Tocal College is a heritage-listed agricultural college at 815 Tocal Road, Tocal, City of Maitland, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Philip Cox and Ian McKay and built from 1963 to 1965. It was formerly known as C.B. Alexander Campus or C.B. Alexander Presbyterian Agricultural College. The property is owned by the C. B. Alexander Foundation. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 17 April 2013. The college is now known as the Tocal Agricultural Centre, a Centre of Excellence within NSW Department of Primary Industries.
History
Early history of Tocal site The college was established on land originally part of the colonial Tocal Estate which is located on a knoll in the Paterson River valley, NSW. Tocal is in the Hunter Valley region of NSW at the junction of the Paterson River and Webbers Creek. The Paterson River valley was once occupied by the Gringai clan of the Wanaruah (or Wonnarua) Aboriginal people. The diverse ecosystems that were once prevalent in the valley from the rainforest along the river banks to the wetlands, lagoons and surrounding paperbark forests provided an abundance of food, fresh water and materials. The land on which the Tocal Homestead and College is situated was used by the Gringai clan for many years. Grooves worn into rocks by grinding seeds and plants, indicate Tocal was a popular camp site for the Aboriginal people. "Tocal" is an Aboriginal word, and at one stage it was thought to mean "ducks-a-plenty" in the local Aboriginal dialect. However, the weight of recent evidence indicates Tocal simply means "big" or "plenty". Aboriginal grinding grooves have been located within the homestead complex at Tocal.Desgrand, Margaret "C.B. Alexander Agricultural College (Tocal) Nomination" (08-02-2013)
In 1801 Colonel William Paterson surveyed the area at the request of Governor King. The first wave of Europeans were convict timber loggers as the alluvial river valley was abundant in red cedar. The Paterson River became known as the "Cedar Arm". The first land grant in the area was made to John Powell in 1818 on land by the river to the south of the town. The river was navigable and the town site was the third to be surveyed in the Hunter Valley and soon became an important river port. Tobacco, grains, grapes, wine and citrus fruits and were cultivated in the area. Shipbuilding also commenced with the development of the river trade.
James Webber was granted land at Tocal in 1822 where he went on to produce tobacco and become an early pioneer of viticulture in the colony. Tocal's frontage to the tidal section of the Paterson River gave the property access to the port of Morpeth and shipping access to Sydney. Webber built a two-storey barn which is still extant and drained part of Tocal's wetland. By 1828 Tocal was 3,300 acres after Webber had added to the grant by purchasing adjoining Crown land. The farm land, stone barn, blacksmiths shop, barracks supervisor's cottage remain intact and as a whole include the land upon which the college was later built. Webber sold Tocal in 1834 and by 1843 it was in the hands of lessee Charles Reynolds.
Charles Reynolds leased the property from Felix in 1844. He has been described as a "genial man of dignity and intelligence" who was well respected by those (he) associated (with) in the agricultural industry in NSW as a cattle and horse breeder. During the next 82 years, Charles and subsequently, his widow Frances, his son Frank and grandson Darcie, managed Tocal, to become one of the most important Hereford, Devon and thoroughbred studs in the country. In this period, the road through the property to Maitland improved, although the river trade began to decline. His son, Frank Reynolds finally managed to purchase Tocal from the Wilson family in 1907. The establishment of the railway in 1911 dislocated the operation of the property.
In 1926, Jane (Jean) Alexander bought Tocal from the Reynolds family continuing the reputation of Tocal for its successful graziers. The Alexander family consisted of Jean, Isabella, Robert and Charles Alexander, all of whom were elderly and unmarried. By 1939 only Charles remained, and he invited his two nieces, Myrtle and Marquerita Curtis, daughters of his late sister Margaret, to reside with him at Tocal. Charles Boyd Alexander is noted for the introduction of new technologies replacing labour-intensive farming operations, moving Tocal in the direction now associated with modern agriculture.Hathway 2003 p 30 Following Charles' death in 1947, the two sisters remained at Tocal until their death five days apart in 1985, at the ages of 94 and 97 respectively. When Charles Boyd Alexander died in 1947, he left a very large estate and a complex will. His intention was that his substantial estate, comprising not only Tocal but other property and assets, be used to help Protestant orphan and destitute children, for "their training to fit them for a life on the land".(The C B Alexander Presbyterian Agricultural College.1964, College Prospectus) However, because of the will's nature, an acceptable proposal for the use of the estate did not come before the Equity Court until 1963.
It was due to the efforts of Edward Alan Hunt, MBE, a co- founder of the legal practice Hunt and Hunt, Bligh St, Sydney and honorary solicitors for the Presbyterian Church in NSW, that the Equity Court, in 1963, accepted the recommendation of the C. B. Alexander Trustees that the Presbyterian Church be allowed to use the bequest to establish an Agricultural College in the grounds of Tocal at Paterson in addition to a boy's home at Emerald Hills, Leppington, north of Camden. By involving Leppington, the Church met the requirement that the bequest be used to help destitute children. Scholarships from Leppington would be offered at Tocal if any of the boys were to show a bent for advanced training in agriculture. On the other hand, the Alexander Estate could underwrite the cost of the home at Leppington and also build an Agricultural College at Tocal.White 1986 The former would become known as the St Andrew's Presbyterian Agricultural College, Emerald Hills, Leppington, NSW, and the latter as the Charles Boyd Alexander Presbyterian Agricultural College. Hunt's fascination with Tocal that had begun as a child whilst on fishing trips to the Paterson River from his nearby home at Kirkton, near Belford, was to continue for a life time.
Architects and the Emerald Hills project
In 1962, Philip Sutton Cox graduated from the University of Sydney with honours in architecture, with the award of the Royal Australian Institute of Architect's silver medal, and with already proven experience in the office of Bruce Rickard as well as a practice in New Guinea, where he designed a number of buildings some of which were published in Architecture Australia. Whilst many of his university colleagues travelled overseas to either northern Europe or North America, Cox was content to stay in Australia to work locally. His first post graduate position was with Figgis and Jefferson at 34 Alfred Street, Milson's Point.Towndrow 1991 pp 94-98
It was while working with this firm in 1962 that Cox's architectural talents were recognised by Edward Alan Hunt who was at the time commencing proceedings in the Equity Court, on behalf of the Presbyterian Church, for the use of the C.B. Alexander Trust. This eventuated after a visit by Hunt, to the home of Philip's father, Ron Cox. Philip's sister, Judith, was married to Edward Alan Hunt's son, David. Hunt was notably impressed by Philip's final year design project for an art gallery, and assured Cox that he would be able to offer him a commission in the near future.Towndrow 1991 p102-103 The confirmation of the commission to Philip Cox from the Presbyterian Church to design the two colleges, Leppington and Tocal, materialised whilst he was still working with Figgis and Jefferson, and the initial intention was that Philip would continue with the project in association with Figgis and Jefferson. An initial sketch design for the "Emerald Hills" project, which was intended to be a country retreat for 40 adolescent boys who had committed juvenile offences, was completed by Cox in late 1962. The drawings bear the title 'Figgis and Jefferson and Philip Cox, Architects in Association, 36 Alfred Street, Milson's Point'.NSW SL PXD 790/398 The buildings are indicated on the elevations more by means of the shadows cast than by line work, a style of drawing which Cox retained throughout his early career.
However, Cox long realising that there were philosophical differences, parted the association, establishing Philip Cox and Associates and working solitary on the project in the back of a terrace at 68 Blues Point Road that he and his university friends, Louise Gowing, Philip Atkin, and David Gray, had jointly purchased in 1962, but were obliged to let to cover repayments. Through retained connections with Bruce Rickard, Philip Cox was introduced to Ian McKay and shortly after McKay leased part of the terrace, relocating from the premises he had shared with Bruce Rickard in Phillip Street, Sydney, since 1957. The move was fortuitous. Cox, realising the need for a partner with a greater level of construction experience to make the venture possible, and sharing common architectural interests with McKay, an architect of nearly a decade of experience, the association of the two was inevitable. Both were keenly interested in the Australian landscape and its vernacular buildings, and both admired the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, as did many emerging architects in Sydney at the time, for its fundamental principles, celebration of form and structure, textural qualities of natural materials, and the close relationship between the interior of a building and its setting. To these shared interests were added McKay's fascination with Eastern mysticism and architecture, particularly that of Japan, which was to strengthen over the period of their association.