House

Item details


Name of item:	House
Other name/s:	The Blue House
Type of item:	Complex / Group
Group/Collection:	Residential buildings (private)
Category:	Cottage
Location:	Lat: -33.6053316569 Long: 150.8266470290
Primary address:	28 North Street, Windsor, NSW 2756
Parish:	St Matthew
County:	Cumberland
Local govt. area:	Hawkesbury
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Deerubbin

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
LOT	1		DP	749299

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
28 North Street	Windsor	Hawkesbury	St Matthew	Cumberland	Primary Address

Owner/s

Organisation Name	Owner Category	Date Ownership Updated
	Private

Statement of significance:


	(As part of the North Street Group) A homogenous group of mid-Victorian residential buildings adjacent to the historic Windsor Court House, now all restored and forming a precinct of national significance (Tanner & Associates, 1984). An interesting formal brick house with a wide returning verandah, cast-iron trim and a high central chimney, 28 North Street was built by Mr Mullings c.1875 for the Tebbutt family (of Peninsular House & Observatories), and is situated on top of a grassy knoll alongside Windsor Courthouse (Proudfoot, 1987 (a)).
	Date significance updated: 02 Jun 06
	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


Builder/Maker:	Mr. Mullinger
Physical description:	Single storey brick house with wide verandahs and hipped iron roof. An interesting formal brick house with a wide returning verandah, cast-iron trim and a high central chimney... situated on top of a grassy knoll alongside Windsor Courthouse (Proudfoot, 1987 (a). Each cottage (of the North Street cottages group) takes advantage of the natural fall of the land to have a lower storey at the rear...On a little grassy knoll opposite, 28 North Street is a formal brick house set back from the street, built c.1875 for Mr Mullinger for the Tebbutt family. It has a wide returning verandah with cast iron open columns and valance, and French windows opening from inside with long louvered shutters. The high central chimney crowning the roof emphasises the formality of the design. It became the Mullinger family home and until 1994 was held by a descendent (Proudfoot (b), 1987, amended by Read, S., 20/7/2006).
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	Structurally sound (1998) (Of the 23-39 North Street group, across the road): The study area has associations with the earliest settlement of this area although this is unlikely to be extensively demonstrated in the archaeological record except by evidence of environmental change. The most substantial evidence relates to a significant period of town development in the 1840s; this is one of the most intact groups from that period in Windsor and is representative of domestic life in the 19th century...Archaeological relics that may be associated with these buildings would have significance for their potential to more comprehensively document the development of these individual sites, now poorly preserved in archival sources. This could add considerably to revealing domestic life in the 19th century town... This ability to more accurately document the development and management of these important properties would have moderate local significance... The preceding assessment indicates that the land associated with each house is likely to contain relics, possibly of outbuildings, services, yard improvements and domestic wastes (Cultural Resources Management, 2004, p.3).
	Date condition updated:20 Sep 17
Modifications and dates:	6/1988: Removed 3 trees & lopped other trees 8/1988: Erected new two-storey sandstock brick garage (barn) 1993: in ground swimming pool added at rear (east) 1994: steel fence erected around swimming pool 1997: Additions to and repainting of the property, erection of Victorian style summer house near pool, exterior painting based on paint scrapes to show original colours.


Current use:	Residence
Former use:	Aboriginal land, farm, residence

History

Historical notes:

INDIGENOUS OCCUPATION
The lower Hawkesbury was home to the Dharug people. The proximity to the Nepean River and South Creek qualifies it as a key area for food resources for indigenous groups (Proudfoot, 1987).
The Dharug and Darkinjung people called the river Deerubbin and it was a vital source of food and transport (Nichols, 2010).

NON-INDIGENOUS OCCUPATION
Governor Arthur Phillip explored the local area in search of suitable agricultural land in 1789 and discovered and named the Hawkesbury River after Baron Hawkesbury. This region played a significant role in the early development of the colony with European settlers established here by 1794. Situated on fertile floodplains and well known for its abundant agriculture, Green Hills (as it was originally called) supported the colony through desperate times. However, frequent flooding meant that the farmers along the riverbanks were often ruined.

1794: The study area covering allotments at 23 through to 39 North Street, Windsor, is located on land first alienated for European purposes in a grant made by Francis Grose of thirty acres to Samuel Wilcox, who named it Wilcox Farm. It is likely that land clearance and agricultural activities as well as some building works took place during this period and during the subsequent of occupation;

early 19th century: Former Wilcox Farm was incorporated into a larger holding of 1500 acres known as Peninsula Farm.

Governor Lachlan Macquarie replaced Governor Bligh, taking up duty on 1/1/1810. Under his influence the colony propsered. His vision was for a free community, working in conjunction with the penal colony. He implemented an unrivalled public works program, completing 265 public buildings, establishing new public amenities and improving existing services such as roads. Under his leadership Hawkesbury district thrived. He visited the district on his first tour and recorded in his journal on 6/12/1810: 'After dinner I chrestened the new townships...I gave the name of Windsor to the town intended to be erected in the district of the Green Hills...the township in the Richmond district I have named Richmond...' the district reminded Macquarie of those towns in England, whilst Castlereagh, Pitt Town and Wilberforce were named after English statesmen. These are often referred to as Macquarie's Five Towns. Their localities, chiefly Windsor and Richmond, became more permanent with streets, town square and public buildings.

Macquarie also appointed local men in positions of authority. In 1810 a group of settlers sent a letter to him congratulating him on his leadership and improvements. It was published in the Sydney Gazette with his reply. He was 'much pleased with the sentiments' of the letter and assured them that the Haweksbury would 'always be an object of the greatest interest' to him (Nichols, 2010).

In marking out the towns of Windsor and Richmond in 1810, Governor Macquarie was acting on instructions from London. All of the Governors who held office between 1789 and 1822, from Phillip to Brisbane, recieved the same Letter of Instruction regarding the disposal of the 'waste lands of the Crown' that Britain claimed as her own. This included directives for the formation of towns and thus the extension of British civilisation to its Antipodean outpost (Proudfoot 1987, 7-9).

23-39 North Street group:
The study area has associations with the earliest settlement of this area although this is unlikely to be extensively demonstrated in the archaeological record except by evidence of environmental change. The most substantial evidence relates to a significant period of town development in the 1840s; this is one of the most intact groups from that period in Windsor and is representative of domestic life in the 19th century...Archaeological relics that may be associated with these buildings would have significance for their potential to more comprehensively document the development of these individual sites, now poorly preserved in archival sources. This could add considerably to revealing domestic life in the 19th century town... This ability to more accurately document the development and management of these important properties would have moderate local significance...(Cultural Resources Management, 2004, p.3).

The Lower Hawkesbury was home to the Dharug people. There is a considerable body of contact period ethnographic data that provides important evidence for the lives and customs of the original local inhabitants. Archaeological investigation has added detail to this archival resource.

The economy of the Dharug was oriented towards terrestrial resources, small animals and vegetables, particularly yams found in the banks of the river...

The importance of the local environment to the Aboriginal people was matched by a corresponding significance for the new European settlers. The initial poor understanding of this landscape by those settlers, though, was to have disastrous consequences. The two overwhelming factors influencing the development of the original settlement were the fertility of the soil and the overwhelming floods that deposited the rich alluvial soil.

The potential for disastrous floods had been recognised by Governor Phillip during his initial surveys of the region. Despite his warnings regarding this likelihood his successor, Francis Grose, encouraged settlement along the river banks. For several years the settlement prospered but in 1795 the river rose by several metres. Much damage was caused particularly near South Creek. It was the beginning of a pattern of widespread, recurrent and ruinous flooding that was to devastate the Hawkesbury settlements over many years. Cultural Resources Management, 2004, p.9).

In January 1794 a small farming community was established along the banks of the Hawkesbury from South Creek to Pitt Town, east of the study area (the western side of the current North Street). Then known as Mulgrave Place it initially comprised 22 grants of 30 acres each awarded to a mixture of ex-convicts, privates in the NSW Corps, a marine and one free settler. Throughout 1794 more grants were made to accommodate the increasing numbers seeking land and those wishing to relocate to the fertile Hawkesbury region. By August 1794 there were 70 settlers on the Hawkesbury and by 1795 there were 546 inhabitants.

The first alienation of the land encompassed by the study area for European purposes was made on 19 November 1794. This was a grant of 30 acres made to Samuel Wilcox. The boundaries of the grant were from the banks of the Hawkesbury River half way to South Creek with one corner of the land touching on the creek. He named his property Wilcox Farm; this name was specified on the deed of grant made by Francis Grose. Wilcox was given the property free of all taxes, fees and other charges for 10 years so long as he resided there and commenced to improve and cultivate the land. If he failed to do so within 5 years the land would revert to the Crown. As he was able to sell his property it infers that improvements were carried out on it although the nature, extent and location of these works are unknown.

At some time between 1794 and 1841 Wilcox sold his property to George Thomas Palmer, a gentleman of Parramatta. Palmer had arrived in NSW as a Lieutenant of the 61st Regiment but with permission to settle as a free immigrant. He served for a short time as Provost-Marshall and was appointed Superintendent of Government Stock in 1813. He resigned his position within a year and set up his home near Parramatta. He began to acquire extensive tracts of land around the settlement including 700 acres at Bringelly granted in 1812. He became a prominent member of the community serving on a number of public boards. He died in England in 1854. Palmer Street in the town of Windsor is named after him. Most likely, therefore, Palmer purchased Wilcox Farm after 1813 as well as substantial tracts surrounding it, over 1000 acres.

Although Palmer did not live at the Hawkesbury property it is clear from primary sources that this fertile tract was put to good use for cultivation. The plan prepared for the auction of the estate in the 1840s shows that the study area adjoined a large holding of fenced and cultivated paddocks, with ricks of hay then standing on them. There appear to have been several buildings associated with these paddocks. One of these structures, a small square building labelled 'new hut', stood at the back of the later allotment 18, behind 37-39 North Street. This was labelled the 'rick yard', that is, a storage yard associated with the fields nearby.

In 1841 Palmer sold a total of 1500 acres including the 30 acres of Wilcox Farm to Charles Campbell, a gentleman of Sydney. Campbell offered what was called the Peninsula Farm for sale as a subdivided estate in 1842. The study area occupies Allotments 18-22 of this subdivision within the building allotments. (Cultural Resources Management, 2004, p.10).

The current 28 North Street was allotment 33 of the above-mentioned subdivision (Stuart Read, 6/2006).

The current owners bought the property in 1994 (pers.comm., Stuart Read, 20/7/2006).

The study area is part of a property formally alienated for European purposes in 1794. It was known as Wilcox Farm. This became part of a much larger holding, the Peninsula Farm, which was subdivided in the early 1840s. Some of the buildings occupying the allotments within the study area date from this period.

The archival evidence for this place, at least that available from public repositories, is very limited; for example, no 19th century survey of the place or any of its components has been located during this investigation...Cultural Resources Management, 2004, p.8).

28 North Street was built by Mr Mullings c.1875 for the Tebbutt family (of Peninsular House & Observatories)(Proudfoot, 1987 (a).

28 North Street is a formal brick house set back from the street, built c.1875 by Mr Mullinger for the Tebbutt family. It became the Mullinger family home and is still held by a descendent (Proudfoot (b), 1987).

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
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
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	Significant tree(s) providing urban amenity-
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	Landscapes of urban amenity-
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.	Residential-
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 townsfolk - urban villas-
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.	Victorian era residence-
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 farming families-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Planned towns serving a specific industry-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Developing towns in response to topography-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities.	Landscaping - Victorian period-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities.	Building in response to climate - bushfires-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities.	Architectural styles and periods - Victorian (late)-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities.	Architectural styles and periods - Victorian Regency Revival-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Domestic life-Activities associated with creating, maintaining, living in and working around houses and institutions.	Ways of life 1900-1950-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Domestic life-Activities associated with creating, maintaining, living in and working around houses and institutions.	Ways of life 1950-2000-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Domestic life-Activities associated with creating, maintaining, living in and working around houses and institutions.	Ways of life 1850-1900-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Domestic life-Activities associated with creating, maintaining, living in and working around houses and institutions.	Ornamental Garden-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Domestic life-Activities associated with creating, maintaining, living in and working around houses and institutions.	Living in, adapting and renovating homes for changing conditions-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation	Gardening-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	Associations with John Tebbutt Jr., private astronomer-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	Associations with Samuel Wilcox, farmer-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	Associations with Mr Mullinger, building contractor, Windsor-

Recommended management:

Recommendations

Management Category	Description	Date Updated
Recommended Management	Produce a Conservation Management Plan (CMP)
Recommended Management	Prepare a maintenance schedule or guidelines
Recommended Management	Carry out interpretation, promotion and/or education

Procedures /Exemptions

Section of act	Description	Title	Comments	Action date
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Standard Exemptions	ORDER UNDER SECTION 57(2) OF THE HERITAGE ACT 1977 Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977. I, the Hon James Griffin MP, Minister for Environment and Heritage, pursuant to subsection 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales do by this Order, effective at the time of publication in the New South Wales Government Gazette: 1. revoke the order made on 9 November 2020 and published in the Government Gazette Number 318 of 13 November 2020; and 2. grant the exemptions from subsection 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 that are described in the attached Schedule. The Hon James Griffin MP Minister for Environment and Heritage Signed this 2nd day of June 2022. To view the standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 click on the link below.	Jun 17 2022

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		00108	02 Apr 99	27	1546
Heritage Act - Permanent Conservation Order - former		00108	13 Mar 81	41	1585
Local Environmental Plan	Hawkesbury LEP 2012 Schedule 5	I00108
Within a conservation area on an LEP	Hawkesbury LEP 2012 North Street HCA	C3
Register of the National Estate			21 Mar 78

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Tourism		2007	Windsor Heritage Walk	View detail
Tourism	Attraction Homepage	2007	Windsor Heritage Walk	View detail
Written	Cultural Resources Management (Wendy Thorp)	2004	Archaeological Assessment - 23-29 North Street Windsor
Written	Edwards Planning	2017	Heritage Impact Statement - Landscaping Works, 28 North Street, Windsor
Written	Nichols, Michelle (Local Studies Librarian)	2010	Macquarie and the Hawkesbury District
Written	Proudfoot, Helen (a)	1987	Windsor (chapter) in 'Exploring Sydney's West'
Written	Proudfoot, Helen (b)	1987	The Historic Buildings of Windsor and Richmond
Written	Tanner & Associates	1984	Heritage Study of the North Western Sector of Sydney

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:	Heritage NSW
Database number:	5045190
File number:	EF14/4701; S90/5766; HC 32531

Every effort has been made to ensure that information contained in the State Heritage Inventory is correct. If you find any errors or omissions please send your comments to the Database Manager.

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