Graham EDDS & Carol EDDS
Although the Hawkesbury City Local Government area was the third area settled following European occupation of Australia, some areas within the Hawkesbury remain almost as remote as they were when first settled. Surrounded by National Parks with their ever increasing bush fire threat, located along the flood plains in close proximity to rivers which provided water for their pastoral pursuits, these areas still experience severe flooding which can isolate them almost without warning for several days or on occasions weeks.
Despite these natural threats, very substantial and instructive evidence, particularly the embodied wood technology of these early vernacular cottages, and farming structures and associated farming machinery still remain.
Those who established these early farms in the Hawkesbury learned very early, the need for preservation of their infrastructure. They needed a safe haven from the floods, they needed place to store their tools and their belongings and they need to have sufficient provisions for during and after the floods. Cottages, barns corn crofts, dairy bails and blacksmiths shops, mostly constructed with timbers felled from the clearing of the properties were built or rebuilt on rock outcrops or hills above most flood levels or alternatively were constructed on the flood plains with lofts above the flood levels.
A current study, focussing on slab farm buildings has revealed for the first time the extent and intactness of some of the earliest European buildings across the entire Hawkesbury including remote areas. This study reveals not only the wealth of these timber pastoral infrastructure resources of the area but the lack of recognition of these culturally significant items
The changing cultural landscape from predominantly rural farming to hobby farming coupled with the growth of absentee owners or use of the properties as weekend retreats, because of the remoteness of the area, exacerbates the lack of recognition previously acknowledged and poses a new and different threat.
This presentation will outline the extent of change to these cultural landscapes, the threat of loss due to lack of protection to these exceedingly early yet remote farming infrastructure items and outline management strategies being developed by the regulatory authorities, the community groups and the owners to overcome these threats.