Today Vaucluse House is one of the few 19th
century houses on Sydney Harbour retaining a significant part of its
original estate setting. One distinguishing surviving characteristic of
the 19th century estate is its careful division into specific areas, both
functional and ornamental, such as pleasure garden, kitchen garden, rear
service yard, paddocks, carriageway, creek, estate backdrop, beach
paddock. (NSW HHT, undated brochure)
Vaucluse House is significant because of its association with the
Wentworth family and their aspirations. It has a large collection of
surviving original documentary evidence relating to the house, its
contents and occupants. There are a number of extant buildings and gardens
and the house retains relative intactness of form, interior space and
detailing predating 1900. (Bravery 1997:10-11)*
A large early Victorian garden and shrubbery, laid out to compliment a
gothic revival house belonging to the family of the important colonial
pioneer and politician W.C. Wentworth.
There appears little early documentation of the garden but it can be
presumed to have been designed to complement the mid-19th Century
additions to the house and to have been established by the 1860's. (Survey
of Gardens in NSW - National Trust, Broadbent, 1981)
Vaucluse House is a large Gothic style residence built around a much
smaller house in stages. It has crenellated parapets, turrets and iron
verandah posts. The verandah returns on three sides of the bay windowed
front which has french windows with louvered shutters. The rear wings
enclose a small courtyard, most windows being 12 pane type and doors of
six panels. The rooves are slate and galvanised iron.
The interior contains much fine Georgian cedar joinery, marble chimney
pieces and Pompeii tiles to the hall floor. (Sheedy 1973)
The main complex comprises two connecting two storey and one three storey
building which contain reception rooms, halls, guest bedrooms, family
rooms and bedrooms, servants quarters and the service wing.
Adjacent to the scullery are the dairy and larder. To the south is a
building identified in 1853 as a store. The cottage layout suggests it was
used originally as a house. A guardhouse is attached to, and post dates,
the north-western corner of the courtyard wall. The laundry is immediately
west of the house and creek. On the western side of the walled courtyard
are a reservoir and pump associated with the water supply to the 1861-62
first floor bathroom, dressing room and water closet attached to the rear
of the bedroom wing.
The stable is a two storey building with stalls, carriage and tack rooms
and fruit storage areas.
The tearoom is a single storey timber and tile building constructed this
century with adjacent stone terrace.
The garden contains remnant indigenous plantings, 19th century bush, the
original principal path and drive layouts as well as its relationship with
the harbour.
(Bravery 1997:4 & 6)
The remains of the 19th Century garden however, are confined almost
totally to the eastern side of the stream dividing the reserve. This
garden may be considered in three parts: 1) the lawn before the house; 2)
the shrubbery, and 3) the carriage loop before the stables.
1. The Central lawn - extending from the verandah to the shrubbery,
embellished with a fine Victorian fountain - surrounded by a path. Views
back to the house, over the rest of the garden and (partially obscured) to
the harbour. Ground basin of fountain unsympathetically remodelled; brick
edged gravel paths re-edged with concrete and resurfaced with asphalt.
Bounded on west by an impressive mature planting of magnolias, araucarias
and palms well under planted with ferns, Cliveas etc,
2. Shrubbery - at the further (northern or harbour) end of the lawn. An
intimate area irregularly planned with intersecting paths, refinished as
above, and oddly shaped beds. To the east originally lay a paddock and the
entrance drive which, with the subdivision of the estate ahs been
destroyed and the levels altered. Th3e area now had mature planting but of
no particular value to the historic landscape.
3. Stable area - The carriage loop before the stable remains, somewhat
altered in size and shape. Intrusion of modern petty planting in the form
of beds and edgings could be removed easily to regain the former
character. Separated from the central lawn by a small shrubbery, edged
with tecoma (containing the remains of the original iron estate fencing
and containing a large Ficus and good planting of Camellias, Dietes etc.
4. The kitchen garden - west of the (1-3) recreated c.2001 on the site of
the original kitchen garden.
History
Vaucluse Estate comprises the land granted
to Thomas Laycock (80 acres - 1793, Robert Cardell (25 acres - 1795),
Francis MacGlynn (40 acres) and William Charles Wentworth (370 acres).
In 1803 the Irish convict Sir Henry Browne Hayes purchased Laycock's grant
and a grant adjacent to it. Hayes erected a cottage and other buildings.
He named the property Vaucluse, probably after the Italian poet Petrarch's
estate Fountaine-de-Vaucluse in Avignon France. Vaucluse was leased until
1814. It was left vacant after this except for a year's rental to Captain
John Piper in 1814.
"It was then a mere waste of land until Sir Henry Hayes built a
dwelling house upon it and cultivated a garden". This is now one
observer described the Vaucluse improvements soon after Sir Henry Browne
Hayes acquired 105 acres (42ha) in this isolated spot of Port Jackson.
Naming the property after the village of Vaucluse in the south of France,
he built a small cottage and in 1803 set about transforming his "mere
waste of land", building two huts and outbuildings, clearing 50 acres
(20ha) for agricultural uses and planting several thousand fruit trees.
None of these survive. Hayes left the colony in 1812, his estate was
bought by Captain John Piper in 1822, the newspapers describing it as 'a
small farm'.
Between 1813 and 1827 the estate passed through several hands.
On 27 August 1827 William Charles Wentworth, Blue Mountains explorer,
barrister, author and co-editor and publisher of THE AUSTRALIAN newspaper,
purchased the estate from Captain John Piper. An additional grant brought
the harbour side estate to 515 acres. Wentworth used Vaucluse as a family
home and as a setting to enhance his status as a public figure.
Wentworth added adjacent lands, gained by grant and purchases up to a
total of 515 acres (208ha), his estate stretching from the Macquarie
Lighthouse on South Head to the eastern heights of Rose Bay. Wentworth and
his wife Sarah Cox moved to the estate with their growing family in 1828,
carrying out major building and ground works through 25 years of
occupancy.
By the 1830s the Wentworth family had made many visible improvements at
Vaucluse, including turrets on the house, a sandstone stable in 1829 by
architect George Cookney, a large kitchen wing and convict barracks.
Vaucluse House and its furnishings were clearly intended to provide the
correct social surroundings for Wentworth and his wife Sarah's immediate
family of seven daughters and three sons. Sir Henry Browne Hayes' modest
structure disappeared within the building fabric of the Wentworth's gothic
mansion. The public areas were designed for effect and the Drawing and
Dining Rooms, long hall and sweeping staircase was as fashionable as the
Wentworth's taste would allow. Vaucluse House was never completed due to
factors which included the 1840s depression and Wentworth's intentions for
a full faade, bedroom additions and formal entrance are unknown.
Wentworth regarded Vaucluse House as an estate - a private residence with
outbuildings. Several outbuildings remain and their function can be easily
identified. It acted as a base for a man who helped form the Australian
Patriotic Association, who had one of his constitutional drafts serve as
the basis for a colonial government granted by London, was a member of the
Legislative Council, who was an active player in the improvement of
education and was involved in the establishment of the University of
Sydney and was Chair for the Select Committee that drafted the 1854
constitutional document.
In March 1853 the family sold most of the contents of the house by auction
and moved to Europe. In December the house and 163 acres within the fences
was leased to John Hosking for three years.
When they left for England in 1853, the estate was well established. A
lease agreement to John Hosking in mid-19th century required him to keep
"the park, gardens, orangeries, vineyard and buildings, fencing,
hedges, ditches, gates, bridges, stiles, rails, poles, posts and drains in
good and sufficient order".
When the Wentworths returned briefly in 1861-2, many improvements were
made to the pleasure grounds. The gothic revival iron verandah was built
and fountain installed in the pleasure garden. The Wentworths returned to
Australia with advanced European tastes. Renovations at Vaucluse were
necessary after several years of relative neglect by tenants, and the
present verandah with its Gothic Revival columns replaced an earlier flat
roofed verandah. Use of the estate grounds extended to the harbour side
Beach Paddock. The family introduced new plantings to the gardens and
orchards and innovations in fencing shaped and formalised the approaches
to the property.
The Wentworths returned to England in 1862, the estate being occupied by
various agents, relations and members of the immediate family. Visitors
have enjoyed the spectacular display of the climber Wisteria sinensis on
the house's verandah every spring since 1862 (Parramatta Advertiser, 2005)
From the late 1870s the house was occupied by family, friends or
caretakers. Wentworth died in England in 1872 and a public funeral was
held in Sydney in 1873. Sarah and one of her daughters took up residence
at Vaucluse during the slow completion of the Mausoleum in Chapel Road,
returning to England in 1875 to visit family. Sarah only returned to
Australia briefly. Even after William's death in 1872, Sarah and unmarried
daughter Eliza continued an active life long interest in the property,
even from abroad.
In 1900 the contents of the house were auctioned, and the house remained
unoccupied until 1911. Then some 28 acres (9ha) including house and
garden, were resumed by the NSW Government for use as a public reserve.
In 1910 the preservation of Vaucluse House was assured by Government
resumption of the present estate of approximately 10 hectares (25 acres).
The Department of Lands was apparently charged with establishing a public
recreation ground at Vaucluse.
The house and estate were first managed by an Honorary Board of Trustees
as part of the Nielsen Park-Vaucluse Trust. Providing for the current
needs took precedence over preservation and the ruins of the convict
barracks, workers cottages, fences and stock shed were demolished.
The Trust replaced the original gates in 1910-20 with four sets of gates.
The square pillars and iron gates of the original Vaucluse Estate entrance
were removed from Vaucluse Road near Nielsen Park and resited near the
original driveway at the intersection of Wentworth Road and Olola Avenue.
The house, although virtually empty, was open on weekends and holidays.
In 1917 two towers were added to the eastern faade and the crenellations
continued across the front faade to give a semblance of completeness. The
character of the garden changed in detail more than layout'
In the 1920s further changes took place including the formalisation of the
carriage circle with the removal of the Bunya Bunya Pine and construction
of a grassed loop. By the mid 1920s almost all evidence of the Wentworth
entry road had been lost and was replaced by Wentworth Road. Olola Avenue
was built. Until this decade substantial areas of cleared land survived in
the east and west.
In the 1920s the house was opened to the public and great changes began in
its grounds. The kiosk (now tearooms) was built, new pedestrian bridges
built over the creek, and the ground level around the western side of the
stables was radically altered for footpaths. Original gravel paths were
bitumenised, last remnants of the orchard and vineyard removed and the
original entry drive disappeared. Wentworth's precious bushland to the
west and east was subdivided.
In the 1930s Depression there was much relief work activity in the park.
Concrete paths were laid, stone walls contained the creek. Much work was
done on the carriage loop including building stone walls, kerbing and
arbors. An extensive rose garden was established in the central lawn. A
rockery was formed around the bakery and the garden embellished with beds
of azaleas, cannas, cinerarias and begonias - changing the 19th century
estate into a 20th century municipal park.
Further additions and alterations were made in the period up until 1966.
In 1968 responsibility for the house and grounds was transferred to the
National Parks and Wildlife Service when it was declared a historic site
under the National Parks and Wildlife Act of 1967. Over 200 indigenous
trees were replanted and refurbishment of the house interiors was
announced in 1978. The Trustees maintained their position until 1980 when
the property became the responsibility of the Historic Houses Trust of
NSW. (Bravery 1997:5-8)
In 1981 the property was transferred to the NSW Historic Houses Trust, who
commenced work on a long-term conservation plan for the grounds. This was
based on a study of the site's history, contemporary documentation such as
paintings, sketches, family papers, photographs, and research on 19th
century garden practises in Australia. Today Vaucluse House is one of the
few 19th century houses on Sydney Harbour retaining a significant part of
its original setting. One distinguishing surviving characteristic of the
19th century estate is its careful division into specific areas, both
functional and ornamental, such as pleasure garden, kitchen garden, rear
service yard, paddocks, carriageway, creek, estate backdrop, beach
paddock.
Special
thanks to http://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/
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