field inspections world heritage area and state heritage ... · mt victoria to lithgow 5.0 field...

90 Phase 2, Final Draft

________________________________________________________________________________ Casey & Lowe Corridor Options, Historic Heritage

Mt Victoria to Lithgow

5.0 Field Inspections World Heritage Area and State Heritage Register Items

5.1 Methodology for all Heritage Items A methodology was developed for the field investigations for heritage items and archaeological sites so as to provide the most relevant advice for the development of feasible route options within the corridors. To this end the constraints identified in Section 3 formed the basis of the sites that were investigated. This produced the main list of heritage items and sites to be inspected during the survey period in May and June 2009. There were also limitations imposed where permission to enter private land was not granted, this occasionally meant we were not able to access significant areas but generally the locals have been most generous with their time and knowledge. The aim of this phase of the fieldwork was to determine where the heritage items were, provide GPS co-ordinates, confirm location of significant heritage items and all cemeteries and identify curtilages for all significant heritage items. This work focused on significant heritage items and items within the corridors and is intended to address the following: 5.1.1 Review issues associated with Blue Mountains World Heritage Area The eastern edge of the study area is adjacent to and occasionally extends into the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (GBMWHA). The GBMWHA was listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its natural values rather than for its cultural values but management of the place includes management of its cultural values. This report reviews issues associated with its visual/landscape impacts on the WHA as well as identifying heritage items within the WHA which are adjacent to the study area. 5.1.2 Review issues associated with all SHR items A number of SHR heritage items are within or near to the corridor:

Mt Victoria Railway Station Group Berghofers Pass Hartley Vale Shale Mine Tramway and Incline Historic Hartley Fernhill National School Group

These items will require analysis of their landscape qualities and issues associated with curtilage and how potential impacts from the route can be avoided. 5.1.3 Review issues associated with all State significant items and sites

The (Piddington) Grange Victoria Stockade Site Hassan Walls Stockade Site Lockyers Pass Hartley Vale Shale Mine Little Hartley and associated heritage items, sites and vistas, such as the pinch point near

the Harp of Erin and Ambermere Mitchells Road Coxs Pass within the corridor Forty Bends and associated heritage items, sites and vistas Old Bowenfels and associated heritage items, sites and vistas Any cemeteries within the corridors Mt Victoria Cemetery

Many of the above were issues raised in the public submissions although not all. It is important that as with the SHR items where the route may be going close to an item or site that appropriate curtilages can be identified. This will require input for the heritage consultants as well as visual analysis of appropriate curtilages for the above places.




5.1.4 Approach Casey & Lowe were responsible for the overall management of the historic heritage and assessment of issues. Curtilages for archaeological sites were identified by Casey & Lowe but curtilages for SHR items and for a number of State significant items not on the SHR were analysed by Mayne-Wilson and are included in this report in the following sections. Only items and sites which were considered to be major issues were inspected during this stage of the project. Curtilages for most Local items were identified by property boundaries. Also there were some issues with the accuracy of the locational information provided by the two councils which SKM and Casey & Lowe sought to correct during this stage. SKM were responsible for checking the mapping of most of the heritage items and Casey & Lowe were responsible for confirming the location of all cemeteries, where they could gain access and where heritage items were found to be incorrectly located. Also a number of earlier reports were reviewed as part of this report. As a result of the field investigations further historical research was undertaken on some items: the Piddington Grange dam, the extent of the Hartley Vale township and Darling Causeway where a substantial embankment was identified. 5.1.5 Curtilage Methodology Mayne-Wilson & Associates has identified what it considers appropriate curtilages for the heritage places. These curtilages are marked by white lines, which are overlays on the aerial photographs provided by SKM. In a few cases Mayne-Wilson & Associates provided – by means of dashed lines – what has been termed a ‘secondary curtilage’, beyond the (inner) one that surrounds a heritage place. The reasons are either because:

there are items beyond the principal curtilage which have been previously assessed, by others, as being of local significance but which we regard as having marginal value and would not, if impacted, detract from the state heritage significance of the main item; or

there are aspects of setting or topography which would be desirable to preserve, but which are not heritage elements in their own right, and could be built upon if alternatives were not available.

As a general practice, however, Mayne-Wilson & Associates have not included spaces/areas within the curtilage which might be termed ‘setting’ or ‘visual catchments’, either because these may lie outside the property boundary of a place and thus not under the control of the owner, or because these do not strictly ‘subserve the purposes and uses of the occupants of the place’. Instead, a separate layer on the aerial photographs using cross-hatching to show significant visual catchments. The purpose of the significant visual catchments is to indicate important settings or areas of some visual sensitivity which need to be taken into account when designing a road corridor. Mayne-Wilson & Associates found, for purposes of determining a curtilage, that the many heritage inventory sheets provided by the Blue Mountains and Lithgow City Councils contained very little data other than a short history of the owners of the property and some architectural details. For a few properties, such as ‘Fernhill’, useful additional information on outbuildings and designed garden elements were provided, but in most cases, this was entirely lacking. It would require a full heritage study and CMP for each heritage place before other items that ‘subserved the purposes of the [occupants of the] building’ or ‘contributes to the enjoyment of the building or the fulfilment of its purposes’1 could be properly identified. Such a detailed study could be undertaken in later Phases of the project, when only a smaller number of properties would fall within the preferred route. In our opinion, it would not be warranted before then. In the absence of that detailed information, and because time constraints did not permit entry into the grounds of each heritage property within all four corridors, involving the identification and recording 1 Extract from a finding on determining curtilages by a Judge of the Full Bench of the High Court of Australia in 1955 in the case of Royal Sydney Golf Club v. Federal Commissioner of Taxation.




of elements beyond the principal building and extracting information from its current occupants, a ‘broader brush’ approach as adopted. The broader approach involved a combination of visual inspection of (nearly) all properties from the road, photographic recording (see our separate report), and a close examination of the much-enlarged aerial photographs provided to us by SKM. Properties not yet visited or recorded are other than from aerial photos are: ‘Rosedale’ (SHI no.1960797), ‘The Oak’ (SHI no. 1960137), and ‘Vellacott Park’ (SHI no. 1960135), Hartley Public School (SHI 1960139), Lyndoch Orchard (SHI no. 1960140), and ‘Bonnie Blink’ (SHI no. 1960160). The existing curtilages for most of the heritage places are generally based on some or all of the following:

existing cadastral/property boundaries entry driveways (where present) a fenced-in home yard containing evidence of outbuildings within it the presence of mature plantings around the perimeter of the yard associated directly with the

main building. the front fences addressing the Great Western Highway

In a great many cases, the curtilages identified were smaller than the cadastral boundaries, resulting in what are termed ‘reduced curtilages’. This is often the case with rural properties where future development is proposed nearby or is needed to take place within their original boundaries. In a few cases curtilages had been determined prior to the issuing of the Heritage Branch’s Curtilage Manual in 1996. The reasons for the generous extent of some of these curtilages was not apparent to us, nor stated in the inventory sheets or other documents made available to us. This was particularly so for the curtilages for the National School, Fernhill, Historic Hartley Village, the Grange, and the Hartley Vale Shale Mine Conservation Area. For most of these, we considered their curtilages excessive or at least not justified in the available literature. Accordingly, the identified curtilages are, in most cases, more limited than the original ones. In some instances, given that many heritage buildings along the Great Western Highway are former inns, we considered that their need (historically) for use of the surrounding land to their rear would have been much more limited than farm buildings with their usual sheds, barns and other outbuildings. Therefore, the curtilages of the former should be more compact than those for the latter. In a few cases, such as the Parsonage Farm at South Bowenfels, Meades Farm, and ‘Fernhill’, the original purpose of the buildings (parsonage, inn) has been extended to farming by adding or at least using land at the rear. Although this may be the current use of the property, we have not considered it to have been the reason for its heritage assessment and listing. Accordingly we have not included much of the rear land if its purpose is for current farming uses. While best endeavours have been made to define well-considered curtilage boundaries that take the relevant facts (as presently known and available) into account, there is potential for adjustments on the basis of more detailed information or discussion forthcoming in the near future. Additional fieldwork would be beneficial in terms of the few heritage places within the Modified Green corridor and a few in Little Hartley area which we were not able to cover in our first 3 day visit, and which were not covered by the series of detailed aerial photos provided to us by SKM. The properties in Little Hartley include Hartley General Cemetery (SHI no. 1960036), Hartley Public School (SHI 1960139), Lyndoch Orchard (SHI no. 1960140), and ‘Bonnie Blink’ (SHI no. 1960160). Those to the north, close to Browns Gap road, include ‘Rosedale’ (SHI no.1960797), ‘The Oak’ (SHI no. 1960137), and ‘Vellacott Park’ (SHI no. 1960135). We have, however, made a preliminary




marking of the curtilage of these latter three properties based on an analysis of the detailed aerial photographs provided by SKM. Once a preferred route has been selected, it may be necessary to enter a few properties to inspect outlying buildings, garden layouts, and elements such as tennis courts, pools, paths and fences which may contribute to the use and enjoyment of the property and hence included in its curtilage. More detailed historic research may also be required to determine how significant they are. 5.2 World Heritage Area 5.2.1 Eastern End of Corridors and Blue Mountains World Heritage Area The proposed four corridors all commence from a point some kilometres to the southeast of Mt Victoria, in the vicinity of Soldiers Pinch abandoned road formations (Heritage Item MV 009b) and Mount Boyce abandoned railway formations (MV009c). The corridor then moves northwest, not far from the old Mt Victoria Cemetery (MV 031). As the western edges of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area is very close to the proposed corridors along this sector these heritage items were visited (Fig. 5.1). Photographs were taken of the landscape in their vicinity in order to assess both the likelihood of adverse impacts occurring on the both the edges of the World Heritage area and on the visibility/visual intrusiveness of an enlarged highway through this sector.

Figure 5.1: Map 1 - The proposed road corridors (subsumed in the red line) commence close to the abandoned road and rail formations (yellow arrow) and would pass close to the Mount Victoria Cemetery (white arrow). They would touch the edges of the World Heritage Area/Blue Mountains National Park (dark green).

In the absence of fencing, and because of the broad scale of the landscape and steep, rugged terrain, it was not feasible to identify the precise points where the proposed corridor might ‘touch’ the respective heritage items. However, the photographs on the following pages indicate the type of vegetation present in their vicinity, and the extent of likely visibility of an enlarged highway in this area. It should be borne in mind that there are no high, public viewing points or residences within this area, so that the issue of visibility would be confined to movement along the road corridor itself.




Further to the north-west, approaching Mt Victoria township, there are several heritage items to the south of the existing highway. These are distant from the World Heritage area, but would lie on the southern edge of the proposed corridors. Given their collective importance, it is not anticipated that the RTA authorities would contemplate intruding into their northern boundaries.

Figure 5.2: The eastern precinct: the arrows indicate the viewing points from which the following photos were taken.




Figure 5.3: E1 - Abandoned road formations at Soldiers Pinch. Note the rugged, deeply folding terrain. The vegetation in the distance lies within the World Heritage Area. Warwick Mayne-Wilson

Figure 5.4: E2 - Abandoned roadway and overpass tunnel at Soldiers Pinch site. The World Heritage Area lies beyond, to the right. This area is totally enclosed, visually, and is not visible from public viewing points. Warwick Mayne-Wilson




Figure 5.5: Map 2 - the above aerial shows the route of the proposed corridors as they pass between the existing highway and Mt Victoria Cemetery and (mostly) to the east of the railway line and station. The corridors skirt the edges of the World Heritage area (Fig. 5.1), which lies to the east (right) of the corridors. As is evident from the image, that area comprises steep, rugged, stream-incised and heavily wooded land, with a rural property – not heritage-listed – lying within the corridors. SKM




Figure 5.6: E3 - View eastward into World Heritage Area from the entry road to Mt Victoria Cemetery. This landscape is full of deep gullies, and is not visible from any quarter. The vegetation is typical of the dense Eucalypt woodland present within the whole area. Warwick Mayne-Wilson

Figure 5.7: E4 - Another view along the Mt Victoria Cemetery Road (at right) where it peels away from Victoria Falls Road (at left). The dense woodland provides a strong sense of enclosure, and blocks views into or out of the area. The proposed new corridors, however, would cut through these roadways. Warwick Mayne-Wilson




Figure 5.8: E5 - Mount Victoria cemetery (Blue Mountains LGA MV031), with the ridge of the township just visible on the horizon. The World Heritage area lies beyond the right of this image, and is not visible from here. Warwick Mayne-Wilson

Figure 5.9: E6 - The tombstone of the Berghofer family, after whom Berghofer’s Pass is named. Warwick Mayne-Wilson




Figure 5.10: Map 3 - This aerial photograph shows clearly the land to the east of the Mt Victoria Railway Station. The cleared land is a former golf course, and between it and the railway line is Patrick Street. All corridor land lies just to the west of the western edge of the World Heritage area on the right of this image.




Figure 5.11: E7 - View southward down Patrick St toward the Great Western Highway. The western edge of the World Heritage area runs at least 200m to the left of the image, and in a steep valley. Highway construction along this section of Patrick Street would not be visible from within the town or the railway station. Warwick Mayne-Wilson

Figure 5.12: E8 - This section of Patrick Street lies within the centre of the proposed highway corridors, but well to the west of the western edge of World Heritage area. Warwick Mayne-Wilson




Figure 5.13: E9 - These scattered trees to the east of Patrick Street grow in a former golf course, and the denser woodland beyond are at least 200m from the western edge of the World Heritage Area. Warwick Mayne-Wilson

Figure 5.14: E10 - This large water reservoir on the eastern edge of Patrick Street could complicate the location of a new highway along this section of the ridge. The World Heritage area lies at least 200m to the east. Warwick Mayne-Wilson




Figure 5.15: The northern sector of the eastern end: the arrows indicate the viewing points from which the following photos were taken.




Figure 5.16: E11 - View along the northern section of Patrick Street where it descends as a track toward the distant power lines, where the World Heritage area comes close to the railway tracks. This sector of the Modified Green and Modified Purple corridors would, however, be at least 200m west of the World Heritage area, which is out of sight, in the valley below. Note the low landscape quality of this ridgetop sector. Warwick Mayne-Wilson

Figure 5.17: E12 - View looking back toward Mt Victoria, within the proposed Modified Green and Modified Purple corridors. The World Heritage area lies to the left of the railway tracks, falling away to the east. A new highway along this route would not be visible from any publicly available viewing points. The landscape quality remains low along here.




Figure 5.18: E13 - View into the World Heritage Area from a section of the Darling Causeway within the Modified Purple corridor. However, the World Heritage area remains outside the corridor, beyond and downslope. Warwick Mayne-Wilson

Figure 5.19: E14 - A slightly enlarged photograph of the view into the World Heritage area from the Darling Causeway, at a point within the Modified Purple corridor, but north of the Modified Green one. Warwick Mayne-Wilson




5.2.2 DECC Heritage Items in the World Heritage Area Department of Environment & Climate Change provided the project with a list of cultural heritage items within the World Heritage Area adjacent to the study area. SKM mapped these sites and only a few were found to be near the study area which extends into the WHA (Fig. 5.1). DECC also provided copies of the Historic Heritage Information Management System sheets which provide limited information about sites adjacent to study area. These heritage items were:

DECC SHI NO ITEM Significance Date SHR S170 NT RNE WHA

1420 3905111 Engineers Track State c1859 1999 DECC Yes

3662 3907384 Engineers Track State c1859 1999 DECC Yes

1425 3905117 Old Mine, complex ? c1850 DECC Yes

3668 3907390 Adit; Old Mine ? c1850 DECC Yes

3669 3907391 Mine Machinery; Old Mine ? c1850 DECC yes

It is noted that there appears to be some duplication of sites as shown in their location of maps. It is noted that the Engineers Track is one of the walking tracks listed on the SHR. These sites were not visited during Phase 2 of this project.




5.3 State Heritage Register Items 5.3.1 Mount Victoria Railway Station Group Background The Mt Victoria Railway Station Group is listed on the State Heritage Register and on the Rail Corp S170 register. The SHR listing has no curtilage plan identified while there is one for the S170 boundary, all Rail Corp S170 items are in the process of being reviewed which will be finalised by December 2009. All corridors pass close to the station group as the corridors are designed to avoid Mt Victoria township by coming along the eastern side of the station group and then crossing over the railway line to the north. Corridors Given the high heritage value of the township of Mount Victoria and its railway station, it was decided all road corridors should skirt it to the east. This section shows the elements along that route.

Figure 5.20: Mt Victoria Station. The arrows indicate the viewing points from which the following photos were taken.




Figure 5.21: MV1 - View northward down Station St toward Mt Victoria Railway station (Blue Mountains LGA heritage item MV027).

Figure 5.22: MV2 - Southern entry precinct to the Station, with pocket park at right. This park enables the Station to be appreciated as a complex group as one approaches it from the centre of the town, upslope.




Figure 5.23: MV3 - The pocket park, viewed from the north. It could warrant inclusion within an outer curtilage.

Figure 5.24: MV4 - The curving line of the Station (MV027) prevents views outward beyond 100m. The cutting into which the buildings were erected screens their visibility from the east.




Figure 5.25: MV5 - Mt Victoria railway station (MV027), seen from the footbridge to the south.

Figure 5.26:MV6 - Another view from the footbridge, looking north. There are, however, no significant views outward from this location.




Figure 5.27: MV7 - View outward from the northern end of the eastern platform. Again, there are no significant views outward, which are much disrupted by the successive power stanchions receding into the distance.

Figure 5.28: MV8 - View to the north-west across the railway line, north of the Station. This section lies within all four corridors. Views outward from a highway in this location would be attractive. There would be little ability to view the new highway from the east or west because the viewer would be below the ridge. The only view toward a new highway in this corridor would be from a few houses on the northeast side of the main ridge of the town. The power stanchions over the railway would greatly complicate the insertion of a highway at this point.




Figure 5.29: MV9 - View north-west across the rail line and the lower slopes of The Grange from a hillock on the eastern side of the line and to the north of the Station. This area would fall within all corridors.

Figure 5.30: MV10 - This building is the Mount Victoria railway rest-house at 30-60 Patrick Street, to the north of the station, on the east side of the railway line (Blue Mountains LGA heritage item MV035). It is listed in the Blue Mountains heritage schedule as SHI item 1170213 and was assessed as being of local significance. It is not mentioned in the National Trust listing, and appears only obliquely as ‘barracks’ in the RailCorp S 170 Register.




Figure 5.31: MV11 - This view toward the Great Western Highway shows the extent to which the railway line and station has been cut into the ridgeline. A highway over the top of this section of the line, or to the east (left) of it, would have a negligible visual impact.

Figure 5.32: MV12 - This sketch, from the National Trust’s listing of the Railway Station Group, provides a good basis for formulating a curtilage. It is bounded by the ends of the railway platforms and does not include the old railway rest-house/barracks north of the station (which in our opinion is of only marginal significance.).




Mt Victoria Station Curtilage

Figure 5.33: Proposed curtilage by Mayne-Wilson & Associates for Mt Victoria Station is shown in white. The orange curtilage is the S170 curtilage.

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