CONSERVE
Unfinished Business BY DAVID BURDON, DIRECTOR OF CONSERVATION
Sydney in the 1830s and 1840s typified “the best of times, the worst of times”. If we look carefully, we can still see silent reminders of the period’s grand plans and shattered dreams.
The young colony of NSW was a prosperous place for many of its inhabitants nearly two hundred years ago. Out went the wool, and in came the goods to fill the warehouses. For the fashionable architects of colonial society in the 1830s, the commissions came thick and fast. Rich merchants, speculators, highranking civil servants and the established gentry were among those looking for a refined residence in the most modern style – often built on land granted to them for free and serviced by unpaid convict labourers. But this “golden decade” of optimism, prosperity and easily-borrowed money would not last. The inherent instability in the economy resulted in a crushing depression in the 1840s. For some observers, it was not an unexpected development. Ludwig Leichhardt said at the time: “Intoxicated with previous success – (a success so unprecedented as to be in itself a warning to the wise) – the highest as well as the lowest of the colonists had launched forth into every species of extravagance and wild speculation.” A close inspection of some of today’s much-loved heritage properties reveal the impacts of this tumultuous period.
a landscaped parkland setting at Mulgoa. Its extensive stone basement hints at the size of the structure intended to sit above it. Based on the floorplans of fashionable London residences of the time, Fernhill’s interior was dominated by an impressive drawing room, with its large semicircular bow window overlooking the estate. The date 1842 was carved over the entrance door and soon came to represent the time that the fortunes of the Coxes began to decline. Instead of adding the second floor, the stonemasons were dismissed, and the house was quickly modified to be a single-story residence with a crude timber porte cochère (demolished in the 1950s) hastily erected at the main entrance.
Grand designs dashed When Edward and Jane Maria Cox decided to build a new country house to reflect their pastoral success, it is almost certain that they contacted Mortimer Lewis to design it for them. Fernhill was commenced in 1839, situated atop a prominent hill within 14
National Trust (NSW)
Below The temporary timber entrance to Fernhill, photographed in 1906 (Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales). Right from top Tomago House now (photo by SGR Photo); Fernhill today, with the entrance porte cochère removed (photo via fernhillestate.cve.io)
