Fieldwork Portfolio

1. UWS Parramatta Campus Tour

1) The design and architecture orphanage is quite deceptive. Through the contrast of relatively smaller windows increasing as the building ascends, the building as whole is perceived to much larger visually than what it is in physical space; essentially creating a spatial optical illusion.
Through observing the differing windows architecture among the psychiatric ward and also the orphan school, the purpose of the rooms and people who used those rooms can be identified as quite different. In example of this is the size of the windows as well as the shape of the window.
Another important room that as observed, was the common room, located in both the orphanage and the asylum. The features of these common rooms were the large and bold skylights; all of which were aligned in the middle of the buildings, proving the room with stream of natural light. There was architectural importance attachment to this. Most rooms of this era had the skylight located on top impeding the pathway of such a busy corridor and avoidance of the naked flame.

Those patients who were housed in the asylum were divided according to their personality and as such were split into two groups; those who were extroverted and loud and those who were introverted and quiet.
The quieter patients were accommodated together, due to the lack of fear shared among guards because of the quieter and less psychotic personalities. The patients were granted the privilege of having large windows with sashes, allowing patient’s access to open windows. However, the louder patients were kept in rooms by themselves, with the windows being quite and opening only slightly vertically.

2) Sketch is attached in hard copy.

2. Three House Museums at Parramatta

1. Elizabeth Farm Cottage

i) The object selected is called the “Boot Cleaner”

ii) The sketch is attached on hard copy

iii) Made out of wood and bristles, the boot cleaner was an essential item at the front of every household. It was used by the visitors and the occupants of the house to clean their boots from the mud before walking into the house.

2. Hambledon Cottage

i) The object selected is called the “Iron”

ii) The sketch is attached on hard copy

iii) Made out of cast iron, the olden day irons were much heavier than they are today. The handle on top was made out of a new plastic of the time that was very popular. The ironing was usually done in the kitchen as the iron needed to be heated up on the stove to be able to the job effectively.

3. Experiment Farm Cottage

i) The object selected is called the “Egg Holder”

ii) The sketch is attached on hard copy

iii) The Egg Holder was an old way to hold eggs and to keep them cool. The bowl was filled with sand to the top and the eggs were placed inside the sand, being wholly covered. This shows how people kept things fresh and cool before there was any refrigeration available.

3. Heritage Cemeteries Parramatta

i) Henry Pollard was born in Somerset in England. This is one of the headstones that record the details of a place of birth.

ii) Robert Havens who was a Surgeon is one of the headstones that record the details of a person’s occupation.

iii) One of the headstones that have a meaningful decoration is the headstone of “James Douglas”. The headstone has a carving of a Thistle on it. This is meant to signify the Scottish heritage of James Douglas. It is understood that many people from Scotland at that time like to have the Thistle engraved to signify their mother country.

iv) The sketch is attached.

4. Parramatta Architecture Walk

i) ‘Mansfield’ at address 46 Grose St Parramatta is an example of a house that is symmetrical.

ii) Mansfield architecture has been heavily influenced by late Georgian Architecture. The 2 chimneys on either side of the house and the presence of the windows on either side of the front door indicate its symmetry. The door is strategically placed in the middle to allow for symmetry as well. The roof is symmetrical and it was to be cut in half, it would look exactly the same. (The sketch is attached.)

iii) The house at address 42 Sorrell St is an example of a house that is asymmetrical in style.

iv) It was part of movement that The “Arts and Crafts” movement has greatly influenced the architecture of this house. There is no symmetry as the windows and the doors do not allow this.

v) 14 Isabella St and 56 Sorrell St are the two houses that have embellishment on them. There is the cast iron that is attached and also a garage that was not there. These embellishments have been added to allow the house to be more attractive and more practical as well.

vi) The Map is attached.

5. Self-Guided historic Walk Through Parramatta

i) Walk: Burramatta Lands Walk, done 03/01/2012 at 10am

ii) Built Structures that were seen on the walk: * Lennox Bridge, construction finished in 1839 * Old Kings School, established 1834 * Old Government House, original building constructed 1799 * Tudor Gatehouse, constructed 1885 * Parramatta Justice Precinct, constructed in 1790

iii) The river and the topography of the land are main natural features of the Parramatta area. The river would have been the centre of the town and the main area for trade to occur.

iv) The heritage of Parramatta reveals quite a significant amount of natural landscape. One of the main features of Parramatta is and was Lennox Bridge. The Bridge was constructed between 1836 and 1839. The Bridge was built at the time for ‘traders’ to come into Parramatta and make their business allowing the early settlers to take advantage and trade with those that would come to trade. Flooding was also a regular occurrence as is also seen in today’s day and age. The bridge was used to help, when flooding occurred allowing residents to cross over but more importantly animals and other cattle. Buildings/structures were built further away from the water because of its common flooding from time to time.

6. Discover Your Local Heritage (Blacktown Council)

i) - Merriville House, Vinegar Hill Road, Kellyville Ridge, NSW 2155.
The land where Merriville house is located was originally granted to former NSW Corp member Jonas Bradley in 1818. The Bradley Family lived in the house until 1858.

– Bungarribee House, Doonside Road, Doonside, NSW 2767. This house provides the residents of Blacktown and its surrounding suburbs a rare and intact view of an early homestead from 1822.

– Vinegar Hill, 712 Windsor Road, Kellyville, NSW 2155. The battle of vinegar is regarded as a very important battle, as it was the site of the first ever military battle to have taken place on Australian soil. This took place in 1789.

ii) The first resource that can help is the NSW State Heritage Register. The Register has details on all the heritage listed items from Federal down to Local.
The next source is the book “Australia's Blacktown from 1788” that is written by Collinridge Rivett.
The third resource is the NSW State heritage Register, which holds information on heritage listed items.

iii) Timeline

1788 - First Fleet Arrival to Australia
1791 - Governor Phillip started to grant land around Blacktown
1798 - Battle at Vinegar Hill
1818 - Merriville House built
1819 - Land granted to two indigenous men (Colebee and Nurragingy)
1822 - Bungarribee House Built
1862 - Blacktown named “Blacktown”
1906 - Shire of Blacktown formed
1930 - Electricity was bought into the town
1973 - WestPoint Shopping Centre opened

Reference List:

Blacktown City Council History Page. http://www.blacktown.nsw.gov.au/our-city/heritage/heritage_home.cfm (accessed January 6th, 2013)

NSW Heritage Register. http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/heritagesearch.aspx (accessed January 7th, 2013)

Silver, L.R. 1989. The Battle of Vinegar Hill: Australia's Irish rebellion. Australia: Doubleday. | | |