The Hunting Lodge is a heritage-listed colonial era hunting lodge located at 58 The Water Lane in

Rouse Hill Rouse Hill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rouse Hill is located in the Hills District, 43 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and 19 kilometres north-west of the Parramatta cent ...

The Hills Shire The Hills Shire (from 1906–2008 as Baulkham Hills Shire) is a local government area in the Greater Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is north-west of the Sydney central business district, and encompasses stre ...

local government area of

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, Australia. It was added to the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

on 2 April 1999.

History

The land on which the building is located was granted by Governor King to

Governor Bligh Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The mutiny on the HMS ''Bounty'' occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command; after being set adrift i ...

in 1806 and ratified by

Governor Macquarie Major General Lachlan Macquarie, CB (; gd, Lachann MacGuaire; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821, an ...

. It was Bligh's private property and was named ''Copenhagen Farm'' after one of his sea battles. Later in the century the property passed to the land holder and politician S. H. Terry (1833-1887) who possibly built the lodge in the 1860s or later. Through Terry the property is strongly associated with Rouse Hill House and Box Hill House. Terry was born at his family's Box Hill farm.Heritage Branch Manager's report 285/86 Local legend holds that the lodge was constructed by Governor Bligh, as the original

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

was given to him. It appears more likely it was constructed by the Terry family of Box Hill or one of their tenants who was a stonemason, but used the surrounding land as an orchard.Lampard, pers.comm., 2014 Another possibility is that it was built by Henry Ferdinand Halloran who was mortgagee in possession for seven years; Halloran was renowned for building quirky structures on his estates.Betteridge, pers.comm., 2014 Up to the 1970s the lodge had a small moat around it, presumably to keep animals away and possibly fire. It is not known when the moat was constructed but the present owner has filled it in. During the early 1970s there was an avenue of wattle trees leading from the gate to the house which the present owner has removed.

Description

The building is a small, single storey

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

cottage of Gothic/Baronial design (in the tradition of such follies) with an attic.

Modifications and dates

Up to the 1970s the lodge had a small moat around it, presumably to keep animals away and possibly fire. It is not known when the moat was constructed but the present owner has filled it in. During the early 1970s there was an avenue of wattle trees leading from the gate to the house which the present owner has removed. It is understood that unsympathetic additions had been made to the house.Branch Manager's report 341/88

Further information

1986: zoned non-urban 1A under IDO no. 118 Baulkham Hills Shire. Minimum lot size is .

Heritage listing

As at 24 March 2010, the Hunting Lodge has both historic and architectural significance as follows: #for its associations with the early farms at Rouse Hill, Box Hill and Copenhagen Farm; #for its possible association with S. H. Terry, MLA, and; #for its rarity as a 19th-century hunting lodge and its associated elements including gothic/baronial design follies and the remains of a surrounding moat. There are only three surviving buildings associated with the three early farms: Rouse Hill House, Box Hill House and the hunting lodge. The Hunting Lodge was listed on the

on 2 April 1999.

References

Bibliography

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Attribution

{{NSW-SHR-CC, name=Hunting Lodge (former), dno=5045575, id=00632, year=2018, accessdate=2 June 2018 New South Wales State Heritage Register Rouse Hill, New South Wales Buildings and structures in New South Wales Hunting in Australia Event venues in New South Wales Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register