Hambledon Cottage facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hambledon Cottage |
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| Location | 47 Hassall Street, Harris Park, City of Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Built | 1821–1825 |
| Architect | Henry Kitchen (part) |
| Owner | Parramatta City Council |
| Official name: Hambledon Cottage, Grounds and Archaeology; Firholme; Valley Cottage; Macarthur Cottage | |
| Type | state heritage (complex / group) |
| Designated | 21 September 2012 |
| Reference no. | 1888 |
| Type | Garden House |
| Category | Parks, Gardens and Trees |
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Hambledon Cottage is a very old house and museum located in Harris Park, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. It's a special place because it's listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register, which means it's protected for its history. The cottage was built a long time ago, between 1821 and 1825. Part of its design was done by an architect named Henry Kitchen. You might also hear it called Firholme or Macarthur Cottage. Today, the City of Parramatta Council owns and looks after this important historical site.
Contents
A Look Back in Time
Hambledon Cottage was built on land that belonged to John Macarthur. He was a famous soldier and a pioneer in Australia's wool industry. His large property was called the Elizabeth Farm Estate.
Who Lived Here First?
For a long time, people thought the cottage was built for Penelope Lucas. She was the governess, or private teacher, for the Macarthur children. However, it's now believed that the cottage was built to provide more living space for the Elizabeth Farm Estate in general.
The first part of the cottage was designed by Henry Kitchen. He was a well-known architect at the time. Later, a kitchen wing was added to the building.
In 1825, a friend of the Macarthurs, Archdeacon Thomas Hobbes Scott, lived in the cottage for a short time. He even helped improve the garden.
Penelope Lucas's Home
Penelope Lucas moved into Hambledon Cottage in 1827. She stayed there until she passed away in 1836. John Macarthur had left her the cottage for life in his will. It seems the cottage didn't have its own kitchen at first. Penelope would go to Elizabeth Farm for dinner every day. The kitchen wing was likely built between 1832 and 1836.
John Macarthur's daughter, Emmeline, also lived with Penelope Lucas at the cottage. This happened because John Macarthur was unwell and preferred not to have women living at Elizabeth Farm during that time.
New Owners and Changes
After John Macarthur died, the cottage was passed down through his family. It was rented out to different people, including Macarthur employees. Later, James Macarthur and his wife lived there for a while.
From 1839 to 1847, Dr. Matthew Anderson, a local surgeon and the Macarthur family doctor, lived in the cottage. He didn't make many changes to the building.
In 1851, Edward Macarthur, another family member, used Hambledon Cottage as his temporary home. He made some updates, like adding a new entrance and planting many trees. The garden was also fenced in.
The Cottage Changes Hands
Between 1864 and 1881, two families, the Bohles and the Gills, rented the cottage. Not much is known about what happened to the property during this time.
In 1881, due to money problems, the large Elizabeth Farm Estate was divided up and sold. Hambledon Cottage was put up for sale in 1883. It was even called Macarthur Cottage then. The property included the main house and several other buildings like a coach house and stables.
Francis John Wickham bought the cottage for 1100 pounds and renamed it Firholme. He added a new entrance with stone pillars and iron gates that had the name "Firholme" on them. After he died, his family stayed there until around 1895-1896.
Over the next 34 years, the cottage was rented out to different people and changed owners several times.
Saving Hambledon Cottage
In 1940, a company called The Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Co. bought the property. People worried they would build a factory there. But the local community worked hard to stop this, and a factory was never built.
Later, in 1945, Kolynos Limited bought the property. When they planned to develop the land around the cottage in 1949, the community protested again. Finally, in 1953, the company agreed to give the historic part of the site to the Parramatta Council. They also allowed the Council to buy more land nearby.
A Museum for Everyone
In 1959, the Parramatta Council began big renovations on the cottage. It was during this time that the cottage was officially renamed Hambledon Cottage. A caretaker lived there and opened the house to the public as a folk museum.
In 1964, the Parramatta and District Historical Society took over the building. They worked to restore the inside of the cottage to look like it did in the 1830s-1850s. Hambledon Cottage officially opened as a house museum in February 1966.
The land around Hambledon Cottage has been turned into a public park. It still has some of the original paths and trees planted by John Macarthur. These include very old English oak trees, a cork oak, and other unique trees. Some of these trees were brought to Australia by Macarthur on a ship in 1817!
What Hambledon Cottage Looks Like
Hambledon Cottage is surrounded by a park with many old trees. There are fences around the house and the park.
The Main House
The main part of the cottage has a rectangular shape with a sloped roof. Its walls are made of brick covered in a special plaster that looks like stone. The roof is made of metal, but it used to be shingles. Two original chimneys are still there.
The windows are made of cedar wood and have stone sills. French doors open onto a front porch, called a verandah. This verandah has a unique arched ceiling and thin wooden columns. The French doors have special cedar screens that can fold away into the walls. One corner of the verandah was even turned into a room in the 1820s.
The Kitchen Wing
The kitchen wing used to be a separate building, but it's now connected to the main house. It has a central triangle-shaped decoration above a part that sticks out. The kitchen wing also has a sloped roof and one chimney. Together, the main house and the kitchen wing form an L-shape.
Inside, much of the woodwork is made of beautiful Australian cedar. Some of the ceilings and walls are still made with old plaster. One bedroom even has its original ironbark wood floor!
The Coachman's Cottage
This is a single-story brick building with a sloped roof. It's divided into three rooms. It has old timber windows and door frames. One of the rooms, now a kitchen, might have been a harness room where horse equipment was kept.
The Gardens and Park
The garden area behind the cottage has a very large bunya pine tree. There are also other big trees like cypress, hackberry, and sweet gum. In the middle of the garden, there's a wooden frame covered with Chinese wisteria vines. You can also find plants like Kaffir lilies and ferns.
Near the kitchen wing, there's a rare Osage orange tree. This tree was once used as a spiky hedge in colonial Australia before wire fences became common.
There are paved areas and stepping stones around the cottage. Behind the house, there's a brick structure covering an old well with a hand pump.
The larger parkland area around the cottage is a flat space for relaxing. It has many old trees from the Macarthur period, including English oaks, a cork oak, and a hoop pine. There are also picnic tables and benches for visitors.
The entrance to the park from Hassall Street has restored sandstone gate posts and iron gates. These gates are engraved with "Firholme," the name given to the cottage in the 1880s.
Condition and Changes Over Time
As of 2012, the house was in good condition. There's a lot of history buried underground around the house, which archaeologists can study. This area might also hold important information about Aboriginal people who lived there long ago.
Hambledon Cottage is a rare and well-preserved example of an early cottage. Even though some parts of the inside were updated in the 1960s, it still looks very much like it did in the past. The garden also keeps many of its original features and plants from the early colonial period.
Over the years, many repairs and changes have been made to the cottage:
- 1959-1960: Major renovations were started by Parramatta Council.
- 1961: A garage was added to the coachman's cottage.
- 1964: The inside of the house was extensively restored.
- 1981: The arched ceiling of the eastern verandah was rebuilt after it collapsed.
- 1994: A new drainage system was put in, and the outside walls were repaired to stop dampness. The roofs were also replaced.
- 2001-2002: More repairs were done to the walls, floors, chimneys, and verandah columns.
- 2004-2005: The garden was redesigned based on old records and archaeological findings to look more like it did in the 19th century.
- 2005: A picket fence with chains, like one shown in an old sketch, was installed around the park.
- 2009: An old toilet block near the coachman's cottage was removed.
- 2012: The front fence and the "Firholme" gate were repaired after being damaged.
- Around 2012-2014: Some new trees, including English oaks and jacarandas, were planted.
Why Hambledon Cottage is Important
Hambledon Cottage, its grounds, and the archaeological finds are very important to the history of New South Wales.
Historical Significance
The cottage is closely linked to the Macarthur family, who were very influential in Australian history. It helps us understand their family life, especially the relationship with Penelope Lucas and how John Macarthur's health affected them. It's one of the oldest surviving houses in Parramatta and New South Wales. The garden also has plants from its earliest days.
Hambledon Cottage is part of a group of important colonial-era homes in Parramatta, like Elizabeth Farm. Its later history shows how large estates were divided up as Parramatta grew.
Important People
The cottage is connected to many important people, including John Macarthur, his wife Elizabeth, their son Edward, and the architect Henry Kitchen. Other notable figures like Archdeacon Thomas Hobbes Scott, Penelope Lucas, and Dr. Matthew Anderson also have ties to the cottage.
Beautiful Design
Hambledon Cottage is a beautiful and rare example of a colonial-era cottage. Its original layout is still mostly intact, and it has many fine old features. The landscape around it, with trees planted by the Macarthur family, adds to its beauty. These old trees are some of the oldest European plantings in Australia.
The design of the wooded landscape around Hambledon Cottage fits perfectly with the house's architecture.
Community Value
The fact that the council bought the cottage and turned it into a museum shows how much people started to value historic sites in the mid-20th century. Today, many tourists visit the site, showing its importance to the community. It's a local landmark in Parramatta.
Learning from the Past
The landscape of Hambledon can teach us a lot about New South Wales's cultural history. The garden and grounds are great for studying architecture, design, social history, and gardening from the past. The cottage itself is an important educational resource because it shows how Australian colonial buildings were designed and built in the early 1800s.
Archaeological digs at Hambledon Cottage and its grounds have a high chance of finding important historical information. This could include old structures, buried items, and samples that tell us about farming, housing, land use, and the lives of people from that time.
The site also has a sand body that might have been deposited by the Parramatta River during floods. Studying this could help us understand the river's history. Also, similar sand bodies in Parramatta have revealed artifacts from Aboriginal people who lived in the area before European settlers arrived. This means the sand at Hambledon Cottage could also provide insights into the diet and lifestyle of Aboriginal people.
Rare and Unique
Hambledon Cottage is a rare example of an early 19th-century cottage. It shows the tastes and lifestyles of people from that time. Because it was built so early and still has its original landscape elements, it's very unique. Many of the plants in the garden are beautiful and valuable. Some of the trees are among the oldest non-native plants in New South Wales and Australia. The Osage orange tree, for example, is a very rare find in Sydney today.
A Great Example
Hambledon Cottage is a great example of an early 19th-century home in New South Wales. The garden also shows how wealthy early European settlers created colonial landscapes. They used European gardening methods and planted trees like English oaks and cork oaks, as well as native trees like hoop pines and Port Jackson figs. The mix of different trees and plants, along with the views, creates a special landscape that stands out from the busy city around it.
See also
- Australian residential architectural styles
