.

An avenue of white-trunked eucalypts

lining the roadside on the strip between

roadway and railway.

r

r r r r r r r 'r I I 11 'I I I

Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategies

.,

- 47 -

Rare survivors of the mountaintop

forest which once stood in this area;

the trees, forming an avenue along the

highway, also have considerable visuall

landscape value.

Blue Mountains City Council Significant

Tree Register.

The new highway will involve the

destruction of the stand.

Design should be reconsidered to see

whether the trees can be retained.

Recommend that consultation be made with

Blue Mountains City Council and local

conservation groups.

I I I I I I I I I I I I , , , t ~

--

-'-----

1,I,tJIU\ T() K.\T()()MIIA

I1 1ST 0 It j 'A L / /\ I{ ell A F 0 I, () C J CA L S lilt V E Y ,j tJ I, Y I 1990

(; I1 ACE K A R S KEN S, HIS 'I' 0 It I AN / Il j S TO [{ I CA L A It ell A EO L 0 (; J S T

l'I'El'l 20

]\('11If1;\f)\ ~;ta[\d or "1 ()\H) t <l 1 [\ S i\ s h )

l-tlcalyptus Oreades (Blue (Jppusi\(' llluf' :-1ourltains

\'j(,\.) oj" the remnant sLand to the south

Dj t r' j (: \

lillllll I: I

I1I11 I , '

:'1111

I1I

: 1I ,

i~ tl J '

1I . 1 11· l'l .

l-r~ zo r-e::e.c.JNC,-r' 4-f?:E/AN""'N-r" .s;-T.o..r-.,O oc=- e:LJCAl.V?-n.J,s Or;::c:~e.E> (5vul!! /,ADc.J--.rT A.u...JS .-...:sl-4 ) ot-Po 6.-re .6.N ZA.C ;?<$/""O el.A.l...- HOS PIT """'­

Gee..<>--r \V-&~ I-IIGH\V,.a....,.,.

J< A TOc:YAJ5"'-

'(

- 48 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOqIST

Item No.

Precinct

Titie

Location

History

21

4 - North Katoomba Precinct

Original wings of Blue Mountains

District Anzac Memorial Hospital

Great Western Highway, Katoomba

Plans for the hospital's establishment

were first made in 1919, with the

intenti6n that it was to be ~ practical

soldiers' memorial. Fundraising

activities continued over the following

six years, and the building was

completed in 1927 and opened by the

Duchess of York. It had 22 beds and was

staffed by a matron, two sisters and six

nurses.

.J •

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111[ I

;llf ;1; .­;:~

, I

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Description

Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategy

- 49 -

The early wings are well-crafted,

handsome Classical Revival style

structures in warm red brick with

sandstone dressings. The main entrance

has a restrained stone portico and is

surmounted by a classical pediment. The

view to the early building is obstructed

by the many later additions.

The buildings have historic value as

evidence of the growth of the Mountains

community and its c0mmitment to

remembrance of the war-dead. They have

aesthetic value as examples of the

Classical Revival style popular in the 1920s.

Identified in Blue ~ountains Heritage Study.

The buildings are not affected.

Not likely to be affected.

"

-~ , , , , f 11 11 , , , , , • -'-----------

LEUHI\ T

III TOHJCI\L/AHCHAEOLOGICI\L SUHVEY JUI,Y, I <jq()

GHACE KI\HSKENS, IlJSTOHIAN/HISTORICAL I\HCHAEOLOGI ST

ITEr,! Iq:'i faciHl(, of 81cH' ~l(\',Jn\:llTl Ilistri(:i I\n7, (' '1 []jol'ieil llo,spital

, I I , , I I I I, I , • , • , , 11 , I , •

ITE/A. 2J PRe:.c:A"-lc.. ...... .4 OIlleI<Z-l~\... \VING--E> ~ SUJE /Aoi...J"..l.,.A..IN~ DlSTJelC."T '.A.fo...l.~ /A.l!!:./AO~IAL... HOSp,-r,l>..L... G-Pe: .... "T \ve.s;;re~ t-t'G;.k\.V' ....... V CC?1i!:Ne;..II:'.

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/ -I .- - -- - - - ~ < /A~/ , ,

'\ ,-----------.-.// D I/.I " \ '-____________ , I \ '--

- 50 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No. 22

Precinct 4 - North Katoomba Precinct

Title Grandstand and auxiliary buildings

Location Katoomba Showground, Great Western

Highway, corner Woodland Road, Katoomba

History

Description

The land was set aside for recreational

purposes in 1883. The grandstand dates

stylistically from the 192bs.

An intact brick grandstand of pale brick

dressings to lintels

shallow-hipped iron

with orange brick

and ledges. The

roof is topped by an ornamental

Matching auxiliary

on the slopes at the

ventilator.

buildings stand

rear/south.

I I I I I

III

I . 1

,11 I I I

1I I I I I I I

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategies

- 51 -

Identified in Blue Mountains Heritage

Study.

The buildings are not affected by the

proposed development.

Not likely to be affected .

"

r

C If I', .\ T W EST E f{ N 11 I G I1 W /\ Y LEUIU\ '1'0 KA'J'OOMBA

IIIS'I'Ot(ICAL/AHCHAEOLOCJC/\!, SUItVEY JULY, 1990

C It ACE K A H S KEN S, Il 1 S T () It lA N I fl 1 S T () It 1 CA L A l( CH A EO LOG 1ST

1 TE~l 22 Katoomba Sho;.:ground grandstand with auxiliary buj ldings behind

rq j i Ill/ I1 1-:1/

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ITEZ./A ~%. f7eECIf'JC-T 4-G/i!::~D~r~D' AJ-..lD A.J..J>CIL.-\~ I!!fU/L-C71NG>S

KA"T'OO/"8 ...... ~l-40~.::;=tJ"4l> ,G;~" \Ve.st""r;o.e:N '"i,c;;.H\VA.V K<5..-roO ..... ,,_A..

o 40 l50 1--' _---1-1 ---!.-. _I

"

/

!

-

- 52 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIA~/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No. 23

Precinct 4 - North Katoomba Precinct

Title Rosewood Cottage, now restaurant, and

fence.

Location

History

Orient Street, corner Showground Lane.

The land on which Rosewood Cottage

stands subdivided e-arly in

Katoomba's·· history; a government

surveyor laid out the blocks in 1882,

and the land had been sold off by about

1890. The house was in situ by c1900

appearing with two adjacent on the

Clearscene subdivision plan of 1912.

The house appears to have been extended

sympathetically.

"

i

t, III

I1I "

11, ,I ..

.1 1,

~IL

~IL

li~L !IL IlL

Description

Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategies

- 53 -

A picturesque gabled weatherboard

cottage with square coloured lights to

the front windows of the bay, turned

verandah posts, timber brackets, french

doors and a hipped, iron roof. The

house is flanked by large conifers and a

spaced-paling fence marks the front

boundary.

A good externally intact example of the

Federation style executed in timber

which is typical of

homes; the house is a

early Katoomba township.

Not affected.

Blue Mountains

survivor of the

Not likely to be affected; maintain

house, fence, mature trees in situ and

preserve vista to the house.

--

L E \J 1(;\ TO l\ A T () 0 M B A

HISTORICAL/A!{CIIAEOLOGICA[' SU/tVEY JULY, 1~~10

C IL\ C E K A R ShE N S, HIS T () H I A N / 11 [ S T () J{ I C 1\ I. 1\ Hell A EO L 0 C 1ST

ITEM 23 HosP\~()ud Cottage, now restaurant, Orient Street cornc r S h (H.Jg round Lane, ha toomba

I'

~11 .-

1\ __

ir-I

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I-re.,..-A £::!3 P~INc.. .. 4-I2Ose:.\VOoc> Co-rrAG E ee.SrA.(jI1:,o...N' O~Ie:.,A..JT STeer ColI:::N6IO:: .$l-lo--VG::llI=OUNI> 1.-.6NE. ~,o..."TO<YA~

o 20 ~"'A. , I I

"

I I

r r r r r r r r r

- 54 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ~RCHAEOLOGIST

Item No.

Precinct

Title

Location

History

24

4 - North Katoomba Precinct

Possible 1830s retaining wall and early church site

Vacant allotments (3) fronting Great

Western Highway, K~toomba, (between Camp

Street and Edwin Lane.)

Further research is required to

ascertain the history of this wall and

the empty site behind it. The wall

bears striking resemblance to the

convict-built retaining walls on the

Great North Road (1830s) around Wisemans

Ferry, and also on the Great Western

Highway at Lapstone Bridge and Ht

Victoria Viaduct. Other possible

origins are (1) property boundary for

the early uhurch or (2) for later

(c1900) houses on the sites. A 1940

• I • I I I I I I I I

Description

Significance

- 55 -

road construction map indicates that a

retaining wall was to be erected at this

point, and a fence above it, but it is thought that this refers to the wall/ fence of neighbouring Rathmines, which is of different height and detail. The site may also be that of the "old

church" marked on Surveyor C.W. Potter's

map of Katoomba (1882).

The wall comprises two courses of hand

cut and dressed ashlar m~sonry dry laid

with a slight batter. The faces have

the characteristic sparrow-picked finish

of early to mid nineteenth century work.

The wall is approximately 15-20 metres

long, 60cm high and 30cm wide at the

top, although overgrowth of grass

hinders its visibility. The top cou~se

lies welt below the level of the 1940

bitumen footpath.

The full significance of this site

cannot be gauged until further historical/arohaeological investigations

are made. It may have considerable

.historical significance as convict-bu±lt

roa~works, and archaeological potential

as the site of a pre-1882 church.

r

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategies

- 56 -

The development as planned would destroy

the wall and part of the vacant block.

Further historical/archaeological

research is required to ascertain the

origin and significance of the wall and

site; conservation strategies should be

based on these findings.

"

I • I • I • I I I I • i i i ~ i Ii i i i i i i

11 I ( ) I (' I , ( : I1 ,\ I, 1 , { .l (; I (,' A I, S ( j 11 V I" Y ,J I! 1 , Y , ~

IlldE f\,\I{Sl\f',NS, HfSI'OlllAN/llISTOltlCAL AI1CHAEOLOGIST

E::1['ly stone ;,;a11 w<'stern lIigh;,;ay Lan!', Sea I (,~ 1 m

franting vacant RI lotments, between Camp Street and

in 20cm divisions

Gre'a t Ed"in

IlcCai or early stone wall sho\.:ing finish and 1(,\'('1 beJo'.; rODtpath, 5cm divisions

hand-picked Sea 1 f'~ 30em I r,

It

--(

{ ,

I LI!!('\ TO K t,I'()()M 1\,\

11 I ;; T Cl 11 I ,\ L / 111< C 11 ;\ E () L 0 (; ! C,\ I, :; lJ 11 V),, Y JULY, I~~JO

(;fl.ACE KAHSKENS, llJSTOHlAN/lllST()HICAL AHCIIAEOLOGIST

I'ii r' I (') f c () n vie L ""l,th I«(lad near sl."!c 1.0 ilF~1 24

bUllt n:tainlnf! Wisemnn's Ferry,

"all 11830) on the Creat N,S,W. showing similar

, J

'"T'EA'.. 21(- PIZ:EC-INC-'T 4-Po~6''"''(.....e" leao':> eo~v.o~1C

AND SrT'E =1=" EA.Jr:,-",," CJ-\U~H a.1::.EA.,.-r 'VEsr~ '-l'G>H IV~. VAC.6Nr AL.L.c:n""" ..... AEN-r.:s a£-~ ~ ~~e:.e::r ~p ~vt"l 1...PNe:. k ........ -nocvA.eJA.

o

-,---------

- 57 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - JULY, 1990

GRACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No. 25

Precinct 4 - North Katoomba Precinct

~Title Rathmines

Location Great Western Highway, corner Edwin

Lane.

History

Description

The land on which Rathmines stands was

part of David Jones' 30 acres sold off

in suburban allotments in 'Crimley's

Estate subdivision of 1897.

was built c1900. Rathmines

The house features Feder~tion de~ails

such as bevelled timber posts and spoked

balustrade, but also with more old­

fashioned features such as symmetrical

facade, cast iron brackets, shuttered 4-paned sash

front door. windows and 4- pannelled

The iroQ roof is hipped and

"

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1111 I !

ill lllr

I"

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!: IJIII i,

f/lf I Ir ~r f

-­If r r r r

Significance

Other Listings

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategies

- 58 -

relatively steeply pitched. The front

facade is marred by the partial

infilling of the verandah and the eaves

of the side verandah appear altered.

An interesting example of transitional

Victorian/Federation style house; most

probably one of the earliest built and

surviving in North Katoomba, the first

part of the town to be subdivided.

Proposed to demolish house.

For the reasons given above it is

recommended that the development be

re-examined to see whether the house

could be retained with an adequate

curtilage at the front. Further

research (historical/architectural/

archaeological) is also recommended to

determine the house's internal

intactness and also its importance in

relation to other remaining early houses in Katoomba.

GHEAT WESTEHN 11 I Cl/WAY LEUHA TO KATOOMBA

IIISTOHICAL/ARCIIAEOLOGICAL SURVEY JULY, 1990

GHACE KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTOHICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

ITEM 25 Ralhmines, Greal Western Highway, corner Edwin Lane, Katoornba

••• I .. n _____ ._~e~a~,_~==~=.=--= .. ====~===========_ __________ ~========~

I I I I I I I

I I I I I !

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G::.=.A.1"" \,VE..S'~1iO'-l HI(pH~AV ~e:..::: ~\Vlt-.J ~

~ T1::>O/r-eA.

o 10 ZO 30", I

- 59 -

GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY LEURA TO KATOOMBA

HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY - ~ULY, 1990

GRACE' KARSKENS, HISTORIAN/HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Item No. 26

Precinct 4 - North Katoomba Precinct

Title Former Mt St Mary's Convent and Boarding

School

Location

History

Great Western Highway between Bowling

Green Avenue and Station Street.

Mt St M~ry's boarding and day school and

convent was opened in 1901 by Catholic

nuns on land which had been part of

James H. Neal's 40 acres. An earlier

house, The Rocks, was evidently removed

to the corner of Bowling Green Avenue

when the present Italianate building was

commenced in 1909 and occupied in 1910.

It was one of the many Mountains

. boarding schools which flourished during

the early tw~ntieth century, when it was . . , thought that beautiful surroundings and

Description

Significarce

Other Listings

- 60 -

clear mountain air, combined with spartan regimes, would produce racially

superior children. The ichool closed in 1974.

A very large three storey pared-down

Italianate style building with a square 4-storey tower, arched windows and loggias, and a hipped and flared roof

line. A Spanish Mission style wing,

complete with bell tower was added at

the western end and an, unsympathetic

blond brick 1960s wing on the east. The building still stands in extensive grounds and is a gateway landmark at the

entrance to Katoomba.

The building is significant for~its

landmark status at the entrance to

Katoomba and is historically interesting

in its demonstration of the boom in

education in the Blue Mountains during the racial-fitness obsessed early twentieth century.

Identified in Blue Mountains Heritage Study.

Impact of

Development

Conservation

Strategy

- 61 -

Not affected.

Not likely to be affected. Ideally new

work should enhance the vista to the

building.

CHEAT \>"ESTEHN il J GI1WAY LEUHA TO i<ATOOMBA

1I1STOHICAL/AHCflAEOLOGICAL SURVEY ,JULY, 1990

G 1< ACE K A It S KEN S, HIS TOR 1 AN / HIS TOR 1 CA L ARC H A EO LOG 1ST

I TE~l 26 Former Mt St Mary's convent and boarding school, Great Western Highway, Katoomba

,-re::/A ~ peec...NC' -<-FOIC/Ae;.1Z -"<0"--"'-'.- SC. /~ CONV6-I'J'r c( ao~p'''-IG ~C.HOOL. GOIC:.e!...A' ''V''I!!!.s....,1iLlII!!:.N .... '<;;;;.H~ ...... V eNR::. g,-rA,IOt--l .s-r. ~-rOo/A-A..

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