Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct

Item details


Name of item:	Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct
Type of item:	Landscape
Group/Collection:	Landscape - Cultural
Category:	Cultural Feature
Location:	Lat: -33.1514011704 Long: 151.6276460500
Primary address:	Flowers Drive, Catherine Hill Bay, NSW 2281
Parish:	Wallarah
County:	Northumberland
Local govt. area:	Lake Macquarie
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Bahtabah

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
LOT	7079		DP	1029250
LOT	2		DP	1107593
LOT	101		DP	1129872
LOT	105		DP	1129872
LOT	1		DP	1151628
LOT	2		DP	1151628
LOT	204		DP	1164883
LOT	1		DP	1173431
LOT	10		DP	1180181
LOT	3		DP	1180181
LOT	4		DP	1180181
LOT	5		DP	1180181
PART LOT	6		DP	1180181
LOT	7		DP	1180181
LOT	8		DP	1180181
LOT	9		DP	1180181
LOT	1		DP	119202
LOT	1	D	DP	163
LOT	1	F	DP	163
LOT	10	B	DP	163
LOT	12	A	DP	163
LOT	18	B	DP	163
LOT	20	B	DP	163
LOT	3	F	DP	163
LOT	5	F	DP	163
LOT	1		DP	205598
LOT	50		DP	222717
LOT	51		DP	222717
LOT	52		DP	222717
LOT	53		DP	222717
LOT	54		DP	222717
LOT	55		DP	222717
LOT	56		DP	222717
LOT	57		DP	222717
LOT	58		DP	222717
LOT	59		DP	222717
LOT	60		DP	222717
LOT	61		DP	222717
LOT	62		DP	222717
LOT	63		DP	222717
LOT	64		DP	222717
LOT	65		DP	222717
LOT	66		DP	222717
LOT	67		DP	222717
LOT	68		DP	222717
LOT	71		DP	222717
LOT	72		DP	222717
LOT	73		DP	222717
LOT	74		DP	222717
LOT	75		DP	222717
LOT	76		DP	222717
LOT	77		DP	222717
LOT	78		DP	222717
LOT	79		DP	222717
LOT	80		DP	222717
LOT	81		DP	222717
LOT	82		DP	222717
LOT	83		DP	222717
LOT	84		DP	222717
LOT	85		DP	222717
LOT	86		DP	222717
LOT	87		DP	222717
LOT	88		DP	222717
LOT	89		DP	222717
LOT	1		DP	222943
LOT	10		DP	222943
LOT	11		DP	222943
LOT	12		DP	222943
LOT	13		DP	222943
LOT	14		DP	222943
LOT	15		DP	222943
LOT	16		DP	222943
LOT	17		DP	222943
LOT	18		DP	222943
LOT	19		DP	222943
LOT	2		DP	222943
LOT	20		DP	222943
LOT	21		DP	222943
LOT	22		DP	222943
LOT	23		DP	222943
LOT	24		DP	222943
LOT	24		DP	222943
LOT	25		DP	222943
LOT	26		DP	222943
LOT	27		DP	222943
LOT	28		DP	222943
LOT	3		DP	222943
LOT	30		DP	222943
LOT	31		DP	222943
LOT	32		DP	222943
LOT	33		DP	222943
LOT	34		DP	222943
LOT	35		DP	222943
LOT	35		DP	222943
LOT	36		DP	222943
LOT	37		DP	222943
LOT	38		DP	222943
LOT	39		DP	222943
LOT	4		DP	222943
LOT	40		DP	222943
LOT	41		DP	222943
CROWN LAND	42		DP	222943
LOT	43		DP	222943
LOT	44		DP	222943
LOT	45		DP	222943
LOT	46		DP	222943
LOT	47		DP	222943
LOT	48		DP	222943
LOT	49		DP	222943
LOT	5		DP	222943
LOT	6		DP	222943
LOT	7		DP	222943
LOT	8		DP	222943
LOT	9		DP	222943
LOT	A		DP	330660
LOT	B		DP	330660
LOT	2		DP	382429
LOT	1		DP	407474
LOT	1		DP	410730
LOT	1		DP	588793
LOT	21		DP	593154
LOT	1		DP	870210
LOT	2		DP	870210
LOT	3		DP	870210
LOT	212		DP	883941
LOT	213		DP	883941
LOT	1		DP	938223

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
Flowers Drive	Catherine Hill Bay	Lake Macquarie	Wallarah	Northumberland	Primary Address

Statement of significance:


	The Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct comprises picturesque and distinctive historic townscapes forming the oldest group of buildings in Lake Macquarie, set in land/seascapes of exceptional aesthetic and technical significance, both visually and as an archaeological resource for industrial heritage. The boundary established by the Independent Heritage Advisory Panel for the Catherine Hill Bay Heritage Cultural Precinct encompasses the distinctive dwellings and coal mining infrastructure of the villages of Catherine Hill Bay and Middle Camp. The original buildings, most of which are small vernacular cottages dating from the 1890s to the 1920s form pleasing streetscapes evoking the settlement's origins as a nineteenth century mining village. Although few buildings belong to a recognised style or period, each is distinctive, and all display a high degree of consistency in terms of size, scale, form, setbacks, siting and materials. The urban pattern of the Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct can be appreciated in its bush and coastal setting, particularly on the northern approach. The Precinct is set in a landscape, now largely dedicated as a National Park, which is distinctive both for its coastal topography which creates a natural visual catchment and for its evidence of coal mining dating from the 1890s. The Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct is now rare, as an intact surviving example of "Company Town" development. In Lake Macquarie such developments generally evolved more informally than the company town infrastructures elsewhere in the Upper Hunter and other parts of Australia.
	Date significance updated: 21 Jun 10
	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


Physical description:	The Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct, 26 kilometres south of Newcastle and 100 kilometres north of Sydney, located on the Wallarah Peninsula, bordered by Lake Macquarie to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the East. The Precinct is set in a wider coastal landscape, now largely dedicated as a National Park, which is distinctive both for its coastal topography and which creates a natural visual catchment. The village's early buildings in the village are typically small, vernacular mining cottages, dating from the 1890s to the 1920s, located sporadically in, and constituting a significant part of, the open coastal landscape. The village is distinctive for its coastal topography as well as itsand bush backdrop. The area retains its open and undeveloped character, with slowly regenerating coastal scrub. Itand is highly sensitive, visually, to any new development due to a high degree of visibility from various vantage points across the landscape. Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct has negligible to low significance for its natural heritage values, which are due to its bush backdrop and regenerating coastal scrub. Its two villages, Catherine Hill Bay and Middle Camp consist principally of modest miners' cottages lining both sides of the road through the towns. In the Cultural Precinct and its surroundings are the evident and easily accessible remnants of mining infrastructure from the 19th century to the present. From the south, at the corner of Clarke and Montefiore Streets, the dramatic landforms of the headland and beach dominate rows of small houses stepping down the hill. From the north, along Flowers Drive through Middle Camp, the jetty and headlands are visible. Against this striking backdrop, the character of the streets derives from the low-scale built form and highly consistent pattern of predominantly single storey weatherboard cottages. This reflects the historical association with the coal company. Although the varied and dramatic juxtaposition of broader sea-land landscapes, ranging from exposed ridges and cliff forms to sheltered sloping gullies, does not lie within the Cultural Precinct, this setting contributes powerfully to the sense of the built environment's modest scale.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	The Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct forms the oldest collection of buildings in Lake Macquarie with scale, fabric and interrelationship of the features largely retained and in good condition. The Precinct and its surroundings are significant archaeological resources for the investigation of the area’s industrial heritage.
	Date condition updated:21 Jun 10
Modifications and dates:	Ongoing additions and modifications to the original building stock over time have tended to respect the prevailng scale, materials and spatial relations that characterise the Precinct.


Current use:	Residential community
Former use:	Aboriginal land, Mining company housing for miners, town settlement

History

Historical notes:

Catherine Hill Bay village is the oldest collection of buildings in Lake Macquarie, retaining distinctive historical townscapes and land/seascapes, with scale, fabric and interrelationship of the features largely retained and in good condition.

Catherine Hill Bay takes its European name from the wreck of the schooner Catherine Hill, bound from the Richmond River, in 1867. In April 1865, Sydney merchants Jacob Levi Montefiore and Thomas Hale took out a mining lease on 265 acres, bordering the southern part of the bay. By the end of 1873, 'splendid samples of coal' (SMH) had been mined, the original jetty, a mine manager's residence and 'a number of good weatherboard shingled cottages for the workmen' were under construction in the new 'Township of Cowper'. In May, 1874, Thomas Hale wrote to the Postmaster General requesting a post office for the 100 people then in the township. In 1875, the company reduced miners' wages and the miners stopped work in protest, beginning a tradition of industrial disputes that was to characterise the community for a century to come. In March, 1876, the New Wallsend Coal Company, bankrupt and undercapitalised, suspended operations. By late 1880, the settlement was abandoned, many of its buildings dismantled and re-erected elsewhere.

In 1888 the Wallarah Coal Company, an English venture with strong colonial connections, purchased land including the former Cowper Township and began construction of a jetty to replace the original wharf which had burned two years before. By January 1890, the mining community was firmly re-established as 'Catherine Hill Bay' and the first shipment of coal left the new jetty. A brief industrial dispute the same year was resolved in the Company's favour. By 1892, Police services, a school, and rumours, at least of "telephonic connection with Wyee", joined several churches as harbingers of a lasting settlement. In 1899, several miners challenged their eviction from company housing in Court and won. By the turn of the century, Catherine Hill Bay's reputation as a 'picturesque' beauty spot had been added to its underlying identity as a scene of industrial prosperity and occasional labour unrest.

The township continued to grow and prosper through the first quarter of the 20th Century with expanding public services, a Court House, a School of Arts and a Brass Band. By 1908, miner's residences and mine-related services expanded to Middle Camp, a short distance up the bay, location of a pit-head and a large plant. In 1915, Catherine Hill Bay Public School, too, was shifted to Middle Camp, acknowledging this community as the new focus of Company development.

In August, 1917, miners at Catherine Hill Bay struck in sympathy with striking Railway workers. The Government replied by taking over direct control of the state's coal mines, importing strike-breaking labourers to keep them in operation. At Catherine Hill Bay, a train was deliberately derailed and the jetty dynamited. Extra police were sent to the town to protect the railway, the jetty, a nearby armaments depot and the strike-breakers. Even when relations between miners and employers were peaceful, discontent and public concern mounted over the deteriorating conditions in which Company housing obliged the miners to live. By February 1929, coal miners across NSW were once again on strike and strike-breakers were imported to work the Wallarah colliery. The world-wide economic depression followed. Jobs across the state in coal mining plummeted by some 10 000, by 1933. Increasing mechanisation of the coal industry affected Catherine Hill Bay by 1937, even as economic conditions began to improve, keeping employment precarious and fuelling the decade of industrial unrest that preceded the Second World War. In 1941, public attention focussed again on Catherine Hill Bay, when 100 Wallarah miners staged a stay-in for a record 101 hours over a penalty clause in their award. Publicity surrounding the event called attention to the squalid living conditions in the company town, noting that it was completely owned "by shareholders who live in England."

During the ensuing decade, sporadic schemes to improve housing, services and facilities in the communities of the Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct stalled, failed, were indefinitely postponed or succumbed to token gestures such as the bowling green, tennis court and recreation area which graced Middle Camp in the early 50s. These modest amenities were the first substantial public works since the Public School, in 1915. They were also the last.

In 1962, Coal & Allied Industries Ltd. absorbed the J & A Brown Abermain Seaham Collieries which had taken over the Wallarah Coal Company, in 1956. In 1964 Coal & Allied decided to sell the company cottages to their occupants. While this scheme provided greater incentive for the new owners to maintain and improve their homes, dwindling employment throughout the remainder of the 20th Century saw declining population and a corresponding disappearance of community services. The Public School closed in 1985. In 1992 Coal & Allied retrenched 280 workers and, the following year sold the operation to Lake Coal which cut jobs still further in preparation for closing down the mine. The Anglican Church and the Post Office both closed in 1993.

Today, the remaining miners and descendants of miners in the Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct have been joined by relatively recent arrivals, attracted by the distinctive character of the built environment and the aesthetic appeal of its setting. That environment is a rare survivor among the state's former company towns, most of which are either abandoned (Joadja, Minmi) or changed beyond recognition.

In 2000 mining began to decline due to geological issues and mining ceased in Catherine Hill Bay in 2002 (Coal & Allied, 2010, quoted in LMCC, 2017, 7).

In 2008 Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct was listed on the NSW State Heritage Register (ibid, 2017, 7).

In October 2013 Wallarah House was destroyed by fire. Formerly the mine manager's residence from the 1880s, and one of the oldest buildings in the area, it was a powerful reminder of late 19th-century coal mining in the district. It was a landmark, an historical site and a place of significant local heritage (Eklund, 30/10/2013).

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Developing local, regional and national economies-National Theme 3
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Landscapes and gardens of domestic accommodation-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Landscapes of industrial production-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Mining-Activities associated with the identification, extraction, processing and distribution of mineral ores, precious stones and other such inorganic substances.	Miners' accommodation and living conditions-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Mining-Activities associated with the identification, extraction, processing and distribution of mineral ores, precious stones and other such inorganic substances.	Mining for coal-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	Maintaining maritime transport routes-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	Building and maintaining jetties, wharves and docks-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal	Leasing land for mining-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal	Changing land uses - from rural to tourist-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	A Picturesque Residential District-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	A quiet Rural District-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	20th Century infrastructure-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	19th Century Infrastructure-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Planned towns serving a specific industry-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	The Precinct's built environments, location and geological character are state significant because of the key role played by 19th Century company towns in the development of Australian resources. It is significant for the continuing association of the area with coal mining. This development is clearly evidenced by remnants of railways, the structures and extent in the immediate setting of untouched landscape typical of mining occupation of the foreshores. The jetty and other structures play a key role in reflecting the long term importance of CHB as a company town. The place's strong sense of history is evidenced by remnants and structures which commemorate the working activity of the town.
SHR Criteria b) [Associative significance]	The Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct is state significant for its associations with coal mining, organised labour, and early maritime industry in NSW. It is located on by the oldest coal mining lease in NSW, Consolidated Coal Lease 706. It is associated with the earliest examples of industrial action in NSW and with the evolution of unionised labour in the state.The Precinct's association with the Australian maritime industry is strong with regular shipping activity from the jetty stretching from its earliest days (1870s) to 2001, when shipping ceased. In 2004-5 the community subscribed $20,000 to build a memorial at the Bay for its citizens who died in war, most of whom were miners, jetty hands, seamen, or the family of those people. The Precinct is also associated with the State Heritage Register listed WW11 radar station RS208, near Mine Camp, which was a key unit in Australia's war time protection and was manned in part by Catherine Hill Bay women who were members of the WAAF.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	The built form in Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct' s two villages is aesthetically significant at a state level as a highly intact late nineteenth century company town characterised by a varied range of finishes and scale typified by simple forms of predominately one storey height. The Precinct's setting exhibits visual significance owing to the diversity of landforms, vegetation communities and waterforms. The pervasive evidence of the Precinct's industrial history is technically and archaeologically significant.
SHR Criteria d) [Social significance]	Catherine Hill Bay exhibits a significant sense of place and history through a number of monuments and memorials and through its association with the development of company towns in NSW. The community remains closely integrated despite the aging and passing of older residents who worked in the mines, and their families. Some eight movies or TV shows have used the Bay as a location in the past 25 years and these form the core of the "Catho Classics Film Festival" inaugurated in 2004 with the screening of Mel Gibson's first starring film "Summer City" and a video documentary produced by local residents which recorded the memories of residents who participated in the movie. A current project by the Progress Association to produce a social history of Catherine Hill Bay miners' cottages focusses on the domestic life and extended networks of families who lived in the cottages from the 1890s to the present.
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	The Precinct is an archaeological resource with potential to contribute to our understanding of the industrial heritage of Lake Macquarie and NSW. Lake Macquarie City Council's "Strategic Issues Study" on Wallarah South (1995) included a review of Aboriginal Archaeology which recommended that a field study should focus on the Middle Camp Gully. Further research and consultation are needed in order to formulate appropriate management strategies for the Aboriginal cultural heritage resource of the Precinct, its setting and the Wallarah Peninsula generally. The precinct also provides a rare living example of the scale, materials and spacial relations that typified Company Towns in NSW from the late nineteenth century onwards.
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	The Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct is rare in NSW as coal mining company town that has retained integrity of scale, shape and size with in situ comprehensive remnants and memorials of century-long mining activity in a natural coastal location. No other mining locality contains such an intact and compact representation of 19th and 20th century coal mining, rail and sea transportation in an isolated coastal environment which remains in much the same natural state as it was in the 1880s.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	The Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct is state significant as a documented and widely acknowledged intact representative of the era of company towns in the development of Australia's resources. The integrity and intactness of the Precinct's built environment, industrial infrastructure landscape and seascape, from the 19th Century to the present, are largely due to underground mining by coal companies which owned freehold land, thus restraining surface development for more than a century.
Integrity/Intactness:	The Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct remains an exceptionally intact example of an early Australian company town.
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:

Recommendations

Management Category	Description	Date Updated
Recommended Management	Review 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
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Heritage Act - Site Specific Exemptions	SCHEDULE C 1. Existing approved development: All works and activities in accordance with a current and valid development consent from Lake Macquarie City Council in force at the date of gazettal for listing the Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Precinct on the State Heritage Register. 2. DAs complying with the Lake Macquarie City Council Lake Macquarie Council Development Control Plan No 1 Part 2 Section 2.4 and its Heritage Guidelines for Catherine Hill Bay.	Nov 5 2010
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Standard Exemptions	ORDER UNDER SECTION 57(2) OF THE HERITAGE ACT 1977 Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977. I, Donald Harwin, the Special Minister of State 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, effective 1 December 2020: 1. revoke the order made on 11 July 2008 and published on pages 91177 to 9182 of Government Gazette Number 110 of 5 September 2008 and varied by notice published in the Government Gazette on 5 March 2015; and 2. grant the exemptions from subsection 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 that are described in the attached Schedule. Donald Harwin Special Minister of State Signed this 9th Day of November 2020. To view the standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 click on the link below.	Nov 13 2020

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		01828	05 Nov 10	126	5421
State Environmental Planning Policy	Hunter REP		03 Nov 89
Local Environmental Plan	Lake Macquarie Local Environmental Plan 1993	RT-18; CH-00	01 Oct 93
Local Environmental Plan			30 Jan 14

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written	Architectural Projects Pty Ltd		Heritage Assessment Conservation Plan for Catherine Hill Bay
Written	Eklund, Professor Erik	2013	When our cultural heritage goes up in smoke	View detail
Written	NSW Department of Urban Affairs and Planning		Planning Report: Strategic Review of Coastal Development - Wallarah Peninsula
Written	Suters, Doring, Turner	1993	Lake Macquarie Heritage Study, Catherine Hill Bay

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

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Heritage NSW
Database number:	5061182
File number:	EF14/4827; H03/198; DOC19/3696

Every effort has been made to ensure that information contained in the State Heritage Inventory is correct. If you find any errors or omissions please send your comments to the Database Manager.

All information and pictures on this page are the copyright of the Heritage Division or respective copyright owners.