Hambledon Cottage is a heritage-listed house and museum at 47 Hassall Street, Harris Park, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. The cottage was built from 1821 to 1825, with the initial section being designed by Henry Kitchen. It is also known as Firholme, Valley Cottage and Macarthur Cottage. The property is owned by Parramatta City Council. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 21 September 2012.
History
Hambledon Cottage was built between 1821 and 1824 on the north western corner of the 100 acre grant made to John Macarthur, soldier, entrepreneur and pastoralist, in 1793. This grant formed the basis of the 850 acre Elizabeth Farm Estate, which included Elizabeth Farm. It was originally believed that the cottage was constructed for his children's governess, Penelope Lucas, who served as the family governess when John Macarthur returned from London in 1805. However, it has been more recently accepted that it was constructed to supplement the accommodation at Elizabeth farm more generally.
The original cottage, now the main wing was designed by Henry Kitchen, although the building was a simplified version of his original design. Kitchen was employed on several of Macarthur's building projects and has been described as the main architectural rival to Francis Greenway. The gabled kitchen was added some time later.Musecape, 2000: 7
Archdeacon Thomas Hobbes Scott, appointed archdeacon of NSW in 1824, became a friend of the Macarthur's and took up temporary residence in the cottage in 1825. He was responsible for the 1826 addition of a coach house and stable. There is suggestion that Henry Kitchen was responsible for their design despite having died in 1822. Elizabeth Macarthur noted that Scott was also responsible for having got the garden in good order.Musecape, 2000: 11 The existing coachman's cottage is considered to be an 1880s-1890s extension of the 1826 building, whilst the stables are no longer in existence.Howard & Britton, 2011
Penelope Lucas took up residence in the cottage from 1827. Two potential reasons have been given for this, the shortage of sleeping arrangements at Elizabeth Farm and to John Macarthur's illness which saw him dislike having women resident at Elizabeth Farm. Lucas remained there until her death in 1836 as Macarthur had left her a small annuity in his will when he died in 1834, as well as lifetime residency of the cottage. It appears that there was no formal kitchen at the cottage when Lucas took up residence and she returned every afternoon to Elizabeth Farm for dinner. The kitchen wing on the western side of the cottage is believed to have been built sometime between 1832 and 1836. Macarthur's daughter Emmeline went to live with Penelope Lucas. Emmeline's move to the cottage was certainly due to Macarthur's illness during which he gradually banished all women from Elizabeth Farm. This was also a period in which Lucas undertook development of the garden.Musecape, 2000: 12
Following John Macarthur's death ownership of the Elizabeth Farm Estate, including the cottage, transferred to Edward Macarthur. Following the death of Penelope Lucas the cottage was occupied by a number of Macarthur employees until 1839 when James Macarthur and his wife returned from England. They took up residence in the cottage until they moved to Camden. However, they continued to make use of the cottage when James came to Sydney to undertake his duties as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. In the meantime, Dr Matthew Anderson took up residency at the cottage between 1839 and 1847. The 1844 Plan of the Town of Parramatta shows that a number of outbuildings had been constructed at Hambledon Cottage.
Anderson was Assistant Colonial Surgeon between 1819 and 1824, resident surgeon at Parramatta Hospital and surgeon to the Female Factory and Orphan School. He also retained a private practice and was the Macarthur family physician. He made no changes during his period of residence.Musecape, 2000: 13
Edward Macarthur arrived in NSW in 1851 to take up a position as Deputy Adjutant General of the Army and used Hambledon Cottage as his temporary residence. Many of his relatives, friends and army colleagues also stayed at the cottage. Under Edward a new entry was constructed on the northern facade, the house was re-roofed and a substantial plantation of trees was established.. By 1854 the cottage garden was enclosed with a low timber picket fence and double gates had been erected on the eastern side where there were also now dense shrubs.
Between 1864 and 1881 Hambledon Cottage was leased to two families, including the Bohle family and later, the Gill family. Little is known of the changes to the property during this period.
In 1872 Edward Macarthur died leaving a life interest in the Elizabeth Macarthur estate, including Hambledon Cottage, to his wife Sarah. It was his intention that the estate would eventually pass to his niece Elizabeth Onslow. However, financial necessity saw Sarah Macarthur reluctantly agree to subdivision and sale of the estate in 1881.
The north western portion of the estate was put up for sale in 1883 with Hambledon Cottage given the name Macarthur Cottage. The cottage site included a brick, four bedroom residence with attached kitchen, scullery, back pantry, servants bedroom and a bathroom. The kitchen yard included a range of large, detached brick buildings comprising a three roomed cottage, wash house, harness room, coach house, and four stall stable with hayloft above. The property was located on just over 2 acres of ground.Musecape, 2000: 16-17
The cottage was purchased by Francis John Wickham for 1100 pounds and renamed Firholme. He lived there until his death in 1892, adding a new entrance with stone pillars and wrought iron gates with this name on them on Hassall Street. Wickham's wife and children remained at the property after his death until -96.Musecape, 2000: 17 The 1895 Detail Plan of the areaSheet 5 shows the building isolated on the large block, with a rectangular structure adjacent to the southeast boundary of 45 Hassall Street. The only other feature indicated near Hambledon Cottage is a small square, possibly representing a water tank or privy.
A series of tenants rented the cottage from the Wickham family until it was sold to Ella McCulloch in 1906. The property changed hands several times during the next 34 years and a number of changes were made to outbuildings.
In 1940 the cottage, together with adjoining lands, was purchased by The Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Co. (Australia) Ltd. There was concern that a factory would be constructed on the site, but this never eventuated due to community action. Occupants during Goodyear's ownership included one of the company's executives, John Henry Hall and his wife Sylvia Merle Hall.Hughes, 1996: 57
In 1945 Kolynos Limited purchased the property. Their affiliate Whitehall Pharmacal Company sought to undertake development around the site in 1949. The local community again campaigned strongly against the proposal. The company agreed in 1953 to donate the historic portion of the site to Parramatta Council. An agreement was also made to allow Council to purchase three acres west of Hambledon Cottage to be used for associated purposes. In appreciation Cliff Street was formally renamed Gregory Place after the Australasian Manager of the Company, E. S. Gregory.Parramatta & District Historical Society, 1992: 13
In 1959 extensive renovations were commenced by Parramatta Council under the guidance of the firm Buckland and Druce, honorary architects for the project. It was during this time that the cottage was renamed Hambledon Cottage. It was occupied by a caretaker who opened the house to the public as a folk museum until 1963 when the City of Parramatta Art Society was given a lease until 1964. Occupancy was given to the Parramatta and District Historical Society in 1964.Musecape, 2000: 19 Works were primarily exterior structural repairs and included roof works, removal of a concrete layer from the flagstones on the eastern verandah, painting, general renovation, repair to floors and replacement of some of the wooden verandah columns. The vaulted ceiling of the verandah was extensively repaired due to termite infestation. Further infestation was found following commencement of the works. A garage extension was completed in 1961.Parramatta & District Historical Society, 1992: 13; Howard & Britton, 2011:21
In 1965 the Parramatta & District Historical Society were given occupation of the building in return for restoring and refurbishing the interior of the building in a style of the 1830-1850 Colonial period. Hambledon Cottage was opened in February 1966 as a house museum.
The grounds of Hambledon have been converted into a public reserve. They still contain some of the original or early layout (drive alignments, paths) and plantings put in by John Macarthur when it was part of the Elizabeth Farm Estate. These include several mature (some now in decline) English oak trees (Quercus robur) in the garden believed to have been planted by John Macarthur. Other mature trees gracing the grounds from early decades in Hambledon's existence include a cork oak (Quercus suber), jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia), Illawarra plum/ plum or brown pine (Podocarpus elatus), firewheel tree (Stenocarpus sinuatus) and Osage orange (Maclura pomifera), a tree now rare east of the Great Dividing Range. Some of these plantings can be dated from shipping lists Macarthur brought with him of plants on board the "Lord Eldon" in 1817.Stuart Read, pers.comm., 28/3/2012; Howard & Britton, 2011
Description
Hambledon Cottage is set back from Hassall Street on its northern side and Gregory Place on its eastern side. It is surrounded by a reserve containing a number of large mature trees. Picket fencing has been placed around the house itself and around the reserve with chains swung between the fence posts on the street frontings. A two rail and post rural style fence is located on the western boundary while a chain wire fence is located on the southern boundary
Cottage The main cottage is formed by a hipped roof over a rectangular plan, Georgian style bungalow. The walls are of stuccoed brick, rendered and painted with imitation stonework courses etched into the render. The roof is galvanised iron sheeting which has replaced earlier shingles and iron roofing. Two original chimneys remain serving five of the rooms in the cottage. Cedar casement windows are set on sandstone sills with external shutters. French doors open onto a front verandah with diagonal stone flagging, unusual vaulted ceiling and slender timber Doric columns on sandstone plinths. The French doors have internal cedar screen shutters which fit into the reveals as panelling when not in use. The north east corner of the verandah has been modified by infilling in the 1820s to create a room.
Kitchen Wing The once detached kitchen wing is now connected to the main house by a flat roofed structure. It features a central pediment above a projecting bay in the Georgian style on the northern facade. The kitchen wing roof has an unpainted galvanised iron sheeted hipped and gabled roof with a single chimney. Together the two buildings form an L shape.
The joinery throughout is Australian cedar of fine Georgian detailing. Some of the internal ceilings and walls are still of lath and plaster whilst one bedroom still has its original ironbark floor and part of the flooring in two other rooms (Study and Lucas Gallery) is original. Much of the hardwood flooring elsewhere was replaced with cypress pine during previous renovations. Lath and plaster ceilings and cornices have been replaced in a number of rooms by fibrous plaster. A domed brick oven adjoins the open fireplace in the kitchen. Most of the fireplaces through the building appear to have been replaced or modified.