Bar Island, Hawkesbury River, Near Brooklyn, N.S.W
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mp_=MOUPTW=_~ê=fëä~åÇ=aê~Ñí=mä~å=çÑ=j~å~ÖÉãÉåí ^mmbkaf`bp ^ééÉåÇáñ=^W=`ìäíìê~ä=eÉêáí~ÖÉ=^ëëÉëëãÉåí=EáåÅäK=`çåÇáíáçå=^ëëÉëëãÉåí=lÑ=`ÜìêÅÜI=dê~îÉë ^åÇ=jçåìãÉåíëF PLAN OF MANAGEMENT FOR BAR ISLAND, HAWKESBURY RIVER, NEAR BROOKLYN, N.S.W. Cultural Heritage Assessment. Edward Higginbotham MA (Cambridge), PhD (Sydney), MAACAI. EDWARD HIGGINBOTHAM & ASSOCIATES PTY LTD PO Box 97 HABERFIELD, NSW 2045. Phone. (02) 9716-5154 Fax. (02) 9716-8547. For Hornsby Shire Council. Draft October 2002 Final November 2002 Edward Higginbotham & Associates Pty Ltd. (02) 9716-5154. _____________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS. 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background. .............................................................................................. 1 1.2 Brief. ......................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Location of site. ......................................................................................... 3 1.4 Study methodology and limitations. ........................................................... 3 1.5 Author identification.................................................................................. 4 2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND....................................................................... 7 2.1 Introduction. .............................................................................................. 7 2.2 A brief history of Bar Island....................................................................... 7 2.3 Analysis of criticisms of the 1996 Conservation Plan................................11 2.4 Burials on the Island .................................................................................12 2.5 Identity and Significance of Sarah Ferdinand/Lewis..................................12 2.6 Association of a Henry Kendall poem with a child burial on Bar Island. ...14 2.7 Historical plans and photographs...............................................................16 3 SITE SURVEY. ...............................................................................................24 3.1 General description of sites and monuments on Bar Island........................24 3.1.1 Cemetery...........................................................................................25 3.1.2 The church. .......................................................................................28 3.1.3 The Jetty. ..........................................................................................29 3.2 Current condition of sites and monuments.................................................29 3.3 Comments on the identification of certain burials......................................30 3.4 Figures......................................................................................................32 3.5 Photographs..............................................................................................34 4 CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE.........................................................................52 4.1 Current assessment criteria........................................................................52 4.2 Previous assessment criteria, 1996. ...........................................................53 4.3 Technical / research significance and archaeological significance. ............55 4.4 The heritage significance of Bar Island and its Cemetery. .........................56 4.5 Summary of statement of significance.......................................................59 5 CONSTRAINTS, OPPORTUNITIES AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS.........62 5.1 The NSW Heritage Act and historical archaeology. ..................................62 5.2 National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. ......................................................63 5.3 Other legislation........................................................................................65 5.4 Heritage Listings.......................................................................................65 5.5 The surviving condition of the place. ........................................................66 5.6 State level of significance. ........................................................................66 _____________________________________________________________________ ii Edward Higginbotham & Associates Pty Ltd. (02) 9716-5154. _____________________________________________________________________ 5.7 The interpretation of the archaeological remains. ......................................67 5.8 Existing compatible uses...........................................................................67 5.9 Existing non-compatible uses....................................................................68 5.10 Community views and requirements. ........................................................69 5.11 Advice from NPWS regarding the management of the Island....................71 5.12 Council requirements. ...............................................................................72 5.13 Archival recording. ...................................................................................72 5.14 The ICOMOS Burra Charter. ....................................................................72 5.15 Definition of Terms...................................................................................72 6 CONSERVATION POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES........75 6.1 General discussion. ...................................................................................75 6.2 Future activities, uses and visitation..........................................................76 6.3 Interpretation. ...........................................................................................78 6.4 Management. ............................................................................................79 6.5 Limited access to Island – Vandalism. ......................................................80 6.6 Proposal by Ian Gowrie-Smith. .................................................................82 6.7 Aboriginal archaeological assessment. ......................................................82 6.8 Statutory Protection. .................................................................................83 6.9 Resources and funding..............................................................................83 6.10 Excavation permit application...................................................................83 6.11 Archival recording. ...................................................................................84 6.12 Landscape and vegetation. – maintenance. ................................................84 6.13 Conservation of cemetery, memorial, chimney and other items.................86 6.14 Aboriginal shell midden – construction of pathway...................................87 6.15 Reconstruction of jetty..............................................................................88 6.16 Summary of essential and ongoing actions................................................88 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................89 APPENDIX 1. BURIALS AT BAR ISLAND. .........................................................91 APPENDIX 2. INVENTORY OF SITES, 1996 CONSERVATION PLAN.............94 APPENDIX 3. ICS CONDITION REPORT. APPENDIX 4. ICOMOS BURRA CHARTER, AS AMENDED IN 1999. _____________________________________________________________________ iii Edward Higginbotham & Associates Pty Ltd. (02) 9716-5154. _____________________________________________________________________ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The author would like to thank Client: Ms. Diane Campbell, Hornsby Shire Council. Historian: Mr. Tom Richmond, local resident. _____________________________________________________________________ iv Edward Higginbotham & Associates Pty Ltd. (02) 9716-5154. _____________________________________________________________________ 1 INTRODUCTION. 1.1 Background. This report was commissioned by Hornsby City Council on 31 July 2002. A number of documents have been previously prepared on the Bar Island Cemetery. The most important report is the Bar Island Conservation Plan, prepared jointly by Amanda Jean and Siobhan Lavelle for Hornsby Council in 1996.1 Hornsby Shire Council now wishes to prepare a Draft Plan of Management for the whole island under the Local Government Act with appropriate reference to the principles of land management under the Crown Lands Act. The Plan will also comply with the provisions of Section 36 of the Local Government Act, 1993, relating to plans of management to facilitate its management as a conservation reserve and historic site. The Plan is to provide for retention and the conservation of monuments, graves and built items, define whether developments should be excluded from the Island, provide for construction of a raised walkway over the Aboriginal midden and other matters including the potential reconstruction of the jetty, restoration of ruins, etc. The plan is further to ensure a complementary approach to the conservation of the biological diversity of Bar Island and the protection and management of cultural sites of European and Aboriginal Significance. This report forms the cultural heritage assessment for the Draft Plan of Management, and is prepared in accordance with the following brief. 1 Amanda Jean and Siobhan Lavelle, Bar Island, Hawkesbury River, Conservation Plan. Hornsby Council 1996. _____________________________________________________________________