Yaralla Estate facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Dame Eadith Walker Hospital
Yaralla mansion, 2009
Geography
Location	Concord West, New South Wales, Australia
Organisation
Care system	Public Medicare (AU)
Hospital type	Specialist renal dialysis unit

The Yaralla Estate is a special place in Concord West, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It's also known as the Dame Eadith Walker Estate. Today, it's home to the Dame Eadith Walker Hospital. This estate is very old and important. It shows us what large homes and properties were like in Sydney during the 1800s.

Yaralla was once the home of Eadith Walker and her father, Thomas. In the 1860s, Thomas Walker asked architect Edmund Blacket to design their family home. This beautiful house, called a Victorian Italianate mansion, was built by the Parramatta River. Later, from 1893 to 1899, Eadith Walker added more parts to the house. These additions were designed by architect John Sulman. The entire estate is now protected as a heritage site.

Dame Eadith Walker was a kind and generous woman. She never married and spent her life helping others. She worked with the Australian Red Cross and many other groups. When she passed away in 1937, her estate was used to create the Dame Eadith Walker Convalescent Hospital. Money from her estate also helped support other hospitals and cottages for elderly people.

History of Yaralla Estate
Exploring the Estate
Heritage Importance
Gallery
See also

History of Yaralla Estate

Early Days: The Nichols Family

The land where Yaralla Estate stands today was first given to Isaac Nichols in 1797. Isaac Nichols was a former convict who worked hard and became successful in the colony. He arrived in Sydney in 1791. After his sentence, Governor John Hunter was impressed by him. Nichols was made an overseer and later became the first postmaster in 1809.

In 1797, Nichols received 50 acres of land by the Parramatta River in Concord. He used this land for farming, growing crops like wheat and maize. He also started raising cattle and sheep. In 1805, Aboriginal people attacked the farm, scattering the livestock. Nichols continued to buy more land around his property. When he passed away in 1819, the land went to his son, George Robert Nichols. The Nichols family continued to use the land for farming.

The Walker Family Era

In 1840, Thomas Walker became involved with the land. He eventually gained full ownership of the property in 1848. Thomas Walker was a very wealthy man who owned a lot of land and invested in farming. He was also a generous person who helped the poor.

Around 1857, Thomas Walker hired architect Edmund Thomas Blacket to design a "cottage" for him. This "cottage" was actually a large Italianate villa, which became known as Yaralla. Construction started in 1851 and was finished in 1864. Thomas Walker moved into the house permanently around 1858-1859.

In 1860, Thomas Walker married Jane Hart. They had one daughter, Eadith Campbell Walker. Jane passed away in 1870. Thomas's sister, Joanna, came to Australia to help care for Eadith.

When Thomas Walker passed away in 1886, he left his large fortune to his daughter, Eadith. A part of his money was also used to create the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital.

Eadith Walker never married and lived at Yaralla for the rest of her life. She was a very wealthy woman but also very kind. She had many servants and employees living at Yaralla, including gardeners, cooks, and chauffeurs. She also built several small cottages on the property for her retired staff.

Between 1893 and 1899, Eadith made many additions and changes to Yaralla. Her childhood friend's husband, architect John Sulman, designed these changes. The main house got a new marble entrance hall and a fancy dining hall. New brick stables with towers were also built.

Eadith loved animals and even had a private pet cemetery on the grounds of Yaralla. She also loved to travel. She brought back many souvenirs from her trips. For example, she built a special "Indian Room" to display items from India. She also brought back a "Norwegian Cottage" from another trip and had it rebuilt on the estate.

For a short time, from 1912 to 1914, Yaralla was the home of the Governor-General of Australia. It was here that Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar, received a warning about the start of World War I.

Yaralla was like a small village. It had cows, horses, and chickens. The fields were used for grazing animals. Eadith also hosted many important guests, including the Prince of Wales (who later became Edward VII). For his visit in 1921, Eadith even had a squash court built, which might have been the first in New South Wales!

During World War I, Eadith helped sick and wounded soldiers through the Red Cross. She even set up a special place at Yaralla for veterans to recover. However, keeping up the large estate was expensive. Over time, parts of the estate were sold off. For example, some land went to the Concord Golf Club in 1917.

Eadith Walker passed away on October 8, 1937. After her death, many of her belongings, including furniture, cars, and artworks, were sold at a big auction.

Dame Eadith Walker Hospital Era

In her will, Eadith Walker left a large part of her estate for charity. The Walker Trusts Act of 1939 allowed Yaralla and its grounds to be bought to create a convalescent home for men. A convalescent home is a place where people go to recover after an illness or injury.

The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital took control of the new hospital, which was named the Dame Eadith Walker Convalescent Hospital. It officially opened on June 29, 1940. Patients from the main hospital were sent here to get better.

The Yaralla Estate is still managed by NSW Health today. It is one of the largest gifts of land for public use from that time period in New South Wales.

During the 1970s, some of the older buildings were taken down, and the swimming pool was filled in. In November 1988, the Dame Eadith Walker Convalescent Hospital closed its doors.

Modern Uses and Public Parkland

Since 1988, the estate has continued to be used for health-related purposes. The main house was used as a Kidney Dialysis Training Centre from 1993 to 2008. Magnolia Cottage became the Kalparrin Day Centre in 2003, helping patients with memory problems.

Around 2011, the main mansion was updated to become a Palliative Care Unit. This unit helps people with serious illnesses, including those with HIV and dementia.

In 2013, the NSW Department of Health announced that 13 hectares (about 32 acres) of Yaralla's land would become public parkland. A special committee was set up to help manage the estate. This committee makes sure the estate's history and natural beauty are protected for everyone to enjoy.

In 2016, Hyacinth Cottage was renovated. It now provides a place for families of burns patients to stay close to Concord Hospital while their loved ones recover. This helps patients continue their healing in a home-like setting.

Exploring the Estate

The Grounds

The Dame Eadith Walker Estate covers about 37 hectares (91 acres). It's a large property with many different areas. You can still see rural parts like fields where horses graze. There are also beautiful gardens, including lawns, rose gardens, and even a grotto (a cave-like structure). The estate also has places for sports, like a former swimming pool (now a lawn) and a squash court.

In its best days, the grounds were amazing. They had large lawns with many different trees, rock gardens, fountains, statues, and more than a dozen small cottages. There was even a power plant, which was one of Sydney's first private electricity generators!

Nature and Wildlife

Yaralla is important for its natural beauty and wildlife. It has both introduced plants and native Australian plants and animals. The estate is a key part of the health of the Parramatta River area. It even has three special types of endangered plant communities:

Coastal Saltmarsh (near the river banks)
Swamp-oak Floodplain Forest
Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest (rare in the region)

These natural areas are home to many threatened animals. The estate is known for its amazing birdlife, including honeyeaters, wrens, and parrots. You can also find various mammals here. Experts have called the Dame Eadith Walker Estate and the nearby Thomas Walker Estate "joint jewels" for their biodiversity.

The Driveway

The main entrance to the estate today is from The Drive and Nullawarra Avenue. The outer gates are made of iron with stone pillars. One of the estate cottages, which acts as a gatehouse, sits near these gates.

A grand driveway, lined with brush box trees, leads from the entrance. It passes between grassy fields where horses still graze. This drive leads to the inner gates, stables, and the beautiful gardens around the house.

The Gardens

The gardens at Yaralla show what large suburban estates looked like in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. They still have many original features, like fields, formal gardens, outbuildings, and cottages.

Inside the inner gates, the drive passes the impressive brick stables. It then leads into the main garden, which has many old-fashioned shrubs, small trees, and colorful plants. There's a beautiful rose garden, which was replanted in the 1990s. It has a sandstone sundial and curved metal arches covered in climbing roses.

To the south of the main house is a service yard with other buildings. The main entrance to the house has a carriage loop and an Italianate tower.

Near the house, a broad path and lawns lead down to the north. You can see large clumps of giant bamboo. A grassy path, decorated with concrete grotto-work, follows the shoreline. It leads to a shelter house, also made of grotto-work, near where the swimming pool used to be.

The grotto on the lower lawn is one of the largest in Australia. It has a rich collection of plants, including palms, cycads, and rare succulents.

The garden also has many old and impressive trees and shrubs. These include Himalayan cedars, Moreton Bay figs, various palms, and flowering shrubs like Chinese hibiscus and oleanders.

Buildings on the Estate

The estate has several important buildings:

Yaralla

This is the main house. It's a large, two-story building with a four-story tower over the front door. It has smaller towers at its corners and beautiful verandahs. The verandahs even have an Indian style.

Jonquil Cottage

This is a single-story house in the Californian Bungalow style. It has gabled roofs, a porch, and tall chimneys.

Hyacinth Cottage

Another single-story Californian Bungalow style house. It has brick walls and a terracotta tile roof. This cottage now helps families of burns patients.

Boronia Cottage

A single-story cottage with a large hipped and gabled roof. It has a tiled roof, brick walls, and timber shingles.

Woodbine (Azalea) Cottage

A timber-framed cottage with a simple hipped roof and a verandah. It has a corrugated iron roof and timber walls.

Magnolia Cottage

A single-story cottage with a hipped and gabled roof and a unique verandah. It has brick walls and terracotta roof tiles. This cottage was expanded in 2003 to become a day care center for people with memory problems.

Stables Complex

This is a group of buildings around a central courtyard. It has many decorative features like towers, lanterns, and a clock. It used to house horses and now includes two small apartments.

Laundry and Substation Block

A two-story building with a gabled roof and chimneys. It has terracotta roof tiles and brick walls that look like stone.

Squash Court

A rectangular building with a hipped roof. It has brick walls and an observation area. This court was built for the Prince of Wales's visit.

High Stone Wall

A tall sandstone wall with brick details. It is covered with thick plants on one side.

Sea Wall

A sandstone wall along the edge of the water, built with natural rocks.

There are also sheds and animal enclosures (for pigs, chickens, and fowl) with terracotta tile roofs and timber or brick walls.

Heritage Importance

The Dame Eadith Walker Estate is very important to the history and culture of New South Wales. It's a unique collection of old buildings in a natural setting. It's a rare example of a large private estate from the Edwardian era that is still mostly complete, especially being so close to a big city.

The estate has strong connections to the early days of the colony. It also tells the story of an important family who were successful in business and very generous.

The buildings, including the Dairy Complex and Stables, show how a farm worked in the late 1800s. The main house, Yaralla, was designed by famous architects Edmund Blacket and John Sulman. It shows how living styles changed over time.

The estate is also important for its beautiful landscape. It has old mangrove trees along the river and many old trees and shrubs in the gardens. Some of these plants are very rare. The gardens, with their grotto, rose garden, and other features, show a way of life that has now disappeared.

Yaralla Estate was officially listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on April 2, 1999. This means it is protected because it helps us understand the history, beauty, and natural environment of New South Wales.