Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Conservation Management Plan

Cambria Estate Swansea, Tasmania

1 August 2017

Bruce Trethowan B. Arch., FRAIA

Sam Nichols B.Arch. ABN 44168657823

Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 BACKGROUND 1

1.2 HERITAGE LISTING 1

1.3 DEFINITION OF THE PROPERTY (THE HERITAGE PLACE) 4

1.4 EXTENT & LIMITATIONS OF THE PROJECT 5

2. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW 6

2.1 LAND HISTORY 6

2.2 HOMESTEAD COMPLEX 15

2.3 LANDSCAPE AND GARDENS 28

3. KEY PEOPLE 33

3.1 GEORGE MEREDITH (1778-1856) 33

3.2 THE MEREDITH DYNASTY AND CAMBRIA (1821-1927) 38

4. HOMESTEAD COMPLEX 46

4.1 INTRODUCTION 46

4.2 HOUSE 47

4.3 OUTBUILDINGS 59

4.4 LANDSCAPE AND GARDENS 69

5. COMPARITIVE ANALYSIS 70

5.1 INTRODUCTION 70

5.2 WEST-INDIES COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE 70

5.3 COLONIAL HOMESTEAD COMPLEXES IN TASMANIA 78

6. ASSESSMENT OF HISTORIC HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE 81

6.1 INTRODUCTION 81

6.2 ASSESSING HISTORIC HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE 81

6.3 HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE 82

6.4 AESTHETIC SIGNIFICANCE 83

6.5 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE 84

trethowan architecture interiors heritage i Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

6.6 SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE 84

6.7 RECOMMENDED STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE 86

6.8 LEVELS OF SIGNIFICANCE 88

6.9 AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE 88

7. DEVELOPMENT OF CONSERVATION POLICY 89

7.1 INTRODUCTION 89

7.2 KEY FACTORS INFLUENCING POLICY 89

8. CONSERVATION POLICY 97

8.1 SIGNIFICANCE, CONSTRAINTS AND STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS 97

8.2 CARE & CONSERVATION OF FABRIC 99

8.3 MANAGING CHANGE 104

9. BIBLIOGRAPHY 112

9.1 BOOKS 112

9.2 UNPUBLISHED 112

9.3 NEWSPAPERS AND JOURNALS 112

9.4 WEBSITES 112

10. APPENDICES 115

10.1 APPENDIX A – CITATIONS FOR STATUTORY LISTINGS 115

10.2 APPENDIX B – CITATIONS FOR NON-STATUTORY LISTINGS 117

10.3 APPENDIX C – ROOM DATA SHEETS 119

10.4 APPENDIX D – LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS (DR CATRIONA MCLEOD, 2016) 121

10.5 APPENDIX E – HISTORICAL ANALYSIS (GLAMORGAN-SPRING BAY HIST. SOCTY., 2016) 123

ii trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND

This Conservation Management Plan (CMP) was commissioned by Cambria Green Agriculture and Tourism Management Pty. Limited, in their capacity as the managers of an investment syndicate who have purchased the Cambria estate. The objective of the CMP is to establish a policy framework for the Cambria estate homestead complex and its environs – hereafter referred to as the property – to identify the significance of the buildings’ and immediate landscape and to outline the necessary policies that will enable and support the buildings’ and landscape’s potential repurposing for commercial uses. The CMP has been prepared in accordance with the guidelines for the preparation of Conservation Management Plans prepared by Heritage Tasmania, and the principles set down in the Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter 2013, adopted by Australia ICOMOS (The International Council of Monuments and Sites) to assist in the conservation of heritage places. As part of this CMP, the current Statement of Significance as included in the Heritage Register has been revised reflecting the additional information uncovered as part of this CMP. The authors of this report are Bruce Trethowan and Sam Nichols. The authors acknowledge the assistance of the following groups and individuals: - Cambria Green Agriculture and Tourism Management Pty. Limited and their representatives. - Heritage Tasmania - Mr. and Mrs. N.D. Burbury, Evandale - Mr. C.L. Lucas, O.B.E., Architect, Sydney; and - the Glamorgan Spring Bay Historical Society, Swansea.

1.2 HERITAGE LISTING

1.2.1 Commonwealth – Register of the National Estate (redundant)

The property is included on the now archived Register of the National Estate (RNE), known as the Australian Heritage Database, as Place ID 11692 – Cambria Homestead and Outbuildings. The property was ‘registered’ as a historic building on 21 March 1978. The registration for the property includes the following Statement of Significance:

An imposing colonial homestead built in the 1820's by George Meredith. The house is intact and in near original condition and is complemented by brick stables and timber barn. The siting for the house is special, being high above the Meredith River with views to the hills of the Freycinet Peninsula and Schouten Island.1 The legal status of the property as ‘registered’ indicates the property as having been entered in the RNE prior to its closure in 2007. While the existence of an entry for the property on the RNE does not result in a requirement to protect the property under Commonwealth law, information contained within the register may continue to be current and/or relevant to statutory decisions regarding protection.2 There are no statutory requirements as a result of the registration. The accompanying citation for the registration is included at Section 10.2 (Appendix B).

1 Australian Government – Department of the Environment, ‘Cambria Homestead and Outbuildings, Tasman Hwy, Swansea, TAS’ in Australian Heritage Database, accessed online 18 April 2016 at: http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi- bin/ahdb/search.pl?mode=place_detail;search=place_name%3Dcambria%3Blist_code%3DRNE%3Bkeyword_PD%3Don%3Bkeyword_SS%3Don%3 Bkeyword_PH%3Don%3Blatitude_1dir%3DS%3Blongitude_1dir%3DE%3Blongitude_2dir%3DE%3Blatitude_2dir%3DS%3Bin_region%3Dpart;place_i d=11692 2 Australian Government – Department of the Environment, ‘Status of the Register of the National Estate’, accessed online 19 April 2016 at: http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/publications/australian-heritage-database/legal-status

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 1 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

1.2.2 State – Tasmanian Heritage Register

The property is identified on the Tasmanian Heritage Register (THR) as THR ID 1559 – Cambria. The property address is 13566 Tasman Highway, Swansea. The property was ‘permanently registered’ on 21 November 2001. The Tasmanian Heritage Register Datasheet for the property indicates the registered area accords with the cadastral boundaries of the property: Title Reference 148001/1. It is noted that the Datasheet includes Property ID 2812475 as the reference for the property, however this does not accord with the Property ID number referenced against Title Reference 148001/1 by Land Information System Tasmania (LIST), this being Property ID 3362795.3 The registration for the property includes the following Statement of Significance:

'Cambria' is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a stone Old Colonial Georgian rural homestead with its associated outbuildings.4 The accompanying datasheet for the registration is included at Section 10.1 (Appendix A).

Figure 1 Extract of the Land Information System Tasmania Map; the title and registered extent of the property is highlighted. Source: Land Information System Tasmania, accessed 21 April 2016

1.2.3 Local Heritage Listing – Glamorgan Spring Bay Interim Planning Scheme 2015

The property is identified as Heritage Area Overlay 60 (Cambria, 13566 Tasman Highway, Swansea) in Table E.13.1 (Heritage Places) of code E.13.0 (Historic Heritage Code) – hereafter referred to as the Heritage Code – of the Glamorgan Spring Bay Interim Planning Scheme 2015. It is noted that while the listing description relates to the property (13566 Tasman Highway, Swansea; Title Reference 148001/1), Map E13 (Historic Heritage) to the Heritage Code indicates the Heritage Area Overlay relating to the listing has been incorrectly applied to the neighbouring property at Lot 1 Dolphin Sands Road, Dolphin Sands (Title Reference 111628/1; Property ID 3362779). The relevant section from Table E.13.1, for the listing, is included at Section 10.1 (Appendix A).

3 Land Information System Tasmania (LIST), LIST Map, accessed online 21 April 2016: http://maps.thelist.tas.gov.au/listmap/app/list/map 4 THR ID Number no. 1559, Tasmanian Heritage Register Datasheet ‘Cambria’, p. 1.

2 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Figure 2 Extract of the Heritage Area map from the Glamorgan Spring Bay Interim Planning Scheme 2015; the title extent of the property is highlighted. The incorrect Heritage Area attributed to the property is indicated by the red arrow. Source: Glamorgan Spring Bay Interim Planning Scheme 2015

1.2.4 Other – National Trust

The property was included on the Heritage Register of the National Trust of Australia (Tasmania) prior to the archiving of the Register and its amalgamation with the Tasmanian Heritage Register (THR). The Register was amalgamated with the THR in c. 1998.5 The property was classified as being significant at State / Territory level – file no. 13.12 (Cambria & Outbuildings). The building was nominated for classification on 27th July 1979. The registration for the property includes the following Statement of Significance:

An imposing colonial homestead built in the 1820's by George Meredith. The house is intact and in near original condition and is complemented by brick stables and timber barn. The siting for the house is special, being high above the Meredith River with views to the hills of the Freycinet Peninsula and Schouten Island.6 The property does not contain trees included on the National Trust of Australia Register of Significant Trees. There are no statutory requirements as a result of this classification. The accompanying citation for the registration is included at Section 10.2 (Appendix B).

5 Pers. Comm.: M. Clarke (Heritage Tasmania) to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 26th April 2016. 6 Heritage Tasmania, ‘National Trust datasheet, Cambria & Outbuildings’.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 3 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

1.3 DEFINITION OF THE PROPERTY (THE HERITAGE PLACE)

The property, Cambria, is located at 13566 Tasman Highway, Swansea; approximately 2.5km north-west of the town of Swansea and adjoining the southern extent of the hamlet of Dolphin Sands (refer Figure 3). The property consists of two major areas of land located either side of the Tasman Highway. The larger Cambria estate extends over multiple titles, of which the property is one. The area of land to the east of the Tasman Highway, the larger of the two, is located on the northern bank of the Meredith River. It is bordered by the Meredith River to the south, Tasman Highway to the west, and Swan River Road and Dolphin Sands Road to the north and north-east respectively; these minor roadways provide sole access to Dolphin Sands. To the east, the property is bordered by a series of private residential properties located at 187–684 Cambria Drive, Dolphin Sands inclusive. The remaining area of property, to the west of the Tasman Highway, is bordered to the east, south and west by neighbouring farmland, and to the north by McNeills Road, a gravel lane. The property is accessed directly from the Tasman Highway via a rough track that constitutes part of the property. The property consists of the remaining vestiges (land and buildings) of the homestead complex at the nucleus of the larger Cambria estate, including: the main house, stable block, barn, shearing shed, assorted outbuildings, and gardens, parkland and extant stands of European and indigenous trees.

SWANSEA

Figure 3 Location of the property within the context of Swansea and Great Oyster Bay; the property is indicated. Source: Google Maps, accessed 22 April 2016

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1.4 EXTENT & LIMITATIONS OF THE PROJECT

The CMP represents a comprehensive evaluation of the property, however is limited to the information available through documentary and physical analysis. It is acknowledged that new information may be revealed through further investigation of the property that is considered beyond the scope of the CMP. Despite this, the CMP seeks to interpret the development history of the property through the identification of all possible identifiable features and/or events that have occurred because of the property’s history. The CMP incorporates a bibliography as a basis for further research of this history. The information contained within the CMP has been developed from a variety of sources, documenting the incremental development of the property over 195 years of continuous operation as an ongoing agricultural concern. Statutory planning documentation, primarily regarding the Statement of Significance included in the registration of the property on the Tasmanian Heritage Register, has been referenced in the development of the CMP however has not been readily drawn upon considering the significant lack of information contained as part of the property’s registration. Non-statutory planning sources, primarily the now-archived Register of the National Estate, have also been referenced, however, have also not been readily drawn upon for similar lack of information. Most information informing the CMP consists of commissioned historical research (A Historical Study of Cambria Estate: ‘The Government House of the East Coast’, Glamorgan Spring Bay Historical Society, 2016) and assorted published sources (books).

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 5 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

2. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

The following historical overview is largely a synopsis of the document A Historical Study of Cambria Estate: ‘The Government House of the East Coast’ (2016). The document, completed by the Glamorgan Spring Bay Historical Society, was commissioned to inform this CMP. The complete commissioned document is included as a reference at Section 10.5 (Appendix E) of this document.

2.1 LAND HISTORY

The Cambria estates Developed from 1821, the Cambria estates, consisting of multiple farms and properties, were developed by 2nd Lieutenant George Meredith R.N. (retired)7 as an amalgamation of multiple land grants, land acquisitions and Crown leases; the freehold estate, including land owned by his eldest son George Jnr, extending to 13,000 acres by 1826.8 Indeed, even prior to leaving Britain, Meredith had begun building his colonial estate having obtained a letter from under Secretary Goulburn, at Downing Street, dated July 1820, addressed to Lieutenant-Governor William Sorell, the colonial administrator in Hobart Town, whereby permission was granted to obtain a grant of land in Van Diemen’s Land.9 Upon his arrival in Hobart Town and with his letter of introduction presented to Lieutenant-Governor Sorell, Meredith began looking for suitable coastal land. Meredith’s desire for coastal land was based on his experience of the limited market opportunities presented with inland farms in England and Wales;10 the Great Swanport area on the east coast of the colony providing favourable reports.11 Meredith departed Hobart Town for Great Swanport via whale boat with a crew including one son (probably his eldest George) and Adam Amos, the party arriving in April 1821.12 With areas capable of development identified and duly selected, the party returned to Hobart Town, arriving on 24th April 182113 where Meredith lodged applications for land on behalf of himself, his son George, and his cousin John Meredith.14 George Meredith was subsequently allocated initial grant of 2,000 acres on the northern bank of the Meredith River.15 The grant selected by John Meredith, comprising 1,000 acres located north of the Cygnet River, was subsequently acquired by George Meredith upon his cousin leaving Van Diemen’s Land in 1822-23.16 Further agitation by Meredith for land later in 1821 subsequently saw correspondence on the subject reach the offices of Governor Lachlan Macquarie in Sydney and the 3rd Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State for the Colonies,17 in London;18 Earl Bathurst later approving a further grant of 2,000 acres as a reserve, to be granted in five years conditional on the original grant being developed, in December 1821.19 While lodging their applications for land, Meredith encountered the Hon. William Talbot, a fellow emigrant and youngest son of the aristocratic Anglo-Irish Talbot family of Malahide Castle, County Dublin, Ireland.20 With Talbot having received Location Orders for 2,000 acres of land also in the Great Swanport area, Meredith met with Talbot to discuss the prospect of establishing

7 Refer Section 3.1 George Meredith (1778-1856), p. 16. 8 Glamorgan Spring Bay Historical Society, A Historical Study of Cambria Estate: ‘The Government House of the East Coast’, 2016, p. 14. 9 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 13. 10 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269 11 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 4. 12 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 5. 13 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269 14 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 5. 15 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 5. 16 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 13. 17 'Bathurst, Henry (1762–1834)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1966, accessed online 27 April 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bathurst-henry-1751/text1945 18 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 5. 19 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 13. 20 A. Rand, 'Talbot, William (1784–1845)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 27 April 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/talbot-william-2715/text3821

6 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan a joint settlement at Great Swanport.21 Pressing their respective claims to Lieutenant-Governor Sorell, Sorell unwittingly issued both Meredith and Talbot identical Orders of Occupation dated the same day, 6th July 1821.22 Unwittingly, Talbot and his party proceeded to Great Swanport to establish a homestead on his 2,000 acre grant, naming his estate Malahide,23 on land that Meredith had previously selected for himself on his trip there in April 1821.24 The subsequent protracted campaign waged by Meredith against Talbot over the land occurred for several years circulating between the offices of the colonial governments in Hobart Town and Sydney, and the Colonial Office in London with successive decisions initially finding in favour of Talbot and then Meredith. Ultimately, Meredith succeeded in his claim, a case of being the ‘squeakier wheel’ rather than superior merit in the latter’s claim, evicting Talbot from Malahide, renaming the property Belmont, and taking up residence in the homestead constructed by Talbot in 1824.25 This homestead was reputedly ‘a mile up the Wye River from the present Belmont House’.26 In 1822, parallel with the Talbot dispute, further campaigns were waged by Meredith against his neighbours in the accumulation of more land. In this instance, Major Robert Honnor, a retired officer in the British Army in India, attracted the indignation of Meredith in his selection of land north of that of William Talbot. Initially seeking land at Hamilton in the Derwent Valley, Honnor instead decided upon Great Swanport under the encouragement of both Lieutenant-Governor Sorell and George Meredith himself. Selecting 2,000 acres of land on the northern bank of the River Wye, he named his property Edenglassie and settled there in 1822. In less than a year, Meredith decided that Honnor’s land constituted that which he wished to claim as the ‘reserve’ claim afforded him by Earl Bathurst in 1821. With debts owed to Meredith in the form of loans taken with him by Honnor, the promissory supply of goods to Honnor by Meredith not honoured and Meredith’s stock openly grazing over his property, Honnor realised he had over extended himself and left Edenglassie, Meredith subsequently acquiring the property and changing its name to Riversdale by 1823.27 By 1824, Meredith sought more land and approached another neighbour, Charles Mill Coghill. Coghill had been a neighbour of William Talbot, having been granted Location Orders and subsequently occupying 600 acres of land on the southern banks of the River Wye. Unlike Honnor and Talbot, Coghill suffered no indignation and instead was offered a straight exchange, his property at Great Swanport for land owned by Meredith at Jericho,28 near Oatlands, in the Southern Midlands, which Coghill accepted. Coghill’s land, later measured at 640 acres was incorporated into Meredith’s Belmont property.29 By September 1826, the land owned and occupied by George Meredith and his family extended to 13,000 acres, the total comprising 4,000 acres of land in grant and reserve, 6,500 acres of Crown land under lease and 2,500 acres collectively granted to Meredith’s cousin John Meredith and eldest son, George Jnr.30 In 1829, Meredith sought more land for the expansion of Cambria and applied for the purchase of an additional four blocks of land near the property.31 In 1830, this application duly resulted in the acquisition of an irregular block of land to the west of the Cambria, measuring 940 acres,32 and a large stretch of land to the east of Cambria, known as The Sands (by 1871), measuring 2,715 acres that separated King Bay from Great Oyster Bay (present day Dolphin Sands).33 By c.1830, the Cambria estates consisted of the properties Cambria, Riversdale and Belmont; Kearney’s Bogs, near Lake Leake, and Apsley River Farm near Bicheno.34 In 1855, the remaining freehold balance of the Cambria estates extended to

21 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 5. 22 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 5. 23 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 14. 24 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 5. 25 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 14-15. 26 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 31. 27 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 16. 28 References are made in Meredith’s diary entries to killing a bullock of the ‘Jericho herd’. (Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 29) 29 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 15. 30 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 14. 31 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 14. 32 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 14. 33 A sale plan of the property dated 1871 denotes the name The Sands: Cambria and Riversdale Estates The Property of John Meredith Esq.re. (Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office, NS1570/1/1) 34 Refer Section 3.2 The Meredith Dynasty and Cambria (1821-1927), p. 26.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 7 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

12,265 acres covering eleven separate allotments of land.35 This balance was sold to Meredith’s second eldest surviving son, John Meredith, on the 30th March 1855.36 Under John Meredith, the estates were systematically extended to encompass multiple leases of Crown Land in the hills to the west of Cambria, Belmont and Riversdale, and additional purchases of freehold and Crown Land leases at Kearney’s Bogs, the whole totalling 14,828 acres. By 1861, however, John Meredith’s expansion of the estates appeared to have overstretched his finances with the entirety of the Cambria estates placed for sale.37 While advertised for auction on the 10th December 1861 in Hobart Town,38 a financial reprieve befell Meredith as the auction did not proceed.39 Instead, further investment in the Cambria estates took place over the proceeding ten years, with Meredith acquiring much of the extensive Crown Land previously leased from the colonial government; the Cambria estates extending to approximately 20,720 acres by 1871.40 Pending financial ruin saw Meredith petition for bankruptcy on the 3rd March 1871.41 While an arrangement by his creditors saw him able to settle his debts outside of bankruptcy, this necessitated the sale of the Cambria estates which were again placed for sale, in this instance as eleven lots, consisting of: - Lot 1: the ‘Cambria Estate’ (5,040.5 acres); - Lot 2: the ‘Belmont Estate; (2,611 acres); - Lot 3: the ‘Riversdale Estate’ (1,803 acres); - Lot 4: ‘Woburn Farm’ (594 acres); - Lot 5: 4,216 acres, with two cottages, stable and good garden, fronting the Wye River to the north and Meredith River to the south; - Lot 6: 1,572 acres, with shepherd’s cottage, fronting O’Connor’s Rivulet; - Lot 7: 1,552 acres fronting the Meredith River and Swan Rivulet; - Lot 8: ‘Kearney’s Bogs’ (1,200 acres); - Lot 9: 1,094 acres neighbouring ‘Kearney’s Bogs’; - Lot 10: 465 acres neighbouring ‘Kearney’s Bogs’; and - Lot 11: 573 acres, immediately south of Lot 8.42 The reorganisation of the estates into individual properties necessitated the realignment of some property boundaries. The Belmont estate increased to 2,611 acres with the incorporation of both the early ‘Coghill’ block, acquired by George Meredith in c.1824, and the north-west section of the original Cambria estate granted in 1821 (refer Figure 5);43 the route of the present Swan River Road is largely defined by this realigned property boundary. The sales of the majority of the Cambria estates occurred as a result of this auction, with the Riversdale estate in 1871 (for £3,00044 to the Lyne family), Woburn Farm in 1872 (for £80545 also to the Lyne family) and the Belmont estate in 1872 (for £2,200 to Francis Cotton).46 Lot 5 was eventually purchased by Frederick Lyne and named Redcliff,47 a variation of the name Redcliffe given to one of the paddocks, and cottage there on, which made up part of the Cambria estate in 1861,48 and Lot 7 purchased by Frederick Shaw and accreted to his

35 1855 plan: Extract of Title Deed 4/1156, Recorder of Titles, Land Tasmania, DPIPWE. 36 Refer Section 3.2 The Meredith Dynasty and Cambria (1821-1927), p. 26. 37 1861 plan - Cambria and Riversdale, and land at Kearneys Bogs, property of John Meredith. To be sold by Brent and Westbrook on Tuesday 10 December (NS172-1-7), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO). 38 1861 plan - Cambria and Riversdale, and land at Kearneys Bogs, property of John Meredith. To be sold by Brent and Westbrook on Tuesday 10 December (NS172-1-7), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO). 39 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 20. 40 The Mercury, 14 July 1871, p. 1. 41 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 20. 42 The Mercury, 14 July 1871, p. 1. 43 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 15. 44 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 16. 45 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 16. 46 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 22. 47 An 1888 plan of the Cambria estate denotes the names and owners of adjoining properties: Map - Glamorgan 31 - plan of the 'Cambria' Estate property of John Meredith near Oyster Bay, Swansea township, O'Connor, Shaw, Stony Rvts, Meredith, Swan, Wye Rivers, King and Pelican Bays, Nine Mile Beach, Swanwick, Bagot Pt and inset of homestead (NS977/1/3), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO). 48 A sale plan of the property dated 1861 denotes paddock names: Plan - Cambria and Riversdale, and land at Kearneys Bogs, property of John Meredith. To be sold by Brent and Westbrook on Tuesday 10 December (NS172/1/7), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO).

8 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan neighbouring Red Banks estate that extended along the majority of the southern banks of the Meredith River.49 Of the land at Kearney’s Bogs (Lots 8, 9, 10 and 11), including the Kearney’s Bogs property, some land was sold as a result of the auction with the remaining properties consolidated to form the property Kalangadoo.50 Lot 6 was retained by Meredith and named Oaklands, presumably as a result of the property’s ‘basaltic she-oak hills’.51 By 1883, Meredith appeared to have recovered his fortunes, with the Cambria estates reimagined as the properties Cambria (5,040 acres), Oaklands (1,572 acres) and Kalangadoo (2,252 acres) in addition to leased Crown Lands totalling 600 acres (adjoining Cambria), 4,000 acres (adjoining Oaklands) and approximately 10,000 acres adjoining Kalangadoo.52 Despite his apparent success, Meredith made two more attempts to sell the properties during his lifetime, however the said sales, in 1884 and 1892, came of nothing prior to Meredith’s death at Cambria in 1909.53 Following the sale of the stand-alone Cambria estate to farmer David Burbury in September 1956 and Burbury’s son Nicholas (Nick) Burbury’s succession to the property in July 1975, much property constituting the original Cambria estates sold by John Meredith in 1871 was successively reacquired, Nick Burbury’s purchase of the Belmont estate the most notable. However, the Burbury purchases did not manage to restore the Cambria estates to their original pre-1871 extent.54 In 2015, the Cambria estates were sold by Cambria Pty Ltd to an investment syndicate managed by Cambria Green Agriculture and Tourism Management Pty. Limited who continue to operate the estates as an ongoing agricultural concern.

Figure 4 Extract of Land Title Deed 4/1156 showing a plan of Cambria, c.1855. The original map does not entail the whole of the Cambria estate at this time. The documented early acquisition of land by George Meredith along the Meredith and Swan Rivers is coloured with regard to date of acquisition. Source: Recorder of Titles, Land Tasmania, DPIPWE

49 An 1888 plan of the Cambria estate denotes the names and owners of adjoining properties: Map - Glamorgan 31 - plan of the 'Cambria' Estate property of John Meredith near Oyster Bay, Swansea township, O'Connor, Shaw, Stony Rvts, Meredith, Swan, Wye Rivers, King and Pelican Bays, Nine Mile Beach, Swanwick, Bagot Pt and inset of homestead (NS977/1/3), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO). 50 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 52. 51 The Mercury, 11 January 1883, p. 4. 52 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, Appendix 2, p. XII – Article appearing in The Mercury 11th October 1884. 53 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 22. 54 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016.

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Figure 5 Cambria & Riversdale Estates The Property of John Meredith Esq.,1871, by Major L. Hood, Hobart Town (lithographer). A sale plan for the Cambria estates, detailing its break up into the smaller estates and farms of the Cambria Estate (Lot 1) shown in red, Belmont Estate (Lot 2) in yellow, Riversdale Estate (Lot 3) in green, Woburn Farm (Lot 4) in orange, Lot 5 (in blue), and Lots 6 and 7 (in purple). The initial land grant constituting the original extent of the Cambria estate is indicated by the red transparency. Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (NS1570/1/1)

The Cambria estate Established in 1821 from the 2,000-acre land allocation to George Meredith on the northern bank of the Meredith River,55 the property was eventually found to comprise 2,674 acres when eventually measured by the visiting Deputy-Surveyor General George Evans in 1821.56 Meredith named his property Cambria, the Latinised form of the ancient name for the country of Wales (Cymru) thereby reflecting his family’s Welsh heritage.57 From 1841, a structured network of paddocks began to appear over the property which were separated by a combination of treed fence lines and purpose built fencing (refer Figure 6). By 1861, the Cambria estate had been developed into a formally planned estate of paddocks, each with an individual name (because of a special association), and indexed in a legend with a corresponding number (refer Figure 7); including: 1. the ‘Sands and Merino Paddocks’; 2. ‘House Paddock’; 3. ‘Drawing Room’ paddock; 4. ‘Orchard’ paddock; 5. ‘Garden Paddock’; 6. ‘Redcliffe Paddock’; 7. ‘The Forty acre Paddock’; 8. ‘Belmont Paddock’; 9. ‘Lower Paddock’;

55 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 5. 56 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 13. 57 Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, 30th May 1928, p. 55.

10 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

10. ‘Upper Paddock’; 11. ‘Eighteen-acre Paddock’; 12. ‘Cow flat’; 13. ‘Orchards’; 14. ‘Barn Paddock’; 15. ‘Pinkards’ paddock; and 16. ‘Sheep Yard Hill’ paddock.58 From 1888, the paddocks, except ‘Pinkards’, the ‘Redcliffe Paddock’, and ‘Sheep Yard Hill’, were collectively referred to as the ‘Home Paddocks’ or ‘Homestead Block’. In addition to 99 acres of lagoons and marshes that were cultivated as productive land, around which the respective paddocks bordered, the total area of the ‘Homestead Block’ was 388 acres (refer Figure 9).59 Beyond the extent of the ‘Homestead Block’, the remainder of the Cambria estate existed as a series of vast runs (rough unfenced grazing land) for livestock, consisting of the remainder of the original 1821 land grant to George Meredith immediately adjoining the ‘Homestead Block’, The Sands acquired in c.1830 and the various Crown Land allotments purchased by John Meredith by 1888.60 In 1909, the Cambria estate was leased to farmer Henry Charles Bayles who, with wife Katherine and sons Harold and Basil, began intensively farming the property, including ploughing, cropping, harvesting, chaff cutting and running a three-stand shearing plant for the shearing of sheep, the whole aided by a Kerosene Oil run Fordson Tractor.61 In April 1927, Bayles purchased Cambria for £8,125, from John Meredith’s trustees,62 and from 1928 commenced a land improvement programme that reversed much of the degradation that occurred during the final years of the Meredith family’s ownership, the land having become ‘overrun with gorse, ferns, white wattles, etc. and devoting it to the cultivation of cereals and red and white, subterranean, Bokhara, and burr clovers, Lucerne and fescue grasses’.63 This led to the production of successful clover and Lucerne crops, in 192864 and 193265 respectively, with the results published in illustrated features reporting on the Bayles family’s successful land management with the sandy soils at Cambria; the success of the 1928 clover crop prompting a visit from the Tasmanian Government’s Director of Agriculture, Mr Ward.66 While much attention was paid to the operation of the estate, operations at the main house were maintained much as they were under the Meredith’s, the Bayles advertising for married staff to undertake gardening, milking and washing67 and the Meredith family’s tennis court, photographed in c.1906 (refer Figure 23), evident in photographs from an Illustrated Tasmanian Mail feature on the property upon Henry Bayles and his family taking up residence in 1928.68 Following the death of Henry Bayles in 1944, the property continued in partnership under Bayles sons Harold and Basil69 until Harold’s death in Hobart in 1947;70 their mother Katherine Bayles remained at the house until her death there in February 1950.71 Following his mother’s death, Basil Bayles continued on the property alone until its eventual sale to Dr Edward Brettingham-Moore in April 1951 for £29,400; the Cambria estate retaining those

58 A sale plan of the property dated 1861 denotes paddock names: Plan - Cambria and Riversdale, and land at Kearneys Bogs, property of John Meredith. To be sold by Brent and Westbrook on Tuesday 10 December (NS172/1/7), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO). 59 An 1888 plan of the Cambria estate denotes the names and land areas of the various paddocks in the ‘Homestead Block’: Map - Glamorgan 31 - plan of the 'Cambria' Estate property of John Meredith near Oyster Bay, Swansea township, O'Connor, Shaw, Stony Rvts, Meredith, Swan, Wye Rivers, King and Pelican Bays, Nine Mile Beach, Swanwick, Bagot Pt and inset of homestead (NS977/1/3), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO). 60 An 1888 plan of the Cambria estate denotes the names and owners of adjoining properties: Map - Glamorgan 31 - plan of the 'Cambria' Estate property of John Meredith near Oyster Bay, Swansea township, O'Connor, Shaw, Stony Rvts, Meredith, Swan, Wye Rivers, King and Pelican Bays, Nine Mile Beach, Swanwick, Bagot Pt and inset of homestead (NS977/1/3), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO). 61 The Mercury, 15 April 1922, p. 4. 62 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 23. 63 The Mercury, 12 January 1932, p. 9. 64 The Mercury, 26 June 1928, p. 5. 65 The Mercury, 12 January 1932, p. 9. 66 The Mercury, 26 June 1928, p. 5. 67 The Mercury, 27 November 1928, p. 1. 68 Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, 30th May 1928, p. 25. 69 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 24. 70 The Mercury, 8 April 1947, p. 15. 71 The Mercury, 15 February 1950, p. 16.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 11 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan boundaries surveyed in preparation for the auction of the property by John Meredith in 1888 throughout its occupation by the Bayles family.72 Dr Brettingham-Moore, a retired doctor from Hobart, had previously owned the property Mayfield south of Swansea. An amateur photographer and agronomist, Brettingham-Moore anecdotally purchased the Cambria estate due to the perceived development potential of The Sands as good ground for the growth of pasture for livestock, the Department of Agriculture in the Tasmanian Government undertaking significant work during the 1950s into trace elements of minerals in soil. Equipped with this research, Brettingham-Moore thought this would enable the conversion of The Sands poor land, unfortunately for Brettingham-Moore this was not the case.73 Brettingham-Moore began the second ‘break-up’ of the Cambria estate, disposing of land seen as unproductive or unviable. From 1955, this period saw the sale of 93 acres to the west of the Tasman Highway, adjoining Redcliff, to Harold M.O. Hale of Redcliff for £300 followed by the ‘Cow flat’ paddock, also to Hales, in 1956.74 The disappointing results at The Sands also prompted the initial subdivision of this area by Brettingham-Moore in 1955 with the creation of the ‘Swan River Jetty’ settlement, on the south bank of the Swan River, at the end of Swan River Road.75 Upon Brettingham-Moore’s sale of the property in 1956, a large clearing sale was held that saw the emptying of the sheds and the sale of unwanted items that had been left behind following both the Meredith and the Bayles families’ departures from the property. One such item was a bullock dray purchased for two shillings, nine pence by Arthur Graham of Swansea. This dray is now located outside the Swansea Bark Mill and Tavern, having being located there in the 1980s by the Lewis family who had purchase the dray from Graham.76 In September 1956, Brettingham-Moore sold the remainder of the property to farmer David Burbury, and his wife Maie, originally from Oatlands in the Southern Midlands, for £45,000. Under Burbury, the third ‘break-up’ of the Cambria estate occurred with the remainder of the unproductive The Sands property sold to the private company CHI (Tas) Pty Ltd for $36,680 in 1969, the company subsequently developing the area as the Dolphin Sands subdivision.77 Burbury continued to farm the remainder of the now reduced Cambria estate until its sale to Cambria Pty Ltd, a Burbury family company for $58,527 in 1972.78 In July 1975, ownership of the property transferred to Burbury’s son, Nick Burbury, with he and his wife Amanda (Mandy) taking up residence in the main house in May 1979; David and Maie relocated to Swansea.79 The property was farmed continuously by Nick and Mandy Burbury which saw a movement away from traditional grazing toward more intensive agricultural industries, including intensive irrigation and walnut orchards, until its sale to the investment syndicate managed by Cambria Green Agriculture and Tourism Management Pty. Limited in 2015.80

72 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 23. 73 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 74 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 24. 75 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 24. 76 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 77 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 25. 78 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 25. 79 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 80 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016.

12 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Figure 6 Extract from a survey plan of Cambria, July 1841, by C. Figure 7 Extract from the 1861 survey plan Cambria and Riversdale, Shaw (surveyor). Plan indicating the network of paddocks and land at Kearneys Bogs, property of John Meredith. To be developed over the are constituting the initial land grant (of sold by Brent and Westbrook on Tuesday 10 December. 1821) to George Meredith, by 1841. This network of Plan indicating the more defined network of paddocks over paddocks formed the antithesis of the later Cambria the Cambria estate, subsequently referred to as the ‘Homestead Block’. The small vertical elements along the ‘Homestead Block’. The numbers accord with a key of the fence lines indicate extant trees. The homestead location is individual paddock names. indicated by the red arrow. The homestead location is indicated by the red arrow. Source: Recorder of Titles, Land Tasmania, DPIPWE, Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Plan No. 1/154. (AF396_1_937)

Figure 8 Extract from the 1871 survey Cambria & Riversdale Estates Figure 9 Extract from the 1888 survey Plan of the Cambria Estate The Property of John Meredith Esq.,1871, by Major L. Hood, Property of John Meredith Esq, County of Glamorgan on the Hobart Town (lithographer). Plan indicating the subsequent East Coast of Tasmania, 1888, by A.T. Mayson (Government development of the ‘Homestead Block’ between 1861 and Surveyor). 1871. The homestead location is indicated by the red arrow. Plan indicating the Cambria ‘Homestead Block’ in its final Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office guise. The Roman Numerals correspond with a legend on (NS1570/1/1) the larger plan denoting the individual paddock areas. The homestead location is indicated by the red arrow. Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (NS977/1/3)

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 13 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

10

8

LAGOON 9

7 11

1 3 2 5 4 14 13 12

Figure 10 Aerial of the Cambria estate, c. 1948 (NB: North is up the page). When compared with the 19th century surveys of the property, much of the estate’s paddock structure remained intact by this time; the former fork in the Tasman Highway showing the old 19th century route to Campbell Town is also legible. The 1861 paddock legend has been overlayed, noting the relevant paddocks constituting the ‘Homestead Block’ by 1888: the ‘Sands and Merino Paddocks’; 1. the ‘Sands and Merino Paddocks’; 2. ‘House Paddock’; 3. ‘Drawing Room’ paddock; 4. ‘Orchard’ paddock; 5. ‘Garden Paddock’; 6. ‘Redcliffe’ paddock omitted due to no longer constituting part of the ‘Homestead Block’ by 1888; 7. ‘The Forty-acre Paddock’; 8. ‘Belmont Paddock’, 9. ‘Lower Paddock’, 10. ‘Upper Paddock’ (paddocks merged to create single paddock by 1888); 11. ‘Eighteen-acre Paddock’; 12. ‘Cow flat’; 13. ‘Orchards’; and 14. ‘Barn Paddock’. The homestead location is indicated by the red arrow. Source: Glamorgan Spring Bay Historical Society (GSB2002_925C3)

14 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

2.2 HOMESTEAD COMPLEX

2.2.1 Initial Establishment

Construction of buildings at Cambria began on 1st October 1821, with the foundations of a store house being dug on the north side of the Meredith River ‘about a half mile from the mouth’.81 Utilised, as described by George Meredith, ‘to receive and lodge our goods’82 this store house built of timber was no doubt that captured by Louisa Anne Meredith in her sketch of the Cambria house in the 1840s (refer Figure 22). By this time derelict as noted by the decayed state of the timber roof structure shown in the sketch, the image also shows a series of stepping stones leading to a water-side door, indicative of the store house being constructed for the storage of goods delivered to the property via whale boat down the Meredith River from Great Oyster Bay and no doubt larger vessels, the river navigable by whale boat at this time.83 This building was lived in initially by Meredith’s party until his grant of land was officially surveyed by the Deputy-Surveyor General later that year.84 A hut was subsequently constructed, in addition to various cattle yards, later that month.85 None of these structures remain. During this period, the Meredith family established a homestead on the south side of the Meredith River on a 500 acre grant of land, being one of two, claimed by George Meredith’s eldest son, George Jnr.86 The second of these land grants possessed a small hut constructed by Adam Amos by 29th September 1821.87 This land had been originally allocated to Amos prior to him forgoing it in lieu of a more agreeable grant of land further north at what would become Cranbrook, a decision which saw George Jnr. claim it in his stead;88 George Meredith named his property Redbanks.89 This hut, presumably that described by Edwin Meredith in his memoirs as ‘a sod hut thatched with Tussock grass devoid of windows and flooring’, in conjunction with a large marquee, brought from England by the Meredith family,90 constituted the first homestead established by George Meredith which he named Creek Hut.91 This hut was subsequently relegated to a store for valuables bought from England by the Meredith family upon the construction of a new thatched roof hut, described in 1884 as retaining ‘the original thatch with which it was first covered’;92 the earlier store and its contents were eventually destroyed by fire.93 Creek Hut was eventually vacated by the Meredith family in favour of the homestead on the recently acquired Malahide estate, subsequently renamed Belmont by Meredith, in 1824 (refer Section 3.1.2 Accumulation of Empire) with Creek Hut and the Redbanks property sold, by George Meredith Jnr., to William Morgan Orr in 1832.94 By 1883, the name Redbanks had since been reinterpreted as, and renamed, Red Banks.95

2.2.2 Planning

The homestead complex, its multiple buildings, orchards and gardens display a distinct structure providing evidence of a formal sense of planning and forethought in the process of arrival and procession through the homestead complex, being the

81 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 5. 82 Karl von Stieglitz, Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, 1955, p. 27. 83 There is evidence that the Meredith River was navigable as evidenced by George Meredith’s use of the river for the mooring of whale boats from his whaling stations in Oyster Bay, now Great Oyster Bay, (refer 3.1.2 Accumulation of Empire, Whaler, Sealer, Shipbuilder and Wholesaler). 84 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 27. 85 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 28. 86 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 13. 87 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 5. 88 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 13. 89 Colonial Times, 17 July 1829, p. 4. 90 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 11. 91 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 5. 92 The Mercury, 8 October 1884, p. 1. 93 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 11. 94 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 13. 95 'Shaw, Edward Carr (1813–1885)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/shaw-edward-carr-18357/text29995, accessed 9 August 2016.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 15 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan entrance to the Cambria estate, toward the heart of the homestead, the main house, and the domain of George Meredith and his family. Planning of the homestead, no doubt undertaken by George Meredith, began around c.1827 when George Meredith spoke of his desire to build a house ‘something like the establishment befitting a Gentlemen’s family…’.96 The present site of the house was subsequently chosen, a knoll high above a meander in the Meredith River with views across the distant river mouth to Great Oyster Bay, the river denoting the arrival place of Meredith six years prior in 1821. Stemming from these connections, ‘a large piece of ground had been enclosed for an orchard and garden and well stocked with trees adjoining the site chosen…’.97 This garden, the former kitchen garden and orchard, constituted the centre of the homestead complex and was subsequently established between 1827 and 1830. Construction of the main house was eventually completed in 1836. The boundaries of the formal garden immediately in front of the house, separated from the paddocks in front by a low brick wall with timber palisade fence, were laid out by 1841 (refer Figure 22). At this time, the homestead appeared as a collection of apparently disparate individual buildings.98 By 1888, a rear service yard existed immediately behind the house as a buffer to the kitchen garden.99 By 1850, however, the homestead had been substantially extended to incorporate:

… accompanying signs of substantial comfort in the shape of barns, stockyard, stabling, extensive gardens, and all other requisite appliances on a large scale.100 By 1883, and significantly expanded and developed, the homestead comprised:

Overseer's cottage, five rooms; two labourers' cottages, three rooms each; forge and workshop, all stone. Stable for seven horses, carriage house, harness-room, granary, etc., under one roof, brick and stone. Barn and woolshed, cowsheds, cart-sheds, tool house, etc. Sheep and cattle yards and sheep-wash. The buildings have all been recently newly roofed, and are in excellent order. The Cambria homestead, which has been tastefully laid out with English trees and hedges, is situated on the bank of the Meredith River, about a mile from Oyster Bay, being also one mile from Swansea, and enjoys the most salubrious climate in the colony. Fish and game abound.101 By this time, the formalised approach from the then main road (Tasman Highway) had been developed, resulting in a lane (named Cambria Lane102), described in 1884 as being ‘shaded on both sides by high hawthorn hedges’103 emerging into a large yard in front of two farm buildings: on the left a blacksmith’s forge and workshop of stone (completed c.1839104) and the right a stables of brick and stone (completed c.1841).105 Set apart, these two buildings subsequently framed a view toward the rear of the main house across the tops of trees grown ‘at intervals thorough the garden in pairs, one each side a walk’106 which also aligned with the centre of the main house’s rear elevation. On the north-west side of the yard, the ‘barn and woolshed’107, were concealed behind a curved line of hawthorn hedge that cultivated views towards the main house, while no doubt isolating dust drift from the livestock yards immediately in front of the building wool shed (refer Figure 13). From the entrance yard, a gate opened into a carriage road that extended along the northern edge of the kitchen gardens before entering

96 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 9. 97 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 26. 98 An 1841 plan of the Cambria estate denotes buildings forming part of the homestead complex by that time: Extract from a survey plan of Cambria, July 1841, by C. Shaw (surveyor), Recorder of Titles, Land Tasmania, DPIPWE, Plan No. 1/154. 99 An 1888 plan of the Cambria estate indicates the name ‘Cambria Lane’: Map - Glamorgan 31 - plan of the 'Cambria' Estate property of John Meredith near Oyster Bay, Swansea township, O'Connor, Shaw, Stony Rvts, Meredith, Swan, Wye Rivers, King and Pelican Bays, Nine Mile Beach, Swanwick, Bagot Pt and inset of homestead (NS977/1/3), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO). 100 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, Appendix 1, p. I – Extract on Cambria from Louisa Anne Meredith’s My Home in Tasmania (Vol. 1), pp. 87-95. 101 The Mercury, 11 January 1883, p. 4. 102 An 1888 plan of the Cambria estate indicates the name ‘Cambria Lane’: Map - Glamorgan 31 - plan of the 'Cambria' Estate property of John Meredith near Oyster Bay, Swansea township, O'Connor, Shaw, Stony Rvts, Meredith, Swan, Wye Rivers, King and Pelican Bays, Nine Mile Beach, Swanwick, Bagot Pt and inset of homestead (NS977/1/3), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO). 103 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, Appendix 2, p. XII – Article appearing in The Mercury 11th October 1884. 104 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 41. 105 The Mercury, 11 January 1883, p. 4. 106 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, Appendix 2, p. XII – Article appearing in The Mercury 11th October 1884. 107 The Mercury, 11 January 1883, p. 4.

16 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan the formal gardens via timber entrance gates; a vista at the end of the carriage road toward the open paddocks beyond framed by the mature trees of the formal gardens at right and a shrubbery at left, described in 1884 as ‘a young pine plantation (refer Figure 13).108 The original planning of the homestead complex remained legible in 1971 (refer Figure 15).

Figure 11 Extract from a survey plan of Cambria, July 1841, by C. Shaw (surveyor). The black squares denote buildings forming part of the homestead complex at this time, the upper most building denoting the main house. The lower two buildings could be assumed to be that of the barn (at left) and stable (at right), however their location indicates them as being located in the Orchards. Source: Recorder of Titles, Land Tasmania, DPIPWE, Plan No. 1/154.

Figure 12 Extract from the 1861 survey plan Cambria and Riversdale, and land at Kearneys Bogs, property of John Meredith. To be sold by Brent and Westbrook on Tuesday 10 December. The formal planning of the homestead is evident as having been established by this date, the location of the main house, stables and barn/woolshed identifiable by this time. Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (AF396_1_937)

108 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, Appendix 2, p. XIV – Article appearing in The Mercury 11th October 1884.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 17 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Figure 13 Extract from the map Plan of the Cambria Estate Property of John Meredith Esq, County of Glamorgan on the East Coast of Tasmania, 1888, by A.T. Mayson (Government Surveyor). Note the farm yard, connected to the main road by ‘Cambria Lane’ and its separation from the main house by the kitchen garden and orchard. Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (NS977/1/3)

18 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

5 6

4 3

2 1

Figure 14 Extract from an aerial of the Cambria estate, c. 1948 (NB: North is up the page). The homestead and all its associated buildings remained largely intact by this time; the separate complex of buildings, including cottages, bark house and mill, in the ‘Cow flat’ paddock, indicated by the red arrow, have disappeared. The existing buildings include: 1. Main house; 2. Greenhouse and hothouse; 3. Stables; 4. Blacksmith’s shop and implements shed; 5. Barn and woolshed; 6. Shearing shed. Source: Glamorgan Spring Bay Historical Society (GSB2002_925C3)

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 19 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

1 5 2 4 3 E

C D 6 B 8

7

A

Figure 15 Aerial view of the homestead complex at Cambria, c. 1971. View of the homestead complex and its remnant buildings in 1971. The red lines denote the former outlines of home paddocks within the immediate vicinity of the homestead including: 1. ‘Sands and Merino’ paddock; 2. ‘House Paddock’; 3. ‘Drawing Room’ paddock; 4. ‘Orchard’ paddock; 5. ‘Eighteen-acre Paddock’; 6. ‘Garden Paddock’; 7. ‘Barn Paddock’; and 8. ‘Orchards’. Visible buildings extant at this time include: A. Workman’s cottage (c.1951-56); Shearing shed (c.1920s); B. Barn and woolshed (c.1841); C. Forge and implements shed (c.1839); D. Stables (c.1841); and E. Main house (1836). Source: Mr. and Mrs. N.D. Burbury

20 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

2.2.3 Outbuildings and structures

In 1841, with the house complete, the homestead presented as a formally laid out complex around the kitchen garden and orchard, at the rear of the main house, with a separate collection of buildings on the ‘Cow flat’ paddock beside the Meredith River.109 On the ‘Cow flat’, the collection of buildings there initially consisted of ‘a cottage and garden patch’ the low lying location of the cottage causing flood water to reach its window sills during heavy floods as early as 1884.110 This was subsequently complemented by a terrace of workers’ cottages, addressing the main road, by 1861 (refer Figure 12) and a bark house and mill by 1888 (Figure 13), tannin from the black wattle trees indigenous to the area highly sought after in the development of tannic acid for the tanning industry.111 Remaining by 1891,112 the complex was eventually demolished by 1948 (refer Figure 14). The ‘Cow flat’ paddock was eventually sold during Dr Edward Brettingham-Moore’s tenure of Cambria in 1956 (refer Section 2.1 ). At the homestead, a series of buildings had been constructed immediately following the completion of the main house in 1836. These included a blacksmith’s shop between 1839 and 1840113 and a barn and woolshed, and stables by c.1841 (Refer Figure 11). Within the kitchen garden, immediate to the house, additional structures included a gable roofed greenhouse and hothouse completed by the 1840s (refer Figure 22), and a ‘round old brick rabbit hutch’114 where rabbits were farmed in ‘a small rabbit warren, well stocked with the common kinds’ by 1850.115 By 1948, the majority of these buildings remained (refer Figure 14); the rabbit hutch, albeit it in a ruinous state, remained in 1955.116 From 1909, the lease of the Cambria estate to, and subsequent ownership by the Bayles family, saw multiple improvements occur. These included the construction of the current steel framed windmill in the former kitchen garden in the 1920s, a replacement of an American ‘Althouse’ windmill installed by John Meredith in 1884.117 In the 1930s, at the base of the new windmill, Basil Bayles reputedly constructed an electrical plant from Oyster Bay pine for the generation of electricity for the main house, mains electricity not connected to Cambria until 1948; this lighting plant was subsequently extended in 1959 by David Burbury following their purchase of the property (refer Figure 17). In the immediate vicinity of the windmill, a local contractor constructed a large concrete water tank, commissioned by Basil Bayles, during the 1930s (refer Figure 16).118 Of the collective works undertaken during the Bayles family’s tenure, the most significant addition was a weatherboard shearing shed consisting of a gable roofed building with later skillion roofed additions, the whole representing a square plan, with a small enclosed porch on the south elevation by 1948 (refer Figure 14). This was subsequently extended with a skillion roofed additions to the north (from 1956) and south (in 1991) following the Burbury family’s purchase and subsequent tenure of the property until 2015.119 Following the Bayles family’s sale of the property, Dr Edward Brettingham-Moore’s subsequent tenure (from 1951-1956) saw the construction of a series of timber vertical board buildings at the homestead, including a chicken hutch, within the 19th century shrubbery to the north of the main house, a garage in which he kept a Morris Minor panel van which he used as a farm vehicle and a workman’s cottage, at the entrance to Cambria Lane, fronting the Tasman Highway (refer Figure 15).120 From 1956 until 2015, under the Burbury family’s tenure, further works saw multiple structures, renovations and alterations undertaken, including the construction of a galvanised corrugated metal sheet machinery shed in the c.1970s (refer Figure 19), the demolition of the c.1839 forge and implements shed after 1971 (refer Figure 15). A series of water pipelines, consisting of both private and public infrastructure, were also constructed through the homestead, extending on an alignment north-

109 An 1841 plan of the Cambria estate denotes buildings forming part of the homestead complex by that time: Extract from a survey plan of Cambria, July 1841, by C. Shaw (surveyor), Recorder of Titles, Land Tasmania, DPIPWE, Plan No. 1/154. 110 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, Appendix 2, p. XIV – Article appearing in The Mercury 11th October 1884. 111 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 112 The Mercury, 18 December 1891, p. 4. 113 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 41. 114 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 33. 115 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, Appendix 1, p. IV – Extract on Cambria from Louisa Anne Meredith’s My Home in Tasmania (Vol. 1), pp. 87-95. 116 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 33. 117 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 52. 118 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 119 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 120 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 21 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan south, in the immediate vicinity of the modern machinery shed in 1966 and c.1996 respectively.121 Additional works undertaken by the Burbury family included the planting of a commercial Walnut orchard, hemmed by a windbreak of Chilean willows, in 1996 and a large Colorbond machinery and hay shed, and smaller accompanying spray shed, in 2005 (not shown here).122

Figure 16 View of the former terrace of workers’ cottages on the ‘Cow Figure 17 View of the former electricity plant (1930s) and later pump flat’ at Cambria, looking south-east, c. 1906, by Violet Mace house (c.1959) constructed by Basil Bayles and David (photographer). Abandoned due to successive flooding, the Burbury respectively. The earliest section of the structure building was eventually demolished. is that partially collapsed at right of the image. The tower Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office of the windmill constructed by Henry Bayles in the 1920s is (NS615/1/44) visible in the background. Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 18 View of the concrete water tank commissioned by Basil Figure 19 View across the homestead from the first floor of the house, Bayles in the c.1930s. looking north-west. The garage constructed by Edward Source: Trethowan, 2016 Brettingham-Moore (1951-56) and machinery shed constructed by Nick Burbury (c.1970s) are visible respectively in the foreground and background. Source: Trethowan, 2016

121 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 122 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016.

22 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

2.2.4 George Meredith’s ‘house befitting a Gentleman’s family’

Preparation In 1827, George Meredith spoke of his desire of building a house ‘something like the establishment befitting a Gentlemen’s family…’, Meredith intending to finance the build of such a house with the income from his whaling stations and sealing expeditions.123 While construction of the house didn’t commence until c.1834, Meredith had decided upon its location years before, ‘for a large piece of ground had been enclosed for an orchard and garden and well stocked with trees adjoining the site chosen…’.124

Design and Construction The design of the house was undertaken by George Meredith himself, his design documented in a series of eight pen and ink drawings, contained in a sketch book, including basement, ground and first floor plans; east (front), west (rear) and north elevations, and a standard section through the house at first floor level, documenting the roof structure. The final built form of the house as designed was essentially simple, consisting of a large three-storey hipped roof building with twin flanking pavilions with shallow pyramidal hipped roofs (constructed as bell-cast roofs125) on the west elevation and a continuous verandah with flanking pyramidal hipped roof, lattice-work pavilions on the east elevation, the east elevation single-storey compared with two-storeys on the west elevation by virtue of the house being sited on an embankment; the third-floor was concealed in the roof with dormer windows to the west elevation. Externally, there is evidence of the deletion of some design elements from the front elevation early during the construction process, notably the two pyramidal hipped roof, lattice work pavilions at either end of the verandah and a decorative trellis work balustrade (refer Figure 20 and Figure 21);126 these elements never constructed. In comparison, the plans of the house were constructed as designed, at ground level a series of public spaces, including ‘drawing room, dining room, study and hall’,127 from which private family areas (ground and first floor level) and staff areas (basement level) were accessed. By December 1891, the house was described as:

… 26 rooms, including cellars, stores, kitchen, pantry, and china closet.128

Figure 20 A pen and ink drawing of the front elevation, as designed, of Figure 21 A pen and ink drawing of the rear elevation, as designed, of the main house at Cambria as designed, c.1827-34, by the main house at Cambria as designed, c.1827-34, by George Meredith (designer). George Meredith (designer). The small hip roofed lattice-work pavilions, at either end of The elevation, albeit for the top lights over the external the verandah, were deleted from the design early in the basement doors, was constructed as designed. process as indicated by the pencil strokes through them. Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (NS123/1/10) (NS123/1/10)

123 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 9. 124 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 26. 125 Bell cast roofs were created because of additions to the main rafters of a roof structure where the main rafter comes down on the wall. To create the eave, additional pieces were subsequently applied and tied back to the main rafter resulting in the broken back of the ridgeline and the resultant flared rooflines reminiscent of a cast iron bell. 126 A series of architectural drawings prepared by George Meredith document the design: George Meredith (1778-1856). House Plans, Cambria. nd (NS123/1/10), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO). 127 Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, 30th May 1928, p. 25. 128 The Mercury, 18 December 1891, p. 4.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 23 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

In 1834, with George Meredith as overseer of works, construction on the house commenced under an old convict builder, known simply as ‘Old Bull’, taking two years to complete;129 the house reaching completion in 1836.130 By April 1835, orders for various sawed timber from Hobart Town had begun to arrive on site and ‘one weeks work on the roof’ had been completed by 20th June 1835. By July 1835, Meredith had begun gathering quotes for various joinery items including ‘front windows’, ‘best cedar doors’ and ‘pine sashes’. Joiner and carpenter James Belbin of Liverpool Street, Hobart Town, whose shop by way of a Mr Rand had previously advertised ‘two elegant and well-polished marble chimney pieces’ for sale in 1833, undertook these works. By February 1836, works on the interiors had begun with work undertaken by ‘Smyth Plasterer’.131 Later that year, the drawing room walls were hung with wallpaper132 and the timber floors conditioned with a wax finish; the floors maintained as such by 1882.133 By 1928, following the Meredith family’s departure, the interiors remained majority intact, described as:

The handsome interior woodwork is well preserved. The paper on the drawing-room walls has been there for ninety-two years, and is still wonderfully fresh. For a century the elements have failed to defect the stucco walls.134 In 1986, the eminent Sydney-based conservation architect Clive Lucas OBE, while visiting Cambria, commented that examples of marbled wall paper that remained in the first-floor landing represented the largest known extent of marbled wallpaper left in a Georgian house in Australia. Lucas’ visit was a result of his study of the first-floor skylight details at Cambria to inform his conservation works being undertaken at that time at the Port Arthur Historic Site on the Tasman Peninsula.135 In 2016, Trethowan Architecture discovered further examples of marbled paper, beneath subsequent wall paper layers, in the basement stair well.

Figure 22 Cambria, Great Swan Port, Tasmania (The home of George Meredith), c. 1840s, by Louisa Anne Meredith (artist). A view of Cambria from the northern bank of the Meredith River, looking north-west. The small buildings left of the house are the former greenhouse and hothouse (now ruinous), at left, and an unknown building at right. The building in the foreground is the store house constructed by George Meredith in 1821 soon after settling at Cambria. The low timber and brick palisade fence, separating the formal garden from the open paddocks in front of the house is visible. Source: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery [TMAG] (AG5587)

129 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 31. 130 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 30. 131 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 32. 132 Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, 30th May 1928, p. 25. 133 Maria Meredith complained of her sons walking into the house having waxed the drawing room floor, December 1882. (Reference to the index of the Meredith Family Papers, p. G.4/B, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/) 134 Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, 30th May 1928, p. 25. 135 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016.

24 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Improvements and alterations In the 1850s, George Meredith undertook the first of several improvements and successive alterations to the house when he became increasingly obese in later life and developed an inability to negotiate the internal stairs. This included the removal of his bedroom window, on the north elevation of the house, and its replacement with a door to allow for ease of access to his carriage when parked alongside the house for him to alight into.136 Following the ‘break-up’ of the Cambria estates in 1871 and John Meredith’s subsequent discharge from bankruptcy in 1872, a series of improvements were undertaken to the house, the coincidence of these improvements in the immediate years preceding the advertised auction of the extant Cambria estate in 1884 a potential precursor to its impending sale.137 External improvements included the replacement of the house’s shingled roof with short-run galvanised corrugated sheet metal in 1882 with the interiors of the house being ‘painted and papered’ in August 1883. Later that year, an external ‘bath room’ was constructed to the south of the house, the location near to the ‘end bedroom’ lamented by Maria Meredith, fearing that it would make the room very dark. In the proximity of this ‘bath room’ was a toilet, with multiple apertures to suit the age of the user, constructed above the bank of the Meredith River, the toilet a ‘long drop’ that discharged directly into the river below.138 Further improvements included the eventual creation of an internal water connection to the kitchen in April 1884, an apparent relief to Maria Meredith. These amenities bought to a close the tradition of gentlemen visitors bathing in the Meredith River, a past time they apparently enjoyed.139 Following the Meredith’s tenure, the old-fashioned services remained so under Henry Bayles tenure. All bathing and ablutions were located externally to the house.140 Electricity wasn’t introduced to the house until the construction of a lighting plant by Henry Bayles in the kitchen garden in the 1930s; this was subsequently superceded by the connection of mains electricity in c.1948.141 The external door in George Meredith’s former bedroom was also replaced during this period.142 From 1951, Dr. Edward Brettingham-Moore’s tenure saw a considerable upgrade of the house’s outdated infrastructure. This included the conversion of a bedroom at the base of the first-floor stairs (Bedroom 02) into a bathroom. The installation of a kitchen in George Meredith’s former study, and an associated external door, may have also been a result of Brettingham- Moore’s refurbishment.143 From 1956, the tenure of David Burbury, and his wife Maie, saw the relocation of the bathroom into a neighbouring bedroom (its present location) and the removal of that installed by Edward Brettingham-Moore. During this initial period, the bathroom existed as a single room. Subsequent works saw a partition wall and associated door installed at the base of the first-floor stairs in order to prevent breezes emanating, from this time disused first-floor level, into the habitable lower levels.144 By 1966,145 a small skillion roofed cottage was constructed as a workman’s sleep out at the rear of the main house with the former Meredith kitchens in the basement relined to accommodate a lunch room for the workmen.146 This was eventually demolished during Nick and Mandy Burbury’s time in residence. In 1972, upon Nick and Mandy Burbury taking up residence, further systematic refurbishment works were undertaken to the exterior and interior. In the 1980s, this saw the partitioning of the bathroom into current arrangement of a bathroom, WC and corridor. From 1998, external works commenced with the early short-run corrugated sheet metal roofing, installed by the Meredith family in 1882, replaced on the main sections of the roof,147 however this inadvertently resulted in the loss of the

136 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 34. 137 Refer Section 2.1 Land History. 138 Pers. Comm.: Mrs. M. Shaw (of Redbanks, Swansea) to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 139 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 34. 140 The first internal bathroom and toilet was constructed by Edward Brettingham-Moore in c.1951 (Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols [Trethowan Architecture], 1st March 2016). 141 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 52. 142 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 34. 143 The kitchen was in this room throughout much of the Burbury family’s tenure of the property, however it is uncertain whether they were responsible for its installation (Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols [Trethowan Architecture], 1st March 2016). 144 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 145 An image taken at the rear of Cambria in 1966 shows the sleep-out and its associated porch in place. (Photograph - Swansea-Cambria, 1966, by Sir Ralph Whishaw [photographer], Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office [NS165/1/436]) 146 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 147 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 25 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

‘bell-cast’ roofs on the rear pavilions, evident in 1986.148 In 2000, major works were undertaken in the form of the present conservatory-style addition to the south elevation of the house and its associated kitchen and dining area. This ultimately saw the removal of the kitchen established in George Meredith’s former study and the conversion of the room into a small foyer. In 2001, the Burbury’s renovation programme to the house culminated in the replacement of the original short-run corrugated sheet metal to the verandah roof and the installation of two-skylights.149

Figure 23 View of the tennis court at Cambria, in former service yard, at the rear of the main house, looking south-east, c. 1906, by Violet Mace (photographer). This configuration of the tennis court remained legible in 1928. Note the original ‘bell-cast’ roof on the rear pavilion of the house, subsequently removed as a result of later roofing works to the house. Source: Glamorgan Spring Bay Historical Society (GSB2012.1744.C71)

Figure 24 Rear view of the house at Cambria prior to re-roofing, c.1986, by Ray Joyce (photographer). Note the ‘bell-cast’ roofs of the rear pavilions and short run corrugated sheet metal roof to the entirety of the house, installed by the Meredith family, in 1882, is still in place. The roof was re-clad, resulting the loss of the ‘bell-cast’ roofs in 1998. Source: Clive Lucas and Ray Joyce, Australian Country Houses: Homesteads, Farmsteads and Rural Retreats, 1994, p. 18

148 The ‘bell cast roofs’ of the rear pavilions remained evident in images published in a book by architect Clive Lucas OBE in 1986. (Clive Lucas and Ray Joyce, Australian Country Houses: Homesteads, Farmsteads and Rural Retreats, 1994, p. 18) 149 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016.

26 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

2.2.5 Painting of the Saviour of the Resolution, c. 1853

Dating after the year 1850, a notable addition to the interiors of Cambria was in the form of an oil painting on glass, for the benefit of this report dubbed ‘The Saviour of the Resolution’. Executed on a multi-paned internal glazed window over the stairwell on the first-floor of the house, in lore the painting is said to depict the wreck of the cutter Resolution, which foundered during a storm at the mouth of the Meredith River on 5th November 1850.150 The story of the wreck details the tribulations of the Large family of Hobart Town, consisting of Thomas and Mary Ann Large and their six children: Elizabeth (12 years), Edmund James (10), William (8 years), Hannah (6 years), George (4 years) and Frances Mary (2 years).151 A former publican of the Harvest Home public house in New Town Road, New Town,152 Thomas Large arrived in Swansea with the intention to establish himself as a maltster and brewer.153 Arriving at daylight on the 4th November, the Resolution was unable to disembark due to rough seas with the decision made to make disembarkation the following day. Dragging her anchors across great Oyster Bay during the night, the cutter sprang a leak near the rudder, flooding the ship’s cabin where the Large family were sheltering.154 In a bid to save the vessel and those aboard, a decision was made to run her aground,155 however the ship foundered on rocks with a large sea breaking over her.156 Five of the Large children were washed overboard at once157 in the tragedy with Mr Large urged to swim in light of a failed bid to launch a boat from the shore, two men nearly drowning pulling Mr Large from the surf.158 With Mrs Large and her surviving child and others remaining on board, a second attempt at launching a boat was successful however on landing the child was washed from Mrs Large’s arms.159 Mr and Mrs Large were subsequently taken by cart to Cambria to recover.160 According to an inquest held afterwards, all six of the Large children drowned, despite the body of one child (William) not being recovered, the children buried in the Swansea cemetery.161 However, as lore tells it a baby survived which was brought ashore by a sailor, Thomas and Mary Large having left the district before being made aware of the child’s survival.162 Variations of the story replace the sailor with an indentured servant who was promised his freedom by Edward Carr Shaw J.P. of Redbanks should he swim a line out to the stricken vessel,163 the convict returning with a small child.164 Lore indicates the painting at Cambria was completed shortly after the wreck of the Resolution by a convict in the employ of George Meredith, celebrating the rescue of child by the sailor / convict. 165 While the identity of the artist remains unknown and the ability to attribute the work to a specific artist impossible, the presence of Bishop Russell Nixon, 1st Bishop of Van Diemen’s Land and Tasmania, at Cambria in 1853 when he undertook sketch studies of the house and surrounding landscape is acknowledged. Bishop Nixon was a close friend of the Meredith family and a frequent guest at Cambria until his departure from Tasmania in 1862 (refer Section 3.2.3).166

150 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 33. 151 Inscription on gravestone of the Large children, Swansea Cemetery, from image provided by Ian Boersma, Heritage Tasmania, 2016. 152 Colonial Times, 12 November 1850, p. 3. 153 Cornwall Chronicle, 23 November 1850, p. 832. 154 Cornwall Chronicle, 23 November 1850, p. 832. 155 Cornwall Chronicle, 23 November 1850, p. 832. 156 Colonial Times, 12 November 1850, p. 3. 157 Colonial Times, 12 November 1850, p. 3. 158 Cornwall Chronicle, 23 November 1850, p. 832. 159 Colonial Times, 12 November 1850, p. 3. 160 Cornwall Chronicle, 23 November 1850, p. 832. Figure 25 View of the Saviour of the Resolution from the first floor stair. Source: Trethowan, 2016 161 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, pp. 33-34. 162 Advocate, 31 October 1936, p. 6. 163 Advocate, 31 October 1936, p. 6. 164 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 33. 165 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 166 W. R. Barrett, 'Nixon, Francis Russell (1803–1879)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 5 May 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/nixon-francis-russell-2509/text3389

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 27 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

2.3 LANDSCAPE AND GARDENS

The gardens and orchards at Cambria represent one of the oldest developed parts of the homestead complex. Designed by George Meredith167, potentially in conjunction with his wife Mary given her hand in its physical planting, initial layout of the gardens commenced between 1821 and 1827, the gardens predating construction of the main house by approximately fifteen years; the youngest son of George and Mary Meredith, Edwin, noting in his memoir:

… a large piece of ground had been enclosed for an orchard and garden and well stocked with trees adjoining the site chosen for ‘Cambria’…168 In 1824, the earliest recorded planting of trees at Cambria was undertaken in the ‘lower orchard’ where two apple trees were planted, a gift to Mary Meredith from the Reverend Robert Knopwood.169 A renowned cleric and prolific diarist who conducted the first religious service in Victoria at Sorrento in October 1803 before conducting the first religious service in Tasmania at Hobart Town in February 1804,170 Knopwood was an ardent collector of plants, having roses growing in the gardens of his Hobart-home as early as 1815.171 Knopwood’s trees at Cambria continued to flower in the ‘lower orchard’ in 1884.172 Between 1827 and 1836,173 increased development of the homestead gardens was undertaken with individual trees, hedges and orchards ‘being planted out’ while Mary Meredith, with an infant Edwin, and the Meredith’s gardener ‘marked out the flower and vegetable gardens’,174 Mary returning continuously with Edwin, him noting in his memoir:

It was a common event for my mother to take me with her for the day, taking our dinner with us, spending the day sewing flower seeds or planting out bulbs etc & return home to Belmont a mile distant, in the evening in time for tea.175 As part of the development of the gardens, several different garden features were developed. These included a Shrubbery and Pinetum of exotic conifer varieties from Northern Australia, Norfolk Island (in the Pacific Ocean) and the East Coast of North America (refer Figure 26).176 These were progressed through before arriving in a formal garden on the entrance front of the house, comprising edged garden beds and arranged around a circular carriage drive with a low hedged rondel at its centre (refer Figure 27). At the rear of the house was a formally laid out kitchen garden where avenues of trees framed views toward the rear (west) elevation of the house (refer Figure 28). Additional elements included pleasurable elements of folly within the commercial orchards below the house, which included a shaded walk known as ‘Arcadia’, which lead from the formal gardens of the house to the bank of the Meredith River, and a ‘Nut Walk’, made up of Hazelnut trees, inland from the river at the heart of the orchard.177 Other plant and tree species held in the gardens and orchards came from as far afield as France178 and South Africa.179 Within the orchards, there were extensive stocks of walnut and apple trees, the latter for cider making.180 There were also physical structures in the kitchen gardens at the rear of the main house, including a large gable-roofed large glazed greenhouse for the propagation of plants, completed by the 1840s (refer Figure 22), and a ‘round old brick rabbit

167 Landscape Conservation Management Plan: Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, p. 43. 168 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 26. 169 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 38. 170 Linda Monks, 'Knopwood, Robert (Bobby) (1763–1838)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/knopwood-robert-bobby-2314/text3003 171 Dr. Catriona McLeod, Landscape Conservation Management Plan: Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, September 2016, p. 18. 172 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 38. 173 Edwin Meredith was born in 1827 and the Meredith’s took up residence at Cambria in 1836 upon completion of the house. 174 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 34. 175 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 26. 176 Landscape Conservation Management Plan: Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, p. 41. 177 Landscape Conservation Management Plan: Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, pp. 17-18. 177 Landscape Conservation Management Plan: Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, p. 20. 178 Landscape Conservation Management Plan: Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, p. 47. 179 Landscape Conservation Management Plan: Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, p. 42. 180 Landscape Conservation Management Plan: Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, p. 58.

28 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan hutch’181 where rabbits were farmed in ‘a small rabbit warren, well stocked with the common kinds’ by 1850.182 The majority of these buildings remained until 1948 (refer Figure 14); the rabbit hutch, albeit it in a ruinous state, remained in 1955.183 The greenhouse has since collapsed and now exists in a ruinous state (refer Section 4.3.1), however, despite this a variety of South African white wine grape, formerly grown within the greenhouse, continues to flourish amongst its ruins.184 Additional infrastructure existed in the form of a gravity-fed irrigation system, the whole of the gardens kept verdant by water supplied, by 1884, by an Althouse-brand windmill near the greenhouse.185 Additional water sources existed in the form of naturally occurring springs to the west of the Tasman Highway which would have naturally watered the orchards on the flats below the house.186 In addition to being resource intensive, the gardens were manually intensive with the Merediths continuing to employ a gardener as late as the 1920s, immediately prior to the sale of the estate to the Bayles family.187 The gardens of Cambria formed a centre point for much correspondence between the Meredith family and their friends to the extent that they began to actively contribute to its development in the form of sharing plants, bulbs and cuttings. In addition to those cuttings provided by the Reverend Knopwood by 1824, further cuttings and bulbs were forthcoming from visiting friends including Hyacinth bulbs and Yellow Chrysanthemums from the gardens of Woodsden, near Buckland, a gift to Mary Meredith from Sarah Browne (S.B.) Cruttenden (sister of Woodsden’s owner Thomas Cruttenden188) following her visit to Cambria189 and Gooseberry cuttings from Mrs Nixon, wife of Bishop Russell Nixon, to Mary Meredith’s daughter Fanny in c.1850-60,190 no doubt from the gardens of Bishop Nixon’s home Bishopstowe at New Town near Hobart.191 By the late 1880s, further additions to the gardens were sought at the request of Cambria’s gardener, including French bean seeds, from the gardens of Rostrevor, near Triabunna, by Jessie Meredith,192 Fanny’s younger sister, prior to 1884.193 From 1927, with the sale of the Cambria estate by the Meredith family,194 the gardens and orchards appear to have experienced a gradual fall from grace. By 1951, a photograph of the formal gardens (refer Figure 29) illustrates them as a shadow of their former grandeur with a significant loss of plants from the garden beds. The gardens descended into a further state of disrepair until the late 1970s when they were re-discovered by Nick and Mandy Burbury upon them taking up residence at the house.195 Despite this however, it appears that much of the plantations, particularly the Pinetum and Shrubbery, remained relatively intact. In 1971, an aerial photograph of the homestead (refer Figure 15) showed these as containing multiple trees of considerable size, in turn suggesting trees of considerable age. The Shrubbery survived in its original form until the late 1980s, when considerable overshadowing of the main house and formal garden saw the removal of the North American conifers from that plantation to allow the admittance of more natural light into the house and formal gardens. Following this, as trees in the Pinetum began to die from the effects of drought and age, these were also felled including one of a pair of notable Northern Australian conifers.196 By the early 2000s, having spent the best part of two decades propagating lawns in the Meredith’s former carriage drive, around the rondel, the Burbury family instigated a redesign of the garden to mitigate the effect of drought. This saw a detour from the water-dependent English-style garden in favour of a more

181 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 33. 182 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, Appendix 1, p. IV – Extract on Cambria from Louisa Anne Meredith’s My Home in Tasmania (Vol. 1), pp. 87-95. 183 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 33. 184 Landscape Conservation Management Plan: Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, p. 44. 185 Landscape Conservation Management Plan: Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, p. 42. 186 Landscape Conservation Management Plan: Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, p. 17. 187 Landscape Conservation Management Plan: Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, p. 21. 188 ‘St. John the Baptist, Buckland – the Church’, Dottie Tales: Tales about history and much more, 27 January 2016, accessed online17 May 2016: https://dottietales.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/st-john-the-baptist-buckland-the-church/ 189 George and Mary Ann Meredith and John and Maria Meredith, Reference to the index of the Meredith Family Papers, 2010, University of Tasmania Library Special and Rare Materials Collection, (Unpublished), p. G.4/A, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/ 190 Reference to the index of the Meredith Family Papers, p. G.4/A, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/ 191 Runnymede house in New Town, Hobart was purchased by Bishop Nixon in 1850 and renamed Bishopstowe. (W. R. Barrett, 'Nixon, Francis Russell (1803–1879)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 5 May 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/nixon-francis-russell-2509/text3389) 192 Reference to the index of the Meredith Family Papers, p. G.4/C, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/ 193 The request of beans was made by Jessie Meredith to her brother-in-law George Mace, owner of Rostrevor; George Mace died in 1884. (Reference to the index of the Meredith Family Papers, p. G.4/B, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/) 194 Refer Section 2.1 – Land History. 195 Landscape Conservation Management Plan: Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, p. 21. 196 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 29 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Mediterranean style approach, while retaining the historic plantings and trees from the Meredith-era, more a tune to the climatic constraints of the Tasmanian east coast. Unlike the garden, the orchard in comparison forewent regular maintenance due to its propensity for extreme flooding during the wet season (refer Figure 30). This in turn saw the loss of the manicured parkland maintained by the Meredith family and their gardeners along with many of the older fruit tree varieties from the orchards.197 The Burbury family continued to propagate the main gardens of the house until the sale of the property in 2015.

Figure 26 View toward the Pinetum, across the formal garden, at Cambria, looking east, c. 1906-1914, by Violet Mace (photographer). Note the water outlet, and associated hose, at the right of the rondel associated with the irrigation system installed by 1884. Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (NS615/1/40)

197 Landscape Conservation Management Plan: Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, p. 22.

30 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Figure 27 View toward the main house, with the low hedged rondel at left, from the formal garden, looking south-west; c. 1906-1924, by Violet Mace (photographer). Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (NS615/1/40)

Figure 28 View of the kitchen garden and orchard at Cambria, looking east, c. 1906-1911, by Violet Mace (photographer). Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (NS615/1/40)

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 31 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Figure 29 View of the formal gardens, with rondel at the centre, at the end of the Bayles family’s ownership; c. 1951 by Jack Thwaites (photographer). Note the loss of plants from the garden when compared with earlier images of the garden. The accumulation of furniture and sundries on the verandah suggests that the photograph may have coincided with the clearing sale at the property upon its sale by Basil Bayles to Dr Edward Brettingham-Moore. Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (NS3195/1/808)

Figure 30 View of the Cambria orchards underwater during flooding of Figure 31 View of the rondel in the formal garden, filled with annuals the Meredith River, c. 1995 by Mrs N.D. Burbury and perennials, c. 1996 by Mrs N.D. Burbury (photographer). (photographer). The man in the foreground is Mr N.D. The image illustrates the rondel prior to the Burbury family’s Burbury. redevelopment of the gardens utilising more drought tolerant Source: Mr and Mrs N.D. Burbury plants. Source: Mr and Mrs N.D. Burbury

32 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

3. KEY PEOPLE

3.1 GEORGE MEREDITH (1778-1856)

3.1.1 Pre-Emigration

George Meredith (1778-1856)198 was born in the city of Birmingham, England.199 The son of a prominent barrister and solicitor, John Meredith, the Meredith family were descended from the ancient Amerydeth family of Devon and Wales.200 In 1796, George Meredith received the commission of 2nd Lieutenant201 in the 75th Company of Marines on the HMS Hind.202 On the Hind, Meredith saw service in the Americas, West Indies and Mediterranean.203 His service in the Mediterranean garnered particular claim following, in 1803, his scaling of ‘Pompey’s Pillar’ (a Roman triumphal column), during the recapture of Alexandria (in Egypt) from French forces by the British, in order to remove a French ‘Cap of Liberty’ constructed from ‘boiler plate, about 7ft. long, 4ft wide and 3ft high’ placed atop the column by Napoleon’s troops, replacing it with the Union Jack.204 In 1805, Meredith met and married Sarah Hicks, daughter of H.W. Hicks, while recruiting for the Marines in Berkshire.205 In 1806,206 Meredith retired from the Marines on half pay and commenced farming at Newbury, Berkshire before moving to Wales, initially settling in Glamorgan followed by Pembrokeshire following his purchase of an estate there, near Haverfordwest,207 in 1809.208 On the estate, Meredith employed a farm labourer, Adam Amos, in addition to leasing part of the property to a tenant farmer, Amos’ brother John Amos.209 George and Sarah Meredith raised five children on the estate: George (1806-1836), Sarah Westall (1807-1869), Louisa (1808-1890), Sabina (1810-1877) and Charles (1811-1880).210 In 1819, with the onset of the post-war rural depression in Britain, Meredith made the decision to emigrate, his eldest child George then 13.211 Initially considering settling in the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) or on Norfolk Island (in its entirety) in the South Pacific, Meredith decided upon Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) when realising that Norfolk Island had been reserved as a convict colony.212 Meredith’s decision of Van Diemen’s Land, while also a convict colony, was based upon the availability of land and the perceived necessity of free settlers to raise crops and livestock to service the growing numbers of convicts and military in the colony.213 In 1820, Meredith co-chartered a vessel, the Emerald, with Joseph Archer and Thomas Gregson, the latter becoming a significant political figure alongside Meredith in Van Diemen’s Land.214 A number of passengers on the Emerald, in addition to farming implements and machinery, grains and seeds, and a small flock of merino sheep and general cargo, included the Meredith family’s farm labourer and tenant farmer, Adam and John Amos and their families, and Meredith’s cousin, John

198 Glamorgan Spring Bay Historical Society, A Historical Study of Cambria Estate: ‘The Government House of the East Coast’, 2016, p. 4. 199 David Hodgson, 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 27 April 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269 200 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269 201 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269 202 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 4. 203 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 4. 204 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 35. 205 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269 206 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269 207 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269 208 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 4. 209 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 4. 210 Reference to the index of the Meredith Family Papers, p. G.4, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/ 211 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269 212 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 4. 213 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 4. 214 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 33 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Meredith.215 The sudden death of Sarah Meredith early that year jeopardized the future of the family’s journey, however the agreeance of Mary Evans, companion to Sarah Meredith and former governess to the Meredith children, to accompany the family secured the Meredith’s departure.216 Prior to embarking, George Meredith and Mary Evans were married on 8th November 1820.217 The Emerald arrived in Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land (Hobart, Tasmania) on 13th March 1821.218

3.1.2 Accumulation of Empire

Whaler, Sealer, Shipbuilder and Wholesaler An entrepreneur, George Meredith established the early shore-based whaling industry on the central East Coast during the early years of the colony, his business being well established by 1824.219 At this time the business was reputedly valued at £250, consisting of two whale boats (valued at £30 each), numbers of try pots ‘bought by weight at 6d. a pound, and harpoons at 10 shillings each.220 Establishing multiple whaling stations (named fisheries) around great Oyster Bay, his principal fishery was that at ‘The Schoutens’ (Freycinet Peninsula) which was in operation by July 1824; the location of his fishery continues to be known as ‘The Fisheries’ to this day (refer Figure 32).221 By 1827, Meredith represented one of the four major whale oil producers in Van Diemen’s Land.222 In tandem with his whaling business, Meredith operated a substantial sealing operation on the Ile Des Phoques in addition to running sealing expeditions into Bass Strait and as far away as Kangaroo Island in South Australia.223 During this period, Meredith utilised the deep upper reaches of the Meredith River (below the current location of the Cambria house) as a mooring for whaleboats from the fisheries, evidence of the river being navigable at this time.224 With whaling proving highly profitable, as was the sealing, Meredith relayed the venture’s success to his wife Mary in 1827:

If we are successful in the approaching Whaling Season, the product may be expected go far towards liquidating our English Debts and then Dearest M., we will build our House, furnish it, and set up something like the establishment befitting a Gentleman’s family …225 By the late 1820s – early 1830s, Meredith installed his son Charles as manager of the whaling station on Maria Island.226 While profitable, the industry represented a depleting resource with Meredith exiting the industry by the mid-1830s and constructing his mansion as a result of the wealth gained.227 With his exit from the industry, Meredith’s previous utilisation of Cambria as a base for his whaling stations eventually saw items from the decommissioned stations make their way to the homestead, by 1928 ‘three immense iron cauldrons’ (called try pots) remaining on the property, telling ‘of the interest taken when the whaling industry was carried on, and where used for the boiling-down process of extracting the oil’ (refer Figure 33).228 In addition to, and in service of, his whaling stations, Meredith also took the role of shipbuilder in his construction of ‘several trading vessels and small craft for the use of sealing gangs visiting the Bass Strait islands’;229 these he had constructed in a shipyard at Waterloo Point.230 Meredith’s decision to begin constructing trading vessels was an apparent response to his

215 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269 216 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269 217 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269 218 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269 219 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 15. 220 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 72. 221 Nash, Michael, The Bay Whalers – Tasmania’s Shore-based Whaling Industry. Woden (ACT): Navarine Publishing, 2003, p. 46. 222 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 15. 223 The Bay Whalers, p. 46. 224 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, Appendix 2, p. XIV – Article appearing in The Mercury 11th October 1884. 225 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, pp. 8-9. 226 Vivienne Rae-Ellis, Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, 1990, p. 57. 227 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, pp. 8-9. 228 Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, 30th May 1928, p. 55. 229 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 53. 230 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269

34 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan contempt for the administration of Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur, the Arthur administration having forbade the calling of ships into great Oyster Bay on account of supposed smuggling, decided to build his own.231 Meredith reputedly constructed several trading vessels, the first being a small schooner (the Cygnet), the second a sealing ship named the Black Swan (also a schooner) and, in 1826,232 a third named the Independent.233 The Independent, a top-sail schooner, was reputedly constructed at Cambria on the banks of the Meredith River234 and became the first great Oyster Bay based ship to trade with Hobart Town.235 Under Captain Thomas Furlong, the ship was known for years along the East Coast before becoming wrecked on Bruny Island.236 As part of his fleet of ships operating around Great Oyster Bay, Meredith also employed a small vessel that he used to take meat to the penal settlement at Darlington on Maria Island, Meredith placing his son Charles in charge of the vessel at the age of 15. A highly lucrative sideline, the meat supply contract to the penal settlement was worth £2,000 a year.237

Figure 32 Meredith's fishing station, Scouten [i.e. Schouten] Main, Figure 33 View of one of the ‘immense iron cauldrons’ that survived at V.D.L., Jany. 3, '46, 3rd January 1846, by John Skinner Prout. Cambria following the decommission of Meredith’s whaling A view of the ruin of George Meredith’s fishing stations at enterprise; c. 1906-1911, by Violet Mace (photographer). Schouten Main (Freycinet Peninsula). Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (NS615/1/40) Source: National Library of Australia, accessed online 18 May 2016.

Publisher In 1832, Meredith founded the newspaper The Colonist following the disallowing of an Act impeding the freedom of the press in Van Diemen’s Land.238 The Act had been previously implemented by Lieutenant-Governor Arthur at the request of the 3rd Earl Bathurst in order to reflect a similar curtailing of the press occurring in Britain at this time.239 As co-editor of The Colonist and ever the critic of the Arthur administration, the paper proved especially bitter and abusive in its commentary and as a result was the topic of successive law-suits. In 1833, one such instance involved the notorious ‘Bryan cattle duffing case’240 in which Meredith attempted to embarrass the Arthur administration in their pursuit of bushrangers,241 the colloquial name for escaped convicts who were living as outlaws,242 and the suggestion that the courts of the Arthur

231 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 88. 232 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 88. 233 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 33. 234 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 33. 235 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 88. 236 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 33. 237 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 57. 238 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 7. 239 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 6. 240 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 8. 241 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 8. 242 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 35 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan administration were corrupt and engaged in abuses of power promulgated.243 This abuse of power was suggested following the perceived false arrest of Meredith on what he believed to be an illegal warrant executed by the Police Magistrate at Great Oyster Bay, Thomas Daunt Lord, with Meredith suing Magistrate Lord over the incident in November 1833.244 Meredith later distributed his ‘Correspondence’ file, widely quoted by historians as an example of a settler’s hostile engagement with the colonial administration of Lieutenant-Governor Arthur.245 Meredith’s involvement in the newspaper successively waned, the paper subsequently retitled the True Colonist and Van Diemen’s Land Despatch prior to a cessation of Meredith’s involvement and the newspapers retitling as the Agricultural and Commercial Advertiser in 1834.246

3.1.3 Colonial Affairs

From 1824, George Meredith became increasingly involved in colonial affairs and thus spent increasing time in the capital, Hobart Town. The catalyst for Meredith’s increased involvement and interest, and that of other free colonists, was in response to the antagonism caused by the policies of the administration of Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur, Arthur having succeeding Lieutenant-Governor Sorell in the administration of Van Diemen’s Land. 247 The administration of Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur was characterised by his overarching policy that the colony was foremost a penal colony with the rights of free colonists subservient to that purpose. In short, settlers should not expect favour other than to aid the operation of the penal system upon which Van Diemen’s Land was established, a policy far removed from that of former Lieutenant-Governor William Sorell who was amenable to requests from settlers such as George Meredith.248

Colonial Independence From 1820, the Van Diemen’s Land economy prospered from an increasing number of free settlers, or colonists, and subsequently the continued administration of Van Diemen’s Land by New South Wales was increasingly questioned. 249 On 20th April 1824, a meeting of ‘dutiful loyal Subjects, the Landholders, Merchants and other Free Inhabitants’ gathered in Hobart Town to discuss the prospect of Van Diemen’s Land being created an independent colony, separate to New South Wales. Proceedings were opened by George Meredith, with a committee formed, of which Meredith was a member and a Memorial to The King, George IV, written and signed by 100 prominent citizens and forwarded to Lieutenant-Governor Sorell for despatch to the Earl Bathurst in London. In his accompanying commentary to the Earl Bathurst, Lieutenant-Governor Sorell noted that he had indicated to the ‘Memorialists’ that independence at this point was premature. The successive tenure of Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur, following that of Sorell, and his attempt to regress Van Diemen’s Land to a penal colony further heightened public opposition to New South Wales’ administration of the colony.250

Freedom of the Press In April 1826, the Earl Bathurst wrote to Lieutenant-Governor Arthur instructing him to enact laws in Van Diemen’s Land (similar instructions were issued to New South Wales) to encumber the local press as they were in Britain, instructing that bonds and sureties be issued against the publication of blasphemy, libels and the like. In 1827, the Act was promulgated in Van Diemen’s Land and provoked strong reaction in the colony. Subsequently, several meetings of leading citizens were convened to protest the law and the local press was without restraint in its criticism. Several prominent cases during this period, including R v Bent (1826) during which George Meredith was a key witness, contributing to community angst.251

243 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 8. 244 ‘Meredith v. Lord [1833]’, Decisions of the Nineteenth Century Tasmanian Superior Courts, Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University, accessed 5 May 2016: http://www.law.mq.edu.au/research/colonial_case_law/tas/cases/case_index/1833/meredith_v_lord/ 245 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 8. 246 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 7. 247 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 6. 248 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 6. 249 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 7. 250 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 7. 251 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 6.

36 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

On 21st November 1827, a meeting was held by leading colonists where a petition was put forth to Lieutenant-Governor Arthur for forwarding to The 1st Viscount Goderich, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, calling for a repeal of the Act to license the press. George Meredith was the first to sign the petition and was subsequently named as the effective ringleader, along with Thomas Gregson (co-charterer of the vessel Emerald that had bought them to Van Diemen’s Land from Britain), by Lieutenant-Governor Arthur in his commentary, that accompanied, the petition to London. The Act was subsequently disallowed by the successive Secretary of State for the Colonies, Sir George Murray.252

The Law and Rights of Colonists In 1826, the free colonists of New South Wales appealed to the Governor of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land, Governor Ralph Darling, for an elected legislature and other rights that were granted to citizens in Britain. The non-committal reply of Governor Darling was subsequently published in Hobart Town newspapers.253 In March 1827, a group of 25 ‘leading colonists’, George Meredith amongst them, signed a letter to the Sherriff of Van Diemen’s Land requesting that a public meeting be called to discuss trial by jury and ‘Legislation by Representation’. At the meeting, the execution of a petition to The King, George IV, and both the Upper and Lower Houses of the British Parliament was put to the meeting and carried, however the despatch of the petition to London by Lieutenant-Governor Arthur was mishandled, furthering the opposition of the settlers to the Arthur administration.254 In 1830, George Meredith, with others, executed another petition against the colonial administration, this time regarding a recently introduced Usury Law. Designed to regulate the amount of interest that could be charged on loans by setting caps on maximum amounts of interest, the law was typically designed to protect consumers.255 In this instance, free colonists protested that interest rates were allowed to be too high, with some accusing Lieutenant-Governor Arthur of in effect profiteering.256 In 1831, previous agitation by the free colonists saw a meeting called that ultimately addressed all their concerns with the colonial administration of Van Diemen’s Land. With George Meredith as speaker, the meeting called for extensive reforms in the colonial laws governing Van Diemen’s Land including trial by jury, a Legislative Assembly, more security in land tenure, better mapping of the colony, a re-convene of the Supreme Court and relief from high interest rates. Given previous experience with the mishandling of their concerns by the administration of Lieutenant-Governor Arthur, the Sherriff of Van Diemen’s Land, Mr Sams, was charged with taking the resulting address to the Court of The King, George IV. The resulting complaints were exhaustively answered by Lieutenant-Governor Arthur and gave rise to some concrete forms in the colonial statutes in Van Diemen’s Land, including the Jury Act of 1834.257

Transportation and the Anti-Transportation of Convicts During the early establishment of Van Diemen’s Land, the colony’s free society was increasingly reliant on the Assignment System, a form of indentured service that saw convicts transported to the colony from Britain to serve out their prison terms as free labour or ‘assigned servants’ to the colonial gentry. While fortunes were made by individuals and families on the back of this free labour system, subsequently giving rise to civic pride and resentment of the colony being utilised as a penal settlement by Britain by the free colonists, the labour source represented an inherent factor in their individual financial success of the and that of the free society of Van Diemen’s Land. As such, this presented conflicted views for the free colonists who were reliant upon their government-supplied labour source yet desired independence and a ‘regularised’ society for Van Diemen’s Land. George Meredith was one such free colonist.258 Like his contemporaries of landed gentry and those in business circles, the basis of Meredith’s business enterprises would have been very much based on the government-based Assignment System. However, while Meredith oversaw his assigned workforce, the colonial administration very much oversaw the system and the removal of labour not uncommon as observed by Meredith. In 1833, this instance saw him advised by the Colonial Secretary of Van Diemen’s Land that ‘he could not be a proper person to have the charge and control of assigned servants’ and that ‘the removal of every convict in his service was not an improbable event’ during yet another of his protracted agitations with the colonial administration of Lieutenant-Governor

252 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, pp. 6-7. 253 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 7. 254 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 7. 255 ‘Usury Law’, Investopedia, accessed 5 May 2016: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/u/usury-laws.asp 256 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 7. 257 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, pp. 7-8. 258 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 8.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 37 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Arthur. However, in 1845, in line with public opinion at the time Meredith signed the petition of the Anti-Transportation League, an opposition movement to the transportation of convicts to Van Diemen’s Land.259 The Imperial Government, in London, made the decision to cease the transportation of convicts to Van Diemen’s Land in 1852.260

3.2 THE MEREDITH DYNASTY AND CAMBRIA (1821-1927)

In his development of the Cambria estates, George Meredith ensured its, and his, position at the centre of family life, community life, and political life. Described as ‘The King of Great Swanport’, Meredith was known as ‘an infinitely proud, domineering, quarrelsome man’.261 3.2.1 Family

Following the arrival of Meredith in Hobart Town in 1821, with his five children, and pseudo governess and new wife Mary, George and Mary Meredith realised seven children of their own: Henry (1821-1836), John (1822-1909), Maria (1822-1882), Edwin (1827-1907), Clara (1828-1904), Fanny (1831-1910) and Rosina (1833-1858).262 Life for Mary Meredith at Belmont and then Cambria involved one of ‘private agonies’.263 From the 1820s, George Meredith ‘urged Mary constantly to prepare to take her rightful place in society as Mrs Meredith, his wife’, writing in 1825:

One of these days I shall bring you again into the world, so prepare yourself accordingly for much will be expected of Mrs Meredith. I will only add that books might rather more frequently occupy your time…264 Despite his ‘encouragement and assurances’, George Meredith never introduced his wife to the polite society of Hobart Town on his successive visits that often latest months at a time, instead preferring his own company or that of his daughters whom he escorted in society.265 Meredith’s efforts paid dividends in the marriage of his various daughters to military men and a politician,266 the most notable Meredith marriage being that of his daughter Clara to Richard Dry, Speaker of the Legislative Council, with Clara later being elevated to the title of Clara, Lady Dry upon her husband being knighted by Queen Victoria, the first man of Tasmanian-birth to be so; Sir Richard later became Premier of Tasmania in 1866.267 While Meredith’s daughters mingled and ultimately integrated into society, Mary instead remained at Belmont and then Cambria all her life.268 Mary Ann Meredith died at Cambria, from a short illness at the age of 47, in November 1842.269 While Meredith’s daughters excelled in society through marriage, Meredith instead pushed his sons into society through business with Meredith being particularly hard on his two eldest sons George and Charles from an early age. In 1824, Meredith sent the boys with two convict servants 120 miles overland on foot with 1,000 sheep to the Hobart Town markets; Charles only 13 at the time. At 15, Charles was placed in charge of his father’s vessel for the meat contracts to the Darlington penal settlement on Maria Island and soon after was sent to the Bass Strait islands on business for his father where he was subsequently shipwrecked on Preservation Island; he survived the ordeal.270 While Meredith readied his five sons (George,

259 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 8. 260 Michael Roe, 'Anti-Transportation (of Convicts)', The Companion to Tasmanian History, accessed 5 May 2016: http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/A/Anti-transportation.htm 261 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 53. 262 Reference to the index of the Meredith Family Papers, p. G.4, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/ 263 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 56. 264 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 55. 265 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 56. 266 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 9. 267 John Reynolds, 'Dry, Sir Richard (1815–1869)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed 18 February 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dry-sir-richard-1999/text2439 268 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 56. 269 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 122. 270 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 57.

38 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Charles, Henry, John and Edwin) for the management of his various businesses, only three would eventually succeed to the Cambria estates: Charles and Edwin, and John. The eldest George, having reputedly quarrelled with his father over the family’s bay whaling and sealing activities decided to start work on his own account, was eventually murdered by Aborigines at St Vincent’s Gulf,271 South Australia in c.1834, followed by Henry who was killed ‘by a fall while breaking in a young horse’272 in c.1837.273 Charles initially managed the Cambria estates, residing on the Riversdale property, before relocating to his own property Spring Vale where he resided with his wife, the famous colonial author Louisa Anne Meredith, having purchased the property from George Meredith in 1842. The 1,000 acre Spring Vale property constituted the land originally granted to Charles’ uncle John Meredith, in 1821, that was subsequently purchased by George Meredith in 1822-23.274 Following Charles’ departure from Riversdale, John Meredith took up residence and the management of the Cambria estates, however upon continued interference from his family regarding the bachelor’s lifestyle he adopted combined with his father’s refusal to sell him part of the Cambria estates he decided to seek his fortune as a squatter at Mount Gambier, South Australia in the late 1840s.275 By 1847 with John’s impending departure, Charles was convinced to return to take up management of the Cambria estates276 from a public service position he had taken up at Port Sorell, on the north-west coast, to save his family from bankruptcy following mismanagement of their finances in the development of their Spring Vale property.277 By 1848, Charles had returned to Great Oyster Bay, again taking up residence at Riversdale,278 and had begun managing the Cambria estates in conjunction with his younger half-brother Edwin who was not long out of school.279 However, after a year Edwin complained of the arrangement and was instead allowed to return to Cambria where he leased the ‘Cambria paddocks’ and additional land held by George Meredith further north on the Apsley River near Bicheno, the aptly named Apsley River Farm.280 By 1851, Meredith decided that both could not remain on the estate and offered both sons the option for one to leave the estate with £4,000 to start a new life in New Zealand which Edwin ultimately accepted, having visited there the previous year.281 Following the departure of Edwin, only Charles remained on the estate. Considering being the eldest son and the departure of his remaining half-brothers from Van Diemen’s Land, it appears Charles expected to take over management of the Cambria estates and eventually inherit them.282 In 1853, however, a visit by his younger brother John Meredith (from South Australia) to their father George, saw the surprise offer to purchase the Cambria estates which George immediately accepted. Following a tense correspondence between George and Charles, in which Meredith cited the attitude of Louisa Anne Meredith (Charles’ wife) towards him as part of his justification to sell, John Meredith negotiated Charles’ giving up his lease of Riversdale which too became somewhat bitter.283 The sale of the Cambria estates to John Meredith left Charles disappointed and disenfranchised, never to assume the mantel as patriarch of the Meredith dynasty or take up residence in the ancestral pile at Cambria; Charles never reconciled with either his father or brother.284 Following the loss, Charles and Louisa removed from Riversdale, initially to Plas Newydd at Swansea and then to Twamley near Buckland,285 Charles eventually serving as the first representative for the seat of Glamorgan in the first representative Parliament of Tasmania from December 1856, a position he maintained until ill health prevented him from contesting Glamorgan in 1861.286 The standing of Cambria was no doubt significantly influenced during Charles Meredith’s wife’s, Louisa Anne Meredith (refer Figure 37), revolving tenure as a guest at the property until 1855 and her subsequent recording of these experiences in one

271 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 33. 272 Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, 30th May 1928, p. 55. 273 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 13. 274 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 13. 275 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 154. 276 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 155. 277 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 128. 278 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 153. 279 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 16. 280 Reference to the index of the Meredith Family Papers, p. G.4/A, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/ 281 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 17. 282 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 141. 283 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 17. 284 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 19. 285 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 19. 286 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, pp. 180-181.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 39 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan of her multiple published works, My Home in Tasmania (Vols. 1 and 2: 1852)287 being her most important work in light of its importance in the history of Tasmania as ‘the first description of life in the colony written by a female permanent resident’.288 An accomplished author, Louisa Anne Meredith became famous for her published works of colonial life for sale on the domestic British ‘home’ market.289 Heavily romanticised in their descriptions of Tasmanian (and mainland Australian) flora and fauna, and colonial life, Louisa’s experiences of the house and gardens290 to day trips to the Freycinet Peninsula recounted vividly.291 Louisa’s literary and artistic achievements to Tasmania were eventually acknowledged in the passing of a bill granting her a £100 per annum civil list pension by the Tasmanian Government, her close friend Sir Henry Parkes providing support to her application to Queen Victoria.292 While never a permanent resident of Cambria, her fondness of the estate was no doubt heavily influenced in the perception of her eventual permanent residence at the property in light of her husband Charles Meredith being the eldest surviving son of George Meredith. George Meredith subsequently dispelled both Charles and Louisa’s fantasy, upon his sale of the property to Charles younger brother John, in 1855. The sale of the Cambria estates to John Meredith was finalised on 30th March 1855293 and included a total of eleven separate properties covering an overall area of 12,265 acres, including the Cambria, Riversdale and Belmont estates and the Kearney’s Bogs and ‘Coghill’, ‘West’ and ‘Sandy Neck’ properties (refer Figure 4). The final sale price agreed between father and son was £17,000, £14,000 of which would be deferred for 19 years at a rate of 5%, and included the transfer of 6,130 sheep, 14 horses, 97 cattle and assorted farm implements. The only condition imposed upon the sale was George Meredith reserving the right to remain at the homestead, and the use of 200 acres surrounding it, during his lifetime.294 Assuming control of the Cambria estates following their purchase from his father in 1855, John Meredith, his wife Maria (nee Hammond) and family of three children initially lived at Riversdale before moving to Cambria following the death of George Meredith on 21st June 1856 of ‘natural decay of nature’.295 Upon taking up residence, John and Maria realised an additional seven children, raising a total of ten children at Cambria: Mary Rose (aka Polly; 1852-1884), Henry Montague (1854-1902), George Llewellyn (aka Llewellyn; 1855-1937), Clara Sabina (aka Kiddie; 1857-1924), Ernest James (1859-1910), Fanny Maria (1862-), Jessie Rosina (1863-1944), John Percival (aka Jack or Johnnie; 1865-1916), Edwin Mervyn (aka Mervyn; 1867-1929) and Elsie Dry (1869-1918).296

Figure 34 George Meredith, c. 1840, by artist Thomas Bock. Figure 35 Mary Meredith (nee Evans), c. 1840, by artist Thomas Bock. Source: East Coast Heritage Museum (SHC2007.147.3) Source: East Coast Heritage Museum (SHC2007.148.3)

287 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, pp. 103-106. 288 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 192. 289 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 193. 290 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, Appendix 1, p. I – Extract on Cambria from Louisa Anne Meredith’s My Home in Tasmania (Vol. 1), pp. 87-95. 291 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 105. 292 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, pp. 217-218. 293 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 17. 294 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 19. 295 The Courier, 24 June 1856, p. 3. 296 Reference to the index of the Meredith Family Papers, p. G.4, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/

40 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

3.2.2 Community

From 1824, the homestead at Belmont served as the official Meredith residence until the completion of the homestead at Cambria in 1836.297 During the family’s tenure at Belmont, and upon the move to Cambria, George Meredith became famous for his hospitality, his son Edwin recalling in his memoirs: It was my father’s practice, as long as I can remember to give a public dinner-party every Thursday. These dinner parties were recognised throughout the district as open-house invitations which were invariably responded to by the Military Officers quartered at “Swansea”, the Police Magistrate, the Clergyman … & also by the leading settlers in the District.298 The influence of George Meredith within the local community extended to the naming of places, the Meredith River (originally Meredith’s Creek), the County of Glamorgan (after his county of residence in Wales), Swansea,299 Pontypool and Llandaff (also Welsh in origin),300 and Spring Bay. Meredith’s reputed naming of Spring Bay was recounted by Edwin Meredith, in his memoirs, as having originated from ‘a fine kangaroo dog’, owned by George Meredith, named ‘Spring’. In 1826, the dog had been stolen by a party of Bass Strait sealers then working for Meredith and with Meredith having realised what had happened gave chase and recaptured his dog at the bay now bearing its name.301 With the passing of George Meredith, the influence of the Meredith family in both the local community and colonial politics did not wain with his eldest sons continuing this association through various elected offices. In 1856, this began with Charles and his election as the Member for Glamorgan in the first Tasmanian Parliament, a position he held from 1856-1861.302 Subsequently, he was elected as the Member for Hobart Town (1861-62), Glamorgan (1862-66), Kingborough (1866-71), West Devon (1871-76), Norfolk Plains (1876-77), and again West Devon (1877-79).303 During his time in the Parliament, he accepted the paid-position of Colonial Treasurer in 1857, represented Tasmania at the 1863 Inter-Colonial Conference in Melbourne and was Minster for Lands and Works from 1872-73.304 An extraordinarily progressive politician, Charles pioneered the conservation movement in Tasmania, under the prompting of his authoress wife, introducing legislation into Parliament for the protection of Tasmanian wildlife, beginning with a bill for the protection of the black swan in 1860.305 Louisa Anne Meredith’s influence also extended to local government, having designed the municipal seal of the Municipality of Glamorgan in 1864.306 Following his purchase of Cambria in 1855, John played an increasing role in community life, including sitting on the local road trust, his appointment as a Justice of the Peace (JP) and election as Councillor on the first Glamorgan municipal council,307 Glamorgan (in 1860) the first rural municipality established following the proclamation of the State of Tasmania and the oldest rural municipality in Australia.308 In 1861,309 John took his brother’s place as the Member for Glamorgan, his brother having stepped down due to illness, before Charles was re-elected as Member for Glamorgan in 1862.310

297 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, pp. 14-15. 298 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 9. 299 The name Swansea, a town in the County of Glamorgan in Wales, was reputedly suggested by George Meredith, however the name is apparently equally derived from the plentiful flocks of Black Swans present on that part of the East Coast (Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 51). 300 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 92. 301 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 93. 302 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, pp. 180-181. 303 Sally O'Neill, 'Meredith, Charles (1811–1880)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessed online 18 May 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-charles-4187/text6731 304 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 180. 305 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, pp. 182-183. 306 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 205. 307 Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno, p. 77. 308 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 56. 309 A sale plan of the property dated December 1861 denotes the tile MHA: Plan of the valuable Estates of Cambria and Riversdale Together with the Land at Kearney’s Bogs the property of John Meredith Esq. MHA to be Sold by Auction by Brent and Westbrook. (Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office, NS172/1/7) 310 Sally O'Neill, 'Meredith, Charles (1811–1880)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessed online 18 May 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-charles-4187/text6731

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 41 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Figure 36 Hon. Charles Meredith (1811- Figure 37 Louisa Anne Meredith (1812- Figure 38 Councillor John Meredith (1822-1909), 1880), by J.W. Beattie (photo.). 1895), photographer unknown. photographer unknown. Source: Allport Library and Source: Allport Library and A photograph of John Meredith Museum of Fine Arts, State Library Museum of Fine Arts, State when a sitting member of the of Tasmania Library of Tasmania Glamorgan Municipal Council. (AUTAS001125647503) (AUTAS001125883173) Source: Glamorgan Spring Bay Historical Society (GSB1996.339T)

3.2.3 Social Life

In addition to community, the house at Cambria served as centre for the larger Meredith family and a gathering point for George’s multiple children that extended across his two marriages. In September 1844, Meredith organised a farewell party one evening at Cambria for his son Charles and daughter in law Louisa on the occasion of their departure for Port Sorell where Charles was to take up the position of Assistant Police Magistrate, upon their arrival the house being where ‘lights glowed from the windows and sounds of music and laughter spilled out into the crisp still air’, the nights festivities including a ‘travelling conjurer to perform his tricks’ whom Meredith had engaged for the entertainment of the children.311 Home to many social occasions:

There were gay times had at the homestead – dinners, balls, riding and shooting parties were the order of the day. Game was plentiful, kangaroo, wallaby, wild duck, and swan afforded great sport for the shooters. The four charming and cultured daughters of the house added great attraction and married well known Englishmen.312

… the survival of Old English customs, particularly at Christmas and New Year, made a visit to Cambria a memorable thing.313 From 1836, and with the construction of the house at Cambria, Meredith’s ability to entertain increased and with it so did the calibre of his guests. Bishop Francis Nixon, 1st Bishop of Van Diemen’s Land and subsequently Tasmania,314 was a regular guest at Cambria to the extent that he conducted the marriage of one of Meredith’s daughters at Swansea in 1845. An accomplished artist, Bishop Nixon undertook several, now well known, pen and ink studies of Cambria on another visit in 1853.315 Following the departure of Lieutenant-Governor Arthur from Van Diemen’s Land, successive Lieutenant-Governors were entertained by Meredith at Cambria, including Sir John Franklin, Sir John Eardley-Wilmot and Sir William Denison.316

311 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 127. 312 Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, 30th May 1928, p. 55. 313 The Mercury, 3rd September 1924, p. 6. 314 W. R. Barrett, 'Nixon, Francis Russell (1803–1879)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 5 May 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/nixon-francis-russell-2509/text3389 315 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 9. 316 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 9.

42 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan and upon Van Diemen’s Land achieving self-government and independence from New South Wales and its proclamation as the State of Tasmania in 1855,317 Sir Henry Young, 1st Governor of Tasmania.318 Following John Meredith taking up residence at Cambria, he continued the hospitality made famous by his father hosting successive Governors and Bishops, including Sir George Strahan, 5th Governor of Tasmania in March 1883,319 and Bishop Henry Montgomery, and Mrs Montgomery, in November 1889.320 The increasing Vice-Regal patronage appointed upon Cambria eventually earnt the house the colloquial title of ‘The Government House of the East Coast’.321 Other notable guests entertained by Meredith at Cambria included the celebrated geologist the Reverend William Clarke (the scientific discoverer of Australian gold322) in July 1856 and the geologist Charles Gould (who conducted the first geographical survey of Tasmania and named much of the topography of Western Tasmania323) in August 1859.324 Tennis parties were also a staple at Cambria (refer Figure 41), a tennis court having been laid out in October 1883.325

Figure 39 View of Cambria with the Freycinet Peninsula in the Figure 40 View of Cambria from the south bank of the Meredith River, background, looking south-east, c.1853, by Bishop Francis looking north-west, c.1853, by Bishop Francis Nixon. Nixon. Source: Tasmanian Archive & Heritage Office (PH30/1/351) Source: Tasmanian Archive & Heritage Office (PH30/1/351)

3.2.4 Succession and Demise

Despite his capital and being somewhat more practical than his older brother Charles, the future of Cambria was not assured under John Meredith. By 1861, within only six years of purchasing the property, Meredith appeared to have overstretched his finances with the entirety of the Cambria estates advertised for sale as three properties, described as:

… the valuable Estates of Cambria and Riversdale Together with the Land at Kearney’s Bogs the property of John Meredith Esq.re, M.H.A.326

317 Peter Boyce, 'Governors', The Companion to Tasmanian History, accessed 5 May 2016: http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/G/Governors.htm 318 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 9. 319 Reference to the index of the Meredith Family Papers, p. G.4/C, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/ 320 Reference to the index of the Meredith Family Papers, p. G.4/B, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/ 321 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 54. 322 Ann Mozley, 'Clarke, William Branwhite (1798–1878)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1969, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/clarke-william-branwhite-3228 323 Maxwell R. Banks and M. L. Yaxley, 'Gould, Charles (1834–1893)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1972, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gould-charles-3645/text5679 324 Reference to the index of the Meredith Family Papers, p. G.4/B, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/ 325 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 52. 326 Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO). Plan - Cambria and Riversdale, and land at Kearneys Bogs, property of John Meredith. To be sold by Brent and Westbrook on Tuesday 10 December. (NS172-1-7).

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 43 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Initially advertised for auction with Brent and Westbrook at ‘their mart’ in Murray Street, Hobart Town at 12pm on Tuesday 10th December 1861327 (which did not proceed), an eventual auction of the vast majority of the Cambria estates occurred following John Meredith’s petition for bankruptcy in March 1871.328 In the end only the Cambria estate, the antithesis of his father’s former empire, survived the sale. Following his discharge from bankruptcy in April 1872, Meredith sought to protect the remaining Cambria estates against any further legal proceedings, especially for the benefit of his wife Maria;329 she not being particularly ‘robust’ having suffered bad health all her life and becoming blind in her old age.330 In 1876, this saw the signing of the estates into the name of a several trustees which would distribute profits and income to her during her lifetime, after which the estates would be sold. Aware of the arrangement, John and Maria’s children acknowledged its content in their signing of deeds in 1896. Despite the sale agreement with the trustees, Meredith attempted the sale of the estates, in 1884 and 1892, with Maria Meredith discussing their prospective sale, in family letters, as early as March 1883. Despite these attempts, the estates remained unsold by the time of John Meredith’s death331 at Cambria, at the age of 87, on 13th February 1909.332 At the time of his death he was believed to be ‘the oldest native-born Tasmanian’.333 The following year, further distress was caused with the death of Ernest Meredith, John and Maria’s 3rd eldest son, because of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his rooms at Cambria in October 1910 at the age of 51.334 From 1909, the Meredith’s having ceased operating Cambria as an agricultural concern, the property was leased by the Trustees of John Meredith’s Estate by local farmer Henry Bayles. A clearing sale at Cambria on 18th March 1912, held by John and Maria’s youngest son Edwin Meredith, subsequently saw the sale of all of the remainder of the Meredith’s livestock, horses, carts and wagons.335 John Meredith’s widow, Maria Meredith, continued to reside at Cambria until her death there, at the age of 85, on 14th September 1912.336 Following the death of Maria Meredith, the main house at Cambria appears to have sat unoccupied for some time:

The lovely gardens, once the pride of the old squire and his family, became overgrown and sadly neglected…..337 In 1916, the Meredith family, in the form of the Misses Meredith and Mace, hosted their last social event at Cambria, a garden fete and afternoon tea in the ‘Cambria orchard’ in aid of the Swansea branch of the Red Cross and the 40th Battalion’s Comforts Fund.338 In 1920, Henry Bayles wrote to the Trustees outlining his proposal to purchase Cambria, if the Trustees were willing to sell ‘on agreeable terms’, in light of his lease coming to an end. In 1926, a sales agreement was entered between Bayles and the Trustees and despite a ‘flurry’ of written pleas from various members of the Meredith family asking that the sale be stopped, Cambria was sold for £8,125 in April 1927,339 the passing of the property was lamented in the pages of the Hobart-based publication the Illustrated Tasmanian Mail in 1928:

It was with great regret and reluctance consent was given to the selling of the old home, with its happy memories and many traditions of the past, and now the old regime is ended.340

327 Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO). Plan - Cambria and Riversdale, and land at Kearneys Bogs, property of John Meredith. To be sold by Brent and Westbrook on Tuesday 10 December. (NS172-1-7). 328 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 20. 329 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 22. 330 Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, p. 171. 331 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 22. 332 The Mercury, 16 February 1909, p. 1. 333 Australasian, 27th February 1909, p. 40. 334 North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times, 1st November 1910, p. 2. 335 The Mercury, 5th March 1912, p. 8. 336 Examiner, 16 September 1912, p. 1. 337 Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, 30th May 1928, p. 55. 338 The Mercury, 26 October 1916, p. 3. 339 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 23. 340 Illustrated Tasmanian Mail, 30th May 1928, p. 55.

44 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Figure 41 Extract from the image Tennis at Cambria Swansea, c.1909, photographer unknown. Back row (from left): Percy Lyne, Miss Northam (Governess [at] Riversdale), Mrs Salier, Mr J. Meredith, Mr A.T. Mayson, Dr Lionel Druitt, Fanny Mace, May Shaw (kneeling, Miss A. Blyth, Helen Cotton, Ettie Lyne, Mollie Mace, and Fred. Lyne. Front row (from left): Ernest Meredith, Mr Rust, Trevor Mace, Mrs Rust, Mrs (Maria) Meredith, and Jessie Meredith. Group in front: Walter Lyne, Leslie Lyne, Clara Meredith, Mr Salier, Mrs Fred. Lyne. Source: Mr and Mrs N.D. Burbury

Figure 42 Mr and Mrs John (1822-1909) Meredith & family at Cambria, Waterloo Point. [Swansea?]., c.1909, photographer unknown. A photo of the John Meredith’s in the front garden of Cambria, including: Front row to left: Clara Meredith, Violet Mace, Mrs (Maria) Meredith. Standing: Young (Mr Mace?), Molly Mace, John Meredith, Fanny Mace. Source: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (Q468.2)

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 45 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

4. HOMESTEAD COMPLEX

4.1 INTRODUCTION

The homestead complex at Cambria consists of a variety of single and double-storey buildings of differing uses and construction typologies. These buildings date from the c.18** to the mid-19**s. All buildings, structures and landscaped areas of significant size within the homestead complex are identified as subject structures. Considering the age and contribution the formal gardens make toward the homestead complex; these have also been identified as subject structures. To create a timeline and trace the development of the homestead, the subject structures are numbered per their age: 1. Gardens, including: a. Kitchen Garden (c.1821-36) and Rabbit Hutch (c.1850) b. Orchards (c.1821) c. Formal Garden (c.1841) 2. Main house (c.1834-36 / alterations c.2000) 3. Greenhouse and hothouse (c. 1836) 4. Stables (c.1841 / alterations c.1857; c.1929; c.1995) 5. Barn and woolshed (c.1841) 6. Shearing shed (c. 1909-25) 7. Workman’s cottage (c. 1951-56) 8. Garage (c.1951-56) 9. Chicken shed (c.1951-56) 10. Machinery shed (1970s) 11. Areas of archaeological potential (site of the former c.1821 storehouse; refer Figure 22). The workman’s cottage (7), garage (8) and chicken shed (9), and machinery shed (10), constructed respectively during the Brettingham-Moore and Burbury tenures of the property are not considered significant features that assist in interpreting the history or use of the property. As such, they do not form part of the following analysis.

9 8. 10 1c 6 2 11 1a 5 3 11 4. 1b 7 1b 1b

Figure 43 Aerial view of the homestead at Cambria. The legend is outlined in the body text above. Image source: Google Maps, 2016

46 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

4.2 HOUSE

History (refer Section 2.2.4 for a full construction history of the house)

Building exterior When compared with contemporary images of the house from the 1840s (refer Figure 22) and 1853 (refer Figure 39 and Figure 40), and later photographs from the early 1900s (refer Figure 23), it is apparent that the house largely conforms with these early depictions of the building; indeed, an image of the house in 1986 (refer Figure 24) indicates that its appearance at that time largely conformed with this earlier appearance also. When approached from the rear along the main drive, the west elevation of the house presents as a symmetrical three-storey house constructed from brick with a harled render finish with a corrugated sheet metal Colorbond roof (refer Figure 44). The built form of the house is broken into a two-tier arrangement, consisting of a large three-storey section flanked at either end by two-storey pavilions with pyramidal-shaped hipped roofs (refer Figure 45); the sub-basement level of the house presents as the ground floor level of the building when viewed from this vantage point. The symmetry of this built form is carried through into the arrangement of large flanking multi-flue expressed brick chimneys (with traces of an original copper-tinted distemper finish) at either end of the roofline of the main section of the house, the rectilinear horizontal-like form of these chimneys giving the whole house a low-slung appearance; this symmetry is subsequently counteracted by a single-flue face-mounted cement- rendered brick chimney to the external face of the south elevation of the house, the cement render to the chimney is evident as being a later application (refer Figure 48). The arrangement of the original fenestration to this elevation remains unaltered, consisting of door and window openings with sandstone sills and splayed sandstone lintels. Most the fenestration is centred upon the elevation, consisting of a centred door opening, with multi-paned top light, flanked by tri-partite windows with double- hung sash multi-paned windows at sub-basement level. Overhead, this arrangement is repeated by aligned openings of multi- paned double-hung sash windows at ground floor level and casement dormer windows, with glazed cheeks, at first floor level. At either end of the overall elevation, the fenestration of the flanking pavilions repeats this pattern with sub-basement door openings, with multi-paned top lights, and overhead multi-paned window openings, the whole centred upon the elevation of the individual pavilions (refer Figure 44). On the south elevation, as a result of unsympathetic repairs and the age of the building, a series of structural inadequacies are evident, most notably subsidence to the south-west corner of the southern pavilion and a significant breakdown in the structural integrity of the brickwork wall to the north-west corner of the northern pavilion (refer Figure 46 and Figure 47). On the north elevation, the construction of the house is more readily appreciated, consisting of an unpainted freestone foundation with a largely unpainted sandstone stringcourse of large bevel-edged blocks; fretting of the sandstone due to weathering is evident. Atop the stringcourse, the remainder of the elevation consists of the same brickwork with a harled render surface as the rear elevation, however later poor quality repairs in cement are evident. To conceal the repairs, the entirety of the wall has been finished with a modern paint, some paint having fallen on the sandstone stringcourse; the sandstone sills and splayed sandstone lintels have also been painted (refer Figure 51). The original fenestration of the elevation remains intact, consisting of ground floor window openings that align with sunken basement window openings with original wrought iron security bars. The basement openings retain elements of timber framing, being evidence of former vented or glazed window inserts to each opening possessing curved brick lined light wells with evidence of an early rendered finish; timber tree stumps have been placed within the light wells for reasons unknown (refer Figure 50). Immediately above the basement openings, the fenestration at the east end of the elevation (to the Drawing Room) retains its original double- hung sash window joinery and glazing (refer Figure 51), however this window is in a poor state of repair, the glazing bars having significant rot allowing for the ingress of rain and wind to the interior of the house. At first floor level on the north elevation, original fenestration in the form of an operable skylight is apparent (refer Figure 49). This skylight originally possessed layered panes of glass to complete a single run of glass, there are three runs of glass divided by glazing bars to the window. This original detail was recorded and utilised in restoration works at Port Arthur Historic Site in the 1980s. These multiple panes were subsequently replaced by long single panes of glass at the time the current Colorbond corrugated sheet metal roof was installed.341 This same single skylight arrangement and detail is evident on the south elevation of the building (refer Figure 48). On the east elevation, constituting the principal façade of the house, a deep verandah conceals most the elevation. The verandah is an original feature (refer Figure 52), comprising a timber structure of tapered verandah posts, with applied timber mouldings, timber balustrades and overhead beams. The roof of the verandah is clad with a modern Colorbond corrugated metal sheet the same as the main roof of the house. The underside of the roof is lined with original tongue and groove boards

341 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 47 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

(refer Figure 56). At the south end of the verandah, two modern skylights have been inserted into the fall of the verandah roof, with the relevant sections of tongue and groove board linings removed to accommodate these (refer Figure 56). The floor of the verandah consists of original diagonal tessellated sandstone pavers which are somewhat uneven in areas because of fretting from weather and general wear (refer Figure 53). Unlike the rest of the external finishes of the house, the rendered finish to the walls beneath the verandah are not harled and instead have a render finish with ruled lines to imitate ashlar stonework. This original feature has been finished with modern paints as evident elsewhere. Along the extent of the façade, the original fenestration remains intact, albeit for the addition of a small pedestrian door at the south end of the verandah. Of the original fenestration, all openings contain French doors with early glazing, panelled reveals and architraves to the surround. Between each of the French doors, running the length of the verandah at the base of the wall, is a skirting board; all joinery constitutes features original to the house (refer Figure 56). Early fittings associated with the French doors are largely concentrated to the door entering the ground floor foyer, the door retaining an early decorative brass knocker and simple brass handles (refer Figure 57). The new door at the south end of the elevation, this contains a simple multi-paned timber door with a sympathetic timber panelled reveal and architrave. On the south elevation of the house, a large modern conservatory-style addition has been constructed, largely concealing the elevation. While modern, the addition is sympathetic to the architectural style of the original house, incorporating a hipped roof and Western Red Cedar timber windows (refer Figure 54 and Figure 55). Of what is visible of the original elevation, the majority is given oven to blank walls with original harled render surfaces that have been finished with a modern paint (refer Figure 48). Significant extant original features consist of the external chimney to this elevation, despite having been rendered with cement at some stage (refer Figure 48). Other original features consist of remnant fenestration in the form of a window opening fitted with casement windows to accommodate a door (refer Figure 58). This was converted to a door at an early stage, the original windows having been removed and stored in the stables (refer Figure 59). At first floor level, an original operable skylight exists which has been discussed previously. A significant timber deck area and pergola has been constructed, in conjunction with the new addition, along this side of the house concealing original freestone retaining walls and a modern water tank at lower ground level. On this deck, mounted to the west elevation of the addition, is an early Huon pine laundry trough which has no doubt been recycled from elsewhere in the house as an outdoor sink (refer Figure 60).

Figure 44 View of the rear (south) elevation of the main house, looking Figure 45 View of the north and south elevations of the main house, east. The original appearance of elevation is representative looking south-east. Note the difference in appearance of the original external appearance of the main house’s wall between the unpainted south elevation and painted north surfaces. The integrity of the elevation has been impacted elevation. The unsympathetic cement repairs to the exterior upon by unsympathetic cement render repairs and the ill- of the house, particularly on the south elevation, have conceived placement of PVC downpipes. caused significant internal problems to the house. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

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Figure 46 View of the sub-basement entrance of the southern pavilion. Figure 47 View of the sub-basement entrance of the northern pavilion. Note the significant lean in the splayed lintel of the opening, Note the significant breakdown in the structural integrity of denoting significant subsidence in this section of the main the brickwork as a result of unsympathetic cement house. render repairs to the main house. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 48 View of the west elevation showing the original brick Figure 49 View of the north elevation of the main house, looking south- chimney with rendered cement finish. The visible west. Note the modern paint finish to the original harled render elevations of the pavilion (at right), lower section of the surface. The visible fenestration retains original joinery, including chimney and remainder of the house have been finished multi-paned double hung sash window at ground level and the with a modern paint. The first-floor skylight visible on the skylight at first floor level; the skylight is indicated. roof is indicated. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 50 View of a basement window on the north elevation of the Figure 51 View of the north elevation of the main house, looking main house. Note the level of fretting of the sandstone lintel south-west. Note the modern paint finish the harled render over the window, this being representative of the level of surface, sections of sandstone stringcourse, window sill structural decay of sandstone elsewhere on the building and splayed lintels. The various wrought iron fixings to the where sandstone has become weathered. The iron bars are walls, including the chain link, are early features. The later original. 1940s double-hung sash is evident to the farthest opening. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 49 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Figure 52 View of the principal façade (east elevation) of the main Figure 53 Detail view of the lower half of the east elevation beneath the house, looking west. The verandah, an original feature, verandah, showing the French doors, their associated joinery conceals most of the elevation; the skylights to the are and the timber skirting board that runs the extent of the modern additions. The section of wall above the verandah elevation. The verandah is paved in a tessellated diagonal roof is the same harled render finish as the north, south and pattern of sandstone pavers. The underside of the verandah west elevations of the house; it has been painted like the is lined with tongue and groove timber boards; all are north and south elevations. original features. aSource: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 54 View of the east elevation of the new addition to the south Figure 55 View of the south elevation of the new addition. The overall front of the main house. Above the roofline of the new style of the new addition, while modern, is sympathetic to the addition, note the original harled render surfaces which have house. been painted. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

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Figure 56 View of the verandah, looking Figure 57 Detail view of the front door to the Figure 58 View of the early window opening south. Note the original diagonal house off the verandah. showing its later, yet still, iteration tessellated sandstone paving and The detail of the door is standard as a door. The sandstone sill overhead tongue and groove to all French doors along remains, the concrete steps are ceiling lining; the skylights are the east elevation of the house. later. The doors are a modern additions. The French The brass knocker and door replacement of the originals (refer doors, associated panelling, handle are unique to this door Figure 59). architraves and skirting boards are only. Note the proliferation of Source: Trethowan, 2016 original features. The farthest later electrical fittings and fixtures door in the image is a modern to the architrave surround addition. of the door. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 59 Detail view of the original glazed Figure 60 Detail view of the early Huon pine casement doors removed from the laundry trough being utilised as an south elevation of the house. The outdoor sink on the west elevation lower panels are in fact glass but of the modern addition. have been painted. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

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Building interior Because of the main house’s ongoing use as a continuously inhabited family home, it has seen significant redecoration within selected areas. Major redecoration has occurred on the ground floor of the building where most habitation occurred between 1927 and 2015. Areas of the house not continuously inhabited are concentrated on the sub-basement and first floor levels resulting in the retention of much early and/or original decorative elements. A detailed review of the interior of the house is set out at Section 10.3 (Appendix C – Room Data Sheets). The following references to individual room numbers and names correspond with plans of the house at Section 6.9 – Areas of Significance At sub-basement level, the clear majority of spaces retain original and early finishes, fittings and fixtures due to minimal use of certain areas. Circulation areas and some store rooms retain original sandstone flagstone floors (albeit with cement repairs in some areas, refer Figure 61), and brick lined floors (refer Figure 62). Other rooms retain original timber floorboards, notably room B.07 (Room 01; refer Figure 63) and room B.05 (Store 01; refer Figure 64). The raised timber floor in room B.02 (Former Kitchen) is a modern addition (refer Figure 65). Store rooms have earthen floors (refer Figure 66). Principal areas largely retain their original whitewashed render plaster wall and lathe and plaster ceiling finishes, notably in room B.06 (Entry Hall; refer Figure 61), however the use of different coloured early distempers (lime-based paints) in some areas is evident, most notably in room B.07 (Room 01) where rose-coloured distemper is evident (refer Figure 67). The early use of wallpaper is evident in the stairwell (room B.06) to the ground floor only and retains early examples of marbled wall paper laid on the vertical concealed beneath later floral print wall papers, these marbled wall papers considered a significant decorative feature in the house (refer Figure 68). Additional early decoration includes a dual-colour scheme to the doors in this part of the house, the original scheme apparent to one door despite others having been refinished by modern paints (refer Figure 69). Storerooms have white washed masonry walls and lathe and plaster ceilings (refer Figure 62). Throughout this part of the house, all doors and windows retain their joinery intact, including architraves, sills and reveals; many doors retain their early door hardware (refer Figure 70), however most have been refinished with later paint finishes (refer Figure 71). Other significant joinery includes fitted cupboards in room B.07 (Room 02; refer Figure 73), an open-dresser in the former kitchen (refer Figure 74) and rustic open shelves in some store areas, notably those in room B.15 (Store 07) where individual shelves retain early handwritten labels (refer Figure 72). Principal rooms have seen attempts at refurbishment from the mid-1950s-1970s, however much of these improvements consist of the relining/redecorating of various rooms using either wallpaper or fibre board lining. In the former kitchen area (room B.02), the relining of the area has concealed several original features, most notably an early brick-lined oven (refer Figure 75). This refurbishment has seen the installation of cement floors in some rooms and the construction of the previously mentioned raised timber floor in the former kitchen. Due to the underutilisation of these areas from the 1970s to 2015, a combination of damp and lack of maintenance has seen these later finishes disintegrate exposing early finishes beneath (refer Figure 76).

Figure 61 View of room B.06 (entry hall), Figure 62 View of room B.11 (Store 05), Figure 63 View of room B.07 (Room 02), looking east towards the stair to looking north-east. Original and looking north-east. The room the ground floor. Note the cement early features remain in the space retains significant features repairs to the sandstone flagstone including brick floors, render walls including timber flooring, floor and repairs utilising tin to the and lathe and plaster ceilings, and timber joinery and rendered plaster ceiling (indicated by the red an early bench. and lathe and plaster ceilings arrow). Source: Trethowan, 2016 beneath later wallpapering and Source: Trethowan, 2016 paint finishes. Source: Trethowan, 2016

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Figure 64 View of room B.05 (Store 01), Figure 65 View of room B.02 (Former Figure 66 View of a room B.10 (Store 04) looking east. The interior of the Kitchen), looking south-west. looking north-east; note the earthen room is complete and retains open Note the later works to the room floor. While features in these shelving and cup hooks, including the relined walls and spaces are minimal compared with suggestive of it having been used ceiling and raised timber elsewhere at sub-basement level, as the china closet described in an floor. Despite these alterations, this nonetheless represents the 1891 auction notice. The floors are early features remain including the original use and intent of the space. partially concealed beneath fireplace and open dresser (at left Source: Trethowan, 2016 modern carpet tiles. of the image). Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 67 View of the interior of fitted joinery Figure 68 View of the early floral wall paper Figure 69 Evidence of the early former sub- in room B.07 (Room 2), showing in the sub-basement stairwell basement joinery colour scheme, on the former rose coloured distemper (room B.06), showing the earlier the reverse of the door in room B.05 that once existed throughout the marbled wall paper beneath. This (Store 01). Evidence of this room. earlier wall paper finish accords former decorative scheme is visible Source: Trethowan, 2016 with remnant marbled wall papers beneath later modern paint finishes on the first-floor landing of the to door joinery throughout this part building. of the house. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

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Figure 70 An early lever door set on the Figure 71 Evidence of a modern paint finish, Figure 72 View of room B.15 (Store 07) separating door between room to the door to room B.05 (Store 01) showing the extant rustic joinery. B.02 (former kitchen) and B.06 from room B.06 (Entry Hall). The yellowing paper to the face of (Entry Hall). Note that on the side of the door each shelf are early labels Source: Trethowan, 2016 this remains unpainted. describing jam jars once stored here. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 73 Early fitted cupboards in room B.07 (Room 2), at left and Figure 74 An early fitted dresser in room B.02 (former kitchen) right of the image. The modern paint finish to the cupboards consisting of an arrangement of open shelves has been relates to the redecoration of the room in the 1950s-60s. enclosed with later doors and hardwood uprights. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 75 An early brick oven and fireplace in room B.02. Later Figure 76 View of room B.01 (entry) showing the breakdown of later renovations have seen face of the oven and fire place fibreboard sheeting as a result of rising damp. concealed. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

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At ground floor level, the house has seen considerable redecoration over the course of its history, however this largely consists of cosmetic alterations relating to painted wall finishes and fitted carpets (refer Figure 77). Early features consist of joinery, plaster rendered walls and lathe and plaster ceilings with decorative cornices (refer Figure 79). In most areas, the ceilings remain intact, however damage to some ceilings, and early attempts to repair damage using timber battens to stabilise early ceilings, are evident in room G.01 (Entry Hall; refer Figure 78) and room G.02 (Drawing Room; refer Figure 79). Original joinery remains throughout, most notably consisting of skirting boards, sills, reveals architraves, doors and windows. The most notable of these features are in the principal reception areas where highly decorative Cedar joinery finished with an early shellac remains (refer Figure 77). Additional significant features at principal floor level include original marble mantle pieces in room G.03 (Dining Room) and room G.02 (Drawing Room; refer Figure 80 and Figure 81) and early decorative curtain rods in room G.02 (refer Figure 82). Elsewhere in the house, original features include an early hessian battened ceiling in room G.14 (Bedroom 03; refer Figure 83) and joinery including doors, windows, architraves, skirting boards, sills and architraves which have been finished with a modern paint (refer Figure 84). Where visible, early features retain their original finishes, most notably timber mantle pieces and timber flooring with shellacked and stained finishes (refer Figure 85) and a series of painted scenes on a bedroom door (refer Figure 86), possibly the work of Fanny Meredith from George Meredith’s first marriage, an amateur artist in her own right having learnt from her sister-in-law Louisa Anne Meredith.342 While alterations are apparent, these are readily identifiable as new partition walls with regard to the refurbished Bathroom (room G.09) and WC (room G.10) and new plasterboard ceilings with a consistent proprietary coved cornice (refer Figure 87). The most notable alteration consists of the large addition to the south elevation of the house. These works involved the conversion of an original window opening into a door and the redecoration of room G.04 (Former Study) as a vestibule with a tiled floor and the painting of the original joinery (refer Figure 88); the original double-hung multi-pane sash from the window opening is currently stored in the stable (refer Figure 89).

Figure 77 Room G.01 (Entry Hall) showing Figure 78 Early damage to the original lathe Figure 79 Early repairs to the ceiling in room modern decoration to the and plaster ceiling and decorative G.02 (Drawing Room) has seen space (fitted carpets, painted walls cornice in room G.01 (Entry Hall). the original lathe and plaster and wall papers) while retaining the Source: Trethowan, 2016 stabilised using timber battens, in a early shellacked finish to the grid effect, while retaining the original Cedar joinery. decorative cornice. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 80 Original grey marble mantle piece Figure 81 Original white marble mantle piece Figure 82 Early window furnishings in room in room G.03. The raised and in room G.02. The raised G.02 hung on a decorative sandstone hearth is original. and sandstone hearth is original. timber and brass curtain rod. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

342 ‘Frances Meredith b.1831’, Design and Art Australia Online, accessed online 28 June 2016: https://www.daao.org.au/bio/frances-meredith/biography/

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Figure 83 View room G.14 (Bedroom 03) Figure 84 An example of the typical treatment Figure 85 A mantle piece and flooring retaining its early hessian lined of internal joinery with modern in room G.07 (Bedroom 01) with ceiling. The painting of all joinery, paint finishes in ground floor early stained (floor) and shellacked apart from mantle pieces, is bedrooms. The glazed top light in (mantle piece) finishes. common on this level of the house. room G.14 has been painted over. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 86 A series of early painted scenes on Figure 87 Evidence of later alterations on Figure 88 The most significant alterations on a door in room G.07 (Bedroom 01). the ground floor include partition the ground floor of the house relates Pre-dating the Burbury family’s walls and plasterboard ceilings to the conversion of room G.04 occupation of the house (pre- and proprietary cornices. This (Former Study) into a vestibule 1956), the scenes are potentially partition wall divides an early where original features have been the work of Frances (Fanny) room into a corridor (room G.11), finished with a modern blue paint. Meredith, a daughter of George bathroom (room G.09) and WC Source: Trethowan,2 016 Meredith. (room G.10). Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 89 The original double-hung sash window retrieved from the window opening in the former study is currently stored in the stables. Source: Trethowan, 2016

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The first-floor level, like the sub-basement level, has a high extent of original finishes and features. Elements of the original structure remain exposed in this part of the house, consisting of solid timber columns with cross bracing, and represent an early design feature reminiscent of ship building, a potential connection to the shipbuilding exploits of George Meredith (refer Figure 90). Throughout this part of the house, original timber floorboards remain in their unstained, unoiled or unpainted state (refer Figure 91); only two rooms have seen their floors painted (room F.05 – Bedroom 06) or oiled (room F.06 – Bedroom 07) because of modern works. Additional early floor finishes consist of linoleum coverings (refer Figure 92). Early joinery exists throughout which was intended to be painted considering the use of no-doubt low grade timbers, like Baltic pine, given the location of this part of the house away from the principal level of the house. As such, several rooms have an early green paint finish with other rooms having been subsequently redecorated with joinery elements finished with modern painted finishes (refer Figure 93). Throughout these rooms, original joinery elements consist of mantle pieces, doors, internal and external windows, architraves, skirting boards and fitted cupboards (refer Figure 94, Figure 95 and Figure 96). Doors retain their original door hardware, including hinges, locks and door handles (refer Figure 96). The most notable joinery element is an internal window above the staircase (room F.01 – Landing) that retains a significant colonial painting depicting the wreck of a ship in Great Oyster Bay, at the mouth of the Meredith River; the date of the wreck places completion of the painting c.1853 (refer Figure 97). Additional significant decorative features include early marbled wall paper hangings in room F.01 (Landing), identical to those currently concealed in the basement staircase (room B.06; refer Figure 68). Other early wallpaper examples remain in room F.02 (Former Nursery; refer Figure 99) and room F.04 (Bedroom 05), off the nursery, that retains early wall papers layered over even earlier wallpapers (refer Figure 100). Additional early features are concealed within fitted cupboards, where original joinery includes timber hooks and shelving. Some cupboards, in room F.06, retain early newspaper linings from the late 19th century (1867 [the Launceston Examiner] and 1877 [The Mercury]) while in another cupboard, in room F.04, from the early 20th century (1906 [The Mercury]); refer Figure 101. Condition The exterior of the house is currently in a poor state of repair which has resulted in the ingress of weather and security issues at sub-basement level. Security is also considered problematic at ground floor level with the French doors remaining unable to be fully secured. A removals box in the entry hall is securing one set of doors.

Figure 90 View of room F.01 (Landing) Figure 91 View of room F.02 (Former Figure 92 Early linoleum carpet runners showing the expressed post and Nursery), looking west. The room remain in room F.01 (Landing) at structure, reminiscent of ship retains its early decorative the top of the staircase. building, evident elsewhere in the scheme including paint colours Source: Trethowan, 2016 house. and wallpapering. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

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Figure 93 Example of recent redecoration Figure 94 An original casement dormer Figure 95 An internal window, separating room that has occurred in room F.06 window with glazed cheeks (side F.01 and F.02. The window is an (Bedroom 07). The modern windows) in room F.02 (Former original feature retaining a high level colour scheme and Radiata pine Nursery). Significant damage to of integrity in its decorative features, ceiling linings are recent. the cheeks has allowed for early glass and colour scheme. Source: Trethowan, 2016 significant rot and weather ingress Source: Trethowan, 2016 to occur. Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 96 An example of early door Figure 97 Detail view of the early colonial oil Figure 98 Early marbled wall paper, laid on the hardware, in room F.06, that painting on glass, c.1853. horizontal, in room F.01 is a retains its early patina and finish. The painting is said to depict the significant feature in the house. The Source: Trethowan, 2016 saving of a child from the only other known example exists shipwreck of the Resolution at the behind multiple layers of wallpaper mouth of the Meredith River in in the basement stair (room B.06). 1852. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 99 View of room F.02 (Former Figure 100 Early wallpapers in room F.04 Figure 101 Cupboard shelving, in room F.06, lined Nursery), looking north-west. Note (Bedroom 05) retain evidence of with the Launceston Examiner (1867). the early decorative scheme, even earlier wallpapers beneath. Other fitted cupboards retain examples of including an early wall paper frieze. Source: Trethowan, 2016 newspaper linings from 1877 and 1906. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

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4.3 OUTBUILDINGS

4.3.1 Greenhouse and hothouse (c.1836)

History Constructed c.1836, no doubt in conjunction with or immediately following the construction of the main house as a result of the level of joinery incorporated within it, the first depiction of the building (in a view of the Cambria house) occurred in the 1840s (by Louisa Anne Meredith) with a second in 1853 (by Bishop Francis Nixon) indicating a gabled building with a chimney at the mid-point of the roof, positioned on the ridgeline (refer Figure 102 and Figure 103). Possessing a significantly longer roof fall to the north than that on the south, as illustrated in 1853, the northern roof culminated at its lowest point in a glazed wall of large multi-paned windows overlooking the kitchen garden, the panes of glass appearing lime washed to minimise the intensification of direct sunlight (refer Figure 104). Extensively stocked with plants, the building was noted for the vines growing within it by 1850.343 Reroofed with short-run galvanised corrugated sheet metal, no doubt in conjunction with the remainder of the buildings in the homestead by January 1883,344 the building was utilised by the Meredith family for multiple uses in addition to the traditional propagation of plants, John Meredith using the greenhouse for the drying of fruit in 1885.345 The greenhouse was subsequently indicated in a survey plan of the homestead, the first to formally acknowledge its function, in 1888 (refer Figure 13). By c.1906, the building appeared to have surpassed its usefulness, potential panes of broken glass evident to the large windows of the north elevation, a suggestion of its dilapidated state early (refer Figure 104). By 1948, the building remained standing, the galvanised corrugated sheet metal roof of the building discernible in an aerial of the property of that year, however its eventual collapse ensued by May 1979.346

Building exterior Existing in a ruinous state, the building survives as a series of return walls at its east and west ends (refer Figure 105, Figure 106 and Figure 107). At the east end, a return wall in the south-east corner of the building is constructed from freestone with sandstone quoins and retains elements of the original internal render of the building. A partial door frame and stile of the former door in this location also remain in place complete with hinges, denoting the east entrance to the building as depicted by the artist Louisa Anne Meredith in her illustration of Cambria in the 1840s (refer Figure 102). At this end, the extent of the east elevation and its associated footprint remain discernible as a low brick wall with traces of yellow distemper (lime-based paint) that would have originally covered the entirety of the bricks in the construction of the building (refer Figure 106). Atop this brick wall was the bank of glazed multi-paned timber windows, evident in 1906, that ran the extent of this elevation (refer Figure 104). Located either side of this wall is an assortment of weathered timber elements with beaded details indicating they once formed part of the extensive timber structure of the building. At the west end of the building, the south-west corner survives as a return wall constructed from the same combination of freestone with sporadic brickwork, the whole rendered in a yellow distemper. A small section of the rear (south) elevation of the building remains evident depicting the internal elevation containing a series of extruded brick courses either side of a course of rubble sandstone. A section of extant door frame also denotes the location of the former entrance at this end of the building (refer Figure 107). The north-west corner of the building has all but disappeared albeit for a line of bricks in the undergrowth denoting the line of the north elevation (refer Figure 108).

Condition The greenhouse and hothouse exists only as a ruin. While little remains when compared with other 19th century buildings remaining in the homestead, there is the potential for significant original building materials (such as timber structure, brickwork and internal fittings and fixtures) to remain within the undergrowth now growing inside the perimeter of the building. Recovery of these elements (if they exist) would provide a better understanding of the original construction of the building for either reconstruction or further interpretation.

343 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, Appendix 1, p. I – Extract on Cambria from Louisa Anne Meredith’s My Home in Tasmania (Vol. 1), pp. 87-95. 344 The Mercury, 11 January 1883, p. 4. 345 Reference to the index of the Meredith Family Papers, p. G.4/B, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/ 346 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016.

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Figure 102 Extract from the image Cambria, Great Swan Port, Figure 103 Extract from the Bishop Francis Nixon view of Cambria from the Tasmania (The home of George Meredith), c. 1840s, by south-east, c.1853. View of the greenhouse and hothouse, Louisa Anne Meredith (artist). Detail perspective of the showing the lengthened fall of the conservatory roof. The greenhouse and hothouse, showing the east entrance, building is indicated by the red arrow. indicated by the red arrow. The chimney of the hothouse is Source: Tasmanian Archive & Heritage Office (PH30/1/351) located close to the ridgeline of the building, behind the foliage in the foreground. Source: Source: TMAG (AG5587)

Figure 104 Detail view of the greenhouse and hothouse at Cambria, c.1906, by Violet Mace (photographer). Note the lengthy fall of the northern roof pitch and extensive multi-paned glazing along the northern elevation. The roof of the building was reclad with short-run galvanised corrugated metal sheet by 1883. Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (NS615/1/40)

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Figure 105 View of the former east elevation and associated entrance to Figure 106 View of the former north elevation of the greenhouse and the greenhouse and hothouse. Located in the south-east hothouse. The extant base wall would have supported the corner of the building, note part of the original door frame and banks of glazed multi-pane windows evident in c.1909. The door leaf remain as does part of the original internal wall pieces of timber lying either side of the foremost wall render. This elevation was depicted by Louisa Anne originally formed part of the upper structure of the Meredith in the 1840s. building. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 107 View of south-west corner of the former greenhouse and Figure 108 View looking south-east through the former greenhouse. The hothouse. Note the extruded brick and rubble course of the line of brick in the foreground depict the line of the former rear wall, indicating the former internal treatment of the rear north elevation. wall of the building. At right, the original internal render Source: Trethowan, 2016 treatment of the wall remains intact as does a piece of timber frame denoting the former west entrance to the building. Source: Trethowan, 2016

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4.3.2 Stables (c.1841, alterations c.1857, c. 1864, c.1929, c.1995)

History Located at the south-east corner of the former entry yard to the homestead complex, the building was shown in 1861 as an elongated structure extending north-south constituted the southern ‘book end’ into the framed view of the kitchen garden at the end of the vista down Cambria Lane, the north ‘book end’ formed by the former forge and workshop and cart sheds (refer Figure 110). This arrangement was still legible in 1971 (refer Figure 15). Constructed by c.1841, the building is more than likely one of the two unidentified buildings represented toward the south- west of the main house in a survey plan of the homestead in July 1841 (refer Figure 6). Containing multiple functions associated with the operation of the homestead, much of these appear to have been associated with the care of the Meredith family’s horses, including thoroughbreds,347 the operations identified in 1883 as:

Stable for seven horses, carriage house, harness-room, granary, etc., under one roof, brick and stone.348 Additional functions included accommodation for servants, such as grooms,349 one causing damage to the building having accidentally set fire to their bed while smoking in November 1864.350 Initially damaged during flooding of the Meredith River in August 1857,351 further flooding in 1889 which saw a ‘huge flood in the Meredith River’ causing ‘considerable damage’352 no doubt lead to the reconstruction of the south end of the stables into a four-stall stable for working horses.353 Reroofed with short-run galvanised corrugated sheet metal by January 1883,354 additions to the building included a weatherboard chaff house355 to the main (west elevation) by the late 19th century, both structures retaining their short-run corrugated metal sheet roofs by the 1960s (refer Figure 110). A large concrete block wall at the south end of the building was probably constructed by the Bayles family as a response to further flooding of the Meredith River, reputedly following the disastrous floods that devastated Tasmania in 1929.356 In the mid-late 20th century, a skillion roofed structure of timber posts was built at the north-end of the stables.357 In 1995, further works were undertaken with the demolition of the weatherboard chaff house (on the south elevation of the building) and the dismantling of the lime washed brickwork façade; the façade of the building reconstructed in concrete block with additional window openings. The non-lime washed brickwork from the original façade was used as a brick veneer to conceal the concrete block behind, the works undertaken by an English mason named Harry358 Hatfull.359

Building exterior Originally, the stables presented as a two-storey distemper (lime-based paint) finished brick building with a split-paling roof360 where the principal elevation addressed the former entry yard; the roof was reclad with galvanised corrugated sheet metal in

347 The Mercury, 13 November 1883, p. 2. 348 The Mercury, 11 January 1883, p. 4. 349 The Meredith family were known to have employed a groom as late as November 1910. (North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times, Friday 4 November 1910, p. 2) 350 The Mercury, 19 November 1864, p. 2. 351 Reference to the index of the Meredith Family Papers, p. G.4/B, accessed online 17 May 2016: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/ 352 Daily Telegraph, 29 November 1889, p. 3. 353 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 354 The Mercury, 11 January 1883, p. 4. 355 The Mercury, 13 November 1883, p. 2. 356 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 357 Historical images show this part of the building without the structure in the early 20th century with the building extant in 1971 and 1995 in a varying state of repair. 358 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 359 A Historical Study of Cambria Estate, p. 48. 360 The original paling roof exists under the corrugated iron at the south end of the building.

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1883, much of which was in turn replaced in 1995. However, this elevation, containing a central front door with flanking windows (with fixed timber louvres) and a central overhead loft door, was only a façade with the remainder of the building constructed from distemper finished freestone with mud mortar. While the freestone construction, with sandstone quoins, of the building extended to two storeys at the north and south ends of the building, the remainder consisted of freestone at ground floor level only with the first-floor walls being timber framed with weatherboard cladding to the majority of the east elevation and the south end of the west elevation (refer Figure 110 and Figure 111). On the rear (east) elevation, a door and several window and vented openings were arranged along the course of the building including a multi-paned glazed window and external door with multi-paned glazed top light, at the south end of the building, a ground floor opening at the mid-point of the elevation and two first floor openings at the north end no doubt vented openings to the overhead lofts overlooking the kitchen garden (refer Figure 111). This wall was subsequently strengthened using a series of wrought iron ‘S’ plates bolted to the internal hardwood rafters. At the south end of the building, the extended fall of the south hip formed a skillion roofed freestone annexe with a timber framed south wall on a freestone and brick base. An external entrance on the south and west elevations and brick-quoined window openings with glazed multi-paned windows on the east and west elevations complete the arrangement (refer Figure 113). The variation of construction in the overall building, including the prevalence of freestone walls at ground floor level and timber framing at first floor level, is suggestive of the building being earlier than 1841 with subsequent alterations, the most notable being the brick façade to the west elevation (refer Figure 110). Today, the front elevation presents as a partially completed, unpainted expressed brick façade with nine new window openings flanking the original door and loft door locations. There are no windows or doors in the new and reconstructed openings, the original front door having not been reinstated and instead stored within the stable area of the building. The south end of the building remains largely intact, albeit severely dilapidated, and is largely representative of the appearance of this part of the building prior to reconstruction works occurring in 1995. At the south end of this elevation, there is evidence that the skillion roofed annexe has partially collapsed early in its history, probably because of severe flooding that devastated the property in 1889. At the north end of the building, repair works have seen the reconstruction of much of the upper-storey of the elevation with concrete block with an alternating veneer of stone and/or expressed brickwork (refer Figure 112). On the rear (east) elevation, much of the ground floor walls have collapsed resulting in the subsequent partial collapse of the first-floor structure, the floor joists and associated external timber framed walls no longer resting on these lower sections of wall. Little of the original external weatherboard cladding remains (refer Figure 111). At the south end of the elevation, the appearance of the skillion roofed freestone annexe and its original window remain largely in their original state though dilapidated (refer Figure 113). On the south elevation of the building, construction consists of a timber studwork wall, clad with vertical board, atop a low brick and freestone wall (refer Figure 114). At the centre of the opening is an early door with remnants of a face-mounted timber latch, a similar detail to that evident in the basement (room B.09) of the main house. While the roof of the building saw the galvanised corrugated sheet metal replaced with long run corrugated metal sheet in 1995, the south fall of the roof (including that over the annexe) retains the original short-run corrugated iron installed in 1883 (refer Figure 114).

Building interior Internally, the spaces of the building remain largely original and intact albeit in a state of dereliction. At ground floor level, spaces retain their original wall and floor finishes, consisting of whitewashed freestone to external walls in the carriage house, stable, harness room and former servants’ quarters and expressed brickwork with a white distemper finish to internal dividing walls in the stable, harness room and servants’ quarters (refer Figure 117); original floor finishes in these areas consist of earth in the carriage house, cobblestones in the main circulation area of the stable and split timber boards in the stable’s individual horse stalls, and timber floorboards in the harness room. An exception is in the former servants’ quarters where the original floor has been replaced with a concrete slab, no doubt in the mid-20th century. Ceiling linings in these areas largely consist of the exposed overhead floor structure of the first-floor level, a white distemper finish to the underside of the overhead floor structure remaining legible in many of these spaces. The exception of this is in the former carriage house and harness room where there is evidence of former lathe and plaster ceilings which have disappeared. The single-storey annexe at the south end of the building retains evidence of a layering of internal features and finishes associated with its fall from grace from servants’ quarters to working horse stable, evident in the rubble stone walls with a remnant render plaster finish to the north, east and west walls and the semi-demolished state of these walls on the east, south and west elevations. The roof overhead consists of unpainted hardwood rafters with no evidence of former linings visible. As part of the conversion of the space to a working horse stable, the previous floor in this area, most probably floor boards, has been replaced with an earthen floor consisting of a combination of soil and horse feed (refer Figure 118). At first floor level of the building, the area consists of three individual spaces: a former store, granary and first floor area to the servants’ quarters at the south end of the building. Unlike the ground floor, these areas are basic in their fitout considering their utilitarian use for the storage of grain and feed associated with the horses originally kept at ground floor level. Floorboards extend throughout the respective areas with the overhead roof structure of Oyster Bay pine rafters and hardwood battens with corrugated metal sheet over visible from the interior. External walls where extant to the north, south and west of the space consist of whitewashed freestone at the north and south ends and a combination of unpainted single skin modern concrete block and original brickwork where the 1995 reconstruction works have occurred to the north and west elevations. The entirety of the east wall and south section of the

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 63 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan west wall have disappeared, existing only as a series of timber studs where extant. Internally, the respective space of this level of the building are divided by internal walls of Oyster Bay pine studs and Oyster Bay pine weatherboard cladding. In the instance of the dividing wall between the granary and the former servants’ quarters, a white distemper finish to the weatherboard linings is evident considering the domestic nature of this area. Internally, many individual items, many with no association with the stables or little or no association with the homestead complex are stored in the individual spaces of the building (refer 10.3 Section [Appendix C – Room Data Sheets]). Exceptions include the original front door of the building, and two window sashs and two window casements from the main house, being stored in the stable.

Condition The building is in a poor state of repair with the majority collapse of the east elevation having occurred. Of those original walls remaining, extensive cracking is indicative of structural inadequacies. The reconstruction of the main (west) elevation of the building has no doubt provided some structural relief to the building, however despite this the half-finished nature of the façade and its radically different appearance does impact on the interpretation of the building from the principal approach toward the building from Cambria Lane. Internally, the building retains significant features intact, including internal finishes, fixtures and fittings, that assist in the interpretation of the internal spaces and their original functions.

Figure 109 Extract from Cambria and Riversdale, and land at Kearneys Figure 110 View of the front (west) elevation of the stables facing the former Bogs, property of John Meredith. To be sold by Brent and entry yard, showing their earlier configuration, c.1960s. Westbrook on Tuesday 10 December. Plan of the homestead The brick façade of the building was originally lime washed. complex showing the stables in relation to the entry yard in The skillion roofed structure at the front (a chuff cutting shed) 1861. The Stables is indicated by the red arrow. was a later addition as denoted by the separate roof fall. Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (NS172/1/7) Source: Mr. and Mrs. N.D. Burbury

Figure 111 View of the rear (east) elevation of the stables, facing the Figure 112 View of the main (west) elevation of the stables, looking across former kitchen garden, c.1995. While dilapidated, this the former entry yard. Note the difference in appearance, elevation maintained much of its original appearance, stylistically and aesthetically, with its original configuration in the including construction and window openings, intact. c.1960s. Source: Mr. and Mrs. N.D. Burbury Source: Trethowan, 2016

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Figure 113 View of the south annexe, showing the east elevation. The Figure 114 View of the south elevation of the annexe. Note the vertical window opening and original glazed multi-paned casement board wall to the extent of the elevation. The galvanised window are remnants from the initial use of the annexe as corrugated sheet metal on this fall of the roof dates from servants’ quarters. 1883. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 115 Internal view of the stables, looking south. The rafters, Figure 116 Internal view of the former granary at first-floor level, looking originally finished in white distemper, run east-east and were south. Note the extensive unfinished Oyster Bay pine supported at either end by the external masonry walls. The structure including beams, posts and rafters. flex evident at the end of the rafters is a result of them no Source: Trethowan, 2016 longer being supported following the collapse of the east wall. Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 117 Internal view of the former harness room, looking north-west. Figure 118 Internal view of the former working horse stable, looking east. The original white distemper finish to the underside of the The original unpainted hardwood rafters in this area have a rafters and multiple nails denote the ceiling was originally clear span with no internal supports. The original treated with distemper prior to a lathe and plaster ceiling timber paling roofing and hardwood battens survive in this being installed early in its construction. section of the building. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

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4.3.3 Barn and woolshed (c.1841)

History Located at the north-west corner of the former entry yard to the homestead complex, the building was initially represented in this arrangement in 1861 and with its associated timber post-and-rail stockyards by 1888. Originally screened from the entry yard by a continuation of the high hawthorn hedge running along the north boundary of Cambria Lane, the arc of this section of hedge, combined with the continuation of the hedge along the north boundary of the kitchen garden framed the entrance to the carriage road that led to the main house (refer Figure 119). This arrangement, except for the earlier stockyards, was still legible in 1971 (refer Figure 15). Constructed by c.1841, the building is more than likely one of the two unidentified buildings represented toward the south- west of the main house in a survey plan of the homestead in July 1841 (refer Figure 6). Initially constructed as a barn for the storage of hay, as seen in the evidence of former dual-double height doors on both the east and west elevations of the building to enable fully laden carts to be driven through,361 the naming of the adjoining paddock to the west, known as the ‘Barn Paddock’ by 1861, attests to this.362 By 1883, the building incorporated the dual purpose of both a barn and woolshed,363 the woolshed located at the south end of the building.364 Reroofed with short-run galvanised corrugated sheet metal by January 1883,365 the building is said to have been the first in the area with a metal roof.366 The post-and-rail stockyards surrounding the building, constructed by 1888, remained by c.1906 (refer Figure 120). Considering the ingenious structural system devised for the building, demonstrable experience in wooden boat building and design of the main house at Cambria, it is highly probable George Meredith had some role in the design and/or construction of the building.

Building exterior Originally consisting of a gabled building constructed from hardwood with a split-paling roof, the roof has since been reclad with short-run galvanised corrugated sheet metal (c.1883), the paling roof retained in-situ beneath. Externally, the building consists of an ingenious expressed structure of hardwood columns on sandstone footings forming a regular structural grid. Between the columns, the walls of the building consist of hardwood timber slabs slid into place, one on top of the other, between hardwood cover strips, the whole structure post-tensioning itself. On top of these rest a series of trusses, their location on top of the columns resulting in their protrusion through the sheet metal cladding of the roof resulting in additional flashing (refer Figure 119). At eave level, the apex of the gables is lined with split Oyster Bay pine weatherboards, this type of timber a native conifer endemic to this part to the East Coast of Tasmania, that was ‘much sought after in the early days for building’ due to its finely figured grain and structural stability.367 On the east and west elevations, the central two bays were given over to pairs of double-height stable doors (doors consisting of two leaves) constructed from split Oyster Bay pine boards. These doors have since been removed from the east elevation (original drop-bolt hinges remain) and the opening on the west elevation largely infilled albeit for the bottom leaf of the south door which retains its original hinges (refer Figure 119). Partial collapse and removal of the external structure has seen the recladding of much of the north and west elevations in modern galvanised corrugated metal sheet (refer Figure 119).

Building interior Internally, the roof structure consists of a series of eight Queen-post trusses resting on top of the external columns, with evidence of the bottom plate of the trusses being supported on timber columns and spreaders with bolt connections at their mid-point. These spreaders and columns have since been removed and replaced with Oyster Bay pine posts. Across the

361 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 362 An 1861 survey plan of the homestead provides names of the paddocks within immediate proximity of the homestead - Cambria and Riversdale, and land at Kearneys Bogs, property of John Meredith. To be sold by Brent and Westbrook on Tuesday 10 December (NS172-1-7), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO). 363 The Mercury, 11th January 1883, p. 4. 364 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 365 The Mercury, 11th January 1883, p. 4. 366 Pers. Comm.: Mr. N.D. Burbury to S. Nichols (Trethowan Architecture), 1st March 2016. 367 Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania, ‘PLANTS – Planting Oyster Bay pine Callitris rhomboidea’, first published 2003, accessed online 26 May 2016 at: www.parks.tas.gov.au/file.aspx?id=6790

66 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan trusses, finely figured Oyster Bay pine limbs are utilised as rafters and battens upon which the original split-paling roof remains. Additional structural cross bracing is provided throughout using Oyster Bay pine logs. The original hardwood slab flooring of the building remains in-situ, concealed beneath successive layers of hay and sheep manure.

Condition The building is in a poor state of repair because of neglect, partial collapse and incremental repairs. Where remaining, particularly at the south end of the building, the external structure of the building retains good detail allowing for conservation and repair. The east elevation remains largely open because of the removal of much of the external walls. On the north and west elevations, significant areas of the building have been reclad with modern galvanised corrugated metal sheet to weather proof the building (refer Figure 119). Internally, those sections of original and early structure, including the split-paling roofing, remain in good condition.

Figure 119 Extract from Plan of the Cambria Estate Property of John Figure 120 View of the barn and woolshed, with stockyards in front, at Meredith Esq, County of Glamorgan on the East Coast of Cambria, looking south- west, c. 1906, by Violet Mace Tasmania, 1888, by A.T. Mayson (Government Surveyor). (photographer). Plan of the homestead complex showing the barn in relation The north and south elevations show signs of being to the entry yard and the former stockyards in 1888. The supported by timber stays. This could indicate either barn is indicated by the red arrow. structural inadequacies in the building at this time or Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (NS977/1/3) represent the barn being full of hay, timber stays often used to provide additional strength in light of the internal pressure placed upon the structures by the significant weight of the hay being stored within. Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (NS615/1/44)

Figure 121 View of the west elevation of the barn. Note the regular Figure 122 View of the interior of the barn and woolshed at Cambria, structural grid of expressed columns and the protrusions looking north-east. Note the Queen-post truss of sawn in the roof denoting the location of trusses. The central two hardwood and the more rudimentary cross bracing of Oyster bays of the elevation represent the former door location, the Bay pine. The scarfed connection at the mid-point of the bottom bottom leaf of the right door remains. The corrugated sheet plate of the truss is where the column and stretcher would have metal roofing dates from 1883, the corrugated metal sheet been originally located. The split-paling roofing is a hardwood, wall cladding is modern. Concrete slabs in the foreground Peppermint eucalypts a popular species during this period. are footings of modern relocatable silos, since removed. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

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4.3.4 Shearing shed (c.1909-25 / alterations c. 1956, 1991)

History Constructed by 1909 prior to the Bayles family’s purchase of the property, the building was subsequently enlarged from 1925 during the Bayles family’s tenure, the earliest section of the building consisting of a gabled weatherboard building. By 1948, the building consisted of the gable roofed section with a small skillion roofed entrance porch on the south elevation and a large skillion roofed addition to the west elevation. Systematically extended from 1956 with several skillions roofed additions, following the purchase of the Cambria estate by David Burbury in that year, final alterations to the building occurred with the addition of a skillion roofed lunch room to the south elevation by Nick Burbury in 1991. Building exterior When initially constructed, the building consisted of an ‘L’ shaped gabled weatherboard building on freestone foundations with a galvanised corrugated sheet metal roof. Only the north elevation of this section of the building remains legible today and retains its original window fenestration and remnant multi-pane double-hung sash window (refer Figure 123). Additional original window openings are evident in the form of plate glass skylights on the north and south falls of the roof and two sets of multi-pane fixed windows, potentially recycled from elsewhere in the building, on the west elevation. The use of recycled objects is evident elsewhere in the building, including early wrought iron hinges to doors along the south elevation of the building. Early additions to the building are evident in the form of a skillion roofed porch, with remains of a multi-pane window, on the south elevation and a concrete loading ramp with timber sliding door on the east elevation, and a skillion roofed addition extending to the north-west, infilling the ‘L’ shape of the main section of the building. Subsequent additions after 1956, by David Burbury, to the north and south elevations are evident in the use of timber vertical board cladding; the use of weatherboard in these additions is evidence of this having been recycled from elsewhere in the building (refer Figure 123). On the south elevation of the building, a timber vertical board lunch room with aluminium windows was constructed in 1991 by Nick Burbury. Internally, the building is in a good state of repair and was utilised for the holding and shearing of sheep until recently. Surrounding the building is a complex of stockyards of relatively recent construction. The proliferation of stones throughout the stockyards are the potential remnants, and evidence of, a former cobble stone surface of the stockyards constructed around the former barn and woolshed by 1888, within the immediate vicinity of the shearing shed. Condition The building remains in varying states of repair despite its varying age. The earliest part of the building, being the gable roof section remains in the best state of repair apart from some sections of galvanised corrugated sheet metal which have become detached on the east fall of the roof. The initial skillion roofed additions undertaken also remain a good state of repair. Those vertical board additions undertaken after 1956 represent those sections of the building the worst state of repair. The vertical board lunch room, constructed in 1991, is in the best overall repair in lieu of its relatively recent construction, however it impacts negatively upon the legibility of the built form of the earliest sections of the shearing shed.

Figure 123 External view of the shearing shed, looking south-west. Figure 124 Internal view of the early gabled section of the building, The central gabled section was constructed by 1909, the looking west. The internal wall to the left of the image is the skillion roofed sections at left, with the window, and right in original external wall of this part of the building. 1991 and c.1956 respectively. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

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4.3.5 Assorted Features

Ships tanks (c.1850s – 1890s) Three square cast iron tanks located at the south-west corner of the former barn and woolshed constitute former storage tanks for the transportation of perishable goods from the time of sea-going transport. As such, these tanks would have no doubt been unloaded from a coastal trader at Swansea and then transferred overland to Cambria. Having served their purpose, these tanks were often reconstituted as water tanks for the catchment and storage of rain water from buildings for drinking water.368 In 1953, the presence of a galvanised corrugated sheet metal water tank at the rear of the main house is an indication of the ships tanks having forgone their usefulness for water storage and replaced during Dr. Edward Brettingham-Moore’s tenure at Cambria.369

Condition The tanks exist in varying states of decay due to extensive rust damage. Because of this, they no longer possess the ability to hold water and therefore continue with a functional use. Despite this, they represent valuable elements in interpreting life on the Cambria estate and the day to day functioning of the homestead complex.

Figure 125 View of the remnant ships tanks at the south-west corner of the barn and woolshed. Source: Trethowan, 2016

4.4 LANDSCAPE AND GARDENS

Refer Section 10.4 Appendix D – Landscape Conservation Management Plan (by Dr. Catriona McLeod) for a full history, description and analysis of the gardens and landscape elements associated with the homestead complex.

368 Michael Pearson, ‘From Ship to the Bush: Ship Tanks in Australia’, Australasian Historical Archaeology (No. 10, 1992), p. 26, accessed online 5 June 2016: www.ashadocs.org/aha/10/10_04_Pearson.pdf 369 The Mercury, 3rd September 1953, p. 17.

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5. COMPARITIVE ANALYSIS

5.1 INTRODUCTION

The homestead complex at Cambria represents an early example of colonial architecture that is comparable within the Tasmanian, continental Australian and international context of former overseas colonies of the former British Empire. During a period of active colonialisation by the British Crown during the 17th – 19th centuries, the period saw the adaptation of traditional British architectural styles to suit environmental constraints such as topography and climate. This in turn saw the development of a specific vernacular style of architecture relevant to those individual colonies and territories, resulting in ‘Colonial’ architecture. These vernaculars were in turn adopted, and adapted, in other colonial contexts resulting in the dissemination of these individual architectural styles around the globe.

5.2 WEST-INDIES COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE

5.2.1 Background

Colonisation of the West Indies The West Indies region, located across the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, was colonised by multiple European powers following its initial exploration by Italian navigator and explorer Christopher Columbus in the 15th century.370 The name West Indies was coined by Columbus due to his belief the islands provided a new route to the Indies, a term during the period that described the whole of eastern Asia.371 The West Indies were subsequently settled by the major European powers of Great Britain, Spain, France, The Netherlands and Denmark.372 Initial British colonisation in the West Indies began with St. Kitts in 1624,373 with subsequent colonisation extending to the islands of Barbados (1627),374 Antigua (1632),375 St. Lucia (1639),376 the Bahamas (1648),377 Jamaica (1655),378 Grenada (1763-1779, 1783),379 and Trinidad (1802) amongst others.380 In many situations, these British colonies were conquests of other colonial powers, including Spain (Jamaica and Trinidad) and France (St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia and Grenada). These Crown colonies were collectively referred to as the British West Indies. The influence of stylistic variations between the variants of English, French, Spanish, Dutch and Danish architecture of the various colonial sub-contexts in the region contributed toward the development of a distinctive architecture in the West Indies.

Development of a Colonial architecture in the British West Indies The architectural styles prevalent in Great Britain during the period of colonisation of the British West Indies were Jacobean (17th Century) and Georgian (18th and 19th centuries). Architecturally, development ‘yielded to the nostalgia of building designs recalled from the mother country’.381 However, the faithful translation of this architectural nostalgia was often hindered due to the isolated context and tropical climate, environment, and topography of these remote colonies. In addition, there was a lack

370 Edward E. Crain, Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, 1994, p. 6; accessed online 31 March 2016: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00004342/00001 371 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 1. 372 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. ix. 373 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 16. 374 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 21. 375 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 18. 376 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 19. 377 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 26. 378 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 13. 379 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 22. 380 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 25. 381 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 3.

70 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan of formal architects and attempts at the ‘recollection of correct architectural styles and details’ being often inaccurate.382 In the case of the majority of early civic and administrative buildings built by the colonial authorities, the majority were designed by military engineers in the British Army.383 Significant time lapses in the translation of current building styles to the colonies, sometimes up to thirty years or more, resulted in buildings appearing stylistically old-fashioned when completed.384 In the colonies, the climate, environment and topography raised complications in translating builders’ handbooks and traditional building materials to those available, the closer the architecture created was stylistically related to that of Great Britain, the less appropriate it was for the local tropical climate. In some instances, however, efforts were made to transition toward an architecture more appropriate to the region as awareness of the local context became more apparent.385 Design responses included the interpretation of the collective built form of a building as a series of individual hipped roofs, the benefit of multiple smaller roofs reflecting a response to the hurricanes prevalent in the West Indies; smaller roofs presenting less resistance to wind and the subsequent replacement cost of smaller roofs considerably less than a single large roof (refer Figure 126).386 Additional design responses included the elimination of ‘superficial elements of nostalgic colonial buildings’ and a greater appreciation of the external environment (including gardens) as a living area and the ways in which these internal and external connections could be nurtured architecturally (refer Figure 130). Architectural features were subsequently developed in this connection and included: galleries, verandahs, porches, balconies, larger windows, and fretwork. While decorative, the fretwork offered climatic advantages including the filtering of sunlight and permitting airflow while maintaining external visual connections and a degree of privacy (refer Figure 128).387 From the late 1790s, the British West Indian colonies experienced expediential growth on the back of the ‘slave-grown sugar’ export market.388 At the centre of this market sat Jamaica, the colony providing ‘up to a twelfth of total government revenue’ based on the duties raised on sugar entering Britain.389 This resulted in the wielding of significant power and wealth by the owners of the vast sugar-growing plantation estates, known as planters.390 During this period of prosperity and development, the Georgian style dictated architecture and design; the style named after the monarchs of the period whose reigns it transcended: George I, II, II, IV from 1714 – 1830.391 At the height of the Georgian period, the port-town of Falmouth, in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica (colloquially referred to as Jamaica’s ‘Georgian’ town) developed as a fashionable location for the townhouses of wealthy planters, the design of which, including house plans and the details of doors, windows, staircases and cornices, were taken from imported English pattern books.392 These townhouses were often developed by the planters as the ‘urban face’ of their plantations, one such example being Tharpe House (c.1790) on the Falmouth waterfront.393 However, the majority of architectural pretension was focussed on the country houses of the plantation owners, known as ‘great houses’.

382 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 3. 383 Ashley Jackson, Buildings of Empire, 2013, p. 46. 384 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 3. 385 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 4. 386 ‘Tharpe House’, The Falmouth Project, accessed April 13, 2016: http://falmouth.lib.virginia.edu/items/show/1560. 387 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 5. 388 Buildings of Empire, p. 47. 389 Buildings of Empire, p. 46. 390 Buildings of Empire, pp. 46. 391 ‘Georgian architecture’ in Penguin Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, John Fleming, Hugh Honour, and Nikolaus Pevsner, 1999, p. 220. 392 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, p. 74. 393 ‘Tharpe House’, The Falmouth Project, accessed April 13, 2016, http://falmouth.lib.virginia.edu/items/show/1560.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 71 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Figure 126 Tharpe House, Falmouth, Trelawny, Jamaica; c. 1790. Figure 127 Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, Australia, c.1834. Note how symmetry has been incorporated in the View of the west (rear) elevation of the house. arrangement of the multiple hipped roofs as a response to Note the incorporation of smaller roofed sections and the hurricanes prevalent in the West Indies. conformity of fenestration between the semi-basement Source: The Falmouth Project, University of Virginia and ground floors of the building. Source: Heritage Tasmania, 2015

Figure 128 Fairview, Boyd’s, St Kitts; c. 1701. Figure 129 Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, Australia, c.1834. Note the profusion of timber fretwork to the verandahs and Original design intent of the entrance front, which balcony of the great house. included significant timber lattice-work and fretwork. Source: Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 130 Good Hope, Martha Brae, Trelawny, Jamaica; c. 1755. Figure 131 Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, Australia, c.1834. View of the enclosed gallery-like verandah with vaulted View of the verandah c.1986. Note the ‘interior’ like timber ceiling of the great house. Operable external glazing treatments including the semi-vaulted lined ceiling, with internal louvres allowed for greater integration with the skirting boards, unpainted doors, reveals and architraves, external environment. and diamond-set tessellated sandstone flooring. Source: The Grandest Great Houses of Jamaica, Sandals Source: Australian Country Houses (1994), p. 18 Lifestyle, accessed 14 April 2016

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5.2.2 The Jamaican Great House

Reference to the country houses of the Jamaican planter elite as ‘great houses’ was published as early as 1825.394 Great houses were typically located near to the central operations of the plantation, referred to as factories, for processing the raw sugar cane harvested by the slaves. Factories consisted of multiple buildings, including: a mill, boiling house, curing house, still and trash house. Additional buildings supporting the mill operations included an overseer’s house and slave’s quarters, and workshops for various trades employed on the estate including blacksmiths, carpenters, coopers (barrel makers) and wheelwrights.395 Overseeing, but physically remote to the factory and slave quarters, sat the ‘great house’ – the home of the planter and the focal point of the estate. This was achieved through the siting of the houses on higher ground with the best view.396 Externally, the ‘great houses’ typically consisted of large single-storey residences raised on sub-basements constructed from stone (refer Figure 126). Atop the stone basements, the main floor level of the houses were typically constructed from either rendered masonry, like Halse Hall (c.1740) at Hayes in Clarendon397 (refer Figure 136) and Good Hope (c.1755) at Martha Brae in Trelawny,398 or timber framing with brick-nogging, and a rendered finish like Tharpe House (c.1790) at Falmouth in Trelawny;399 all three properties being in Jamaica. In the case of Tharpe House, while a townhouse it has ‘a close resemblance to eighteenth-century plantation houses [sic] in Jamaica’, Tharpe House’ builder, John Tharpe, intending it to bear resemblance to the great house on his plantation Good Hope.400 Internally, the plans of the houses were designed to accommodate cross ventilation. This in turn resulted in effective internal planning and circulation throughout the houses through the aligning of door openings to ensure the adequate penetration of natural breeze throughout the interior of houses. Equally, the location of the living quarters of the planters and their families on the first floor of the building, above the sub-basement which was utilised as kitchens, stores and staff quarters, would also have assisted in capturing breezes. Within the principal living areas of the houses, high vaulted ceilings created voluminous spaces which would have allowed sufficient height in which hot air could rise and be dispelled by cooler breezes (refer Figure 138). These spaces were subsequently enriched with elaborate timber carvings in native Jamaican timber, especially mahogany.401 Typical internal decoration, no doubt further evidence of the use of pattern books of the period, included elaborate panelled doors, window and door reveals, like those of the interior at Halse Hall (refer Figure 138), and fanlights, like that separating the entrance hall and dining room at Brimmer Hall at Ocho Rios in St. Ann, Jamaica, a weatherboard great house constructed in the 18th century (refer Figure 140).402

5.2.3 Cambria and the West Indies connection

George Meredith, the builder and architect of Cambria, had the house constructed for his own use between 1834 and 1836 with development of the homestead complex beginning prior to this, following his initial settlement on Cambria, from 1821. Prior to his emigration to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) earlier in 1821, Meredith had seen active service in the West Indies, in his position as 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Marines aboard the HMS Hind, between 1796 and 1803. While having farmed in Wales immediately prior to his emigration, following his retirement from the Royal Marines, Meredith’s property there

394 James Hakewill, ‘Spring Garden Bottom, St. George’s’ in A Picturesque Tour of The Island Of Jamaica from Drawings Made In The Years 1820 and 1821, 1825, p. 18. 395 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, 1994, pp. 51-52. 396 Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, 1994, p. 56. 397 Dr. Raul A. Mosley, ‘Halse Hall Great House’, A Tour of Jamaica's Great Houses, Plantations, & Pens, Michael W. Mosley (ed.), accessed online 11 April 2016: https://thelastgreatgreathouseblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/halse-hall-great-house-2/ 398 Daniel L. Ogilvie, ‘Good Hope’, History of the Parish of Trelawny, Jamaican Family Search Genealogy Research Library, published 2013, accessed online 14 April 2016: http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Samples/histre12.htm 399 Brian Cofranesco, with Edward Chappell and Emilie Johnson, ‘Tharpe House’, Falmouth Field Guide: The Falmouth Project, Department of Architectural History, University of Virginia, accessed online 8 April 2016: http://falmouth.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/show/falmouth/wharf-district/tharpe- house 400 ‘Tharpe House’, Falmouth Field Guide: The Falmouth Project, Department of Architectural History, University of Virginia, accessed online 8 April 2016: http://falmouth.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/show/falmouth/wharf-district/tharpe-house

401 ‘The Grandest Great Houses of Jamaica’, Sandals Lifestyle, accessed 14 April 2016: http://www.sandalslifestyle.com/caribbean-culture/the-grandest- great-houses-of-jamaica.html 402 Dr. Raul A. Mosley, ‘Brimmer Hall Great House’, A Tour of Jamaica's Great Houses, Plantations, & Pens, Michael W. Mosley (ed.), accessed online 11 April 2016: https://thelastgreatgreathouseblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/brimmer-hall-great-house/

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 73 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan represented a pre-existing estate with an existing house and outbuildings whereas in the context of Cambria the homestead represented a creation wholly of Meredith’s own inspiration on the southern edge of the Pacific Ocean. In light of his previous experiences in the colonial context, there are significant parallels to be drawn between Meredith’s experiences in the West Indies and his development of the Cambria estate, both the Tasmanian and West Indian examples representing the development of significant estates from virgin wilderness in equally harsh environments with markedly different environmental constraints that required appropriate design responses, especially when compared with the environmental constraints of regional Wales. Given these conditions, it is reasonable to conclude the considerable influence Meredith’s experiences in the West Indies had on his development of Cambria, especially when compared with other experiences of Meredith’s in the Americas or Mediterranean where the drawing of geographic parallels by him were perhaps not as discernible. In the instance of Cambria, the homestead represents a formally planned complex based around the creation of vistas and symmetry, much of which is achieved using strategically sited plantings. In the West Indies context, the use of avenues of palm trees was but one response (refer Figure 132 and Figure 134). At Cambria, Hawthorn hedge rows are utilised to frame views down Cambria Lane toward a focal point, being the main house atop the highest point within the immediate landscape and independent of the remainder of the homestead complex and its goings on (refer Figure 133 and Figure 135). In the instance of the Jamaican ‘great house’, these were also sited in prominent positions isolated from the goings on of the larger estate (refer Figure 132). At Cambria, the main house has been designed with two different faces, that being a formal Georgian break-front residence raised on a sub-basement at the rear, thereby creating a formal composition when viewed down Cambria Lane despite the elevation constituting the rear, and therefore a lesser, elevation of the house. On this elevation, the breakfront effect is achieved through the incorporation of two small pavilion-like forms with hipped roofs that assist in framing the larger roof form of the house proper. In the Jamaican context, this type of symmetry was incorporated as a practical response to hurricanes while incorporating a symmetrical arrangement of these built forms within the doctrine of Georgian architecture and therefore good taste (Tharpe House; refer Figure 126). At Cambria, the replication of this arrangement is purely aesthetic (refer Figure 127). On the principal (east) elevation, the appearance of the house is significantly different in that it constitutes a primitive built form given formality through its symmetry, a solution not unknown in Jamaica (refer Figure 136). At Cambria, these associations are more literal considering the house representing a single-storey formal bungalow with verandah and therefore a built form entirely identifiable with the Jamaican context (refer Figure 137). On this principal elevation, the associations with Jamaica continue when descending under the verandah, its significant depth indicative of its intention for external living (refer Figure 131), however the necessity for it to be completely closed as a response to hurricanes, like those in the Jamaica, not necessary here (refer Figure 130). At Cambria, the absence of a typical arrangement of defined front door entering a vast entrance hall is notable, instead given over to a set of French doors emerging into a small vestibule (refer Figure 141). In this instance, the vestibule reorients views into the principal reception rooms as part of an enfilade of principal rooms across the main elevation (refer Figure 139), the same effect employed in many a ‘great house’ with the dual purpose of allowing effective cross airflow throughout (refer Figure 138). At Cambria, these principal living areas are subsequently enriched with elaborate timber carvings in native Australian timbers, in this instance New South Wales cedar (refer Figure 141) compared with the native mahogany of Jamaica (refer Figure 140), including panelled doors, window and door reveals and fanlights. Considering the significant parallels between the formalised planning of the homestead complex, and design and planning of the main house, at Cambria, the influence upon George Meredith of the West Indies in the form of the Jamaican ‘great house’, and the formally planned estates on which they existed, is significant.

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Figure 132 Spring Garden Estate, St Georges, c.1820-1821, drawn by James Hakewill, from A Picturesque Tour of the Island of Jamaica from Drawings Made in the years 1820 and 1821 (1825). Note the visual dominance of the ‘great house’ on the hill above the estate’s factory, at the end of the formalised planted driveway approach. Source: Interlibrary Loan Department, Boston Public Library via Internet Archive, accessed 31 March 2016 at: https://archive.org/details/picturesquetouro00hake

Figure 133 Cambria, Swansea, c.1971. Note the formalised planted driveway approach to, and through, the homestead, culminating at the ‘great house’ on the rise above the homestead. The original structure of the homestead remained majority intact at this time. Source: Mr and Mrs N.D. Burbury

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 75 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Figure 134 Hampden Estate, Trelawny, Jamaica, c. 1753. Figure 135 Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, Australia, c.1834. View of the driveway approach to Hampden Estate sugar View of the driveway approach to Cambria. Note the visual plantation and rum distillery, operational since c.1753. Note prominence of the main house at the head of the driveway, the formalised approach yet unmade nature of the driveway. assisted by the symmetrical plantings in the formal gardens; Source: ‘Past and Present: A Tour of Hampden Estate’, the whole composition framed by the planted hedgerows. The Rum Collective, accessed online 19 April 2016 Source: Trethowan, 2016

Figure 136 Halse Hall, Hayes, Clarendon, Jamaica, c. 1740. Figure 137 Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, Australia, c.1834. A view of the entrance front of ‘Halse Hall’ from the View of the entrance front (east elevation) of Cambria. driveway approach. Note the simple built form and Note the symmetrical arrangement of French doors along the symmetrical arrangement of the fenestration across the façade, beneath the verandah. façade. Source: Trethowan, 2016 Source: A Tour of Jamaica’s Great Houses, Plantations and Pens, accessed online 11 April 2016

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Figure 138 Entrance Hall, Halse Hall, Hayes, Clarendon, Jamaica, c. 1740. Figure 139 Dining Room, Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, Australia, c.1834. View through the vaulted entrance hall, highlighting the A view through the dining room, highlighting the alignment of alignment of internal openings through the principal rooms of internal openings through the principal rooms of the house. to aid in the circulation of breezes and the ventilation of the Source: Trethowan, 2016 house. Source: A Tour of Jamaica’s Great Houses, Plantations and Pens, accessed online 11 April 2016

Figure 140 Entrance Hall, Brimmer Hall, Ocho Rios, St. Ann, Jamaica, Figure 141 Entrance Hall, Cambria, Swansea, Tasmania, Australia, c.1834. c. 1700s. View through the vaulted entrance hall to the View of the entrance front (east elevation) of ‘Cambria’ dining room. The internal fanlight overhead allowed for the Source: Trethowan, 2016 admission of light, and in some instances ventilation, while allowing privacy when the sliding doors of the opening, an early feature, were closed. Source: A Tour of Jamaica’s Great Houses, Plantations and Pens, accessed online 11 April 2016

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 77 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

5.3 COLONIAL HOMESTEAD COMPLEXES IN TASMANIA

5.3.1 The colonial homestead in Tasmania

Within the rural context of colonial Tasmania, the homestead represented a transplant of the traditional working country house complex typically found on the rural estates of the United Kingdom and their traditions of squires and servants, landlords and farm labourers. In Tasmania, homesteads were developed in parallel with the cultivation of the virgin wilderness into viable agricultural enterprises, the farming practices undertaken were common and familiar. Accordingly, the ensuing cultural landscape represented an agricultural ideal of home. From the mid-1820s to the early 1830s, during the same period as George Meredith’s development of Cambria, settled areas outlying from major towns and villages were often lawless and remote from assistance. As such, homesteads were often planned with the ability to be aptly secured in times of necessity by landholders, their staff and servants. In addition, the land grant system available to settlers at the time gave landholders the ability to claim additional land areas considering capital improvements to their properties.403 This in turn saw the development of substantial farm outbuildings, including stables, granaries, carriage houses and barns, forming the core of these homesteads. As such, working and formal gardens associated with the day to day operations of the homestead were appended to the exterior of these secure compounds and did not form part of a cohesive homestead plan consisting of buildings and gardens. Malahide, near Fingal in the Fingal Valley, is an example of a such a homestead complex.404 Constructed in 1834 for the Hon. William Talbot, scion of the Anglo-Irish Talbot family of Malahide Castle, the homestead was conceived as a formal construction in an open landscape, reminiscent of a practical Irish-estate farm. Possessing a service yard at its centre framed by stables, storehouses, barn and coach houses on one side, and the main house with its offices and kitchens on the other,405 this quadrangle is entered from the principal front of the house via a central gateway that was originally secured by a large set of solid timber gates (refer Figure 142).406 While only half the homestead scheme in its original guise was realised, the design intent of the complex remains apparent (refer Figure 143).407 Located within a park like setting when approached along the main drive, the gardens appear as an afterthought, the formality of the homestead embodied in the buildings themselves rather than as a cohesive scheme of both architectural and landscape based elements.

Figure 142 Malahide, Fingal, Tasmania, Australia, c. 1834. Figure 143 Malahide, Fingal, Tasmania, Australia, c. 1834. View of the main entrance of the farmstead, c.1986. Note View of the farmstead from the surrounding landscape c. 1986. that views of the inner workings of the quadrangle are largely The half completed complex of larger buildings is visible with concealed from the entrance front, however were originally the cottage’s containing men’s quarters in the foreground. concealed by now vanished solid timber gates. Source: Australian Country Houses (1994), p. 17 Source: Australian Country Houses (1994), p. 16

403 Anne Rand, ‘Land Commissioners’, The Companion to Tasmanian History, Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, University of Tasmania, published 2006, accessed online 6 June 2016: http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/L/Land%20Commissioners.htm 404 Australian Country Houses: Homesteads, Farmsteads and Rural Retreats, p. 16. 405 Australian Country Houses: Homesteads, Farmsteads and Rural Retreats, p. 16. 406 A 19th century illustration of the homestead shows the main entrance to the quadrangle with a set of large gates. (E. Graeme Robertson, ‘Malahide, Tasmania’, Historic Homesteads, p. 50) 407 Australian Country Houses: Homesteads, Farmsteads and Rural Retreats, p. 16.

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Further east of Malahide, on the edge of the Fingal Valley, a homestead with an alternative to the practical Irish-estate farm aesthetic evident in the structure of the former is that at Killymoon, near St. Marys (refer Figure 144). Constructed in 1842 for Irishman Frederick von Stieglitz,408 eldest son of German-Irish aristocrat Baron Heinrich von Stieglitz,409 the homestead at Killymoon comprises a Georgian villa, raised on a walled embankment above the flood plains of the Break O’Day River, with a complex of outbuildings at the rear. The villa, accessed from the main drive via a tree-lined avenue and thence through entrance gates onto a plateau-like forecourt at its front, has a heightened sense of formality that is replicated by the complex of outbuildings. Arranged around a large stable yard, one side of the quadrangle is enclosed by a Gothic-style stable block surmounted by a lantern with a turret clock at its base for the benefit of staff.410 Access to these distinct ‘front of house’ (public) and ‘back of house’ (private) activities were via separate lanes from a fork in the main driveway, the individual approaches visually screened by the treed avenue, with underlying shrubbery, of the principal access to the gravelled forecourt (refer Figure 144). Another example is Panshanger, near Longford in northern Tasmania, which represents the remodelling of an earlier brick house into a sandstone fronted Grecian villa between 1831 and 1834 (refer Figure 145).411 Stylistically different again to the former examples, Panshanger exhibits the same theory of formalised homestead planning with rear service yard, around which the house and various outbuildings are arranged, utilising a refined sense of architectural language and design intent. This is evident in the house itself and its applied details, notably the imposing gated entrance to the service yard consisting of a set of wrought iron gates flanked by stone pillars topped with orbs. While the immediate landscape at Panshanger has been manufactured, and is the result of a comprehensive masterplan, it instead adopts a romantic ideal in its garden, rides and parkland412 where the design intent communicated is a house in a wild untamed landscape. Simply put, the gardens at Panshanger, despite their refined planning, do not possess a readily identifiable sense of physical containment as part of the homestead complex.

Figure 144 An extract from the photograph Aerial Views – “Killymoon” [Tasmania], 1919, by Dudley Ransom (photographer). View of the homestead at Killymoon showing the entrance driveway to the forecourt of the main house, at right, and the proliferation of service buildings located at the rear of the house around the service yard, at left. Source: Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (NS4787/1/16)

408 Australian Country Houses: Homesteads, Farmsteads and Rural Retreats, p. 34. 409 K. R. Von Stieglitz, 'Von Stieglitz, Frederick Lewis (1803–1866)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 22 August 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/von-stieglitz-frederick-lewis- 2761/text3915 410 Australian Country Houses: Homesteads, Farmsteads and Rural Retreats, p. 34. 411 Australian Country Houses: Homesteads, Farmsteads and Rural Retreats, p. 14. 412 Australian Country Houses: Homesteads, Farmsteads and Rural Retreats, p. 14.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 79 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

Figure 145 An extract from the lithograph Panshanger, Tasmania, the seat of Joseph Archer, Esquire, 1835, by William Lyttleton (artist). View of the homestead at Panshanger showing the entrance front with access to the rear service yard via the wrought iron gates flanked by the stone pillars with orbs atop, toward the rear of the main block of the house, at right. Source: National Library of Australia (accessed online 6 June 2016: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135294508/view?searchTerm=panshanger#search/panshanger)

5.3.2 Cambria and the Tasmanian context

Like its contemporaries, the homestead at Cambria is the result of a comprehensive master plan. However, unlike these examples landscaping elements play a defining role in the formation of the physical homestead complex. At Cambria, the limited number of buildings are compensated for by hedgerows, carefully considered plantings and shrubberies that enforce a physical sense of containment with regard to the extent of the homestead and the vistas, sight lines, and public and private spaces contained within. While the example at Killymoon exhibits the accommodation of landscape elements within the homestead complex, most notably the treed avenue, shrubbery and entrance forecourt, it is apparent that the formal landscaping of the homestead is limited to these distinct elements. At Panshanger, while the presence of a significant masterplan is acknowledged, it is near unidentifiable physically due to the wild and romanticised intent of the landscape scheme beyond the extent of the formal yard, outbuildings and entrance gates of the homestead. In comparison, the homestead at Cambria consists of an arrangement of distinctive and readily identifiable landscape elements that create vistas and views towards, and subsequent focal points of, the individual buildings contained within the homestead complex. Amongst this structured layout, formal and working gardens are incorporated, bound by retaining walls and buildings, hedges and plantings, the whole linked by a lane and carriage road, access to the latter formerly controlled by gates off the farm service yard at the head of the entrance lane (Cambria Lane). Like Malahide, the working farm aesthetic at Cambria is apparent in the practical approach to its architecture, the definitive nature of the working (back of house) area obvious when one arrives at the homestead. At Killymoon and Panshanger, the sense of hierarchy is readily identifiable in the allocation of separate entrances to the homestead, one for the landlord and one for the labourers. At Cambria, however, this relationship is more complex. Considering the single entrance to the homestead, the hierarchy of the homestead is apparent in only those visitors of notability being allowed admittance beyond the farm service yard (via a gated entrance) to the secondary carriage road leading to the inner sanctum of the main house and formal gardens. Unlike Malahide, Killymoon or Panshanger, the back of house area of Cambria represents the arrival point to the homestead rather than the front entrance of the house as is apparent with these latter examples. At Cambria, the roles are reversed, the operations of the farm are foremost, a place of business that is progressed through before one is allowed admittance to the homestead’s private quarters. Within the Tasmanian context, it is apparent that Cambria is significant amongst the distinguished company of colonial homesteads. However, unlike its contemporaries that exhibit a distinct reliance on physical buildings in the planning and structure of their homestead complexes within the grater landscape, Cambria exhibits the reverse.

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6. ASSESSMENT OF HISTORIC HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE

6.1 INTRODUCTION

This section of the report presents, in accordance with the terminologies adopted by the Tasmanian Heritage Council and Heritage Tasmania, the assessment of historic heritage significance undertaken as part of the project. Historic heritage significance refers to the aesthetic, historic, social or spiritual values of a place for past, present or future generations. Historic heritage significance of a place may be embodied in the place itself, its fabric, setting, use, associations, meanings, records, related places and objects. The significance of the homestead, including the main house, outbuildings and formal garden, of the Cambria estate have been previously assessed, albeit to a limited extent, as part of the registration of the property for inclusion on the Register of the National Estate (in 1978). Further limited assessment of the property was undertaken as part of its inclusion on the Tasmanian Heritage Register (THR), with assessment of the significance of the property, against a single criterion only, in November 2001. The following assessment of Historic Heritage Significance seeks to build on these previous assessments to identify the historic, aesthetic, technological and scientific, and social significance of the property arising from the research undertaken as part of this CMP.

6.2 ASSESSING HISTORIC HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE

The assessment is structured in accordance with the ‘HERCON criteria’. The HERCON criteria are a national set of common criteria adopted by all Australian heritage agencies, including Heritage Tasmania, in 2008. They are based on the values of the Burra Charter, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Australia) Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Significance adopted in 1979. The criteria of the HERCON model reflect the seven values contained in the Tasmanian Historic Cultural Heritage Act 1995. Material related to the assessment of the gardens has not been included. An assessment of the significance of the garden has been undertaken independently and included in summary form in the Recommended Statement of Significance contained within this document. This is consistent with the limitations of this report regarding content relating to the garden. In recognition of this, the following assessment comprises analysis based on the following values:

Criterion (a) It is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Tasmania’s (or Australia’s) history;

Criterion (b) It demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Tasmania’s (or Australia’s) heritage;

Criterion (c) It has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Tasmania’s (or Australia’s) history;

Criterion (d) It is important as a representative in demonstrating the characteristics of a broader class of cultural places;

Criterion (e) It is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement;

Criterion (f) It has a strong or special meaning for any group or community because of social, cultural or spiritual associations; and

Criterion (g) It has a special association with the life or work of a person, a group or organisation that was important in Tasmania’s history.

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6.3 HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE

The Cambria estate is of historic significance to the State of Tasmania. The Cambria estate has historic significance because it demonstrates the evolution or pattern of Tasmania’s history regarding the land grants system, implemented by the colonial authorities, and the indentured labour scheme, serviced by the transportation of convicts from Great Britain, during the initial years of colonisation up until the cessation of transportation after 1852 and foundation of the State of Tasmania in 1855. This is evident in the considerable documentary evidence charting George Meredith’s rapid development of the 13,000 acre Cambria estates, a series of individual estates including the properties Cambria, Riversdale, Belmont and Kearney’s Bogs, in which his aggressive negotiations with the colonial authorities in his quest to extend his existing land holdings, and written vitriol unleashed upon the colonial authorities when his objectives were not achieved, are well documented; Meredith’s position as founder and co-editor of the colonial newspaper The Colonist was but one vehicle utilised for his criticism. (Criterion A, Criterion B, Criterion C, Criterion D, Criterion G) The house and homestead complex on the Cambria estate has historic significance as an example of the dissemination of West-Indian colonial architecture within the State of Tasmania, the design of the house having been based on a Jamaican ‘great house’ (Jamaican plantation house) and the planning of the homestead upon that of a West-Indian plantation estate in light of the significant reliance on landscape features in the defining of focal points and separation of public and private open space within the homestead. The house and homestead were designed and planned by George Meredith, their influence based on his experience in the West Indies. (Criterion B, Criterion C, Criterion D, Criterion E, Criterion G) Within the house, a mid-nineteenth century colonial artwork on an internal window, dubbed the Saviour of the Resolution, is of historic significance to the State of Tasmania as a colonial artwork depicting a relatively unknown event in the State’s colonial history, the wreck of the schooner Resolution at the mouth of the Meredith River on the 5th November 1850. Privately chartered by maltster and brewer Thomas Large, the wreck of the Resolution saw his six children drowned. Thomas Large, and his wife Mary Ann, were taken to the Cambria house to recover. The painting, rumoured to have been created by an indentured servant in the service of George Meredith, reputedly depicts an unknown figure portrayed in east-coast Tasmanian folklore as a sailor or indentured servant who saved one of the Large family children. Mourned as a major tragedy in Tasmanian media at the time, this part of maritime and early colonial history tells of the pitfalls of life in early Tasmania. A physical representation of the disaster is of particular significance to the Swansea community, the story entering local folklore as part of its generational circulation through various members of the local community. (Criterion A, Criterion B, Criterion C, Criterion D, Criterion E, Criterion F, Criterion G) The Cambria estate has historic significance for its association with the life and work of George Meredith, a colonial-period industrialist with interests in agriculture, meat wholesale, whaling, sealing, ship building, shipping and publishing. Following the settlement of the Cambria estate in 1821, Meredith pioneered the shore-based whaling industry on the east coast of Tasmania, his business well established by 1824, consisting of a fishery (whaling station) at The Fisheries, near Coles Bay, on the Freycinet Peninsula. Meredith rose to the position of one of the top four producers of whale oil for the Tasmanian commercial market by 1827. In parallel with his whaling operations, Meredith operated a substantial sealing operation at the Ile Des Phoques, a rocky islet in Great Oyster Bay. In the service of his fishery, Meredith began shipbuilding, eventually establishing the first east coast based trade route between the Great Oyster Bay and Hobart around c.1826, the first ship used on this route, the top-sail schooner Independent reputedly constructed on the banks of the Meredith River. In addition to his mercantile achievements, Meredith represented a major force behind political and social reform during the early colonial period in Tasmania, his abject opposition to the policies of the colonial administration of Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur are well documented. While the Arthur administration adopted a line that Tasmania (Van Diemen’s Land) was a penal colony and nothing more, Meredith and his contemporaries believed otherwise and instead championed the cause of the colonist for the development of a free and independent colony. This included colonial independence free of New South Wales, a raft of political and statue reforms including trial by jury, resulting in the Jury Act 1834, and ‘Legislation by Representation’ resulting in the establishment of a Legislative Assembly; relief from high interest rates through the review of the recently introduced Usury Law, security of land tenure, the development of better maps and charts of Tasmania and freedom of the press. The efforts of Meredith and his contemporaries within the area of press freedoms eventually resulted in the repeal of an Act to encumber the Tasmanian press, Meredith founding one of the pre-eminent political commentary newspapers in Tasmania, The Colonist, in 1832. (Criterion A, Criterion B, Criterion F, Criterion G) Further historic significance is garnered from the association of Cambria with the Hon. Charles Meredith who, under the influence of his wife Louisa Anne Meredith, introduced the first government bill advocating for the protection of Tasmanian

82 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan native fauna, the black swan, therefore pioneering the conservation movement in his capacity as the Member for Glamorgan in the lower house (House of Assembly) of the Tasmanian Parliament in 1860. From 1821, Meredith spent his formative years on the estate under his father with the harvesting of black swans, particularly for food, is recorded by the Meredith family. (Criterion A, Criterion C, Criterion D, Criterion E, Criterion F, Criterion G) Further historic significance with the property is associated with its relationship with famous female author Louisa Anne Meredith. A prolific colonial-period author and artist, Meredith utilised Cambria and its house and garden as considerable subject matter in her book My Home in Tasmania in 1852, the book considered one of her seminal works considering its importance in the history of Tasmania. (Criterion A, Criterion B, Criterion C, Criterion E, Criterion F, Criterion G) The Cambria estate has additional historical significance for its association with John Meredith, younger brother of Charles Meredith, who served as municipal Councillor on the first Glamorgan Council. Established in 1860, the Council was the first rural municipality established in Tasmania, following the proclamation of the State of Tasmania, and the oldest rural municipality in Australia. (Criterion A, Criterion G)

6.4 AESTHETIC SIGNIFICANCE

The homestead on the Cambria estate, and the main house, are of aesthetic significance to the State of Tasmania. Developed from c.1827, the homestead on the Cambria estate is of aesthetic significance as a planned complex of buildings and landscape elements, reminiscent of West Indies plantation estate planning adapted to the Tasmanian context. Within the West-Indies context, a sense of arrival was formulated in the estate complex, called factories, utilising a single entrance approach, plantings to frame views and a hierarchical progression of public to private space through the factory workings to the ‘great house’ on the highest vantage point. The homestead on the Cambria estate, consisting of buildings, orchards and gardens, displays a distinct structure providing evidence of a formal sense of planning and forethought in the process of arrival and procession through the homestead complex, toward the main house. Developed around the site of the then as to be constructed colonial mansion on a knoll high above a meander in the Meredith River, the formal gardens and kitchen gardens and orchards represent one of the earliest planned landscapes in the State of Tasmania. Combined with the formal hedge- lined approach of Cambria Lane (from the Tasman Highway) opening into a large yard which possessed a backdrop of paired low-slung farm buildings framing views of the rear façade of the main house, paired plantings of trees in the foreground and background of the main house added to this symmetry and formality of the overall planned arrangement of the homestead, and the hierarchical division of external spaces. The West-Indian influence on the planning of the homestead was a result of the experience of its designer and owner, George Meredith. (Criterion A, Criterion B, Criterion C, Criterion D, Criterion G) Constructed from 1834-36, the main house, at the centre of the homestead, is of aesthetic significance as an unparalleled example of West-Indian architecture, based on the design of Jamaican great houses (plantation houses) within the State of Tasmania. Within the Tasmanian context, no comparable examples of West-Indian architecture, against which Cambria can be compared, exist. West-Indian architecture is defined by design dictated by climatic, topographical and environmental constraints; a key identifier of these constraints being a greater correlation between internal and external living environments for human habitation in the form of a large deep verandah. Architectural features were subsequently incorporated as part of the design to achieve a level of architectural pretension, in this instance the furnishing of the verandah space with tessellated sandstone flagstone flooring, French doors with architraves and skirting boards which altogether contributed to the sense of the verandah being a space in which to spend extended periods. Within the principal rooms of the house proper, aligned doorways assist with internal circulation, a by-product of West-Indies planning that assisted in the provision of adequate cross ventilation to cool internal living areas. Within this context, Cambria exists as a significant example of British West Indies architecture and the only known example of the derivation of a Jamaican ‘great house’ within the State of Tasmania. (Criterion A, Criterion B, Criterion C, Criterion D, Criterion E, Criterion G) Within the main house, early examples of wallpapers remain in place most notably significant examples of imitation ashlar, marbled wallpapers (in the sub-basement stairwell and first-floor landing) reputedly one of the largest known extents of marbled wallpaper left in a Georgian house in Australia. (Criterion A, Criterion B, Criterion C, Criterion D, Criterion E, Criterion G) An additional feature within the main house, a colonial-period artwork relating to the wreck of the schooner Resolution at the mouth of the Meredith River on the 5th November 1850, and its depiction of the saving of a member of the Large family who largely perished in the tragedy, is of aesthetic significance as a previously unknown colonial period artwork (c.1853) that

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 83 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan represents a rare permanent feature in a property; the artwork depicting a widely reported shipping mid-19th century shipping disaster in the State of Tasmania. (Criterion A, Criterion B, Criterion C, Criterion D, Criterion E, Criterion F, Criterion G)

6.5 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

The former barn and woolshed building on the Cambria estate, forming part of the homestead, is of technological significance as a well preserved, with the potential to be a highly important example, of vernacular timber construction. Constructed c.1841, the structure of the gable roofed building consists of hardwood columns on sandstone foundations. Between each column, a series of hardwood slabs are lined horizontally, thereby creating a solid wall while stabilising the columns. Atop these walls sits a series of hardwood Queen-post trusses which give the building its gabled appearance. Across the trusses, the rafters and battens consist of the stripped limbs of Callitris rhomboidea (Oyster Bay pine), a native conifer endemic to the central East Coast of Tasmania and highly valued in construction on the Coast due to its finely figured grain and structural stability. (Criterion B, Criterion D, Criterion E) The popularity of Oyster Bay pine as a construction material in colonial-period structures on the central East Coast is represented in its extensive use throughout the barn and woolshed, and stables buildings of the homestead as a combination of columns, beams, rafters and battens. The use of Oyster Bay pine as a building material is considered a rare surviving example of colonial vernacular construction exclusive to the central East Coast region, having not been observed elsewhere in the State of Tasmania. (Criterion B, Criterion D, Criterion E)

6.6 SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE

The Cambria estate is of social significance to the State of Tasmania. The Cambria estate is of social significance as the creation and home of George Meredith, a pioneer of political reform in colonial Tasmania. Through his direct opposition to the colonial administration of the time, Meredith and his contemporaries lobbied for, and achieved, significant political and social reform that ultimately became pre-cursors to the eventual establishment of the State of Tasmania in 1855. (Criterion A, Criterion B, Criterion C, Criterion D, Criterion F, Criterion G) The Cambria estate is of social significance as the creation of George Meredith, a prolific colonial-period industrialist with interests in whaling, sealing, trading, commercial shipping, ship-building and publishing. Meredith pioneered the shore-based whaling industry on the east coast of Tasmania, being one of the four major commercial manufacturers of whale oil in Tasmania by 1827. Meredith also pioneered the first East Coast-based trade route with Hobart. His exploits in shipbuilding are representative as being one of the earliest privately-owned shipyard owner. The Cambria estate is of social significance as the headquarters of this business empire, a ship having been constructed on the property, the Meredith River serving as a safe harbour for Meredith’s fleet of whale boats and documentation demonstrating the main house at Cambria as being constructed from the wealth gained from these pioneering whaling and sealing exploits. (Criterion A, Criterion B, Criterion C, Criterion D, Criterion F, Criterion G) The Cambria estate is of social significance for its associations with the Hon. Charles Meredith, the esteemed politician, who pioneered the conservation movement in Tasmania. Having spent his formative years on the Cambria estate, this informed hi knowledge of endemic Tasmanian flora and fauna and the interaction adopted as acceptable between colonists and the environment. In his career as a successful parliamentarian, this would lead to his introduction of the first legislative bill advocating for the protection of endemic Tasmanian fauna, the black swan, in 1860. (Criterion A, Criterion C, Criterion D, Criterion E, Criterion F, Criterion G) The Cambria estate is of social significance for its association with the prolific colonial period Tasmanian author Louisa Anne Meredith, wife of the Hon. Charles Meredith. In 1852, the Cambria estate featured significantly in her seminal work, My Home in Tasmania, which documented colonial life in vivid detail primarily for the British domestic market. Today, the book is considered of great importance in the understanding of Tasmanian history. (Criterion A, Criterion B, Criterion C, Criterion E, Criterion F, Criterion G)

84 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

The Cambria estate has social significance for its associations with the Meredith family, one of the foremost political dynasties in colonial Tasmania. Beginning in 1821 with political lobbyist George Meredith who lobbied for significant political and social law reforms that became precursors toward the foundation of the State of Tasmania in 1855, these political efforts were subsequently continued in the newly founded Parliament of Tasmania by Meredith’s son, the Hon. Charles Meredith, who entered the first sitting of the House of Assembly, in December 1856, as the inaugural Member for Glamorgan from 1856- 1861. Charles Meredith subsequently sat as the Member for multiple constituencies over a parliamentary career spanning from 1856-79. This tenure included time as the Colonial Treasurer (1857), the representative for Tasmania at Inter-Colonial conference (1863) and as Minister for Lands and Works (1872-73). His pioneering of the conservation movement in Tasmania, resulting from the introduction of his bill for the protection of the black swan to the Tasmanian Parliament in 1860 is of note. At a local level, upon succeeding his father to the Cambria estate, Charles Meredith’s younger brother, Councillor John Meredith JP, sat as one of the first elected members on the Glamorgan Council. Established in 1860, the Glamorgan Council the first municipality established following the proclamation of the State of Tasmania in 1855. In 1861, forays in state politics followed when John Meredith sat in his brother’s stead as Member for Glamorgan upon his brother’s inability to contest the seat due to illness; Charles was subsequently re-elected as Member for Glamorgan in 1862. (Criterion A, Criterion D, Criterion E, Criterion F, Criterion G)

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 85 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

6.7 RECOMMENDED STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

A recommended Statement of Significance for the Cambria estate is outlined below: What is significant? The Cambria estate and its homestead, being the area defined by the curtilage indicated in drawing no. TP100 (Extent of Existing and Recommended Heritage Overlay, Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania [Trethowan Architecture, 2016]), representing the former antithesis of the much larger Cambria estates established by George Meredith from 1821. The homestead complex was planned by George Meredith, commencing with the planting of the gardens and orchards between 1824 and 1827. While the site of the main house, representing the centre of the homestead, was designated by George Meredith and the kitchen garden and orchard planted around it, the gardens predated the house by approximately 15 years; the house was completed by 1836 to a design by George Meredith. The earliest recorded planting of trees occurred in 1824 with two apple trees gifted to Mary Meredith by the Reverend Robert (Bobby) Knopwood. The kitchen gardens were laid out and planted by Mary Meredith and the Meredith family’s gardener c.1827. Later contributions of plant stock were subsequently donated from the gardens of some of Tasmania’s most notable homes, including that of Bishop Russell Nixon: Bishopstowe (present day Runnymede) at New Town, near Hobart. The existing outbuildings, including the former stables, and barn and woolshed, were located based on the placement of the garden; the stables and barn were constructed by c.1841. Upon completion of the main house, the extent of the formal gardens at the front of the house were established by c.1841 and contained ornamental landscape features, including a Pinetum. The productive orchards (majority consisting of a fruit and walnut trees) on the Meredith River flood plain below the house were designed as an extension of the formal and kitchen gardens of the house. They incorporated additional ornamental landscape elements, including a shaded walk linking the formal gardens with the Meredith River, named Arcadia, and a ‘Nutwalk’: an ornamental avenue of hazelnut trees. Today, the gardens and orchards at Cambria retain significant early 19th century plantings of trees, plants and shrubs from Northern Australia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island (in the Pacific Ocean), the United Kingdom, France, North America and South Africa. Varied written accounts throughout the 19th century provide a thorough insight into the full extent of the gardens and orchards and the plantings contained within. The main house at Cambria, constructed from 1834-36, was designed by George Meredith. Influenced by the design of Jamaican ‘great house’ architecture (Jamaican plantation houses), a result of his active service in the West Indies as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Marines. George Meredith financed construction of the house through his success in the shore-based whaling industry, which he pioneered on the east coast of Tasmania, and his position as one of the top four whale oil producers in Tasmania by 1827. Internally, the house retains its original planning and decorative features, including decorative timber joinery, marble and cedar mantle pieces, decorative plaster ceilings, a significant early colonial painting (c.1853) and examples of imitation ashlar marbled wallpapers. Additional features include mid-19th century newspaper linings to fitted cupboards.

How is it significant? The Cambria estate, including the homestead complex, containing the main house, outbuildings, gardens and orchards, and surrounding rural landscape, is of historical, aesthetic, technical, scientific and social significance to the State of Tasmania.

Why is it significant? The Cambria estate is of historical and social significance for its associations with the Meredith political dynasty, one of the State’s foremost, beginning with George Meredith, a pioneer of political reform in colonial Tasmania and a prolific colonial- period industrialist with interests in whaling, sealing, trading, commercial shipping, ship-building and publishing. Meredith began developing, and residing upon the estate, from 1821. In business, the Cambria estate formed the headquarters of his business empire, a ship having been constructed on the property, the Meredith River serving as a safe harbour for Meredith’s fleet of whale boats and documentation demonstrating the main house at Cambria having been constructed from the wealth gained from his pioneering whaling and sealing exploits. In politics, Meredith and his contemporaries achieved significant political and social reform including colonial independence from New South Wales, lobbying for ‘Legislation by Representation’ leading to the establishment of a Legislative Assembly; both these actions representing pre-cursors to the eventual establishment of the State of Tasmania in 1855. Additional lobbying saw law reform that would go onto shape the future State, including trial by jury, resulting in the adopting of the Jury Act 1834, repeals of laws counterproductive to commercial interests and therefore the development of a free state, including the unpopular Usury Law, and the repeal of acts encumbering freedom of speech by the press. The Cambria estate has additional historical and social significance for its association with the eldest surviving son, and daughter-in-law, of George Meredith: The Honourable Charles Meredith and his wife Louisa-Anne Meredith. A significant writer and artist, Louisa-Anne Meredith featured Cambria significantly in her seminal 1852 work, My Home in Tasmania, which

86 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan documented colonial life in vivid detail primarily for the British domestic market. Today, the book is considered of great importance in the understanding of Tasmanian history. The Hon. Charles Meredith was an esteemed politician who entered the first sitting of the lower house of the newly-established Parliament of Tasmania, the House of Assembly, in 1856 as the inaugural Member for Glamorgan. As a parliamentarian, he went on to pioneer the conservation movement in Tasmania, his knowledge of native flora and fauna having been informed by his formative years at Cambria, leading to his introduction of the first legislative bill advocating for the protection of endemic Tasmanian fauna, the black swan, in 1860. Following George Meredith’s death, his youngest son Councillor John Meredith JP succeeded him at Cambria, John Meredith sitting as one of the first elected members of the Glamorgan Council. Established in 1860, the Glamorgan Council represented the first municipality established following the proclamation of the State of Tasmania in 1855. Within the house, a mid-nineteenth century colonial artwork, the Saviour of the Resolution, on an internal window is of historic significance as a previously unknown colonial artwork depicting a little-known event in the State’s colonial history, the wreck of the schooner Resolution which foundered at the mouth of the Meredith River during a storm in November 1850. Privately chartered by maltster and brewer Thomas Large, the wreck of the Resolution saw his six children drowned with Large, and his wife Mary Ann, taken to the Cambria house to recover. The painting is rumoured to have been created by an indentured servant in the service of George Meredith, reputedly depicting an unknown figure portrayed in east-coast Tasmanian folklore as a sailor or indentured servant who saved one of the children from the Large family. Mourned as a major tragedy in Tasmanian media at the time, this important part of maritime and early colonial history tells of the pitfalls of life in early Tasmania. A physical representation of the disaster is of particular significance to the Swansea community, the story entering local folklore as part of its generational circulation through various members of the local community. The overall homestead complex and its planning, from c.1824, is of aesthetic significance as a planned complex of buildings and landscape elements reminiscent of West Indies plantation estate planning adapted to the Tasmanian context. Utilising a single entrance approach, plantings frame views and a hierarchical progression of public to private space through the various workings of the homestead to the main house, which is located on the highest vantage point, is indicative of this influence. The main house, forming the centre of the homestead complex, on the Cambria estate is architecturally significant to the State of Tasmania as a notably intact example of Georgian country house replete with early fittings, fixtures and wall furnishings (wallpapers). The most significant of these wall furnishings are imitation ashlar marbled wallpapers, which reputedly represent one of the largest known extents of marbled wallpaper left in a Georgian house in Australia. Additionally, the house is rare in its ability to demonstrate the dissemination of British sub-colonial architecture in the Tasmanian context due to the visible influence of Jamaican ‘great house’ architecture (Jamaican plantation houses) in the design of the house. The West-Indian influence on the planning of the homestead and design of the main house was a result of the experience of its designer and owner, George Meredith. Elsewhere in the homestead complex, the former barn and woolshed have technological significance as a well preserved and potentially highly important example of vernacular timber construction. The popularity of Callitris rhomboidea (Oyster Bay pine), a native conifer endemic to the central East Coast of Tasmania and highly valued in construction on the Coast due to its finely figured grain and structural stability, in the construction of the barn and wool shed, including the adjacent stables. The use of Oyster Bay pine as a building material is not observed elsewhere in the State of Tasmania, its use exclusive to the central East Coast region. The gardens and orchards at Cambria exhibit a layering of European occupation from its initial 19th century settlement through to the early 20th century in the types of species of trees, shrubs and plants contained within. As such, the gardens and orchards at Cambria (considering them as having formed the initial stage of development of the homestead complex) have historic significance as one of the earliest planned landscapes in the State of Tasmania. Exhibiting qualities of the Gardenesque movement founded by the Scottish writer and editor J.C. Loudon, these were embodied in the use of exotic plant species, to heighten the appearance of gardens and landscaping as a form of art, and ornamental landscape features including a Pinetum, Shrubbery, Nut Walk and the shaded forest walk Arcadia. Such features were and remain rare in privately-owned Tasmanian gardens beyond those maintained by scientific, institutional, government and civic organisations; many of these ornamental features remain. The layout of, and plant choices contained within, the gardens and orchards are well documented in published sources, with many of the plants described remaining in-situ. Incorporating a wide range of exotic 19th century specimens from as far afield as Northern Australia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, South Africa, North America, France and the United Kingdom, the gardens and orchards at Cambria possess historic, aesthetic, scientific and social significance in the ornamental and fruit tree species contained within, especially with regard to the many heirloom fruit varieties that continue to grow in Tasmania which have been declared extinct in their homelands, particularly the United Kingdom.

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 87 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

6.8 LEVELS OF SIGNIFICANCE

The levels of significance shown on the plans in Section 6.9 are defined as follows: Primary significance – An important major space or element that demonstrates: - A high degree of intactness and integrity which relates to its original construction; - Can demonstrate original built form, fabric and/or decorative elements; and - The space or element makes an essential contribution to the understanding of the overall cultural significance of the place. Contributory significance – A space or element that has undergone minor alteration yet can demonstrate: - A degree of intactness and integrity which relates to its original construction; - Demonstrates original built form, fabric and/or decorative elements; and - Although minor alterations have occurred, the space contributes to the understanding of the overall cultural significance of the place. Minimal significance – An individual space or element that has undergone major alteration yet can demonstrate: - A contribution to the significance of the place through its association with the original built form; or - A space or element that is intact but of minimal significance. Intrusive – An individual space or element that: - Impacts on the interpretation of a previous spatial arrangement or built form; or - Does not contribute to the interpretation of a spatial arrangement or built form.

6.9 AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE

The following floor plans of the main house, and associated significant outbuildings in the homestead complex, are colour- coded to indicate the level of significance as defined in Section 6.8 of the exteriors and interiors of each space within them. At Appendix C are a series of datasheets designed to be read in conjunction with the corresponding floor plans to provide a detailed identification of items considered to be of significance in each of the individual spaces.

88 trethowan architecture interiors heritage Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan

7. DEVELOPMENT OF CONSERVATION POLICY

7.1 INTRODUCTION

This section provides an overview of the constraints and opportunities to be considered in the development of overarching policies for the conservation of the Cambria estate. Developing conservation policies requires an understanding of a wide range of factors other than significance that may either create opportunities or constraints for the protection, maintenance and conservation of the Cambria estate and its heritage significance. In creating specific conservation policy, what should be considered and appreciated is the fact that the main house, and associated outbuildings and sub-structures contained within the homestead complex, were constructed with a pre- defined purpose. As such, these buildings and structures possess complexities regarding the physical and visual relationship between each other, their size and external and internal changes that have occurred over time. This section considers the following factors that will influence the protection and future management of the Cambria estate: • Significance, Constraints & Statutory Requirements • Care & Conservation of Fabric • Managing Change • Vision for the Cambria estate; and • Further work.

7.2 KEY FACTORS INFLUENCING POLICY

7.2.1 Significance, Constraints & Statutory Requirements

The Cambria estate is of historical, aesthetic, scientific and social significance. Its values are identified in the existing listing at State level and the recommended Statement of Significance (refer Section 6.7 – Recommended Statement of Significance) because of new understandings of significance determined by additional research, field work and analysis. These values are both tangible and intangible and are embodied in the fabric of the heritage place itself. Thus, the conservation of these values is necessary, including: - Fabric - Setting - Use - Associations - Meaning - Records - Related places; and - Related objects. The care and conservation of the heritage place and these cultural values should be consistent with that level of significance and in accordance with the principles and guidelines of the Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter. Vital to the significance of the Cambria estate is the homestead in its entirety and the ability for the complex of buildings and gardens to be interpreted cohesively. In addition, those original spaces and elements within these buildings identified by the Significance Plans (refer Section 6.9 – Areas of Significance) are an important component of this significance. With heritage registration and listings, a degree of constraint regarding development is required to understand, manage and balance current and future operational needs of the various buildings and features contained on the Cambria estate. In providing a source of revenue to enable the ongoing preservation of Cambria, the long-term goals and operational requirements of the owner require important consideration so that identified heritage values and ownership expectations may be flexibly managed.

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7.2.2 Statutory Requirements

Commonwealth Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The Cambria estate is not included on the World Heritage, National Heritage or Commonwealth Heritage Lists. It is not identified as having heritage significance conclusive with this level of listing. Considering its State significance, the Cambria estate could be considered for National significance under the following National Heritage Criteria:

Criteria (a) the place has outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place’s importance in the course, or pattern, of Australia’s natural or cultural history;

Criteria (b) the place has outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place’s possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Australia’s natural or cultural history; Criteria (d) the place has outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place’s importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of:

(i) a class of Australia’s natural or cultural places; or

(ii) a class of Australia’s natural or cultural environments; Criteria (e) the place has outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place’s importance in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics valued by a community or cultural group; and Criteria (f) the place has outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place’s importance in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period. While it is possible for the Cambria estate to be considered for assessment under the National Heritage Criteria, a full assessment is considered beyond the scope of this CMP and therefore has not been undertaken.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act provides for the blanket protection of all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aboriginal sites, places and objects whether privately or publicly owned. Whereas the State provides legislative protection for all physical evidence of past Aboriginal occupation, the Commonwealth Act also protects Aboriginal cultural property in the wider sense to include contemporary and ancient traditions and folklore.

State Government Historic Cultural Heritage Act 1995 As a registered place on the Tasmanian Heritage Register (THR ID 1559 – Cambria), the Historic Cultural Heritage Act 1995 applies to the whole of the Cambria estate, that being property Title Reference 148001/1 and Property ID 3362795, as recorded by Land Information System Tasmania (LIST); Heritage Tasmania has the property incorrectly recorded as Property ID 2812475. As such, a statutory process is applicable due to the Heritage Act, the process administered by Heritage Tasmania.

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Aboriginal Relics Act 1975 The Aboriginal Relics Act provides legislative protection for all Aboriginal cultural heritage sites, places and objects, whether located on publicly or privately owned land, within the State of Tasmania. As a heritage place of European significance that covers an extensive land area in a coastal locale, there is the potential for indigenous heritage to exist within the areas least developed regarding past and recent agricultural uses, particularly within coastal hinterland and along waterways. In this instance, consideration should be given toward the existence of layering of both Aboriginal and European heritage within the extent of the heritage place. If Aboriginal relics or heritage is suspected as having been discovered, Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania (AHT), a component of the Natural and Cultural Heritage Division, Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment of the Tasmanian Government, should be consulted.

The Weed Management Act 1999 The Weed Management Act is the principal legislation concerned with the management of declared weeds in the State of Tasmania. The Act was proclaimed on 1 September 2000. Under the Act, the State Government may: 1. Prohibit the introduction of declared weeds into Tasmania. 2. Undertake the eradication of declared weed species. 3. Take action aimed at preventing the spread of declared weeds within Tasmania. 4. Require that action be taken against declared weed species where this is necessary to alleviate or prevent a particular problem.

State Coastal Policy 1996 The State Coastal Policy 1996 (Tasmania) is a statutory document created under the State Polices and Projects Act 1993. The aim of the Policy is to protect the natural and cultural values of the coast while providing for sustainable use and development and the promotion of shard responsibility in the integrated management and protection of coastal areas. As a heritage place in a coastal locale, the Policy is applicable regarding proposed uses and developments that are 'discretionary 'or 'prohibited' under land use zones applying to coastal areas in planning schemes. It relates to the whole of Tasmania's coastal area, including all islands except for Macquarie Island. The coastal zone includes State Waters (as defined in the Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995) and all land to 1km from the high-water mark.

Local Government Glamorgan Spring Bay Interim Planning Scheme 2015 The Cambria estate has an individual heritage overlay on the Glamorgan Spring Bay Interim Planning Scheme 2015 – Heritage Area Overlay 60 (Cambria, 13566 Tasman Highway, Swansea).

7.2.3 Non-Statutory Requirements

National Trust of Australia (Tasmania) The Cambria estate was nominated for classification by the National Trust of Australia (Tasmania) on 27th July 1979 as a heritage place of State significance (file no. 13.12). There are no statutory requirements as a result of this classification.

Australian Heritage Council The Register of the National Estate (RNE) was established in 1975 as a database of identified heritage places. The Cambria estate is included on the RNE as a Registered Place, Place ID 11692 – Cambria Homestead and Outbuildings. There are no statutory requirements because of the registration, the RNE having been superceded by the Commonwealth and National Heritage Lists. To date, the Cambria estate has not been nominated for inclusion on either the Commonwealth or National Heritage Lists.

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7.2.4 Additional Legislation

Considering the exploration of potential commercial uses for the Cambria estate, the following additional legislation requires consideration: - National Construction Code (NCC) - Liquor Licensing Act 1990 - Disability Discrimination Act 1992 - Public Health Act 1997 - Tasmanian Food Act 2003; and - Work Health and Safety Act 2012. A description of the application of this legislation as part of the overall statutory process is contained at Section 8.1.2 (Constraints and Statutory Requirements).

7.2.5 Principles and Guidelines

The Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance (Burra Charter) 2013 The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is a non-governmental professional organisation, headquartered in Paris, that was formed in 1965. ICOMOS is primarily concerned with the philosophy, terminology, methodology and techniques of cultural heritage conservation. The Australian National Committee of ICOMOS (Australia ICOMOS) was formed in 1976 and adopted the Burra Charter in 1979 as a guiding document that defines standard practice when undertaking works to places of cultural significance in the Commonwealth of Australia. The Burra Charter contains conservation and management guidelines which have been developed from the knowledge and experience possessed by Australia ICOMOS members. The Burra Charter is generally accepted as the guiding document for the management of places of cultural significance in the Commonwealth of Australia.

The ICOMOS – IFLA International Committee for Historic Gardens Charter Cultural landscapes, for the International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes (ISCCL), comprise designed, evolved and associative landscapes as defined in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. The purpose of the ISCCL is to promote world-wide cooperation in the identification, increased awareness, study, education and training for protection, preservation, restoration, monitoring, and management of cultural landscapes. The ISCCL collaborates and works with the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and with the UNESCO (regarding World Heritage). The ISCCL maintains an institutional record of its activities and work. The ISCCL has its origins in the ICOMOS-IFLA International Committee for Historic Gardens, established in 1971. At its meeting in Florence in May 1981, that Committee drew up a charter on the preservation of historic gardens, The Florence Charter, which was adopted by ICOMOS in December 1982. In 1998, the ICOMOS/IFLA International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes was formed. In 2005 the ISC was re-titled the International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes to reflect the broadening of its scope regarding designed, evolved and associative landscapes. The Australian members of the ISCCL participate in the ISCCL work of evaluating World Heritage nominations, preparing an inventory card (checklist for cultural landscape identification), providing an inventory of Australian heritage gardens, preparation of World Heritage Evaluation Guidelines for cultural landscapes and contributing to the preparation of an international cultural landscape bibliography. Within Australia ICOMOS, Juliet Ramsay has established an informal working group to share information on the work of the ISCCL, draw comment on the work being undertaken by the ISCCL and gain information on cultural landscape issues across Australia. A work program has been developed by the combined group which includes: the development of illustrated material on cultural landscapes and cultural routes; preparation and publication of a bibliography; collaboration with IUCN in developing methodologies for Australian heritage practice that effectively integrate natural and cultural values; and developing ways (seminars, conferences) to deliver information on cultural landscapes and cultural routes across Australia.

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7.2.6 Care & Conservation of Fabric

Fabric The Cambria estate possesses a broad array of heritage values that are embodied in the built fabric, and cultured European and natural landscapes of the heritage place. To enable the conservation and care of this fabric, it is important to understand the value of the various elements of the heritage place and the cultural value assigned to these elements. The periods of significance for the Cambria estate have been defined as a series of phases: Phase 1: 1821 – 1855 This period represents the key development period of Cambria estate by George Meredith. The period is significant for all events associated with the establishment of Cambria occurring including its initial settlement, land development, homestead development and planning, garden development and construction of all key buildings, including: the main house, stables, barn/woolshed and conservatory. It is this period that defined the content of Cambria and that which remains in existence today. George Meredith sold Cambria estate to his son, John Meredith, in 1855.

Phase 2: 1855 – 1927 For its continued operation as an ongoing agricultural concern and the maintenance of its buildings under the management of John Meredith and his immediate family, prior to its sale by the Trustees of the Estate of John Meredith in 1927. This period is represented by the break-up of the greater Cambria estates by John Meredith, partially contributing to the culmination of the heritage place to its present extent, and the maintenance rather than further development of the homestead complex by both John Meredith and his descendants. Where changes have occurred within the context of the homestead, this is represented through technical advancement, notably the introduction of galvanised corrugated metal sheet roofing to the various buildings of the homestead.

Phase 3: 1927 – 1951 For its ongoing use as an agricultural concern under the tenure of the Bayles family, initially with Charles Bayles (1927 – 1944) and thence his sons, Harold and Basil, in partnership (1944 – 1947), and Basil Bayles sole operation (1947 – 1951). This period focussed on the agricultural development of the property rather than that of the development of the homestead specifically, including that of the house and garden. While development of the shearing shed during this period is notable, this is representative of only a minor development in the overall history of the heritage place. Within the main house, make shift repairs in the form of sheet metal linings to lathe and plaster walls and ceilings in the sub-basement and first floor levels of the house, utilising Cross Kerosene Fuel tins, is considered an intriguing and therefore important feature relating to the ongoing maintenance of the heritage place under differing ownership.

Phase 4: 1951 – 1956 For its continued operation as an ongoing agricultural concern under Dr. Edward Brettingham-Moore and subsequent second break-up of Cambria, in 1955 and 1956 consecutively. This period is also typified by the introduction of modern amenities to the main house and alterations associated with these works. Further development by Brettingham-Moore is represented in the development of the homestead and the addition of structures of similar vernacular, notably the vertical board cottage, fronting the Tasman Highway, at the entrance to the heritage place and the garage fronting the carriage road between the entrance yard and main house.

Phase 5: 1956 – 2015 For its ongoing use and development by the Burbury family, initially under David and Maie Burbury (1956 – 1975) and Nick and Mandy Burbury (1975 – 2016). The period under David and Maie Burbury was typified by additions and alterations to the interior of the ground floor of the main house with only very limited alteration, in the form of internal redecoration, to the sub- basement and first floor levels of the house. Significant additions to the shearing shed were also undertaken during this period. During Nick and Mandy Burbury’s tenure, this period saw significant development of the overall property agriculturally and as such this is reflected in the development of the homestead. With regard to the main house, the addition to the south elevation of the house represents the most notable works to the building since its construction in 1834 – 1836. Internally, however,

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 93 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan internal redecoration is largely concentrated to those areas redecorated during previous occupation periods (post-Meredith family), notably the Bayles, Brettingham-Moore and David and Maie Burbury tenure periods. External to the main house, significant alterations to the garden including their extension, removal of trees and introduction of new plantings. Beyond the main house and gardens, several new farm buildings were introduced.

Integrity Considering the evolving nature of Cambria estate throughout 195 years of ownership by differing parties, this has resulted in a multitude of change in the form of different additions, alterations and a record of varying levels of personal taste. As such, some works may add to the historic value of the heritage place, however some may be neutral or even detract from its significance. To assist in this level of identification, the following elements have been identified: • Important major spaces or element that demonstrate primary significance include: o All spaces / elements marked primary significance on the Levels of Significance drawings; o All spaces / elements from Phase 1, 1821 – 1855 o All spaces / elements from Phase 2, 1855 – 1927 o All external fabric, including buildings and plantings, relating to Phase 1 and Phase 2 o All internal fabric, including door and window hardware, and decorative features, including wall papering and colour schemes, relating to Phase 1 and Phase 2; o Original building materials and features that have been removed from their original context for reuse and repairs elsewhere in the heritage place; and o Brickwork used in the reconstruction of the stables façade is of primary significance, the stables façade (Phase 5) itself is of minimal significance.

• Spaces or elements that have undergone minor alteration yet can demonstrate contributory significance include: o All spaces / elements marked contributory significance on the Levels of Significance drawings; o All internal repairs to the main house utilising recycled Kerosene Oil tins from Phase 3, 1927-1951; and o Timber workman’s cottage, within the homestead complex, relating to Phase 4, 1951-1956.

• Individual spaces or elements that have undergone major alteration and demonstrate minimal significance include: o All spaces / elements marked minimal significance on the Levels of Significance drawings; o All spaces from Phase 3, 1927-1951; o All external fabric, including buildings and plantings, relating to Phase 4, 1951-1956; o All building repairs, internal and external, relating to Phase 4 (1951-1956); o Reconstruction works to the façade of the stables relating to Phase 5 (1956-2015); and o All internal fabric, including door and window hardware, and decorative features, including wall papering and colour schemes, relating to Phase 4.

• Individual spaces or elements that are considered intrusive include: o All spaces / elements marked intrusive on Levels of Significance drawings; o All spaces / elements from Phase 5, 1956 – 2015; o All internal alterations and additions relating to the partition of original spaces during the early years of Burbury ownership; o All internal decorative schemes associated with works undertaken during Phase 4, 1951-1956; o Timber garage and chicken hutch, within the homestead complex, associated with Phase 4; o All internal decorative schemes associated with works undertaken during Phase 5, 1956-2015; o Additions to the shearing shed associated with Phase 5; and o All new buildings constructed within the homestead complex associated with Phase 5.

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7.2.7 Managing Change

To ensure the survival of heritage places for future generations, the development of alternative, and viable, ongoing uses is paramount. At the Cambria estate, while the farming property itself has an ensured ongoing agricultural use, the homestead has demonstrated an ongoing departure away from the position of operations centre of the greater farming property. As such, it is important that an appropriate balance of managed change between the values of the heritage place and operational requirements are achieved to secure its future. To achieve these objectives, the following should be undertaken:

Adoption of the Conservation Management Plan (CMP) The CMP provides strategic direction and policies that will identify the best approach regarding works to, and development of, the heritage place. The CMP should be adopted at a management level and copies provided to all personnel, including state and local government agencies, who have an interest in the ongoing maintenance and management of the site, both physically and strategically.

Review of the Conservation Management Plan (CMP) A detailed definition of a Heritage Impact Statement is contained at Section 8.3.3 (Endorsement and Review).

Heritage Impact Statement (HIS) A detailed definition of a Heritage Impact Statement is contained at Section 8.3.1 (Heritage Impact Statement).

Maintenance of records A detailed definition of a Heritage Impact Statement is contained at Section 8.3.2 (Recording Change).

Type of Change When facilitating change to a place with significant heritage values, all works should be guided by the CMP, the Landscape CMP, the Burra Charter and the ICOMOS-IFLA Historic Gardens Charter; including additional physical and documentary evidence. Works should not conflict with nor have a detrimental impact upon the identified heritage significance of the place. Where restoration and/or reconstruction works are proposed, the intent of these works should be the return of the heritage place to a previous known state and should be based on the principal phase of development relevant to the individual building and/or element. To achieve such outcomes, research should be undertaken to avoid conjecture in both built form and detail.

7.2.8 Vision for Cambria estate

As part of the reorganisation of the agricultural operations of the Cambria estate, the ability for the homestead complex to operate as a stand-alone entity that generates an income supporting its ongoing maintenance and development has been identified. The redevelopment of the homestead complex, and the design, construction/makeup and content of its associated buildings, gardens and orchards represents an unparalleled opportunity on the East Coast of Tasmania as a visitor destination due to its essential ‘closed door’ status as a private family home and business since its establishment in 1821. As such, the proposed vision for the heritage place as a tourism and hospitality-based venue that utilises the identified heritage significance of the place as a visitor attraction has been identified. To achieve such outcomes, the retention and improvement of the integrity of the homestead complex and its environs is envisioned. To achieve these outcomes, and a calendar of associated events integral to the ongoing longevity of the heritage place, a programme of individual projects including demolition, conservation, reconstruction, development and adaptive reuse are proposed.

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7.2.9 Further Work

Due to the early nature of the heritage place, the construction typology of its buildings and the attributed significance of its landscaping, the following items are beyond the scope of the CMP and should form the subject of separate reports and associated works: • Paint finishes and early decorative schemes (subject to further research and physical investigation), including: o Identification and reproduction of original wallpapers; and o Identification and recreation or original paint colours. • Implementation of larger policies arising from the Landscape Conservation Management Plan, including: o Maintenance of the formal gardens, and larger grounds, of the main house including the wider parkland; o Maintenance of the larger Pastoral Zone surrounding the house, including the re-establishment of missing hedgerows; o Remedial works to erosion of the northern riverbank of the Meredith River, immediately below the main house; and o Identification and execution of remedial work within the Natural Landscape Zone, including the replanting of indigenous plant species that are endemic to the area and land improvement strategies including erosion and low lying salt.

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8. CONSERVATION POLICY

The following section establishes policies that seek to govern and manage those works deemed necessary to maintain, enhance and communicate the significant values of the heritage place. The intent of the policies is to maintain and improve the heritage significance of the heritage place as part of its adaptation from a former family home and operational farm complex towards tourism based facilities. The following explanation of the individual policies is structured as an introduction to each of the polices, an identification of each policy and the intent and statement of intent of each policy.

8.1 SIGNIFICANCE, CONSTRAINTS AND STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS

8.1.1 Significance

Objective Ensure the significance of the heritage place, its individual buildings, structures, spaces and elements are appropriately considered and the provision of sufficient understanding and weight are given to their protection.

Rationale Understand the complex nature of the heritage place and its associated heritage significance through the application of grading to ascertain levels of significance. Levels of significance are based on the level of integrity a space and/or element retain, the extent of remnant early fabric and the contribution the space and/or elements makes to the understanding of the heritage place. Accompanying plans and datasheets, representing all spaces and/or elements identified at Section 4. of this CMP, should be used to guide proposed works.

Policies Policy 1.1 Adopt the period of 1821-1855 (Phase 1) as the key period of significance as it exhibits the original intent of the building and the completed design. Adopt 1961-1985 as the period of contributory significance for its historic associations only.

8.1.2 Constraints and Statutory Requirements

Objective Ensure applicable legislative requirements have consideration for the identified significance of the heritage place and, where necessary, the proposed works obtain the correct consent required regarding these requirements.

Rationale Considering controlled public access is being proposed for the heritage place, all proposed works and associated operations have obligations under the following legislation: - National Construction Code (NCC) - Liquor Licensing Act 1990 - Disability Discrimination Act 1992 - Public Health Act 1997 - Tasmanian Food Act 2003; and - Work Health and Safety Act 2012. When satisfying these legislative requirements, many of which are non-negotiable, heritage considerations are important in facilitating a satisfactory outcome that reduces impacts to the significance of the heritage place. In identifying these

trethowan architecture interiors heritage 97 Cambria Estate, Swansea, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan considerations, it is important this is done at the design stage thereby ensuring unnecessary damage, and associated impacts upon significance, is avoided during the later stages of a proposal. Proposals for works to the heritage place are referred by the local authority (the Glamorgan Spring Bay Council) to Heritage Tasmania for approval, who then either issue a permit with conditions or a refusal. Currently, only a standard Exclusion Agreement for Rural Property Owners is applicable from Heritage Tasmania, which outlines exemptions including primary production, fencing activities and subdivision beyond the extent of an agreed Heritage Precinct and standard maintenance of all buildings and structures. Considering the significance of the heritage place and its complexity, the need for flexibility in maintaining a viable use and requirements to undertake similar works, there is a requisite desire for the creation of specific exemption policies regarding the development and maintenance of the heritage place. Any proposed works to the heritage place should avoid conjecture and instead be undertaken in accordance with the Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter. The Burra Charter provides guidelines for the conservation and management of places of heritage significance and establishes standards for such practice. The Burra Charter is generally accepted as a management guide for places of cultural significance.

Policies Policy 1.2 The proposed Statement of Significance should be forwarded to Heritage Tasmania for their endorsement.

Policy 1.3 Develop a series of specific permit exemptions for the heritage place for Heritage Tasmania’s consideration and endorsement.

Policy 1.4 Where works, imposed by legislation, will result in physical changes to the heritage place, the proposed works must have regard to the heritage significance of the place. Alternative solutions should be explored and any works undertaken in a manner that respects and minimises any impact on the heritage significance of the heritage place.

Policy 1.5 With any proposed works, a Heritage Impact Statement should be undertaken to analyse the proposal and determine if the works will have an adverse impact on the cultural heritage values of the heritage place. If it is determined that the proposed works will have an adverse impact, the Heritage Impact Statement should consider / inform how the impact is to be mitigated. The Heritage Impact Statement should accompany the heritage permit application.

Policy 1.6 Undertake conservation and development of the heritage place in accordance with the Australia ICOMOS Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Significance (Burra Charter).

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8.2 CARE & CONSERVATION OF FABRIC

8.2.1 Fabric

Objective The protection and conservation of buildings, structures, spaces and elements that provide evidence and understanding of the significance of the heritage place. Ensure all work is preceded by thorough investigation and continual monitoring to ensure efficacy and respect of existing built fabric, spaces and elements. Preservation, restoration and applicable reconstruction are the preferred conservation processes regarding early built fabric, spaces and elements that has been lost or modified.

Rationale The fabric of the heritage place provides physical evidence that reflects its historical, architectural, technological and social significance. Conservation of this fabric will ensure the retention of the significance of the heritage place. Overall, the heritage place is in poor condition. The multiple buildings and structures of the place all exhibit structural failings of varying degrees. The landscape features of the heritage place are also in a poor state of repair due to a lack of maintenance and periodic destruction of remnant plantings. Overall, despite its varied condition and later alterations/works, the heritage place has a medium to high level of integrity throughout. Where fabric of primary and contributory significance exists, conservation and restoration are the preferred processes with all fabric retained in-situ and missing details reinstated where missing. Where necessary, changes to significant fabric should be one of minimal intervention: as much as necessary, as little as possible. Where necessary, change to contributory fabric should equally be one of minimal intervention. Where intervention for purposes other than conservation and restoration are required, this should occur in areas of minimal significance. Alternative proposals for the removal of fabric of primary and contributory significance should only be contemplated where that fabric has ceased to function and is actively contributing to deterioration of other significant fabric. Where multiple elements exist, it may be acceptable to remove some of these elements provided the overall significance of the building, space or element is not diminished thus. If this fabric has been or is required to be removed, it should be catalogued, recorded, protected and stored on site for the potential of restoration later. As such, an inventory of such items should be created and maintained so that the location and status of elements removed may be monitored, thereby facilitating their future reconstruction, restoration and/or aid in further research of the heritage place if/when required. Works to fabric of minimal significance is acceptable, considered it is not of detriment to that built fabric, spaces and elements of primary and contributory significance to the heritage place. Where further study or obtaining of evidence is proposed to further an understanding of the heritage place, the impact of such on fabric, spaces and elements of primary and contributory significance should be restricted to a minimum. During works, the protection of fabric should be ensured to safeguard against further damage of the heritage place.

Policies Policy 2.1 Conserve and retain in-situ all fabric, spaces and elements of primary significance that contribute to the significance of the heritage place.

Policy 2.2 Discourage works that seek to remove fabric or significantly alter spaces and/or elements of primary significance.

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Policy 2.3 Where a change to fabric, spaces and elements of primary significance is identified, alternative proposals and methods along with reversible actions and / or opportunities to interpret the change should be considered.

Policy 2.4 Where change to fabric, spaces and elements of contributory significance is required, change should be undertaken in a sympathetic manner, and should consider reversible actions to mitigate detrimental impacts.

Policy 2.5 Works to fabric, spaces and elements of contributory significance is acceptable, providing it does not detrimentally impact on those aspects of primary significance.

Policy 2.6 Where fabric of primary significance has deteriorated, and requires replacement, works and new material should be executed so that existing materials are replaced with identical materials. Where deterioration has occurred because of defective or inappropriate materials, an alternative material or application could be incorporated at the discretion of a Heritage Consultant, through a permit, if required.

Policy 2.7 Encourage works that reinstate missing fabric, spaces and elements which will result in the reinstatement of an earlier appearance thereby enhancing the significance of the heritage place. At all times, proposed works should be based on evidence thereby avoiding conjecture.

Policy 2.8 Encourage attempts to recover from site, or elsewhere, any elements that are known to have been removed and stored elsewhere with a view to repatriation to their original locations. Such elements include doors and windows.

Policy 2.9 Encourage the removal of minimal and intrusive fabric, spaces and elements that provide no individual significance to the heritage place. This action is considered applicable provided the proposed method of removal will not impact on the significance of the heritage place.

Policy 2.10 External and internal surfaces that are unpainted should remain so and all previously unpainted surfaces should be reinstated as such. Where evident, original colour schemes should be restored or reinstated where feasible.

Policy 2.11 Ensure fabric, spaces and elements of primary and contributory significance are recorded prior to removal and if kept for restoration, are retained on site.

Policy 2.12 Retain all displaced or damaged removable items or materials on site in one secure depository. All items should be catalogued and an inventory developed and maintained regarding displaced fabric and/or equipment for future reference.

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Policy 2.13 Undertake all works in accordance with the Australia ICOMOS Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Significance (Burra Charter).

8.2.2 Maintenance

Objective Ensure that daily activities associated with the ongoing maintenance of the heritage place are undertaken in a manner that will not impact the significance of the heritage place.

Rationale The practice of ongoing and regular maintenance has an essential role in the conservation of significance of the heritage place. It is important for the identification and rectification of faults, the prevention of damage, and an associated reduction in the need for larger costly repairs later. When scheduling maintenance, good conservation practice dictates the undertaking of this as part of an ongoing cyclical programme. The importance of ongoing maintenance results in an improvement to the general condition of the heritage place to an acceptable standard, considering both good heritage practice and the safety of inhabitants. In some instances it can improve the longevity and appearance of various materials of primary significance.

Policies Policy 2.13 Establish an ongoing cyclical maintenance programme and reporting system for general upkeep that assists in the conservation of significant fabric, thereby preventing further deterioration.

Policy 2.14 Where fabric of primary significance has deteriorated, and requires replacement, works and new material should be executed so that existing materials are replaced with identical materials. Where deterioration has occurred because of defective or inappropriate materials, an alternative material or application could be incorporated at the discretion of a Heritage Consultant, through a permit, if required.

Policy 2.15 Instigate a prioritised system of conservation works that address both the conservation of the building, and ensure the ongoing safety of inhabitants.

8.2.3 Under-utilised Spaces

Objective Identify, reuse and/or monitor under-utilised spaces to preserve the integrity of the heritage place.

Rationale Considering the scale and complexity of the heritage place, several underutilised buildings, spaces and elements have been identified warranting alternate use. In the instance that this cannot occur, regular monitoring should be undertaken to arrest deterioration of these buildings, spaces and elements and thus impact on the significance of the heritage place.

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Policies Policy 2.16 Undertake audit of spaces and seek meaningful uses where possible.

Policy 2.16 For spaces where a new use cannot be found, include the space in the cyclical maintenance programme and housekeeping reporting system to monitor any deterioration.

Policy 2.17 Address any deterioration in accordance with the Fabric polices contained in the CMP.

8.2.4 Intrusive Fabric

Objective Ensure the appropriate treatment of fabric that is deemed to be intrusive to the significance of the heritage place.

Rationale Due to the series of changes that have occurred to the building, a large quantity of equipment, services, fabric and elements are no longer required, do not form part of the significance of the heritage place and/or interfere with the future operations and/or adaptation of the heritage place.

Policies Policy 2.18 Allow works that seek to remove intrusive and unsympathetic equipment, services, fabric or other elements, if the action, and method of removal, will not impact on the significance of the heritage place.

8.2.5 Conserving Early Finishes, Elements and Relics

Objective Protect those early finishes, elements and relics that form part of the significance of the heritage place.

Rationale Early finishes, elements, relics and equipment are of high value regarding the significance of the heritage place. They provide evidence and insight into the early decorative schemes of the heritage place, how the various spaces and/or buildings of the place operated and where the delineation between the served and servant spaces, being those spaces occupied by the Meredith family and those of their servants and workers, were located and how the various buildings of the heritage place were utilised. Early finishes survive throughout the various buildings and structures of the heritage place, the most notable of which include: distemper painted internal and external wall finishes, shellac-finishes to timber joinery, lime-washed joinery and wall linings, waxed timber floor finishes, brick and sandstone floor finishes, early wallpapers and newspaper-based linings. Surviving elements are located throughout the heritage place. They consist of a variety of timber and ironmongery fittings, including timber roller blind brackets, brass adjustable blind fasteners, timber and brass curtain rods, brass door knobs, brass escutcheon plates and covers, iron door catches, timber door catches. Additional elements include painted decorative scenes (artworks). The interior of the house contains two decorative scenes, the most notable being the c.1853 painting to the first- floor internal window, the Saviour of the Resolution; the second is a series of painted scenes on a ground-floor bedroom door.

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Relics located around the heritage place are either immediately related to the construction of an individual space or buildings, and their occupation by various inhabitants. Relics include items original to a space or building that have been moved to an alternate location or elements associated with day to day life at the heritage place. Items include original doors, early window catches, various early ovens and old cast-iron ships tanks (used for the importing of goods) that were subsequently repurposed as water tanks; now discarded behind the barn/woolshed. Surviving equipment at the heritage place largely consists of modern items associated with the day to day operations of the heritage place as an agricultural enterprise. The lack of equipment of age is a result of the various divestment, and various clearing sales, held by previous owners at the place. While modern, the surviving equipment represents practical elements resulting to the history, and ongoing function, of agricultural enterprise undertaken at the heritage place. Examples of equipment include a shearing machine in the shearing shed and other items that may be yet to be identified. The survival of finishes, elements relics and equipment associated with the heritage place do have a financial value and as such their retention at the heritage place subsequently increases the financial value of the heritage place.

Policies Policy 2.19 Surfaces previously unpainted should remain unpainted, original colour schemes and finishes retained, and where feasible original colour schemes and finishes restored or reinstated. In the instance of layered wallpapers, the age of each layer should be identified prior to the decision of either retention or removal being made. All works should be based on evidence not conjecture.

Policy 2.20 Where original floor finishes are extant, if susceptible to damage from foot traffic this should be concealed beneath appropriate floor coverings that possess the ability to be removed if necessary. Floor coverings should not be fixed directly to original floor finishes.

Policy 2.21 All art works to be retained and conserved in-situ. Nothing is to be applied directly to, and nothing to be applied or fixed directly to/over, the painted surfaces of these elements.

Policy 2.22 All original / early elements and equipment to be retained in-situ, or following investigation / assessment by a specialist, recorded prior to removal and storage in a central depository. Details of these items should be established in an inventory per Policy 2.21 of the CMP.

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8.3 MANAGING CHANGE

Change is an inevitable and necessary function in the ongoing maintenance and use of a heritage place. Change relating to both physical change and the ongoing resolution of management processes, that oversee the management of change to the heritage place, should be only considered with full knowledge of the consequences to the significance of the heritage place.

8.3.1 Heritage Impact Statement

Objective Ensure all proposed changes that effect the significance of the heritage place are analysed regarding both the Statement of Significance and management policies for the heritage place.

Rationale When works are proposed to the heritage place, the impact of the proposed works should be analysed as part of the statutory planning process to determine whether they will have an adverse impact on the cultural and heritage significance of the heritage place. This analysis is undertaken through the development of a document called a Heritage Impact Statement (HIS). Heritage Impact Statement’s should be prepared by a Heritage Consultant to analyse the proposal and determine if the proposed works will have an adverse impact on the significance of the heritage place. If determined that the proposed works will have an adverse impact, the Heritage Impact Statement should consider / inform how the heritage impact will be mitigated.

Policies Policy 3.1 Any proposed works should be accompanied by a Heritage Impact Statement.

Policy 3.2 The Heritage Impact Statement should accompany any permit application for works to the heritage place.

8.3.2 Recording Change

Objective Ensure all fabric of primary and/or contributory significance is recorded prior to any change taking place to enable future restoration and/or reconstruction of buildings, spaces, elements or relics.

Rationale When works are undertaken to the heritage place, it is important to maintain a record of change to maintain current records that will assist in the future understanding of the heritage place. When maintaining records, they should identify what works have taken place, when they have occurred and whom has undertaken them. The recording of fabric also assists in the development of a baseline for physical assessment through which future change, and the ongoing management, of the heritage place can be measured. Adequate records maintained as part of this process typically include annotated existing and proposed plans, including photographs, that record the events as they occur.

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Policies Policy 3.3 Ensure all fabric of primary and secondary significance is recorded prior to removal. If the item removed is to be retained for conservation and/or restoration, it should not be transferred off site for storage and instead retained at the heritage place.

Policy 3.4 Retain all displaced or damaged elements, relics and equipment that may be easily removed in a secure depository on site. All items stored within the depository should be recorded in an inventory to ascertain the status of elements, their storage location and the location from which they were removed prior to being located within the central depository.

Policy 3.5 Create and maintain an accurate database to record and manage ongoing change to the heritage place.

8.3.3 Endorsement and Review

Objective Adopt the CMP as the main document for the guidance, protection and conservation of the heritage place and ensure the currency of the CMP through periodic review as an essential management process that assists with the ongoing protection and conservation of the heritage place.

Rationale The CMP should be adopted by decision makers as a base document that is to be considered in all future decisions regarding the conservation, restoration and development of the heritage place. The review of the CMP on a five-yearly basis, or at which time that significant new information is discovered, is recommended. Specific policies may require review on a more regular basis to ensure their ongoing relevance in the document.

Policies Policy 3.6 Ensure the adoption of the CMP, and its contents, by all decision makers who oversee management of the heritage place.

Policy 3.7 Allow for the CMP to be reviewed every 5 years (or sooner as required) to ensure the document remains valid as an effective management plan that protects the significance of the heritage place.

8.3.4 New Uses for Rooms & Associated Works

Objective Consider new uses for currently underutilised or redundant spaces and allow for their sympathetic alteration to facilitate alternate uses. Change should be guided by the principle of compatible use and the Burra Charter.

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Rationale Change to the heritage place associated with ongoing use is likely to involve the allocation of new uses to some spaces, particularly where these spaces are either underutilised or redundant. Defined by the Burra Charter, the principle of compatible use applies to settings, building complexes, individual buildings and spaces as a use that respects the cultural significance of a place and involves minimal impact upon it. While the homestead complex of the heritage place has ceased to function as the major centre of the larger Cambria estate as an ongoing agricultural concern and the main house as a family home, the proposed reuse of the property for appropriate commercial activities offer the opportunity to allocate new uses for individual spaces within the respective buildings, and of some individual buildings particularly, in the instance of those that are underutilised. Where these alternate uses are to be incorporated, there needs to be an understanding of the historic operation of the various buildings of the heritage place regarding limited public access and private public access versus those areas with limited access that are private (not open to the public) in their entirety. Despite this, consideration should be given to changes that are not intrusive to the space, do not impact on the significance of the heritage place and ensure its ongoing use and future viability. To facilitate change and the ongoing viability of the heritage place, it likely that alterations to existing fabric will be required. Where this is to occur, works should be undertaken to spaces that are not of primary significance and/or in spaces that will not result in a detrimental impact on the significance of the heritage place. Where change to fabric of primary significance is necessary, this should be undertaken with as much change as necessary undertaken with as little change as possible. Where change is required to fabric of contributory significance, this may be undertaken it is sympathetic and doesn’t adversely impact on the significance of the space and/or building. Alternative proposals and methods, including works that are reversible, should be considered prior to the removal or significant alteration of fabric of primary and contributory significance. If fabric does require removal, it should be catalogued, recorded, protected and stored on site for the potential of restoration later. Where proposed, works to fabric of contributory significance is acceptable providing it does not have a detrimental impact on buildings, spaces, elements or relics of primary significance. Where a change in use is proposed, the suitability of the proposed use and consequence of its application on a space and/or building should be assessed through a Heritage Impact Statement.

Policies Policy 3.8 Discourage future uses for spaces and/or buildings that will have a negative impact on the significance of the heritage place.

Policy 3.9 When accommodating a new use, necessary changes to achieve that use must be undertaken in a manner that is not intrusive to the effected space and/or building and its associated elements and relics, thereby avoiding the wider impact on the significance of the heritage place.

Policy 3.10 Discourage alterations, associated with new uses, that require the removal or significant alteration of fabric of primary significance. Works to buildings and/or spaces of contributory significance, and their associated elements and relics, should be sympathetic and not impact on the significance of the heritage place. Works to buildings and/or spaces of contributory significance are acceptable providing they do not have a detrimental impact on those buildings and/or spaces, and their associated elements and relics of primary significance.

Policy 3.11 Fitted floor coverings should be avoided in the interiors of spaces of high primary and contributory significance. Proposed floor coverings should be removable and where proposed inset in from wall surfaces so that original floor finishes can be exposed and appreciated.

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Policy 3.12 Where change to buildings and/or spaces, and their associated elements and relics, or primary significance are identified, an alternative proposal and method with actions considered revisable should be considered.

Policy 3.13 Proposals for alternate uses of buildings and/or spaces, and their associated elements and relics, of primary significance should be assessed through a Heritage Impact Statement.

8.3.5 Restoration & Reconstruction

Objective Conservation, and restoration where necessary, of the heritage place as close to its appearance at the end of the Phase 2 period of significance, being between the period between 1855 and 1927. Where necessary, these works should be undertaken to enhance the significance of the heritage place. Approaches to these works should be cautious and be based on both physical and/or documentary evidence in their entirety.

Rationale Where possible, opportunities to reconstruct original buildings where ruined and reinstate spaces and missing elements that assist in reinstating forms and the appearance of the heritage place to its appearance in the period of 1855 to 1927 should be encouraged. The rationale for the choice of period for works is based on it being the final stage of ownership by the Meredith family, it encompassing changes undertaken by the latter generation of the family, and that elements from the period 1821 to 1855 remained extant at that time. Where undertaken, the works should enhance the appearance and presentation of the heritage place and its associated significance. Where restoration or reconstruction works are proposed, these should be based on both physical and/or documentary evidence in their entirety and reuse original fabric to enable the accurate reinstatement of details where necessary. Works should avoid conjecture and be undertaken in accordance with the Burra Charter.

Policies Policy 3.14 Allow works that reinstate fabric that will return buildings and/or spaces to their previous appearance, as close as possible to the period between 1855 and 1927 (Phase 2 period of significance), thereby enhancing the significance of the heritage place. All works should be based on physical and/or documentary evidence in their entirety, thereby avoiding conjecture.

Policy 3.15 Undertake all works in accordance with the Australia ICOMOS Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Significance (Burra Charter).

8.3.6 New Openings

Objective New openings may be required to facilitate legislative changes in specific buildings and/or spaces or to facilitate the long-term viability of specific buildings and/or spaces. Where proposed, it should be demonstrated that the execution of new openings, or the infill of existing openings, will prevent the physical break down of existing fabric specifically, and breakdown in significance values of the heritage place generally, through incremental or detrimental changes.

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Rationale Where new openings or infill of existing openings may be required, the execution of these openings should be undertaken in such a way that communicates an understanding of the continual evolution of the heritage place. To communicate this evolution, it is important to retain evidence of where and how openings have changed. Works should not distort or obscure the significance of the heritage place. All new works should be readily identifiable as such and their execution and associated detail distinguishable from existing openings to communicate their later construction. Where existing openings are required to be infilled, this should be done in such a way that allows for their continual identification as a former opening and the retention of all elements associated with this including doors, architraves and associated hardware. Where proposed, the impacts of such works should be assessed through a Heritage Impact Statement.

Policies Policy 3.16 New openings should be located sensitively so that damage to fabric, buildings and/or spaces, and the resultant impact on the significance of the heritage place, is minimised.

Policy 3.17 All areas of change are to appropriately recorded photographically and documented prior to removal.

Policy 3.18 All new elements that are not original to the heritage place should be subtly identified through the subtle use of colour and detail, thereby allowing them to readily identifiable as new fabric.

Policy 3.19 Where alterations to original openings are proposed, evidence of the former opening should be retained to allow for its interpretation.

Policy 3.20 Proposals for alterations of openings in original fabric should be assessed through a Heritage Impact Statement.

8.3.7 Lighting and Electrical

Objective Allow for the installation of sympathetic and/or unobtrusive lighting, power and data fixtures and fittings to facilitate the ongoing use of the heritage place through commercial means. New lighting should ensure that it does not detract from the exterior and/or interior of buildings specifically or the heritage place generally. Where proposed to the interiors of buildings, new lighting should represent an integral part of the decoration of specific spaces, thereby enhancing the significance of the heritage place generally. New power and data outlets should be discreet in both their product selection and installation.

Rationale Lighting is an intrinsic part of the interior decoration in the respective buildings of the heritage place and external navigation of the heritage place in its entirety. As such, lighting proposals should be considered regarding both conservation and amenity.

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Policies Policy 3.21 An audit of existing lighting locations should be undertaken to determine where existing fittings and fixtures are presently located and whether these locations are conducive to the conservation, restoration and/or reconstruction of spaces and/or elements of primary or contributory significance.

Policy 3.22 The internal layout and selection of new lighting fixtures and fixtures should be designed with the assistance of a heritage architect. Light fittings should be appropriately selected continuing both their task and their appearance. A range of contemporary and sympathetically styled period lighting may be used for different purposes. Where applicable, antique lighting may be appropriate. Modern reproduction light fittings in highly reflective materials are not appropriate. All installations should be undertaken in a manner that avoids detrimental impact on original fabric or fabric of primary significance. Where contemporary light fittings are proposed, these should be visually unobtrusive and located so that they will have no impact on spaces and/or buildings specifically or the heritage place generally.

Policy 3.23 The external layout and selection of new light fixtures and fittings should be designed with the assistance of a heritage architect. Light fittings affixed directly to buildings should be appropriately selected regarding both their task and their appearance. A range of contemporary and sympathetically styled period lighting may be used for different purposes. Where applicable, appropriate residential antique lighting intended for external applications may be appropriate. Modern reproduction light fittings in highly reflective materials are not appropriate. All installations should be undertaken in a manner that avoids detrimental impact on original fabric or fabric of primary significance. Where contemporary light fittings and applications are proposed, such as way finding to assist in navigation of the heritage place, these should be visually unobtrusive and located low to the ground. Equally, flood lighting may be appropriate however the source of this lighting should be located low to the ground and shone directly onto vertical surfaces to avoid unnecessary light pollution. Urban lighting solutions, such as street and standard lamps are not appropriate.

8.3.8 Heating, Cooling & Ventilation

Objective Manage evolving heating and cooling requirements while conserving the sense of how the various buildings of the heritage place were heated and cooled originally.

Rationale Nineteenth century buildings were passively cooled originally with heating sources confined to open fire places. This provides an insight into the early function and operation of these buildings as part of their habitation by humans and/or animals. These sources should be retained in-situ and continue to be utilised where possible. If new sources of heating and cooling are required, it is important that these are undertaken in a manner that is sympathetic, retains the appearance and appreciation of function of original heating and cooling sources or, where new equipment is required, will not detract from spaces and/or buildings of primary significance. New equipment, services and their associated fixtures and fittings must be designed in a manner that is unobtrusive so that their installation will have no impact on the significance of the various spaces and/or buildings specifically and the heritage place generally.

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Policies Policy 3.24 Original windows and other sources of ventilation should continue to be utilised for their practical and atmospheric benefits where possible. Where not required, their operational status should be retained and not be sealed or fixed shut to assist the function of mechanical cooling and/or heating sources.

Policy 3.25 Original heating sources should continue to be used for their practical and atmospheric benefits where possible. Where these are not required, individual flues may be sealed to assist in the function of mechanical heating sources and the prevention of ingress by vermin. When sealing individual flues, this is to be done externally only using concealed methods to the tops of chimneys and should result in no impact on the significance of individual buildings specifically or the heritage place generally. Internal openings of fire places are not to be sealed to assist in the function of mechanical cooling and heating sources as this will impact internal spaces of primary and contributory significance specifically and the significance of the heritage place generally.

8.3.9 External Presentation

Objective Restore the appearance of the heritage place as close to its appearance between the years 1855 and 1927.

Rationale The appearance of the heritage place has changed and been altered somewhat from its original appearance. This is mainly a result of the successive generations of multiple families who have occupied the heritage place and their individual requirements and periodic neglect by successive owners where applicable. Presently, the external presentation of the heritage place is poor. Minor repairs to buildings are failing resulting further degradation and the associated aesthetic significance of individual buildings. Landscape elements have suffered the most with the clear structure of much of the formal landscape now undiscernible. Despite this, sufficient physical and documentary evidence exists to facilitate a historically correct series of works to restore the external presentation of the heritage place.

Policies Policy 3.26 Original external built forms of buildings and structures should be reinstated where missing or altered. All missing, removed or damaged elements should be investigated, reinstated and/or reconstructed where feasible. All works should be based on physical and/or documentary evidence in their entirety, thereby avoiding conjecture.

Policy 3.27 Early colour schemes and associated finishes from the period 1855 to 1927 should be investigated and reinstated where feasible. Surfaces previously unpainted should remain unpainted. All works should be based on physical and/or documentary evidence in their entirety, thereby avoiding conjecture.

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8.3.10 Interpretation

Objective Develop a suitable method or level of interpretation that allows others to understand and appreciate the significance of the heritage place, its history and wider contextual contribution.

Rationale As with any heritage place of significance, it is important to be able to share and allow others to interpret, understand and appreciate that significance. At Cambria, this significance is embodied in its history, social associations, buildings, immediate landscape and the wider contextual landscape. The benefits of introducing interpretation to the heritage place will relay these heritage values to a wider audience and thus a broader understanding of the wider region, thereby resulting in potentially better protection at a statutory level or even improved resources for its protection at a physical level. The type and level of interpretation will need to be specific to the heritage place and suited to the various physical components and significance of the heritage place, owner aspirations, target user groups and access matters. The formulation of an interpretation strategy will assist in the implementation of feasible interpretation scheme. Interpretation should be on-going process and continue to evolve as changes occur to the heritage place and the stories associated with those changes. Physical and documentary evidence can form a degree of interpretation, especially where the ability for a record of the current condition of the heritage place, prior to any conservation, restoration, reconstruction and/or alteration, can be demonstrated.

Policies Policy 3.28 Establish, implement and maintain an interpretation strategy to determine the necessary degree of interpretation and information that will be suited to the heritage place and any proposed alterations.

Policy 3.29 Include pictures and/or illustrative documentation that allows the heritage place and its buildings, history and context to be fully understood. Provide interpretation panels designed by a professional graphic designer that explain the history and development of the heritage place over time and locate sensitively within the heritage place.

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9. BIBLIOGRAPHY

9.1 BOOKS

Fleming, John and Honour, Hugh, and Pevsner, Nikolaus, Penguin Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. London: Penguin Books, 1999. Jackson, Ashley, Buildings of Empire. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. Lucas, Clive and Joyce, Ray, Australian Country Houses: Homesteads, Farmsteads, and Rural Retreats. Sydney: Lansdowne Publishing Pty Ltd, 1994. Nash, Michael, The Bay Whalers – Tasmania’s Shore-based Whaling Industry. Woden (ACT): Navarine Publishing, 2003. Rae-Ellis, Vivienne, Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile. Hobart: St. David’s Park Publishing, 1990. Ratcliff, Eric, A Far Microcosm: Building and Architecture in Van Diemen’s Land and Tasmania 1803-1914; Volume. 3. Hobart: Fullers Bookshop, 2015. Robertson, E. Graeme, and Craig, Edith N., Early Houses of Northern Tasmania (abridged edition). Melbourne, Georgian House, 1966. Sharland, Michael, Stones of a Century. Hobart, AU: Oldham, Beddom and Meredith, 1969. von Stieglitz, Karl, Pioneers of the East Coast from 1642: Swansea – Bicheno. Launceston: Telegraph Printery Pty Ltd, 1955. The Burra Charter: The Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance, 2013. Historic Homesteads. Canberra: Australian Council of National Trusts – Heritage Reprints, 1982. Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania, ‘PLANTS – Planting Oyster Bay pine Callitris rhomboidea’, first published 2003, accessed online 26 May 2016 at: www.parks.tas.gov.au/file.aspx?id=6790

9.2 UNPUBLISHED

Glamorgan Spring Bay Historical Society, A Historical Study of Cambria Estate: ‘The Government House of the East Coast’, 2016. Macgillivray, Leith, ‘We Have Found Our Paradise’: the South-East squattocracy, 1840-1870. Accessed 22 May 2016: http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwj8pemZ5- zMAhXGH5QKHcp6BtwQFggeMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sahistorians.org.au%2F175%2Fbm.doc%2Fwe-have-found- our-paradise---the-south-east-squattocracy-1840-1870.doc&usg=AFQjCNHyjwICRKfcFeOA_NoQOaggNHQUJw

9.3 NEWSPAPERS AND JOURNALS

Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria: 1864 - 1946) Colonial Times (Hobart, Tasmania: 1828 - 1857) Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tasmania: 1835-1880) The Courier (Hobart, Tasmania: 1840-1859) Examiner (Launceston, Tasmania: 1900 - 1954) The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania: 1860-1954) North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times (Burnie, Tasmania: 1899 - 1919) The Illustrated Tasmanian Mail (Hobart, Tasmania: 1921-1935)

9.4 WEBSITES

Australian Government – Department of the Environment, Australian Heritage Database, http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi- bin/ahdb/search.pl

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Australian Dictionary of Biography, http://adb.anu.edu.au/ W. R. Barrett, 'Nixon, Francis Russell (1803–1879)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 5 May 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/nixon-francis-russell-2509/text3389 Peter Boyce, 'Governors', The Companion to Tasmanian History, accessed 5 May 2016: http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/G/Governors.htm Shayne Breen, ‘Class’, The Companion to Tasmanian History, Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, University of Tasmania, published 2006, accessed online 19 April 2016: http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/C/Class.htm Brian Cofranesco, with Edward Chappell and Emilie Johnson, ‘Tharpe House’, Falmouth Field Guide: The Falmouth Project, Department of Architectural History, University of Virginia, accessed online 8 April 2016: http://falmouth.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/show/falmouth/wharf-district/tharpe-house Edward E. Crain, Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands, published in hardcopy 1994, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida Press, Digital Library of the Caribbean, University of Florida Digital Collections, accessed 31 March 2016: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00004342/00001 James Hakewill, A Pictursque Tour of The Island Of Jamaica from Drawings Made In The Years 1820 and 1821, published first in hardcopy 1825, Interlibrary Loan Department, Boston Public Library via Internet Archive, accessed 31 March 2016: https://archive.org/details/picturesquetouro00hake, David Hodgson, 'Meredith, George (1777–1856)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 27 April 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449/text3269 Dr. Raul A. Mosley, ‘Halse Hall Great House’, A Tour of Jamaica's Great Houses, Plantations, & Pens, Michael W. Mosley (ed.), accessed online 11 April 2016: https://thelastgreatgreathouseblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/halse-hall-great-house-2/ Dr. Raul A. Mosley, ‘Brimmer Hall Great House’, A Tour of Jamaica's Great Houses, Plantations, & Pens, Michael W. Mosley (ed.), accessed online 11 April 2016: https://thelastgreatgreathouseblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/brimmer-hall-great-house/ Daniel L. Ogilvie, ‘Good Hope’, History of the Parish of Trelawny, Jamaican Family Search Genealogy Research Library, published 2013, accessed online 14 April 2016: http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Samples/histre12.htm A. Rand, 'Talbot, William (1784–1845)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 27 April 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/talbot-william-2715/text3821 Michael Roe, ‘Anti-Transportation (of Convicts)’, The Companion to Tasmanian History, Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, University of Tasmania, published 2006, accessed online 19 April 2016: http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/A/Anti-transportation.htm John Reynolds, 'Dry, Sir Richard (1815–1869)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed 18 February 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dry-sir-richard-1999/text2439 'Bathurst, Henry (1762–1834)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1966, accessed online 27 April 2016: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bathurst-henry-1751/text1945 ‘Tharpe House’, The Falmouth Project, accessed online 13 April 2016: http://falmouth.lib.virginia.edu/items/show/1560 ‘The Grandest Great Houses of Jamaica’, Sandals Lifestyle, accessed 14 April 2016 at: http://www.sandalslifestyle.com/caribbean-culture/the-grandest-great-houses-of-jamaica.html ‘Meredith v. Lord [1833]’, Decisions of the Nineteenth Century Tasmanian Superior Courts, Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University, accessed 5 May 2016: http://www.law.mq.edu.au/research/colonial_case_law/tas/cases/case_index/1833/meredith_v_lord/ ‘Usury Law’, Investopedia, accessed 5 May 2016: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/u/usury-laws.asp

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10. APPENDICES

10.1 APPENDIX A – CITATIONS FOR STATUTORY LISTINGS

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10.2 APPENDIX B – CITATIONS FOR NON-STATUTORY LISTINGS

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10.3 APPENDIX C – ROOM DATA SHEETS

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10.4 APPENDIX D – LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS (DR CATRIONA MCLEOD, 2016)

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10.5 APPENDIX E – HISTORICAL ANALYSIS (GLAMORGAN-SPRING BAY HIST. SOCTY., 2016)

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