The Narellan Heritage Walking Tour is an interesting and informative way to observe and learn about the history and heritage of this Cowpastures village.
What follows is the original walking tour of Narellan with historic notes of Narellan’s built heritage.
Post-war housing domestic architecture in Camden is typified by a simple, cheap utilitarian building called the Camden fibro cottage.
This style of domestic architecture, the fibro cottage, can be found all over Australia and has provided a basic form of housing for thousands of families.
Modern fibro cottages in Burrawong Crescent Elderslie were built around the 1960s. (I Willis, 2005)
Yet it has been derided, rubbished, and scoffed at for decades after initially being heralded as the height of modernism in the early 20th century.
Fibro Majestic exhibition
The simple fibro house is celebrated in a new exciting exhibition at the Campbelltown Arts Centre called Fibro Majestic by renowned Australian artist and sculptor Catherine O’Donnell.
The exhibition by artist Catharine O’Donnell runs from 8 July to 13 August 2023 with free entry.
Initially conceived for the artist’s survey exhibition ‘Beyond the Shadow’ at the Orange Regional Gallery in partnership with Grafton Regional Gallery, curated by art historian Lucy Stanger in 2022.
At the centre of the exhibition is the imposing spectacle of a 75%-scale replica of a fibro house.
The exhibition promotion states:
‘Catherine O’Donnell: Fibro Majestic’ presents a body of work by O’Donnell that considers the historical and social context of fibro and social housing in Western Sydney and across Australia. O’Donnell grew up in a fibro home in Green Valley, Western Sydney, which at the time was the largest public housing estate in Sydney. The shape and form of the fibro house has long since informed her practice as she explores architecture, social history and the notions of home and memory.
Exhibition notes state that O’Donnell has taken the floor plans from the New South Wales Housing Commission around the mid-century. They are a type of modernism that has fallen out of favour with the government, the public and the building industry.
A small-scale model of a fibro cottage. Catherine O’Donnell, ‘Gold leafed house 1’, 2022. Stereolithographic model and gold leaf 13x26x30cm. Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown. (I Willis, 2023)
Complementing the main sculptural installation is a range of small housing models and intimate drawings that evoke memories of living in a fibro house.
Catherine O’Donnell, ‘Beyond the curtain beats a loving heart’, 2020. Charcoal on paper diptych, 107×50 framed. Campbelltown Arts Centre Fibro Majestic Exhibition 2023. (I Willis, 2023)
The fibro houses were more than just buildings. They sheltered people’s lives, provided a safe haven, and were a site of family celebrations, birthdays, marriages, anniversaries, and rituals. The curtains also hid many dark secrets, from domestic violence to poverty and unemployment. While there were many dysfunctional families and disrupted lives, there were many happy families with children who grew up and led successful lives.
One of the happy stories with many fond memories is the story of Fiona, who grew up in the Airds Housing Commission Estate in South Campbelltown. with its many fibro homes.
Living in Airds during the late 70s and early 80s, friendships were built, and people stuck together. It was the freedom of riding bikes with friends until the street lights came on, building makeshift cubbies and performing concerts for the neighbours.
I still remember the excitement of walking to the local shops with my sisters to buy a few groceries for Mum. The constant search for ‘bargains’ in the hope there would be twenty cents left over to buy some mixed lollies.
Ugly Australia
According to O’Donnell, fibro cottages ‘were compact, mass-produced, box-like structures’ built across Sydney’s western suburbs.
The simple fibro cottage has characterised Western Sydney and its lifestyle. The simplicity of the fibro cottage was its attraction and part of its downfall.
Typical of the urban fringe, the simple fibro cottage has been derided and ridiculed by those who are snobbish about Sydney’s outer suburbs.
The fibro cottage is typical of suburbia on the edge. The edge can be marginalised people, the urban fringe, or the perception that it is a type of housing that is unacceptable to some.
The fibro cottage represents a type of Otherness, an ugly Australia. These images have been reinforced by the Sydney press, which labelled Campbelltown an ‘ugly houso wasteland’ in 1975.
The humble fibro cottage in Camden in the 1950s and 1960s has been integral to the town’s 20th-century history. The fibro house represents the baby-boomer era, when drive-ins, Holdens, Chiko rolls, black & white TV, rock & roll, and vinyl LPs were the norm. Fibro is evocative of long summer holidays by the beach, with adolescent love, boogie boards, zinc cream and paddle pops.
This is the essence of Fibro Majestic, a metaphor for mid-century Australia.
Optimism and hope in a compact box
The fibro cottage came to the rescue in the post-war years, when Sydney experienced a housing shortage due to the ‘baby boom’ and increased immigration.
The postwar years were a period of optimism and hope for a better lifestyle. These cottages were cheap and utilitarian and could be erected quickly.
Fibro, as a building materialz, was invented at the beginning of the 20th century and imported into Australia before the First World War. Wartime restrictions resulted in the product being manufactured in Australia by the war’s end.
This is an image of a Camden fibro cottage built in 1920. Chesham Cottage is at 49 Broughton Street, Camden, built by the Camden Voluntary Workers Association following the First World War. (Camden Images)
Leaked heat like a sieve
The fibro cottages of the 1950s leaked heat like a sieve and failed by today’s energy-efficient efficiency standards for housing. According to Lloyd Nicols from the Illawarra Flame retrofit project, these cottages can be made energy efficient to make them sustainable, affordable, and attractive. The project, a joint venture between the University of Wollongong and Wollongong TAFE College, aims for kits to be able to retrofit existing fibro cottages to increase their thermal performance.
Nostalgia and memory
Nostalgia and memory are a big part of the exhibition. Artist Catherine O’Donnell states that the fibro cottage is the architecture of my childhood and an ‘everywhere-everyman example of mid-century developments across Australia’.
The old beach shacks that dominated seaside fishing villages or isolated holiday surfing spots provided low-cost accommodation for holidaymakers in often remote and low-populated settings with few services. Some of these holiday houses were owner-occupied but remained vacant outside holiday times. Most were available for short-term holiday rental. All were relatively basic.
These fibro cottages straddled the class divide and were easily accessible by the motor car by mid-century. These were egalitarian holiday experiences for Australians.
The Fibro Majestic sculptural installation attracts an audience at the Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown (I Willis 2023)
In northern New South Wales, tropes of nature, community, and heritage [around fibro cottages] have been incorporated into a new beachside ‘town’ identity.
These fantasies of bygone days play out in the Fibro Majestic exhibition, which conjures up memories of beach holidays with long lazy days lounging in the sun in a mystical past. All viewed through rose-coloured glasses misty with nostalgia.
O’Donnell maintains that these memories are ‘synonymous with Australian identity’.
Flawed Plans, a commission
In addition to the main exhibition, The Campbelltown Arts Centre has commissioned a site-specific art installation on the stairs and front wall of the gallery amphitheatre called ‘Flawed Plans’.
The Flawed Plans art installation in the forecourt of Campbelltown Arts Centre. ‘Flawed Plans’, 2023. (Campbelltown Arts Centre Amphitheatre). Vinyl, dimensions variable. Commissioned by the CAC. (I Willis, 2023)
The artwork highlights the many layers to the story of the fibro cottage and how perceptions shift and twist.
Where once the fibro house was seen as a saviour as a cheap and effective form of housing, it has become a to be seen as an urban disaster by many.
The artist maintains that as the viewer climbs around the installation, their perception shifts and skews ‘as the viewer climbs, descends or orbits the work’.
Fibro Majestic, a reflection
Fibro Majestic reminds us all how perceptions and memories change over time. Fibro houses were once the height of modernism, yet in later decades, they were derided and rubbished.
The sculptural installation at the Fibro Majestic exhibition at the Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown. ‘Fibro Majestic’, 2022. Mixed media, common household construction materials, 587x587x220cm. (I Willis, 2023)
The exhibition evokes the fibro heritage of affordable accommodation for the working man and his family in the postwar years when there was a housing shortage for ordinary people.
Fibro was a practical building material that, despite its dangers, could provide a model for the current housing crisis. The fibro cottage was a simple effective housing solution that could be reborn again.
The exhibition Fibro Majestic has captured the essence of nostalgia around this housing style. Baby boomer memories are full of fibro houses and other mid-century Australian lifestyle icons.
The art installation encapsulates the essential elements of the architectural style and is evocative of the lives of those who lived in this utilitarian style of domestic architecture.
More reading
Shaw, W. S., & Menday, L. (2013). Fibro Dreaming: Greenwashed Beach-house Development on Australia’s Coasts. Urban Studies, 50(14), 2940–2958. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098013482507
In 2022 the Wollondilly Shire Local Planning Panel approved the demolition and reconstruction of the Menangle Community Hall.
The Menangle Community Association originally lodged the Development Application with Wollondilly Shire Council in July 2021.
The Menangle Community Association originally is managing the Menangle School of Arts project.
In 2023 there is a vacant lot in central Menangle with a security fence. The reconstructed hall is proposed to open in 2024.
The vacant lot at 4 Station Street Menangle. The former Menangle School of Arts site was demolished after the Menangle Community Association received permission to demolish the building in 2022. (I Willis, 2023)
On the security fence is an information sign with the hall’s history, what is happening, funding and building timeline.
The information signage about the redevelopment of the former Menangle School of Arts building at 4 Station Street Menangle (I Willis, 2023)
What is happening
The information signage on the site security fence states:
The existing hall is unusable due to significant structural damage and will be deconstructed and materials reused where possible within the new building.
The hall will comfortably accommodate 132-150 guests, incorporating 242m2 of fully enclosed area including a stage and storage area, spacious hall, kitchenette, box office and entry foyer.
As well as 63m2 of unenclosed covered areas: verandas, covered entry way, courtyard and ramp.
The hall will be fully accessible with suitable access ramps and accessible toilets.
The hall will also be fit out to ensure it is acoustically sound inside and out.
The hall will respect to the existing hall while ensuring it will be fit for purpose into the future.
The Menangle Community Hall project will construct a new state-of-the-art modern building.
Source: Signage, 4 Station Street, Menangle. 2023
The Australian, New South Wales government, South32, and South32 Community Partnership Program fund the hall.
The key milestones in the construction are listed as
January 2023 -Deconstruction and preservation of materials and elements
Feb 2023 – Foundations and construction
Mid 2024 – Opening
The history of the hall
The information signage on the site security fence states:
The Menangle School of Arts hall was constructed c1890 by the Macarthur Onslow family for the use by the local village.
The building was used for funding raising for the Menangle Roman Catholic Church and the Australian Land Army used the hall during World War 11.
The hall was also used for functions, dances, plays and musicals.
It had many modifications over the years including in 1908, 1960 and a major refurbishment in 1984 that saw the flooring, roof, kitchens and bathrooms replaced.
In 1984 the hall was transferred to Wollondilly Council control who commissioned a number of reports in the late 2000s into its structural integrity.
The hall was later closed due to safety concerns.
In 2010, after petitioning the Council, the hall was transferred to the Menangle Community Association to rebuild the hall.
More history on the Menangle School of Arts can be found at Menangle.com.au
Source: Signage, 4 Station Street, Menangle. 2023
Wartime Red Cross fundraisers
Red Cross wartime fundraisers were held in the School of Arts hall during the First World War.
One notable 1917 Red Cross fundraiser was the ‘The Gilbulla Gad-Abouts’ concert. Described in the Camden press as ‘highly successful’ to ‘large audience’ present, which used ‘every inch of seating space’. (Camden News, 7 June 1917)
In 1917 18-year-old Helen Macarthur Onslow, daughter of Enid Macarthur Onslow, held a Red Cross fundraising concert to smooth over local controversies following the 1916 conscription campaign.
According to historian Ian Willis:
The show attracted a huge crowd of over 400 who ‘travelled long distances’ from all over the district. While the night raised a modest £30, it was a much-needed boost for Red Cross morale. The show included several distinguished performers, including Lady Doris Blackwood, aged 22 years and the niece of Lady Helen Munro Ferguson, the founder of the Australian Red Cross. Doris Blackwood was Lady Helen’s companion when she came out to Australia in 1914 with her husband, Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson, who took up the post of Governor-General. Helen Macarthur Onslow and Doris Blackwood had formed a friendship on one of Helen’s regular trips to the Camden area. Other members of the concert party included Enid’s other daughter Elizabeth, aged 14 years, and Ethelwyn Downes, aged 25 years, the only daughter of FWA Downes MLA, politician and Camden conservative, from Brownlow Hill at Cobbitty, who had campaigned for the ‘Yes’ vote in the 1916 conscription referendum. The concert was topped off when a necklace, donated by Helen Macarthur Onslow, was won by Mrs McDonald, the wife of Sergeant McDonald, from the Menangle Light Horse Camp.
Source: Ian Willis, Ministering Angels, The Camden District Red Cross 1914-1945 CHS, Camden, 2014, pp.45-46.
One of the members of the 1917 concert party was Lady Doris Blackwood [2nd from left], who is shown in this group photograph with her patron, the wife of the Australian Governor-General, Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson [3rd from left], Lady Helen Munro Ferguson [4th from left]. Lady Helen was president and founder of the Australian branch of the British Red Cross in 1914. (Personal Papers of Prime Minister Cook, NAA M3614, 3)
Another concert was held in August 1917 for the Red Triangle and Frances Day patriotic appeals, which raised £50. Press reports stated it was standing room only at the ‘highly successful’ show. There were instrumental and vocal solos, recitations, a children’s choir, and tableaux. During intermission, donated vegetables, cakes and ‘fancy work’ were auctioned off by Campbelltown Mayor Moore. At the end of the proceedings, a number of raffles and guessing competitions were drawn. (Camden News, 16 August 1917)
Renovations in 2013
The front view of the Menangle School of Arts at 4 Station Street Menangle in 2012. (I Willis)
The interior of the Menangle School of Arts, 4 Station Street, Menangle, during renovations in 2013 (I Willis)
A commemorative plaque to Menangle identity FV Veness was located on the decorative gates at the entry to the Menangle School of Arts, 4 Station Street, Menangle (I Willis, 2013)
A front view of the Menangle School of Arts, 4 Station Street, Menangle (I Willis, 2013)
Keep your eyes open in central Campbelltown for inspiring public art installations that brighten up dull spaces around the town.
The Campbelltown Arts Centre, in conjunction with Campbelltown City Council and the NSW Government, have a program to re-invigorate the city centre using public art.
A screenshot of the public art webpage on the website of the Campbelltown Arts Centre. Each of the seven public art projects has a dedicated webpage with detailed descriptions of the artworks, what the artist was trying to achieve and the installation specifications. (CAC, 2023)
Public art positively affects the community and people’s self-esteem, self-confidence and well-being. Campbelltown Arts Centre has created a public art website to assist people in this process and shows several murals around the Queens Street precinct.
This blog has promoted the benefits of public art in and around the Macarthur region for some time now. There are lots of interesting public artworks around the area that are hidden in plain sight. This blog has highlighted the artworks and other artefacts, memorials and monuments that promote the Cowpastures region.
The public art program of the Campbelltown Arts Centre and Campbelltown City Council is creative, innovative and inspirational. It is playful yet takes a serious approach to a contemporary problem, urban blight.
These urban planning decisions came from the 1968 Sydney Regional Outline Plan of the NSW Askin Coalition Government.
Sydney-based planning decision created tensions between Campbelltown City Council and the Macarthur Development Board around what constituted the city centre. The Queen Street precinct, supported by the council, gradually declined in importance as a retail area as newer facilities opened up.
Queen Street could not compete with the new shopping mall Macarthur Square opened in 1979 by the Hon. Paul Landa, Minister for Planning and Environment in the Wran Labor Government.
High-value-added retailing deserted the Queen Street precinct and became populated by $2-shops and op-shops.
Campbelltown’s sense of place and community identity has taken a battering in the following decades.
Reinvigoration of the Queen Street precinct
The public art program at the Campbelltown Arts Centre is trying to ameliorate the problems of the past through community engagement in art installations.
The murals would enhance the local streetscape and make the area more welcoming to residents and visitors.
“The first mural is located at one of the entrances to the CBD and will add a new element to our public domain,” Cr Greiss said.
“It’s important that works to the Queen Street precinct enhance the current amenity to build pride among residents and make the area more attractive to people visiting our city,” he said.
The mayor referred to an art installation created by Campbelltown street artist Danielle Mate ‘Raw Doings’ in Carberry Lane. The Arts Centre website states:
This vibrant and bold artwork comprises many shades of blue and purple, and is inspired by aerial views of Country and the Australian landscape.
The mural ‘Raw Doings’ by street artists Danielle Mate was commissioned by Campbelltown City Council in 2022 (Document Photography/CAC 2022)
In 2022 the Campbeltown City Council commissioned ‘Breathing Life / Bula ni Cegu / Paghinga ng Buhay’ by artists and designers Victoria Garcia and Bayvick Lawrance.
‘Breathing Life’ is a celebration of Campbelltown’s thriving Pacific community, and the extensive connections between people, plants, animals and all living things.
The mural ‘Breathing Life’ by artists Victoria Garcia and Bayvick Lawrance in 2022 and was commissioned by Campbelltown City Council (Document Photography/CAC 2022)
In 2012 Campbelltown City Council commissioned a mural board across the bus shelters at Campbelltown Railway Station supervised by Blak Douglas in Lithgow Street called ‘The Standout’. The art installation is the work of 28 artists across 70 panels with a full length of 175 metres.
The Standout pays homage to the Dharawal Dreamtime Story of the ‘Seven Eucalypts’, and Douglas’ previous photographic series of deceased gums standing alone within landscapes and casting shadows within urban facades.
The ‘Stand Out’ mural by Blak Douglas is located in Lithgow Street Campbelltown along the bus shelters outside Campbelltown Railway Station. The work was commissioned by Campbelltown City Council in 2012. (Black Douglas/CAC 2012)
The public art installation ‘Three Mobs’ by Chinese-Aboriginal artist Jason Wing was commissioned by Campbelltown City Council in 2022. The mural is located on Dumersq Street and Queen Street, the south side of the 7Eleven wall, and features a rainbow serpent as an intersection of cultures.
Aboriginal culture reveres the rainbow serpent as the creator of all things on Earth. Chinese culture understands serpents to be a symbol for luck and abundance, and a highly desired zodiac sign.
Defined as any artistic work or activity designed and created by professional arts practitioners for the public domain, Public Art may be of a temporary or permanent nature and located in or part of a public open space, building or facility, including façade elements provided by either the public or private sector (not including memorials or plaques).
Public art can….
make art an everyday experience for residents and visitors
take many forms in many different materials and styles, such as lighting, sculpture, performance and artwork
be free-standing work or integrated into the fabric of buildings, streetscapes and outdoor spaces
draw its meaning from or add to the meaning of a particular site or place.
Public art humanizes the built environment and invigorates public spaces. It provides an intersection between past, present and future, between disciplines, and between ideas.
The paper maintains that public art has the potential to reinvigorate public spaces and add to their vibrancy. It states:
Throughout history, public art can be an essential element when a municipality wishes to progress economically and to be viable to its current and prospective citizens. Data strongly indicates that cities with an active and dynamic cultural scene are more attractive to individuals and business.
The statue of Elizabeth Macquarie by artist Tom Bass in Mawson Park in the Campbelltown CBD on Queen Street. The statue was commissioned by Campbelltown & Airds Historical Society in 2006 and cost $75,000. (Wikimedia)
Public art can express community values, enhance our environment, transform a landscape, heighten our awareness, or question our assumptions. Placed in public sites, this art is there for everyone, a form of collective community expression. Public art is a reflection of how we see the world – the artist’s response to our time and place combined with our own sense of who we are.
associationforpublicart.org/what-is-public-art/
Public art can be found in the most unusual places. In this case, this is a statue of a boy at Emerald Hills Shopping Centre Leppington. The statue memorialises the St Andrews Boys Home that once was located on the Emerald Hills land release site. (I Willis 2021)
To continue the story of Campbelltown, this is an excellent overview by local author Jeff McGill with many fascinating images of past and present times. (Kingsclear Publication, 2017)
Updated 17 May 2023. Originally posted on 16 May 2023 as ‘Public art at Campbellton brightens up a dull space’.
In central Camden is an empty bank building of understated significance at the intersection of John and Argyle Streets. This building was the premises of Westpac, formerly the Bank of New South Wales, and was the second banking chamber on that site. Constructed in the 1930s by a prominent firm of local builders and designed by one of Sydney’s top award-winning architects. It is a building of much architectural merit, and few know its history.
The former Bank of New South Wales building was built in 1936, designed by Sydney architects Peddle, Thorp & Walker and constructed by Harry Willis & Sons (I Willis, 2009)
First bank in Camden
The Bank of New South Wales was the first bank in Camden. The bank initially occupied 23 Argyle Street, a colonial-style brick building with corrugated iron gable and brick chimneys. This banking chamber opened in 1865. These premises were used by Wilkinson & Sons as a plumbing and tin smithing business. A funeral parlour currently occupies it. (Willis, 2015)
The Bank of New South Wales at 23 Argyle Street Camden in 1865. (Camden Images/JB Mummery)
The oldest bank in Australia
The Bank of New South Wales is the oldest bank in Australia and was established in 1817 when Governor Macquarie signed its charter of incorporation. It was set up to provide financial stability in Sydney’s military garrison but quickly became a South Pacific trading hub. The new bank financed local economic activity and financed overseas trade. The bank eventually merged with the Commercial Bank of Australia in 1982 and became the Westpac Banking Corporation. It is still one of the largest banks in Australia. (DoS)
When the Bank of New Wales moved into Camden, it provided the newly emerging market town with financial stability. It financed the emerging trading activity for the town’s small business sector. In 1873 the original building had outlived its usefulness, and the bank moved west along Argyle Street to its current location at the corner of John and Argyle Streets.
Woolpack Inn (later Crofts Inn)
In 1873 the Bank of New South Wales purchased the former Woolpack Inn (later Crofts Inn) at 121 Argyle Street with its picturesque Victorian verandahs. Licensee Thomas Brennan had purchased the Woolpack site in 1852 and constructed the Victorian-style two-storey building with iron-lace work and outbuildings. Brennan sold the inn to Henry Denton, who sold it to innkeeper Samuel Croft by 1863. (Willis, 2015)
The Bank of New South Wales at 121 Argyle Street Camden c.1900, formerly the Woolpack Inn (Camden Council Library)
The former hotel served the Bank of New South Wales well until the 1930s during the Interwar period when the economic prosperity of the district from the Burragorang coalfields encouraged the bank to build new premises to reflect its status in the town better. (Willis, 2015)
In 1936 Camden Municipal Council ordered the bank to remove the verandah posts on the Argyle Street frontage as part of the modernisation of the town centre. The council orders may have prompted the bank to consider updating its banking chamber on Argyle Street and demolishing the Victorian premises (Camden News, 15 October 1936).
121 Argyle Street
Architect-designed and locally built
The contract for the two-story banking chamber was awarded to Camden builder Harry Willis & Sons and designed by Sydney architects Peddle, Thorp & Walker. These architects were established in Sydney in 1889 and designed Science House, corner Gloucester and Essex Sts, Sydney, which won the inaugural Sir John Sulman Medal in 1932. (PTW; SMH, 14 July 1936))
On the awarding of tenders, the old bank building was demolished. Temporary premises for the bank staff were found in one of WC Furner’s shops opposite the Empire Theatre. Here Mr J Stibbard, the bank manager, assured customers that they would find banking convenient during the building work. (Camden News, 11 June 1936)
Hand-made nails and a cellar
During dismantling, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that hand-made nails had been extensively used in the construction of the former hotel, made by ‘nail-smiths’ (SMH, 14 July 1936). The nail-smith in the 19th century was probably the local blacksmith, one of the most important trades in the area.
Local timbers had been used extensively throughout the former hotel building and were reported to be in ‘an excellent state of preservation. A long-forgotten cellar was discovered under the bank floor and ‘recalled the existence of an inn on [the] site during the coaching days’. (SMH, 14 July 1936)
Commodious banking chamber
In 1936 the Sydney Morning Herald stated the new building had a ‘commodious banking chamber and offices for the staff’. ‘Textured brick’ was used for ‘facing’ throughout the building ‘relieved by lighter-coloured treatment of the external woodwork. The bank entrance at the splayed angle at the intersection of the two streets will be treated with especially brick architraves and pediment surmounted by a synthetic sandstone ornamental shield. The interior was treated with polished maple woodwork throughout. The Georgian character design will be a colourful and artistic addition to this historic town’s architecture. (SMH, 14 July 1936)
A collage of images illustrating different aspects of the Georgian Revival architectural style that is reflected by the 1936 building of the former Bank of New South Wales (I Willis, 2019)
Georgian Revival
The NSW Heritage Inventory states: ‘The 1936 two-storey glazed and rough brick building with double hung windows and tiled roof. Its detailing includes quoining and multipaned windows, typical characteristics of the Georgian Revival style.’ (HNSW)
Georgian Revival is an architectural style nostalgic for the colonial period in the USA and the early 19th century in the United Kingdom, sometimes called Neo-Georgian. The style has a proportionate symmetry and austere elegance, characterised by proportion and balance. Commonly there is brick construction with a gable or hip roof line and equal placement of windows, generally two storeys and rectangular.
The former Bank of New South Wales building is a high-quality contributor to Camden township’s substantial eclectic fabric and the overall cultural significance of the Camden Town Conservation Area. The building retains its historic integrity and is intact. (HNSW)
Vacant
Westpac closed the Camden branch in 2020, and the building has remained vacant.
Collages of images of the former Bank of New South Wales (I Willis, 2009)
Hidden out of the way in the back streets of Mount Annan is a memorial to Governor Hunter.
This memorial is located in the Governors Green reserve in Baragil Mews, Mount Annan.
The view of the entrance off Baragil Mews to Governors Green Heritage Park at Mount Annan with the statue of Governor Hunter in the distance. The park is set in a bush reserve adjacent to residential housing. (2022 IW)
This is another hidden and largely forgotten memorial to the Cowpastures in the local area.
A bronze statue of Governor Hunter is at the centre of a circular colonnade with artworks celebrating the Cowpastures.
The land developer AV Jennings commissioned Lithgow sculptor and artist Antony Symons (1942-2018) in 1995 to construct the work.
The view of the statue of Governor Hunter as you approach it from Baragil Mews. The statue is at the centre of a circular colonnade with other parts of the artwork on the fencing. (IW 2022)
Governor Hunter and the Cow Pastures
The story of the Cowpastures begins in 1787 with the First Fleet and HMS Sirius, which collected 4 cows and 2 bulls at the Cape of Good Hope on the way out to New South Wales. After they arrived in the new colony, the stock escaped within 5 months of being landed and disappears.
In 1795 the story of the cattle is told to a convict hunter by an Aboriginal, who then tells an officer and informs Governor Hunter. Hunter sends Henry Hacking, an old seaman, to check out the story. After confirmation Governor John Hunter and Captain Waterhouse, George Bass and David Collins headed off from Parramatta, crossing the Nepean River on 17 November 1795. They find good farming land covered with good pasture and lagoons with birds. After climbing a hill (Mt Taurus), they spotted the cattle and named the Cowpastures.
Governor John Hunter marked area on maps ‘Cow Pasture Plains’ in the region of Menangle and elsewhere on maps south of Nepean. The breed was the Cape cattle from the First Fleet, and the district was declared out of bounds to all by 1806; the herd had grown to 3,000.
British colonialism and a settler society
Governor Hunter was part of the settler society project and the country’s dispossession of First Nations people. Hunter was a representative of British imperialism and how it implemented its policies on the colonial frontier of New South Wales.
The Cowpastures was a site of frontier violence and the displacement and dispossession of Indigenous land in the early 19th century.
Governor Hunter Statue
The statue of Governor Hunter in Governors Green Reserve at Mount Annan. The statue was commissioned by land developer AV Jennings and Lithgow sculptor Antony Symons was engaged to complete the artwork in 1995. (2022, I Willis)
Plaques below the Governor Hunter statue
The plaque on the plinth at the base of the Governor Hunter statue celebrates the reserve’s opening in 1995. (2022, I Willis)
Plaque inscription
Governor’s Green Heritage Park was presented to the people of Camden by AV Jennings and was officially opened by the Mayor of Camden Councillor FH Brooking on the 6th April 1995 in celebration of the centenary year of the discovery of the herd in 1795 at Cowpastures Camden.
Camden Mayor Frank Brooking
Frank Brooking served as Camden’s mayor from 1993 to 1997. Mr Brooking was a motor dealer whose business was located on the corner of Cawdor Road and Murray Streets and sold Morris and Volkswagon brands. Frank was a community-minded person who volunteered for the Rural Fire Service, Camden Rotary Club, Camden Show Society, Camden Area Youth Service and other organisations. He died in 2013 aged 74.
Plaque Governor Hunter statue
A plaque highlighting the history of the decision of Governor Hunter in 1795 to name the Cowpastures. The naming of the site was an act of dispossession of Dharawal country. Hunter was an agent of the British Colonial Office and its imperial interests in the settler society project of New South Wales. (2022, I Willis)
Plaque inscription
Governor John Hunter (1737-1821), Governor of New South Wales September 1795 – November 1799.
‘On the evening of my arrival…, I was directed to the place where the herd was feeding,… we ascended a hill, from which we observed an herd…feeding in a beautiful pasture in the valley I was now anxious to ascertain of what breed they were, whether natives… or the descendants of those we had so long lost, but in this attempt we were disappointed by being discovered and attached most furiously by a large and very fierce bull, which rendered it necessary for our own safety, to fire at him. Such as his violence and strength, that six balls were fired through, before any person dared approach him. I was now satisfied that they were the Cape of Good Hope breed…. offspring of these we had lost in 1788, at this time we counted sixty-one in number, young and old. They have chosen a beautiful part of the country to graze in…
Historical Records of Australia, Governor Hunter to the Duke of Portland, 21st December 1795.
AV Jennings.
Other elements of the artwork
Artwork by Antony Symons of a horned cow located on the collonaded surroundings of the Governor Hunter statue (2022, I Willis)
Artwork by Antony Symons of the Cowpastures on the colonnade surrounding the statue of Governor Hunter. The artwork comprises a settlers slab hut, Cumberland Woodland, and a farmer’s cart. The cart carries the artist’s signature. (2022 I Willis)Artist Antony Symons’s signature is located at the bottom of the cart on the colonnade fencing. (I Willis, 2022)
A regal-looking Governor Hunter in full naval uniform. Hunter held the rank of Vice-Admiral of the Royal Navy and succeeded Arthur Phillip as the second Governor of New South Wales, serving from 1795 to 1800. The artwork was commissioned by land developer AV Jennings who engaged Lithgow sculptor Antony Symons. (I Willis, 2022)
Updated on 21 May 2023. Originally posted on 13 June 2022 as ‘Cowpastures memorial at Mount Annan’
Sydney’s urban growth is about to invade the Macarthur region yet again. This is a re-run of the planning disasters in Campbelltown of the late 1970s. These planning decisions were originally part of the 1968 Sydney Region Outline Plan and the 1973 New Cities of Campbelltown, Camden, Appin Structure Plan.
These urban plans were grossly over-optimistic then and only appeared in the Camden LGA in the 1980s at Mount Annan and Currans Hill. Tracts of land were sold off for housing in 1973, including part of Camden Park Estate, while historic buildings in Camden were demolished – Royal Hotel.
The areas in the current proposal are: Appin & West Appin, Wilton Junction, South Campbelltown, Menangle Park, Mount Gilead and Menangle areas.
Mount Annan, NSW, a new suburb on Sydney’s urban fringe, 2002 (CHS2005/P.Mylrea)
Sydney’s metropolitan fringe is a theatre for the creation and loss of collective memories, cultural myths and community grieving around cultural icons, traditions and rituals. European settlement took the Aboriginal dreaming and then had its own dream removed by an east invasion in the form of Sydney’s urban growth.
The re-making of place in and around the fringe community of Camden and Campbelltown illustrates the destruction and reconstruction of cultural landscapes. Locals dream of retaining the aesthetics of inter-war country towns and have created an illusion of a historical myth of a ‘country town idyll’.
In the new suburbs of Oran Park, Mt Annan and Harrington Park, urbanites have invaded the area drawn by developer spin, which promised to fulfil hopes and dreams and never really lived up to the hype. Unfulfilled expectations mean that Sydney’s rural-urban fringe is a transition zone where waves of invasion and succession have created perceptions of reality, and all that is left is imagination.
Learn more about urban development in the Macarthur region.
Camden History Notes 
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