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Page 2 Close examination of Greenway’s brickwork shows he went to great lengths to achieve a good quality result. For example, St Matthew’s Church at Windsor, one of Greenway’s finest works, was commenced by another designer before Greenway intervened in 1817 to have the work condemned on the basis of its poor quality brickwork. The designer was dismissed and Greenway started afresh with a new design and superior brickwork. The condemned bricks found their way into the construction of the Macquarie Arms Hotel in Windsor. It is no easy matter to study Greenway’s superior brickwork because in the 1960s the NSW Government Architect, E.H. Farmer set about restoring many of Greenways’s buildings in a manner that is now deemed to have been far too interventionist. Farmer scraped the brickwork at Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney, Windsor Court House and St Matthews Church at Windsor, and more. At Hyde Park Barracks the brickwork was substantially dismantled and reconstructed. At the Windsor Court House he re-faced the brickwork and entirely replaced the wall and ceiling plasters. At St Matthew’s he re-pointed the brickwork in its entirety and renewed the form and materials of the roof and tower. However, the rectory at St Matthew’s, which Lady Franklin most unfairly described in 1839 as an ‘ugly red brick house’, escaped this aggressive form of scraping. It is still possible to examine the brickwork there in its authentic, though weathered state. Greenway used a simple device to overcome the inherent imperfections in the size and shape of the bricks available to him. First he used mortars containing mixed aggregates that muted the whiteness of the lime binder. These bedding mortars were finished near to flush with only a minor strike. Then he had the bricklayers strike deep perfectly uniform lines through the normal centres of the horizontal and vertical joints to create a shadow line. This line draws the viewer’s attention in a manner similar to conventional tuckpointing of the uneven brick rubbers in the arches of these same buildings. Greenway’s shadow line was deep enough and broad enough to draw attention away from the imperfections in the otherwise irregular brickwork.
Restorers of Greenway’s buildings have either remained ignorant of the method or, having recognized it, failed to replicate it in a convincing manner. Clearly it requires careful attention to the mortar mixes and line thickness and the evidence suggests that bricklayers today do not have the necessary patience or knowledge to achieve the right effect. Brick-nog construction Another way of overcoming the deficiencies of the early hand made bricks, or at least using them in a manner that would achieve satisfactory finishes, was to bury them behind weatherboards and plaster in brick-nog construction. Brick nogging can be found in a high proportion of the early framed structures after (but possibly not before) Macquarie ordered brick or weatherboard houses. Perhaps it was a direct result of Macquarie’s order, given that brick-nog construction combined the two materials in a very satisfactory manner. In many of the simple brick-nog houses I have examined, the space between the upright timber studs of the timber-framed structure is infilled with brickwork laid on evenly spaced wooden noggings. The walls are plastered on the inner face in the conventional manner (three-coat work) and feathered (or tapered) weatherboards are nailed to the studs on the external weather faces. The floors are sometimes very simple structures with round bearers laid directly on the ground and crudely adzed off to receive the floor boards. Examples of this method of construction survive in the two original Archer cottages at Woolmers Estate and Brickendon Estate, and in George Bowman’s house in Richmond NSW. There are many more in and around the Macquarie Towns and Hawkesbury Nepean area generally.
There are some inherent virtues and some serious flaws in the brick-nog system of construction. The benefits, which no doubt gave rise to its popularity, included the option of using poor-quality bricks and crude mud mortars in the brickwork in a fast application method. The noggings carried the weight of the brickwork and overcame the problem of slow-setting mortars. The bricks provided thermal mass and carried the interior plasterwork, which could then be decorated to suit individual tastes. The weatherboards protected the inferior brick wall fillings and, most importantly, provided bracing to the structures. The main disadvantages relate to the relative instability of the small panels of brickwork and their potential to fail when the timber framing initially shrank and then decayed over time, as it usually did where it was in contact with the ground. The studs of many timber-framed, brick-nog structures were driven directly into the ground as posts with no footings. Overall it was a good system but one that proved vulnerable to moisture at the point of ground contact. The damp wood was attractive to fungi and termites, which could enter the structure directly through the studs embedded in the ground. The conservation of these structures usually requires the underpinning of the studs and posts with new material, and attention to the parts damaged by termites and fungal decay. In sub-tropical areas like New South Wales, termites are responsible for the destruction of dead wood, which happens to include wood used in buildings. However, early structures are surprisingly resistant to termites for a couple of reasons. One is that the old growth trees that were available to the early settlers contained a high proportion of heartwood containing natural toxins, which was unattractive to termites. Termites would readily attack the sapwood of old growth trees but this was often structurally redundant. Termites would avoid the heartwood, which was usually load bearing. Another factor is that many of the building sites were elevated on free draining or sandy ground, which allowed the wood in contact with the ground to remain relatively dry and therefore unappealing to termites, which have a preference for moist wood. However poor maintenance and inappropriate alterations to brick-nog structures in more recent times has given rise to moisture problems and termite attack in a high proportion of the surviving structures. Fungal decay in wood is a direct consequence of high moisture content, which is common in buildings which have been poorly maintained rainwater goods, or may have changed in ways that disrupt the traditional relationships of the structures to their environment. Even inappropriate coatings, including high performance modern paints, can cause moisture and fungal decay in wood, leading ultimately to the loss of authentic details and heritage significance. Stuccos and Plasters External plasters on bick-nog structures were not common. They were more common on masonry structures and on the simple timber structures that were daubed with primitive clay plasters to keep out the wind and cold drafts. Mud plasters applied to crude mud and timber structures provided them with a slightly more sophisticated look than they would have had if left in a raw state. The plasters were usually limewashed in white or in warm natural earth colours.The more sophisticated forms of external plasters, including those that were fashioned with imitation stone joint lines, made up a class of finishes that were called stucco, a term that Morton Herman claimed was ‘most expressive’. 25 Stucco, when used in the manner that was current in Britain at the end of the Eighteenth Century, was a moderately sophisticated finish that was normally built up in layers and finished with a surface texture and colouring that was intended to create the appearance of dressed stone. Few early examples of stucco survive to illustrate the local form of the material. However the plaster finish on Daniel Cooper’ Cleveland House in Sydney, built in 1823, which is believed to be a surviving 1820s example, indicates that the treatment was probably plainer and less convincingly stone-like than many of the later nineteenth-century examples. The Cleveland House stucco finish is uneven, bland and lacking in the ashlar line markings and moulded features that normally enlivened a stucco façade. By contrast, an example that is likely to be from Prospect Farm near Hobart, dating to 1818, is coloured grey and lined with black. A surviving fragment of that finish is believed to be an example of an external stucco finish but it might be an internal hallway finish. Another example, at Anglesea Barracks in Hobart, dating to the 1820s, incorporates black ashlar joint lining on a warm stone coloured limewash. This example is most likely to represent the more common forms found in the second generation of structures in the early settlements.
Internal plasters in most buildings during the very early period would have been simple mixes of mud and fibre at best. Slightly more sophisticated formulations of clay, sand, lime and hair would have been used in the most important buildings, such as the house of the Governor. In the early 1980s, extensive works to the northern wing of the former Rum Hospital in Sydney involved repairs and consolidation of wall and ceiling plasters dating to the early 1810s. These plasters were as described. They contain only small quantities of lime and substantial quantities of fibre impurities and animal hair. They had performed well for more than 170 years and, following consolidation and repair, they continue to serve their intended purpose. The Rum Hospital plasters were finished with lime plaster setting coats in the traditional way. Many other examples of internal plasters of similar type do not have lime setting coat finishes. The surfaces of those plasters were mainly worked up to smooth finish with a trowel and limewashed and/or covered with a layer of wallpaper. Paint finishes The death in October 1810 of Andrew Thompson, Governor Macquarie’s trusted magistrate at Windsor, opened a historical window through which to obtain an understanding of house painting practices at that time. In an unusual turn of events Macquarie chose Thompson’s burial site — one of the best aspects in the newly laid out town of Windsor — and thereby also the site for the church of St Matthew. He later provided paint for a substantial burial monument. The inscription on the surviving stone tablet, which was presumably enhanced with the precious paint, explains that Thompson bequeathed one quarter of his fortune to the Governor (who had appointed him a Justice of the Peace — an act ‘which restored him to that rank in Society which he had lost’). 26 It does not explain why the Governor was required to supply paint, but we can speculate on that.
Andrew Thompson was an emancipist entrepreneur who had been appointed Chief Constable and then Magistrate by Macquarie, who was impressed by his enterprise and zeal. Thompson was the richest man on the Hawkesbury, owning a large granary, a brewery and a salt-works. He was a builder of bridges and ships and a trader. So why then, was it necessary for Macquarie to supply paint for his burial monument? The answer must surely be that supplies of quality paint — in this case oil paint — were limited and therefore reserved for prestigious public works under the direct control of the Governor. There were three principal types of paints in common usage in Europe when Macquarie began his stewardship of New South Wales — limewash, distemper and oil paint. The first colonists arrived with small quantities of paints and pigments and it must be assumed that they used them sparingly on the most important buildings. The majority of the population would have resorted to making paints as best they could from local resources. Limewash, which was normally made by calcining limestone to produce calcium oxide (quicklime) to which water was added to make liquid lime for daubing on walls, was made by burning shells, which were in abundance around Sydney Cove. Pigments and colouring agents were added to the lime to produce various tints. Oils, fats, coagulants and salts were added to enhance the performance of limewashes. Distemper was a simple form of water paint made on a base of chalk (calcium carbonate) bound with glue size (starch). Coloured pigments were added to these base constituents to produce a wide range of tints. Distempers were not commonly used outdoors, although they were suitable for some external plasters. They were more commonly used to brighten the walls and ceilings of bedrooms and plastered surfaces exposed to only limited wear. The availability of coloured distempers in the early period has not been recorded but it must be assumed that this form of paint was available. Oil paints were the best paints for woodwork, metalwork and many other interior and exterior surfaces. They could be made with many natural oils and pigments—the most common being linseed oil (flax oil) and white lead (lead carbonate)—also referred to as lead paints. Oil paints were used to enhance and protect wood outdoors, and to achieve high quality decorative finishes indoors. The white and black paints that Macquarie supplied for Thompson’s tomb were lead paints. 27 Clear varnishes, though strictly speaking not paints, were made from a wide variety of oils and waxes and used to protect and enhance wooden surfaces; in particular furniture. Varnishes would have been in limited supply until the colonists learned how to harvest local materials, such as bees wax and resins. The burning of oysters to produce lime for building purposes (including for Australia’s first house) 28 and the use of other marine species in paints, is recorded in various accounts. For example, jellyfish was recommended to improve the properties of limewashes and fish oil was used in lieu of other oils and resins in ‘oil’ paints. 29 Colouring was more difficult to achieve. Black was obtained from charcoal and used in combination with yellow ochre pigments to make common stone and drab colours. Fashionable colours such as pure greens were very hard to procure and therefore reserved for the most prestigious locations, including entrance doors. 30 Ferrous sulphate was used to obtain yellow colours with external plasters and washes. Ferrous sulphate improved the properties of ordinary limewash. In the early years it was imported from England and therefore very expensive to obtain. 31 In 1814, a Sydney resident wrote to Governor Macquarie to inform him of the colours he had produced and the process he had employed, claiming that ‘the Want of Paint and Paint Oil is generally very severely felt in this Colony, Often cannot be procured at any price, but at all times most exorbitantly dear’. 32 The colours discussed by John Hutchison in his correspondence with Macquarie provide a guide to the colours the colonists probably desired. They included Lamp Black (soot of fish oil), Blue Black (from bark), Fine Black (from bones of animals), Pure Black (from peach stones), White (from bones and from oysters), Red (from pyrites), copperas (from pyrites) and Yellow (from ground earthenware). There was no reference to green or primary colours, but there is mention of oxide of lead and sulphate of zinc in a recipe for a white paint, indicating that those pigments were available at the time.
Over time, with more reliable transport, painting materials became more freely available but the search for economical means for protecting and colouring buildings with paint continued throughout the Nineteenth Century. Settlers were provided with helpful recipes for ‘cheap paints’ 33 and advice was provided by well meaning informants for those in remote areas on how to make ‘good bush paints’ 34 . These legendary make-do skills have disappeared largely as a result of improved manufacturing and distribution in the post-War era. Yet there is strong evidence that less refined paint types are more compatible with traditional building materials including the surfaces of most heritage places. Some recent research in New South Wales and Northern Tasmania has revealed evidence of the early use of finishes that appear to have functioned very well over a long period. They include the use of tar on wooden buildings and the common use of copperas (ferrous sulphate) as a colourant on masonry buildings. Evidence of the use of copperas is not new, yet it seems to have been entirely neglected in recent decades. Evidence of the use of tar as a protective coating on the fine group of barns at Brickendon Estate is not hard to find, yet it too has been overlooked until recently. Pine tar was applied to the buildings there recently after detailed research into the suitability of a range of traditional and modern oils to conserve the unpainted appearance of the structures. Pine tar; also known as Stockholm Tar, was routinely used on the rigging and woodwork of sailing boats. It should not be surprising therefore for it to have been used on buildings that were erected in the age of sail.
Town planning Many believe that Macquarie’s greatest legacy was his planning. He planned several towns and re-ordered others to provide for the growing needs of settlement and also to achieve the sense of order he obviously craved. He overlaid order on the town of Sydney and provided for its expansion. When he became aware of the plight of the settlers on the Hawkesbury River he selected elevated flood-free sites for the construction of towns and he gave town grants to each of the lowland settlers so that they might each build a substantial house above flood levels. The fact that the settlers were in the process of recovery from flooding when he rode around the Hawkesbury in 1810 looking for suitable sites made the need for urgent action compelling. The records confirm that the Hawkesbury flooded above 13 metres 8 times between 1799 and 1819 with devastating effects. 35 Macquarie’s policy of allocating flood-free town lots to the farmers on condition that they build a substantial house there within two years had some long-lasting consequences. One, already discussed above, was the choice of the brick-nog construction, which was a fast and economical method.
Further into his administration, Macquarie began to arrange matters and erect structures with a view to permanence and civility, rather than expediency. He built barracks for the military, gaols for second offenders, schoolhouses, hospitals, fortifications and lighthouses. He engaged his architect Greenway in the provision of courthouses, churches, more hospitals, more schools, tollgates and stables he asked Greenway to design a new Government House, one that he craved but never accomplished. Greenway prepared a very ambitious plan for a new Government House but it was not built because Macquarie was never granted the funds to build it. But, a confident man, he proceeded nevertheless with the construction of stables located near enough to the old existing government house to serve both the old and intended new buildings. With the arrival of motor transport in the early twentieth century the stables became redundant and were converted to a conservatorium of music in 1912 by the construction of a large performance hall in the central courtyard of the former stables. More recently the stables and conservatorium were redeveloped into a magnificent new teaching and performance complex.
One structure that had little functional purpose at all, remains in Macquarie Place in Sydney as a visible legacy of Macquarie’s great contribution to civilized society. It is the obelisk that he erected in the place that carries his name, to define the point from which distances in the colony would be measured. This will be the subject of a discussion to follow in this symposium. It is a potent symbol and an important example of the very significant Macquarie legacy.
Dr Donald Ellsmore 27. Colonial Secretary’s correspondence, State Records of New South Wales, Reel 6017, 4/5782 pp.54-55. 28. Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay with an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson& Norfolk Island, London, 1789, p. 125. 30. Mrs Eliza Bent writing to Government Secretary John Campbell offering for sale a range of items including 6 green doors, 17 December 1816, HRA, I, 9, p. 302. 31. John Hutchison’s report on his researches provided to Governor Lachlan Macquarie, 30 April 1814, HRA, I, 8, p. 234.
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