| Historical notes: | Aboriginal land
Gundungurra or Gandangarra people lived in the Southern Highlands area, which includes Mittagong, for many thousands of years. People who spoke the Gundungurra language lived in the Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands and the Goulburn Plains of New South Wales. They lived in small groups of extended family members, who were attached to particular areas of country. After Anglo-European settlers caused displacement of Gundungurra people, they often worked on farms or grazing properties within and adjacent to their traditional land (Di Johnson: 2004 in SHR database 5045486). Gundungurra groups left archaeological evidence of their occupation throughout their traditional lands, including scarred trees where bark was removed for use as a boat or other object, grinding grooves on rocks where axes were ground, and occupation sites which include middens. Well-worn Gundungurra pathways on ridge tops were often the routes used as the first roads by colonists (Di Johnson 2004). Possibly this could have been the origin of the Old South Road which borders part of the Renwick site. (SHR database 5045486).
Gundungurra groups left archaeological evidence of their occupation throughout their traditional homelands, including scarred trees where bark was removed for use as a boat or other object, grinding grooves on rocks where axes were ground, and occupation sites which include middens. Well-worn Gundungurra pathways on ridge tops were often the routes used as the first roads by colonists (Di Johnson, 2004). Possibly this could have been the origin of the Old South Road where the Hassall and Jefferis Cottages are located.
The area is home to the Tharawal and Gungungurra people (Robinson, 2008).
Camden and the Cow Pastures:
The area is associated with the early history of the colony of New South Wales. Governor Hunter named it 'The Cowpastures' after cattle which had strayed from the Farm Cove settlement were discovered there in 1795 (to the south-west of Sydney). Due to the early European settlers, namely the Macarthurs, who established flourishing wool, wine and wheat industries here, the area is said to be the 'birthplace of the nation's wealth' (ibid, 2008).
Colonisation of Berrima:
Berrima is the second oldest (European) settlement in Wingecarribee Shire and the oldest continuing settlement in the shire. The first town settlement in the district was in 1821 at Bong Bong, 8km south-east of Berrima on the Wingecarribee River (Webb, 2008, 9).
The site of Berrima was selected by Surveyor General Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1829 on a visit planning the route for a new road alignment from Sydney to replace the old Argyle Road, which had proven unsatisfactory due to a steep hill climb over the Mittagong Range and river crossing at Bong Bong. In 1830 Mitchell instructed Robert Hoddle to mark out the town based on a plan Mitchell's office prepared, along the lines of a traditional English village (with a central market place and as many blocks as possible facing onto the WIngecarribee River), and using the local Aboriginal name. The new line of road came through the town (Allman Johnston, 2007). Berrima was to be established as the commercial and administrative centre for the County of Camden.
Following the approval of Governor Bourke in 1831, the period 1824 to 1841 saw significant flourishing development as mail coaches changed their route to this new line of road. Early town lots were sold in 1833, predominantly to inn keepers and around Market Square, including the first town Lot sales to Bryan McMahon (Webb, 2008, 9).
Governor Bourke designated Berrima as a place for a courthouse and gaol to serve the southern part of the state (Webb, 2008, 9). With construction of the Jail from 1835-9 and its Court House in 1838 to serve the southern part of the state the town flourished into the 1840s as mail coaches called, public buildings including churches in 1849 and 1851, establishment of many hotels and coaching houses to service local resident needs and passing trades, persons and commercial travellers. Its 1841 population was 249 with 37 houses completed and 7 more in construction. Research has indicated there were some 13 hotels or grog houses in Berrima at the one time in the early days before the coming of the Southern Railway to the Moss Vale area, which by-passed Berrima (Allman Johnston, 2005).
The Mail Coach Inn (now the Coach & Horses Inn) operated at 22 Jellore Street from 1837-9 as a licenced public house and staging post for travel and delivery of mail. It was one of the first inns in Berrima, along with the Surveyor-General Inn and Berrima Inn. The licencee, Michael Doyle, transferred the Mail Coach Inn's liquor licence to the opposite side of Market Square in 1839 to operate from the property he and his wife had purchased, now known as the White Horse Inn (Webb, 2008, 5).
By the 1840s there were four licenced premises including the Berrima Inn, Surveyor General Inn, Mail Coach Inn and Crown Inn. Prior to the coming of the railway to the Moss Vale area, there were 13 hotels in Berrima. The first licensed inn for Berrima was the Berrima Inn, perated by Bryan McMahon, in 1834. Seven of the early hotel buildings remain today with the oldest (surviving) being the Surveyor General Inn, its first licence granted to James Harper on 29/6/1835. The Breen family, who later bought McMahon's Inn and the Coach & Horses Inn (unlicenced), were involved with two other hotels. Other inns of historic note include the White Horse Inn and the Queen Victoria Inn (Webb, 2008, 9).
The 1851 census showed the number of buildings remained the same but the population had dropped to 192. During the 1850s Berrima experienced another boom period after the discovery of gold (Webb, 2008, 10).
Berrima is Bypassed by the Great Southern Railway:
When the Great Southern Railway bypassed Berrima in 1867 the town again began to decline as Mittagong, Moss Vale and Bowral developed. Berrima remained virtually unchanged for the next 100 years, preserving the town as an almost intact colonial village (Webb, 2008, 10).
1867 was a momentous year. In December, the newly completed railway line from Sydney opened and in anticipation for an influx of people, the owners of the large estates began subdividing, with the first town plots sold in 1863. By the time Moss Vale station opened, the town had a store, postal service and hotel, mainly to cater for the needs of the large number of railway workers and their families who had come to the district. Their small tent communities had sprung up all along the Great Southern Railway line as it forged south to Goulburn. Lewis Levy from Berrima opened the first store, having cannily anticipated the decline in business in Berrima once it was bypassed by the railway. Business people of Sutton Forest saw Moss Vale's potential as the future centre of the district and many of the first land buyers in Moss Vale were Sutton Forest and Berrima people (ibid, 2001, 82).
The opening up of the Yarrawa Brush (rainforest area, split up and cleared for farming) in the 1860s - the Robertson, Burrawang and Wilde's Meadow area - added to the importance of the rail head at Moss Vale, which became the district centre for sending produce and other freight to the Sydney market (Emery, 2001, 82).
As a result the once bustling town rapidly declined. By the turn of the century Berrima's population totalled 80 and many of its buildings had been abandoned.
In 1948 the Berrima Training Centre, a minimum security correctional centre opened at the Berrima Gaol. In the 1960s the National Trust of Australia (NSW) started to classify and seek to protect heritage properties (Webb, 2008, 22).
Since the classification of a number of buildings in Berrima by the National Trust of Australia (NSW) in the 1960s, the popularity of Berrima has increased, particularly as a tourist destination. Recent developments in the town have seen the emergence of bed and breakfast accomodation facilities, reflecting the early years of the town's development that provided accomodation for travellers through the construction and operation of various inns (Webb, 2008, 10).
In 1992 the Sydney to Canberra Freeway (F5) bypassed Berrima (Webb, 2008, 22). |