Merton is a

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

former farm, horse stud, village settlement and residence and now residence at 4883 Jerrys Plains Road,

Denman Denman may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Denman Glacier, near Antarctica * Denman Shire, New South Wales, Australia ** Denman, New South Wales, a town in the Hunter Valley of Australia * Denman Island, one of the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Can ...

Muswellbrook Shire Muswellbrook Shire is a local government area in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is situated adjacent to the New England Highway and the Hunter railway line. Muswellbrook Shire was established on 1 July 1979 fro ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. It was built between 1825 and 1910; and 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

Merton was a

grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom *Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama *Grant, Inyo County, C ...

to Commander William Ogilvie who had served as a Midshipsman under Lord

Horatio Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...

at the Battle of Copenhagen and who retired from the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

to the Colony of New South Wales. He arrived with his wife and four children in 1825 and almost immediately applied for a grant of land in the

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

. He was allotted near the present town of Denman, and named it Merton after the house of Lord Nelson in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. The original Merton cottage built in 1826 was a small four-roomed cottage, whitewashed with an earthen floor. Later, wooden floors were laid. Room partitions were made of wooden at first, was eventually thatched.

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) ...

for the cottage was quarried on the hillside behind. This homestead became the centre of the first village in the Upper Hunter Valley, possessing courthouse, church, school, cemetery, etc. William Ogilvie died in 1859 and the family leased the property until it passed into the White family (an outstanding pioneering dynasty) by 1875 and was owned by Reginald White in 1896 when described by H. Mackenzie in "Pastoralists and Producers". Reginald White built the second brick house which was extended at various times, particularly in 1910 for the visit of the Prince of Wales. Under the White family racehorses and cattle were bred here. In the last thirty years it has been owned by L. Porter (about 1950), then P. Feeney and since 1986 by the Carter family. Of the many buildings to survive are Merton Cottage (disused) and White's late nineteenth homestead - a complex of the highest significance. The Carter family have since been restoring the property from a previously abandoned and vandalised condition.

Description

The site comprises two buildings, Merton Cottage, erected and now disused, originally earthen floors that have been replaced by wooden flooring, with wooden slab partitions, and sandstone walls. The second building is the White family's late nineteenth homestead in the Victorian Filigree style.

Modifications and dates

There have been a number of modifications, as follows: *1826original cottage small four-roomed, whitewashed sandstone with an earthen floor. *Laterwooden floors were laid. Room partitions were made of wood. Roof timber shingles at first, was eventually thatched. *1859 bought by Reginald White. He built the second brick house which was extended at various times, particularly in 1910 for the visit of the Prince of Wales. Recent timber/metal deck skillion-roofed extensions to side. Verandah

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

modifications. Some painted

brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by s ...

.REP 1989 Extensive demolition and restoration works in the past 10 years

Heritage listing

As at 6 July 2010, historically the property is of regional significance as it was settled by one of the region's founding families, bought by the region's best known successful pastoralist, and contains evidence of the original homestead buildings. It has remained continuously in use for its original purpose. Socially the homestead site has regional significance for the descendants of the Ogilvie, Reginald White and Porter families. Scientifically it has regional significance for its potential to reveal information which could contribute to an understanding of the lifestyle of successful pastoralists in the 19th and 20th centuries and about the changes in farming in the Upper Hunter over the past century. Because of the surviving evidence of settlement by its founders, the homestead has regional rarity. The complex (of very early settler's cottage, late 19th century homestead complete with gardens and terrace and early 20th century ballroom) is surviving evidence of progress made by two very important Hunter Valley settlers. The early cottage is the oldest surviving in the area. The complex occupies a prominent site overlooking the town of Denman, in a remarkable setting (National Trust classification). Its strong association with an important figure in the person of Commander William Ogilvie. First Crown grantee to take up residence in the upper Hunter in 1825 (RNE). Merton was listed on the

on 2 April 1999.

References

Bibliography

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Attribution

{{NSW-SHR-CC, name=Merton, dno=5045618, id=00159, year=2018, accessdate=1 June 2018 New South Wales State Heritage Register Populated places in New South Wales Homesteads in New South Wales Horse farms in Australia Houses in New South Wales Farms in New South Wales Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register 1825 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures completed in 1910