Lyndhurst, Glebe

Lyndhurst is a heritage-listed residence and former school, laundry, maternity hospital and industrial building located at 61 Darghan Street in the inner western Sydney suburb of Glebe, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by John Verge and built from 1833 to 1837. The property is owned by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales and was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. The house was built as a "suburban villa" with a view to Blackwattle Bay by Verge for Dr James Bowman, the principal colonial surgeon, and his wife Mary, a daughter of graziers John and Elizabeth Macarthur. The land for Lyndhurst was purchased from Charles Cowper in 1833 by Dr Bowman for £1500. In April, NSW's foremost Greek Revival style architect John Verge selected the site and prepared designs for the residence; in May and June the plans were prepared. The house was built between 1834 and 1837, and no expense was spared on its building or fitting out. The surviving papers and accounts would make Lyndhurst the best documented domestic dwelling of the period. In the grounds were the large service yard and balancing wings and stables designed by Verge, elaborately laid out pleasure grounds, shrubbery and the kitchen garden. Francis Newman was the gardener at Lyndhurst; he was later appointed Superintendent of the Royal Society of Tasmania's garden in Hobart, later renamed the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, a post he held from 1845 until his death in 1859. The Bowman's occupation of their new home did not last long. Dr Bowman had become involved with his Macarthur brothers-in-law over the Australian Agricultural Company and in 1842 was experiencing financial difficulty. The Macarthurs took possession of the property and leased it to the short-lived St James Theological College. James and William Macarthur also became indebted and the Bank of Australia took possession of it. In 1852 the bank sold the property to the Roman Catholic Church for the establishment of St Mary's College, the most important Roman Catholic School in Sydney. St James was Australia's first theological college and produced several distinguished native-born clerics. Lyndhurst sits within the broader history of the Glebe area. The Leichhardt area was originally inhabited by the Wangal clan of Aborigines; after 1788 diseases such as smallpox and the loss of their hunting grounds caused huge reductions in their numbers and they moved further inland. The first formal grant in the Glebe area was a 162-hectare (400-acre) grant to Richard Johnson, the colony's first chaplain, in 1789. The Glebe comprised rolling shale hills covering sandstone, with several sandstone cliff faces. Johnson's land remained largely undeveloped until 1828, when the Church and School Corporation subdivided it into 28 lots, 3 of which they retained for church use. Lyndhurst is built on part of a grant in 1796 of 162 hectares (400 acres) to Johnson on Church of England property known as the Glebe. Trustees of the Clergy and School Lands Corporation subdivided the Glebe in 1828 and Lot 5 was sold to Charles Cowper. Today Lyndhurst is recognised as a heritage-listed property owned by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, reflecting its layered history as a colonial villa, theological college, school, laundry, maternity hospital and industrial building.

Lyndhurst is built on part of a grant in 1796 of 162 hectares (400 acres) to Richard Johnson, the colony's first chaplain, on Church of England property known as the Glebe. Trustees of the Clergy and School Lands Corporation subdivided the Glebe in 1828 and Lot 5 was sold to Charles Cowper. The land for Lyndhurst was purchased from Cowper in 1833 by Dr James Bowman for £1500. In April, NSW's foremost Greek Revival style architect John Verge selected the site and prepared designs for the residence; in May and June the plans were prepared. Lyndhurst house was built between 1834 and 1837 as a "suburban villa" with a view to Blackwattle Bay by Verge for Bowman, the principal colonial surgeon, and his wife Mary, a daughter of graziers John and Elizabeth Macarthur. The house overlooked Blackwattle Bay and no expense was spared on its building or fitting out. The surviving papers and accounts would make Lyndhurst the best documented domestic dwelling of the period. In the grounds were the large service yard and balancing wings and stables designed by Verge, elaborately laid out pleasure grounds, shrubbery and the kitchen garden. Francis Newman was the gardener at Lyndhurst. He was later appointed Superintendent of the Royal Society of Tasmania's garden in Hobart, which later would be renamed the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, a post he held from 1845 until his death in 1859. The Bowman's occupation of their new home did not last long. Dr Bowman had become involved with his Macarthur brothers-in-law over the Australian Agricultural Company and in 1842 was experiencing financial difficulty. The Macarthurs took possession of the property and leased it to the short-lived St James Theological College. James and William Macarthur also became indebted and the Bank of Australia took possession of it. In 1852 the bank sold the property to the Roman Catholic Church for the establishment of St Mary's College, the most important Roman Catholic School in Sydney. St James was Australia's first theological college and produced several distinguished native-born clerics. Lyndhurst sits within the broader history of the Glebe area. The Leichhardt area was originally inhabited by the Wangal clan of Aborigines. After 1788 diseases such as smallpox and the loss of their hunting grounds caused huge reductions in their numbers and they moved further inland. Since European settlement the foreshores of Blackwattle Bay and Rozelle Bay have developed a unique maritime, industrial and residential character. The first formal grant in the Glebe area was a 162-hectare (400-acre) grant to Richard Johnson in 1789. The Glebe comprised rolling shale hills covering sandstone, with several sandstone cliff faces. The ridges were drained by several creeks including Blackwattle Creek, Orphan School Creek and Johnston Creek. Extensive swampland surrounded the creeks. On the shale ridges, heavily timbered woodlands contained several varieties of eucalypts while the swamplands and tidal mudflats had mangroves, swamp oaks (Casuarina glauca) and blackwattles (Callicoma serratifolia) after which the bay is named. Blackwattle Swamp was first mentioned by surveyors in the 1790s and Blackwattle Swamp Bay in 1807. By 1840 it was called Blackwattle Bay. Boat parties collected wattles and reeds for the building of huts, and kangaroos and emus were hunted by the early settlers who called the area the Kangaroo Ground. Rozelle Bay is thought to have been named after a schooner which once moored in its waters. Johnson's land remained largely undeveloped until 1828, when the Church and School Corporation subdivided it into 28 lots, 3 of which they retained for church use. The Church of England sold 27 allotments in 1828 - north on the point and south around Broadway. The Church kept the middle section where the Glebe Estate is now. Up until the 1970s the Glebe Estate was in the possession of the Church. On the point the sea breezes attracted the wealthy who built villas. The Broadway end attracted slaughterhouses and boiling down works that used the creek draining to Blackwattle Swamp. Smaller working-class houses were built around these industries. Abbattoirs were built there from the 1860s. When Glebe was made a municipality in 1859 there were pro and anti-municipal clashes in the streets. From 1850 Glebe was dominated by wealthier interests. Reclaiming the swamp, Wentworth Park opened in 1882 as a cricket ground and lawn bowls club. Rugby union football was played there in the late 19th century. The dog racing started in 1932. In the early 20th century modest villas were broken up into boarding houses as they were elsewhere in the inner city areas. The wealthier moved into the suburbs which were opening up through the railways. Up until the 1950s Sydney was the location for working class employment - it was a port and industrial city. By the 1960s central Sydney was becoming a corporate city with service-based industries - capital intensive not labour-intensive. A shift in demographics occurred, with younger professionals and technical and administrative people servicing the corporate city wanting to live close by. Housing was coming under threat and the heritage conservation movement was starting. The Fish Markets moved in in the 1970s. An influx of students came to Glebe in the 1960s and 1970s. Lyndhurst was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. The property is owned by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales.

• 1999

  Lyndhurst was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

• 1852

  The Bank of Australia sold the property to the Roman Catholic Church for the establishment of St Mary's College.

• 1842

  Dr Bowman experienced financial difficulty; the Macarthurs took possession and leased the property to St James Theological College.

• 1837

  Construction of Lyndhurst house completed.

• 1834

  Construction of Lyndhurst house began.

• 1833

  Dr James Bowman purchased the land for Lyndhurst from Charles Cowper for £1500; John Verge selected the site and prepared designs.

• 1828

  Trustees of the Clergy and School Lands Corporation subdivided the Glebe; Lot 5 sold to Charles Cowper.

• 1796

  162-hectare (400-acre) grant to Richard Johnson on Church of England property known as the Glebe.

Heritage-listed historic house museum and former institutional building owned by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales.

1. 1Lyndhurst, Glebe - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Lyndhurst, Glebe - Wikidatawikidata.org