Land grant(s)

Two early grants comprise the land today forming Camden Golf Course / Studley Park estate (what remains of it). These were made in 1810 and 1812. Prior to this John Macarthur received a grant on the southern side of the Nepean River of 2,023 hectares (5,000 acres) and this became known as Camden Park Estate. Governor Macquarie granted two of Macarthur's employees, John Condron and William Parrott (both convicts who subsequently obtained freedom) each 40 hectares (100 acres) in 1810 and 1812 respectively. These two grants, when later combined, made up the original enclosure of Studley Park. They were used for farming, the 1814 muster showing that Parrott (his land became known as 'Parrott's Farm') was a landowner with two convicts under his control whilst the 1822 muster records that Condron had cleared 26 of his 100 acres and owned three houses, twenty five cattle and ten pigs.^[3][1]

William Parrot received the first grant on 1 January 1810. He arrived in the colony as a convict in 1791 and by 1807 was working as a shoemaker at Camden Park. The second grant was to John Condron on 25 August 1812. He was transported from Ireland arriving in 1800 and by 1806 was employed at Camden Park as a herdsman.^[1][4]

Both blocks changed hands a number of times in the 19th century. The only mention of any structures erected on either property (cited by Ray Herbert) is a carriage house that reportedly was erected on Condron's grant by Henry Ellison. The documents cited don't mention where this was situated and nothing remains of it today. The 1987 Conservation Plan (CP) includes this carriage house in a detailed chronology of the site, stating it was built c. 1870 and destroyed in a 1980s fire. It would appear that this is a confusion between the carriage house and the engine house/granary which burned down in 1982.^[5][1]

The 1987 Conservation Plan goes on to state that the transfer of Condron's grant in 1878 from Henry Ellison to William Henry Thompson shows that there was a building on the original Condron grant. However it is unclear if this was the carriage house or not.^[1]

The plan from 1840 shows that by this date Parrott's grant was mortgaged to a Mr Cooper and that three structures had been built on it. Two appear to be a cottage and outbuilding (possibly a stable belonging to a Mr Fitzpatrick and a single structure, most likely a cottage, belonging to a Dr Swayne), have been built on the grant facing the main road. A series of roads have been drawn on the block immediately to the east which represents the laying out of the town of Narellan. The closes one to Parrott's original grant appears to be the road which was later named Richardson Road. Also of interest is the church indicated east of Parrott's original grant which appears to be in the same position as the church which exists there currently.^[1]

Ellison owned the Condron grant until 1878 when it was transferred to William Henry Thompson. In 1884 Thompson purchased the adjacent 100 acres originally granted to Parrott, thereby combining the two properties and establishing the original boundary of Studley Park.^[6][1]

1888-1902 Payne era - Studley Park

Advertising for a builder for Studley Park in the Sydney Morning Herald on 9 February 1889

On 2 October 1888 businessman William Charles Payne bought the combined property of 200 acres from Thompson for £1,400. He authorised A. L. & G. McCredie of Sydney to construct the house, stables and a granary/engine house. The engine house reportedly contained a steam traction engine and a dynamo which provided electricity to the house. A lengthy article in the Australasian Building and Contractors News edition dated 20 July 1889 described the project. It called the house a "picturesque looking villa-residence, in a light Italian style". A rendered drawing view of the house from the west incorporated the two floor plans produce by the McCredies at the time of construction. The original drawings are in the Mitchell Library as part of a collection of architectural drawings belonging originally to a William Keen. He was a Sydney architect born in England and trained at the Royal Academy School, London, before migrating to Australia in 1886. It has not been able to be ascertained if Keen was employed by A. L. & G. McCcredie.^[1]

Payne named the property "Studley Park". Ray Herbert writes that Payne named it after a property near where his father-in-law lived at Ripon in England. He also writes that at the time of construction four workers' cottages were built near the main road. These were visible on an aerial photograph taken in 1947, three side by side fronting Camden Valley Way with the fourth a little further away to the west, in the north-eastern corner of the original Studley Park landholding. It seems unlikely that these were constructed for workers on Studley Park as the project seems too small to warrant separate workers' accommodation. The area where the cottages were was further subdivided during the 1970s, resulting in formation of Wilton Crescent and the surrounding modern residential development.^[7][1]

There is no evidence Payne intended Studley Park to be a self-supporting farm. What is more likely is that it was established as a country retreat. Many such estates were established around the outskirts of Sydney during the latter half of the 19th century. Prosperity in the colony since the 1850s gold rushes had helped establish a class of wealthy merchants and business people who established such estates, thus imitating the behaviour of a similar class of people in England at the time. Within the Camden area a number of examples of gentlemen's country estates/residences were built in the 19th century. Structures such as Camelot at (nearby) Kirkham, Camden Park House, built for the Macarthur family, and Fernhill at Mulgoa to the north are examples. The main feature of these holdings was a grand house situated on a part of the landscape so as to be visible to neighbours and surrounding residences. The house at Studley Park is a good example of this, situated on a rise and equipped with a tower (Campanile) which enhances its visibility and makes it a prominent landmark in the area. The visibility and grandness emphasises the perceived importance of its owner and visually underlines their standing in society.^[8][1]

Advertising for the school, 1908

Studley Park was built at the height of a housing boom. Due to its size, grandiosity and the cost incurred, it came to be known as Payne's Folly. At the back is a large block containing stables and coach house.^[9][1]

Due to its elevation the house has clear views of (and its tower in particular can be viewed from) other colonial landmarks in the district such as the spire of St. John's Church, Camden, Camelot (formerly Kirkham), Harrington Park and Orielton estates.^[10][1]

The opulent mansion bankrupted Payne: he sold it in 1902 and it became Camden Grammar School.^[1]

Alternative history

Archibald Adolphus Gregory, circa 1935

Payne sold the house to its architect, Francis Buckle, in 1891 and Buckle sold it in 1902 to Dr Henry Oliver.^[1][4]

Studley Park as a military facility, 1939

It became Camden Grammar School until 1933 when it was sold to Arthur Gregory, a Hollywood movie mogul. Gregory, a keen golfer, commissioned construction of a nine-hole golf course, later adding another nine holes.^[1] A few decades later it was transformed into an art deco playground for the sales manager of 20th Century Fox. During World War II it was resumed as the Eastern Command Training School for the army.^[11][1]

In 1951 the first intake of the newly-formed Women's Royal Australian Army Corps began training at Studley Park House.^[1]

Today, Camden Golf Club owns and is restoring this lovely house. It is open to the public during the year on specially-planned open days and for functions to raise money for restoration.^[1][4] In 2009 the house was sold to a private owner and the golf course land was transferred to the care, control and management of Camden Council.^[12][1]

Setting

The former Hume Highway (the main road south of Sydney once, now Camden Valley Way) was the original access to the site - an early set of gates are still visible on this road) abuts the grounds of the Studley Park / Camden Golf Club, to the west. Lodges Road (the current entry to Camden Golf Club) abuts the grounds to the east.^[1]

The original Studley Park estate (1880s) was in the order of 81 hectares (200 acres). The total remaining area today is 142.412 hectares (351.91 acres), including golf course, land for flood mitigation works, house lot etc.^[1]

Surrounding Studley Park House is Camden Golf Course.^[9][1]

Behind the outbuildings are a range of Army era buildings (from WW2), the club house (adapted from and extending the coach/carriage house) of the Camden Golf Course, parking and landscaped areas of golf course. Two areas of woodland abut the Army era buildings east of the main house, and in the golf course's north-east corner towards Camden Valley Way.^[1]

Including house, and former stables and carriage house block (Club House), located in the grounds of Camden Golf Course, Camden Valley Way and Lodges Road, Narellan.^[13][1]

Mansion - siting and composition

The Studley Park House is situated near the highest point of the ridge at the eastern section of allotment DP556856, Narellan. It could have been set further east, on the highest point, but to do so would have made it less visible from Camden Valley Way, formerly the Hume Highway, and from the neighbouring mansions Camelot and Kirkam, on the Cobbity Hills opposite. In order to impress those and other neighbours, it was set upon a mound at least 3m. high above ground level, was given an attenuated form, and topped with a tower with a peaked roof. The prominence and degree of visibility it achieved, which must have satisfied those who built it.^[14][1]

At the golf course's centre is the house - a large towered mansion on the property built for W.C. Payne in 1889 at the height of a housing boom. Due to its size, grandiosity and the cost incurred, it came to be known as Payne's Folly. There is a wealth of iron lacework. The interior is as extravagant as the exterior with decorative joinery, elaborate ceilings and stained glass. At the back is a large block containing the stables and coach house.^[9][1]

At the time of construction of Studley Park House, Camden Valley Way was the only road linking Camden to the city of Sydney, so that the access to the House had to be obtained via a carriage drive leading from it. The entry to the carriage drive was marked by a handsome gateway with white painted, decorated timber posts capped with finials and rails from which wire mesh was hung. The gateway was set in from the road, to allow adequate space for turning or to make way or stand by if another carriage was seeking to exit the property.^[1]

The carriage drive, in the best 18th century practice, did not follow a straight line to the house but curved gently towards it, following the contours. As early photographs show, it was not originally planted with its present avenue of Cypress trees; these do not appear until some decades later - they appear in the historic photographs of 1935 as being about ten years old. That photograph also shows an attempt at infill planting at regular intervals, with protective posts and wire around young plants within, no doubt to keep them from being eaten by stock. The driveway curved gently at the gateway to the house yard, after which it curved again to the left of the house, before curving sharply to the right, giving visitors a close up view of the towering front. It then curved sharply again to the left, splitting to form a teardrop-shaped carriage loop in front of an elegant staircase. After depositing its passengers, the carriage could then proceed to the coachhouse at the back of the house, or return via the loop.^[1]

Just after the entry gates to the House and before the Bunya Pine, a smaller road ran off the carriagedrive towards the north. This would have led not only to the engine house and shed, but also to Richardson Road behind St Thomas' cemetery, as mentioned in p. 24 of the Conservation Plan (CP).^[1][14]

Garden layout

Early photographs show very little planting in the House yard: just a few small trees plus a row of Pines to the south of it. The mature Bunya Pine at the front gateway may have been present in 1915 - the photograph is not easy to read - but most of the plantings were ornamentals from Britain. There were several of these about 5 metres (16 ft) tall scattered randomly near the House, but it is not easy to determine the species. They appear to have comprised plants such as Cypresses, Laurels, Liquidambar and Citrus. Another of the mid 1930s photographs confirms this. The ground to the south of the House was largely clear, covered with a lawn, as it is today. The slopes of the mound on which the House sits appears to have been planted with sprawling shrubs such as Honeysuckle and Briar Roses, much as it is today.

By 1933 the ground along the carriage drive within the homestead yard was planted with a deep border or shrubs. This pattern has been simplified today, but the essentials of the scheme have been retained. The 1935 photograph shows a couple of small trees along the "instep" of the carriageway curve, but it is doubtful that they were the same Crepe Myrtles present there today. One notable feature is that a side path led off the left of the carriageway towards the engine house and swimming pool, while a curved bed and path linked the tennis court to the point where the carriageway came closest to the house.^[1]

The principal adornment to the House's garden during the 1930s, following its acquisition by Mr A. A. Gregory in 1933, was an elaborate pergola and lattice construction on a low earth platform in the southern sector of the garden, adjacent to the kitchen block and former dining room. The lattice screen walls were at least 3 metres (9.8 ft) high and a doorway and a few steps gave access between the interior "garden room" and the lawn outside. We are fortunate to have a clear photograph of the interior of this garden room, which was itself divided into two linear spaces, one being defined by the pergola roof and lattice screen walls and intended for sitting within, and the other by screens in front of the kitchen block. The whole composition of lattice frames was held together by high, horizontal beams with a fringe of lattice below, a technique also used on the back garden. The ground was grassed, not paved, although a few large paving stones appear to be present in the centre of the seating area below the pergola. Some creepers grew up the screens, while most of the other planting were either in pots or herbaceous perennials of shade-tolerant species. Stag or elkhorn ferns were suspended from the screen walls at various places. An ornate Italianate fountain was located at the centre of a circular mound, which appears to been sited directly over, or close to, the original well (from which it no doubt drew its water). The inspiration appears to have been American, in keeping with the redecoration of the interior of the House in a "Hollywood" style.^[1]

A somewhat similar, but lighter, pergola and screen structure was added to the front of the coachhouse and stables building, with a fringe of herbaceous plants around the bottom. A white post and rail fence also ran along the outside of the driveway in front of the pergola screen. Only remnant eucalypts were present in this part of the grounds.^[1]

Few details exist of the garden to the north of the House, other than the post and lattice framework that defined what appears to have been a shrubbery (the plants are too substantial to be vegetables). A wide flight of steps leads up the mound or platform of the house into this area, which is defined on its outer boundary by a white post and rail fence. Another flight of steps leads from the front verandah down into that shrubbery.^[15] A small tree, without leaves, appears in the roughly the location of the large Jacaranda present today, but it seems more like a dead eucalypt than a young Jacaranda. It is understood that a kitchen garden lay behind this shrubbery, and that an orchard once existed in the area now occupied by the Army buildings.^[16] However, according to the CP, this had been cleared by Dr Oliver between 1902-1919, possibly for use as a football field.^[17][1]

Contrary to the usual 19th century practice, the vegetation on the ridge to the north of the House was not cleared, and is visible in the 1915 and 1935 photographs. Those trees along the western boundary of the golf course had been thinned out and some appear to be regrowths after 19th century clearing. The land beyond the House grounds to the west and south was mostly covered with grass for grazing, with few trees left standing When that ceased, it was rough cut, being used as fairways for the golf course. The early dams were converted into water hazards for the golfers.

House

A fine example of a Boom style high Victorian mansion, set in a prominent location, with its outbuildings representing an important period in a series of large nineteenth-century houses in this region. Internally the house is important for its exuberant detailing, its central hall and staircase, and its stained glass window. Large towered Boom style mansion. External walls of heavily moulded cement render, encrusted with a profusion of debased architectural detail of vaguely Italianate character. Slate roof, imported Italian marble entrance stair. Large stained glass window in a tower with a moulded monogram. Victorian iron lace. Internally exuberant style of exterior is maintained, grand staircase with open first floor gallery, stained glass, fine woodwork.^[13][1]

Due to its elevation the house has clear views of (and its tower in particular can be viewed from) other colonial landmarks in the district such as the spire of St. John's Church, Camden, Camelot (formerly Kirkham), Harrington Park and Orielton estates.^[10][1]

Stables

Carriage House block

War era barrack buildings

Bibliography

• "www.walkabout.com.au/locations/NSWCamden.shtml#Things%20to%20see". Archived from the original on 28 March 2007. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
• ARC Planning Services (1986). Macarthur Heritage Study.
• Campbelltown City Council. Macarthur Heritage Directory.
• Godden Mackay Logan (2000). Studley Park House Conservation Management Plan.
• Howard, Lisa; Camden Council (2010). phone call 14/12/2010.
• Morris, C.; Britton, G.; NSW National Trust; Heritage Council of NSW (2000). Colonial Landscapes of the Cumberland Plain and Camden, NSW.
• National Trust of Australia (NSW) (1986). National Trust Suburban Register.
• Raymond Noel Herbert (1999). NSW State Heritage Inventory Form.
• Richardson, Lance (2010). A Spook in the House, in Traveller NSW, in the Sydney Morning Herald.
• Schwager Brooks & Partners (1987). Studley Park Conservation Plan.

Attribution

This Wikipedia article was originally based on Studley Park, entry number 00389 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 1 June 2018.