The Valley Heights railway gatehouse is a heritage-listed

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the mos ...

located at 110 and 112 Green Parade,

Valley Heights Valley Heights is a small township of the City of Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia. It is about from Sydney and is located east of the township of Springwood. At the , Valley Heights had a population of 1,337 people. Valley Heig ...

in the

City of Blue Mountains The City of Blue Mountains is a local government area of New South Wales, Australia, governed by the Blue Mountains City Council. The city is located in the Blue Mountains range west of Sydney. The Mayor of Blue Mountains City Council is coun ...

local government area of

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 in 1867. It is also known as the Valley Heights Gatekeeper's Cottage. The property is privately owned. 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 1867 sandstone cottage is one of twelve virtually identical constructed at the time of the western railway line expansion. The gatekeepers would close and re-open the gate over the railway line when trains were scheduled. Interestingly, there were two such crossings at Valley Heights plus one nearby at Springwood (still extant as part of a child care centre). Because the railway shared a narrow ridge with existing road systems from the 1860s onwards, numerous level crossings were required. Twelve of these were guarded by gates controlled from a gatekeeper's cottage. Six of the original stone cottages of 1867 survive, but only four are habitable and on their original sites. The other surviving gatehouses are located at

Lapstone Lapstone is a township on the eastern escarpment of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia. Elevation 160 m (525 ft). Lapstone is located 62 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD in the local government area of the City of Blu ...

, ,

Medlow Bath Medlow Bath ( postcode: 2780) is an Australian small town located near the highest point of the Blue Mountains, between and . Its altitude is about and it is about west-north-west of the Sydney central business district and north-west of ...

and Mount Victoria.ECO Design Architects, 2010

Description

A single storey cottage with intersecting

gables Gables may refer to: * The plural of gable, portion of walls between the lines of sloping roofs * Ken Gables (1919-1960), Major League Baseball pitcher * Gables, Nebraska, an unincorporated community in the United States * Gables, New South Wales, ...

facing north to the railway line and set below the railway embankment. The main

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

is on the east-west axis with the intersecting gable centrally located on the north side of the house. A

skillion roof A shed roof, also known variously as a pent roof, lean-to roof, outshot, catslide, skillion roof (in Australia and New Zealand), and, rarely, a mono-pitched roof,Cowan, Henry J., and Peter R. Smith. ''Dictionary of Architectural and Building Te ...

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

is on the west side of the north gable. A rear skillion roof is on the south side of the house. The roof is of corrugated steel and the

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

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) ...

. The walls are random coursed sparrow-picked sandstone with rock-faced

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...

at the openings and corners. The gables have slot vents. The front door is on the west side of the north wing, entered from the skillion porch. The windows are two over two-pane double hung, except the pair of narrow double hung windows in the north gabled front. The south yard has a natural rock shelf. The garden features mature rhododendrons and liquidambars.

Heritage listing

As at 15 February 2011, the Valley Heights railway gatehouse is one of only four surviving gatekeeper's cottages on its original site out of the twelve in the Blue Mountains. Architecturally, the sandstone building is designed in the Victorian Rustic Gothic style. The Valley Heights railway gatehouse was listed on the

on 2 April 1999.

References

Bibliography

Attribution

External links

{{commons category-inline, Valley Heights railway gatehouse New South Wales State Heritage Register Valley Heights, New South Wales Houses in New South Wales Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register Victorian Rustic Gothic architecture in New South Wales 1867 establishments in Australia Houses completed in 1867 Buildings and structures in the Blue Mountains (New South Wales)