| Photographs: | |
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| List: | Register of the National Estate |
| Class: | Historic |
| Legal Status: | Registered (18/04/1989) |
| Place ID: | 13378 |
| Place File No: | 8/01/000/0083 |
| Statement of Significance: |
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The Apple Shed (Apiary) is a historically significant feature associated with Duntroon House and Garden. A small stone and timber building in the Victorian Rustic Gothic style, it is the only surviving structure of the former complex immediately around Duntroon House which reflects the rural nature of the Duntroon estate prior to the development of the Royal Military College. (Australian Historic Themes: 3.5.3 Developing agricultural industries, 3.5 Developing primary production, 7.7 Defending Australia) The Apple Shed (Apiary) is significant for its historic importance as one of nine structures in the wider area associated with Duntroon, a major pastoral property from the earliest period of European settlement in the region until the creation of the ACT in 1911. (Criterion A4) (Australian Historic Themes: 4.6.1 Remembering significant phases in the development of settlements, towns and cities) The building contributes to the richness of the 19th Century Duntroon homestead cultural landscapes and through its historic fabric and style contributes to the visual aesthetic quality of the historic landscape. (Criteria A4 and E1) |
| Official Values: Not Available |
| Description: |
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HISTORY The Apple Shed (Apiary) dates from the 1860s during the Campbell era at Duntroon. It was originally an apiary but was later used as an apple shed and garden shed associated with the adjacent Duntroon Gardens. Duntroon is attributed to a leading Sydney merchant of the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, Robert Campbell. He established warehouses on Sydney Cove, in association with his import business. Campbell was awarded a land grant of 4,000 acres at Limestone Plains in 1825 and his shepherd, James Ainslie, settled there. The grant, originally known as Pialligo, was supplemented with a purchase grant in 1827 and additional grants in 1830 and 1832. Although Robert Campbell continued to live in Sydney he authorised the construction of the first substantial homestead at Duntroon in 1833. Convict and non-convict masons from Sydney constructed the building from local stone. The cottage was situated on a small flat terrace, looking across the Molonglo River to the southeast. Campbell's influence in the district was substantial. An outstation at Mugga Mugga was established from 1838 and Campbell instigated the building of St John's Church and Schoolhouse, Reid. Charles Campbell, the third son of Robert Campbell managed the property from 1835 to 1854, although ownership 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 ancestral 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 characterize 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 Encyclopedia of Cottage, Farm and Villa Architecture (seven editions from 1833 to 1869). Some historians have suggested that Alberto Dias Soares, the Queanbeyan Anglican Minister, a former architect and engineer, may have turned her sketches into reality. 'Charles Campbell believes that his great-grandmother Marianne probably drew up her own design, as she has produced quite accurate paintings and plans, and that Alberto probably advised on structural engineering, detailed the construction and supervised the work.' (Charlton 2000: p4) Duntroon was an extensive property with many associated structures. The major settlement on the property was located around Duntroon House. In 1911 the property was resumed by the Commonwealth and became the site for the Royal Military College. Over time the site has been redeveloped, many of the structures associated with the pastoral property have been demolished and the structures for the College have been built. The only surviving buildings of the original settlement are Duntroon House, two former lodges and the Apple Shed. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION The Duntroon apiary, or apple shed, dates from the early 1860s period of expansion. The building was used as an apiary, apple shed and garden shed associated with the adjacent Duntroon gardens. The small simple stone structure with timber weatherboards on the northern side is in the Victorian Rustic Gothic style. It has a corrugated metal gabled roof, weather boarded gable ends and detailed scalloped bargeboards. A window on the south side has been bricked in. The Apple Shed (Apiary) is associated with other extant features of the Campbell Estate such as the Gatehouses (RNE 13377 and 13375), the Woolshed (RNE 13305), the Duntroon House and Garden (RNE 13254), 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). Today, this small pleasant early Victorian apple shed is one of the few landscape elements reflecting the original rural nature of Duntroon prior to the development of the College. The Apple Shed was part of the Duntroon Gardens but is now separated from the house and the remnant garden by Plant Road. Other structures related to the Duntroon property still exist in the area, including the woolshed and the dairy. |
| History: Not Available |
| Condition and Integrity: |
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Used as a gardener's shed for Duntroon gardens. Preserve external fabric. Landscape to integrate with Duntroon gardens. The Apple Shed (Apiary) has been well maintained (Cox 1986). It is in generally good condition, largely intact and at some time a window on the south side has been bricked in, the brickwork not being sympathetic to the granite walls. The tuckpointing on the stonework has deteriorated or is missing in large areas (1995). |
| Location: |
| Plant Road, Duntroon, Campbell. |
| Bibliography: |
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Charlton, Ken (2000) Southern Spires: the Architecture of Rev'd Canon A D Soares. Garnett, Rodney and Hyndes, Danielle (1992) The Heritage of the Australian Capital Territory, National Trust of Australia (ACT) and others. Gillespie, Lyall (1991) Canberra 1820-1913, AGPS, Canberra. Kerr, Joan and Broadbent, James (1980) Gothick taste in the colony of New South Wales. David Ell and the Elizabeth Bay House Trust, Sydney. Philip Cox and Partners Pty Ltd for Department of Housing and Construction (ACT Region) (1982) Royal Military College of Australia Duntroon, Development Study, Architectural Heritage. Philip Cox and Partners Pty Ltd for Department of Housing and Construction (ACT Region) (1986) Royal Military College of Australia Duntroon, Conservation and Management Plan, Volume 1. May. |
Report Produced: Wed Feb 10 02:26:29 2010