Yearning, Longing and The Remaking of Camden’s Identity: the myths and reality of ‘a country town idyll’.

April 29, 2024 camdenhistorynotes1 Comment

Australian Historical Association 2007 Regional Conference

Engaging Histories

University of New England, Armidale

23-26 September 2007

Yearning, Longing and The Remaking of Camden’s Identity: the myths and reality of ‘a country town idyll’

Abstract

This article discusses the concept of a “country town idyll” in Camden, an idealised version of a country town from an imagined past that uses history to construct imagery based on Camden’s heritage buildings and other material fabrics. The paper delves into the origins of the idyll, examines its development, and investigates its validity in its contemporary context. It shows how its supporters have used history as a community asset to remake Camden’s identity and explore how the ‘country town idyll’ has been used variously as a political weapon, a marketing tool, and a tourist promotion.

Key terms: Country town idyll; Heritage buildings; Community asset; Political weapon; Tourist promotion.

Article

In May this year, the headline on the front page of the Macarthur Chronicle screamed ‘Home Invasion’. The report warned that

The rural landscape surrounding Camden will be engulfed by suburbia when the construction starts on the Oran Park and Turner Rd precincts early next year. More than 30,000 will occupy 11,500 homes in the two precincts, which form part of the South West Growth Centre. By 2030 Camden will be surrounded by new suburbs consisting of up to 181,000 homes as dense as some of Sydney’s most populated areas.[1]

Sydney’s urban expansion into the local area has challenged the community’s identity and threatened to suffocate Camden’s sense of place. In the face of this onslaught, many in Camden yearn for a lost past when Sydney was further away, times were simpler, and life was slower. This nostalgic vision, a type of rural arcadia, which I have called ‘a country town idyll’, holds a significant place in Camden’s history. This paper, unique in its exploration of the ‘country town idyll ‘, aims to delve into this idyll and show how its supporters have used history as a community asset to remake Camden’s identity.

Initially, the paper will define the ‘country town idyll’ and then show that its origins are drawn from the broader traditions within rural studies. The discussion will then examine the idyll’s development and investigate its validity in its contemporary context. This will be done by exploring its values and how it has been adopted by various stakeholders, including local government, businesses, land developers, and community organisations. The paper will also explore how the ‘country town idyll’ has been used variously as a political weapon, a marketing tool, and a tourist promotion. So, what is meant by the term ‘country town idyll’? This question will be answered in the course of our analysis.

What is the country town idyll?

For this paper, the ‘country town idyll’ is an idealised version of a country town from an imagined past that uses history to construct imagery based on Camden’s heritage buildings and other material fabrics. At the heart of the idyll is the view that Camden should retain its iconic imagery of a picturesque country town with the church on the hill, surrounded by a rustic rural landscape made up of the landed estates of the colonial gentry. Its supporters created the idyll to isolate Camden, like an island, in the sea of urbanisation and development that has enveloped the town. The imagery is firmly located in ‘the country’ that Kerrie-Elizabeth Allen maintains, a location of nostalgia where one can experience an idyllic existence. Central to this notion is nostalgia and an escape from the present, where rural life was associated with an uncomplicated, innocent, genuine society in which traditional values persisted and a place where lives were real. Relationships were seen as honest and authentic.[2]

Camden’s St John’s Church and cemetery illustrating the bucolic nature of the town centre and the church on the hill (I Willis, 2021)

These are the values that the supporters of Camden’s ‘country town idyll’ have encouraged and then expressed in the language they used to describe it. They talk about retaining Camden’s ‘country town atmosphere’, ‘Camden’s country charm’, or ‘country town character’. They describe the town as ‘picturesque’ or having ‘charming cottages’. To them, Camden is ‘ a working country town’ or simply ‘my country town’. These elements evoke an emotional attachment to a place that existed in the past when Camden was a small, quiet country town that relied on farming. So, where did the idyll come from?

The origins of the idyll.

The origins of the ‘country town idyll’ are to be found in the rural ethos that is drawn from within the nineteenth-century rural traditions brought from Great Britain, where there was a romantic view of the country that had an ordered, stable, comfortable, organic small community in harmony with the natural surroundings.[3] This rural culture’s elements have been described as ‘countrymindedness’,[4] ‘rural ideology’[5], ‘rural ethos’,[6] ‘ruralism’[7], and a ‘rural idyll’.[8] They have been a preoccupation of many scholars,[9] including contemporary writers like the Australian poet Les Murray.[10] Within this tradition is an Arcadian notion of a romantic view of rural life, where a distinction is drawn between the metropolis and the village, commonly known as the town/country divide. This was the essence of pre-war Camden, a town of around 2000, where rural culture provided the stability of a closed community which was suspicious of outsiders, especially those from the city, with life ordered by social rank, personal contacts and familial links. It was confined by conservatism, patriarchy and an Anglo-centric view of the world. Camden’s ‘rural culture’ reached a watershed during the 1960s, after which social, economic, and political conditions combined to change Camden’s rurality permanently.

The historical development of the country town idyll and its contemporary use by its supporters

The planned post-war urban growth of Greater Sydney set the conditions for the development of the idyll. Sydney planning authorities had earmarked Camden as part of the Greater Sydney Area and the County of Cumberland Plan as early as 1948. The idea was to form a girdle of countryside around Sydney (a rural-urban fringe) and for Camden to be part of it. In 1968, Camden was included as part of Sydney’s outer rural area in the Sydney Region Outline Plan.[11] While Camden may have been part of each of these plans, they had little direct effect on the township or its rural identity, but this was about to change.

The New Cities Structure Plan Campbelltown, Camden, Appin 1973 (SPA NSW Government)

For many, the release of The Three Cities Structure Plan Campbelltown, Camden, Appin in 1973 was a direct assault on Camden’s ‘rural character’. The plan covered Campbelltown, Camden and Wollondilly local government areas, which, according to the plan, were destined to become part of Sydney’s urban sprawl. For one, Liz Kernohan, the structure plan rang alarm bells. She was a scientist who worked at the University of Sydney Farms at Cobbitty, west of Camden.[12] She was a ‘city type’, an outsider, who came to Camden in 1960 and became a strident advocate for retaining Camden’s country town charm, that is, Camden’s country town idyll. The release of the structure plan prompted her to stand for election to Camden Municipal Council. She based her election platform on the retention of Camden’s ‘rural character’, and while she was not the first to take an interest in these values, her election to Camden Council in 1973 helped crystallise the idyll in the minds of many in Camden for the first time.

Kernohan used the values within the idyll as a constant theme throughout her political career, including her election to the New South Wales Parliament in 1991. In her maiden speech to parliament, she stated that her constituents wanted a semi-rural lifestyle and that ‘explosions of suburbia’ did not constitute progress.[13] Kernohan maintained that Camden’s identity and sense of place were built on the town’s historical place and exemplified by Camden Park, the colonial property of John Macarthur and his descendants, and the Camden Museum, managed by the Camden Historical Society. Kernohan used the values within the idyll to create a direct link between Camden’s history and an idealised landscape from the past. She maintained that:

The Camden district [had] the unique history of being the area where the wool and wine industries were developed by the Macarthur family. Camden municipal council [sic] wants to retain the area’s rural heritage and environment and is encouraging developers to enhance the country town image and take cognisance of the history of the area.[14]

Kernohan’s political activity in the early 1970s helped the development of the idyll and contributed to the formation of the Camden Resident Action Group (CRAG). CRAG was one of the first organisations in Camden to advocate the values within the country town idyll publicly, and it received strong support from Kernohan. The members of CRAG felt that Camden’s rural culture was being undermined by urban growth and set out to effectively isolate Camden from Sydney’s urbanisation. The members of CRAG sort historical links through time to strengthen their sense of belonging and participation in space and place. Janice Newton has maintained that these types of progress associations were more nostalgic and defensive and looked to conservation as their ideal, as opposed to progress associations of earlier times that were positive and supported development. [15]

The Camden Museum Library building in central Camden where the Camden Museum is managed by the Camden Historical Society (I Willis 2023)

The Camden Historical Society, which fitted the same mould as CRAG, fostered an interest in local history and memorialised Camden’s pioneering past with several civic monuments in the early 1970s.

Newton quotes British research, showing that these ‘peripheral communities have a consciousness and valuing of difference’, an identity of separateness. The identity of difference is one of the central values within the country town idyll. The local community has long held animosity toward Sydney-based decision-makers dating back to the nineteenth century, and this has been expressed as the town/country divide. Kernohan encapsulated these values when she stated that,

Camden will be happy to be known as that large country town on the outskirts of Sydney with its own suburbs; it does not want to become part of suburban Sydney.[16]

Geographers readily identify this difference as exurbanisation. According to US research, exurbs are ‘places just beyond the suburbs where the country looks like the country’.[17] This is the rural landscape on Sydney’s rural-urban fringe that Camden offers its new arrivals. A rural landscape that promises the new arrivals lots of ‘country town charm’. These city types are looking for greener pastures on the rural-urban fringe where they can escape the city, but interestingly, not the city’s attractions. The values brought to Camden by these new arrivals, including the search for separateness, have altered the community’s subjectivity – the feeling of the community about themselves – and forced a re-evaluation of how the community sees itself, and this is expressed as the country town idyll. Interestingly, the desire by the new arrivals for difference is similar to the values of separateness in gated estates, where residents are trying to isolate themselves from the outside world and the perceived evils of the city.[18] For Camden’s new arrivals, the Camden township is a metaphorical gated estate with the Nepean floodplain as the fence surrounding the estate. They are protected from the evils of the city, such as crime and congestion, by open space in their ‘contemporary country living’—all part of the country town idyll.

Difference and exclusivity within the idyll are supported by Gleeson’s view that areas of new land releases on the fringe of the Sydney Metropolitan Area, like Camden, have become part of an ‘edge city…existing largely in isolation and antipathy to the older cities’. [19] Exclusivity appealed to Camden’s new arrivals who, Kernohan claimed, had come to Camden to ‘escape city conditions’. According to Matt Leighton, the Narellan Chamber of Commerce president, they were ‘refugees’ from the city. [20] Leighton felt they had graduated ‘a step up’ by making their home in Camden. At the same time, others wanted Camden to become the ‘Bowral of Western Sydney’ by ‘attempting to stay out of the fast lane’[21] or maintaining that it should become the ‘Double Bay of the South Western Sector’ of Sydney.[22] Gleeson maintains that the new arrivals were looking to create new ‘urban villages’, which, he claims, is part of a ‘postmodern angst’ where ‘contemporary suburbanisation in Australia is shaped by the mounting anxiety and insecurity among Australia’s urban middle class’. He argues that all this has been fuelled by the ‘neo-liberal restructuring’ of the last 20 years and the ‘new political emphasis on self-provision’. Gleeson claims that this creates ‘aspirational communities’ on the city’s fringe with a high degree of ‘cultural homogeneity’. [23] In other words, Gleeson would maintain that Camden’s new arrivals were looking for a safe and secure environment with predictable lifestyle outcomes in an Anglophile community where their lifetime investment in housing was protected from the city’s threats. This fitted Kernohan’s Camden and the country town idyll she advocated.

Kernohan was a strong supporter of the idyll until she died in 2004, and her success was due, in part at least, to her recognition of the processes associated with the development of the idyll, which has contributed to the changes in Camden’s identity and sense of place. Kernohan encapsulated this process in the language of Camden’s conservative rural tradition and successfully used it in her political platform. She harnessed Camden’s rurality, or what was left of it, and pragmatically voiced the underlying aspirations of Camden’s old and new residents for some sense of stability in the face of constant demographic change in an ideal past. She did this very effectively in 1994 when she opposed a land release by Industrial Equity. Industrial Equity planned a land release at South Camden, at Cawdor, of 4900 lots. There were protests, and a public meeting was held in July, attracting over 300 people.[24] Kernohan campaigned to keep the area ‘pristine’ and had the number of lots reduced to 777, of between 0.4 and 1.0 hectares, and the provision of public housing stopped. The threat from public housing tenants, real or otherwise, would, it was maintained, would undermine the values of privately owned properties on the estate. Industrial Equity’s development was rejected and remains undeveloped. [25] Yet, eight years later, in 2002, Stockland successfully promoted a land release adjacent to this area called Bridgewater. The Bridgewater development is typical of the development found in ‘exurbia’ or Gleeson’s ‘edge city’ that has fostered the country town idyll in Camden.

Over the last five years, the developers of the Bridgewater land release have used the idyll to sell their allotments to locals and city types. It has been advertised as a ‘contemporary rural lifestyle’ and stridently maintained in its press releases that it was not ‘suburbia’. Stockland claimed the estate was within an hour of the city, where ‘second and third homebuyers are looking to upgrade their lifestyle’ and enjoy extensive parklands.[26] Stockland claimed in its 2006 advertising that its development at South Camden was

An idyllic community bordered by undulating countryside, Bridgewater offers the ultimate country lifestyle a mere 50 minutes from the Sydney CBD.[27]

The promotional literature for the Bridgewater land release used images of blond-haired young children frolicking in an idyllic rural vista in the late afternoon light. The images draw heavily on the nostalgia of a carefree childhood in the country, free from the evils of city life. In other promotional literature, Stockland claimed that their estate was

Set in the charming rural enclave of South Camden on Sydney’s metropolitan fringe. Bridgewater offers you the chance to create a new contemporary country lifestyle. Surrounded by the unique heritage and ambience of 19^th century farm buildings and homesteads, Bridgewater is the epitome of modern country style, providing innovative, contemporary living in a truly historical Australian setting.[28]

The promotional article is supported by panoramic vistas of Camden’s rural countryside.

Formalisation of the idyll

The first formalisation of the idyll occurred in 1999 with the development of Camden Council’s strategic plan. The strategic plan, which captured community sentiment, was drawn up ‘in consultation with the community’[29] and drew heavily on the values of the idyll. It acknowledged the threat of Sydney’s urban sprawl and the desire for separateness by the community using local history. In the introduction to the plan, it states that

Camden has retained many of the traditional qualities of a rural lifestyle and environment and is characterised by historic towns, country villages and new suburban areas. This has been achieved whilst accommodating the fastest urban growth in the Sydney Region. Importantly, it is not a mere extension of the suburban sprawl by Sydney. [30]

It further maintains that

Camden’s unique rural landscapes and vistas have been retained and improved…[and that]…Camden town has retained its country town atmosphere and culture.[31]

The plan claims that the council recognised the community’s aspirations and the idyll’s role in urban planning within the local government area. It maintains that

The council recognised that economic prosperity and quality of life are linked to its rural identity. The attributes of safety, friendliness and close-knit community associated with rural lifestyle also contribute to the amenity of Camden as a place to live and enjoy.[32]

The council acknowledged that ‘the rural nature of Camden attracts newer residents’ and that ‘the rural landscape is an important factor in the lifestyle of the Camden community’.[33]

The idyll received a significant boost in 2004 with the completion of the Camden Draft Heritage Plan. While the plan does not formally acknowledge the country town idyll, it uses history to recognise the special status of Camden. The plan identified several unique qualities of the Camden town area, which supported the idyll. They included: the town’s reputation as one of the few original Cumberland Plain country towns still intact; the town’s early farming and settlement history; the area’s sizeable early colonial landed estates; the town’s association with the Macarthur family; the layout of the town that still reflects its original purpose; the arrangement of the town which took advantage of the views and vistas of St Johns Church on the hill. The report recommended: the adoption of the Camden Township Conservation Area based on the original grid plan for the town, which still exists; the mix of colonial buildings in the town area; the mix of residential, commercial, retail and industrial activity in the town area; the rural properties that still exist on the edge of the town centre; the location of the Nepean River floodplain wrapping around three sides of the town; St Johns Church on the hill; and the historical development of the town that is still evident in the properties and usage of the buildings in central Camden.

St Johns Church Camden around 1900 (Camden Images)

Two aspects of the Draft Heritage Plan[34] warrant special attention as they are critical to understanding the contemporary use of the idyll in Camden, the Nepean River floodplain and the St John’s church. Each has a particular historical, moral, social and psychological significance within the idyll. The supporters of the idyll have used both the Nepean floodplain and St John’s Church and the history associated with them as a political weapon, tourist promotion and part of the construction of heritage iconography. The floodplain is the site of several activities that reinforce Camden’s rural past. They include: the Camden Town Farm, an old dairy farm; Bicentennial Park, an old dairy farm; Camden Showground; the old milk factory of the Macarthurs on the northern approach to the town; and the Camden saleyards, which still operate.

An aerial view of Camden in 1940 with St John’s Church on the ridge above the town centre dominating the surrounding area looking towards Camden Park House in the far distance (Camden Images)

Firstly, the moral imperative of the church on the hill that is St. Johns underpins the values of the idyll and the development of the romantic notions surrounding the town and its past. The church was built on the town’s highest point in 1840 and provides an essential psychological and spiritual focus for the community by dominating the town’s skyline. St Johns is a sacred site associated with the pioneering heritage of the town during the colonial period and the role of the Macarthur family. The Macarthur family ruled over Camden for over 150 years, and the church was central to Macarthur’s moral view of the world and how that should be played out in the town.[35] The town was their metaphysical castle, and they were the squires, especially between 1890 and 1943, when power rested with two Macarthur women, Elizabeth and Sibella Macarthur Onslow. The social authority of these women was absolute. They ensured that the village of Camden reflected their view of the world as much as possible. Nothing escaped their scrutiny or influence, and St Johns was central to their view of the world in Camden. Elizabeth Macarthur Onslow encouraged the maintenance of the proprietaries of life, moral order, and good works, as well as memorialising her family by donating a clock and bells to St John’s Church in 1897.[36] She also memorialised the memory of her late husband by providing a public park named after her husband (Onslow Park), now the Camden Showground. This is one of the sites in Camden that celebrates the idyll each year at the Camden Show. A prominent member of the show committee, Dick Inglis, who was past president,1962-1974, a member of the firm William Inglis and Sons, auctioneers, stock and station and bloodstock agents, and a member of a prominent Camden colonial family, recently claimed that he was proud that the Camden Show was ‘still a country show’ and he hoped that it stayed that way.[37]

This is an aerial view of the Camden town centre, showing the Nepean River in the distance. It clearly shows how the Nepean River floodplain surrounds the township, with a sweeping bend of the river acting as a moat around the town. (Inglis 2019)

Secondly, the geography of the Nepean River floodplain creates a sense of openness around the town or ruralness that engenders a ‘country’ mindset of those who live or would like to live in the local area. The landscape creates a physical and psychological separation from the city. The rural landscape symbolised traditional values embraced by the local community and used in local tourist promotions and by the developers of the new land releases to voice the difference between the local and the metropolitan. This imagery uses nostalgia to connect with Camden’s earlier days when the town was a small rural community and promotes Camden’s ruralness as a positive difference for newcomers to the area. The inundation of the floodplain by the waters of the Nepean River provides a physical and psychological barrier to Sydney’s urbanisation. The floodplain around Camden has been seen as a buffer zone against the onslaught of the city. A moat surrounds the metaphorical castle, that is, the country town. The floodplain provides the moat around the castle.

The Nepean River floodplain and the St John’s Church were invoked within the idyll to defeat a proposal to build a multi-storey carpark in central Camden in 2006. The supporters of the carpark, principally the Camden Chamber of Commerce, wanted additional car parking places in central Camden as early as 1995 because they felt that their financial viability was threatened by competition from Narellan Town Centre, a shopping mall. They thought that a multi-storey carpark would solve their problems. The council considered three possible sites. Two sites were between St John’s church on the hill in central Camden and Camden’s main street (Argyle Street), the third on the floodplain. Camden Council approved a site near St John’s Church in early 2006. The project was eventually defeated because it was felt that any development on the elevated southern sites compromised the vista of St John’s Church from the Nepean River floodplain. The church was located on the hill behind the proposed John Street sites. This vista was part of Camden’s iconic imagery, an important part of the town’s cultural landscape and identity from colonial times.[38] The carpark supporters, the Camden Chamber of Commerce, did not contest this position but felt that the final design of the carpark did not compromise these values; needless to say, Camden Residents Action Group, the historical society and a council-commissioned heritage architect disagreed. The heritage architects felt the proposal compromised the integrity of the ‘most intact country town on the Cumberland Plain’.[39]

The cover of Ian Willis’s Pictorial History Camden & District invokes the town’s history in an important local publication telling the Camden story. (Kingsclear, 2015)

Tourist promotions of Camden have drawn on the historic nature of central Camden, including St Johns church, the vistas of the floodplain and the values of the idyll. This has occurred in brochures, promotions, and a recent webpage, which is part of heritage tourism and allows visitors to experience places and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present.[40] The website states that,

Camden’s heritage precinct is dominated by the church on the hill, St John’s Church (1840) and the adjacent rectory (1859). Across the road is Macarthur Park (1905), arguably one of the best Victorian-style urban parks in the country. In the neighbouring streets, there are a number of charming Federation and Californian bungalows.[41]

The webpage continues in a similar vein

The picturesque rural landscapes that surround Camden were once part of the large estates of the landed gentry and their grand houses. A number of these privately owned houses are still dotted throughout the local area. Some examples are Camden Park (1835), Brownlow Hill (1828), Denbigh (1822), Oran Park (c1850), Camelot (1888), Studley Park (c1870s), Wivenhoe (c1837) and Kirkham Stables (1816). The rural vistas are enhanced by the Nepean River floodplain that surrounds the town and provides the visitor with a sense of the town’s farming heritage. [42]

Camden Council, in partnership with Camden Historical Society, produced a brochure for a walking tour of Camden and under the heading ‘Camden Town, A Place in History’ states that,

The historic township of Camden, on the southwestern outskirts of Sydney, is the cultural heart of a region that enjoys a unique place in our nation’s history…This rich rural heritage is evidenced around the town in the presence of livestock sale yards, vineyards, equestrian park and dairy facilities, giving Camden a unique ‘working country town’ atmosphere and flavour.[43]

Over the years, St John’s Church has been used on cups, saucers, mugs, and other ephemera.

The same imagery within the idyll is used to promote local businesses. One stockfeed supplier claims to be ‘Keeping Camden Country’.[44] Another business has released a DVD with a slide show and a backing track that uses the values of the idyll in the lyrics of a song written by a local Camden singer/songwriter. The song is called Still My Country Home and is the backing track for a DVD called Camden, Still My Country Home. It has been developed to promote a local business and has all the characteristics of the country town idyll.

Is the idyll still relevant?

Despite the apparent strength of the idyll in Camden, cracks are starting to appear. For example, using the idyll as a political weapon has disappeared, at least in the recent state election in March 2007. Both local candidates from the major political parties, Chris Patterson, Liberal, and Geoff Corrigan, ALP, one the present mayor and one a former mayor of Camden, dropped references to the retention of Camden’s country town atmosphere. Unlike earlier election campaigns involving Liz Kernohan, those values were central to her campaigns for state parliament. This change may be partly reflected by changes to the boundaries of the state seat of Camden and the inclusion of new suburbs in the northern part of the local government area that result from Sydney’s urban growth. In addition, Stockland removed references to ‘contemporary country living’ from promotional literature early in 2007, and the latest land release at East Camden, Elderslie, called Vantage Point, does not mention the idyll.

Yet a recent development application, in May 2007, by McDonalds for a new restaurant in South Camden has seen the idyll used as a potent political weapon yet again and involving the values of the country town. Protesters evoked the values of the idyll against a proposed McDonald’s restaurant in South Camden. The flood of objections from the community centred around concerns that were evocative of the evils of the city coming to invade the country town and revolved around crime, litter, traffic congestion and boorish behaviour. One resident complained that he had witnessed drunkenness, throwing bottles, boorish behaviour and burnouts in the carpark by McDonald’s customers at an outlet in Narellan. He further claimed that all incidents went unchecked by McDonald’s staff, security or police.[45] Helen Stockheim, a resident, claimed that she moved to the area because she liked the ‘country town atmosphere’ and the area was ‘McDonalds free’.[46] The Camden Advertiser ran an editorial titled ‘Let’s treasure our beautiful area’.[47] The giant conglomerate McDonald’s is the ‘outsider’ and brings the evils of the city in the form of globalisation, cultural integration and market domination to Camden. They directly challenge the community’s identity and the values represented by the idyll, such as honesty, simplicity, and authenticity of family-run businesses. The global corporation represents everything that the country town idyll is not.

The future relevance of the idyll to the Camden community is still an open question. The encroachment of Sydney’s urban sprawl is reshaping Camden’s identity in ways which are not yet clearly discernible. Yet many want the rural vistas and the historic buildings that create the separateness of Camden from Sydney’s urbanisation. They are the ones who are trying to hold on to the values of the small town in the form of the country town idyll.

[1] Macarthur Chronicle (Camden Edition) 15 May 2007, p.1.

[2] Kerrie-Elizabeth Allen, ‘The Social Space(s) of Rural Women’, Rural Society, v.12, no.1, 2002, pp31-32.

[3]. Waller, Town, City and Nation, p. 213. This division was based on nostalgia and romance and is still evident in popular contemporary British magazines like Country Origins, This England and The Best of British.

[4].Countrymindedness was ‘Physiocratic, populist and decentralist’. Rural pursuits were seen as ‘virtuous, ennobling and co-operative; they bring out the best in people’, while ‘city life is competitive and nasty, as well as parasitical’. The city was seen as immoral and parasitic, while the country was decent, honest and industrious. Aitkin, ‘Countrymindedness’, pp. 35-36.

[5].Poiner, The Good Old Rule, pp. 30-52; Alston, Women on the Land, pp. 142-147.

[6].Teather, ‘Mandate of the Country Women’s Association’, p. 85.

[7].Neutze, ‘City, Country, Town’, p. 15.

[8].Ward & Smith, The Vanishing Village, p. 7; Davidoff, World’s Between, pp. 46-50; Kerrie-Elizabeth Allen, ‘The Social Space(s) of Rural Women’, Rural Society, v.12, no.1, 2002

[9]. The town/country divide is based on the relationships between people, and Tonnies’s gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft is often considered ‘the classic statement in this tradition ‘Tonnies’s work described gemeinschaft relations as social relations based on ‘blood ties and geographical proximity’, while Gesellschaft relations is a contractual relationship found in the city. Other social philosophers who have seen a rural-urban dichotomy include Weber, Simmel, Durkheim, Marx and Engels, and Park. Ward & Smith, The Vanishing Village, pp. 1-12.

[10] Murray’s Boeotia and Athens (city and the bush).Helen Lambert, ‘A Draft Preamble: Les Murray and the Politics of Poetry’. APINetwork.Online. < http://www.api-network.com/main/index.php?apply=scholars&webpage=default&flexedit=&flex_password=&menu_label=&menuID=homely&menubox=&scholar=58> Accessed 14 May 2007.

[11] Bunker Raymond and Darren Holloway, ‘More than fringe benefits: the values, policies, issues and expectations embedded in Sydney’s rural-urban fringe’, Australian Planner, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2002, p. 68

[12] In 1936, The University of Sydney purchased a dairy farm at Badgery’s Creek and, in 1954, Corstorphine and May Farms at Cobbitty. In 1962, more farms were donated at Bringelly L Copeland (ed), 1910-1985 Celebrating 75 Years of Agriculture at the University of Sydney, Sydney: University of Sydney, 1985, p.46.

[13] NSWLAPD, 16 October 1991, pp.2293

[14] NSWLAPD, 16 October 1991, pp.2293-2294

[15] Janice Newton, ’Rejecting Suburban Identity on the Fringes of Melbourne’, The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 1999, 10:3, pp. 322-329

[16] NSWLAPD, 16 October 1991, pp.2293-2294

[17] Tom Foreman, ‘Exurb growth challenges US cities’, CNN.com http://www.cnn.com/2005/us/03/27/urban.sprawl/ . Online. [Accessed 25 May 2007]

[18] Jane Cadzow, ‘Do Fence Me In’, Good Weekend, 5 May 2007, pp33-38.

[19] Brendan Gleeson, ‘What’s Driving Suburban Australia?’, in Griffith Review, special edition ‘Dreams of Land’, Summer 2003-2004.pp. 57-65.

[20] Macarthur Advertiser 16 August 1995; Camden News 22 August 1973.

[21] Macarthur Advertiser 16 August 1995.

[22] The Crier 18 March 1981.

[23] Brendan Gleeson, ‘What’s Driving Suburban Australia?’, in Griffith Review, special edition ‘Dreams of Land’, Summer 2003-2004.pp. 57-65.

[24].The meeting took place at the Camden Valley Inn on 16 July 1994. Camden Crier 17 August 1994.

[25] Camden and Wollondilly Times 14 September 1994; ‘Mini City Proposal Stopped’, Pamphlet, August 1994, Kernohan File, Camden Historical Society Archives.

[26] Macarthur Advertiser 11 September 2002.

[27] Stockland, Upgrade Your Lifestyle, (Stockland Sales and Information Centre, 2006, Advertising Brochure)

[28] Stockland, ‘Bridgewater, Contemporary Country Living’, Aspect NSW, Spring/Summer 2005, pp. 36-37. (Advertising Literature).

[29] Camden Council, Statement of Affairs, Camden: The Council of Camden, 2007, p.3.

[30] Camden Council, Camden 2025, A Strategic Plan For Camden, (Camden: Camden Council 1999).p. 2. Online. http://www.camden.nsw.gov.au (Accessed 14 December 2006)

[31] Camden Council, Camden 2025, A Strategic Plan For Camden, (Camden: Camden Council 1999).p. 2. Online. http://www.camden.nsw.gov.au (Accessed 14 December 2006)

[32] Camden Council, Camden 2025, A Strategic Plan For Camden, (Camden: Camden Council 1999).p. 18. Online. http://www.camden.nsw.gov.au (Accessed 14 December 2006)

[33] Camden Council, Camden 2025, A Strategic Plan For Camden, (Camden: Camden Council 1999).p. 18. Online. http://www.camden.nsw.gov.au (Accessed 14 December 2006)

[34] Camden Council adopted the Camden Draft Heritage Report in December 2006.

[35] Atkinson, Camden; Willis, ‘The Gentry and the Village’;

[36] RE Nixon & PC Hayward (eds), The Anglican Church of St John the Evangelist Camden, New South Wales, Camden: Anglican Parish of Camden, 1999, pp. 8-21.

[37] District Reporter, 24 August 2007, p. 4.

[38] For example, this vista is on the front cover of Paul Power’s A Century of Change, One Hundred Years of Local Government in Camden (Camden: Macarthur Independent Promotions, 1989).

[39] Camden Advertiser 28 June 2006, p. 1.

[40] National Trust for Historic Preservation, ‘Heritage Tourism’. http://www.nationaltrust.org/heritage_tourism/index.html Online. [Accessed 4 April 2007]

[41]Ian Willis, ‘Camden, the best-preserved country town on the Cumberland Plain’, Heritage Tourism <http://www.heritagetourism.com.au/discover/camden.html> Online. Accessed 23 May 2007.

[42]Ian Willis, ‘Camden, the best-preserved country town on the Cumberland Plain’, Heritage Tourism <http://www.heritagetourism.com.au/discover/camden.html> Online. Accessed 23 May 2007.

[43] Camden Council, Heritage Walking Tour of Camden Town, (Camden: Camden Council, 2001)

[44] Advertisement: ‘Regal Stockfeeds’, District Reporter 24 August 2007, p. 6.

[45] ‘Traffic with that ?’, Camden Advertiser, 27 June 2007, Online. http://www.camdenadvertiser.com.au/2007/06/traffic_with_that.php [Accessed 27 June 2007]

[46] ‘Ready for a bun fight’, District Reporter 1 June 2007, p. 3.

[47] Camden Advertiser 27 June 2007, p. 4.

Active citizenship · Belonging · Camden · Camden Council · Camden Council Library · Camden Historical Society · Camden Museum · Camden Story · Community · Community Engagement · Community organisations · Community work · Local History · Local Studies · Partnership

Community Partnerships: Are they all that they are cracked up to be?

April 10, 2024 camdenhistorynotes

2009 Museums Australia National Conference, Work in Progress. Newcastle, 17 – 20 May 2009.

Day 3 Wednesday 20 May 2009, Session 14.3 Community Partnerships – Help or Hindrance? Concert Hall, Newcastle Town Hall, 11.00am-12.15pm.

Conference Paper

In 2007, Peter Scrivener[1] wrote a report for Hawkesbury City Council on community partnerships, and in it, he presented a summary of a partnership between the Camden Historical Society and Camden Council. In brief, it stated:

These two parties are proud of the amicable relationship they have nurtured over many years, during which time the museum has gained considerable support as an acknowledged ‘model’ local museum demonstrating exemplary practice. Currently [that is in 2007], the council-owned building is being renovated to share foyer space with the adjacent council library… They have never had a formal arrangement but recently have signed a one-page Memorandum of Understanding… [the memorandum] simply outlines the spirit and intended community outcomes that can flow from greater linkages and integration between the two parties. (Scrivener, 2007)

This partnership is the subject of this paper.

At a local level, community partnerships are one form of collaboration between voluntary organisations and councils that can bring measurable benefits to participating stakeholders. They encourage a sustainable solution to the achievement of goals at a time when there are increasing demands on a limited set of resources while at the same time maintaining that despite their advantages, community partnerships are not a silver bullet. They can be compared to a living organism which needs constant attention and nurturing and, if neglected, will wither and die.

My interest in community partnerships was initiated by research on the three local historical societies in our area and the role of their local museums in their communities (Willis, 2007b). In that work, which is the subject of a forthcoming paper (Willis, 2009), I maintain that these organisations occupy a privileged place in their community through storytelling and contribute to the development of community identity and place-making. They have received the official endorsement of their local councils and in some cases, have entered partnerships with them.

Scholarly work on community partnerships between local councils and historical societies is virtually invisible, although there has been some useful work done by Peter Scrivener (Scrivener, 2007), and others (Sandell, 2004). These limited efforts have shown that these type of community partnerships have mixed results.[2] This field of endeavour deserves the attention of researchers and hopefully this paper will shine some light on a dark corner.

The setting for this case study is the Camden Local Government Area (LGA), which is on the rural-urban interface on south-western fringe of Sydney. The LGA is the fastest growing in New South Wales with a population of 52,000 in 2008 and an annual growth rate that has been in excess of 15 per cent per year. The Camden LGA has a strong community sector with over 250 voluntary organisations (Willis, 2007a: 18).

The two stakeholders in this community partnership are the Camden Historical Society which was founded in 1957 and has 160 members. Its main aim has been the promotion of local history through public education and memorialisation, which includes managing a local museum. The second member of the partnership is Camden Council and its Library Service. The library has two branches, Camden and Narellan, a borrowing collection of 70,000 items and 17 full-time equivalent staff. It should be noted that the Camden Family History Society is also part of this arrangement but is not the subject of this paper. The author also needs to declare his interest in this subject as an insider through his membership of the Camden Historical Society.

This paper will examine the Camden partnership using Jupp’s four simple processes that he felt were essential for a successful partnership. They are: ‘developing clear objectives; ensuring that each partner benefits individually as well as helping to achieve a common goal; building in evaluation; and finally, developing understanding and trust between partners’ (Jupp, 2000, p. 8). The last factor will be treated first.

Understanding and Trust

The basis of the current partnership agreement between the council and the historical society is to be found in the trust and understanding that has developed over the last 52 years between these two organisations.

Since the foundation of the historical society (1957) the council has come to support and endorse the story of Camden as it has been told by the society. From the beginning the society has presented a conservative view of local history based around the pioneer legend and the town’s material progress. This view of the world was strengthened in 1970 when the society opened a small pioneer museum with the assistance of the Camden Rotary Club. The council supported the venture by providing space for the museum for rent-free use. It did this without a formal agreement being put in place. This was followed in short order by society members erecting three public monuments to Camden pioneers located outside the council chambers in 1977, 1978 and 1979. The council then supported the expansion of the museum in 1980, and again in 1999, again without any formal agreement with the historical society.

By promoting an officially sanctioned view of Camden’s social history the historical society has achieved a privileged position in the community and become the custodian of the Camden story. In recent years the representation of the Camden story in the museum has broadened, as Australian history has in the remainder of the country, to include Aborigines, women, rural labourers and other aspects of country town life. The museum has also become a site where, according to Robyn Till (Till, 2004), the local community has derived a sense of belonging from storytelling and where a continuity of generations in the one locality, according to Sonya Salamon (Salamon, 2007:3), have contributed to the essence of a strong community identity and sense of place.

Clear Objectives

The next stage in the development of the partnership agreement occurred in 2002 when Camden Council issued a draft strategic plan for the future of Camden library service, called Vibrant Places, People Spaces. [3] The aim of the plan was twofold: firstly, the creation of a new community space around the existing library and museum building; and secondly, the formalisation of the existing arrangements between the council and the society to facilitate the building project.

The plan envisaged a new integrated complex as a multi-purpose centre which could function as ‘a unified educational, recreational, cultural and tourist complex’.[4] The library was to be a public space that could strengthen community cohesiveness by becoming a ‘community hub’ and ‘communal meeting place’. According to Sonya Salamon, this type of space could act as an arena where the residents could develop a sense of community that bonded them to the place (Salamon, 2007: 13). The library would, according to the council, provide an opportunity for local residents to ‘embrace Camden’s culture and sense of community’ and contribute to place-making (Camden Council, 2002: 3).

The new complex was based on the re-adaptive use of two historic buildings: the Camden School of Arts building (1866), which was later the Camden Town Hall then council offices; and secondly the Camden Temperance Hall (1867), which functioned as the Camden Fire Station between 1916-1993. By the end of 2007 the $2.3 million re-development had resulted in a single building with a common street entry after the former laneway between the buildings had been covered with a glass roof to create a galleria. The view of the council’s general manager of the completed complex was that it provided ‘the community with a stronger sense of belonging and place’ and ‘a place based and people focused facility’.[5]

In the end the co-location has had a number of advantages for both stakeholders. For the library, according to Kathryn Baget the library services manager, it has meant that it has had one stop convenience, better building maintenance and security, and a sharing of infrastructure with the historical society; a type of convergence, a notion that has received attention in recent times including this conference (Stapleton, 2009).[6] As far as the historical society was concerned it gained a street entrance on John Street, enhanced security, a new lift to the first floor and improved fire safety.

The second part of the strategic planning process was the development of a formal agreement, which was achieved through a memorandum of understanding (MoU). This would be the first time that there had been a formalised relationship between the historical society and the council, and according to the Australian Government is the recommended way to go for community partnerships (DEST, 2004). The purpose of the MoU, according to the council, was to facilitate the building project and to ‘promote a stronger working partnership between the Library Service and the Historical Society’ (Camden Council, 2006:124).

The MoU was worked up through a number of stages from 2004 and was eventually passed by council in November 2006 (Camden Council, 2006:112). The document is a single page, free of legalese and clearly sets out the objectives of the partnership. The agreement is flexible and open-ended. The council maintains that the MoU is ‘underpinned by a spirit of co-operation’ (Camden Council, 2006: 124) and has reflected the relationship of trust and understanding that has developed over the years between the historical society and the council. The MoU specifically excludes property matters, such as insurance and maintenance, which are addressed through other agreements.

Within the partnership arrangement the formal lines of communication between the library and the historical society are kept open through quarterly partnership meetings chaired by the library’s local studies librarian, who also circulates the agenda and minutes. The partnership is reviewed each November with the aim of identifying ‘joint programs, projects and funding opportunities for the coming year’ (Camden Council, 2006: 112). The formal meeting setting provides the appropriate planning and ongoing communication that Kathryn Baget claims are needed in all partnerships.[7]

The formal linkages within the partnership are supported by leadership from ‘community champions’ like John Wrigley and Peter Hayward from the historical society, and Kathryn Baget from the library, who have been central to the success of the partnership. They have been involved in the partnership process from the release of the strategic plan in 2002. Their enthusiasm and perseverance has facilitated the progress of the partnership. They have acted as community organisers in a host of areas including meeting facilitation, negotiation and networking, and communicating the vision of the partnership to the wider community, as other people have done elsewhere in Australia (Johns, Kilpatrick and Whelan, 2007: 53-54). John Wrigley maintains that the success of the partnership can only ‘work with the positive and willing participation of both partners’. He has stated that he has been ‘willing to do anything to ensure the successful continuing operation and improvement of the partnership’.[8] Such enthusiasm has been the basis of the current partnership, and has been fundamental to the development of trust and understanding between council and the historical society for over 50 years.

Just as important to the partnership has been the informal linkages between the organisations. For example, some Camden library staff are members of the society and volunteer their time at the museum on weekends. There is also casual interaction between society officers and library staff, both within and outside of the library setting. These informal linkages reflect the strong interpersonal and familial networks which still exist in Camden from earlier decades and help strengthen the formation of social capital.

Common Goals and Benefits

The common goals of all stakeholders in the partnership were outlined by the Camden mayor in March 2007 at the opening of the completed building complex. He stated that the partnership was about ‘participation, association and joint interest’ and that it captured ‘the history, culture and relevance of the community’.[9]

The implementation of these aspirations, as detailed in the MoU, are best characterised by the various joint projects that are undertaken between the library service and the historical society. According to Kathryn Baget, the joint projects have brought a ‘new perspective, new ideas and possibly additional resources’.[10] They are part of the story telling process of the historical society and help build a sense of ownership amongst those who participate in this process.

The most important of these projects is HistoryPix and involves the digitising of the historical society’s photographic collection.[11] Photographs are part of the story telling experience by providing the participants to the story with a window on the past. They are a visual aid and can act as a memory prompt when telling a story. They also capture a moment in time, a glimpse of the past, and are a good resource for tracking changes in the local history landscape.

The aim of HistoryPix has been to provide greater public access to the historical society’s image collection, which is one of the society’s most valuable assets. The project is facilitated by Peter Mylrea, the society’s archivist, who has processed over 2500 photographs so far. The society provides the photographs and the photograph captions, the images are digitised by Searchtech (a private company which provides image library software, publishing and scanning services), the council provides the IT and online support, and the library staff handle the sale of photographs and set the charges. According to Doug Barrett, the secretary of the society, the partnership relieves the society of the need to provide a volunteer to deal with enquiries for and supply of copies of photographs to the community and other interested parties.[12] In essence, the council funds the project, and the society provides the photographs and voluntary labour.

‘HistoryPix’ has proved to be a valuable public asset and is used by members of the public, local and Sydney media, local businesses and community organisations. Online access to the images is provided through both the websites of the historical society, the library and PictureAustralia. In the last three months of 2008, there were 23,600 hits and 23,700 searches, while in the seven months from April 2008 and January 2009, there were 43,000 hits and 55,000 searches.

More recent joint projects which have been developed within the partnership include, firstly, the Dictionary of Sydney Project. This is a local history project which involves writing short histories of different localities in the LGA for the Dictionary of Sydney project. These histories have also been placed on the historical society’s website. Secondly, there is the Camden Area Families Project, which is an oral history project which encourages local people to tell their stories, provide their photographs and develop a family tree. It was launched in late 2007 by Camden’s deputy mayor. The society has supported the project through its Research and Writing Group and recently hosted an oral history training workshop for the community at the museum. Other linkages include workshops and seminars (history week and heritage week) and links between the library catalogue and the historical society library.

Evaluation

The partnership is formally assessed at the end of each year as part of the MoU process as mentioned earlier. Even the preparation of this paper is part of the evaluation process, and has provided an opportunity for some of the partnership stakeholders to reflect on the process associated with its development and success (they are mentioned in the notes at the end of the paper).

More generally, though, the partnership has been an opportunity for the historical society to consolidate the position of the museum by formalising its occupation of a council-owned building for the first time. This will then provide a strong base for any further development that the society may want to pursue into the future.

The library has better met the guidelines for floor space in a modern library building in the LGA. It is better able to offer modern services in a heritage precinct. It has, according to Kathryn Baget, allowed the library to ‘attract a new audience, create unique programs and services for our community’.[13]

There are also considerable benefits for Camden Council. Firstly, it has relieved council of the considerable cost of providing a community museum managed by professional curatorial staff. Secondly, the time and resources that volunteers bring to the museum represents a form of voluntary taxation that benefits the whole community. Further, the presence of the society and its archives, according to Wrigley, ‘provide a ready source of historical information and advice to council as a virtual unpaid ‘heritage branch’ of council’. In addition, the museum acts as a ‘secure repository for anything important which council wishes to retain of an historical nature’.[14]

The partnership is not without its challenges. Firstly, there is the non-alignment of opening hours between the museum and the library. The library is shut Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday, while the museum is closed between Monday and Wednesday. Secondly, there is the inherent tension between two organisations, one using full-time paid staff, the other using unpaid volunteers. [15] Thirdly, there is the potential political tension if the council and the historical society differ over policy matters related to local history and heritage, and fourthly, the need to ensure a smooth generational change in the administration and implementation of the MoU into the future.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I will make some observations about the partnership.

The partnership has brought together the library service and the historical society, whose parallel aims of strengthening community identity and place-making have strengthened community development. This has been achieved by creating a new community space in the Camden LGA where community identity and a sense of place are increasingly being challenged by higher levels of urbanisation.

The success of the partnership has rested on the willingness of all the participants to achieve a common goal and for those involved to ensure that the partnership succeeds. Wrigley has observed that ‘so far we have been very fortunate with the enthusiasm and commitment of the people involved from both partners’.[16]

The community partnership has met all expectations made from it so far and given the continuation of the goodwill from all involved should continue to do so into the future.

Finally, the paper has shown that given the right conditions, community partnerships can be ‘what they are cracked up to be’.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the input of John Wrigley, Julie Wrigley, Kathryn Baget, Peter Mylrea, Jo Oliver, and Doug Barrett and their comments on this paper.

References

Camden Council, 2002, Draft Vibrant Places, People Spaces, A vision for Camden Council Library Service 2010. Camden: Camden Council.

Camden Council, 2006, Minutes of the Ordinary Council Meeting held on 13 November 2006, Camden: Camden Council, pp. 6, 112-113. Online at http://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/files/2006_minutes/ord_131106.pdf accessed 4 February 2009.

Department of Education, Science and Training, 2004, A Community Partnerships Resource: Supporting Young People Through Their Life, Learning and Work Transitions, Canberra: Australian Government. Online at http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/career_development/publications_resources/ <http://www.dest.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/F5328E2A-3806-498D-ADE9-A740F404FCF4/2593/community_partnerships_resources.pdf> . Accessed on 27 February 2009.

Johns, Susan, Sue Kilpatrick and Jessica Whelan, 2007, ‘Our Health in Our Hands: Building Effective Community Partnerships for Rural Health Service Provision’, Rural Society, Vol. 17, No. 1, August, pp. 50-65.

Jupp, Ben, Working Together, Creating a Better Environment for Cross-Sector Partnerships, London; Demos. Online at http://www.demos.co.uk/publications/workingtogether Accessed 2 March 2009.

Salamon, Sonya, 2007, Newcomers to Old Towns, Suburbanization of the Heartland, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Sandell, Claire, ‘Local History Collections for the Future: Meaningful Partnerships Between Public Libraries and Community Heritage Groups’, Conference paper, Museum Australia Conference, Melbourne, 16-21 May 2004. Online at http://www.museumsaustralia.org.au/site/page313.php Accessed 4 March 2009.

Scrivener, Peter, 2007, Assessment Report on a Proposed Deed of Agreement between Hawkesbury City Council, Hawkesbury Historical Society and the Friends of Hawkesbury Art Collection and Regional Art Gallery, Windsor: Hawkesbury City Council.

Stapleton, Maisy, 2009, M&G NSW Convergence Study, Sydney: Museum and Galleries NSW.

Till, Robyn, 2004, ‘Propagate or perish: Partnerships, Community Value and Sustainability’, Conference paper, Museum Australia Conference, Melbourne, 16-21 May 2004. Online at http://www.museumsaustralia.org.au/site/page313.php Accessed 4 March 2009.

Willis, Ian, 2007a, ‘Democracy in Action in Local Government: Camden, NSW’, Australian Quarterly, Vol. 79, Issue 2, March-April, pp.17-21.

Willis, Ian, 2007b,’ Fifty years of local history, the Camden Historical Society, 1957-2007, Address at the 50^th Anniversary Meeting of the Camden Historical Society, 12 July, Camden’. Camden History, September, Vol 2 No 1, pp. 96-117.

Willis, Ian, 2009, ‘Stories and Things, The Role of the Local Historical Society, Campbelltown, Camden and The Oaks’, Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society. (forthcoming)

Endnotes

[1] Peter Scrivener, 1999-2000 Parramatta Heritage Centre, 2002-2004 Museums and Galleries NSW, 2004 member of Australian National Committee of International Council of Museums (ICOM Australia), 2006-2008 Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.

[2] Scrivener gives details of (a) successful partnerships: Wagga Wagga Historical Society; Camden Historical Society; Combined Tweed River Historical Societies; Gilgandra Historical Society; (b) unsuccessful partnerships: Liverpool Regional Museum; Centennial Bakery Museum (Hurstville); Cowra Historical Museum; Peppin Heritage Centre (Denniliquin).

[3] Correspondence, K Baget, Camden Council Library Service to Camden Historical Society, December 2002.

[4] Correspondence, P. Hayward, Camden Historical Society, Camden. 15 February 2005.

[5] General Manager Notes, Schedule, Camden Library Re-opening, 2 March 2007.

[6] Kathryn Baget, Library Partnerships, Discussion Paper, 19 February 2009

[7] Kathryn Baget, Library Partnerships, Discussion Paper, 19 February 2009.

[8] John Wrigley, Camden Library Service – Camden Historical Society Partnership, Discussion Paper, January 2009.

[9] Mayoral Notes, Schedule, Camden Library Re-opening, 2 March 2007.

[10] Kathryn Baget, Library Partnerships, Discussion Paper, 19 February 2009.

[11] ‘A proposal to put photographs of Camden history on to a computerized system’, Draft document, Camden Historical Society, 24 June 2003. The name HistoryPix was a joint suggestion of the library staff and the society.

[12] Interview, Doug Barrett, Camden Historical Society, Camden, 18 February 2009.

[13] Kathryn Baget, Library Partnerships, Discussion Paper, 19 February 2009.

[14] John Wrigley, Camden Library Service – Camden Historical Society Partnership, Discussion Paper, January 2009.

[15] Interview, Doug Barrett, Camden Historical Society, Camden, 18 February 2009.

[16] John Wrigley, Camden Library Service – Camden Historical Society Partnership, Discussion Paper, January 2009.

Agency · Art · Artists · Artworks · Attachment to place · Belonging · Camden Council · Community · Community building · Community Engagement · Community identity · Craft · Cultural Heritage · Heritage · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · Oran Park · Place making · Placemaking · Public art · Sense of place · Social History · Stories · Storytelling · Women's art · Women's stories

Public Art, Young Women Artists Have Something to Say

March 22, 2024March 29, 2024 camdenhistorynotes

Something to Say art installations

Young people are often described as having nothing to say. Well, at Oran Park, outside the Camden Council administration building, there is a series of artworks that have Something to Say. The artworks are part of the Camden Council’s Camden Council’s Youth Participation Public Art Program, which began in 2016.

These works are described as temporary art installations. They were created by young women artists between the ages of 12 and 24. The artists were encouraged to tell their own stories within their own communities and enhance their skills as artists.

The aim of the public art program is as

a place making initiative that encourages local youth and artist collaboration to create vibrant spaces that foster a sense of belonging and identity.
https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/community/support/cultural-development-and-arts/camden-council-public-arts/something-to-say-eoi/

Artworks often tell stories through a series of images or by selecting a moment in time. These are narrative works that illustrate aspects of an artist’s life or some historical event, cultural festival, religious theme, or perhaps a legendary figure or mythic character.

The J Paul Getty Museum states that teaching young people stories in art involves lessons that

will build students’ awareness of how stories can be told visually and how artists use color, line, gesture, composition, and symbolism to tell a story. Students will interpret and create narratives based upon a work of art and apply what they have learned to create works of art that tell a story.
https://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/curricula/stories/

Something to Say art installation outside Camden Council administration building at Oran Park (CC 2023)

The young women who participated in the Something to Say program worked with local Menangle artist Michele Arentz.

On the Camden Council website, each of the artists in the program has issued a statement of intent or a statement that outlines the story that each of the artists tell in their works.

These young women are from different cultural backgrounds and have used their agency to tell intensely personal stories. The stories reflect a diversity of life experiences and provide an insight into the minds of Gen Z.

The artworks reflect different storytelling techniques across a range of art mediums and styles.

Women artists and their statements of intent

Team leader

Michele Arentz @marentzy

In my artwork, I have tried to create a symbolic representation of the elements that the young people in the Something to Say program have chosen to identify as having a positive influence in their lives to date or into their futures.

For example, the elements I have tried to convey in my artwork are featured around family support, promoting togetherness and strength of character, links to community via faith and sport, creativity, expression through artmaking, and achieving academically and spiritually.
https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/community/support/cultural-development-and-arts/camden-council-public-arts/something-to-say-eoi/

Something to Say art installation outside the front of the Camden Administration building at Oran Park. (I Willis 2024)

Young women artists

Ayesha Khan @ajk_afflatus

My artwork depicts women of all different ages and ethnicities in a public bathroom looking at a mirror. It is a reflection of all the different walks of life that people come from, as well as women’s empowerment. These women all have different careers or roles they play in life, from mother to fast food worker, doctor to student.
https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/community/support/cultural-development-and-arts/camden-council-public-arts/something-to-say-eoi/

Channie Chu

I decided to create this artwork as it incorporates some of my favourite things in life that I love, including art, the city and flowers. These express who I am and what I love. This artwork is made with acrylic paint and posca paint markers.
https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/community/support/cultural-development-and-arts/camden-council-public-arts/something-to-say-eoi/

Eashtha Inavolu

My artwork is based upon a picture of me that was taken during a family trip. The painting reflects my love for nature and plants. The colourful flowers on the heart represent all the people who bring joy to my life. I chose to paint this because it embraces who I am in an indirect way.
https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/community/support/cultural-development-and-arts/camden-council-public-arts/something-to-say-eoi/

Evie Hay

My Something to Say project is about the struggles and challenges in life that relates to all audiences. It’s about the importance of having positivity, community and creativity to push you towards your goals.
https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/community/support/cultural-development-and-arts/camden-council-public-arts/something-to-say-eoi/

Jade Stein

With this painting, I wanted to visualise the warmth and community that can be found in churches all across the Camden LGA. To do this, I gave my impression of a familiar building, St John’s Anglican Church, surrounded by a diversity of people spending time with each other in the afternoon light. Although the historical structure is almost 200 years old, it is still a place of fellowship for the community. I also wanted to emphasise the role that any place of meeting or worship can have in bringing people together and developing a sense of belonging and connection.
https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/community/support/cultural-development-and-arts/camden-council-public-arts/something-to-say-eoi/

Jessica Beck

In my artwork, I have painted a Barbie doll with the words “Life Is Short Make Every Hair Flip Count” to represent the role of a female. This is not just because Barbie has become a huge influence for children, in particular girls, but because as we grow, we long for the days when we knew who we were and weren’t aware of our passion being destroyed by the real world. This painting represents that we can still regain the confidence and innocence that we once had by simple things like flipping your hair.
https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/community/support/cultural-development-and-arts/camden-council-public-arts/something-to-say-eoi/

Karrin Smith-Down

My artwork is called ‘The Fridge’. Members of the local community may have personal issues and concerns, but not many know how to reach out for help. For this artwork, I convey services and ways to reach out through post-it notes on a fridge, which is where people put most of their important things.
https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/community/support/cultural-development-and-arts/camden-council-public-arts/something-to-say-eoi/

Lana Johnstone

In loving memory of Olive McAleer.

This artwork is inspired by my late great-grandmother Olive McAleer’s artworks. Family and heritage are an important part of my life. I wanted to display this through a clear connection between my artwork and my grandmother’s artworks, from the brushwork to the colours to the type of flower – white camellias. I wanted to add my own unique features to the artwork, with the Australian flowers seen. I am passionate about caring for and protecting Australian nature and wanted to include that to merge aspects of my life into my grandmother’s artwork.
https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/community/support/cultural-development-and-arts/camden-council-public-arts/something-to-say-eoi/

Srihitha Nagella

I painted this on my board because it holds some of my favourite moments. The pink moon represents the blood moon that I have always wanted to see. So, the night of the eclipse I waited all night and then fell asleep when it rose. The African violets represent the ones on my windowsill.
https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/community/support/cultural-development-and-arts/camden-council-public-arts/something-to-say-eoi/

Rosa Quispe

My artwork is based on how sport brings everyone together. I show a little of each sport, whether it is a ball or a player. As a personal touch, I decided to highlight football, since football has helped me to understand Australia’s culture and blend with the people in the community. I added keywords, such as ‘communication’, which means that through sport we can know other people better. ‘Passion’ that motivates people to commit in sports and be able to achieve their goals. Lastly, ‘teamwork’ is in every sport, whether it is played 1vs1 or in groups. It always involves supporting and helping each other. My main message to get across is that sports leads to people being united and being a big family, without exception.
https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/community/support/cultural-development-and-arts/camden-council-public-arts/something-to-say-eoi/

Concluding Remarks

These art installations demonstrate how art can contribute to community-building through the construction of placemaking.

Public art encourages cultural tourism by promoting community identity and a sense of place. These factors contribute to job creation and the enhancement of local business opportunities.

Something to Say art installation on a bus shelter in Harrington Street Elderslie in the early dawn light (I Willis 2024)

All photographs are by Ian Willis unless otherwise indicated.

Updated on 29 March 2024. Originally posted on 22 March 2024 as ‘Public art by young women artists on display at Oran Park’.

1973 New Cities Campbelltown Camden Appin Structure Plan · 20th century · Adaptive Re-use · Adaptive Reuse · Architecture · Attachment to place · Camden Council · Camden Historical Society · Camden Modernism · Camden Museum · Community identity · Community organisations · Conservation · Heritage · Local History · Macaria · Modernism · Sense of place · Streetscapes · Uncategorized · Urban development · Urban growth · Urban history · Urban Planning

The Camden Library Museum, conservation through adaptative reuse

January 30, 2024February 1, 2024 camdenhistorynotes

Many layers of history

The Camden Library Museum is an important building in the Camden Heritage Conservation Area, located at 40 John Street, with a complex story. This short post will attempt to peel back the layers of the history of the building complex.

The building is an amalgam of two historic buildings that have been added to, renovated, and altered by a host of occupants, including the Camden Council, the Camden Library, the Camden Fire Brigade, the Camden Museum, and the Camden Red Cross.

The Camden Library Museum Complex at 40 John Street which has integrated the Camden Museum, Camden Library and former Fire Station (CC, 2008)

If the walls could talk, they would tell many stories about events and people who have used the building for nearly 160 years.

In 2006, building renovations integrated the museum, library, and former fire station buildings into the current galleria with a glass roof, following the principles of conservation through adaptation or adaptative reuse.

The Galleria with glass roof in the Library Museum building with the former Fire Station on LHS and the former School of Arts on RHS (I Willis 2024)

Conservation through adaptative reuse

Conservation through adaptation is part of the Burra Charter, the most important document that guides the principles of conservation of heritage places in Australia. It was originally adopted in 1979 as the Australia ICOMOS Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Significance.

Under the Charter, a place’s cultural significance is measured by a set of values that include aesthetic, historic, scientific, social, and spiritual significance for past, present, or future generations. The Library Museum building incorporates all these values in varying degrees of significance.

The conservation through adaptation for the Library Museum building means that the building has retained its use and been conserved in a way that retains its cultural significance as a place of importance in the Camden town centre.

The former School of Arts

The oldest part of the building complex is the former School of Arts on the southern side of the current building.

The School of Arts was constructed in 1866 on an allotment with a John Street frontage. The building had a two-storey frontage designed by HP Reeves, the Church of England schoolmaster and later Camden mayor, in an Italianate Pallandian style. The brick building was constructed by local firm McBeath and Furner. (Downing, et al., 3)

James Macarthur opened the School of Arts in 1866, and the town’s residents enjoyed a public holiday. The School of Arts consisted of a reading room for a library on the ground floor of the two-storey front and a meeting room upstairs. The single-storey hall at the rear of the building could accommodate around 250 people and held functions that had much larger crowds. The Camden Library and staff currently use this area.

Camden School of Arts, designed by HP Reeves, shows the two-storey Italianate Palladian frontage, with the brick hall at the rear c1880s (CIPP)

In 1900, Sydney architect JE Kemp designed a two-storey extension to the rear of the School of Arts building on the eastern side.

This image from the 1880s shows the Temperance Hall and the prominent two-story Italianate Palladian frontage of the School of Arts (CIPP)

In 1924, the council appointed a full-time town clerk, who moved into the upstairs part of the extension. The Camden Museum now occupies this space.

The eastern end of the Library Museum building faces Larkin Place with the 1900 two-storey extension on the LHS (in a slightly duller brick tone) and the 1998 two-storey extension on the RHS. (I Willis 2024)

Camden Council takes control

The council took control of the School of Arts in 1930 and held council meetings in the rear of the building. The two-storey extensions were used to accommodate the council clerk, who had occupied the rear of the School of Arts, where council meetings were held.

The Camden Town Hall, formerly the School of Arts hall, accommodated the Red Cross sewing circle during the Second World War.

This is the blue plaque on the front of the library museum building that was allocated by the NSW Heritage Office in 2022 to commemorate the activities of the Red Cross Sewing Circles in WW1 & WW2. (I Willis 2023)

Council amalgamations took place across NSW in 1948, and C Riding of Nepean Shire Council was absorbed into the enlarged Camden Municipal Council. The council needed more space, and renovations commenced on the Camden Town Hall, formerly the School of Arts hall. The stage and hall disappeared and became the new offices of the mayor and council staff.

The former School of Arts occupied by Camden Municipal Council in the 1940s (CIPP)

The 75^th anniversary of the Camden Municipal Council was celebrated in 1963 by removing the two-storey original School of Arts frontage. This was replaced with a mid-century modernist single-storey front designed in a colonial Georgian style by Parramatta architects Leslie J Buckland and Druce. The newly renovated building, which accommodated council staff, was opened in 1964 by the NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Local Government PD Hills.

This is the mid-century modernist single-storey front designed in a colonial Georgian style by Parramatta architects Leslie J Buckland and Druce for the 1964 council office redevelopment of the former School of Arts. (I Willis 2024)

In 1973, the NSW Government released the New Cities Campbelltown, Camden, and Appin Structure Plan for the area. Camden Council felt the former School of Arts did not meet the council’s future needs with the area’s planned growth. Sydney architects Edwards Madigan Torzella, and Brigg designed a new large open-plan office administration building on the opposite side of John Street at the rear of the Macaria building. It was opened by the NSW Deputy Premier Sir Charles Cutler in 1974. Camden Council moved out of the 1974 office building to a new office complex at Oran Park in 2016.

Between 1974 and 1982, when the library re-occupied the space, it was let to commercial tenants, including doctors’ rooms.

The former Temperance Hall

On the northern side of the current building is the former Temperance Hall, built in 1867 for the meetings of the Camden Star of the South Division of the Sons of Temperance, later called the Total Abstinence Benefits Society.

This image shows a parade outside the Camden Total Abstinence Benefit Society Hall on John Street in 1903 (Camden Images)

Camden Fire Station

The NSW Fire Brigade purchased the former Temperance Hall in 1916, undertook renovations and added the current brick frontage to create the Camden Fire Station. (Camden News, 25 January 1917) The Camden Fire Brigade relocated to the John Street premises from Hill Street. (Mylrea)

The new fire station was opened on 24 January 1917 at 5 pm. when Mr. E.H. Farrer, President of the Fire Board, and three board members officially opened the new station. (Camden News, 25 January 1917)

Camden Fire Station in 1995 showing the 1917 brick frontage. While the date is shown as 1916, the fire station was opened in 1917. (John Kooyman/CIPP)

The Camden Fire Brigade occupied the site until 1993, when it moved to larger premises at Elderslie.

Camden Museum

With the help of Camden Rotary, the Camden Historical Society opened a local museum in the former council offices in the old two-storey extension at the rear of the former School of Arts off Larkin Place in 1970.

In 1998, a new two-storey extension was added to the museum on the northern side of the building. Building renovations commenced in 2006, and the museum, library, and former fire station buildings were integrated around the current Galleria.

The front of the Camden Museum with the photographer standing in the galleria. (CIPP 2021)

Camden Library

Library services were part of the former School of Arts and were expanded in 1900 into the two-storey extensions. Miss Freestone was appointed part-time librarian in 1935 and made full-time in 1942.

The library moved out of the former School of Arts building in 1967 and moved into the Macaria building across John Street. In 1963, Camden Municipal Council adopted the Library Act 1939 (NSW), which provided free public library services in the area.

The library moved back into the former School of Arts building in 1982 and expanded into the former council offices that were part of the original School of Arts hall and reading room.

The new 1964 modernist brick frontage and front doors of the Camden Municipal Council offices, now the library. (I Willis 2022)

References

Pauline Downing, Peter Hayward, Peter Mylrea, Cathey Shepherd, and Robert Wheeler, Camden School of Arts 1850s to 1930s, Camden Historical Society, 2016.

Peter Mylrea, ‘Camden Fire Brigade’. Camden History, September 2009, vol 2, no 8, pp. 313-324.

The exposed mid-19th century ceiling of the former School of Arts in the current library space (I Willis 2024)

Updated on 1 February 2024. Originally posted on 30 January 2024 as ‘The Library Museum building, conservation through adaptation’.

1920s · 1930s · 1973 New Cities Campbelltown Camden Appin Structure Plan · 20th century · Agriculture history · Attachment to place · Belonging · Camden Council · Camden Council Heritage Advisory Committee · Camden Mayor · Camden Museum · Camden Produce Market · Camden Story · Camden Town Centre · Camden Town Farm · Colonialism · Commemoration · Country town · Cowpastures · Cultural and Heritage Tourism · Cultural Heritage · Entertainment · Festivals · Food · Heritage · History · Interwar · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · Macarthur · Memorialisation · Place making · Ruralism · Sense of place · Social History · Storytelling · Symbolism · Tourism · Unlock Camden · Urban history

Unlock Camden 2023, a festival celebrating our past

August 22, 2023September 3, 2023 camdenhistorynotes

The fifth year of Unlock Camden

In its fifth year, Unlock Camden was on again. This year, Unlock Camden 2023 was on Saturday, 2 September, from 10am – 3pm at the beginning of 2023 History Week.

The 2023 History Week theme was Voices from the Past. Unlock Camden encouraged local folk to tell their own story in a social media campaign run by the Heritage Advisory Committee called #mycamdenstory. You can submit your own story or listen to other local stories about events, places and people.

This image is from the #mycamdenstory project which is part of the Unlock Camden 2023 social media campaign (Camden Council)

The Unlock Camden 2023 program celebrated Camden’s history and heritage. The activities were centred around John Street as in the past, with the addition of activities at Camden Library. For the first time, there were activities at Camden Markets located on the Camden Town Farm in Exeter Street.

The official opening was at 10am at the Camden Town Farm Market site by the Camden mayor Ashleigh Cagney.

Unlock Camden 2023 promotional artwork from Camden Council (Camden Council)

The Alan Baker Gallery Art Gallery hosted Weaving with Aunty Michelle Hailes.

Several art activities were hosted at the Camden market site of the Camden Town Farm. They included En Plein Air with Bob Gurney, Charcoal White Gum with Tracey Prioste, Botanical Drawing with Belle Mitchell and Heritage Drawing with Michele Arentz.

At the Camden Library was a talk by Taylor Clarke on family history, the Burragorang Valley’s future, and an Unlock Camden Small Works Art Exhibition.

Unlock Camden 2023 outside the Alan Baker Art Gallery Macaria in John Street Camden. Here, members of the Camden Musical Society have got into the swing of the vibe and dressed for the occasion in vintage costume. They are standing in front of ‘Clem’ a French 1911 Clement Bayard Roadster, 4 cylinder, 8.6 litre motor, with a 4-speed manual transmission. This car was for a time displayed at the Greens Motorcade Museum at Leppington (1974-1982). (I Willis, 2023)

Starting at the Alan Baker Art Gallery, there were four guided history walks of the Camden town centre starting at 10.30am, then the half-hour until 1.30pm by members of the Camden Historical Society.

Camden Council was awarded $25,000 for interpreting and promoting heritage through the Heritage NSW 2023-2025 Local Government Heritage Grants Program. The grant required a dollar-matched contribution from the council.

Some folk dressed for the occasion at the Unlock Camden 2023 History Festival. These two damsels are from the Camden Musical Society and are dressed for a motoring tour of the historic Camden town centre. (I Willis 2023)

Where it all began

The first Unlock Camden was held in 2019. It was the initiative of the Camden Council Heritage Advisory Committee under the dynamic leadership of committee member Laura Jane Aulsebrook.

The cover of the publicity flyer for Unlock Camden 2019 showing Edithville at 18 Mitchell Street, which was Camden’s first hospital (1889-1902) (Camden Council)

The committee hoped the event would focus community attention on the area’s rich colonial history. (Camden Advertiser, 13 March 2019)

Timed to coincide with the History Week conducted by the History Council of New South Wales, the day was held on the first Saturday in September.

History Week

The first History Week was started in 1997 by the History Council of New South Wales. The HCNSW website states

History Week is a fantastic opportunity for member organisations, large and small, throughout NSW to engage and educate the community about the vitality, diversity and meaning of History and its practice.
https://historycouncilnsw.org.au/history-week-nsw/

Organisations celebrate history with

talks and lectures, behind-the-scenes tours and heritage trails, exhibitions and radio features, film festivals, open historic houses and gardens, book sales and launches.
https://historycouncilnsw.org.au/history-week-nsw/

Unlock Camden 2019

The first Unlock Camden was based around the Alan Baker Art Gallery on John Street, with several stalls from community organisations.

On the day, the windy spring weather proved challenging for stall holders and caused havoc with tables and umbrellas, while other events in Camden were cancelled.

Heritage Advisory Committee Chair Councillor Cindy Cagney said, ‘It was an exciting idea and a positive for the community’. (Camden Advertiser, 13 March 2019)

Committee member Laura Jane Aulsebrook, a ‘local identity and Camden’s living piece of history’ launched the #mycamdenstory social media campaign.

Unlock Camden 2023 cutout of Elsie Pyrke at a Camden Hospital Carnival. Elsie worked as a receptionist for Dr Robert Crookston. The cutout was located outside of Camden Library. (C Cagney 2023)

“Residents are encouraged to share photos and stories that showcase their Camden story, historic and modern photos, and anything that shares why they are in Camden and why they love Camden,” said Ms Aulsebrook. (Camden Advertiser, 19 August 2019)

The day was highlighted by walking tours of the historic town centre, live music, and displays at the Alan Baker Art Gallery and Camden Museum.

The Camden Heritage Walking tour and brochure were relaunched, music was provided by the Camden Community Band and the Honey Sippers, and their owners displayed several vintage cars.

Organiser Ms Aulesbrook said, ‘This was a chance to learn more about their history and why they are so important to the fabric of the community.’ (Camden Advertiser, 10 September 2019)

This image shows the Unlock Camden 2019 organiser Ms LJ Aulesbrook posing for a photograph in one of the vintage cars that were displayed on the day in John Street outside the Alan Baker Art Gallery located in the former gentleman’s townhouse Macaria (1860). The community stalls are shown on the gallery forecourt in the rear of the image ( Brett Atkins/Camden Advertiser 10 September 2019)

The day was quite successful despite the council not allocating any specific budget for the occasion.

Covid-19 forces Unlock Camden online in 2020

In 2020 Unlock Camden Council held its second event as a digital online event because of the outbreak of Covid-19 and the associated restrictions.

For the first time, the council allocated a small budget for the event of $3500.

Events included virtual tours of the historic town centre, the #mycamdenstory social media campaign, and a series of historic sites highlighted through the council website and on social media.

Unlock Camden 2023 cutout of the Thomson sisters, Annette and Elizabeth, of Maryland. The sisters worked with the Royal Agricultural Society and had a herd of prize-winning dairy cows. The cutout was located in the market area of the Camden Town Farm. (C Cagney 2023)

Camden Mayor Cr Theresa Fideli said:

Unlock Camden allows us to celebrate the history, culture and achievements on Camden that we are all incredibly proud of. We are lucky enough to be living in an area with a great historical significance and while it is unfortunate that we cannot open the doors to our historic buildings and locations this year, our Virtual Historic Tour will allow residents to walk through Camden’s heritage precinct and key historic locations right from the comfort of their own homes.
Camden Council Website 20 August 2020

Unlock Camden 2021 online again

Unlock Camden 2021 was an online event due to Covid-19 restrictions and included virtual tours, a #mycamdenstory social media campaign and the promotion of historic sites on the Camden Council website. The event had a small budget of $2900.

Things look up at Unlock Camden 2022

The 2022 Unlock Camden celebration of our local history was first held after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. The event was held away from History Week on Saturday, 15 October.

The day’s events ran from 10am-3pm using the theme of unlocking stories and images.

Similar to 2019, the event was centred at the Alan Baker Art Gallery with walking tours of historic Camden town centre by volunteers from the Camden Historical Society, community stalls and historical games in the gallery forecourt, vintage car displays in John Street, music, and an online photographic display.

The day aimed to ‘Unlock the stories, the people, the images and the history of Camden’. (LJ Aulsebrook, CCHAC)

The increasing importance of the event in a post-restrictions Covid-19 environment regarding community resilience and cohesion saw an increased budget from the council of $10,000.

This is part of the #mycamdenstory social media campaign for Unlock Camden 2023, showing well-known Camden identity Llewella Davies (Camden Council)

The legacy

The aim of the day and the associated events has been to tell the Camden story through walks, art, images, stories, and a host of other activities.

The Camden story is about what the town centre represents in the narrative of the Australian story. Founded on Dharawal country, the colonial period started with the Cowpastures the Macarthur private town on Camden Park Estate in 1840. Growing into the market town in the late 19^th century, the early 20^th century saw the town become a regional hub. The development of the Interwar years created a prosperous country town that was subsumed by the Macarthur Growth Centre in 1973 and Sydney’s urban growth.

Unlock Camden was an initiative of the Camden Council Heritage Advisory Committee to tell the Camden story and has been ably assisted and coordinated in conjunction with the work of Camden Council staff.

Over the past five years, the program of events has offered another view into Camden’s past as we celebrate Unlock Camden 2023 and explore our history and heritage.

This image was part of the 2019 Unlock Camden social media campaign generated by organiser Ms LJ Aulsebrook (Camden Council)

A group of notable locals at the tree planting commemorating Llewellas Davies, who donated The Camden Town Farm to the Camden Community, for Unlock Camden 2023 at the Camden Town Farm ‘Sheep Dog Paddock’. From L-R are Mr Buckely CTF, Cr Cindy Cagney, Dr Ian Willis CHS, …..Glenda Chalker CCHAC, Mayor Ashleigh Cagney, Sally Quinnell MP Member for Camden, … (M Willis, 2023)

Unlock Camden 2023 Mayor Ashleigh Cagney planting the commemorative tree (I Willis, 2023)

Updated 3 September 2023. Originally posted on 22 August 2023.

Aesthetics · Art · Artists · Built heritag · Camden Council · Camden White Gum · Community identity · Cowpastures · Cultural Heritage · Cumberland Plain Woodland · Ecology · Environment · Heritage · Landscape · Landscape aesthetics · Local History · Memorials · Nepean River · Oran Park · Public art · Sense of place · Storytelling · Uncategorized

‘The Tree of Life’, public art at Camden Council Administration Offices

July 17, 2023July 18, 2023 camdenhistorynotes

Art celebrates the Camden White Gum

When you enter the administration building of Camden Council at Oran Park, you pass an exciting sculpture along a wall adjacent to the entry.

The art installation extends from the entry to the end of the building. It is called The Tree of Life by sculptors Gillie and Marc celebrating the Camden White Gum.

*The Tree of Life* art installation by sculptures Gillie and Marc was commissioned by Camden Council for the opening of the administration building in 2016 (I Willis, 2023)

The artwork dimensions are described as ‘lifesize’, and the medium is corten steel. Corten or weathered steel is used in outdoor construction and artwork. The steel is designed to eliminate painting and will develop a rusted appearance if left exposed to the elements.

This image shows the situation of the art installation ‘The Tree of Life’ adjacent to the entry of the Camden Council office building. (I Willis, 2023)

Gillie and Marc describe the style of the artwork as contemporary sculpture, silhouette and botanical.

The information plaque tells the story of The Tree of Life adjacent to the art installation on the Camden Council administration building. (I Willis 2023)

The Tree of Life information plaque states:

The Tree of Life is to bring nature into the urban space and raise awareness about the Camden Whilte Gum that symbolises growth and vitality. It represents the passing of time and marking of the landscape. The tree’s branches mirror the branching out and emergence of the diverse social and cultural communities both of the past and present. The Camden White Gum (Eucalyptus benthamii) known as the Nepean River Gum is a threatened native tree, occurring along the Nepean River and its tributaries in Camden.
Camden Council administration building, 70 Central Ave, Oran Park.

The Camden White Gum is an endangered species and can be found along the Nepean River in the Camden area, Bents Basin, and the Kedumba Valley in the Blue Mountains.

The Camden White Gum, *Eucalyptus benthamii*, along the Nepean River. (Wikimedia, 2005)

The Gillie and Marc website describes the art installation, The Tree of Life, on the Camden Council office building this way:

A combination of steel and nature, trees and architecture. This is the relief for the Camden Council. Proudly displayed on the outside of their headquarters, this relief shows how a community can stay strong. There is a need for steel and strength, building infrastructure that will stand the test of time and keep people safe. But it is also important to not forget the natural world, combining the man-made with the organic qualities of the earth to keep us happy and healthy. Only then can we thrive.
https://gillieandmarc.com/collections/nature

Sculptures Gillie and Marc

The website of sculptors Gillie and Marc states

British and Australian artists, Gillie and Marc have been called “the most successful and prolific creators of public art in New York’s History” by the New York Times. Creating some of the world’s most innovative public sculptures, Gillie and Marc are redefining what public art should be, spreading messages of love, equality, and conservation around the world. Their highly coveted sculptures and paintings can be seen in art galleries and public sites in over 250 cities. They’re Archibald Prize Finalists and have won the Chianciano Biennale in Italy, together with winning 2 years in a row People’s Choice Award in Sydney’s Sculpture by the Sea, among many other notable awards and accolades.

Gillie and Marc are based in both Sydney and London, sharing their time between their two countries of birth.
https://gillieandmarc.com/pages/about

Opening of the administration building in 2016

The artwork was commissioned by Camden Council for the opening of the new administration building in 2016 at 70 Central Avenue, Oran Park.

The plaque commemorating the opening of the Camden Council administration building in 2016 (I Willis 2023)

The plaque at the opening of the council administration building in 2016 with members of the official party Chris Patterson MLA, Mayor Lara Symkowiak, Minister Paul O’Toole MLA, Tony Perich (2016 A McIntosh)

This image shows the Camden Council administration building (right) adjacent to the library. The artwork ‘The Tree of Life’ is on the RHS of entry at the centre of the office building at the end of the walkway. (I Willis, 2023)

The Tree of Life sculpture complements the art installations in the council library building commissioned by the council. The library building was opened at the same time as the administration building in 2016.

Updated on 18 July 2023. Originally posted on 17 July 2023 as ‘Public art at Camden Council Administration Offices’.

Aesthetics · Architecture · Attachment to place · Belonging · Built heritag · Camden · Camden Council · Camden Museum · Camden Story · Church History · Colonial Camden · Community identity · Country town · Cowpastures · Cowpastures Gentry · Cultural and Heritage Tourism · Cultural Heritage · Cultural icon · Engineering Heritage · Heritage · History · Landscape · Landscape aesthetics · Living History · Local History · Local newspapers · Memory · Place making · Settler Society · St John's Church Camden · Storytelling · Tourism · Uncategorized · Urban development · Urban history

Cultural and heritage tourism adds $6.4 million a year to the local economy

May 24, 2023May 24, 2023 camdenhistorynotes3 Comments

Camden Museum and Alan Baker Art Gallery add over $1.7 million annually

New research shows that cultural and heritage tourism is worth around $6.4 million per year to the Camden LGA.

The story of the Camden-Campbelltown train, the locomotive affectionately known as Pansy, generates a considerable amount of nostalgia amongst day-trippers and other visitors to the Camden LGA. The railway engineering heritage still visible across the former train route includes this bridge, railway cuttings and other engineering works. This image shows the train approaching crossing the Nepean River railway bridge in 1910. (SLNSW)

This figure is drawn from data sourced from Destination NSW (2018), which states that the average daily spend of a day tripper was $140 per day. The proportion of day-trippers that constitute cultural and heritage visitors is 9% of all day-tripper visitors.

According to .idCommunity (2023) demographic resources, in 2020-2021, there were 509,000 day-trippers to the Camden LGA per year. Cultural and heritage visitors comprise around 45,000 day-trippers of the total number of day-tripper visitors annually. These day-trippers are worth $6.4 million to the Camden economy.

Within these figures, the volunteer-run Camden Museum is one of the most prominent destinations with around 6000 day-tripper visitors per year, worth around $840,000 to the local economy each year. The Alan Baker Art Gallery has about 6500 day-tripper visitors annually, worth around $910,000 to the local economy annually.

The Alan Baker Art Gallery is located in the former gentleman’s townhouse of Macaria, which is a valuable part of the built heritage of the Camden Heritage Conservation Area. This gallery and the building form part of the John Street heritage precinct, which includes the former police barracks, courthouse and Sarah Tiffan’s cottage and the former CBC Bank. (ABAG, 2023)

What is cultural and heritage tourism?

Destination NSW (2019) defines cultural and heritage tourism as:

Ted Silberberg explains cultural and heritage tourism as ‘a tool of economic development that achieves economic growth through attracting visitors from outside a host community, who are motivated wholly or in part by interest in the historical, artistic, scientific or lifestyle/heritage offerings of a community, region, group or institution’
Source: Cultural Tourism and Business Opportunities for Museums and Heritage sites, Tourism Management, Ted Silberberg, 1995.

St John’s Church and Cemetery is one of the most important cultural and heritage sites in the Camden LGA. Dating from the 1840s and funded by the Macarthur family of Camden Park, the church dominates the town and the Nepean River floodplain from its ridge-top location. The church is visible from many points around the area. The vistas from Camden Park House and Garden are an integral part of the Cowpastures story and the gentry estates that dominated the area until the town was settled in the 1840s. The church is critical in the area’s sense of place and community identity. (I Willis, 2021)

How important is cultural and heritage tourism?

Destination NSW (2019) quotes research from Tourism Australia that

‘rich history and heritage’ was the 4th most important factor for the Domestic market when choosing a holiday destination, and 6th most important for the International market.
Source: Consumer Demand Project, Tourism Australia, 2018

According to the National Trust of Australia (2018):

Globally, heritage tourism has become one of the largest and fastest growing tourism sectors, with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation estimating that more than 50%[1] of tourists worldwide are now motivated by a desire to experience a country’s culture and heritage[2]

Of all international visitors to Australia in 2017, 43% participated in a cultural activity and 33.9% in a heritage activity. Cultural and heritage segments have grown at 7.5% and 11.2% respectively over the past four years.
Source: 1. Tourism Research Australia, IVS YE September 2017. 2. United Nations World Trade Organisation, 2016 Annual Report

Cultural and Heritage Tourism in Camden

The Camden township is a site rich in heritage and history and a visitor destination with huge potential.

The Camden LGA is an active participant in cultural and heritage tourism with a host of visitor attractions in the and is outlined in the Macarthur Visitors Guide (MVG 2020). The guide is complemented by the Camden Heritage Walking Tour guide (CHWT 2023), the Camden Scenic Drive (CSD 2020) and the Visit Camden Official Visitor Guide (CVIC 2022).

Camden Council is responsible for the most critical cultural and heritage tourism planning instrument. The Camden Heritage Conservation Area, Argyle Street, and John Street precincts are within it. (DCP 2019) The DCP (2019) outlines the conservation area’s character elements, objectives and controls.

Camden Council (2023) provides valuable information on its Heritage Planning webpage and lists all the local heritage items on the local and state heritage inventory (CC 2020).

Storytelling

Within cultural and heritage tourism, storytelling is an essential feature of the visitor experience.

Oliver Serrat (2008) defines storytelling as

The vivid description of ideas, beliefs, personal experiences, and life-lessons through stories or narratives that evoke powerful emotions and insights.
https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/27637/storytelling.pdf

The National Trust of Australia (2018) maintains that storytelling is a new global trend and

found that what encourages a visitor to a certain destination is its ability to engage in unforgettable and truly inspiring experiences that touch visitors in an emotional way and connects them with special places, people and cultures.
Source: Tropical Tablelands Tourism, Hero Experiences Guidebook (2015)

Camden storyteller Ian Willis (2023a) has written extensively about the local history of the Camden area, with an outstanding example being the Camden History Notes blog. He has published many other articles and stories in newspapers, newsletters, journals and books (2023b).

The outstanding storytelling organisation in the Camden LGA is the Camden Historical Society (CHS 2023a). The society’s activities include the biannual journal Camden History (CHS 2023b), monthly public lectures, and numerous book publications. (CHS 2023c). The Camden Museum archives provide much raw material for local storytelling. (CHS 2023d)

The Camden Museum Library building is one of the many cultural and heritage tourism sites in the Camden LGA. The archives of the Camden Museum provide much of the raw material for Camden storytelling. The museum holds many artefacts that add to local stories and provide a rich experience for museum visitors. The Camden Library occupies the building in John Street Camden and has a rich collection of local interviews and stories on its website. The building is home to the Camden Area Family History Society and its archives. The Camden Museum Library building is part of the rich built heritage of the John Street precinct and is an example of adaptive reuse. (I Willis, 2008)

The Camden Area Family History Society (CAFHS 2023) is a crucial storytelling organisation which draws on raw material from extensive archives and keen volunteer members.

The Back Then feature of The District Reporter provides the most popular storytelling platforms. Here local storytellers include Ian Willis (2023c), John Wrigley, Julie Wrigley and others who tell interesting and exciting local stories about the past in each issue.

The Back Then section of *The District Reporter* 18 November 2022.

References

CAFHS 2023, Camden Area Family History Society. CAFHS. https://www.cafhs.org.au/

CC 2019, Camden Development Control Plan 2019. Camden Council. https://dcp.camden.nsw.gov.au/

CC 2020, Local and State Heritage Items listed under: State Environment Planning Policy (Sydney Regions Growth Centres)2006, & Camden Local Environment Plan 2010. Camden Council. https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/assets/pdfs/Planning/Heritage-Conservation/Heritage-Items-List-September-2020-v1.pdf

CC 2023, Heritage Planning. Camden Council. https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/strategic-planning/heritage-planning/

CHS 2023a, Camden History. Camden Historical Society. http://www.camdenhistory.org.au/index.html

CHS 2023b, Camden History, the journal of the Camden Historical Society. Camden Historical Society. http://www.camdenhistory.org.au/chsjournal.html

CHS 2023c, Publications For Sale At The Camden Museum. Camden Historical Society. http://www.camdenhistory.org.au/Publications%20for%20Sale%20%2022.5.2018.pdf

CHS 2023d, Camden Museum Archive Catalogue by Category. Camden Historical Society. http://www.camdenhistory.org.au/LibraryJune2008.pdf

CHWT 2023, Camden Heritage Walking Tour. Pamphlet. Camden Council. https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/assets/Uploads/Camden-Heritage-Walking-Tour-2023.pdf

CSD 2020, Camden Scenic Drive. Pamphlet. Camden Council. https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/assets/Tourism/Camden-Scenic-Drive.pdf

DCP 2019, 2.16.4 Camden Heritage Conservation Area. Camden Council. https://dcp.camden.nsw.gov.au/general-land-use-controls/environmental-heritage/camden-heritage-conservation-area/

Destination NSW 2019, Cultural and Heritage Tourism in NSW, Year Ended December 2018. NSW Government, Sydney. https://www.destinationnsw.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/cultural-and-heritage-tourism-to-nsw-snapshot-ye-de-2018.pdf

Ian Willis 2023a, Camden History Notes, Some Stories of Place. Camden History Notes. https://camdenhistorynotes.com/

Ian Willis 2023b, Ian Willis Historian. Author. https://ianwillis.wordpress.com/

Ian Willis 2023c, Newspaper Articles. Academia.com. https://independent.academia.edu/IanWillis/Newspaper-Articles

idCommunity 2023, Camden Council area, Tourism visitor summary. Camden Council. https://economy.id.com.au/camden/tourism-visitor-summary

MVG 2020, Macarthur Visitors Guide, Camden & Campbelltown. Camden Council & Campbelltown City Council. https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/assets/Tourism/Macarthur-Visitors-Guide-2020.pdf

NTA 2018, Next Steps: Australian Heritage Tourism Directions Paper. National Trust, June. https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Australian-Heritage-Tourism-Directions-paper-.pdf

Olivier Serrat 2008, Storytelling. Knowledge Solutions. https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/27637/storytelling.pdf

The District Reporter. https://www.tdr.com.au/

Tourism Research Australia 2020, Regional NSW Visitor Profile, Year Ending June 2019. Destination NSW. https://www.destinationnsw.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/travel-to-regional-nsw-snapshot-jun-2019.pdf

CVIC 2022, Visit Camden Official Visitor Guide. Camden Visitor Information Centre, Elderslie.

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Camden, a Macarthur family venture

September 19, 2022September 19, 2022 camdenhistorynotes

The private English-style estate village of James and William Macarthur

The establishment of Camden, New South Wales, the town in 1840, was a private venture of James and William Macarthur, sons of colonial patriarch John Macarthur, at the Nepean River crossing on the northern edge of the family’s pastoral property of Camden Park. The town’s site was enclosed on three sides by a sweeping bend in the Nepean River and has regularly flooded the surrounding farmland and lower parts of the town.

John Macarthur on the cover of Australia’s Heritage 1970. The original oil painting of John Macarthur is held in SLNSW (I Willis, 2022)

The site of Camden was within the 5000 acres granted to John Macarthur by the 2nd Earl Camden [3.2], the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, in 1805, while Macarthur was in England on charges for duelling. Macarthur was a fractious quarrelsome self-promoter who arrived in NSW with his wife Elizabeth and family in 1790 as paymaster of the New South Wales Corps. The Corps (sometimes called The Rum Corps) was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment of the British Army to relieve the New South Wales Marine Corps, which had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia in 1788 to fortify the colony of NSW.

The town’s site, as part of the Macarthur grants, was located on some of the finest farming country in the colony in the government Cowpastures reserve on the colonial frontier. The grants were part of the dispossession of traditional lands of the Dharawal people by the British settler colonial project and inevitably led to conflict and violence. Macarthur claimed that the town’s establishment threatened the security of his landholdings at Camden Park and opposed it during his lifetime. On his death in 1834, his sons had a different worldview and moved to establish an English-style estate village dominated by a church.

A fine Gothic-style church

The ridge-top location of St John’s Church (1840) on the southern end of the town meant that it towered over the town centre and had a clear line of sight to the Macarthur family’s Georgian mansion at Camden Park 2.6 miles to the southwest. The fine English Gothic-style church was funded mainly by the Macarthur family and has been the basis of the town’s iconic imagery. There were a number of large gentry estates built on convict labour in the surrounding farmland, the largest being the Macarthur family’s Camden Park of over 28,000 acres.

St John’s Anglican Church in its hilltop location at the top of John Street Camden. This image is by Charles Kerry in the 1890s (Camden Images)

Many immigrant families came to the area under Governor Bourke’s 1835 plan and settled on the gentry estates as tenant farmers, some establishing businesses in Camden. The first land sales in the village occurred in 1841, which stifled the growth of the existing European settlements in the area. The population of Camden grew from 242 in 1846 to 458 in 1856, although the gentry’s estates still dominated the village. Camden Park, for example, had a population of 900 in 1850.

English-style gentry

The English-style gentry practised philanthropy in Camden to maintain its moral tone. Elizabeth Macarthur Onslow, John Macarthur’s granddaughter, encouraged the maintenance of the proprieties of life, moral order and good works, as well as memorialising her family by donating a clock and bells to St John’s Church in 1897. She also marked the memory of her late husband, Captain Onslow, by providing a public park in 1882 named after her husband (Onslow Park), which is now the Camden showground.

Transport hub

Camden became the district’s transport hub at the centre of the road network, primarily set by the pattern of land grants from the 1820s. The earliest villages in the district predated Camden and then looked to Camden for cultural and economic leadership as the district’s major centre. The arrival of the Camden tramway in 1882 meant that silver ore west of the district (1871) was shipped through the Camden railhead to the Main Southern Railway from Sydney.

The Camden Branch Line Locomotive Crossing the Nepean River Bridge 1900 Postcard (Camden Images)

Progress assured

Combined with rail access to markets, the town’s prosperity was assured by a series of technical and institutional innovations that transformed the dairy industry in the 1890s. In the 1920s, the Macarthur family set up the Camden Vale Milk Company and built a milk processing plant at the eastern end of the main street adjacent to the rail line. Whole milk was railed to Sydney and bottled under its label until the mid-1920s. Milk was delivered daily to the factory by horse and cart until the 1940s from local dairy farms.

Camden Milk Depot, trading as Camden Vale Milk Coop Ltd located at the northern end of Argyle Street adjacent to Camden Railway Station. (Camden Images)

Camden’s progress saw the construction of a new bank (1878), the commencement of weekly stock sales (1883), the formation of the Camden Agricultural, Horticultural and Industrial Society and the first Camden Show (1886), a new post and telegraph office (1898), the foundation of two weekly newspapers (Camden Times, 1879, Camden News, 1880), a new cottage hospital (1898), the formation of a fire brigade (1900), the opening of a telephone exchange (1910), the installation of reticulated gas (1912), electricity (1929), town water (1899) and the replacement of gas street lighting with electric lights (1932), and a sewerage scheme (1939). By 1933 the population of the town had grown to 2394.

First local council

The first attempt at local government in 1843 was unsuccessful. A meeting of local notables formed the municipality of Camden at a public meeting in 1883. Still, it was not until 1889 that the municipality was proclaimed, covering 7,000 acres and including Camden and the neighbouring village of Elderslie. Nine townsmen were elected aldermen at the first election that year, and the first meeting was held at the School of Arts. In 1993 the Camden Municipal Council eventually became the Council of Camden.

In 2014 this is the head office of Camden Council in the former Victorian gentleman’s townhouse built by Henry Thompson. (Camden Images)

Street names

Camden’s 1840 street grid is still intact today, with streets named after members of the Macarthur family – John Street, Elizabeth, Edward Street – and NSW colonial notables – Oxley Street, Broughton Street, Mitchell Street. The main highway between Sydney and Melbourne (the Hume Highway) passed along the main street (Argyle Street), until it was re-routed in 1976. The town’s business centre still has several Victorian and Art Deco shopfronts.

Some charming Federation and Californian bungalows in the church ridge-top precinct were the homes of the Camden elite in the early 20^th century. The precinct is the site of Macarthur Park (1905), which was dedicated to the townsfolk by Elizabeth Macarthur Onslow and contained the town’s World War One cenotaph (donated by the Macarthur family).

John Street heritage precinct

John Street runs north-south downhill to the floodplain from the commanding position of St John’s church. Lower John Street is the location of the Italianate house Macaria (c1842), St Paul’s Catholic church and the government buildings associated with the Camden police barracks (1878) and courthouse (1857), and Camden Public School (1851). This area also contains the oldest surviving Georgian cottage in the town area, Bransby’s Cottage (1842). Lower John Street has the Camden Temperance Hall (1867), which later served as Camden Fire Station (1916–1993), and the School of Arts (1866), which served as the Camden Town Hall, while the rear of the building was occupied for a time by Camden Municipal Council.

Camden School of Arts located in John Street PReeves c1800s (CIPP)

Volunteerism

Community voluntary organisations have been part of Camden’s life from the town’s foundation. In the late 1800s, they were male-dominated, usually led by the landed gentry, and held informal political power through patronage. James Macarthur sponsored the Camden School of Arts (1865) and Agricultural, Horticultural & Industrial Society (1886), later called the Camden Show Society, while the non-conformists sponsored various lodges and the temperance movement. A small clique of well-off local women established several conservative women’s organisations after Federation. Their social position supported their husbands’ political activities, and the influence of the Macarthur family was felt in these organisations, for example, the Camden Red Cross and Country Women’s Association.

The women of the Camden Red Cross at their weekly street stall in Argyle Street Camden in the 1920s. The women ran the stall for decades and raised thousands of pounds for local and national charities. (Camden Images)

Many men and women from Camden and the district saw military service in the Boer War and later World War One and Two when residents set up local branches of national patriotic funds and civil defence organisations. On the outskirts of the town, there were active defence establishments during World War II, including an airbase, army infantry, and training camps.

Coal mining

Economic prosperity from coal mining in the district’s western part challenged old hierarchies in the postwar years, replacing the old colonially-based rural hegemony. New community organisations like Rotary and later the Chamber of Commerce fostered business networks in the town. The Camden Historical Society (1957) promoted the town’s past and later opened a local museum (1970).

Camden Museum Library building in John Street Camden, where the Blue Plaque with being located, recognising the efforts of the Camden Red Cross sewing circles in both World War One and World War Two. (I Willis, 2008)

Urbanisation

The New South Wales state government decreed that the town would become part of a growth area in the form of ‘new cities’ under the Macarthur Growth Centre Plan (1973), modelled on the British Garden City concept. Increasing urbanisation threatened the town’s identity and the number of community members formed by the Camden Residents’ Action Group (1973).

Mount Annan suburban development, which is part of Sydney’s urban sprawl c2005 (Camden Images)

In 2007 Camden was the administrative centre of the Camden Local Government Area, which had a population of over 51,000 (2006) and an area of 201 square kilometres. The Camden LGA became part of the state government’s Sydney South West Growth Centre, planned to house 500,000 new residents, and is one of Australia’s fastest-growing urban areas.

Wave of nostalgia

Increasing levels of Sydney’s urbanisation have continued, threatened the loss of rural landscapes around the town, and awakened a wave of nostalgia. The NSW state government created the Camden Town Conservation Area (2008) based on the mid-20^th century country town that aimed at preserving the town’s integrity and material fabric.

Macarthur Regional Tourist Promotion by Camden and Campbelltown Councils

Posted 19 September 2022

1920s · Camden · Camden Council · Community identity · Cricket · Cultural Heritage · Entertainment · Football · Heritage · History · Leisure · Local History · Onslow Park · Parks · Place making · Recreation · Second World War · Sport · Storytelling · Uncategorized · War at home

Sunday sport banned in Camden

August 22, 2021August 23, 2021 camdenhistorynotes

The day sport was banned on Onslow Park

Camden has a fine tradition of sport dating back into the 19th century. But one day in 1925 Camden’s civic leaders banned Sunday sport at Onslow Park.

There was no public outcry. There were no protests in the street. It passed without a murmur.

So what prompted this momentous decision?

This view of Onslow Park shows a cricket match being played in background sometime in the 1930s. The two handsome fellows are members of the Whiteman family, one in cricket whites just having a break. (Camden Images)

A letter to Camden Municipal Council in early 1925 from Rev CJ King, rector of St Johns Church, and Rev AH Johnstone, minister at the Camden Methodist Church, complained about a clash between religious services held on Onslow Park and a number of Sunday cricket matches. (Camden News, 26 February 1925)

The 1925 ban Sunday sport erupted after the Camden Mayor, GF Furner, granted permission for religious services on Sundays at Onslow Park. There had subsequently been a clash between local cricketers and religious services in January 1925 using the ground. (Camden News, 26 February 1925)

Originally Onslow Park had been made available to the Camden community by Sir William Macarthur and Mrs Elizabeth Onslow in 1882 from their pastoral property of Camden Park. The 10 acres had been put into a trust (a deed of gift) that allowed the area to be used by ‘inhabitants and visitors to the town and district as a pleasure ground and place of recreation’. The trustees were JK Chisholm, HP Reeves, E Simpson, and F Ferguson. (Camden News, 16 September 1897)

Recreation Grounds

William Theobald writes that recreation grounds date back to the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians around 2000 BC. During Ancient Greek and Roman times these parks and open spaces were the privilege of the elites. In England the story of recreation grounds dates back to the 14^th century when wasteland, or the local village common, reserved for grazing cows was made available for children’s play and ‘young people’ (men) after the days work.

London’s Royal Parks were opened to the public on Sundays with the first being Hyde Park in 1635. Urban recreation grounds were a Victorian innovation in response to the unhealthy aspects of the Industrial Revolution and the desire by Victorians to improve the physical and spiritual well-being of town dwellers. St James Park in London was the first public park opened in 1835.

Pleasure Ground

The concept of a public pleasure ground outlined in the Onslow Park 1882 Deed of Gift dates back to Ancient Romans and usually related to landscaped gardens. In England pleasure grounds were gardens opened for entertainment and recreation from the 18^th century and often had concert halls, bandstands, zoos, amusement rides and menageries.

These were the influences and traditions that encouraged the Macarthur family to dedicate Onslow Park to the Camden community in 1882. The family were always interested in improvements in the well-being of the local population.

This is a Roy Dowle image showing Onslow Park being used for the Camden Show in the early 1920s. (Roy Dowle, Camden Images)

The earliest references to Camden sport on Onslow Park date back to the mid-1890s with local football matches. There was a press report of a lively rugby match between Camden and Campbelltown and consideration was given to the formation of the football club. (Camden News, 13 June 1895)

The Camden cricketers had the use of the grounds on a regular basis with the first reports in the Camden press to cricket being played on Onslow Oval in 1895. (Camden News, 1 August 1895)

Onslow Park Act 1924 (NSW)

The background story of the Sunday sporting bans had been complicated when the responsibility for Onslow Park had been transferred to the council from the Onslow Park Trust and the Camden AH&I Society in 1924 by an act of parliament. The New South Wales government specified in the Act that the ground was to be used for ‘public recreation’ (Onslow Park Act 1924 (NSW)). The ground trust was represented by FA Macarthur Onslow of Camden Park, and the Camden AH&I Society by GM Macarthur Onslow, and TC Barker of Maryland.

The Sunday ban on sport lasted into World War Two and only changed after it was challenged by Camden barber Albert Baker when he established the Camden Soccer Club in 1943. He wanted to encourage Sunday sporting matches between the Camden civilian population and personnel at local defence establishments. These establishments included the RAAF Base at Camden Airfield, the Narellan Army Camp and the Eastern Command Training School at Studley Park, Narellan.

This image of Onslow Park from the 1920s shows a foot race with members of the Boardman family. (V Boardman, Camden Images)

Even earlier war the Sunday sporting ban had remained in place after Rev AE Putland from the Camden Methodist Church had raised objections to Sunday cricket in 1941.(Camden News 13 March 1941)

‘Too hot to handle’

Baker’s challenge to the sporting ban was discussed by Camden Municipal Council in mid-1943 when a rescission motion was placed on the council business papers.

The rescission motion was highly contentious and was considered ‘too hot to handle’ by council aldermen.

The proposed solution was a referendum.

The opposing camps divided on religious lines. The Methodists conducted the ‘No’ campaign and handed out literature in Argyle Street. The ‘Yes’ vote was supported by the soccer club, St John’s Church of England and their supporters. There were heated letters in the Camden News, and George Sidman, its owner and an active Methodist, remained impartial during the whole debate.

Eventually common-sense prevailed and the result was a resounding ‘Yes’, with 393 votes, to 197 ‘No’ votes, and as far as Sidman was concerned that was the end of the matter. The soccer competition between the military and the Camden community proved to be a complete success. (Camden News, 1 July 1943, 15 July 1943, 22 July 1943, 29 July 1943, 5 August 1943.)

Other communities with defence establishments did not have similar problems. For example at Temora RAAF airmen became involved in cricket and tennis, and Women’s Australian Auxiliary Air Force (WAAAF) personnel played basketball, while in Albury the military joined local sporting competitions (Maslin, Wings Over Temora, p. 29; Pennay, On the Home Front, p. 32.).

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Camden’s heritage inventory

March 28, 2021March 28, 2021 camdenhistorynotes2 Comments

Camden heritage mysteries solved

In 2015 I posted an item called ‘Camden’s mysterious heritage list’. In it I complained about the travails of trying to navigate Camden Council’s website to find the Camden heritage inventory. I wrote:

Recently I needed to consult Camden’s heritage inventory list for a research project. I also consulted similar lists for Campbelltown and Wollondilly LGAs. They were easy to find. Camden’s list was mysteriously hiding somewhere. It had to exist. The council is obliged to put one together by the state government. But where was it? Do you know where Camden Council’s heritage inventory is to be found? I did not know. So off I went on a treasure hunt. The treasure was the heritage list.

I am very happy to report that many things have changed since 2015.

Camden Council Heritage Advisory Committee

Today Camden Council has a Heritage Advisory Committee which has taken a lead in promoting heritage in a number of areas.

The committee held its first meeting in August 2018 and the minutes of all meetings are located on the committee website.

Committee member LJ Aulsebrook has written about the activities and role of the committee in Camden History, the journal of the Camden Historical Society.

The Camden Historical Society has an ex-officio position on the Heritage Advisory Committee and the president is the nominee of the society.

One of the outstanding activities of the committee was the 2019 Unlock Camden held during History Week run by the History Council of New South Wales. The Camden event was co-ordinated by LJ Aulesbrook.

Cover of 2019 Unlock Camden Flyer for the event (Camden Council)

The aim of the Heritage Advisory Committee are outlined in the Terms of Reference. The ToR states that the HAC aims :

To promote heritage and community education by:
a) Generating a wider appreciation of heritage through public displays,
seminars, participation in the annual National Trust Heritage festival &
history week;
b) Promoting and coordination of heritage open days;
c) Generating a greater understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal
heritage in Camden Local Government Area;
d) Actively encouraging conservation and maintenance of heritage items
and heritage conservation areas to owners and the general public;
e) Investigating grant opportunities;
f) Investigating opportunities for Council run awards/recognition in
response to good heritage work;
g) Developing a register of local heritage professionals and tradespeople;
and
h) Assisting in developing education packages for information, school
education, and best heritage practices.
https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/assets/pdfs/Planning/Heritage-Advisory-Committee/18-181181-ADOPTED-Heritage-Advisory-Committee-Terms-of-Reference.pdf

What is Camden heritage?

Camden Council defines heritage as

Heritage is something that we have inherited from the past. It informs us of our history as well as giving us a sense of cultural value and identity. Heritage places are those that we wish to treasure and pass on to future generations so that they too can understand the value and significance of past generations.
Heritage makes up an important part of the character of the Camden Local Government Area (LGA). Camden’s heritage comprises of a diverse range of items, places, and precincts of heritage significance. Items, places or precincts may include public buildings, private houses, housing estates, archaeological sites, industrial complexes, bridges, roads, churches, schools, parks and gardens, trees, memorials, lookouts, and natural areas. Heritage significance includes all the values that make that item, place or precinct special to past, present and future generation.
https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/planning/heritage-conservation/

Camden Heritage Inventory

The Camden Heritage Inventory is found on an easily accessible file on the Camden Council webpage here.

There are links within the PPT to the New South Wales State Heritage Register, the NSW Department of Planning Portal and NSW primary spatial data.

The State Heritage Register has a complete listing of local items and those of state significance on the State Heritage Register.

List of 15 Camden properties of state significance on the New South Wales State Heritage Register in 2021 (NSW Government)

In addition Camden Council has set out for general environmental heritage conditions on its website here.

Camden Council has recently offered advice on for owners who want to restore their residential properties along heritage lines. The advice covers materials, colours, and finishes for Victorian, Edwardian and Mid-century residential architectural styles in the Camden Town Conservation area.

Camden Council heritage advice fact sheet for residential properties in Camden Town Centre Conservation Area. (2020, Camden Council)

The Camden Town Centre conservation area was proclaimed by the state government in 2008 and is subject to a range of development conditions.

Australian Historical Association 2007 Regional Conference

Engaging Histories

University of New England, Armidale

23-26 September 2007

Yearning, Longing and The Remaking of Camden’s Identity: the myths and reality of ‘a country town idyll’

Abstract

Article

What is the country town idyll?

The origins of the idyll.

The historical development of the country town idyll and its contemporary use by its supporters

Formalisation of the idyll

Is the idyll still relevant?

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2009 Museums Australia National Conference, Work in Progress. Newcastle, 17 – 20 May 2009.

Day 3 Wednesday 20 May 2009, Session 14.3 Community Partnerships – Help or Hindrance? Concert Hall, Newcastle Town Hall, 11.00am-12.15pm.

Conference Paper

Understanding and Trust

Clear Objectives

Common Goals and Benefits

Evaluation

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

References

Endnotes

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Something to Say art installations

Women artists and their statements of intent

Team leader

Michele Arentz @marentzy

Young women artists

Ayesha Khan @ajk_afflatus

Channie Chu

Eashtha Inavolu

Evie Hay

Jade Stein

Jessica Beck

Karrin Smith-Down

Lana Johnstone

Srihitha Nagella

Rosa Quispe

Concluding Remarks

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Many layers of history

Conservation through adaptative reuse

The former School of Arts

Camden Council takes control

The former Temperance Hall

Camden Fire Station

Camden Museum

Camden Library

References

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The fifth year of Unlock Camden

Where it all began

History Week

Unlock Camden 2019

Covid-19 forces Unlock Camden online in 2020

Unlock Camden 2021 online again

Things look up at Unlock Camden 2022

The legacy

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Art celebrates the Camden White Gum

Sculptures Gillie and Marc

Opening of the administration building in 2016

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Camden Museum and Alan Baker Art Gallery add over $1.7 million annually

What is cultural and heritage tourism?

How important is cultural and heritage tourism?

Cultural and Heritage Tourism in Camden

Storytelling

References

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The private English-style estate village of James and William Macarthur