Luddenham Homestead site

Item details


Name of item:	Luddenham Homestead site
Type of item:	Archaeological-Terrestrial
Group/Collection:	Residential buildings (private)
Category:	Homestead building
Primary address:	1-9 Park Road, Wallacia, NSW 2745
Local govt. area:	Penrith

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
1-9 Park Road	Wallacia	Penrith			Primary Address

Statement of significance:


	As the home of John Blaxland on his Luddenham estate, the site of the Luddenham homestead was the centre of activity in the area from 1813. The homestead continued to be the focus of pastoral activity through the nineteenth century when it was the home of George Wallace, the manager of the remaining part of the Luddenham estate in the 1850s and after whom Wallacia is named. Because there is no record of the land at the rear of the shops facing Mulgoa Road being developed for other purposes, the site of Luddenham homestead has high potential to provide further information about the use of the Luddenham estate from 1813 through the nineteenth century. Sites such as this with potential to provide information about the early settlement of New South Wales, and particularly associated with a significant family such as the Blaxlands are increasingly rare.
	Date significance updated: 23 Sep 08
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Construction years:	1813-
Physical description:	Surveys and local knowledge indicated the site of the Luddenham Homestead being on the eastern side of Mulgoa Road, north of Park Road. This land has some small commercial development close to Mulgoa Road but is otherwise largely undeveloped.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	Because there is no record of the land at the rear of the shops facing Mulgoa Road being developed for other purposes, there is substantial potential for evidence of Luddenham Homestead and associated outbuildings surviving under the ground surface.
	Date condition updated:23 Sep 08
Modifications and dates:	Homestead demolished
Further information:	Archaeological investigation including ground penetrating radar and some investigation trenches should be undertaken before allowing further development of this site.


Former use:	Homestead

History

Historical notes:

Governor Macquarie granted 6710 acres of land in the present day Wallacia and Luddenham districts to John Blaxland in 1813. Blaxland named the estate Luddenham after his family’s property in Kent, England. As well as grazing stock on the estate, Blaxland established a mill and brewery on the other side of the Nepean River. His homestead was located in the present day village of Wallacia. In 1833 Mrs Felton Matthews journeyed west and recorded in her diary that she “Reached Luddenham, Mr Blaxland’s estate. Cottage and farm buildings is rather pretty. Large tracts of cleared ground around.” She described the house further; “Luddenham as a house, is nothing, a mere settler’s habitation, of wood principally and set up with all that neglect of comfort, convenience and appearance, which is so strikingly displayed in all the earlier buildings of the colony but it is most beautifully situated, on the summit of a gentle slope which rises from the rivers banks.”

Blaxland mortgaged Luddenham in 1841. After his death in 1845, the estate was taken up by his son Edward who failed to revive the fortunes of the property. It was sold by the Australian Trust Company in October 1851 to Charles Nicholson. Nicholson established a village of Luddenham at the eastern end of the estate, on Northern Road. Tenant farmers managed much of the farmland with George Wallace managing the land at the present town of Wallacia and living in the homestead.

A plan of Luddenham estate was prepared in 1859 and shows buildings and improvements on both sides of the present day Park Road, east of Mulgoa Road. The remaining 2233 acres of the estate was sold to a syndicate of land developers in 1885 who subdivided the land into semi-rural allotments and created Park Road.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Pastoralism-Activities associated with the breeding, raising, processing and distribution of livestock for human use	Country estates-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	As the home of John Blaxland on his Luddenham estate, the site of the Luddenham homestead was the centre of activity in the area from 1813. The homestead continued to be the focus of pastoral activity through the nineteenth century when it was the home of George Wallace, the manager of the remaining part of the Luddenham estate in the 1850s and after whom Wallacia is named.
SHR Criteria b) [Associative significance]	This site has high significance as the site of John Blaxland’s Luddenham homestead established on his 1813 land grants.
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	The site of Luddenham homestead has high potential to provide further information about the use of the Luddenham estate from 1813 through the nineteenth century.
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	Sites with potential to provide information about the early settlement of New South Wales, and particularly associated with a significant family such as the Blaxlands are increasingly rare.
Integrity/Intactness:	Homestead demolished.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Local Environmental Plan	Penrith Local Environmental Plan 2010	A849	22 Sep 10
Heritage study		2260849	01 Nov 07

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
Penrith Heritage Study Supplementary Items	2008	WA - 03	Hubert Architects Pty Ltd	Pamela Hubert	Yes

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title
Written	Mrs Felton Mathews	1833	Mrs Felton Mathews’ Journal, March 13, 1833, in Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society Vol 29, Pt 2, 1944
Written	Paul Davies Pty Ltd	2007	Penrith Heritage Study Vol 3 – Locality Assessment
Map	Samuel Jackson	1859	Survey of the Luddenham Estate

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Local Government
Database number:	2260849

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