Woodford Academy Mural

Kate O’Neill

Thursday, 18 June 2015

Kate O’Neill

Significance assessment of an individual item.

The Woodford Academy Mural, Woodford, NSW.

Kate O’Neill


Statement of Significance: The Woodford Academy Mural, c1855-1867

90-92 Great Western Highway, Woodford, NSW 2778

Figure 1 Woodford Mural above the restored doorway, looking west. Photo: K O’Neill.

Introduction

Within the sandstone walls of the Woodford Academy, on the Great Western Highway in the

Blue Mountains, there is a 160-year-old salutation to the colonial roadside inn. Around an

inner door, between what may have been a tap-room and a parlour, is painted an ornate mural

of fruits of the vine, scrolling tendrils, and geometric emblems.

Kate O’Neill


This richly coloured ornamentation, created in the heyday of the gold rush era, was hidden

and protected by a layer of whitewash for over a hundred years. During renovation work by

the National Trust in 1984, the nearly intact mural was rediscovered. It is a significant and

rare example of early decorative arts and interior decorations of colonial inns.

The Woodford Academy is the only remaining example of a colonial roadside inn in the Blue

Mountains. In 1978, it was placed on the Register of the National Estate as one of the most

historic buildings in the region. Listed as an “intact early colonial coaching inn; one of the

most historic buildings in the Blue Mountains; used as an inn through the gold rush period

and served in a similar capacity until its conversion to a boarding school.”1 The NSW

Heritage Commission has assessed it as a highly significant historical and archaeological site

with a distinguished history and considerable research potential.2

In 1976, after sixty years of residence by her family, Miss Gertrude McManamey agreed to

pass ownership of the building to The National Trust of Australia (NSW), on the condition

that she remained in residence.3 The Trust initiated a comprehensive review of the building

and its contents, as well as renovating Miss McManamey’s accommodation and carrying out

critical structural repairs.4 It was at this time that the mural was discovered and stabilised.

Other than this no further work has been done on the history or the provenance of the

painting, despite it being worthy of note during guided tours of the Academy.

History

The history of the Woodford Academy building is well documented from its first beginnings

in 1831 through several distinct time periods.5

1830 to 1839, The Woodman: Emancipist Thomas Pembroke was granted 48 acres of Crown

land at Twenty Mile Hollow on 23rd November 1830, upon which he built a “commodious

1 Register of the National Estate, Woodford Academy, Listing 2994, Gazetted 21 Mar 1978,

http://www.environment.gov.au, accessed 24 May 2015, 20:15.

2 NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Woodford Academy,

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5051258, accessed 24

May 2015, 19:18.

3 Clive Lucas, Stapleton and Partners Pty. Ltd. ‘Conservation Analysis and Draft Guidelines arising out of the

statement of cultural significance’, unpublished report prepared for The National Trust of Australia (NSW),

1984, Sydney, p.65.

4 Ibid p. 67

5 Ibid. p. 19.

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Inn” licensed as The Woodman.6 After mortgaging the property several times it was offered

for sale in August 1839, advertised as “a well-built stone and wood house on the roadside,

known as the 'sign of the Woodman', which is licensed and comprises nine excellent rooms,

stabling for six horses, store, stock and sheep yards etc. with a productive garden and an

overflowing spring of pure water.”7

1840 to 1855, The Kings Arm’s Hotel: Innkeeper Michael Hogan added the property to his

already considerable land holdings and leased the premises to several licensees. The

establishment of a military stockade to the east at Eighteen Mile Hollow may have accounted

for the change of name to The Kings Arm’s Hotel.8

1855 to 1867, Buss’s Inn: During this period the inn expanded to its present size with the

addition of a double-storey, west wing and additional outbuildings9. While there is discussion

as to who owned it at the exact time of the upgrade, the extra accommodation and public

rooms profitably serviced the increase in road traffic to the goldfields of Turon and Ophir.10

William Buss, a ticket-of-leave man from Surrey, England, purchased the King’s Arms from

Michael Hogan in May 1855. He was such a popular and convivial host that The Kings

Arm’s was commonly referred to as ‘Buss’s Inn’.11 The mural has been dated to this time

because of the later renovations and alterations.12 In July 1863 the inn was listed for sale as,

“a most substantial building, constructed of stone, contains front verandah, entrance hall,

large bar and bar parlour, dining room, three sitting rooms, and twelve bedrooms”.13

1867 to 1896, Woodford House: The completion of the railway across the Blue Mountains

had a detrimental effect on the hotels and roadhouses along the Bathurst road. Many were

6 The Megalong Australian Heritage Centre, http://www.megalongcc.com.au/Ambermere/woodford_inn.htm

accessed 24 May 2015, 20:23.

7 Frank Winchester, Inns of the Western Road, Occasional Paper No.18, Lithgow District Historical Society,

1974.

8 Clive Lucas, ibid p. 11.

9 Appendix 1: 1855 King's Arms, Buss's Inn layout.

10 Clive Lucas, Stapleton and Partners Pty. Ltd. ‘Woodford Academy, Woodford NSW, Conservation

Management Plan Upgrade’, unpublished report prepared for The National Trust of Australia (NSW), 2002,

pp.11-12.

11 Ibid.

12 Appendix 2: 1867 Woodford House layout.

13 ‘Sale notice’, The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday 25 July 1863, page 11, Col. 1,

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/13082131, accessed 25 May 2015, 09:07.

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closed or sold to become fashionable country residences.14 Alfred Fairfax purchased the

King’s Arms from William Buss’s widow in 1867, renaming it Woodford House. He

rearranged the interior rooms and boarded up several doorways, converting the public house

to a private residence and guest house. Fairfax’s entrepreneurial ventures saw the property

constantly mortgaged until it was sold in June 1897.

1897 to 1906, Woodford Academy: Woodford House continued to operate as an

accommodation house until 1906 when John McManamey leased it for use as a private

school. He renamed it as Woodford Academy, living there until his death in 1948. The

Academy remained as a private residence until it was passed on to the National Trust in 1988

with the death of Miss McManamey.

1988 to 2015, National Trust: The National Trust began repairs and renovations to the

building complex based on its 1984 upgraded Conservation Management Plan.15 During the

restoration of the west wing to the 1855 configuration the “pre-Academy era mural” was

revealed.16 It was fully restored in 2001 during conservation and repair work by Design 5

Architects for the National Trust.17 In 2002, the project was commended by the RAIA (NSW)

Award for Architecture, Conservation and Adaptive Re-use as “a concerted, informed

approach to preservation... preserving the “gentle decay” into which the building had fallen

over the generations. In taking this care, the architects have made the social and architectural

history of this complex, from the 1840s until today, legible and vital.”18

Context

The Woodford Academy Mural is an example of a picturesque wall decoration referencing

classic motifs such as finials, caps and scrolls, bordered by geometric columns above

reversed prismatic pentagrams.19 Grapes, corn and peaches are placed within a central

14 Colin Johnston, ‘History of Woodford Academy’, 1979, unpublished research paper, Archives National Trust

of Australia (NSW), p. 22.

15 Clive Lucas, Stapleton and Partners Pty. Ltd., ‘Conservation Analysis and Draft Guidelines.’

16 National Trust of Australia (NSW), ‘Woodford Academy, Conservation Works Final Report’, unpublished

report prepared for the Federation Cultural and Heritage Projects Program Department of the Environment and

Heritage, 2002, p5

17 Design 5 Architects: http://www.design5.com.au/woodford.html, accessed 24 May 2015, 17:57

18 Architecture Australia, November 2002 (Vol 91 No 6), http://architectureau.com/articles/commendation-for-

heritage-3/, accessed 24 May 2015, 19:05.

19 P. Lewis, G. Darley, Dictionary of Ornament, University of California, Macmillan, 1986.

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cartouche, referencing the wine and spirits served in the public rooms of the inn. The shading

of the decoration is an accurate depiction of the room’s light source from the southern

windows. Investigation of the remnants of paint and wallpaper in the other rooms of the west

wing reveal that during Buss’s time the public rooms were “richly decorated with painted

finishes in the taproom and wallpapers in the private rooms. Much of the joinery was

polished”.20 The opulence of the mural design and the still evident richness of the colours are

the marks of a sophisticated and prosperous establishment, a respectable inn worthy of

patrons other than the drovers and militia of the past. In his seminal work on the Australian

Pub J. M. Freeland explains how the wealth of the goldfields of Bathurst and Ballarat was

exploited by the growth and expansion of such inns.

On these much-travelled routes, abounding with well-heeled travellers and rich

landowners, wayside inns, rivalling their town counterparts were built. They were

two-storeyed, built solidly in brick or stone with a wide shady verandah, fine cedar

joinery and shingled roofs…Walls were sometimes adorned with pictures painted

direct onto the plaster, another symbol of status taken from the towns. Affluent

proprietors were only too willing to allow a competent artist to pay for his board by

practising his art on the parlour walls.21

It is unknown if the Woodford painting is the work of an amateur or professional. The lack of

symmetry in the design, the inconsistency in the application of the motifs and the thickness of

the oil paint suggests the work may not have been by an experienced or competent artist.22

The use of classic motifs of the time reveals a knowledge of the theory of decorative arts.

This could have been achieved through academic study or from public lectures and pattern

books, such as Franz Meyer’s 1849 ‘Handbook of Ornament’.23 During the early 1850s there

was a growing interest in aesthetics and fine arts, fostered through the establishment of Fine

Arts Societies and Mechanics Institutes in the Colony.24

The mural is a highlight of the Woodford Academy’s Open Days and guided tours. It is also a

feature of the educational resources provided by The National Trust for school tours;

20 Record of discussion re Woodford Academy colour schemes, 4th July 2001, National Trust of Australia

(NSW) Archives, 2001.

21 J. M. Freeland, The Australian Pub, Melbourne, 1966, p. 101.

22 Julie Whittlam, Conservator, Paint Analyst, pers. comm., telephone conversation, 24 April 2015, 16:45.

23 Franz S. Meyer, A Handbook of Ornament, London, 1849.

24 Bernard Smith, Australian Painting, 1788-1960, London 1962, p. 41.

Kate O’Neill


Evidence of the use of the taproom can be seen by … a distinctive cartouche which

dates from that time. In the cartouche are painted grapes, peaches and corn the fruits

of fermentation which were used in the making of spirits. The taproom would be the

equivalent of today’s hotel bar and the busiest part of the building. In John

McManamy’s time the tap room became his library. 25

Fabric and condition of the item.

The painting is oil media on plaster, framing a door between two main rooms of the west

wing of the Woodford Academy. Around 1867, the architrave of the door was removed, the

space was blocked up and painted over with distemper.26 Considering the many uses the

building went through and the structural changes made by the various owners it is in very

good condition. The lack of skill in its execution is compensated for by the robust design and

bold colours.

The mural was uncovered in November 1985 during preliminary repairs of the building by

the National Trust.27 In 2002, the architrave surrounding the door was fully restored, and the

painting was stabilised with all traces of the distemper covering being removed by

conservators.28 There is a small spot of damage on the top left-hand side of the image and

signs of paint crackling. The mural is in a stable condition with limited access but good

visibility for visitors to the Academy.

Comparative examples

The Woodford mural is a rare example of a circa 1860s, in-situ wall decoration, with a high

degree of originality. No other non-domestic examples of this period survive for comparison

in New South Wales. The closest example in a similar time frame is a painted panel found in

Richmond Villa, built by Architect Mortimer Lewis in 1849-1851 as his private residence. 29

25 Nanette Leary, Neryl Medcalf, Time Travellers, Woodford Academy Teachers Kit, National Trust Australia

(NSW) p8. http://www.nationaltrust.com.au/schoolsprogram/educationkits/woodford.pdf, accessed 25 May

2015.

26 Appendix 2: 1867 Woodford House layout.

27 P C James to P Moore, letter, 1st February 1985, The National Trust of Australia (NSW) Archives, Woodford

Academy Misc. File.

28 Julie Whittlam, pers. comm., 24 April 2015.

29 Megan Martin, ‘Fragment of painted decoration from Richmond Villa’, unpublished notes, Collections and

Access, Sydney Living Museums, 2015.

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Figure 2 Richmond Villa Wall Panel; Sydney Living Museums.

In 1975, the panel was uncovered as the building was being dismantled for transfer from

Macquarie Street to Kent Street. The painting, which may have been part of a larger frieze,

was salvaged and is in storage in the archives of Sydney Living Museums. There are no

records of who the artist was or when it was pointed. The central figure is a

canephorus/foliate, siren hybrid and is painted in a Renaissance grotesque style.30 In

comparison to the Woodford painting, the design is symmetrical and balanced with delicate

lines, subtle colours and a much finer technique.

A later example of interior decoration of a public house was recently uncovered in the

historic Bridge View Inn, headquarters of the Rylstone and District Historical Society.

The mural, painted between 1872 and 1894, is a unique piece of Australiana and an

important record of the history of Rylstone. The central cartouche contains a naïve

depiction of the Cudgegong River bank with a fisherman and some cattle. At the

30 Ibid.

Kate O’Neill


centre is the distinctive timber truss bridge over the river that was once the main entry

into the town and directly opposite the Bridge Hotel. The cartouche is surrounded by

a decorative border of acanthus leaves, two nymphs and a horned satyr’s head. Satyrs

and nymphs were associates of the Greek god of wine, so entirely appropriate

decoration for a drinking establishment. The mural is believed to have been painted

by Augustus Baker Pierce (1840 – 1919) and has been recently conserved.31

Related places and items

There are few documented references to decorations used in early colonial roadside inns.

Most writers of the period are more concerned with the quality of the inns’ meals, the

standard of service and facilities, or the lack thereof, than commenting on ornamentation.32

The travel diaries of Mrs Louisa Anne Meredith are an exception. In 1839 she described the

dining room of the Shepherd and His Flock in Pulpit Hill, as a “small but clean whitewashed

room, gaily adorned with feathers and the droll little pictures usually found in such a

house.”33 The newly built Royal Garter Inn at Rivulet on the Bathurst Road she reported as “a

glaringly smart looking inn…as fine as twenty different coloured kinds of paint could make

it. Panelling and pickings out of rainbow hues were set off by pillars of imitative and

varnished marble, the like of which no quarry ever knew, and these again touched off with

bronze paint and gildings, gleamed in the sun with almost dazzling lustre.”34

In Victoria, a 1930 Bacchus Marsh Centenary Pamphlet refers to “the hand-painting, still

visible on the walls of some of the rooms” in the derelict Woolpack Inn.35 J. M. Freeland

suggests that the 1849 inn, on the Ballarat to Melbourne road, benefited from the work of a

stranded artist in the digging days, paying in kind for his accommodation.36 The paintings and

31 Rylstone and District Historical Society, History of Rylstone and District, website accessed 18 June 2015,

http://www.rylstonehistory.org.au/bridge-view-inn/ 32 Paul McGuire, Inns of Australia, Melbourne, 1952, pp133-142.

33 Louisa Anne Meredith, Ure Smith and The National Trust of Australia (NSW), Notes and sketches of New

South Wales during a residence in the colony from 1839 to 1844, The National Trust of Australia (NSW),

Sydney, 1973.p. 38.

34 Louisa Anne Meredith, ibid.

35 Robert W McLean, Geoff Phillips, and Back to Bacchus Marsh Celebrations Committee (Vic.), Back to

Bacchus Marsh, October 23 to 28, 1930, Back to Bacchus Marsh Celebrations Committee, 1930, p.5.

36 Freeland, The Australian Pub, ibid.

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the building have since been destroyed leaving little evidence of any works comparable to

that in Woodford.

Sources:

Information about the mural and its context is sourced from records held at the Woodford

Academy; The National Trust of Australia (NSW) Archives; The Caroline Simpson Library

& Research Collection at Sydney Living Museums; The State Library of NSW; Museum of

Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS); National Library of Australia, Trove; The Art Gallery of

New South Wales Research Library. Advice and assistance was also provided by Julie

Whittlam, Conservator, Paint Analyst; Dr Matthew Stephens, Caroline Simpson Library and

Research Collection; Megan Martin, Collections & Access, Sydney Living Museums; Julie

Blyth, Archivist, National Trust of Australia (NSW).

Significance criteria

Primary

[Historic] The Woodford Academy mural is associated with a mid-

nineteenth century roadside inn servicing the traffic of the

Ophir and Turon Gold Rush across the Blue Mountains. The

mural is of historical significance as an indicator of the

prosperity and sophistication of a gold rush inn on the Bathurst

Road. It is also significant to the story of William Buss’s

ownership of the establishment from 1855 to 1867.

[Aesthetic] Although the painting does not display a high degree of artistic

skill it is significant in its use of classic motifs in a decorative

style. An amateur painter may have created the mural by using

patterns, style books and templates of the period. It is in

untouched condition with original media. It is the only known

extant example of non-domestic decorative arts of the 1850 to

1860 period in the Blue Mountains.

[Research] The Woodford mural has a high potential for further research

into mid-nineteenth century interior decorations of public

houses and non-domestic buildings.

Kate O’Neill


[Social] The mural is a highlight of the tours conducted by volunteer guides for

the National Trust during Academy Open Days. It is identified as an

important relic of the Woodford Academy’s time as a prosperous inn

during the Bathurst gold rush.

Comparative

[Provenance] No records have been found referring to the artist, but the date

of the painting has been clearly identified as between the 1855

construction of the west wing and the 1867 renovation which

saw it overpainted. The mural is still in its original location,

[Rarity] The building is very representative of a post gold-rush public

house providing food, drink and accommodation, but the

mural is a rare example of the interior decoration of such

venues. There is documented reference of decorations of

public houses in other areas but no known surviving examples

of this period. There are few surviving roadside inns in as

original condition as The Woodford Academy and little or no

surviving examples of similar interior decorations.

Condition The colours of the design are strong, and the oil media is fixed.

In very good condition, stabilised, some cracking and minor

damage

Statement of Significance.

The Woodford Academy mural is a rare and significant example of non-domestic decorative

arts of the 1850 to 1860 period in the Blue Mountains. It is a part of the fabric of the oldest

building in the area and is an indicator of the prosperity and sophistication of a gold rush inn

on the Bathurst Road. It is also a significant part of the story of William Buss, the gregarious

innkeeper of the establishment from 1855 to 1867. It provides an insight into mid-nineteenth

century interior decorations of public houses and is an important relic of the Woodford

Academy’s time as a prosperous inn.

Kate O’Neill


Bibliography

Anon, The Megalong Australian Heritage Centre,

http://www.megalongcc.com.au/Ambermere/woodford_inn.htm, accessed 24 May

Clive Lucas, Stapleton and Partners Pty. Ltd., ‘Conservation Analysis and Draft Guidelines

arising out of the statement of cultural significance,’ unpublished report prepared for

The National Trust of Australia (NSW), 1984, Sydney.

Clive Lucas, Stapleton and Partners Pty. Ltd.,’ Woodford Academy, Woodford NSW,

Conservation Management Plan Upgrade’, unpublished report prepared for The

National Trust of Australia (NSW), 2002.

Design 5 Architects: http://www.design5.com.au/woodford.html, accessed 24 May 2015.

Johnston, Colin, History of Woodford Academy, 1980, unpublished research paper, National

Trust of Australia NSW Archives.

Leary Nanette, Medcalf Neryl, Time Travellers, Woodford Academy Teachers Kit, National

Trust Australia (NSW)

http://www.nationaltrust.com.au/schoolsprogram/educationkits/woodford.pdf,

accessed 25 May 2015.

Martin, Megan, ‘Fragment of painted decoration from Richmond Villa’, unpublished notes,

Collections and Access, Sydney Living Museums, 2015.

McGuire Paul, Inns of Australia, Melbourne, William Heinemann, 1952.

McLean, Robert W, Phillips, Geoff, and Back to Bacchus Marsh Celebrations Committee

(Vic.), Back to Bacchus Marsh, October 23 to 28, 1930, Back to Bacchus Marsh

Celebrations Committee, 1930.

Meredith Louisa Anne, Smith Ure and The National Trust of Australia (NSW), Notes and

sketches of New South Wales during a residence in the colony from 1839 to 1844, The

National Trust of Australia (NSW), Sydney, 1973.

Meyer Franz S., A handbook of ornament: with 300 plates, containing about 3000

illustrations of the elements, and the application of decoration to objects. Revised by

Hugh Stannust, London, 1849.

National Trust of Australia (NSW), ‘Woodford Academy, Conservation Works Final Report’,

unpublished report prepared for the Federation Cultural and Heritage Projects

Program Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2002.

NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Woodford Academy,

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=

5051258, accessed 24 May 2015.

Register of the National Estate, Woodford Academy, Listing 2994, Gazetted 21 Mar 1978,

http://www.environment.gov.au, accessed 24 May 2015.

Rylstone and District Historical Society, History of Rylstone and District, website accessed

18 June 2015, http://www.rylstonehistory.org.au/bridge-view-inn/

Kate O’Neill


Smith Bernard, Australian Painting, 1788-1960, Oxford University Press, London 1962.

The National Trust of Australia (NSW) Archives, Woodford Academy, Miscellaneous

Correspondence File.

The Sydney Morning Herald, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/13082131, accessed 25

May 2015.

Winchester, Frank, ‘Inns of the Western Road’, Occasional Paper No.18, Lithgow District

Historical Society, 1974.

Kate O’Neill


Appendix

Appendix 1: 1855 King's Arms, Buss's Inn layout.

Kate O’Neill


Appendix 2: 1867 Woodford House layout.

Woodford Academy Mural

Documents

Transcript of Woodford Academy Mural