Robin Hood Farm

Item details


Name of item:	Robin Hood Farm
Other name/s:	Robin Hood Inn, Waratah Dairies
Type of item:	Landscape
Group/Collection:	Farming and Grazing
Category:	Farm
Location:	Lat: -34.0107781190 Long: 150.8441966280
Primary address:	196 Campbelltown Road, Ingleburn, NSW 2565
Parish:	Minto
County:	Cumberland
Local govt. area:	Campbelltown
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Tharawal

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
LOT	201		DP	255306

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
196 Campbelltown Road	Ingleburn	Campbelltown	Minto	Cumberland	Primary Address
Williamson Road	Ingleburn	Campbelltown	Minto	Cumberland	Alternate Address
Stennett Road	Ingleburn	Campbelltown	Minto	Cumberland	Alternate Address

Owner/s

Organisation Name	Owner Category	Date Ownership Updated
Department of Planning and Infrastructure	State Government

Statement of significance:


	Robin Hood Farm has high significance as a surviving mid nineteenth century farm house. It has a distinctive layout and configuration not represented by other buildings in the area. Together with the surviving villas and farmhouses between Liverpool and Campbelltown, Robin Hood Farm demonstrates the variety of agricultural uses of the area and the use of the area as a rural retreat from the earliest days of white settlement. It provides evidence of the changing use and altered intensity of occupation of the area and particularly the shift from cereal cropping to dairying.
	Date significance updated: 30 Mar 00
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the OEH copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Designer/Maker:	Not known
Builder/Maker:	Richard Watson
Construction years:	1860-1862
Physical description:	A two storey house of Georgian design, with a distinctive silhouette. The walls of the ground floor rooms fill in the ends of the front verandah forming rooms known as "out-shuts". The roof is galvanised iron, hipped with boxed eaves and a well proportioned chimney at both ends. A striking circular silo stands near the main building. The farmhouse was originally believed to have been built in the 1830s but recent research would suggest that the farm was built some 20-30 years later but after an earlier pattern. The conservation of the building took it back to its original form, stripping away the years of additions. Prior to the building's restoration, the National Trust listing of the building noted that the building contained much original external joinery. It should be noted, that the conservation work not only removed the "years of additions" but appears to have removed some of the original joinery and the original wooden columns to the front verandah. Apart from the farmhouse there are few remaining building elements from the original farm complex left. These include a brick silo, with conical corrugated iron roof that is in urgent need of stabilisation, and the remnants of the Dairy, including a brick cool room with original door, which has been altered to dormitory and office accommodation. There is a narrow guage rail line set in the cement floor of the dairy which was probably used for transporting large feed bins from one end of the dairy to the other.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	The house is in excellent condition, however, the remnants of the barn structure need to be examined before any further changes are carried out. The silo is in poor condition and needs urgent stabilisation.
	Date condition updated:28 Jan 99
Modifications and dates:	Conversion of site to Odyssey House - c.1989, following conservation works under the guidance of Howard Tanner.
Further information:	A conservation plan for the site was prepared in 1988. As 10 years have elapsed since this study was undertaken, it is recommended that the study be updated. The updated plan should address the impact of the "conservation works" on the significant fabric of the building and the impact of the demolition of the barn on the site's overall significance.


Current use:	Odyssey House Centre
Former use:	Farmhouse associated with dairy farm

History

Historical notes:

Robin Hood Farm is closely associated with the Robin Hood Inn which was established in 1830 on part of the Campbellfields Estate subdivision. Although a number of buildings existed on the Robin Hood Farm estate at this time, no farmhouse as such is recorded. The first license to the inn was issued to Thomas Humphreys in 1830, who was also overseer of a nearby property "Varroville". The Inn's license passed through various hands until 1845 when it was issued to Richard Watson who held it until 1860. It would appear that some time around 1858 Watson had taken up farming, most likely dairying, on the adjacent property which became known as Robin Hood Farm. The coming of the railway may have been a factor in Watson's decision to move from the Inn to the farm.

Watson appears to have left the farm by 1867 and the farm changed hands numerous times until 1912 when Fred Moore, a Campbelltown grazier, purchased the property. Moore purchased many of the surrounding parcels of land which were eventually consolidated into a single land holding of 308 acres, subsequently transferred to his wife, Victoria Moore.

In the early twentieth century both Robin Hood Farm and nearby Varroville Farm were dairies. The Smith Brothers of Concord leased both from W.H.Staniforth of St.Andrews (Morris & Britton, 2000, 97).

The Moores left the farm in 1932 but continued to lease it as a dairy farm until 1959 (1923 Percy, Austin and Arthur Smith (Smith Bros), dairymen of Concord operated dairies at Robin Hood Farm and Varroville until 1958, running their own dairy herd and purchasing milk from local farmers' (Liston, 107)) when Victoria, by then a widow, subdivided and sold most of the land to Frank Wolstenholme Pty Ltd (later Reid Murray Developments Pty Ltd).

The lot containing the farmhouse was sold to Frank Lopresti, a grocer from Lakemba in October 1959.

The farm was acquired by the State Planning Authority in October 1968.

In 1969 architect John Fisher (member of the Institute of Architects, the Cumberland County Council Historic Buildings Committee and on the first Council of the National Trust of Australia (NSW) after its reformation in 1960) was commissioned by the State Planning Authority to restore the first five houses in Campbelltown, which had been resumed under the Cumberland County Planning Scheme. They included Glenalvon (Lucas & McGinness, 2012).

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Agriculture-Activities relating to the cultivation and rearing of plant and animal species, usually for commercial purposes, can include aquaculture	(none)-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Agriculture-Activities relating to the cultivation and rearing of plant and animal species, usually for commercial purposes, can include aquaculture	Dairy farming-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	(none)-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	Robin Hood Farm is of historical significance as a rare surviving early dairy farm. It is of further significance for its association with Robin Hood Inn, one of the earliest social institutions in the district and for its association with Robert Watson, an early settler and pastoralist in the area.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	Robin Hood Farm has high aesthetic significance as an unusally designed and well detailed early farmhouse building associated with early dairy farming activities in the Campbelltown district. The associated out buildings, in particular the silo, are also of high aesthetic significance.
SHR Criteria d) [Social significance]	Robin Hood Farm has high social significance through its links to early settlement and pastoral activities in the Campbelltown district. It has further social significance for its association with the Watson family, a prominent local family and for its association with the Robin Hood Inn, one of the earliest social institutions in the district.
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	Robin Hood Farm is of high technical/research significance for its demonstration of mid-nineteenth century building techniques. It is of further significance for its demonstration of early farming and dairying techniques as represented by the extant outbuildings and silo.
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	Robin Hood Farm is one of few surviving mid-nineteenth century dairy farms both in the Campbelltown district and the wider Sydney Metropolitan region.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	Robin Hood Farm is an excellent example of a mid-nineteenth century farmhouse and dairy farm.
Integrity/Intactness:	The main building has been extensively conserved. The exterior can be considered to be intact in its substantially original form whilst the interior can be considered to be intact in layout and partially intact in fitout.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Recommended management:


	Conservation plan to be updated; silo needs urgent attention to stabilise roof; associated out buildings should be re-assessed prior to any further work taking place.

Recommendations

Management Category	Description	Date Updated
Recommended Management	Produce a Conservation Management Plan (CMP)
Recommended Management	Prepare a maintenance schedule or guidelines
Recommended Management	Carry out interpretation, promotion and/or education

Procedures /Exemptions

Section of act	Description	Title	Comments	Action date
21(1)(b)	Conservation Plan submitted for endorsement	Robin Hood Farm, Ingleburn: Conservation Management Plan (Tanner and Associates, Feb 2002)	Conservation Management Plan endorsed by Heritage Council 19 January 2004 for a period of five years, expires 19 January 2009	Jan 19 2004
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Standard Exemptions	SCHEDULE OF STANDARD EXEMPTIONS HERITAGE ACT 1977 Notice of Order Under Section 57 (2) of the Heritage Act 1977 I, the Minister for Planning, pursuant to subsection 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales, do by this Order: 1. revoke the Schedule of Exemptions to subsection 57(1) of the Heritage Act made under subsection 57(2) and published in the Government Gazette on 22 February 2008; and 2. grant standard exemptions from subsection 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977, described in the Schedule attached. FRANK SARTOR Minister for Planning Sydney, 11 July 2008 To view the schedule click on the Standard Exemptions for Works Requiring Heritage Council Approval link below.	Sep 5 2008

Standard exemptions for works requiring Heritage Council approval

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - State Heritage Register		01387	02 Apr 99	27	1546
Heritage Act - s.170 NSW State agency heritage register			11 Feb 99
Local Environmental Plan			09 Jan 93
National Trust of Australia register	Classified	NTN05/3323	22 Nov 76
Register of the National Estate

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
Campbelltown City Council Heritage Study	1994	72	Campbelltown City Council	Not known	Yes
s.170 Register DUAP	1999		Paul Davies Pty Ltd		Yes
Colonial Landscapes of the Cumberland Plain and Camden, NSW	2000		Morris, C., & Britton, G./NSW National Trust (for the Heritage Council of NSW)		Yes

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title
Written	Helen Proudfoot (ed)	1977	Colonial Buildings: Macarthur Growth Centre - Campbelltown Camden Appin
Written	Howard Tanner & Associates Pty Ltd with Terry Kass	1988	Statement of Cultural Significance and Conservation Policy for Robin Hood Farm, Minto
Written	Lucas, Clive & McGinness, Mark	2012	'John Fisher, 1924-2012 - champion of the state's structures'

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

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Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Heritage Office
Database number:	5045749
File number:	S90/03349; H99/00055 [S170]

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