The Mint Conservation Management Plan
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THE MINT CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN March 2017 Historic Houses Trust of NSW, incorporating Sydney Living Museums, cares for significant historic places, buildings, landscapes and collections. It is a statutory authority of, and principally funded by, the New South Wales State Government. Report Register The following report register documents the development and issue of the report entitled The Mint—Conservation Managment Plan—Volume 1: The Report undertaken by GML Heritage Pty Ltd in accordance with its quality management system. Job No. Issue No. Notes/Description Issue Date 16-0272 1 Draft Report November 2016 16-0272 2 Revised Draft Report December 2016 16-0272 3 Final Report February 2017 16-0272 4 Revised Final Report March 2017 Quality Assurance GML Heritage Pty Ltd operates under a quality management system which has been certified as complying with the Australian/New Zealand Standard for quality management systems AS/NZS ISO 9001:2008. The report has been reviewed and approved for issue in accordance with the GML quality assurance policy and procedures. Project Manager Catherine Forbes Project Director: Sharon Veale Issue No. 4 Issue No. 4 Signature: Signature: Position: Associate Position: Chief Executive Date: 3 March 2017 Date 3 March 2017 Copyright Historical sources and reference material used in the preparation of this report are acknowledged and referenced at the end of each section and/or in figure captions. Reasonable effort has been made to identify, contact, acknowledge and obtain permission to use material from the relevant copyright owners. Unless otherwise specified or agreed, copyright in this report vests in GML Heritage Pty Ltd (‘GML’) and in the owners of any pre-existing historic source or reference material. Moral Rights GML asserts its Moral Rights in this work, unless otherwise acknowledged, in accordance with the (Commonwealth) Copyright (Moral Rights) Amendment Act 2000. GML’s moral rights include the attribution of authorship, the right not to have the work falsely attributed and the right to integrity of authorship. Right to Use GML grants to the client for this project (and the client’s successors in title) an irrevocable royalty-free right to reproduce or use the material from this report, except where such use infringes the copyright and/or Moral Rights of GML or third parties. THE MINT CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN CONTENTS Executive Summary .................................................................................................... i Summary Statement of Significance .................................................................................................................. i Document Structure ............................................................................................................................................ ii 1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Project Background ...................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Definition of the Site ...................................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Study Area Boundary ................................................................................................................................... 1 1.3.1 Heritage Listings .................................................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Methodology .................................................................................................................................................. 5 1.5 Limitations of the Study ................................................................................................................................ 5 1.6 Key Reference Material ................................................................................................................................ 6 1.6.1 Authorship .............................................................................................................................................. 7 1.6.2 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... 7 1.7 Endnotes ....................................................................................................................................................... 8 2.0 History of the Place ............................................................................................. 9 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 General Hospital to Sydney Infirmary & Dispensary .................................................................................. 9 2.2.1 ‘Sidney Slaughter House’: Rum Hospital south wing, 1811–1842 ..................................................... 9 2.2.2 For the poor emigrant: Sydney Infirmary and Dispensary, 1842-1848 ............................................ 22 2.3 The Royal Mint ............................................................................................................................................ 28 2.3.1 An Economical Conversion: The Mint, 1854–1893 ........................................................................... 28 2.3.2 A Complete Renovation: The Mint Refurbished, 1893–1897 ........................................................... 45 2.3.3 Grand Plans for Macquarie Street, 1859–1909 ................................................................................. 48 2.3.4 Not Worth its Weight? The Mint in Decline, 1900–1927 ................................................................... 50 2.4 A Temporary Solution: Law Courts and Government Offices, 1927–1980 ........................................ 51 2.5 Restoration, Archaeology and Adaptive Reuse........................................................................................ 56 2.5.1 Partial Restoration, Archaeology and the Mint Museum 1980–1997 .............................................. 56 2.5.2 A New Headquarters for the Historic Houses Trust, 1997–2004 ......................................................... 58 2.5.3 Connecting the Past and the Present: A Novel Approach ................................................................ 59 2.5.4 Developing a Dialogue: Design, Investigation, Adaptation and Renovation ................................... 59 2.5.5 Establishing a CBD Landmark ............................................................................................................ 61 2.6 Becoming Sydney Living Museums ......................................................................................................... 62 2.7 Phases of Development—Summary Diagrams ....................................................................................... 63 3.0 The Mint Today—Physical Analysis .................................................................. 66 3.1 Site Investigations ....................................................................................................................................... 66 3.2 Site Description ........................................................................................................................................... 66 3.2.1 Composition and Layout of the Site—Building Complex .................................................................. 66 3.2.2 Boundary Walls .................................................................................................................................... 68 3.2.3 Landscape Setting ............................................................................................................................... 70 The Mint—Conservation Management Plan, March 2017 THE MINT CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN CONTENTS 3.3 Urban Context ............................................................................................................................................ 71 3.3.1 Macquarie Street (Eastern Precinct) ................................................................................................. 71 3.3.2 Hospital Road and The Domain ......................................................................................................... 72 3.3.3 Hyde Park Barracks and St James Church ...................................................................................... 74 3.3.4 Sydney Hospital .................................................................................................................................. 75 3.3.5 Significant Views ................................................................................................................................. 76 3.4 Building Plans ............................................................................................................................................. 80 3.5 The Former Rum Hospital Building .......................................................................................................... 82 3.5.1 Architectural Style and Features ........................................................................................................ 82 3.5.2 Internal Layout ..................................................................................................................................... 83 3.5.3 Construction