Matthews Cottage

Item details


Name of item:	Matthews Cottage
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Residential buildings (private)
Category:	Cottage
Location:	Lat: -35.8759806 Long: 148.494301454049
Primary address:	Kosciuszko National Park, Kiandra, NSW 2629
Local govt. area:	Snowy Monaro Regional
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Wagonga

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
LOT	4	12	DP	758564

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
Kosciuszko National Park	Kiandra	Snowy Monaro Regional			Primary Address

Owner/s

Organisation Name	Owner Category	Date Ownership Updated
National Parks and Wildlife Service	State Government	26 Nov 98

Description

Physical description:

The site of Matthews' Cottage, Lot 4, Section 12 of Kiandra, was initially sold at an Auction of Crown Land to George Venterman on 29 June 1874. George, who is recorded as a "miner of Kiandra" paid the sum of 20 shillings 3 pence for the land. In March 1879 the land was sold to Frederick Blaxland of Binjura, and subsequently to William John Foley of Kiandra.

"Bill" Foley was born at Goulburn Jail in 1879, the son of a warden. By the age of sixteen, Bill was working on the mail coach from Kiandra to Cooma. This work often proved to be exciting to the young Bill, particularly as the coach frequently carried gold for the banks. At these times a Gold Escort of six to eight armed men would accompany the coach.

Bill was later employed on mining dredges, initially at Adelong and later at Myrtleford in Victoria. His departure from Myrtleford was by pushbike; he rode all the way to Grahamstown, near Adelong, for his wedding with Jenny Bradley. The Bradley family has a long association with the Snowy Mountains, various branches of the family having settled at Talbingo, the Yarrangobilly Hotel, Yarrangobilly Caves as the first caretakers, and Kiandra.

During 1900 the Foleys moved to Kiandra where Bill found work at Oliver Harris' store. Work comprised the butchering of livestock and subsequent transportation of the meat by packhorses to miners at Lobbs Hole.

Photographic evidence indicates that the original Cottage was constructed by the Foleys at some time between 1900 and 1906. The Cottage was a simple three-roomed building with a verandah facing the street. Construction was of weatherboards with a corrugated iron gable roof and the interior was lined with timber boards. The construction utilised modern techniques and materials, due to the technology available within a typical rural town at the time and the easy access to major centres via reasonable roads.

The builder is not known. It is likely that the sawn timber framing would have been obtained from one of the local sawmills such as Alpine Creek. Lining boards, windows and doors are likely to have been obtained from outside the region. The use of basalt stonework in the fireplace is relatively uncommon, although the Kiandra Courthouse and Police Lockup were constructed entirely of basalt.

(Brief extract from Matthews' Cottage Conservation Study, prepared for NPWS by David Scott, October 1993.)


Current use:	National Park
Former use:	Cottage

History

Historical notes:

In 2022 The second stage of a world-class multi-day walk, featuring the country's highest suspension bridge between Guthega and Charlotte Pass in Kosciuszko National Park was completed. Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole said the spectacular new nine-kilometre track along the upper Snowy River is helping to establish the region as a key eco-adventure tourism destination. 'Once all four stages are complete, the 55-kilometre Snowies Alpine Walk will be a world-class experience for visitors to enjoy even more of Kosciuszko National Park, and puts the Snowy Mountains region firmly on the domestic and international tourism map,' Mr Toole said. 'The Snowies Alpine Walk includes Australia's highest suspension bridge at 1,627 metres above sea level and will create more than 30 jobs, attracting an expected 50,000 visitors per year.' Minister for Environment James Griffin said the project is part of the largest ever investment in national park visitor infrastructure and could compete with the likes of Tasmania's Cradle Mountain Overland Track. 'The opening of this section of the walk marks the completion of the second of four stages, and I'm thrilled to see increased access in this beautiful part of the world,' Mr Griffin said. 'The Snowies Alpine Walk is putting NSW on the map for multi-day hikes, and it'll be a must-do walk for anyone who loves Tasmania's Cradle Mountain Overland Track. In fact, I reckon it'll be a strong competitor with the Overland. 'I want to see everyone who comes to our magnificent NSW national parks arrive as visitors, and leave as conservationists, and this walk will help us achieve that.'

The Snowies Alpine Walk project was awarded more than $17 million by the NSW Government Regional Growth - Environment and Tourism Fund program. Additional funding of $10 million from the Australian Government's Regional Recovery Partnerships program has enabled construction to commence on stage four (Media release, Paul Toole MP, 5/6/2022).

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Other open space-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Changing the environment-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Developing local, regional and national economies-National Theme 3
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Building settlements, towns and cities-National Theme 4
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Housing ordinary families-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal	Administering and alienating Crown lands-

Procedures /Exemptions

Section of act	Description	Title	Comments	Action date
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Standard Exemptions	HERITAGE ACT 1977 ORDER UNDER SECTION 57(2) TO GRANT STANDARD EXEMPTIONS FROM APPROVAL I, Penny Sharpe, the Minister for Heritage, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales and under section 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977: revoke the order made on 2 June 2022 and published in the Government Gazette Number 262 of 17 June 2022; and grant an exemption from section 57(1) of the Act in respect of the engaging in or carrying out the class of activities described in clause 2 Schedule A in such circumstances specified by the relevant standards in clause 2 Schedule A and General Conditions in clause 3 Schedule A. This Order takes effect on the date it is published in the NSW Government Gazette. Dated this 29th day of October 2025 The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC Minister for Heritage For more information on standard exemptions click on the link below.	Nov 7 2025

Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - State Heritage Register		00998	02 Apr 99	27	1546
Heritage Act - s.170 NSW State agency heritage register

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
National Parks & Wildlife Service Section 170 Register			National Parks & Wildlife Service		No

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written	Toole, the Hon Paul., MP (Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW)	2022	press release: Stunning new walk opens in the Snowies
Tourism	Tourism NSW	2007	Kosciuszko National Park	View detail

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

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Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Heritage NSW
Database number:	5014100

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