BRICKENDON Longford, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan Prepared for: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts GPO Box 787 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Prepared by: Clive Lucas, Stapleton and Partners Pty. Ltd. with Austral Archaeology Pty. Ltd. and Gwenda Sheridan, historic landscape consultant 155 Brougham Street Kings Cross, Sydney, 2011 Telephone: (02) 9357 4811 Facsimile: (02) 9357 4603 Issue: Revised 9th January 2008 © Clive Lucas, Stapleton & Partners Pty. Ltd., 2008 CLIVE LUCAS, STAPLETON & PARTNERS PTY LTD Executive Summary Executive Summary Brickendon is a 458-hectare mixed farming property located on the alluvial soils of the Macquarie River flood plain, approximately 2 km from the centre of Longford, Tasmania. Two precincts have been identified within the study area: the House Precinct containing a set of pre- 1850s estate buildings, including the main house in its garden setting, stables, coach house, coachman’s cottage and gardener’s cottage; and the Farm Village Precinct, containing a large group of colonial farm buildings in timber or brick, built in the vernacular style, as well as some modern structures. The two Precincts are located about 500 metres apart on opposite sides of what is now a public road known as Woolmers Lane. The paddocks surrounding the main groupings of buildings were also included in the study. A separate volume dedicated to the assessment and management of the landscape elements accompanies this report. Brickendon is recognised by the Tasmanian Heritage Council for its cultural heritage significance. Brickendon has been entered in the National Heritage List and, together with ten other convict sites in Australia, Brickendon is part of a serial nomination to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for inscription on the World Heritage List. This management plan has been prepared in accordance with the National Heritage Management Principles. The property is a privately owned farming property and is wholly owned and managed by Richard and Louise Archer. Parts of the property are open to the public as a tourist attraction, and two of the 19th century buildings are available for overnight guest accommodation. The official National Heritage Values of the place are set out in Sections 4 and 5, while a more general statement of significance of the place is formulated in Section 5, as follows: Brickendon is of outstanding cultural heritage significance as a remarkably intact Colonial rural estate. Associated for its entire history and to the present day with the Archer family, prominent settlers in northern Tasmania, the property contains all the things one associates with a country estate, including a quintessential Colonial house and garden, as well as a village arrangement of early farm buildings, set some distance from the main house in an early Colonial landscape of paddocks and drives lined with hedgerows, all of which is little different from its original configuration. Brickendon is a classic example of an early Colonial, pre-1840, country property. Developed principally during the period of convict transportation to Van Diemen’s Land (prior to 1852), Brickendon is historically associated with the convict assignment system; documentary records indicate that in the 1840s, about half of the occupants of the estate were convict assignees. The archaeological resource at the property has the potential to contribute to the understanding of the convict assignment system. Brickendon contains a set of timber farm buildings dating from the 1820s which are unique in Australia. In addition to the two Dutch barns and pillar granary, the place contains a set of farm buildings arrayed in a strict village arrangement which is rare in Australia. Brickendon is of aesthetic significance as an evocation of rural England, for which the northern midlands of Tasmania is well known. The architectural qualities of the main house, brick coach house, Brickendon, Longford, Tasmainia Conservation Management Plan Executive Summary CLIVE LUCAS, STAPLETON & PARTNERS PTY LTD chapel, fowl house, and the vernacular farm buildings demonstrate that the estate was laid out and built as a place of high quality from the outset. The constraints arising from the significance of the place, its statutory obligations, and an assessment of the current pressures and owners’ requirements for the place are discussed in Section 6. The Conservation Policies (Section 7) provide a framework of guidelines for decision making about the place. Key recommendations include • A maintenance schedule including an identification of urgent maintenance works • Guidelines for when to involve tradesmen and professional heritage advice • Recommendations for ameliorating the current interpretation measures and for managing the impact of visitors, with regard to avoiding intervention in significant fabric • Policies for archaeological management and unforeseen discoveries • Recommendations for compatible uses of the place • Identification of reconstruction/restoration opportunities. The Implementation section (Section 8) revisits the National Heritage Management Principles and recommends methods for adopting the principles and carrying out the recommendations of the Management Plan. Issue: Draft: 4th September 2007 Revised following comments 22nd November 2007 Revised following further comments 9th January 2008 Brickendon, Longford, Tasmainia Conservation Management Plan CLIVE LUCAS, STAPLETON & PARTNERS PTY LTD Contents Contents 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Background and Objectives 1 1.2 Definition of the Place and Features 1 1.3 Methodology 1 1.4 Limitations 2 1.5 Study Team 2 1.6 National Heritage Management Principles 3 1.7 Acknowledgments 4 1.8 Copyright of Images 4 1.9 Terminology 5 2. Historical Background 9 3. Physical Description 47 3.1 Description of Overall Property 47 3.2 House Precinct 49 3.2 Farm Village Precinct 59 3.4 Description of the Archaeological Resource 85 4. Assessment of Significance 95 4.1 Heritage Assessment Criteria 95 4.2 Heritage Assessment of Brickendon 96 4.3 World Heritage Significance 109 5. Statement of Significance 111 5.1 Statement of Significance 111 5.2 Areas of Significance 113 6. Constraints and Opportunities 117 6.1 Obligations and Opportunities Arising from Significance 117 6.2 The Burra Charter 117 6.3 Present Condition 119 6.4 Integrity 120 6.5 Interpretation and Promotion of Heritage Values 121 6.6 Owners’ Requirements 124 6.7 Statutory Heritage Constraints 125 6.8 Non-Statutory Heritage Constraints 131 7. Development of Conservation Policies 133 7.1 Background to the Conservation Policies 133 7.2 Conservation Approach 133 7.3 Identifying the Place and Setting 134 7.4 Treatment of Fabric 137 7.5 Use 139 7.6 Interpretation 142 7.7 Management 144 7.8 Intervention, Adaptation, and Future Development 149 7.9 Community Involvement 153 7.10 Review 153 Brickendon, Longford, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan Contents CLIVE LUCAS, STAPLETON & PARTNERS PTY LTD 8. Implementation 155 Appendices Appendix 1: Inventory Sheets Site No: 01 Main house and courtyard Site No: 02 Coach house and stable Site No: 03 Underground water tank Site No: 04 Coach house and stable outbuildings Site No: 05 Underground water tank Site No: 06 Coachman’s Cottage Site No: 07 Underground water tank Site No: 08 Site of rubbish pit Site No: 09 Greenhouse site Site No: 10 Cellar Site No: 11 Cellar stumps Site No: 12 Gardener’s Cottage Site No: 13 Disturbed ground west of gardener’s cottage Site No: 14 Potting shed site Site No: 15 Septic tank and rubble scatter Site No: 16 Pit Site No: 17 Earth mound Site No: 18 Privy Site No: 19 Privy Site No: 20 Sump Site No: 21 Sump Site No: 22 Piggery site Site No: 23 Cart shed Site No: 24 Pig slips’ yard site Site No: 25 Hay shed and milking shed site Site No: 26 Hay shed and stable shed site Site No: 27 Stack yard Site No: 28 Suffolk barn (west) Site No: 29 Suffolk barn (south) Site No: 30 Pillar granary Site No: 31 Water tank Site No: 32 Smokehouse Site No: 33 Bread oven Site No: 34 William Archer’s cottage Site No: 35 Farm cottage Site No: 36 Privy Site No: 37 Fowl house Site No: 38 Cookhouse Site No: 39 Cottage site Site No: 40 Men’s quarter’s site Site No: 41 Carpentry shop site Site No: 42 Water tank Site No: 43 Blacksmith Site No: 44 Chapel Site No: 45 Stables and shearing shed Site No: 46 Water tank Site No: 47 Slaughterhouse and dipping shed Site No: 48 Granary Site No: 49 Sheep wash site Brickendon, Longford, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan CLIVE LUCAS, STAPLETON & PARTNERS PTY LTD Contents Site No: 50 Sheep wash site Site No: 51 Surface and underground drain Site No: 52 Claypit site Site No: 53 Claypit site Site No: 54 Flood flaps Site No: 55 Water collection point Site No: 56 Drain feature Site No: 57 Shed site Site No: 58 Unidentified building site Site No: 59 Possible rubbish pit Site No: 60 Possible site of Jacob Mountgarrett’s cottage Appendix 2: Tasmanian Heritage Council Practice Note No.2 Appendix 3: Documents held at Brickendon Appendix 4: Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance (The Burra Charter) Appendix 5: Technical Terminology Appendix 6: Copies of Heritage Lists Appendix 7: Maintenance Plan for Buildings Appendix 8: Building Condition Report Appendix 9: Site Index Catalogue Appendix 10: Archaeological Recording Form Brickendon, Longford, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan Contents CLIVE LUCAS, STAPLETON & PARTNERS PTY LTD Brickendon, Longford, Tasmania Conservation Management Plan CLIVE LUCAS, STAPLETON