Category: Cultural Heritage

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  

camdenhistorynotes

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.

Aesthetics · Art · Attachment to place · Belonging · Camden · Camden Art Group · Camden Story · Community identity · Community organisations · Community work · Cultural Heritage · Heritage · Hope and loss · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · localism · Place making · Public art · Sense of place · Storytelling · Volunteering · Volunteerism

‘Baker, The Artist, The Influencer’, the exhibition

camdenhistorynotes

A new gallery exhibition

If you are observant when walking around central Camden, new vibrant posters are publicising a new exhibition at the Alan Baker Art Gallery Macaria in John Street Camden.

A poster to be found in a bus shelter in John Street Camden advertising the exhibition. This poster is of the artist Alan D Baker and provides a colourful addition to passengers using the local bus service. (I Willis, 2023)

The posters are in all sorts of locations.

One of the most interesting is the back wall of the Oxley Street carpark.

An exhibition poster for ‘Baker, The Artist, The Influencer’ located on the rear wall of the Oxley Street carpark. Illustrating that art is for everyone and is accessible to all. The subject of the poster is Alan Baker’s wife, Marjorie. (I Willis, 2023)

The new exhibition is ‘Baker, The Artist, The Influencer’ and runs until September 2023.

 The exhibition is the story of the Camden Art Group, which commenced sometime in 1972.

The art group started with local school teacher Ken Rorke. He was an art teacher at Camden Public School from 1961 to 1981.

As a keen artist, Ken asked artist Alan Baker to teach a Wednesday night class, which he refused, but he agreed to provide ‘advice and an expert hand’.

The experiences of the Wednesday night art group were quite varied and prompted some individuals to further their art careers.

An exhibition poster of ‘Baker The Artist The Influencer’ using one of his works ‘The Master’s Student’, which was completed at the Wednesday night Camden Art Group session in 1975. The poster is located in the laneway at the rear of the Oxley Street carpark and brightens up an otherwise drab masonry wall. (I Willis, 2023)

The exhibition catalogue states:

Camden Art Group was comprised of a mix of people from all walks of life. There were local business people, high school students, teachers, mothers, fathers, forestry workers – anyone with an interest in art was welcomed and found a place for themselves among the friendly group.

The art group, usually consisting of an attendance of about 20 artists, fostered the creative talents of many people who have gone on to bigger and better things.

Alan Baker’s role was to be ‘an inspiring and charismatic force for the class’. (Ahmad, et al, 2018)

Rizwana found it interesting to compare her training in South Asian training with Alan Baker’s Realist technique and style. (Ahmad, et al, 2018)

Some were encouraged to extend their professional interest in art after being discouraged early in life. (Ahmad, et al, 2018)

The displayed artworks at the Alan Baker Art Gallery Macaria in John Street, Camden. These are some of the works from the Camden Art Group. (I Willis, 2023)

There were other benefits from the art group included lifelong friendships, opportunities for professional development, the development of a collegiate artistic atmosphere, mentoring of local artistic talent, the creation of a thriving arts community that encouraged creativity, and several participants’ lives that were changed by art. (Ahmad, et al, 2018)

Baker, mentor, artist, and local identity encouraged the art group members to experiment and use a range of styles and materials, and their work is displayed alongside Baker’s art in the exhibition.

The exhibition catalogue states:

Sleek sculptures in stone and wood, commemorative busts, traditional oil paintings, drawings, and expressive watercolours hand side by side. These works showcase the impressive body of work created by the Camden Art Group in the years of the group meetings and, continuing beyond Baker’s death, into the present day.

This artwork called ‘An Artists Life’ portrays the Camden Art Group busily at work in one of the classrooms at Camden Public School. Ken Rorke instigated the formation of the art group and invited Alan Baker to teach the class, which he refused to do. Instead, he offered to attend the group sessions and provide advice and an expert hand. He did this from 1972 until his death in 1987. Some of the participant artists of the group are listed, and their work is displayed in the exhibition. This work is located just inside the front door of the gallery. (I Willis 2023)

The Camden art group’s ground-breaking influence and its collegiate atmosphere is still evident today.

Exhibitions of artwork by Baker and others create an atmosphere that fosters creativity and innovation. Art can catalyse economic activity, leading to new businesses and job opportunities.

References

Gallery 2023, Baker, The Artist, The Influencer. Alan Baker Art Gallery Macaria, Camden.

Ian Willis 2018, ‘Alan Baker, the artist’. Camden History, September, vol 4, no 6, pp242-247.

Rizwana Ahmad, Patricia Johnston, Olive McAleer, Shirley Rorke, Nola Tegel, and John Wrigley, 2018, ‘Alan Baker Art Classes’. Camden History, September, vol 4, no 6, 248-257.

Ian Willis, 2018, ‘Alan Baker Art Gallery opening, a brush of class’. Camden History Notes Blog, Camden, 5 March. Online at https://camdenhistorynotes.com/2018/03/05/alan-baker-art-gallery-macaria-opening/

20th century · Anzac · Art · Attachment to place · Belonging · Camden Story · Craft · Crafts · Cultural Heritage · Cultural icon · Cultural plantings · Design · Family history · Festivals · History · History of Emotion · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · localism · Memorial · Memorialisation · Memorials · Memory · Metaphor · Military history · Modernism · Monuments · Patriotism · Place making · Propaganda · Second World War · Sense of place · Sewing · Stereotypes · Storytelling · Symbolism · Uncategorized · Volunteering · Volunteerism · War · War at home · Wartime · Women's diaries · Women's history · World War One

Red Flanders poppies, a field of memories

camdenhistorynotes

A flower honours the dead

The red Flanders poppy appeared in Camden in recent years when local identity Frances Warner was inspired to crochet them for Anzac Day in 2013. Frances was inspired by the efforts of two Melbourne women, Lyn Berry and Margaret Knight, who had organised the 5000 Poppies Project. They initiated the project to pay tribute to their fathers’ military service in World War Two, triggering a massive community outpouring of emotions, memories, and commemorations. Frances’ efforts were part of this response.

Wreaths with artificial poppies for the 2023 Anzac Day Ceremony in Camden from Camden Florist (CF 2023)

What is the significance of the red Flanders poppy?

The red Flanders poppies were among the first plants to spring up in the battlefields of northern France and Belgium after the war. Soldiers’ folklore said that the vivid red came from the blood of their fallen comrades.

The poppy symbolises many cultural mythologies, from remembrance to sacrifice, dreams, regeneration, and imagination. In Christianity, the red of the poppy symbolises the blood of Christ and his sacrifice on the cross. The Roman poet Virgil used poppies as a metaphor to describe fallen warriors in his epic tale, the Aeneid, written around 25 BC. (https://www.uniguide.com/poppy-flower-meaning-symbolism)

The Anzac Portal website states that Canadian medic John McCrae recalled the red poppies on soldiers’ graves who died on the Western Front and wrote the poem ‘In Flanders Field’. He wrote the poem whilst serving in Ypres in 1915, and it was published in Punch magazine after being rejected by The Spectator. (https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/why-we-wear-poppies-on-remembrance-day)

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae (1915)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47380/in-flanders-fields

Red poppies growing in the fields at Flanders remind the community of the soldiers’ lives lost in battle during World War One on the Western Front. (2023, Narellan Town Centre)

In response to In Flanders Fields, American humanitarian and teacher Moina Michael was so moved by the poem that she pledged to ‘keep the faith’ and scribbled down on an envelope ‘We Shall Keep The Faith’ in 1918.

We Shall Keep the Faith

by Moina Michael, November 1918

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet – to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We’ll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.

Moina Micheal used the poppy symbol to raise funds for US ex-servicemen returning from World War One and was known as ‘The Poppy Lady’.  (http://www.greatwar.co.uk/people/moina-belle-michael.htm)

Australia

In Australia, the Returned Soldiers and Sailors Imperial League of Australia (RSS&ILA) first sold poppies for Armistice Day in 1921. The League imported one million silk poppies made in French orphanages. The RSL continues to sell poppies on Remembrance Day to assist its welfare work. (https://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/customs-and-ceremony/poppies)

People place a red poppy next to a soldier’s name on the AWM Roll of Honour ‘as a personal tribute’. This practice began in 1993 at the internment of the Unknown Australian Soldier. (https://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/customs-and-ceremony/poppies)

This image shows poppies on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. (K Alchin, 2021)

United Kingdom

Poppies are used in remembrance all over the world. In the United Kingdom, the white poppy represents an international symbol of remembrance for all casualties of war, civilians and armed forces personnel, and peace.

Artificial poppies were first sold in the UK in 1921 to raise funds for ex-servicemen and their families for the Earl Haig Fund supplied by Anna Guérin in France, who had manufactured them to raise funds for war orphans. It proved so popular that the British Legion started a factory in 1922 staffed by disabled ex-servicemen to produce their own.

The Imperial War Museum website states:

Other charities sell poppies in different colours, each with their own meaning but all to commemorate the losses of war. White poppies, for example, symbolise peace without violence and purple poppies are worn to honour animals killed in conflict.

(https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/why-we-wear-poppies-on-remembrance-day)

 Melbourne’s 5000 Poppies Project

The 5000 Poppies Project started when Lyn Berry and Margaret Knight set out to crochet around 120 poppies to ‘plant’ at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance in 2013 to honour their fathers’ memory. Wal Beasley (14/32nd Battalion – Australian Imperial Forces) and Stan Knight (Queen’s Own West Kent Regiment – British Army). (https://5000poppies.wordpress.com/about/)

 The 5000 Poppy Project has had art installations on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance (2017, 2019) and in Canberra at the Australian War Memorial and Parliament House (2017). The 5000 Poppies Project has gone international with an installation at London’s Chelsea Flower Show in 2016. (ttps://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show/2016/articles/a-field-of-poppies-at-chelsea)

Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance with the art installation of 5000 Poppies in 2017 (5000 Poppies)

The 5000 Poppies project has become an international tribute of respect and remembrance to those who have served in all wars, conflicts, peacekeeping operations, their families, and communities. (https://5000poppies.wordpress.com/about/ )

Frances Warner’s Red Poppy Project

Frances Warner has crocheted hundreds of red poppies, sold them for fundraising, and co-ordinated art installations with knitted poppies. All commemorating the memory of local men and women who have served our country in times of conflict and peace.

 Frances said that one red poppy takes around 45 minutes to crochet, and she estimates that she has knitted over 650. She has voluntarily contributed approximately 480 hours of her time, and she is not finished yet by a long way.

Frances says she is very ordinary yet has done an extraordinary job. Frances joins a long list of local women who have volunteered thousands of hours to honour the service of local men and women who have served in conflict and peacekeeping.

Knitted poppies made by Frances Warner (F Warner 2023)
Art · Artists · Australian Botanic Gardens Mount Annan · Belonging · Community identity · Cowpastures · Crafts · Cultural Heritage · Cultural icon · Cumberland Plain · Cumberland Plain Woodland · Dharawal · Heritage · History · Indigenous Heritage · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · Memorial · Memory · Place making · Public art · Sense of place · Storytelling · Trees · Uncategorized · Wayfinding

Life Blood, public art at the Australia Botanic Gardens

camdenhistorynotes1 Comment

Artwork at the Herbarium

On the forecourt of the Herbarium at the Australian Botanic Garden is an artwork celebrating the heritage of Indigenous culture.

Artists Susan Grant, Natalie Valiente and Codie Leed Evans developed artwork installed in 2023 after the conceptualisation and design work. The images were sandblasted into the concrete on the Herbarium forecourt. The work was supported by the New South Wales Government.

The artwork Life Blood has been sandblasted into the concrete forecourt of the Herbarium at the Australian Botanic Gardens, Mount Annan, NSW (I Willis, 2023)

The artwork celebrates the Cumberland Plains Woodland that once covered the Cowpastures. The work directly connects science, the natural world, and the heritage of the local Indigenous peoples, the Dharawal, Darug, and Gundungurra.

The central concept and motif in the artwork is the eucalyptus tree, which becomes the Life Blood of the Indigenous peoples.

The artists were inspired by looking at a eucalyptus tree under a microscope and viewing the veins in the leaves.

In the work’s development stages, the artists held workshops and information sessions seeking input.

The site of the Australian Botanic Garden was a meeting place for the Indigenous peoples and was considered an appropriate location for the artwork.

Susan Grant writes:

We have a spiritual connection whenever we are in the botanical gardens, which  influences our design and artwork, connecting us back to the land.

Reference

Susan Grant and Natalie Valiente 2023, ‘Artwork ‘Life Blood’ at The Australian Botanic Gardens’. Camden History, the Journal of the Camden Historical Society, Vol. 5 no. 5, March, pp. 225-233.

Youtube: Life Blood

1920s · 1930s · 20th century · Agriculture · Argyle Street · Attachment to place · Belonging · British colonialism · Built heritag · Camden · Camden Story · Collective Memory · Colonialism · Commemoration · Community identity · Country town · Cowpastures · Cultural Heritage · Dharawal · Historical consciousness · Historical Research · Historical thinking · Historiography · History · Legends · Local History · Local Studies · Macarthur · Memorial · Memorialisation · Memorials · Memory · Monuments · Mysteries · Myths · Newspapers · Pioneers · Place making · Regionalism · Ruralism · Sense of place · Settler colonialism · Settler Society · Small communities · Stereotypes · Storytelling · Tourism · Urban growth · Urban history · Volunteering

The Camden Story: the historiography of the history of the country town of Camden NSW

camdenhistorynotes

Journal Article Review

‘Making Camden History: local history and untold stories in a small community’. ISAA Review, Journal of the Independent Scholars Association of Australia. Special Edition, Historiography. Volume 19, Number 1, 2023, pp. 23-38.

The history of telling the story of a small community has been interpreted in different ways at different times in the past by different historians.

This area of study is called the historiography.

This is an aerial image of the country town of Camden in the 1940s with St John’s Church on the ridge overlooking the town and the Nepean River floodplain. The Macarthur family-funded church is the community’s soul and was constructed shortly after the private town was established by the Macarthur family at the river crossing into Camden Park Estate. (Camden Images)

I have recently published an article on the historiography of the small country town of Camden, NSW.

The Camden township is located 65 kilometres southwest of the Sydney CBD and, in recent years, has been absorbed by Sydney’s urban growth.

The main streets are a mix of Victorian, Edwardian and interwar architecture comprising commercial, government and domestic buildings.

The town site was originally the entry point into what became Governor King’s Cowpasture Reserve at the Nepean River crossing, part of the lands of the Dharawal people, which then called Benkennie.

Jill Wheeler argues that while local histories are embedded in a long storytelling tradition, new understandings inform our interpretation in a contemporary context.

The historiography of the history of a small country town demonstrates the shifting nature of storytelling and how different actors interpret the past.

This article seeks to examine some of what Wheeler calls ‘the other’ by looking beyond the conventional history of Camden as found in newspapers, journals, monuments, celebrations, commemorations and other places.

I have written an article about the making of the history of Camden NSW to illustrate and explore these issues.

Click here to learn more

This is the cover of my Pictorial History Camden & District, which tells the Camden story in words and pictures. The book is a brief account of the main events, characters and institutions that were part of the Camden township from its foundation to the present, as well as the Indigenous story in pre-European times and the foundation of the Cowpastures Reserve.
Attachment to place · Belonging · Blue Plaques · Camden Red Cross · Camden Story · Cultural Heritage · Cultural icon · First World War · Historical consciousness · History · Local History · Local Studies · Memorial · Memory · Military history · Myths · Philanthropy · Pioneers · Place making · Red Cross · Second World War · Sense of place · Storytelling · Volunteering · Volunteerism · War · War at home · Wartime · Women's history · World War One

Blue Plaque recognises Camden Red Cross sewing circle in wartime

camdenhistorynotes

Camden Red Cross sewing circles during the First and Second World Wars

The wartime efforts of Camden women have been officially recognised for the first time by the successful nomination for a New South Wales Blue Plaque with Heritage NSW. Camden Red Cross women volunteers thousands of hours of their time and skill to provide requisites for military hospitals for wounded Australian soldiers.

The announcement appeared in the Sydney press with 17 other successful nominations for a Blue Plaque across the state. They include notable people and events in their local area.

The Blue Plaque on the front of the former Camden Town Hall. The plaque celebrates and remembers the service of the Camden Red Cross sewing circles women who donated thousands of hours of their effort and skills to supply hospital requisites for the soldiers and military hospitals in the First and Second World Wars. (I Willis, 2023)

What is being recognised?

The Blue Plaque officially recognised for the first time the Camden Red Cross patriotic wartime sewing circles at the Camden School of Arts (later the Camden Town Hall, now the Camden Library) – 1914-1918, 1940-1946. This is the only recognition of this type of Red Cross wartime activity anywhere in Australia.

The Sidman women volunteer their time and effort during the First World War for the Camden Red Cross. Patriotic fundraising supporting the war at home was significant, raising thousands of pounds. This type of effort was quite in all communities across Australia and the rest of the British Empire. (Camden Images and Camden Museum)

The story of the Camden Red Cross sewing circles

The Camden Red Cross sewing circles were one of Camden women’s most important voluntary patriotic activities during World War One and World War Two. The sewing circles started at the Camden School of Arts in 1914 and, due to lack of space, moved to the Foresters’ Hall on Argyle Street in 1918. At the outbreak of the Second World War, sewing circles reconvened in 1940 at the Camden Town Hall on John Street (the old School of Arts building – the same site as the First World War)

These sewing circles were workshops where Camden women volunteered and manufactured supplies for Australian military hospitals, field hospitals and casualty clearing stations. They were held weekly on Tuesdays, sale days in the Camden district.

Sewing circles were ‘quasi-industrial production lines’ where Camden women implemented their domestic skills to aid the war at home. Camden women cut out, assembled, and sewed together hospital supplies, including flannel shirts, bed shirts, pyjamas, slippers, underpants, feather pillows, bed linen, handkerchiefs, and kit bags. The workshops were lent several sewing machines in both wars.

The sewing circles also coordinated knitting and spinning for bed socks, stump socks, mufflers, balaclava caps, mittens, and cholera belts (body binders). The women also made ‘hussifs’ or sewing kits for the soldiers.  The sewing circles attracted 80-100 women weekly during the First World War. The list of items was strikingly consistent for hospital supplies for both wars, with the only significant addition during the Second World War being the knitted pullovers and cardigans.

The production output of the Camden women was prodigious. Between 1914 and 1918, Camden Red Cross sewing circle women made over 20,300 articles tallied to over 40,000 volunteer hours.  Between 1940 and 1946, during World War Two, women made over 25,000 articles, totalling over 45,000 voluntary hours.

The operation of the sewing circles was fully funded through the fundraising of Camden Red Cross and community donations.  In 1917 alone, over 95% of branch fundraising was dedicated to these activities.

In World War One, other Red Cross sewing circles in the Camden district were at The Oaks, Camden Park, Theresa Park, and Middle Burragorang. During World War Two, other centres across the local area included Bringelly-Rossmore, Menangle, Narellan, and The Oaks. Each group independently funded its activities.

These patriotic voluntary activities by Camden women were part of the war at home and have received little recognition at a local, state or national level. Wartime sewing and knitting have been kept in the shadows for too long. There needs to be a public acknowledgement of the patriotic effort of these women.

The placement of the plaque

The Blue Plaque was installed on the front of the Camden Library building in 2022 at 40 John Street Camden. This building was formerly the Camden Town Hall and the Camden School of Arts. The women of the Camden Red Cross used the town hall as the centre of their sewing effort in the First and Second World Wars to supply hospital requisites for soldiers and military hospitals. (I Willis, 2023)

The Blue Plaque was placed on the front of the former Camden School of Arts – later called the Camden Town Hall (1939-1945),then converted to offices in 1964 and now the Camden Library.

Camden School of Arts from 1866 to 1963 (PReeves/Camden Images)

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

Official recognition is long overdue

The official recognition of the wartime effort and skills of Camden women using their domestic arts and crafts in the patriotic service of Australia has taken over 75 years. This small acknowledgement of the wartime service of the Camden Red tells the story of ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances and has been long overdue.

Acknowledgement by the Member for Camden Peter Sidgreaves MP

This is an article from the newsletter from Peter Sidgreaves MP Member for Camden, where he has given official acknowledgement of the wartime patriotic service of Camden Red Cross women (Newsletter November 2022, Issue 14)

What is a Blue Plaque?

The Heritage NSW website states:

The Blue Plaques program aims to capture public interest and fascination in people, events and places that are important to the stories of NSW.

The Blue Plaques program celebrates NSW heritage by recognising noteworthy people and events from our state’s history.

The aim of the program is to encourage people to explore their neighbourhood and other parts of NSW and connect with people of the past, historical moments and rich stories that matter to communities and have shaped our state.

The program is inspired by the famous London Blue Plaques program run by English Heritage which originally started in 1866, and similar programs around the world.

“Behind every plaque, there is a story.”

The essence of the Blue Plaques program is the storytelling. A digital story will be linked to each plaque.

The Blue Plaques should tell stories that are interesting, fun, quirky along with more sombre stories that should be not be forgotten as part of our history.

English Heritage and Blue Plaques in the United Kingdom

The New South Wales Blue Plaques were based on the English model, and the English Heritage website states:

London’s blue plaques scheme, run by English Heritage, celebrates the links between notable figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived and worked. Founded in 1866, it has inspired many similar schemes in the UK and around the world.

Camden Red Cross Blue Plaque installation

Dr Ian Willis organised the paperwork through the office of the local Member for Camden Peter Sidgreaves MP, for the installation of the Blue Plaque. The competitive process meant only around 17 sites were chosen for plaques from around 70 applications across New South Wales for this round. The installation occurred on 14 October 2022. (I Willis, 2022)

Reference

Ian Willis, Ministering Angels, The Camden District Red Cross 1914-1945. Camden Historical Society, Camden, 2014.

Updated 24 April 2023. Originally posted 18 April 2022.

1968 Sydney Region Outline Plan · 1973 New Cities Campbelltown Camden Appin Structure Plan · Advertising · Attachment to place · Built heritag · Community identity · Cultural Heritage · Elderslie · Heritage · History · Land releases · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · Place making · rural-urban fringe · Storytelling · Uncategorized · Urban development · Urban growth · Urban history · Urban Planning · urban sprawl · Urbanism

Elderslie land releases 2000-2023, the background and fancy estate names

camdenhistorynotes

Elderslie part of Sydney’s strategic growth

The Elderslie area has been identified in Sydney’s strategic growth plans for land releases on the metropolitan rural-urban fringe. It is a valuable exercise to see how and when Elderslie was identified as part of Sydney’s planning framework.

Elderslie was not part of the NSW Government’s first attempt at town planning with the 1948 County of Cumberland Planning Scheme. A greenbelt surrounded the metropolitan area, and Elderslie was beyond it and not destined for the development. The scheme was prescriptive and met with significant opposition, including local government and the development industry, and the scheme was dissolved in 1963.

The County of Cumberland Planning Scheme flyer 1948 (City of Syd Archives)

The Elderslie area was included in the next planning iteration with the Askin Government’s 1968 Sydney region: Outline plan 1970-2000 A.D.: a strategy for development. This plan led to the 1973 New Cities of Campbelltown Camden Structure Plan and the Commonwealth Government’s Macarthur Growth Centre. This plan offered flexibility and changes and turned into a developer’s dream. Sydney’s urban sprawl continued to spread, and nothing much eventuated at Elderslie. (Ashton & Freestone 2008)

The first hint of real change at Elderslie occurred with the third strategic plan: the 1988 Sydney into its third century: a metropolitan strategy for the Sydney region. This plan envisaged that Sydney’s growth would be contained in newly developing areas along the transport routes: Northwest, Southwest, Bringelly and Central Coast, with higher densities to consolidate Sydney’s growth. (SRANSW 1995) These plans resulted in suburbia encroaching on the boundaries of Elderslie with the development of Mount Annan, Narellan Vale, Harrington Park and surrounding suburbs.

Air pollution and water quality issues in the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment further postponed the rezoning of land in the Elderslie area beyond 1990. (BBC Consulting) Meanwhile, another new metropolitan plan appeared in 1995, Cities for the 21st Century.

The Elderslie Urban Release Area was identified by the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning in 1995 under the 1980 Urban Development Program managed by the department. (BBC Consulting 1998) At the time, the department was looking for opportunities to drive Sydney’s urban growth (SRANSW 1995) and the identification and coordination of new residential land. (BBC Consulting 1998)  The Elderslie Release Area consisted of 180 hectares, and it was envisaged that the area might yield 2800 lots, which was revised down to 1700 lots. (BBC Consulting 1998)

Sydney’s strategic planning was further updated with the 1998 Shaping Our Cities. This plan called for higher densities with familiar themes of better integration of land use and transport and promotion of suburban activity centres with a more explicit concern with urban design at a regional scale. (Ashton & Freestone 2008)

In 2000 the state government identified the Elderslie Urban Release Area for redevelopment under  NSW Urban Development Program. The Elderslie area was zoned rural then, with a minimum subdivision of 40 ha. (Godden, Mackay and Logan 2001)

An article from the Camden press about the Elderslie Urban Land Release in 2000 by the NSW Government (The District Reporter, 3 November 2000)

The 180 ha. Elderslie Release Area was developed as part of the Camden Local Environmental Plan No 117 when it was put on public display in 2000 to replace the Camden LEP No 46. The LEP described the desired character of the area in a list of planning controls and was legislated in 2004. (Godden, Mackay and Logan 2001)

Elderslie was within the South West Growth Centre as part of the 2005 City of Cities: a plan for Sydney’s future metropolitan strategy of the state government. The plan reflected familiar urban planning themes of the end of sprawl with a more compact city, higher densities, sub-regional centred, transport integration and urban design. (Ashton & Freestone 2008)

Elderslie land releases

The names given Elderslie land releases range from the commodification of the rural aesthetic of the local area to a  locality name, names of local identities or hints of the historical past.

1999 Elderslie

The Elderslie land release in 1999 (Macarthur Advertiser, 25 August 1999)

2000-2014 Elderslie Masterplan and community meetings

2004-2007 Camden Acres

The cover of the Camden Acres land release in 2004 (Camden Acres)

2005-2014 The Ridges

A flyer from the developer of The Ridges land release in 2006 (The Ridges AV Jennings)

2007-2014  Vantage Point

2008-2009  Camden Hillside

2009  Mount View Estate

2010 Elderslie Estate

2010-2012  Hillcrest

2011-2013  Merino

2012-2013  Camden Heights

2013  Studley Park

2016  Franzman Ave

2017 Lodges Road

2017-2023 Argyle

Screenshot of The Argyle land release in 2023 (The Argyle)

References

BBC Consulting 1998, Elderslie Open Space and Social Plan. Camden Council, Camden.

State Records Authority of NSW 1995, Department of Environment and Planning (1980- 1988) Department of Planning [I](1988-1995). Online at https://researchdata.edu.au/department-environment-planning-i1988-1995/164536 Viewed 18 April 2023.

Ashton, Paul, Freestone, Robert, Planning, Dictionary of Sydney, 2008, http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/planning, viewed 18 Apr 2023

Godden, Mackay and Logan 2001, Elderslie Urban Release Area Heritage Assessment. Camden Council, Camden.

Aesthetics · Art · Artists · Belonging · Colonialism · Community identity · Community work · Crafts · Cultural Heritage · Design · Education · Elyard Reserve, Narellan · Heritage · History · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · Memorialisation · Memorials · Narellan · Parks · Place making · Public art · Sense of place · Settler colonialism · Settler Society · Storytelling · Tourism · Urban Planning · Urbanism

Narellan Community Mosaic Project: art in the park

camdenhistorynotes1 Comment

Narellan Community Mosaic Project 2005

Walking from the Narellan Library carpark to Elyard Street along the paths next to the creek, you will pass one of Narellan’s public art installations – the Narellan Community Mosaic Project.

This image shows the extent of the Narellan Community Mosaic Project with its concentric rings of mosaic tiles creating a spectacle for the observer of the past and present in the Narellan area. (I Willis, 2023)

Public art installations in Narellan have received little attention and are hidden in plain sight. Other public art installations in the Narellan area include the Cowpastures Story, a mosaic bench, and a Goanna on the loose,

The Narellan Community Mosaic Project art installation is easy to miss as it blends in with the lawn and park landscape of Elyard Reserve. Maybe that was the intention of the artists. The work was commissioned by Camden Council through funding from the New South Wales Department of Planning.

The art installation uses mosaic tiles to represent the area’s past and present. The artwork adds to the character and placemaking of the Narellan Library Civic Space on Elyard Street, Narellan.

Mosaic Artwork

The installation is a series of concentric rings using storytelling to tell the Narellan story. The story starts at the centre with Indigenous Australians. As you move out from the centre, the artwork is a timeline through history, representing the present in the outer rings.

The centre of the artwork has stylised figures representing First Australian’s art, the oldest art on the continent, around a five-pointed star, possibly a metaphor for the Southern Cross from the southern skies. This section contains stylised stick figures representing activities from the past and present – a mother walking her dog, shopping, gardening, and mowing the grass, a BBQ, and more traditional Indigenous figures.  

The centre circle of the Narellan Community Mosaic project with a five-pointed star perhaps represents the stars of the Southern Cross, with its stylised figure reminiscent of the traditional art of the First Australians. (I Willis, 2023)

Moving outwards from the centre, there are representations of European settlement patterns crisscrossed by roadways. Here the ring is divided into different periods from the colonial settler society past to the present.

These inner rings are encircled by a further round of local places of significance in the Narellan area. They include Harrington Park House, Narellan Railway Station, Struggletown, Burton Arms Inn (1830), St Thomas Church (1861), St Thomas Chapel, Ben Linden and Bullock teams.

The outer circle shown here illustrates the historic sites of the Narellan area. The Harrington Park house is in the centre of the image, with the 20th-century house Ben Linden on the left and Bullock teams on the right of the centre. The inner circle represents European settlement from the time of a settler society to the 21st century. (I Willis, 2023)

The outer ring of mosaic tiles is divided into segments celebrating agriculture, cultural activities, flora and fauna, and a wayfinding activity. The edge of the artwork is tiled with details of local children who contributed to its creation and design.

In the outer area of the artwork are three metal benches supported by metaphorical books representing the site as a place of learning for the community. The seating is a popular spot for some to have their lunch break during their busy day, have a break and take in the bookish environment.

A local worker enjoying the ambience of the Narellan Community Mosaic Project in their lunch break, taking in the bookish atmosphere of the environment provided by the adjacent Narellan Library building. (I Willis, 2023)

Contributing artists

The contributing artists to the installation all have a strong track record and are well respected in their fields.

This mosaic tile gives credit to the artists involved in creating the art installation and the details of the commissioning authorities. (I Willis, 2023)

Project Co-ordination -Marla Guppy from Guppy & Associates

Marla’s biography on her website states:

Marla Guppy is a cultural planner and public art strategist. Over the last twenty years she has worked on a range of projects that explore social environments and identity. She has a particular interest in fostering creative involvement in the design of local environments and public buildings. She has considerable experience in working with specific communities of interest and has worked collaboratively with corporate and community organisations and creative industries.

Project artist – Cynthia Turner

Turner’s  biography on the Design & Art Australia website states that Cynthia started working on mosaics when Kids Activities Newtown asked her to work on a mosaic at the Enmore Swimming Pool after seeing a mosaic-covered seat in her garden.

This would turn out to be the start of a successful career as a public artist specialising in designing and making mosaic artworks for streetscapes, parks, community centres and schools. Turner’s artworks can be found in Sydney, Wollongong, Dubbo and Tasmania. Most are public artworks commissioned by local councils and can be seen in the form of public benches, mosaic walls and footpaths; they all feature mosaic surfaces. Turner has used a variety of materials in these mosaics, such as handmade tiles, broken ceramic tiles, sheeted glass tiles and cut stained glass.

Ceramic artist – Christine Yardley

Heritage artist – George Sayers

George Sayers worked as a commercial artist in Great Britain before he came to Australia in 1964. He works in most mediums: oil, watercolour, drawing, pastel and etching.

Sayers has taken an interest in the historic buildings and landscapes of the Cowpastures area and more contemporary scenes of the Camden area. He published Views of Camden and Surrounding Areas in 1996.

 Henryk Topolnicki  from Art is an Option

Working as a sculptor, Henryk created artworks based on his skills as an accomplished blacksmith, woodworker and welder.

The Art is an Option website states:

Private commissions and public artworks by Henryk have a distinctive level of delicate-often relating to natural forms such as insects or birds-requiring a very fine level of craftsmanship by the artist.

Art is an Option contributed to other artworks in the Narellan Library Civic Space in 2006 called the Cowpasture Story consisting of a  ‘Sculptural Mobiles & Screen’ and jointly commissioned by Camden Council and Narellan Rotary Club.

Narellan Community Mosaic Project shortly after its installation in 2006. (Art is an Option)

Updated on 2 May 2023. Originally posted on 17 April 2023.

20th century · Aesthetics · Architecture · Built heritag · Collective Memory · Community identity · Cultural Heritage · Domestic Architecture · Elderslie · Heritage · History · History of a house · Housing · Local History · Local Studies · Memory · Mid-century modernism · Modernism · Place making · Sense of place · Storytelling · Urban development · Urban growth · Urban Planning · Urbanism

The Hennings House: lost mid-century modernism in Camden

camdenhistorynotes

64-66 Macarthur Road

The ranch-style Henning House was set back high on the ridge in Elderslie across two building allotments and a good example of mid-century modernism.

Fronting Macarthur Road, the prominent position provided an appropriate site for the handsome residence of the Camden business family Peter and Barbara Hennings.

The house’s integrity remained intact until its demolition in 2011 to make way for a preschool.

Built in 1960, the Hennings House was one of the first residences of several houses on the Bruchhauser farm subdivision along Macarthur Road. (Hennings 2010)

The Hennings House, 64-66 Macarthur Road, Elderslie. The integrity of the house was still intact before its demolition in 2011. (I Willis, 2010)

The Hennings House was one of several ranch-style residences in Elderslie.

Ranch style housing

Architect Robert Irving has noted the housing style as an Australian domestic architecture. Parramatta City Council has recognised the housing style of heritage significance. 

The ranch-style house is an example of mid-century modernism.

The original house style came from California and the South-west of the USA, where architects in these areas designed the first suburban ranch-style houses in the 1920s and 1930s. They were simple one-storey houses built by ranchers who lived on the prairies and in the Rocky Mountains. 

The American architects liked the simple form that reflected the casual lifestyle of these farming families. After the Second World War, several home builders in California offered a streamlined, slimmed-down version. They were built on a concrete slab without a basement with pre-cut sections. 

The design allowed multi-function spaces, for example, living-dining rooms and eat-in-kitchen, which reduced the number of walls inside the house. The design was one of the first to orient the kitchen/family area towards the backyard rather than facing the street. 

The design also placed the bedrooms at the front of the house. The marketing of the ranch-style house tapped popular American fascination with the Old West. (Washington Post, 30 December 2006)

The Hennings House

Bracken ferns covered the site when the Hennings bought the two blocks and then filled the site to provide the house with an elevated position with a stone batter to the garage end of the house.

The wide frontage ranch-style house was set back on the double block in a high position, which is uncommon in Elderslie, although typical of this style elsewhere in Sydney (Parramatta Development Control Plan 2005).

Peter Hennings has always been interested in design and was careful in selecting the plans for the house. The couple were in their early 20s when they built the house.

The front of The Henning House, 64-66 Macarthur Road, Elderslie. The house’s integrity had not been compromised before its demolition in 2011. (I Willis, 2011)

The builder, Ron McMillan and Sons of Camden, had a catalogue, and the Hennings chose the house design from amongst those. 

According to Peter Hennings, the design of the house was considered relatively modern. (Hennings 2010)

The house was an open-planned three-bedroom double-brick ranch-style residence. The house had 10-foot ceilings, a stone fireplace, timber sash windows and a separate bathroom and toilet.

This image shows the detail of the timber-sash windows, front door and verandah of The Hennings House, 64-66 Macarthur Road, Elderslie. (I Willis, 2011)

There was a detached garage completed after the house was built. 

The lounge room had two pairs of ¼ inch-bevel glass doors and two single glass bevel doors. 

The site’s street frontage had a 1960 front fence of Chromatex bricks, and several mature trees added to the site’s aesthetic quality. (Hennings 2010)

The Hennings sold the house in 1980 to Dr Charles McCalden, who had a medical practice in Hill Street, Camden. He moved away from Camden in the mid-1980s.  

In recent years (1999-2009), the house was owned by school principals Joan and Frank Krzysik. 

The 1960 front fence of Chromatex bricks in original condition on the Macarthur Road frontage of the Hennings House, 64-66 Macarthur Road, Elderslie. (I Willis, 2011)

Kalinda, a Whiteman house

The state government’s 2000 Elderslie Urban Release Area plan resulted in the demolition of Kalinda, another ranch-style house. The timber-constructed home was located off Lodges Road Elderslie and owned by Andrew Whiteman. 

The Whiteman House Kalinda was high on the ridge with a pleasant outlook facing west over the Narellan Creek floodplain. Visitors approached the house from Lodges Road by driving up to the ridge’s top along a narrow driveway. The Whiteman family owned a general store in Camden that operated for nearly a century.

The same ridge was the site of Tarn House, a ranch-style house owned by surgeon Dr Gordon Clowes on Irvine Street, off Lodges Road.

 Other Elderslie mid-century homes

The 1960s Elderslie land releases produced some houses that were an expression of mid-century modernism. The house designs were usually taken from a book of project homes of the day, for example, Lend Lease, and were quite progressive. Some of these homes were built by the miners who worked in the Burragorang coalfields.

Houses in Luker Street are characterised by low-pitched rooves, open planned but restrained design, with lots of natural light streaming in full-length glass panels adjacent to natural timbers and stone. There are also ranch-style houses on River Road with open planning and wide frontages to the street, which some architects designed.

Two blocks of flats on Purcell Street use decorative wrought iron railings. Sunset Avenue in Elderslie is a mix of 1960s modern low-pitched roof open-planned houses interspersed with New South Wales Housing Commission fibro construction homes.

The New South Wales Housing Commission built fibro houses in Elderslie, some located on Burrawong Crescent. Architects, including Robin Boyd, were expressing Australian modernism elsewhere in Australia. Housing developers like Lend Lease commissioned these architects to design their housing estates.  One such development was the Lend-Lease Appletree Estate at Glen Waverley in Melbourne. Another Lend Lease land release and show homes were at their 1962 Kingsdene Estate in Carlingford.

Demolition of The Hennings House

The demolition of The Henning House took place in 2011 in preparation for the preschool construction.

Demolition of The Hennings House at 64-66 Macarthur Road, Elderslie in preparation for the construction of a preschool (I Willis, 2011)

I lodged an objection to the demolition of The Henning House in 2010 Camden Council, which approved the DA for the preschool on the site.

The objection to the demolition was the first time there had been any formal recognition of the heritage value of a post-World War Two domestic architecture style in the Camden LGA.

Peter Hennings said he would have been happy for the house to be preserved. (Macarthur Chronicle, 23 March 2010)

Newspaper article with my image and telling the story of The Hennings House (Macarthur Chronicle, 23 March 2010)

References

Peter & Barbara Hennings, 2010, Camden, Interview, February.

1920s · 1930s · 20th century · Argyle Street · Camden · Camden Story · Collective Memory · Community identity · Cowpastures · Cultural Heritage · Cultural plantings · Dairying · Farming · Gardening · Horticulture · Landscape · Landscape aesthetics · Local Studies · Memorials · Memory · Pepper Trees · Place making · Settler colonialism · Settler Society · Storytelling · Street Trees · Town planning · Urban Planning

Camden pepper trees, a remnant of the past

camdenhistorynotes

Cultural plantings define local landscape

In the 1890s, Camden Municipal Council started beautifying the town area by planting various trees, including peppercorns. These cultural plantings defined the local urban landscape for decades, yet only a handful remain today.

This is a handsome remnant individual specimen located in the Camden town farm area. The graceful weeping nature of the tree is clearly shown here. This site was a former dairy farm, and many pepper trees indicate the sites of former farms and homesteads that have been abandoned. (I Willis, 2023)

Popular nationwide

In Australian Garden History magazine, John Dwyer writes that the pepper tree (Schinus ariera, syn. Schinus molle) or peppercorn tree has been popular nationwide for over 150 years. Originally from the Americas from Mexico to Peru it was first introduced into Australia in the mid-19th century. Country towns across inland New South Wales were supplied with specimens from the 1860s from the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. (Dwyer, 2023)

This is a remnant grove of pepper trees in Exeter Street on the edge of the Camden town centre. Their survival is probably due to their location where they were not a problem to property owners or a traffic hazard. (I Willis, 2023)

Cowpastures colonial gardens

The pepper tree was one of several exotic and hardy ornamental trees that fascinated the colonial Victorians in Camden. Pepper trees could be found in the fine gardens of the Cowpastures gentry estates.

Cowpastures gardens were shaped by various English garden trends and landscape gardeners, arguably the most important being JC Loudon and his gardenesque movement.   (Landarc 1993).

William Macarthur’s Camden Park Nursery from the 1840s and Francis Ferguson’s Australian Nursery from the 1850s catered to these garden trends and sold plant stock throughout Australia and the Pacific. (Landarc 1993)

Ferguson’s Nursery listed pepper trees for sale in the 1890s and oriental planes, pinus insignus, azaleas, and camellias. (Camden News, 12 March 1896)

Town beautification

Town beautification interested Camden’s civic fathers in the late 19th century, and pepper trees made an excellent street tree. (Landarc 1993)

With a ‘graceful habit’ pepper trees have an attractive gnarled trunk, grow to about 9-15 metres, with semi-weeping branches and leaves, and have decorative sprays of tiny rose peppery pink berries which are toxic. (Dwyer, 2023)

Street plantings started in the Camden town area in the mid-1890s, including pepper trees (Camden News, 26 August 1897) and in 1899, the council allocated £10 towards tree planting in Murray Street. (Camden News, 26 June 1899)

St John’s Anglican Church in its hilltop location at the top of John Street Camden. During the 1890s the street was planted with a mixed avenue of pepper trees and monterey pines, and possibly another unidentified species. Each tree was protected from the ravages of wandering stock by a heavy timber guard. These guards cost the council 4/5½d each in 1898.
(Kerry & Co c1890s/Camden Images/Landarc 1993)

In 1898 council alderman HP Reeves donated 60 pepper trees to be planted in Elizabeth and Mitchell Streets. Alderman Downers donated a further 150 assorted trees. The council paid for heavy-duty tree guards at 4/5½d each to protect the trees from roaming stock in the town area. (Camden News, 18 May 1939)

The new Camden Cottage Hospital board decided to beautify the hospital grounds by removing the native trees and planting ornamental exotics, including pepper trees and pines. (Camden News, 28 June 1906, 18 August 1910)

Pepper trees were included in advice from the NSW Director of Forests on shelter and the beautification of farm homesteads. Shade trees provided ‘a picturesque air’ and beautified an area, and directions were provided on tree types, planting, care and maintenance. (Picton Post, 23 August 1911)

Beetles stripped pepper trees of foliage in the town at the end of the First World War, and the Camden press provided advice on how to deal with the infestation. Apparently, by taking a long pole to the tree in the early morning, the beetles would fall to the ground and be devoured by the chooks. (Camden News, 18 December 1919)

This image shows mature pepper trees outside the Camden Total Abstinence Benefit Society Hall in John Street in 1903 (Camden Images)

Problems and removal of pepper trees

By the 1920s, pepper trees were becoming a problem, with intrusive roots entering the unformed gutters on the roadsides in the town area. Other people objected to their presence. Dr West was granted permission by the council to replace a pepper tree at the front of Macaria in John Street with a hitching post. (Camden News, 23 February 1922)

Pepper tree showing drooping leaves and gnarled trunk in Edward St (I Willis, 2023)

The following year the council parks committee decided that pepper trees were starting to pose a problem in the town area. The committee recommended the removal of pepper trees in John Street in front of Mr Pike’s residence, outside the stables of the Commercial Bank, the entrance of Dr West’s premises Macaria, one tree outside the Police Barracks, the removal of two trees in Murray Street and other sites in the town area. The council decided only to remove trees that had caused property damage. Aldermen were concerned that the council would be inundated with requests to remove all pepper trees in the town area. (Camden News, 23 March 1922)

Requests to the council to remove pepper trees came from landholders, the Mains Road authority, and the police. Trees were a traffic hazard along Argyle Street between Edward Street and the Cowpastures bridge, causing property damage in Mitchell Street, Menangle Street, John Street and other locations. (Camden News, 4 May 1939, 27 July 1939)

Trimming of the pepper tree hedges continually preoccupied the hospital board  (Camden News, 20 June 1912). By the 1930s, the trees were causing problems, prompting their removal from the hospital grounds. (Camden News, 17 April 1930)

Remnant trees

Dwyer states that there are often remnant specimens of pepper trees of cultural plantings on abandoned farms, railways and other sites across Australia. (Dwyer, 2023) In the Camden town area, there are remnant stands of pepper trees with some handsome individual specimens, while there have been newer plantings at the civic centre.

A grove of newer plantings of pepper trees outside the Camden Civic Centre. Pepper trees still provide a handsome addition to a civic building where they will not pose a problem. (I Willis, 2023)

Greg Frawley writes:

I went to school at St Paul in the mid-50s and there were several mature pepper trees in front of the original classroom building. With a square of timber seating underneath each pepper tree the strong scent kept flies and insects away when we were eating our Vegemite sandwiches.

I think that is the real reason they were so popular in the early years. Planted near homes – particularly back doors to keep flies away. We planted one in Narellan 46 years ago for this purpose. Although it never grew very big, it gave off a wonderful scent.

Email 21 April 2023

Francis Warner writes:

Love these trees. Our first house at Camden Park was Stables Cottage. Had a carport and outdoor picnic area under a peppercorn. The fragrance was soothing, and the seeds looked so pretty.

Email 29 April 2023

References

John Dwyer 2023, ‘Schinus molle var. areira, Peppertree, Peruvian peppertree, peppercorn tree’. Australian Garden History, vol. 34, no. 4, April, pp22-25

Landarc Landscape Architects 1993, Camden Significant Trees and Vegetated Landscape Study. Camden, Camden Municipal Council.

Updated 29 April 2023. Originally posted 8 April 2023.