| Photographs: | None |
|---|---|
| List: | Register of the National Estate |
| Class: | Historic |
| Legal Status: | Registered (21/10/1980) |
| Place ID: | 13255 |
| Place File No: | 8/01/000/0001 |
| Statement of Significance: |
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The Duntroon House and Garden demonstrates the successful adaptation of a nineteenth century pastoral property to an officers' mess, and reflects the development of RMC Duntroon and the early Federation era in Canberra.
The establishment of the Royal Military College at the Duntroon Estate as one of the first national institutions in the development of the Federal Capital Territory demonstrated the new nation's independence, its sovereignty and the importance of establishing a national military college. Duntroon House is one of three imposing rural mansions (along with Yarralumla and Gungahlin) acquired by the Federal Government and adapted for use as institutions during a period when the Federal government had limited funding for development. (Criterion A.4) (Australian Historic Theme: 7.4 Federating Australia) Historically, Duntroon House is associated with merchant and pioneer, Robert Campbell and family from 1833 until 1906 and with the formation of the RMC as part of the federal development of Australia. Despite its twentieth century use as a military college, Duntroon House and Garden is a major example of a large pre-Canberra pastoral homestead. Along with Duntroon Dairy, Duntroon Woolshed, Duntroon Apiary, the Gatehouses, Blundells Cottage, St John's Church Precinct, Mugga Mugga Homestead, Majura Homestead, and Glebe House Plantings, it remains as the major extant feature of the Campbell Estate era, indicative of the economy derived from Limestone Plains as an agricultural and pastoral district. (Criterion A4) (Australian Historic Themes: 3.5 Developing primary production; 4.6 Remembering significant phases in the development of settlements, towns and cities; 7.4 Federating Australia; 7.7 Defending Australia) Duntroon House and Garden, an imposing stone building in the Old Colonial Georgian and Victorian Rustic Gothic styles set within a landscaped garden with mature trees, is highly valued for its aesthetic qualities and historic associations. Within the greater Royal Military College complex, its dignified presence is a focal feature and is valued by military graduates, staff and the general Canberra community. The house and garden define part of the boundaries of the RMC Duntroon Conservation Area comprising original Duntroon structures and officers residences constructed in 1911 -1913, that share architectural, landscape and form elements all contributing to a unified heritage precinct. The Garden is of the Victorian style with notable mature trees, PHOENIX CANARIENSIS, SHINUS AREIRA, QUERCUS SUBER, TRACHYCARPUS FORTUNEI, CEDRUS DEODARA, CUPRESSUS FINEBRIS and a PINUS RADIATA, planted in the Campbell era. The scale and form of the garden are an aesthetic focal point of the Duntroon Conservation Area. (Criteria E.1) As a site for the celebration of important RMC occasions, Duntroon House and Garden hold social and associative significance for RMC staff, cadets and their families. Duntroon House has continuing importance as the home of single officers, the social hub for all officers and the keeping place of heritage memorabilia relating to the Campbell era and the history and lifestyle of the Royal Military College. (Criteria G.1) Duntroon House is significant for its period features that include the roofing showing different materials, internal and external features of the house including fireplaces, ceilings, joinery, windows and doors. The 1862 extension of Duntroon House is recognised as an excellent example of Victorian Gothic architecture, featuring irregular massing, high gabled roofs with traceried bargeboards, internal details and pointed arched openings. Since 1911 it has been sympathetically adapted for use as an officers' mess. (Criterion D.2) The House and its grounds are closely associated with the original owner Robert Campbell, who did much to advance the development of the Limestone Plains, and his wife Marianne who was involved in the house and garden design. (Criterion H.1) It is possible that Indigenous cultural values of national estate significance exist in this place. As yet the Australian Heritage Commission has not identified, documented or assessed these values. |
| Official Values: Not Available |
| Description: |
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HISTORY
The first Europeans to enter the area of the Limestone Plains were Joseph Wild, James Vaughan and Charles Throsby Smith. The party camped near the present day site of Duntroon on 7 December 1820. The Campbell Estate The establishment of a pastoral property in the area is attributed to a leading Sydney merchant of the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, Robert Campbell. Campbell was a descendant of a younger branch of the Campbells of Duntroon Castle in Argyllshire, Scotland. Curiously, Robert Campbell, the first owner of the property on which Australia's first Staff Cadets were to be trained nearly eighty-six years later, is referred to as a Cadet of Duntroon on his memorial tablet, dated 1846, in St Phillip's Church, Sydney. He is also remembered for warehouses on Sydney Cove, which he established in association with his import business. In compensation for the loss of his ship Sydney, while it was on Government service, Campbell was, after an eighteen year wait, awarded a land grant of 4,000 acres at Limestone Plains in 1825. James Ainslie, his shepherd [overseer], settled there. The grant originally known as Pialligo was supplemented with a purchase grant in 1827 and additional grants in 1830 and 1832. Having passed 'overland via Yass, Ainslie arrived at the Limestone Plains in early November 1825. A young Aboriginal woman reportedly guided Ainslie to one of her tribe's traditional camping sites, a grassed plain bordering the Molonglo River. Ainslie established his station here, erecting the huts on the lower slopes of Mount Pleasant near the Molonglo River. The station was originally known as Pialligo (the Aboriginal word for meeting place)'. (Moore: 2001, p3) 'In 1835, Robert Campbells' third son, Charles, became manager of Duntroon, replacing Ainslie, who left Australia for Scotland in March 1835. Allegedly Ainslie left behind a daughter, Nanny, the result of his union with the aboriginal guide who first showed him the site of Duntroon.'(Moore: 2001, p40) Although Robert Campbell continued to live in Sydney he authorised the construction of the first substantial homestead at Duntroon in 1830. The one storey Georgian structure comprised of six main rooms surrounded by a verandah with detached kitchen and servants' quarters, known as Limestone Cottage, was completed in 1833. Convict and non-convict masons reportedly trekked for three weeks from Sydney before constructing the building from local stone. The cottage was situated on a small flat terrace, looking across the Molonglo River to the southeast. Dr John Lhotsky, a Polish scientist who led an expedition to the Snowy Mountains, passed through the area in 1834 and wrote of Limestone Cottage in his diary. He described it as a '...clean, romantic little house, overhung with vines' and '...the last one with windowpanes and such like comforts, as it were at the end of the world'. Campbell's influence in the district was substantial. An outstation at Mugga Mugga was established from 1838 and St John's Church and Schoolhouse in Reid owe their inception to him. Charles Campbell, the third son of Robert Campbell, managed the property from 1835 to 1854, although the ownership of Duntroon passed to the fourth son, George, on the death of their father in the gardens in 1846. In the same year the house became known as Duntroon after the family castle in Scotland. In 1854 George Campbell married Marianne Collinson Close of Morpeth, New South Wales and took up residence at Duntroon. Marianne took a great interest in the house and was responsible for changing it from a small cottage to a fashionable country house. She designed the two storey Victorian Gothic extension to the house in 1862, as well as many of the cottages and outbuildings on the property. Many of the picturesque outbuildings, designed in the Victorian Gothic style that characterise the Duntroon campus today date from this period of improvement. These are contained in her household book and appear to be drawn from J C Loudon's " Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm and Villa Architecture" (seven editions from 1833 to 1869). Alberto Dias Soares, a former architect and engineer came to Queanbeyan as Anglican Minister in 1861. He was familiar with the Victorian Revival style and it is concluded that he advised Marianne on building construction and engineering details. (Charlton: 1998), (Kerr and Broadbent: 1980). The gatehouses marking the entries to the home paddock were also built c 1860. Another cottage (Blundell's) was built further down the river for the estate's head ploughman in 1858. A portion of 111 acres of the estate was set aside as glebe land for the rector of St John's in 1864. The 1862 extensions to the homestead included bedrooms, nurseries, breakfast room, morning room, servants' hall and a cellar. A study and library were provided for George Campbell and at the rear of the house a conservatory was built. Other improvements at that time included stables and lodges. The extensions were brick and stone and both stonework and carved bargeboards indicate an increasing level of affluence and skills available in the local region. In 1876 a number of changes were made to the house. The dining room was enlarged by removing a wall between the original dining room and one of the original bedrooms (later used as an ante room). The pantry wall was removed and the pantry, together with the existing storeroom, converted to a servery. A more spacious drawing room was created by removing the fireplace wall between the original drawing room and an original bedroom. Further alterations were made to the servants' quarters, a common room and separate store were added and a day nursery and guest rooms were added upstairs. The greenhouse was replaced with a conservatory and a potting shed. The conservatory had an unusual conical glass roof. The new wing was altered slightly in 1876 on the western side. Steps were built in front of the library bay window, leading to the gardens. In addition new awnings were provided to the north and south of the library. These awnings were slightly higher than the earlier awnings and supported by cast iron columns. It is thought that the major period of garden development took place during the occupation of the house by Mrs George Campbell. Watercolour drawings by Mrs Campbell of the flowers from the Duntroon Gardens together with books from her library indicate a greater than average interest in botany and an obvious ability as an amateur botanist. ' Her drawings of flowers at Duntroon display not only her talent but the fact that the garden at that time was rich in annuals and perennials. She was an avid collector of plants on her overseas travels and family tradition has it that a tree was brought back from every country visited. Some of the plants were used for propagation for plantings at Woden Homestead where some of them are still growing.' (O'Brien: 1993) Garden development, including the maze, commenced in 1854. Marianne laid out the gardens and added the maze, said to have been copied from that at Hampton Court, in 1871. A long hawthorn hedge is shown in a painting of 1870. The great oak to the west of the house, replaced after falling in a storm in 1994, carried a plate commemorating its planting in 1861. The Canberra Times, 20 April, 1996, quotes Professor Lindsay Pryor, who believed that some of the Atlas cedars in Ainslie Avenue show the same genetic characteristic peculiar to the Atlas cedars grown at Duntroon House, which Weston used as seed stock in Canberra. The same characteristic, a double stem, can be seen in trees in Reid and Kingston. 'Duntroon is one of the best examples that was built as a pretty good estate garden as far as the Australiam economic and social environment would allow.' (Pryor: 1996) Cork Oaks from Duntroon were planted throughout Canberra, including near Black Mountain across from Scrivener Dam and in the bigger parks. By 1880 the gardens had taken on much of their present form. The upper lawn was established and trees and shrubs in the wild garden were beginning to develop. A large pond occupied the area near the present day site of the tennis courts while the lower lawn area was used as a vineyard. The kitchen garden was located opposite the present gates in Plant Road. 'Though Duntroon was originally established as a sheep station, wheat was also grown there. It also became well known for horse breeding, exporting horses to India where they were in demand as Army remounts, and for its Durham and Shorthorn cattle. In 1857, the first reports of the discovery of gold near Duntroon were received....George...took up some limited mining....and in March 1867 obtained a nugget weighing nearly three ounces. A few months later a quartz reef was discovered on Mount Pleasant. In 1871, a rich copper lode was discovered, yielding approximately fourteen ounces of gold, before all mining endeavours at Duntroon ceased in the early 1870s' (Moore: p4) George and Marianne Campbell went to live in England in 1876 while their children were being educated. George died in England in 1881 and Marianne returned to live at Duntroon until her death in 1903. There were few changes to the external appearance of the building after 1876. All windows and French doors originally had shutters. Perhaps the most noticeable change was the corrugated iron roof, although some of the original timber shingles remain. The history of the roofing at Duntroon is interesting as it represents developing roofing technologoies. After the death of Marianne Campbell in 1903 the old home was broken up. A sale of plant and furniture items took place at Duntroon on 31 October 1906 and the house left vacant until the Royal Military College development commenced in 1910. Royal Military College The history of the Royal Military College commenced with the Federation of the six Australian Colonies in January 1901. In April 1902 the first Commander of the Australian Military Forces, Major General Sir Edward Hutton, recommended that a military college be established along the lines of the United States Military Academy at West Point, the Royal Military College at Kingston in Canada and the great public schools of England. The Defence Act of 1903 gave the legislative basis for the establishment of an Australian military college, but due to lack of funds it was delayed. Duntroon was the first of all the Australian military colleges and was established in Canberra and opened on 27 June 1911. Duntroon House had been empty since 1903 and needed renovating throughout. It provided single quarters for officers, the officers' mess and ante room with kitchen and servants' quarters, offices for the Commandant, the Director of Military Art, the adjutant, accountant and clerks and a room for the college library. The old stables were altered and extended to house the electric light and refrigerating plants and the laundry. The barn was used for storing vehicles and forage. From 1911 there was a need to acquire additional land to that originally leased. This was finally resolved in 1912 when the Commonwealth Gazette No 49 of 27 July 1912 gave details of land acquired, which included Duntroon. World War One interrupted the building program but Duntroon provided a vital role in training troops for the war. The College was connected to the Canberra Power House in August 1915. After the war development was slow. The 1928-29 Report stated that buildings which were thrown together hurriedly to meet the sudden decision to open the College in 1911 were in poor condition due to ravages of white ants and borers and their construction was unsuitable for the Canberra climate. At the onset of the Depression in 1930, the College was transferred to Victoria Barracks in Sydney. In 1936 it was resolved to bring the College back to Duntroon. The reopening on 19 October 1937 saw a new parade ground and impressive buildings around them, reflecting Canberra's Federal Architecture. During World War Two Duntroon Military College performed a vital role in training troops. In the 1980s, the Australian Defence Force Academy was established just north of Duntroon and a major architectural redevelopment began on the Military College. By the early 1980s, the house remained intact except for new parquetry floors. Following a report in April 1983 by Philip Cox and Partners Pty Ltd for the Department of Housing and Construction, the building had extensive work executed on the external fabric. The conservation work included restoration, reconstruction, preservation and adaptation and was completed in 1984. Duntroon House and Gardens is administered by the President of the Mess who is responsible for the daily running of the Officers' Mess, the home of the single officers, as well as the social and ceremonial hub for the officers. Duntroon House houses a collection of furniture, art and memorabilia dating from the Campbell era and from the long association of the house and gardens with the RMC. This collection is being researched and added to where possible and the RMC Archives and Museum adjacent to the Parade Ground holds many historic photographs of the Duntroon House and Gardens. The Officer's Mess has been the venue for RMC social and ceremonial events - formal dinners, the first cadets' bar - the Quarter Bar, Father and Son functions, graduation functions, reunions, ANZAC Day activities and afternoon teas for parents of cadets. It is the social centre for all officer level staff. The Parade Ground, close to Duntroon House and Gardens, is the setting for the ceremonial Beating of the Retreat and associated open air performance of the 1812 Overture by the RMC Band. This has been an annual event since 1968, firstly in March and then moved to September, except for September 2001 due to increased military security at that time. The garden is a favoured site for wedding and formal photography by the military and general communities. In the early 21st century the House began to be increasingly used to hold senior Defence functions for the Chief of the Defence Force, the Chief of Army and the Minister all of whom are honorary members. Interpretative tours to make the history of the Duntroon House and Gardens available to the public were introduced in 1997. As part of the 1990's masterplan and redevelopment of the whole of Duntroon, Duntroon House was refurbished by Otto Cserhami and extensions to the south to accommodate a new Dining Room, Kitchen and Accommodation were designed by Philip Cox and Partners. These projects were completed in 1996. The original conservatory, built in 1862, had lost its roof in 1945. A large Chinese Elm had grown in this roofless enclosure and had figured prominently in the customs of the Cadet Quarter bar. Unfortunately, this tree needed to be removed during the rebuilding. The new conservatory was opened in 1994. (Moore:pp235-236) The gardens are maintained as a significant adjunct to Duntroon House's role as the RMC Officers' Mess. They retain the dignity of the period of their development but probably lack the richness of floral display of the Campbell era. Physical Description Duntroon House consists of a stuccoed, rubble stone, homestead constructed in the Old Colonial Georgian style with verandahs on three sides. It has a two storey stone extension constructed in the Victorian Rustic Gothic style in 1862. The original homestead, Limestone Cottage, was almost symmetrical about a central hall, with a verandah wrapping around three sides of the house. A separate kitchen and servants' room were built approximately sixteen feet (4.5m) to the rear of the house. Both buildings were constructed of random bond stone, the external walls being about 560mm thick, while the interior walls are about 350mm thick. The original homestead had a shingle roof pitched at about twenty-seven degrees, with a U-shaped ridge about a central valley gutter to the rear. The angle of the verandah roof has been changed several times during its lifetime. The 1862 extensions to the homestead include bedrooms, nurseries, breakfast room, morning room, servants' hall and a cellar. A study and library were provided for George Campbell and at the rear of the house a conservatory was built. Other improvements at that time include stables and lodges. The extensions were brick and stone and both stonework and carved bargeboards indicate an increasing level of affluence and skills available in the local region. In 1876 a number of changes were made to the house. The dining room was enlarged by removing a wall between the original dining room and one of the original bedrooms (later used as an ante room). The pantry wall was removed and the pantry, together with the existing store room, converted into a servery. A more spacious drawing room was created by removing the fireplace wall between the original drawing room and an original bedroom. Further alterations were made to the servants' quarters, a common room and separate store were added and a day nursery and guest rooms were added upstairs. The greenhouse was replaced with a conservatory and a potting shed. The conservatory had an unusual conical glass roof. The new wing was altered slightly in 1876 on the western side. Steps were built in front of the library bay window, leading to the gardens. In addition new awnings were provided to the north and south of the library. These awnings were slightly higher than the earlier awnings and supported by cast iron columns. The house contains interior detailing of vaulted ceilings and a papier-mache ceiling rose in the main bedroom. A four poster bed belonging to the Campbells is in the bedroom. Some objects from the Duntroon homestead era remain in the RMC collection. Some of the Campbell silver and china was donated to the college by surviving members of the family and is displayed in the hall along with the Campbell's carving table, which would in the early years have occupied a place in the dining room. A portrait of Robert Campbell and framed photographs of varying stages of development of the house and of the Royal Military college, the various generations of Campbells who lived there and the officers who were in command during the last 75 years, line the walls throughout the house. Miniatures of 21 members of the Campbell family along with the family bibles are also on display. A plan of the Duntroon Estate as it stood at the end of the Campbell era shows the house at the centre of a collection of outbuildings of various sizes. Archaeological remains around the house and outbuildings are yielding new information and material relating to the Duntroon Estate. A winding drive extends north-east of the house past a maze to a barn and lodge. Clockwise from the east of the house is found a fishpond, then a summerhouse with an apple house and a cottage south of the house. Continuing in a clockwise motion around the house is located the Manager's residence, kitchen garden and stables. The hay shed is to the west, then the poultry house, a cottage and stable with coachhouse. Finally, to the north of the house are the tennis courts, an aviary and wild garden. The house and garden is associated with other extant features of the Campbell Estate such as the Gatehouses (RNE 13377 and 13375), the Woolshed (RNE 13305), the Duntroon Dairy (13367), the Apiary (Apple Shed) (RNE 13378), Blundell's Cottage (RNE 13324), Glebe Park Plantings (RNE 13348), St Johns Schoolhouse (RNE 13264), St Johns Church Precinct (RNE 13265), Mugga Mugga Homestead and Outbuildings (RNE 17326), Majura Homestead and Outbuildings (RNE 13406). Aged pine trees within the Duntroon campus and on Molonglo Reach are believed to date from the Campbell estate era. The Duntroon Garden is of the Victorian style, and includes many mature trees, a maze, a wild garden and the remains of the 1875 conservatory. On the lawns in the front of Duntroon House are two Canary Island Date Palms (PHOENIX CANARIENSIS). This species is not common in Canberra and the trees are a major feature of the grounds and by far the oldest in the ACT. To the left of Duntroon House was an English Oak (QUERCUS ROBUR) planted in 1861 to commemorate the birth of Frederick Arthur Campbell. It later became known as 'Fred's Tree'. The tree fell in wild storms in 1993 and seeds from it have been used to replant a tree in the gardens in 1996. Another historically significant QUERCUS ROBUR was planted in 1915 in memory of Major General Sir William Throsby Bridges CMG, the first commandant of the Duntroon College. Close to the Apple Shed is a large spreading Pepper Tree (SHINUS AREIRA). The Cork Oak Tree (QUERCUS SUBER) dates from the period of estate development in the early 1860s and is now 10m high with a girth of 2.65m. The tree was probably planted by George and Marianne Campbell, as it marked the limit of the Duntroon garden. Along with acorns from Spain, it also provided acorns for the establishment of cork oak plantations in Canberra in the first quarter of the twentieth century. The tree remains today as a living reminder of the Campbells and the development of the vast Duntroon Estate in the mid-nineteenth century. A Chinese Windmill Tree (TRACHYCARPUS FORTUNEI) has been planted in the lawn area in front of the house. The tree was originally planted near General Bridges' Grave. During the Depression when Duntroon closed, it was cared for in a Kingston garden. In 1988 the tree was relocated to Duntroon lawns. Other notable trees believed to be remnants of the original 1880's garden, located on the lawn near the Officer's Mess, include a Deodar (CEDRUS DEODARA), a Chinese Weeping Cypress (CUPRESSUS FUNEBRIS) and a Monterey Pine (PINUS RADIATA). (Pryor and Banks: 1991) Other garden elements include the rose garden that was replanted in 1994 using roses typical of the original style of the garden and the maze, one of only five hedge mazes in Australia, based on the Hampton Court maze and originally set out in privet. This was taken out in 1954 and replanted 10 years later with COTTONEASTER MICROPHYLLUS. The original garden contained a croquet lawn and pond as well as plantings of flowering shrubs, annual and perennials. The original Hawthorn hedge was removed in 2001 and replaced with PHOTINIA GLABRA. |
| History: Not Available |
| Condition and Integrity: |
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The building is very well maintained and sound. Recent improvements were made to the house and especially the facade. A Conservation Plan has been completed and the building is very well documented both historically as well as physically. (August 1995) Duntroon House has been conserved and cared for by RMC Duntroon. Rotted floors on the ground floor have been replaced with parquetry. The original woodwork of the doors and frames, stairs and skirting boards remain intact. (2001) |
| Location: |
| Harrison Road, Duntroon, Campbell. The gardens are within the area bounded by Aerodrome (now Fraser), Parnell, Robert Campbell and Harrison Roads. |
| Bibliography: |
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Charlton, K (1998) "Southern Spires, the Art and Architecture of Rev Canon A.D. Soares". Paper prepared for the Anglican Historical Society. Department of Construction ACT Region (1980) Duntroon House and Gardens. "Duntroon Woolshed Trussed Rafter Roof Construction'. Report for ACT Heritage. (copy in AHC file 8/1/0/80). Eric Martin and Associates (2001) RMC Duntroon: Conservation and Management Plan for 13 Residences. For the Defence Housing Authority. Garnett, R and Hyndes, D (1992) The Heritage of the Australian Capital Territory. National Trust of Australia (ACT). Kerr, J. and Broadbent, J (1980) Gothick Taste in the Colony of New South Wales. Moore, D (2001) Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-2001, RMC. O'Brien, Diana. The ACTs oldest garden full of colour and charm, Canberra Times October 3 1993. Otto Cserhalmi and Partners (1995) Facilities contract for medium works: Project: Duntroon House, Duntroon R.M.C.: Conservation works stage 1. Philip Cox and Partners (1983) Duntroon House: Renovations and Upgrading, April 1983. Philip Cox and Partners Pty Ltd (1986) Royal Military College of Australia Duntroon, Conservation and Management Plan, Volume 1. Report for Department of Housing and Construction. Pryor, L.D. and Banks, J.C.G. (1991) Trees and Shrubs in Canberra. Little Hill Press Pty Ltd. Royal Military College, Duntroon. The Royal Military College Duntroon Handbook. |
Report Produced: Tue Feb 9 23:15:31 2010