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CONSE~V A.TIO~ PLAN

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SIR JOSEPH BANKS HOTEL

A~~NIVERS'ARY ROAD ~

BOTANY

I I I CONSERV ATION PLAN

I SIR JOSEPH BANKS HOTEL I I ANNIVERSARY ROAD

I BOTANY I I I I -I

I I I fILE COpy

1I I

August 1998

I I Prepared on Behalf of Clarin Development Pty Ltd

'I Wendy Thorp and Robert Staas

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I I I I I I I ,I I I I I I I I I I 'I I I I

ConseNation Plan Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany

CONTENTS OF THE REPORT

1.0

1.1

1.2

1.3

2.0

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

3.0

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

Context of the Report .

The Study Area . . . .

Objectives anc~ Tasks .

Authorship and Acknowledgements

Archival Evidence . . . . . . . . .

Establishing the Inn: Thomas Kellet 1834 - 1846

1

1

1

2

3

4

Extending the Inn: William Beaumont 1846-1861 6

Biding Time: Moyse, Mitchell, Maloney & Neale: 1862-1874 . 9

The Most Famous Place in Sydney: Francis Smith 1875-1893 10

In the Hands of the Bank: 1894-1907 ............. 12

Olympic Recreation & Picnic Grounds & Subdivision 1908-1929 13

Picnickers, Boarders & War: The Rutley Family 1930-1968 15

A Singular Historical Feature: 1968-1969

Setting .....

The Wilderness .

A Healthy and Socially Elite Distance

The Pleasure Grounds and Zoological Grounds

Sporting Fixtures

Reduced Curtilage

16

17

17

19

20

22

23

I I Conservation Plan Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany

I 4.0 Architectural Assessment 24

I 4.1 The Investigation . . . . . . 24

I 4.2 Building No. 1: The Sir Joseph Banks Inn 25

4.3 Building No. 2: Dining Hall & Dance Room Extension 28

I 4.4 Building No. 3: Bar and Billiard Room 30

'I 4.5 Building No. 4: Kitchen Offices . . . . 33

4.6 Building No. 5: Sir Joseph Banks Hotel 35

I 4.7 Building No. 6: The Toilet Block 37

I 5.0 Archaeological Assessment ..... 38

5.1 Within or Under the Building 38

I 5.2 Surrounding the Building 39

I 5.3 Conclusions. . . . . . 40

I 6.0 Analysis of Evidence 41

6.1 Thomas Kellet's Inn .. 41

I 6.2 Beaumont's Extensions. 41

I 6.3 Moyse, Mitchell, Maloney and Neale . 42

6.4 Francis Smith . . . . . . 42

I 6.5 In the Hands of the Bank 43

I 6.6 Subdivision & the Olympic Grounds 43

6.7 The Rutley Family .... 44

I 6.8 A Singular Historical Item . 44

I 7.0 Assessment of Significance 45

I 7.1 Assessment Criteria .. 45

7.2 Assessment of the Place 45

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Conservation Plan Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany

7.2.1 Historic Significance 45

7.2.2 Aesthetic Significance 45

7.2.3 Social Significance .. 46

7.2.4 Scientific Significance. 46

7.2.5 Rare and Representative Values. 46

7.3 Statement of Cultural Significance 48

7.4 Assessment of Elements ... 49

7.4.1 The Old Sir Joseph Banks Inn 49

7.4.2 The Dining Room and Dance Hall Extension . 51

7.4.3 The Bar and Billiard Room 52

7.4.4 The Kitchen Offices . . . . 53

7.4.5 The Sir Joseph Banks Hotel 54

7.4.6 The Toilet Block. 55

7.4.7 Palisade Fence 56

7.4.8 The Grounds 56

8.0 Issues, Constraints and Opportunities 57

8.1 Issues Arising from the Statement of Significance 58

8.1.1 The Archaeological Resources . 58

8.1.2 The Setting . 58

8.1.3, The Buildings 59

8.2 Issues Arising from the Condition of the Place. 60

8.3 Issues Arising from Proposed Future Development 61

8.4 Statutory Considerations .............. 62

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Conservation Plan

9.0

9.1

9.2

Conservation Policy .

Philosophy . . . .

Basis of Approach

Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany

63

63

65

9.3 Conservation Advice 67

9.4 Future Residential Use of the Buildings and Site Development 69

9.5 Curtilage and Setting . . . . . . 71

9.6 Removal of Significance Fabric. 72

9.7

9.8

9.9

9.10

9.11

9.12

9.13

9.14

9.15

9.16

9.17

10.0

10.1

10.2

Exterior of the Building

Maintenance and Repair

Intrusive Elements

Roof ....

Stonework

Cast Iron

Doors ..

Windows

Adaptation and Allteration of Interiors

Archaeological Sites

Review .....

Documentation

Endnotes ..

Bibliography.

74

75

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

87

88

.869

89

93

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Conservation Plan: Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany

SECTION 1.0 CONTEXT OF THE REPORT

1.1 The Study Area

The subject of this report are the buildings collectively known as the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel and the land providing the curtilage around them which is that defined by the Permanent Conservation Order. This site is bound on the north by Anniversary Road, on the east by Waratah Road and on the south by Sir Joseph Banks Park. The western boundary is defined by residential development. The buildings originally faced to the south with views to the bay. From 1884 the principal frontage became to the north. The street address of this property is 23 Anniversary Road, Botany.

1.2 Objectives and Tasks

This study was commissioned by Clarin Development Pty Ltd. It provides information and parameters for the proposed future development of this property for residential purposes. The conservation plan addresses the following:

• the historical evidence for the development and use of the site;

• the evidence retained of this development in the physical fabric of the buildings;

• the evidence which may !;:le contained as an archaeological resource;

• an analysis to determine the significance of the place with respect to that development and use;

• a statement of significance;

• consideration of constraints and opportunities;

• policies which should be implemented in any future development to ensure that the significance of the place is retained and enhanced by that work.

To achieve these objectives several tasks have been undertaken by the study team. Primary and secondary archival research has been carried out for the purpose of determining the historical development of the place and its several associations. This work has encompassed research in local historical collections, Council records, the NSW State Archives Office, Mitchell Library and the Land Titles Office amongst others.

Detailed inspections have been made of the place to assess the architectural and archaeological resources and other features. This has included comprehensive assessments of each building within the precinct.

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1.3 Authorship and Acknowledgements

This report has been written and researched by Wendy Thorp who was also responsible for the archaeological assessment and some policy formation. The work has drawn from many primary and secondary resources. A detailed bibliography is included in Section 8.2. In particular the work of E. Silva has been of great value. The architectural analysis and policy formation relevant to these issues has been prepared by Robert Staas (Noel Bell Ridley Smith and Partners). Robert also has been responsible for a statement of heritage impact which is separate to this report.

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MUnlcipa/i(y or Botany DP 111,26 @ D.P11628~ lFlLAN 0" I ShIre or A89J479 >812.22 -Sir JoSQ:Ph BankG Est'dtQ-

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I_E OF EARLY ENTRY DRIVE:: Y FROM BOT ANY ROAD ~ SIR JOSEPH BANKS PLEASURE GROUNDS

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SIR JOSEPH BANKS PLEASURE GROUNDS

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EXISTING SITE LOTS 6 - 11 DP 11628

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WESTERN BOUNDARY OF TlIOMAS KELLE1T'S 75 acre GRANlI 834

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ORIGINAL HOTEL FRONTAGE TO OLD BOTANY ROAD

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EASTERN BOUNDARY OF THOMAS KELLETT'S 75 acre GRANT 1834

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PLAN OF 1922 SUBDIVISION SHOWING LOCATION OF EXISTING SITE OF THE SIR JOSEPH BANKS HOTEL IN RELATION TO EARLIER DEVELOPMENTS. Source Land Titles Office of NSW

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PLAN OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS HOTEL SITE 1998 SHOWING SITE BOUNDARIES & BUILDINGS BASED ON SITE SURVEY BY AUSTIN SWAN LOTS 6 - 11 DP 11628

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SECTION 2.0 ARCHIVAL EVIDENCE

This section presents evidence drawn from archival sources which has been used to establish an historical framework in which to investigate and evaluate the physical evidence which remains within the buildings and site of the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel. This evidence also is used to establish the basis of the statement of significance. The information is presented in several sections or themes which, as far as can be determined, represent the principal periods of change and evolution which have characterised this site since its alienation for European purposes. These themes are:

• Establishing the Inn - Thomas Kellet 1834 - 1846

• Extending the Inn - William Beaumont 1846 - 1861

• Biding Time - Moyse, Mitchell, Maloney and Neale 1862 - 1874

• The MoslFamous Place in Sydney - Francis Smith 1875 -1893

• In the Hands of the Bank 1894 - 1907

• The Olympic Recreation and Picnic Grounds and Subdivision 1908 - 1929

• Picnickers, Boarders and the War - The Rutley Family 1930 - 1968

• A Singular Historical Feature 1968 - 1998

Consideration of the setting and landscape surrounding the hotel is provided in Section 3. O.

A full bibliog~aphy is attached to this report in Section 8.2.

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Conservation Plan:

2.1 Establishing the Inn Thomas Kellet 1834 - 1846


On 22 January, 1834 an advertisement in the Sydney Gazette announced the auction of several blocks of Crown Land. Lot 20 of this auction encompassed seventy-five acres at Banks Meadow with a frontage to within one hundred feet of Botany Bay. Previously this land had been held in a Government Reserve. The auction was held on 11 April, 1834 and at that time Lot 20 was sold to Thomas Kellet, at one time a Private in the 40th Regiment and subsequently a baker, and James Drew, formerly a Sergeant in the 4th Regiment. The price bid for this land was seventy-five pounds. The title to it was grant~d on 26 July, 1834. Just prior to this transaction, Drew conveyed his share in the property to Kellet for a little over thirty-two pounds leaving Kellet as the sole owner (1).

Kellet still had not paid for his land by September 1835 but, at that time, he was granted a mortgage of seventy-five pounds (2). The mortgage, like many others of the time, was conditional upon the owner residing on or cultivating the land for seven years from the date of purchase with an additional agreement to not leave it for three months at any time during that seven year period. For the next several years Kellet continued to operate his bakery business. By 1843 he was described as a gardener and his address was at Botany (3). In this same year he became the licensee of an hotel in Sydney. In October 1844 the licence for this hotel, in Clarence Street, was transferred to another man and Kellet applied for a wine and beer licence for the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel at Botany (4). H is licence was granted on October 26, 1844 (5). By December 1844 the hotel at Botany was opened for trade.

IISir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany Bay l'Thomas Kellet begs to announce to the Citizens of Sydney that he has opened the above Hotel, and invites those who have hitherto not visited this delightful bay to do so, as he is confident, from the accommodation of his house, combined with moderate charges, that he will give satisfaction to those who patronise him. The Hotel is six miles from Sydney, and finger posts at equal distance show the road. It will be found a delightful drive of a Sunday after the tolls of the week. Invalids and persons of delicate health can be boarded at the most reasonable terms, as this is considered one of the healthiest spots in the colony, and sea bathing at the very door of the house ll (6).

The inn must have been constructed during 1844. In 1843 Kellet raised a total of 1700 pounds in mortgages from his collective land holdings in Botany; he had acquired more land to the north of the hotel holding at the same auction and other acreage at a later date. He raised an additional 450 pounds in August 1844. Apart from repaying an earlier mortgage of 750 pounds this capital must have been used to fund the construction of the new hotel (7). The value of the hotel for insurance purposes was claimed to be 500 pounds in 1846 (8). The official opening of the establishment was on New Years Day of 1845.

The earliest image of this building was recorded by John Hardwick in 1853. His watercolour shows the front of the hotel as it faced towards Botany Bay. Although

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painted nearly ten years later there is no evidence to suggest that any substantial changes had been made in the interim. Probably, apart from e,xtensions shown on either side, it depicts the hotel as it was first built for Kellet. This was a two-storey building with a hipped roof featuring symmetrical chimneys. On the ground floor a central door was accentuated by a fan-light and on each side were multi-paned french doors protected by shutters. Above was a simple balcony and five windows or doors that mirrored the position of the fenestration below them. Images in the Illustrated Sydney News of the mid-1850s shows the roof to have been shingled.

To attract people to his isolated hotel, apart from relying on its healthy environment, Kellet organised sporting activities and other events to act as a drawcard. In May 1845 he announced the "Botany Bay Regatta" which comprised several races for a variety of water craft. He also commenced what would now be described as an advertising campaign to keep the hotel in the public eye and imagination (9).

Kellet's direct association with the Inn did not last long although he maintained ownership of it and the twenty-five acres surrounding it until 1861. On 1 December, 1846 he leased the establishment to William Beaumont. The terms of the rental agreement were of one hundred pounds per annum for seven years with Beaumont having the right of determination after two years (10). The lease arrangements were for both the hotel and the several paddocks encompassing the twenty-two acres which surrounded it.

The earliest view of the hotel, In 1853 ("Sir Joseph Banks Hotel Botany". Watercolour in John W Hardwick, 'Views of VictOria, NSW' f.9. ML ZPXA 6925)

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THOMAS KELLETT'S 75 ACRE GRANT, 1834

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1884 SITE OF THE SIR JOSE PH BANKS HOTEL & PLEASURE GROUNDS ADJOINING BOTANY ROAD AND FRONTING BOT ANY BAY

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'YORK LODGE' PROPERTY

PLAN SHOWING THE SITE IN RELATION TO THE SURROUNDING DEVELOPMENT AND THE ORIGINAL LAND GRANT TO THOMAS KELLETT

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2.2 Extending the Inn William Beaumont 1846 -1861

It is unclear if Beaumont or Kellet, or both, was responsible for commencing the improvements to the grounds surrounding the place which were to become such a feature of it. The hotel was placed in what was described as a landscaped garden, claimed to be the most extensive in the area of Sydney. In 1848 Beaumont claimed that,

Ilwords would fail to enable those who have stood on the balcony in front of the hotel to form a conception of the extreme beauty of the surrounding scene ... the effect of the juxta-position of the refinement of art, which the Garden presents, with the primitive grandure by which it is surrounded, is so remarkable as to elicit exclamations of delight from even the most phlegmatic when looking upon the scenes for the first time ll (1).

The garden contained a conservatory with potted plants which were for sale (2). Illustrations of the site presented by the Illustrated Sydney News in 1853 and 1854 show the land in front of the hotel, between it and the bay, to encompass a steep slope and then an area of flat land. On this were shrubs and various specimen plantings. Definition to portions was by means of post and rail fences and paling gates.

Beaumont certainly was responsible for the first substantial extension made to Kellet's Inn. In 1850 he arranged for the construction o(a new wing on the western end of the existing building. This wing was to provide a dining space capable of holding parties of up to fifty or sixty in number (3). Hardwick's watercolour, referred to earlier, provides the earliest image of this extension. A single-storey building it had a hipped roof but no chimneys are visible. A central door was flanked on either side by multi-paned french doors. All three were protected by shutters. A simple verandah ended slightly below the level of the verandah of the main building. This same drawing shows that, by this year or perhaps part of the original, a skillion extension had been made on the eastern side of the building; possibly this was the kitchen. This, too, had a fanlight entrance in the southern wall and the illustration of 1854 shows the eastern wall to be blank.

In the same year an open amphitheatre capable of holding 2000 people was constructed in the grounds (4). Circus-style events and bands amongst others performed here. A ball-room was in the course of construction. A riding-school was available to provide instruction. By the end of the year a menagerie was a feature of the grounds, the animals housed in a collection of "cages, dens and enclosures" (5).

The menagerie, established at about the same time or a little earlier than a similar exhibit at the Australian Museum but with much greater success, could be viewed for free but a fee was charged for certain special exhibits including a bengal tiger, a bear, an ape, an elephant, deer and others (6). The menagerie, arguably the first zoo in the country, purchased what remained of the Museum's exhibit in 1854 when the money could not be found for food (7). Most of the animals from the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel collection were sold in 1859. The several illustrations of the hotel in this period




2.2 Extending the Inn William Beaumont 1846 -1861

It is unclear if Beaumont or Kellet, or both, was responsible for commencing the improvements to the grounds surrounding the place which were to become such a feature of it. The hotel was placed in what was described as a landscaped garden, claimed to be the most extensive in the area of Sydney. In 1848 Beaumont claimed that,

"words would fail to enable those who have stood on the balcony in front of the hotel to form a conception of the extreme beauty of the surrounding scene ... the effect of the juxta-position of the refinement of art, which the Garden presents, with the primitive grandure by which it is surrounded, is so remarkable as to elicit exclamations of delight from even the most phlegmatic when looking upon the scenes for the first time" (1).

The garden contained a conservatory with potted plants which were for sale (2). Illustrations of the site presented by the Illustrated Sydney News in 1853 and 1854 show the land in front of the hotel, between it and the bay, to encompass a steep slope and then an area of flat land. On this were shrubs and various specimen plantings. Definition to portions was by means of post and rail fences and paling gates.

Beaumont certainly was responsible for the first substantial extension made to Kellet's Inn. In 1850 he arranged for the construction of a new wing on the western end of the existing building. This wing was to provide a dining space capable of holding parties of up to fifty or sixty in number (3). Hardwick's watercolour, referred to earlier, provides the earliest image of this extension. A single-storey building it had a hipped roof but no chimneys are visible. A central door was flanked on either side by multi-paned french doors. All three were protected by shutters. A simple verandah ended slightly below the level of the verandah of the main building. This same drawing shows that, by this year or perhaps part of the original, a skillion extension had been made on the eastern side of the building; possibly this was the kitchen. This, too, had a fanlight entrance in the southern wall and the illustration of 1854 shows the eastern wall to be blank.

In the same year an open amphitheatre capable of holding 2000 people was constructed in the grounds (4). Circus-style events and bands amongst others performed here. A ball-room was in the course of construction. A riding-school was available to provide instruction. By the end of the year a menagerie was a feature of the grounds, the animals housed in a collection of "cages, dens and enclosures" (5).

The menagerie, established at about the same time or a little earlier than a similar exhibit at the Australian Museum but with much greater success, could be viewed for free but a fee was charged for certain special exhibits including a bengal tiger, a bear, an ape, an elephant, deer and others (6). The menagerie, arguably the first zoo in the country, purchased what remained of the Museum's exhibit in 1854 when the money could not be found for food (7). Most of the animals from the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel collection were sold in 1859. The several illustrations of the hotel in this period




depict the animals, including elephants, emus and kangaroos, ranging freely about the grounds. A dog, or a fox, had its own shingled kennel.

Most of these details are approximately confirmed by a small sketch of the site included as part of a plan prepared in 1853. This shows the main hotel with its attached wing to the west although here it appears to have additions both in front and behind. There are separate buildings close to the main hotel to the east and behind. A road runs from the group to the north to link to the principal throughfares and a track leads to the beach where a jetty runs out to the bay. The area in front of the hotel is labelled "garden" and a small fenced enclosure to the south-west is called the "emu park" (8).

Beaumont repaired the appalling road from Sydney to Botany to make the drive a more comfortable experience, continued Kellet's policy of saturation advertising and added more attractions, in addition to the menagerie, to attract a clientele (9). A riding school provided displays in the amphitheatre and bathing houses which were constructed at the end of a jetty on the bay provided for sea-bathing (10). In 1850 he staged the first of what became annual events being fetes or gala days held on Boxing Day. They were enormously successful occasions attracting thousands on the one day each year. A steamer was chartered to bring holiday-makers to the place. Numerous lengthy and glowing accounts of these festivities appeared in the popular papers.

To obtain better access to his property Beaumont formed an informal Trust with the owners of the two properties to the west and together they caused a branch roadway to be built through their lands. This road joined the main road near the present intersection of Botany and Chelmsford Roads and continued to the east on the present lines of Edgehill Street and Anniversay Road between the bay and the hotel (11 ).

In September 1852 Beaumont signed a new lease with Kellet for a term of ten years. The new lease excluded approximately one acre from that land encompassed by the original arrangement. The small excision was on the eastern boundary of the hotel (12). Here, Thomas Kellet built a private residence known as York Lodge.

After the expiry of Beaumont's lease in 1861 Kellet decided to sell his Botany Bay holdings at auction. The firm 'of Richardson and Wrench were put in charge of the sale and on 27 August, 1861 a description of the lots for sale appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald. Lot 1 encompassed the hotel and twenty-two acres surrounding it. It was described as;

"This beautifully situated popular hostelrie is, for the most part, massively built of stone, and contains verandahs, balcony, hall, 10 rooms, large public room, kitchen, bar, pantries, with yard and stabling and every convenience either for private residence or for an hater


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depict the animals, including elephants, emus and kangaroos, ranging freely about the grounds. A dog, or a fox, had its own shingled kennel.

Most of these details are approximately confirmed by a small sketch of the site included as part of a plan prepared in 1853. This shows the main hotel with its attached wing to the west although here it appears to have additions both in front and behind. There are separate buildings close to the main hotel to the east and behind. A road runs from the group to the north to link to the principal throughfares and a track leads to the beach where a jetty runs out to the bay. The area in front of the hotel is labelled "garden" and a small fenced enclosure to the south-west is called the "emu park" (8).

Beaumont repaired the appalling road from Sydney to Botany to make the drive a more comfortable experience, continued Kellet's policy of saturation advertising and added more attractions, in addition to the menagerie, to attract a clientele (9). A riding school provided displays in the amphitheatre and bathing houses which were constructed at the end of a jetty on the bay provided for sea-bathing (10). In 1850 he staged the first of what became annual events being fetes or gala days held on Boxing Day. They were enormously successful occasions attracting thousands on the one day each year. A steamer was chartered to bring holiday-makers to the place. Numerous lengthy and glowing accounts of these festivities appeared in the popular papers.

To obtain better access to his property Beaumont formed an informal Trust with the owners of the two properties to the west and together they caused a branch roadway to be built through their lands. This road joined the main road near the present intersection of Botany and Chelmsford Roads and continued to the east on the present lines of Edgehill Street and Anniversay Road between the bay and the hotel (11 ).

In September 1852 Beaumont signed a new lease with Kellet for a term of ten years. The new lease excluded approximately one acre from that land encompassed by the original arrangement. The small excision was on the eastern boundary of the hotel (12). Here, Thomas Kellet built a private residence known as York Lodge.

After the expiry of Beaumont's lease in 1861 Kellet decided to sell his Botany Bay holdings at auction. The firm of Richardson and Wrench were put in charge of the sale and on 27 August, 1861 a description of the lots for sale appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald. Lot 1 encompassed the hotel and twenty-two acres surrounding it. It was described as;

"This beautifully situated popular hoste/rie is, for the most part, massively built of stone, and contains verandahs, balcony, hall, 10 rooms, large public room, kitchen, bar, pantries, with yard and stabling and every convenience either for private residence or for an hotel"


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As well there was the attraction of landscaped grounds and a jetty and "a few yards from the house there is a cottage of three rooms, which is occupied when a press of visitors renders it necessary", .

This cottage is partially recorded in Hardwick's watercolour and the two views recorded by the Illustrated Sydney News of 1853 and 1854. It is shown to be a substantial building with a gabled roof and chimney and substantial verandah to the south. Between it and the hotel was a tall flagpole, ~ feature of many later drawings.

Lot 2 comprised Kellet's residence of York Lodge. Lot 3 was the remainder of the original seventy-five acre grant comprising the land to the north of Botany Road which which was developed as eight, small market gardens.

The Illustrated· Sydney News images also record the presence of several out-buildings behind the cottage, in the grounds in front of the hotel and to the west of it. The function of these structures is largely unknown although it could be supposed that some one or more provided stabling and one was the conservatory. Others probably provided for the menagerie.

None of the three lots sold at the auction and, at the end of his lease in 1861, Beaumont ended his association with the place. He purchased land to the west of the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel and developed it as Correys Pleasure Gardens. There is a suggestion that he also, at first, used his new property for a zoological garden (13). He was to own this for more than twenty-five years as well as other interests in the area.

VIew of the hotel from the south in 1853 (Illustrated Sydney News 19 November 1853)


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2.3 Biding Time Moyse, Mitchell, Maloney and Neale 1862 -1874

In March 1862 Kellet leased the hotel and its twenty-two acres to Vickers Moyse for a term of seven years at an annual rental of 275 pounds (1). Moyse was responsible for the addition or more gardens, a cricket ground, a bowling green and an archery course (2). In the years since the enormous popularity of the place achieved during Beaumont's stewardship the public had grown less enthusiastic in its response to the site. The difficulty of reaching it due to the still haphazard and poor roads may have been a consideration.

Moyse attempted to appeal to a different clientele to that courted by his predecessor. In the Sydney Morning Herald of 25 May, 1864 it was reported that,

"Mr Moyse has done much to improve and decorate the establishment and grounds apparently with a view to pleasing the taste of the quiet and comfort seeking citizens of Sydney rather than to the attraction of a miscellaneous throng of holiday keepers".

Despite the new policy the association between Moyse and the hotel appears to have been not particularly successful. He left the hotel after six years.

On 1 September, 1868 Kellet granted a lease of fifteen years to John Frederick Maloney (3). This 8iiangement included not only the hotel and its grounds but the adjoining York Lodge. The annual rental was for 315 pounds.

Maloney re-established Beaumont's policy and sought to attract the "miscellaneous throng". His medium to do so was sport. He sought to turn the site into the premier sporting ground in Sydney. Athletic events, including a 1000 yard foot-race, were first introduced by him (4). A man before his time, he was declar~d bankrupt and left the hotel in December 1871.

During this time Thomas Kellet died leaving behind him a complex legal situation entangling his several properties and financial affairs. With respect to the hotel the situation was finalised by one of the creditors making settlement with the principal beneficiary, Kellet's daughter, and several other creditors. John Thomas Neale then became the owner of the Botany property on October 17, 1871 (5). Three months later, in December 1871, he sold the hotel and its accompanying twenty -two acres to John Mitchell for 2400 pounds (6). York Lodge was sold separately a week later. Mitchell kept the property for only three years before he decided to sell it.


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2.4 The Most Famous Place in Sydney Francis Smith 1875 -1893


Francis Smith purchased the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel on 1 April, 1875 for 2600 pounds (1). It was during his ownership and management of the place that it achieved its greatest fame for the amenity of the hotel and its pleasure grounds, its association and sponsorship of sporting activities and numerous crowd pleasing events, particularly an annual St Patrick's Day celebration. Up to fifteen thousand people were reported in attendance at these events. He was aided in his endeavours by the extension of the tram line to Botany in 1882 which did much to overcome the complaints of the poor road access which had troubled the site for so many years although the tram also was considered to be something of a trial. The hotel again featured in the public press for its many favourable· attractions.

During the later part of the 1870s Smith added to the facilities of the place that he had inherited from Kellet, Beaumont, Moyse and the rest by constructing on the eastern side of Kellet's building, in place of the eastern wing seen in earlier illustrations, a curved room used as a bar. This elegant building was depicted in the Illustrated Sydney News of January 1883. At the same time or a little later, in 1878, he constructed a huge pavilion in the grounds of the estate seen from later plans to lie at some distance to the south-east of the main hotel. It was larger in size that the latter and is said to have been capable of holding up to 10,000 people. It was used for dancing and musical events (2).

By this year the hotel had regained its prominence as a pre-eminent social venue for Sydney-siders and tourists being described as one of four prom inent points of interest in the holiday season (3). The success of the establishment was such that Smith was able to more than double its arrangements in the mid-1880s. To do so he arranged for a complete new two -storey hotel designed in the most modern and luxurious manner to be built at the back of the old premises and facing towards Botany Road. This became the new public front entrance. The architects for the design were Chater and Barlow and the contract drawings were dated October 1884. They describe "New Buildings and Kitchen Offices" although the kitchen offices are not shown on these plans. It has been assumed that these offices refer to the building now described as the kitchen although there is some evidence to suggest that this, as well as the toilet block, was constructed at a later date (4). •

The new hotel was descrbed in 1885:

"The new hotel but recently completed is of a style we have long desired to see at the watering places of Sydney - a really good and luxurious and well appointed building. It is not unusual to see from 400 to 1,000 people seated here with a dinner of eight to ten courses spread before .them and afterwards to find them spread all over the grounds, here a worshipful mayor and a portly alderman riding on the toy railway, there half a dozen venerable senators exercising themselves at quoits" (5).

Along with a new hotel Smith introduced a new period of sporting events. These rivalled the hotel for their fame. At the St Patrick's Day celebrations of 1884 Smith




caused a 100 yards handicap footrace to be run on the premises. It was enormously successful and led to him establishing a professional running track on his land. Five straight 150 yard cinder running lanes were laid in the grounds on the bay side of hotel on the eastern end of the flat in what is now the Sir Joseph Banks Park. A grand-stand and large pavilion were erected at the eastern end of the tracks near Fremlin Street. The first Sir Joseph Banks Handicap was run on 10 May, 1884 and the rules for this event became the accepted professional standard (6). Eventually four major handicaps and a number of minor events were held throughout the year and Sm ith became the accepted referee of the sport. The track at the hotel arguably became the most important in the country -attracting both national and international stars of the sport.

For the 18th Sir Joseph Banks Gold Cup Handicap of 1888 the event was staged with a staggering amount of prize-money offered; betting action was intense. To accommodate this interest Smith erected a a new grandstand capable of seating 3000 people (7). The final Sir Joseph Banks Grand Handicap was run in 1892.

To accommodate the decline in interest for foot racing Smith built between the hotel and Botany Road a circular, 450 metre diameter pony-racing track. Pony racing was the popular form of thoroughbred racing; it attracted huge interest during the later part of the nineteenth century and early years of the twentieth until it was merged with thoroughbred racing under the auspices of the AJC. At the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel the best views of the races were to be had from the balcony of the new hotel and from a grandstand constructed on the western side of the building (8) although this may have been in existence before the pony track was formed; the latter appears to have taken the place of or was superimposed over the cricketing ground. There was, as well, a skittle alley which occasioned some serious betting.

The only detailed plan of the pleasure grounds and hotel is an undated sketch which appears to derive from the later 1880s. It shows the hotel in its extended form with the grandstand on its western side. It does not show either the kitchen or toilet block which were assumed to have been built in 1884 as part of the major site redevelopment. The very large stables are shown close by the hotel to the east and separated from it by a U-shaped drive from Botany Road. Another out-building of unknown origin or function lies close to the south-east corner of the hotel. The huge pavilion, bigger than the hotel, and several out-buildings lie at some distance to the south-east. Even further to the east was a club-house, said by James Jervis to have been a gambling den (9) and well to the south were a collection of other unidentified out-buildings. A large, circular cricketing oval lies between the hotel and Botany Road; presumably this became the site of the pony track (10).

By the later years of the century the hotel held a unique place in the community. It became the site of events and celebrations. It was used for corporate benefits, company picnics, parliamentary dinners and a hosts of other occasions. It was used by holiday-makers and honeymooners. Sm ith is said to have refused an offer from the Governor of NSW at the time for his premises. Smith died on 17 January 1903. At least in part due to his gambling debts, his assets were insufficient to meet his debts and the bank then took ownership of the hotel.


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2.5 In the Hands of the Bank 1894 . 1907

When Smith died he left his wife penniless. She managed the hotel on behalf of the bank during 1894 and 1895 (1). A new manager, Bernard Bogan, was appointed in 1896. He continued the sporting traditions of the place including, it is said, boxing and cock-fighting. The same was true of the new manager Robert Marshall when he managed the place between 1899 and 1908 (2).

There is no evidence to suggest that, during this period of time, any substantial additions or changes were made to the hotel or any of its appointments. On the basis of later evidence it could be inferred that the buildings and grounds began to deteriorate through lack of maintenance. It was' no longer a popular destination for day-trippers or holiday-makers.

Near the the end of this period the bank proposed to subdivide the property and offer it for development. A subdivision plan was drawn with fifty-three allotments. The hotel was to be maintained in the m iddle of one group although the fence of one was to run along the western wall of the building. Several streets were proposed including Sir Joseph Banks Parade which was to run along the front of the hotel. It is unclear now if the sale did not proceed, was unsuccessful or whether the subsequent owners made some arrangements with the mortgagees that did not come into effect for another four years (3).


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2.6 The Olympic Recreation & Picnic Grounds and Subdivision The Sir Joseph Banks Estate Ltd 1908 - 1929

The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney sold the hotel and grounds of approximately twenty-six acres in November 1908 for 6500 pounds to a newly formed company, the Sir Joseph Banks Estate Ltd (1). Faced with the declining popularity of the place the new owners decided on a different name and a different style of attraction to lure paying customers. For the next twenty years the grounds were known as the Olympic Recreation and Picnic grounds. The hotel retained its old name. With an established advertising tradition preceding them the owners embarked on a campaign to offer the site as a slightly more select venue for schools, unions, society or company outings. In the brochure for the grounds it was stated that,

l'The new Proprietary have revolutionised the pleasure and picnic grounds of a past generation and made it the incomparable open air resort of open hearted, sport-loving Australians .... Olympic, remodelled and modernised is incomparable for comfort, cosiness, shelter, shade, freshness, fragrance, convenience, recreation, quietude and sport and merry-making facilities. Roundabouts and razzle-dazzles for the little ones are rapidly being installed ... The twenty-six acres have been retUffed where necessary; a large number of men have made a clean sweep of the debris and dilapidation; cosy nooks, sub shelters ad quiet corners are building; seats and shades are reforming and little tables are placingl1 (2).

Despite this enthusiastic endeavour the popularity of the place was a shadow of what it had been in the later years of the nineteenth century or even earlier. Becoming hemmed in by urban development and losing the qualities of the natural environment which were now more readily available in other places through public transport the business staggered along with ~he hotel having eight managers between 1909 and 1920 (3). In the last year measured drawings were prepared of the hotel; these provide the first detailed drawings of the kitchen and toilet block. The purpose for which these drawings were prepared is unknown (4).

Certainly in a move to off-set losses from the grounds, in the 1920s an area of approximately one acre was subdivided from the property on Botany Road. A new and modern hotel was built there taking the name of the old establishment, the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel. The new hotel and its land were sold to Tooth and Co. Ltd for six hundred pounds on 10 May, 1921 at which time the name and the licence were transferred from the old establishment (5).

The Sir Joseph Banks Estate Ltd then began to sell the remaining twenty-five acres that remained from the original hotel property. A major subdivision of fourteen acres was approved in 1921. This involved the formation of Fremlin Road from an existing lane and the construction of Anniversary Road in front of the old hotel as well as Tupia Street and Waratah Road. This new subdivisions encompassed fifty-six residential blocks and thirty nine commercial blocks, the latter along Botany Road. The old hotel occupied Lots 6 - 11 in Section 3 of the subdivision. It was described as I1the best land in Botany. .. this historic estate 11 (6).


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Conservation Plan: SIr Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany

The residential lots gradually were sold between 1923 and 1931. The last of the commercial lots was not sold until 1946 and then only because the Housing Commission purchased several and erected blocks of flats upon them (7).

The hotel was not sold during this period of activity. It was a large building, difficult to find a use for and becoming increasingly detached from the grounds and surrounding which had contributed in the past to its success. By the mid 1920s it was sharing the street with several houses.

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In December 1920 the Banks Meadow Parents and Citizens Association urged Botany Council to acquire the eleven acres of the Sir Joseph Banks Estate which was situated between the hotel and a reservation on the foreshore. The Council made representation to State Government for financial assistance to do so and in 1926 it purchased this area from the Sir Joseph Banks Estate Ltd for 1700 pounds of which 790 pounds was contributed by Government (8). The sites of the gardens, menagerie, running tracks and grandstand were then developed as a public park. The entrance to the park was opened in 1933.

"The Nook, Sir Joseph Banks Hotel", a feature of the relandscaped grounds by the Sir Joseph .. Banks Estate Ltd (Sir Joseph Banks Estate Ltd, Brochure "Sir Joseph Banks Hotel" 1910 Botany Local Studies Collection).


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2.7 Picnickers, Boarders and the War The Rutley Family 1930 - 1968

In about 1930 the Sir Joseph Banks Estate Ltd decided to put the hotel up for auction. The property was purchased by Mr James Ruttley for 1450 pounds as a last bid to thwart developers who had intended to demolish it to make way for apartment buildings (1). His motives were purely conservation based, he had no intention to live in the hotel. His married daughter Doris Rutley, her husband having an almost identical family name, having learnt of her father's purchase some time afterwards went to inspect the place. In 1931 Mr and Mrs Rutley moved into the building.

By accident the Rutleys began a business of supplying hot water, sweets and food to the picnickers enjoying the new park nearby. The round bar was used as a dispensary and the extension to this served as a refreshment room. Later it became a popular dance venue and served other community functions (2).

In 1935 Botany Council decided to acquire the property as the site for a new pool. The project was abandoned soon after when the estimated costs of the project became prohibitive. A second proposal for the same work went as far as obtaining an option from James Ruttley to purchase the site but in 1936 the proposal was finally put to rest (3). During these negotiations the use of the hotel as a shop ceased as did the refreshment room.

On his death in 1936 it was found that James Ruttley had never completed purchase of the hotel, in fact owing over five hundred pounds on it. The outstanding sum was paid by the executors of his estate, his wife and his clerk, and they became joint tenants-in-common of the hotel pending the settlement ofthe estate. Mrs Ruttley died in 1937 leaving the clerk, John Leslie Adam, the sole executor of the estate. Shortly after Doris Rutley's husband died leaving her alone in the building (4). At about the same time the parapet 'suffered severe storm-damage. .

During the war Mrs Ruttley shared the premises with soldiers from the 9th division who billeted there and, afterwards, members of the Volunteer Defence Corps (5).

In 1944 at a direction from J.L. Nielson the property was advertised for auction. Mrs Rutley bought the property for 1600 pounds. She acquired title in 1948. During this time she divided portions of the hotel into flats to provide an income and with an intention to fund restoration of the building.




2.8 A Singular Historical Feature 1968 - 1998

By the mid-twentieth century theJormer Sir Joseph Banks Hotel had been a landmark of the area for over 120 years. It was one of what were considered to be few places of obvious historical interest in the area. In 1968 Botany Council made application to the State Planning Authority to declare the hotel and its grounds to be items of historical significance under the provisions of the County of Cumberland Planning Ordinance. It was refused early in 1970 because it did not have national significance although it was acknowledged to have local merit. Much was made of the difficulty of restoring or retaining the property due to the expense of the work. As well, the size of the property was cited as a problem for finding a future use. Finally, Mrs Rutley had made clear that she intended to stay in it for life (1).

At a meeting in February 1970 the Council expressed concern at the reply one Councillor stating that it should be preserved as there was little to show in Botany of its history. Several proposals for uses were all considered and all rejected due to the cost (2).

In 1969 the hotel was included in the National Trust's register of historic buildings. It was classified as "a highly significant building and its preservation is strongly recommended". In 1974 it was reclassified and described as "essential to the heritage of Australia and must be preserved" (3). In 1977 the place was included in an interim listing of the Australian Heritage Commission. It was included in the Register of National Estate in 1978. The building, being the hotel and out-buildings, front iron fence and gates and the land encompassed within the six lots was made the subject of a Permanent Conservation Order under the provisions of the Heritage Act in 1982.

Until the later 1970s Mrs Rutley, then in her later eighties, was still living at the hotel and undertaking much of the maintenance herself. It has since passed to her nephews. The building now is largely vacant.


I I I I I 'I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Conservation Plan:

SECTION 3.0 SETTING

3.1 The Wilderness


Botany Bay is regarded as the genesis of non-Aboriginal settlement in Australia because of its associations with Captain Cook's landing and Sir Joseph Banks' botanical investigations both instrumental in convincing the British Government to establish a penal colony in New South Wales. Phillip's rejection of it as a place to found a settlement led to its isolation from the centre of the new colony until the later years of the nineteenth century. Distance was aided by poor roads and inhospitable terrain.

The area was characterised by extensive sand dunes draining into areas of swamp. The wind-blown sand dunes originally were covered with the Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub which encompassed, apart from scrub, heath and low forest vegetation with a variety of shrubs including Banksia aemula, Monotoca elliptica, Eriostemon australasia and Kanthorrhoea resinosa. The area closer to Banksmeadow would also have supported Melaleucas, Swamp Mahogany and some Eucalypts (1). Thomas Woore described this in the period 1829-1833 as,

"Much stunted timber and some large trees were growing on the sand slopes in sheltered hollows and the whole was covered with a thick coat of brushwood" (2).

William Leigh's sketch of the hotel from the north completed by him in 1853 shows that a considerable canopy of native species had been maintained at some distance from it as late as that date. Many visitors recorded their impressions of the environment that was passed on the way from Sydney to Botany and few were favourable. For example,

"Immediately on leaving Sydney you enter upon a complete desert of barren sand, with low scrub or brush wood, which continues nearly all the way ... " (3)

Some found the native vegetation to have its appeal. During the 1850s Frederick Mackie described the white sand and the moist areas covered with pink wild-flowers, boronias and many others (4). By the 1880s these had largely disappeared from Botany.

For most of the first half of the nineteenth century Botany remained a remote and distant place from Sydney separated by wild country and a poor road. The earliest settler, Edward Redmond took up land for a farm in 1809 and soon after Andrew 8yrne established a holding close to the first. Both these properties were well to the north, closer to the present air-port, than the later hotel site. The best known early resident was Simeon Lord who, by 1815, had established a textile mill and several dams in the same area as the earlier grants. This was to be a landmark for many years. A paper mill was another early endeavour of the area.


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Apart from these industrial ventures, which exploited the water reserves, and the hotel to the south for a large part of the nineteenth century the area. was very sparsely inhabited principally by market gardeners who also exploited the never-failing water supply. The land in the most northern part of Kellet's property was subdivided into eight small market gardens of this type. Even so, by the mid-nineteenth century, one traveller was able to observe that,

"considering that it is now approaching a century sin.ce Captain Cook landed there it is rather remarkable mat there should be so little indication of the work of man, the country all around, with the exception of a few houses and gardens scattered here and there, having the appearance of being in a state of nature" (4).

As more people came to the area, the wilderness was cleared and subdivisions began to be made the hotel became and remained the pre-eminent landmark against which all other things could be measured. Plans of new allotments in the 1850s, for example, are described as "39 Market Garden Allotments Situate at Botany near the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel" (5). Later, the hotel was described as ''the principal object of attraction

in the locality" (6).

"The Beach, Sir Joseph Banks Hote''', one of the natural features that provided an attraction for the vlsltots to the hotel and a hea/ty environment for invalids (Sir Joseph Banks Estate Ud,

Brochure "Sir Joseph Banks Hotel" 1910 Botany Local Studies Collection) . . Wendy Thorp & Robert Staas for Clarin Development P/L Page 18

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3.2 A Healthy and Socially Elite Distance

Although the native landscape was in the process of changing to an exotic and man-made one its qualities, particularly its association with a marine environment, recommended it as a healthy place and one for recovering invalids. Several managers of the hotel traded on these qualities beginning with Thomas Kellet who advertised special rates for invalids and persons of delicate health "as this is considered to be one of the healthiest spots in the colony" (1 ).

However, for those suffering delicate health the trials of getting to the hotel must have been great. The Botany Road, for many years, was considered to be one of the worst in the colony and contributed to the relatively slow development of the district. Marjoribanks described it mid-century as "wretched in the extreme, deserving merely the name of a cart track". (2). In 1864 it was referred to in a newspaper article as "perhaps the most villainous piece of highway within a day's ride of the capitaJU ( 3).

Several of the hotel proprietors invested in road repairs to reduce the impact on custom potentially brought about by this appalling road. It is certainly not coincidental, however, that Smith's moves to create an even larger hostelry in the early 1880s coincided with the introduction of the Botany tram in 1882 although it, too, was said to be an unpleasant and dirty experience. Both trams and om ni-buses had stops immediately outside the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel property on Botany Road. The principal entrance to the hotel was from this point although, much earlier Beaumont had acted to establish a branch road that gave access to the hotel from the south, then the principal frontage.

The one perceived advantage of the distance and difficulty of reaching the hotel prior to the introduction of the tram was found by Beaumont who claimed that, as a result of his repairs, it only took an hour to reach the hotel but that

"was still sufficiently far to hinder it becoming a rendezvous for that class of persons with whom ladies and gentlemen object to mix" (4).

The "democratisation" of the hotel certainly came during the later 1880s encouraged by the easier access afforded by the tram and the change in character brought about by Smith's sporting endeavours.

Wendy Thorp & Roberi' Staas for Clarin Development PIL Page 19



3.3 The Pleasure Grounds and Zoological Grounds

When Kellet established the first inn on the site it was in the middle of a largely unmodified pre-European environment. Even by 1853 Leigh's pencil sketch shows that a portion of this landscape remained to the north of the hotel. Most of the grounds encompassed by the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel ultimately were landscaped and either Kellet or Beaumont or both were responsible for commencing the extensive modifications that were to result in the zoological and botanical gardens that were renowned throughout Sydney.

The original Inn was built on a slight rise facing the bay to the south. At that time the latter was much closer to the hotel than it now is; the present shoreline is the product of twentieth century reclamation works. Below the hotel the rise dropped for a short distance, but on a steep incline, to an area of open land that led down to the water. The land attached to the hotel was divided into five paddocks. The extreme northern portion of the property was divided between eight small market gardens.

The principal area of the botanical gardens appears to have been to the south, between the hotel and the bay. These gardens are shown in mid-nineteenth century illustrations to comprise groups of shrubs and trees and specimen planting. As well, there was an orchard. The conservatory contained potted plants. Post and rail fences divided the property and garden walks were raid out to the various parts. Beaumont claimed that, by the later 1840s, these were the largest landscaped gardens in the area of Sydney. Subsequent owners added to the gardens. By the early H380s a formal, staged flight of steps led from the front of the old hotel to the shore.

The gardens continued to be a feature of the place throughout the later years of the nineteenth century. but the evidence suggests that, particularly during its years in the receivership of the bank, much of the quality was lost. The brochure for the newly formed Olympic Gardens and Recreation Grounds in the first years of the twentieth century described how, "the twenty-six acres have been returfed where necessary; a large number of men have made a clean sweep ofthe debris and dilapidation". The improvements made by the Sir Joseph Banks Estate Ltd were more in the nature of a tea-garden and fun-park rather than to maintain the expensive landscaping of previous years.

The site of the gardens now lies beneath Sir Joseph Banks Parks. Other features are certain to have been lost through the residential subdivisions of the 1920s. There are no readily identifiable nineteenth century elements remaining in the current landscape although there are a number of mature trees including palms. These are more likely to be twentieth century additions. Some elements of the steps to the south might remain.

Equally famous as the botanical gardens were the zoological gardens. Arguably the first zoo in the country, illustrations of the mid-1850s depict a range of native and exotic animals roaming the grounds. There was certainly a menagerie building; the elephant could walk through its open doors down to the bay, but there are no specific illustrations of it. Presumably some on the unidentifiable out-buildings in illustrations



Conservation Plan. Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany

may have served this role Beaumont referred to cages and dens and enclosures for the animals. An 1854 sketch plan details a large enclosed space to the south-west of the hotel as an "emu park". Emus feature in the earliest sketch of the hotel In 1853.

The animals and birds were procured locally and overseas and several specimens were purchased from the failed Australian Museum Exhibition. Animals that penshed at the zoological gardens were often sent for taxidermy at the Museum to add to their more successful, if less lively, exhibits. Most of t~e animals were sold in 1859 and the fate of the dens; cages and enclosures is not known

Apart from the delights of the flora and fauna various proprietors added elements to the grounds that were more interactively enjoyed by the patrons. The 2000-seat amphitheatre provided a venue for musical entertainment and spectacles. Its position is not recorded .. Swings are shown dotted about the grounds in m id-1850s drawings. In 1885 there is reference to a toy railway that could provide rides around the site. A pavilion and a ball-room provided venues for dancing. In the early years of the twentieth century the proprietors introduced round-abouts, razzle-dazzles, seats, shelters and tables.

.. "The Picnic Ground, Sir Joseph Banks Hoter, to the south-east of the hotel with the large pavilion in the background (Sir Joseph Banks Estate Ltd, Brochure "Sir Joseph Banks Hotel" 1910

Botany Local Studies Collection).


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3.4 Sporting Fixtures

From the 1840s Botany featured in the minds of Sydney-siders as a place for sporting activities. By 1841 a three m ile riding course had been cleared through the scrub and over sand dunes near the future site of the hotel. Kellet introduced boat races and a jetty on the bay. With the addition of bathing houses provided by Beaumont, the latter allowed for sea-bathing. Most of the proprietors appealed in advertising to the sporting nature of Australians and provided many activities to suit all tastes. Vickers Moyse is claimed to be responsible for the introduction of a cricket ground, bowling green and archery course. By the later years of the century there were provisions for quoits, skittles and croquet. There was a pavilion for skating and dancing which could accommodate several thousands.

The most substantial additions made to the grounds for sporting events were the foot-race track and pony track, both constructed by Francis Smith for professional events. The foot-track was a straight course over 150s yards. The five lanes were laid as cinders and each was separated by a grass strip. The course was at the eastern end of what is now Sir Joseph Banks Park. Associated with it was a grandstand constructed near what is now Fremlin Street. A new grandstand is said to have been erected in 1888.

The pony track constructed by Sm ith was located between the realigned front of the , hotel, the northern side, and Botany Road. It was circular and 450 metres in diameter. This position, according to an undated subdivision plan probably of the later 1880s, was occupied by the cricket oval. Possibly Smith re-used the site for the pony track or accommodated both on the one place. A timber grandstand was constructed on the western side of the hotel to accommodate those who wished to view the races. Later the site was used by the Botany Rugby Union Football Club for its matches. The site of the track is now encompassed by a residential subdivision. There is clear evidence of the site of the grandstand on the western side of the hotel; a stone wall in this position may be a remnant of this structure.

After Smith the sporting activities associated with the hotel declined; subsequent managers favoured boxing and cock-fighting.


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3.5 A Reduced Curtilage

Throughout most of the nineteenth century the acreage purchased by Kellet In 1 remained largely Intact as one property with m Inor being for York Lodge processes of subdivIsion were products

Plans for a subdivIsion of the estate were In 1 to nothing The first principal subdivIsion was m surround were formed and the suburban character the Immediate Ings The SIX occupies were those granted to It In the original subdivIsion

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From the later 1920s the land between the hotel and the foreshore was resumed and developed as a publiC park. ThiS retains a physical If not visual association With the bay which once had formed such an Important element of the attraction of the place. Due to erosion a sea-wall was built at the edge of the park lands and. since 1969, the area to the south of thiS wall has been substantially reclaimed and the park reconstructed.

"The Runnung Track, Sir Joseph Banks Hotel", to the south of tile hotel it was one of the principal sporting features introduced in the later years of tfle nineteenth century. It is now

outside the property boundaries of the hotel Banks Estate Uet Brochure

Banks Hotel" 1910 Local Studies

Wendy Thorp & Staas

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SECTION 4.0 ARCHITECTURAL ASSESSMENT

4.1 The Investigation

This section of the conservation plan describes the fabric that is contained in the several buildings which are collectively known as the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel. The principal objectives of this work were:

• to determine the extent and condition of original elements;

• to identify subsequent alterations and additions;

• to use this information to substantiate and add to the evidence of the place which may be derived from archival sources;

• to evaluate the manner in which the existing fabric provides evidence of its origins and associations and, thus, contributes to the significance of the place.

As well, this investigation has given consideration to the integrity of the buildings with respect to the condition of the fabric as a means of providing policy guidelines for its conservation. It also establishes constraints which will need to be taken into consideration for the future management and adaptation of the buildings. This information provides the preliminary information which informs a schedule of works required for the conservation of the place.

The work has encompassed a detailed inspection of the buildings from all accessible vantage points. There was, however, no physical intervention in any place. Despite the demolition of some portions of the building and the considerable reduction of the original curtilage the complex retains much of the major development of the hotel over a period of more than 150 years. It now comprises six principal elements and the analysis is presented in sections which refer to those individual components of the building being:

• Building No. 1: The Sir Joseph Banks Inn

• Building No. 2: Dining Hall and Dance Room Extensions

• Building No. 3: Bar and Billiard Room

• Building No. 4: Kitchen Offices

• Building No. 5: Sir Joseph Banks"Hotel

• Building No. 6: The Toilet Block


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4.2 Building No. 1: The Sir Joseph Banks Inn

4.2.1 External Fabric

The original Inn, opened on New Years Day 1845, is a symmetrical "Georgian" style building of two storeys and eight rooms. It is surmounted by a hipped roof now of unpainted corrugated iron. Originally the material would have been split hardwood shingles over close boarding. This may still be seen from a few areas inside the building. The building has two balancing chimneys. These are simple., rectangular forms with rendered detail incorporating a projecting string course. Each carries four flues from the ground and first floor fireplaces. The eaves are boxed and lined with wide cedar panels. The building has modern profiled guttering and circular down pipes which discharge directly at ground level.

The main, southern facade faces towards the bay. It is constructed Of finely tooled ashlar sandstone laid in regular courses although this has been painted for more than one hundred years. The walls sit on a projecting stone plinth course which also acts as the threshold to the ground floor french doors. The walls appear to be placed on a deep stone footing which contains the loose sand at the foundation level. This footing has been exposed in the cellarr on the eastern side of the building. Large terracotta wall vents have been inserted into the walls to vent the front rooms, these no longer having side windows.

The central door has a simple arched fan light with stepped sandstone voussoirs. These are now painted and, at some time in the past, these were disguised with a cast cement hood moulding which was removed but which left a clearly visible outline. The door frame and the fanlight are original elements but they are in very poor condition. The pair of glazed doors are replacements of single, wide panelled door which would have originally filled the entrance.

The french doors on the rest of the facade are the original form with "gun stock" frames, solid fielded lower panels and a glazed upper section with margined glazing and highlight sashes. They are set on the outer face of the deep stone walls and, at first, were fitted with full height shutters. The fixtures for these shutters are visible in the stonework.

The verandah is a replacement of the original single-storey, timber framed balcony. The present structure dates from the 1870s at which time the cast iron, circular columns were introduced to the building. At a later time, possibly 1884, the upper level verandah roof was constructed as well as the timber side screens. Much of the verandah framing structure is a quite recent replacement of older elements. The verandah is concrete paved on the ground floor. It replaced or possibly covers the original sandstone flags. The first floor is timber framed. Access to the verandah at the first floor is from a single set of french doors. These are placed in the centre of the facade at the first floor landing and over the main entry. Presently they are boarded up to ensure safety and security. The verandah balustrade is a modern replacement of the earlier element. It only superficially resembles the latter which is shown in archival sources to be a crossed timber railing.



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The front verandah is now sem i-enclosed at either end brought about by the projecting forms of the buildings which have been attached at a later date to the original Inn. On the east this is the later 1870s bar and on the west by what remains of the mid 1850s dining hall.

The rear, northern facade of the Inn now faces an enclosed courtyard. This facade is also built from coursed sandstone but it is not as refined than that on the front and sides of the Inn. In places it has been patched with brickwork where timber "grounds" appear to have been removed from the wall. This facade has three, four-paned windows on the upper level and two windows at ground level. The windows have stone sills and these project slightly from the wall surface. There is a panelled door at ground level. Along this facade is a lean-to verandah roof supported by timber pilaster columns. The verandah now is concrete paved.

The eastern and western ends of the Inn have been substantially modified by the addition of later structures, being the bar and dining hall. Both these additions have resulted in the closure of the original windows on the side elevations of the building.

There is considerable evidence of original elements since removed that once formed part of the original Inn. One of the earliest images of the Inn, a watercolour by John Hardwick of 1853, shows a single-storey hipped roof structure against the eastern side of the main block. It was approximately in line with the central cross wall and, possibly, was associated with a detached kitchen at the back of the Inn. This site has been built over by the bar and its cellar. Also visible in early drawings of the Inn was an addition on the western end of the main block. This was constructed in about 1850 to accommodate large dining parties. It was substantially modified by later alterations to the building. Its original extent is recorded on the 1884 contract documentation for the new hotel. Here it shown to be truncated and described as "NEW PANTRY". Portions of this stone structure may be seen in the building. This wing was one of two Palladian wings which extended back from the central dividing wall of the main building. Both are seen on several nineteenth century images.




4.2.2 Internal Fabric

The original Inn had a simple plan of four rectangular rooms on each floor. There was a central circulating hall which had a staircase at the rear of the building. The main door opens into the hall which separates the four ground floor rooms. These are symmetrically arranged on either side of a central transverse spine wall. They were used as "parlours" during the later nineteenth century and a painted sign on either side of the main entrance survives to indicate this use. The front parlour is linked by a servery to the bar. A door in the rear parlour gives direct access to the back of the bar. Originally there would have been another link to the eastern wing which has since been demolished.

At the back of the hall a timber stair, original to the building, provides access to the first floor. There is a landing over the rear door. The stair is typical of the period having simple, turned newel posts, fine square balusters and a simple curved handrail. The underside of the stair is plastered to follow the rake. The under-stair area has been enclosed with panelling at some time to form a small storage area.

The walls inside the Inn are formed from sandstone which was originally plastered but is now cement rendered. The front bedrooms on the first floor have tim ber fram ed walls. The wall to the east of the stair is not in an original position and it is possible that this area may have been open. Wall vents have been inserted at the turn of the century, probably to meet standards of building codes introduced at that time.

At first the ceilings throughout the Inn were lath and plastered and some have remained intact; others have been relined with pressed metal and battened fibro. A small portion of the original hand-run cornice survives on the upper landing. It features a cove and separate border.

The floors are formed from shot, wide hardwood boards. Generally they are covered with linoleum and, for this reason, could not be closely inspected. New joists support the old floor in the back, western room at first floor level. The structure of the floor of the back, eastern room at first floor level is poor, possibly due to white ant damage.

Much of the original joinery including the door linings, skirtings, architraves, paneled window reveals, chimney pieces and doors have survived within the Inn though usually with some modifications. It is doubtful that the marble fireplaces in the ground floor front rooms are part of the original fabric. Cast iron register grates and hearth surrounds were put in well after the construction of the Inn.

It would appear that the windows have been replaced and a number of early doors have been modified by the removal or the inlay mouldings and through changes to hardware. The door linking the rear parlour to the bar is not original although the door framing and lining are early.


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4.3 Building No. 2: Dining Hall and Dance Room Extensions


The Dining Hall extension to the Inn was constructed in 1850 and was intended to accommodate a dining party of up to sixty people if there was a need. It was attached to the western end of the Inn and, at first, incorporated an earlier western wing. Evidence of the latter is in the remnant thicker sandstone walls at this point. This pre-existing bLlilding was recorded on the 1884 contract drawings. The Dining Hall was placed forward of the main block in line with its balcony.

The new wing measured 34'8"x 18'6" andwas a single-storey building of symmetrical Georgian style constructed in brick which was cement rendered and lined out with masonry jointing. The front facade comprised three bays with a central, shuttered door flanked by two, shuttered French doors. The height of the walls reached to approximately the level of the Inn's balcony railing.

A flat-roofed verandah with a boxed timber frieze ran across the front of the building. It was supported by circular timber columns. A timber picket fence extended from the end of the verandah to the west.

A simple hipped roof covered the dining hall while a skill ion covered the servery at the back. The skillion provided a link to the hipped roof of the projecting western wing. The earlier form was recorded in several early nineteenth century images and part of an outline of an earlier roof form may be seen on the western facade of the Inn. The original roofhas been replaced by a lower pitched form. The rear chimney was recorded in at least 'one drawing where it was shown to be level with the ridge of the roof. It was removed during the construction of the new roof form. A small section of the original boxed eave survives adjacent to the verandah.

The dining hall was extended during the mid-twentieth century by the addition of a building used as a DANCE HALL. This structure also was built of rendered brickwork. In plan this building is superficially sim ilar to the dining hall but it is crudely proportioned. As well it extended the form of the earlier building to the west to create an alcove for musicians and two storage spaces of the main floor space. There also is an L-shaped storage room at the end of the servery. This appears to have been, at first, part of a covered verandah that was constructed in 1884. It is shown on the contract plans of that time to be a simple screened area.

The building has modern, utilitarian detailing. The windows are horizontally shaped and steel-framed and there are ledged and braced doors. The roof is a separate hipped form covered in corrugated iron. It has boxed eaves matching those of the dining hall.





The internal fabric of the dining hall and dance hall is notable for the evidence of provides of the many changes which have been made to the buildings. In the DINING ROOM, the servery, for example, shows signs of its being reconstructed as a pantry in the 1880s and its subsequent enlargement. The original wall of the Inn is visible because of the considerable thickness of the sandstone and the presence of an engaged pier which defined its original extent. The fireplace surround in the earlier section of the building is a late Victorian replacement of the original. Possibly it was placed there during the 1884 refurbishment.

In the DANCE HALL the extent of the dining room is clearly visible though little fabric remains of it. Around the perimeter of the northern, western and eastern walls is a hand-run plaster cornice. The remnants of the original lath and plaster ceiling may be seen where the later fibrous plaster has collapsed due to storm damage. The former southern wall is defined by a bulkhead covering a beam supported on steel pipe columns. The floor at this point changes from wide shot boards to narrow and modern tongue and groove boarding.

The joinery, the skirtings, ceiling linings, windows and the like suggest that a major renovation was carried out at one time as does the discontinuity of the rear stone walling.

An exuberant Late Victorian timber screen devise has been incorporated into the stage alcove. It is not related stylistically to any other of the fabric in the complex and may have been brought to the site from another building at the time of construction of the dance hall. A timber bar at the back of the building does not appear to be contemporary or part of any modification that could be identified by this investigation. It is mid-Victorian in character.

When the building was inspected this area contained much loose building fabric. Some may have come from various portions of the building and should be investigated in the event of any reconstruction or restoration.




4.4 Building No. 3: Bar and Billiard Room


The bar and billiard room have their frontage to Waratah Road and are raised about two metres above that street level.. This extension to the original Inn was probably made in about 1878. It was attached to the eastern end of that building and replaced the earlier eastern wing. The style of the new building is "Regency". The walls are of sandstock bricks on a sandstone base. They are cement rendered and lined out with masonry jointing. Originally they were painted a stone colour.

The roof on this extension is hipped with boxed eaves. It has a segmental projection over the semi-circular bay. Originally shingled it is now covered with corrugated iron. A single chimney stack serves two back-to-back fireplaces which are placed on the wall which separated the bar and billiard rooms. It matches the form and detail of the earlier chimneys on the Inn. The eaves are boxed in a similar fashion to the earlier building but some sections of the fascia have been renewed with details that are different to the original. Stormwater disposal from the roof is at ground level and has led to severe deterioration of the fabric, particularly near the central wall.

The BAR ROOM is at the southern end. It has a large, centrally placed bay on the east and symmetrical projections at the northern and southern ends equal to the depth of the verandahs on the old Inn building. It has pairs of french doors opposite each other on the eastern and western walls. The french doors have gun stock frames and a high waist with flush beaded panels. The doorframe is beaded on the outside and is set into a recess in the wall. The bar room is built over a cellar. Small air vents, originally cast iron and now terra cotta, have been let into it from the cellar from the verandah on the bay.

The semi-circular bay in the bar is surrounded by an elegant curved verandah. It is supported on slender cast iron columns of the same design as those incorporated on the Inn's verandah. Radiating stop chamfered rafters are lined with beaded lining boards which are supported at the edge of the verandah by a modern replacement laminated curved edge beam. The rafters accentuate the curved lines of the verandah. It is roofed with sheet iron with standing rolled seams. The floor is concrete but, probably, was first paved with sandstone flags.

Pairs of french doors with semi-circular headed glazing are symmetrically placed on either side of the bay. A set of original french doors open from the bar room to the verandah on the Inn in the western side and into the enclosed courtyard on the northern side.

Windows on the eastern facade have double arched sashes matching the details of the french doors. They are of the double hung type. A large so-called "venetian"window in the southern facade took advantage of the extensive views over the Menagerie and Pleasure Gardens to Botany Bay. It has been unsympathetically replaced with a modern window. The black steel window lintel has rusted severely and has caused the upper wall and roof to lift. The hardwood sills of the window


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frames on the eastern wall have been replaced. The curved sashes in the bay are in fair to poor condition. The main sills are of sandstone as as the.threshQlds. The latter have been replaced with different materials. .

At the northern end of the wing is the BILLIARD ROOM. It is separated from the bar by a wall with back-ta-back fireplaces. This possibly replicates the location of the rear wall of the earlier eastern wing on the Inn. Originally this room has a large, glazed lantern in the roof which may be seen in several Qineteenth century images. The new hotel was built if'l1he 1880s over part of thE? billiard room. It was supported in concealed structural steel supports and caused ·the removal of the glazed lantern. Details may survive in the roof void.

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View of the hotel frl)fl.J the south showing the extension for the bar (Illustrated Sydney News 20 January 1883)


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THE BAR has retained little of its original details and finish. The walls retain the set plaster finish except on the southern wall where the window has been replaced and the wall cement rendered. A major structural failure is apparent in the north-eastern corner of the room at which point there is considerable subsidence.

The ceiling originally was lath and plastered. Later this was covered with elaborate pressed metal panels inCluding friezes, cornices and borders. Both finishes have greatly deteriorated due to extensive water damage.

The floor is in very poor condition. It has varying widths of boards and uneven framing. The timber skirtings have a traditional profile. Much of the sub-structure over the cellar is in very poor condition.

The fireplace has been blocked off but the chimney breast is expressed on the north wall between the bar and the former billiard room.

The semi-octagonal panelled bar and pedimented back bar fixture on the western wall area twentieth century concoction made from door panels which came from a demolition site with no connection to this place. No evidence of the original bar now survives in the fabric. On either side of the back bar are a servery, which gives access to the front par!our, and an access door-Nay which originally led to the eastern wing and then the rear parlour. These also are fabricated from the same Queensland maple panels used in the bar fittings. A semi-circular timber bench is fitted into the bay and this gives a more accurate impression of the character of the bar as it was first built.

The internal appearance of THE BILLIARD ROOM has been compromised by changes to most of its internal finishes and the insertion of timber framed half height partitioning. The double hung double arched window joinery is in very poor condition. Some portions of the walls have been re-rendered and there is evidence of water damage to those surviving plaster finishes. There is severe cracking on the south-east corner which coincides with that in the bar and there is cracking also in the northern and eastern walls.

The timber floor has areas of damaged sub-floor support possibly due to dry rot. The room has timber skirtings of a traditional profile and with additional, large quad moulding against the floor.

The ceiling has been lined with a much later, probably 1930s, pressed metal panels and cornice. It is much rusted.

THE CELLAR under the bar can be reached from a trap door behind the bar or a ramped entry in the centre of the room below a pulley for loading and unloading barrels. It is an extensive area with a sloping abutment against the earlier building; the purpose of this is not apparent. The cellar is stone lined.


I I I I I 1 I· I I 1 I I I I I I I I I I I

--------------~~ - -~------ ~


4.5 Building No. 4: Kitchen Offices


The former kitchen offices were constructed in 1884 at the same time as the new hotel.. No contract drawings for this building have been found but those for the principal building are titled "New Building and Kitchen Offices to the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel". The external appearance of the building remains substantially intact. It is constructed from the. .same white silica sand brickwork as the hotel laid in solid 230mm work. Externally it is rendered and marked out in imitation of stonework. Long horizontal cracks in the walls is thought to indicate the presence of iron reinforcing rods.

Measured drawirms of 1920 show that, at that time, the ground floor was used as a large kitchen. At the eastern end was was a pantry and at the west a wash house and laundry. A dog-leg stair from the laundry gave access to the first floor where there were five attic rooms divided by timber partition walls.

A steeply pitched gabled roof is covered with corrugated iron. It has close boxed eaves and very deteriorated decorative "Gothic" bargeboards with timber finials. All are in poor condition. A large chimney stack passed through one of the attic rooms from the ovens and boilers below. The chimney has been demolished.

A verandah was located on the ground floor at the western end. This has been infilled.

On the ground floor and on either side of the central dividing wall in the gable ends of the first floor are double hung windows matching those on the hotel. Some of the window sashes have been replaced with modern materials and the black iron lintels are very corroded in parts. ..,..


I I I ,I I I I' I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Conservation Plan. SIf Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany


The interior of this building remains relatively intact with respect to Its original appearance The upper floor in timber-framed and lined throughout the series of rooms which are modified from those shown on the surviving plans,

The walls of the ground floor, though originally of painted brickwork, are now rendered with rendered skirtings, The exception is the former laundry area where the brickwork is still visible, It provides evidence of the damp that led to the other walls being rendered,

The ceilings are timber boarded with adjustable timber vents.

Doors are four panelled with decorative timber architraves similar to those in the hotel.

The large kitchen ovens and laundry fireplace and copper have substantial stone hearths and massive shaped stone lintels.




4.6 Building No. 5: Sir Joseph Banks Hotel


The dominant building on this site it was built in 1884-5 in High Victorian Italianate Boom style. It is constructed of white silica sand brickwork which is cement rendered. It features an impressive cement-rendered, break-front pedimented northern facade. It is modulated with heavily moulded decoration to window and door openings. The northern parapet is divided into bays with which have decorative pilasters and finials. Its central section is accentuated by a taller section with an open balustrade and a semi-circular pediment. This has been severely damaged by storms and the pediment has completely collapsed damaging the verandah below it. For small windows in the attic have the name SIR JOSEPH BANKS HOTEL formed from silhouette metal letters. The metal skillion roof is visible at the back of the building.

The northern elevation has a verandah on a raised plinth. It s two storeys in height supported on cast iron columns in the lower level and timber above. The ground floor of the verandah is covered with multi-coloured tessellated tiles. The verandah sub-base fill has subsided to some degree and this has dislodged some areas of the tiling and has created cracks in the base structure. The cast iron columns at this level support, apart from the upper level, the bull nosed verandah roofing. The balustrades also are of cast iron, however, some of the details such as brackets and friezes, have been removed from them. All of the cast iron is severely corroded due to the salt laden atmosphere. The timber framing has been extensively repaired and requires further remedial work. At the eastern end of the building is a section of open terrace which appears to be a later extension to the original verandah. At the western end of a brick wall and steps which were built in the twentieth century, in a manner unsympathetic to the earlier building, to accommodate separate tenancies in the building. At the back of the building a low covered verandah runs across the top of the ground floor openings. This verandah, and the building, is approached by a flight of steps flanked by stone plinths which, originally, were surmounted by gas lights.

The side and rear elevations are simpler in detail to that of the front of the building. The level of decoration diminishes from the front to the back. On the east and west elevations the decorative string courses finish in tall moulded chimneys.

The rear elevation is quite plain with the exception of the central arched stair landing window. This has applied decoration. Much of the lower section of this elevation has been enclosed by twentieth century infill which houses toilets and laundries.

The window and door joinery throughout is original. There are double hung windows and french doors with glazed side lights and highlights.

The building always has been painted, originally in a stone colour and, later, in stronger colours. Much of the later nineteenth century colour scheme remains visible in areas protected by the verandah.


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I I I I I I I I I I I I I



The plan of the hotel is virtually symmetrical around the central hall which is tiled. This extends from the front to the back where there is the main timber staircase. . This staircase is elaborately carved and turned. It rises in a simple double rise from the ground to the first floor where there is a second vestibule area. A second, less elaborate stair rises in a dog led to a landing on the second floor. This gives access to two small attic rooms and roof top look-out which once was used to view the horse racing.

There is a hierarchy of spaces and finishes as the rooms progress from the middle and front to the rear. On the ground floor two sets of reception rooms flank the hall. These are the main rooms in the building. At the front are drawing rooms with bay windows and french doors leading to the verandah. Behind are dining rooms. The two are separated by elaborate sets of panelled timber and partly glazed folding doors.

On the first floor are two large rooms at the front of the building each with bay windows. These were drawing rooms. There were a number of en-suite rooms. The two original bathrooms were located at the rear accessible from the hallway. All the bathrooms retain early finishes and fittings. Later an internal toilet block was created out of the rear bedroom in the south-western corner.

The major variant to the strict symmetry of a second timber access staircase at the eastern end of the building. This connected the private rooms of the manager's suite on both floors.

The wall and ceiling finishes and joinery details are relatively uniform throughout. The level of detail varies according to the prominence of importance of the space. A substantial amount ofthe interior fabric is intact and in fair to good condition. However, some areas of the building have been greatly affected by water penetration and lack of maintenance. All walls and ceilings are finished in a Calsomine paint finish. Many of the principal rooms retain joinery that is grained and varnished. Some secondary areas have painted joinery in two tones. Plaster detailing is not elaborate; generally it is restricted to the prinCipal rooms.

Fireplace surrounds generally are marble and appropriate to the period, however, there is evidence that some of the elements are replacements of the originals and date from the second decade of the twentieth century. One example of a marbleised timber fire surround exists on the former manager's suite.


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OFFICES TO THI SIR vOSEPH BANKS HorEL

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Conservation Plan. Sir Joseph Banks Botany

4.7 Building No. 6: The Toilet Block

This is a small, free-standing octagonal buildin'g. It was constructed as part of the 1884 development and appears to have been the only toilet facility associated with the hotel. Probably chamber pots were serviced for the rooms in the hotel and, possibly, other less permanent privies were associated with the pleasure grounds and the race course. It is built of solid brickwork which is rendered and lined out in imitation of stonework, It has a sandstone base.

The original high pitched octagonal roof has been replaced by a low pitched timber framed structure. This is likely to date from the 1920s.

Four toilet pan compartments surround a central urinal. They have timber framed doors and louver:ed ventilation panels,

The building is in a very poor condition with severe corrosion of the steel lintels and wall reinforcement The early joinery has deteriorated as well.



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SECTION 5.0 ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT

An archaeological resource may add to or extend knowledge of the development and use of the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, it may amend or confirm our understanding of the place and it may provide information for which no other evidence is available or is likely to be available. At the very least it is likely to provide an archival resource which should be added to that contained in the building or which is recorded during processes of change. The relatively limited archival information which is available for the site highlights the importance of the contribution that could be made by archaeological evidence. The latter may be contained within or under the building or in the grounds surrounding it.

5.1 Within or Under the Building

The developed complex of the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel is the most valuable relic of the evolution of the site in that it contains within its fabric evidence of all phases of development. Thus it may be said to be an archaeological artefact and, in the same way that a site is recorded as it is excavated, information contl3ined within the building that is revealed or removed as part of a development process should be recorded to an archival standard.

Apart from this above ground resource, however, the area under the building is likely to yield evidence of past development. In particular, evidence of two palladian style wings on the eastern and western facades of the original inn may be preserved as sub-floor archaeological evidence. The western wing, a dining area, has a remnant wall preserved in Building 2 but beneath the servery and verandah may be additional evidence of the structure. The site of the eastern wing has been subsumed by the bar and its cellar. The excavation for the cellar may have removed evidence of the earlier structure, unless the cellar or an earlier version of it was part of that wing. Investigation of this area may determine the relationship of these buildings and uncover evidence of the single-storey eastern wing. The alteration of the dining hall in the twentieth century by the extension for a dance hall may have produced sub-floor relic of the earlier building.

There are very few plans or references to indicate the position of any other service or other buildings which may have been directly associated with the first Inn. A small sketch of 1854 suggests that several out-buildings may have been located to the north and north-east of the principal building and a small extension to the south of the 1850 dining room. For this reason the sub-floor areas of the internal courtyard, the billiard room and the twentieth century additions made to the dining room (Building 2) on its southern side should all be considered to be of archaeological potential. As well, drawings of the mid-1850s suggest that some out-buildings may have occupied the land immediately next to the 1850 dining room. For this reason the area under the kitchen should be considered to be potentially sensitive.




Finally, a portion of the billiard room of c.1876 has been subsumed by the construction of the 1884 hotel and would lie under the south-east corner.

All of the land in the immediate area of the earlier Inn should be considered to have potential for evidence of services and landscape improvements.

5.2 Surrounding the Buildings

The use of the land surrounding the hotel with respect to specific locations of items is largely unknown. There is only one plan of the site, probably from the later 1880s, and with few exceptions all of the buildings and features documented by it lie outside or largely beyond the boundaries of the current curtilage. These include the stables, the pavilion, club and several unidentified out-buildings now in the area of the Sir Joseph Banks Park. Only a small portion of the stables, to the immediate east of the front verandah may survive, but this is considered to be unlikely due to the impact of the subdivision. A small, rectangular building to the south-east of the hotel, its origin and use unknown, may have left remnant evidence in the garden. The grandstand attached to the western side of the hotel has left clear evidence in the form of a building platform visible on the ground and what may be a remnant wall running east-west in the area that was the back of the stand.

Most of the identifiable features associated with the pleasure grounds, the foot-race track, pony race track! cricket ground and gardens lie outside the curtilage of the hotel. Drawing of the mid-1850s indicate that, within the grounds, surrounding the hotel, were a variety of structures particularly to the west of the principal first inn. There is no evidence of them now to be seen at the surface. The site of the cottage which was located to the east of the inn is likely to be encompassed by the road. There is no evidence to identify where the animal enclosures for the menagerie were located within the site. A formal flight of steps which led from the southern side of the hotel down the hill may have left remnant archeological evidence.


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DINING ROOM built 1850, now virtually demolished

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Anniversary Street, Botany. Plan showing the early deVelopment phases of the site.



5.3 Conclusions

In summary, it may be concluded that archaeological evidence could be contained within the site with respect to:

• evidence of the western wing attached to the original Inn to serve as a dining area in the 1840s may be found beneath the servery and verandah;

• evidence of the eastern wing, possibly original, may be found as part of the cellar beneath the bar;

• evidence of several out-buildings which may have been located to the north and north-east of the principal building and a small extension to the south of the 1850 dining room may be located in the sub-floor areas of the internal courtyard, the billiard room and the twentieth century additions made to the dining room (Building 2) on its southern side. Some evidence of the dining room may be contained beneath the dance hall;

• evidence of out-buildings or an out-building, present by the mid-1850s, in the area of the current kitchen block;

• evidence of a portion of the billiard room of c.1876 under the south-east corner of the 1884 hotel;

• evidence in the immediate area of the earlier inn of services and landscape improvements that relate to the use and development of the place during the period up to the extension of the hotel in 1884;

• evidence of a small portion of the stables, to the immediate east of the front verandah may survive, but this is considered to be unlikely due to the impact of the subdivision;

• evidence of a small, rectangular building to the south-east of the hotel, its origin and use unknown, may have left remnant evidence in the garden;

• evidence of the grandstand attached to the western side of the hotel is likely to be retained in the ground and may encompass a remnant wall;

• evidence of services and landscape improvements of the later years of the nineteenth century and twentieth century may survive in the ground surrounding the hotel including a formal flight of steps on the southern side of the hotel;

• specific sites cannot be determined for a variety of out-buildings which are known to have existed close the hotel for the gardens and the zoo;

• many of the sites of elements such as the race tracks, pavilion and gardens may be shown to lie outside the current curtilage.


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1834 GRANT TO THOMAS KELLEIT 75 ACRES FRONTING BOTANY BAY

'YORK LODGE' PROPERTY

ORIGINAL HIGH WATER LINE _~ __

BOTANY BAY

COMPOSITE PLAN SHOWING ORIGINAL LAND GRANT & RELATIVE CURTILAGES OF THE HOTEL SITE IN 1884 AND IN 1998 BASED ON ARCHlV AL PLANS.

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SECTION 6.0 ANAL VSIS OF EVIDENCE

The preceding sections have presented the evidence which may be drawn from archival sources and the fabric of the site as it may be observed above the ground and predicted within the ground to interpret the development of this place from the 1840s to the present day. With reference to the principal historical phases the following sections define what has now been identified to survive from each of those principal periods of development and, where appropriate, what no longer remains on the site.

6.1 Thomas Kellet's Inn: 1834 -1846

The full extent of the original land holding has been severely curtailed leaving only a fraction of the more than twenty acres which once were attached to the Inn.

There is no evidence of the pre-European landscape although the green space contained within Sir Joseph Banks Park provides a link, if not a visual connection, to the bay which, at that time, had a shoreline much closer to the hotel.

There is no identifiable evidence of the pleasure grounds or gardens which may have commenced in Kellet's time.

Evidence offacilities provided for water-sports, if they survive, lie outside the curtilage of the site.

The Inn constructed in 1844 survives in both storeys with much of the fenestration intact although some elements of joinery, including the front door, have been replaced by later examples or modified to a different form. Evidence remains of elements which have been removed, for example, the shutters. The verandah is an 1870s replacement of the original. Internally the plan and much detailing and joinery including the stair survives.

Evidence of two wings at the western and eastern end of the Inn may survive as archeological relics.

Evidence of out-buildings, services and landscape improvements in the immediate area of the Inn may survive as archaeological relics and deposits.

6.2 8eaumont's Extensions: 1846 -1861

As before, the full extent of the grounds surrounding the hotel have been curtailed to the present small curtilage. This precludes evidence of the road to the south made by Beaumont to provide greater access to the hotel.

There is no evidence of the pleasure grounds that lay to the south of the hotel.


---------------~



Archaeological features of elements contained within the pleasure grounds as well as for the zoological gardens may be contained within the current curtilage. It is impossible to determine any specific sites.

Any extant evidence of water sports provided by Beaumont would fall outside the present curtilage.

The large dining room constructed in 1850 remains although it has been modified by the extension of a twentieth century dance hall. It incorporates elements of an earlier western wing and retains some features of its original construction but most of the interior has been modified during the later years of the nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth century. Archaeological evidence of the room may survive below the dance hall.

Evidence of several out-buildings of the c.mid-1850s may survive as archaeological deposits and relics in sub-floor areas of the hotel.

The site of a cottage located to the east of the Inn is likely to fall within the road.

6.3 Moyse, Mitchell, Maloney and Neale: 1862 -1874

There is no identifiable evidence of any improvements made to the grounds during this period for either the soft landscape or the several amusements.

The sites of most sporting features such as the bowling green and archery course are unknown. The site of the cricket oval lies outside the present curtilage of the hotel.

It is possible that some additions and changes observed in the buildings earlier than this date are a product of this period of occupation but no specific elements have been identified during this investigation.

There are no identifiable structures added to the site in this period.

There are no specific archaeological sites identified for this period although some provisions for services might be expected.

6.4 Francis Smith: 1875-1893

There are no identifiable elements of the pleasure grounds or gardens within the site although, some evidence of the formal steps from the southern facade of the hotel to the bay may survive as archaeological relics.

The bar added in c.1876 survives largely intact although only the semi-circular bench around the window is an original fitting. The bar and back-bar are possibly later nineteenth century additions or replacements. Little of the other joinery and detailing survive and there have been unsympathetic additions and replacements, for example, of the southern window.

I ' Wendy Thorp & Robert Staas for Clarin Development PIL Page 42

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The billiard room adjoining the bar survives in part although its northern end was destroyed by the construction of the new hotel in 1884. Some elements of the lost portion of the building may survive as archaeological evidence. The original lantern roof was removed in 1889.

The new two-storey hotel constructed in 1884 survives largely intact although there are areas of infill.

The kitchen wing may have been built at this time or a little later. Both the exteriors and interiors remain relatively intact.

The toilet also may have been built at this time or a little later. The plan and details remain but the roof has been replaced, probably in the 1920s.

The site of the foot-race track and associated grandstand has been subsumed by Sir Joseph Banks Park.

The site of the pony-track has been subsumed by residential development to the north of the hotel.

The site of a grandstand built on the western side of the new hotel in the later 1880s is likely to reveal archaeological evidence of the structure. A remnant wall may survive here.

Most of the other out-buildings including a large pavilion and a club-house lie outside the current curtilage of the site.

6.5 In the Hands of the Bank: 1894-1907

There are no identifiable elements within the grounds that may be dated to this period.

There are no specific structures built or added to existing buildings that may be identified to derive from this period.

Some of the modifications made to the interiors of the existing buildings may derive from this period including wall vents and some pressed metal ceilings.

There are no archaeological sites identified for this period.

6.6 Subdivision and the Olympic Recreation Grounds: 1908 -1929

The land which now surrounds trhe house derives from the subdivision made in this period.




The environment surrounding the hotel, including the streets and many of the houses, derives from this period. The new Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, which superseded the former establishment in 1921, survives on Botany Road.

Some elements within the garden, for example the palm trees, may derive from this period but there are no surviving elements of the items such as tables and seats provided for the picnic grounds.

The Sir Joseph Banks Park to the south of the hotel was established in this period on land subdivided from the former grounds of the estate.

Some of the internal modifications to the existing buildings, finishes and joinery may derive from this period.

The timber infill to provide toilets and laundries, in part derives from this period.

The remnant fence and gates at the front of the hotel were moved in this period from Botany Road to their current site. .

6.7 The Rutley Family 1930-1968

Most of the elements in the garden are likely to date from this period of occupation.

Much of the patching, infill and alterations to the interiors, including timber partitioning to create small flats, derives from this period.

The dance-hall extension to the dining room was made in this period.

6.8 A Singular Historical Item

Apart from some infill, patching and minor modification this period has not made a substantial contribution to the current form of the hotel.

Plans following this section illustrate the principal elements of the building and their place in the evolution of the complex.


- - -

\

Reroofed c 1940

- - - - - -1940's access stair to ground floor unit

-

r-------------I I I I I I I

Location of former grandstand structure demolished c 1920's, and indicated by earth platform

Stonewall on brick foundations c 1920's

Brick chimney-> repaired with early bricks

Timber framed,.... I!!:!~~ Laundry c }.939

1940's Toilet infill

- - - - -•

Relocated cast iron gates

Gas lights removed from stone piers

SIR JOSEPH BANK'S HOTEL 1884

3 storey rendered brick building

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COURTYARD

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VERANDAHr~

1940'~ -> Toilet infill

- - - - - -

Verandah extended to eastern side of hotel

ORIGINAL BILLIARD ROOM c 1876 I Lantern roof removed 1889

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KITCHEN EAST WING SHOWN DOTTED

'/ BAR

SITE OF EARLY TIMBER STABLING I BUILDINGS DEMOLISHED 1883 L __ KITCHEN, OFFICE~A TIIC

ROOMS OVER, \ 1&84

c 1876 Originai fittings replaced c 1920

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OLD SIR JOSEPH BANKS INN 1844

Two Storey Stone Verandah Reconstrllcted

Window replaced c 1960

Approx position --> * of flagstaff

n INTER WAR 0 1 2 l. 6 8 10m

DANCEHALLADDITIO~~------------__________________________ ~ ____ ~E~~~;;~~;t .. ~~~! To Original Dining Room, Single Storey _

SIR JOSEPH BANK'S HOTEL Anniversary Street, Botany.

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SECTION 7.0 ASSESSMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

7.1 Assessment Criteria

The criteria used to assess significance are those defined by the Heritage Office being the qualitative aesthetic, historic, scientific and social values and the quantitative, rare and representative. This assessment addresses the place and its individual components. A colour-coded plan following this section identifies spaces within individual elements and facades and the degree of significance assessed for each one.

7.2 Assessment of the Place

7.2.1 Historic Significance

Other than industrial enterprises the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel was one of the earliest and most influential developments in the Botany area. Commencing with a land purchase in 1834 the first hotel was constructed in 1844 and, with several substantial additions, it operated as a public business up to the early decades of the twentieth century. The fabric contained in this building is tangible evidence not only of the growth of this business but of the development of Botany. It is evocative of the qualities of the natural environment which were valued during the nineteenth century for their recreational opportunities and health-giving properties.

The later history of the hotel and the changes made to its fabric are illustrative of the evolution of the suburb during the twentieth century particularly the residential development of the 1920s onwards. Jt is one of the most substantial and well-known landmarks of development in the southern metropolitan area and is associated with persons who have made substantial contributions to that development including Francis Smith and Thomas Kellet.

The impact of this place on the area was immense. It attracted thousands of people to special events as well as to the established gardens and, earlier, the menagerie as well as sporting facilities and several amusements. The variety of its attractions was unparalleled and, particularly, professional sport owed much to the facilities and support provided by the hotel.

It became a community centre for local events and celebrations and as a meeting place. The energy generated by this business provided the impetus for the development of other businesses and works. Later it provided land for residential and commercial subdivisions and park-land.

7.2.2 Aesthetic Significance

The complex contains substantial components of all periods of development including the original 1844 hotel as well as major additions made in the 1850s, 1870s and


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1880s and during the twentieth century. It provides representative examples of Georgian, Victorian Regency and Italianate architecture as well as more utilitarian service buildings of several periods. The toilet is a rare and possibly unique design of the later nineteenth century.

All components contain detailing, finishes and elements representative of each period in workmanship and craftsmanship including woodwork, paint, plaster work and stained glass. Some of these are of high aesthetic and technical merit. The building is a substantial and rare example of a nineteenth century hostelry that exhibits change from the small beginnings of the first half of the nineteenth century to the developed complex at the end of that century. The changes made to the place during the twentieth century are of lesser aesthetic value but are descriptive of the use and history of the place in its later years. It provides a powerful, if incongruous, element in the residential streets cape but, in its incongruity, it evokes the scale of the enterprise which once occupied this land.

7.2.3 Social Significance

This place has played a crucial role in the development of Botany and during the nineteenth century it was one of the best known landmarks in Sydney. It has been a focus for community celebration and relaxation and remains one of the best known historic places in the southern metropolitan region.

7.2.4 Scientific Significance

The site is likely to contain archaeological evidence of structures, particularly around the hotel, features, deposits and relics. Identification and recording of these features will provide a valuable source of information for a site that is largely undocumented.

'7.2.5 Rare and Representative Values

Hotels have been a part of the Australian landscape since the earliest years of settlement, the first hotel licence being issued in 1796. In 1798 alone thirty-one licences were issued for hotels in NSW. Essentially these were drinking houses which provided food and accommodation for travellers. Frequently the hotel in each town became the focus of community celebrations and host to official and important visitors. By the 1840s each large town had several hotels; Hobart, for example, had six hotels on the waterfront as well as several others in the main settlement.

The competition provided by so many hoteliers caused them to devise attractions or entertainments to encourage customers, particularly to those establishments on the outskirts of town. The establishment of the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel and its pleasure and zoological gardens was part of this well established tradition. At the same period other gardens were formed in association with hotels, the best known being those of the Cherry Tree Inn and the Cheshire Cheese, both at Parramatta. The White Conduit Hotel at Rushcutters Bay had shady walks, arbours and fish ponds. The Sir Joseph Banks Hotel was the only establishment to have a private zoo; the elephants were always featured in advertisements. Some places specialised in providing venues for


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singing. Less reputable places provided cock-fighting, dog-fights and even rat-fighting. The Sir Joseph Banks Hotel remains one of several inns in New South Wales of this period or earlier including the Macquarie Arms at Windsor and the Hero of Waterloo in Millers Point, Sydney.

The renewal of the hotel in the 1880s, with its huge new two-storey principal building, out-buildings and additions to the gardens and sports facilities, was also part of a well established tradition. The immense wealth in the several colonies during the 1870s and 1880s and the huge numbers of immigrants and visitors encouraged the development not only of hotels but of large portions of each city. In NSW in 1870 there were 2182 hotels and ten years later 3829. Hotels are perhaps the mostexpressive of the period with examples in nearly every major town, most following the diagnostic architectural features including the use of cast iron panels, bull nose verandahs and an often extravagant use of decorative finishes and features such as stained glass. The Marble Bar in Sydney was an outstanding example. The Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, in its extended form, is representative of this trend. It could not, however, be said to be one of the best examples; the Australia Hotel in Martin Place designed by the Blackets in 1891, is considered to be one of the finest as were the Metropole and Sydney Hotel each boasting several hundred rooms. The extravagances were brought to an end by the financial crash of the 1890s.

The Sir Joseph Banks Hotel was unusual in the later part of the nineteenth century in that it retained and expanded its earlier nineteenth century pleasure gardens, in a way, providing a foretaste of the resort hotels such as the Hydro-Majestic in the Blue Mountains. The Carrington Hotel at Katoomba provides probably the best comparable example of the same period.

The Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, therefore, may be seen to have been established and evolved as part of well established traditions of hostelry as well as reflecting the economises and the principal architectural tastes at its times of change. In this it is a representative example of its type. It is rare, however, in that the one site contains substantial evidence of the evolution of the hotel from the small and simple Georgian inn to the large and ornate Victorian establishment of the later decades of the nineteenth century as well as the decline of the latter in the changed circumstances and public tastes of the twentieth century.


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7.3 Statement of Cultural Significance

The Sir Joseph Banks Hotel was one of the earliest and most influential developments in the Botany area and continued in operation as a successful public business up to the early decades of the twentieth century. The fabric contained in the building not only is tangible evidence of the growth of this business but of the development of the region. The energy generated by this enterprise provided the impetus for the development of other businesses and works and, later, land from it was used to support the development of residential and commercial lots and parkland. It is one of the most significant historical landmarks in the southern metropolitan region and is associated with people who contributed to development there including Francis Smith and Thomas Kel\et.

The hotel developed within the parameters of well-established hotel traditions, one of several that offered gardens and recreational opportunities and in this it is representative of its type. The extent and variety of the attractions offered by this hotel, however, was unrivalled; they included a zoo (arguably the first in the country), extensive gardens, dance halls and facilities for many sports. Professional athletics owes much to the sponsorship of the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel. For the district it became the focus for community events and celebrations and was one of the best known land-marks in Sydney. Few, if any of these elements remain, but some archaeological evidence may be found of them as is likely to be the case for buildings which once occupied sites close to the hotel.

The building is a substantial example of a nineteenth century hostelry that exhibits change from the small, early nineteenth century inn to the developed complex of the twentieth century. It contains a sample of fine Georgian, Victorian Regency and Italianate buildings as well utilitarian service buildings of several periods. In this it is rare. The later nineteenth century toilet may be a unique example. Many of the materials and finishes employed in the buildings display a high level of craftsmanship. All have been modified to some degree and the changes made to the hotel during the twentieth century generally are of lesser aesthetic value but they are descriptive of the later use and history of the site particularly its association with the Rutleyfamily.

The land surrounding the hotel is greatly curtailed from the original holding and the large hotel is now a somewhat incongruous element in the residential street. However, in its incongruity, it is evocative of the scale of the business that once operated from it and of the environment that was so valued during the nineteenth century for its recreational opportunities and health-giving qualities. The fence defining the front boundary is expressive of the constrained circumstances of the early twentieth century; it is formed from cannibalised elements of several fences removed from their original locations and re-erected here.


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7.4 Assessment of Elements

7.4.1 Building No. 1: The Old Sir Joseph Banks Inn

The original Inn is exceptionally significant as a rare, surviving and relatively intact Georgian-style Inn illustrative of the workmanship and detailing of the period. It is even more unusual in that it is in close proximity to Sydney in a densely developed suburban area. The inn is the seminal element of a complex that was one of the earliest, best known and most influential in the development of the region throughout the nineteenth century. After it was built the Inn became a landmark in the district for forty years when it then became part of the expanded complex. It provided a focus for community events and retains a special interest. It interprets the past natural and introduced environment which was valued for recreational purposes and its health-giving qualities. The orientation of the building may be used to interpret the important relationship between the bay and the hotel and the gardens and other amusements which once occupied the space between the two.

The building is significant at State level and is substantially intact in form and detail.

Aesthetic Values

The building is typical of its period and ·demonstrates symmetrical Georgian design in its form and in the refined detail of its component parts. Despite some modification and renovation the structure remains substantially intact. It includes examples of early Colonial workmanship and building construction; this is increasingly rare and unusual.

Historic Values

The presence of this building was one of the seminal influences in the development of Botany and remained its pre-eminent attraction until the later years of the nineteenth century when it became part of the larger complex. It aids an interpretation of the environment of Botany as it was during the nineteenth century. The orientation of the building may be used to interpret the important relationship between the bay and the hotel and the gardens and other amusements which once occupied the space between the two. .

Scientific Values

The building is a valuable archival resource for the building methods of the period of its construction as well as those changes which have been made to it after its construction.

Social Values

The building has been identified by special interest groups as one of value for the community and for the State. In the past it provided a focus for community events



Conservation Plan Joseph

and functions. It IS perhaps the best known of the nineteenth century recreational grounds or resorts.


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7.4.2 Building No. 2: The Dining Room Extension and Dance Hall

The remnant fabric of this building, dating from 1850, represents the first substantial change made to the Inn and interprets the growing success of the place as a recreational venue. It was a modest utilitarian building of the period of little aesthetic merit. The significance of the building has been compromised by the addition of a greatly unsympathetic extension during the middle years of the twentieth century although this work is, in itself, illustrative of the later history and associations of the place. Archaeological evidence may contribute to a more precise record of the appearance and use of this building.

The building has historical value but is assessed to be of relatively low significance. This is principally due to its ability to interpret that history or the characteristics of its period has been compromised by unsympathetic and aesthetically inferior additions.

Aesthetic Values

The mid-nineteenth century portion of this building is typical of modest service buildings of that time in its placement in relation to the principal building and in its simpler architectural treatment. The internal changes made to this building and the extension for the dance hall have compromised the nineteenth century detailing and are in themselves of limited aesthetic quality.

Historic Values

The principal value of this building is in its demonstration of the growing popularity and success of the establishment which required the addition of a substantial room to meet demand. It provides a "signpost" in the historical evolution of the site.




7.4.3 Building No. 3: The Former Bar and Billiard Room

The addition to the Inn of the bar and billiard room is historically important in that it illustrates a transitional period of success, demand and scale of operations between the use of the old Inn and the introduction of the luxurious new hotel in 1884. It marks the beginning of the entrepreneurial style of Francis Sm ith who was to bring the place to its greatest level of success during the later years of the nineteenth century. Aesthetically, although the building has undergone modification, for example, through the loss of the lantern roof over the billiard room, this remains a very fine example of Victorian "Regency"-style design, craftsmanship and technology. The form of the semi-circular bay and its elegant radiating verandah is a rare and unusual example. It is indicative, also, of the changing tastes and and more exuberant styles of the later years of the nineteenth century particularly in contrast to the restrained simplicity of the earlier buildings. Due to its unusual form it is, perhaps, one of the best known features of the building and has contributed to the specific sense of place and identity of the hotel.

The building is historically important and rare at a State level; its integrity is comprom ised but not to the degree that it is incapable of demonstrating those aspects for which it is important.

Aesthetic Values

The external appearance of the Bar, in particular is a rare and exceptional example of the Regency style of architecture as it was used during the later Victorian period. It demonstrates craftsmanship and technology of a high order of merit. Despite the modifications to the billiard room and the western wall it retains a strong sense of its original appearance. The interior is compromised to a degree by later modifications and fit-out, but it is still capable of demonstrating the original function and character of this space. It demonstrates more elaborate tastes and styles contrasting with the severe simplicity characteristic of the earlier building.

Historic Values

The building represents an important transitional phase in the development of the site from the smaller and simpler requirements of the first establishment to the luxurious appointments of the second hotel. It was the first change made by Francis Sm ith who was to raise the site to its greatest level of fame and popularity at any time.

Social Values

The bar, due to its unusual form, is perhaps the best known feature of the building, featuring in most illustrations of the place. It contributed to the specific sense of place and identity of the hotel.


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7.4.4 . The Kitchen Offices

This building is a typical utilitarian out-building of the later nineteenth century, secondary in its style and placement to the principal hotel from which it was set back to become a less visually dominant element. It was one of the components added to the place during the substantial later nineteenth century development, and thus can aid in interpreting the success of the place in this period. Principally, it provides a glimpse of the IIbehind-the-scenesll management of a large and successful Victorian resort hotel in the later years of the nineteenth century

The building has some historical interest and is representative of its type at a Regional level but its integrity has been compromised to some degree through changes made to it during the twentieth century.

Aesthetic Values

The building is a typical service building of the later years of the nineteenth century. Its location, behind the main hotel, and its simpler architectural form and detailing is representative and illustrative of its role. It has been compromised to some degree by wall rendering and changes made during the early part of the twentieth century.

Historic Values

The building is a substantial component of the later nineteenth century development of the site particularly illustrative of the IIbehind-the scenesll management of a successful Victorian period resort.


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7.4.5 Building No. 5: The Sir Joseph Banks Hotel

This late nineteenth century elaborate Italianate building is a grand example of its type and period. It has survived substantially intact both inside and out. It contains a number of highly significant spaces which demonstrate the tastes and needs of the period and, in details, it exhibits a high level or craftsmanship. The external fabric is representative rather than rare but it is remarkable for its isolated location, in the context of the Sydney metropolitan area, and its incongruous setting in an inter-war suburban residential subdivision made even more obvious by the scale of this building in relation to those around it. The incongruity interprets the massive change that has came about in Botany from the period of its construction to the present day. It is highly evocative of its time and the success and scale of the resort for which it was built to accommodate. It was an important community space and attracted thousands from all over Sydney for annual events and in this it was one of the best known holiday destinations of its time. It remains one of the best known "historic" places of the region It has particular associations with the development of professional sporting events especially athletics ..

The building is historically important and is representative at a State level. It is substantially intact.

Aesthetic Values

The elaborate Italianate design of the facade and the principal interiors establish the level of quality and importance of the place. It is notable for the high levels of workmanship in the various finishes and fixtures including stained glass, tiling, cast iron, plaster and timber elements. It is representative of this class of buildings but rare in the substantial amount of fabric which has survived and which is capable of conservation and restoration.

Historic Values

The building demonstrates the immense success of this place during the later years of the nineteenth century. Like the earlier hotel it became a landmark and continued to influence the development of the area. It has important associations with the development ,particularly, of professional athletic events as well as other sports.

Social Values

By the end of the nineteenth century the hotel was one of the best known and most frequently visited places in Sydney. It provided a venue for community events and was the scene for school outings, union and shop picnics amongst many others. It gave a focus and place for celebrations. It remains one of the best known "historic" places in the area.


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7.4.6 Building No. 6: Toilet Block

The toilet block is a utilitarian structure with a rare design although this has been compromised by the loss of the original roof form and later works and modifications. It was built during the later years of the nineteenth century, possibly as part of the 1884, development but no explanation has been found for its unique form.

The building is rare at State level but its integrity has been substantially compromised by modifications and loss of the original roof form.

Aesthetic Values

The building has an unusual plan which has no other known counterpart. The reason or purpose for this plan is not known.

Historic Values

It was built during the later years of the nineteenth century, possibly part of the 1884 redevelopment of the place, although its specific associations are unknown.



Conservation Plan. Joseph Banks Botany

7.4.7 Palisade Fence

The fence comprises wrought iron and cast iron railings, three cast Iron gate posts and four gates It is likely that elements of this group came from the principal Botany Road entrance particularly the cast iron gate posts, the other elements may have come from any part of the site, All have been moved to the present location as the land surrounding the hotel was reduced from ItS original expanse, It IS a hybrid formed from cannibalising several now-demolished structures and it is In poor physical condition, The fence. provides definition for the front of the property but In ItS lack of symmetry and diverse elements its is expressive of the more constrained times experienced at the hotel during the early years of the twentieth century, The removal of the several elements from their onglnal POSitions has compromised their significance,

7.4.8 The Grounds

The land surrounding the buildings is a small fragment of the acreage which once was attached to this establishment and which supported the gardens, sporting and recreational facilities for which the hotel was famous, The open land to the south retains some sense of the formerly open environment but the small open space is principally indicative of the restrained circumstances of the early twentieth century. It is likely to contain some archaeological evidence of buildings and features which have since been demolished,


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SIGNIFICANT FACADE .-1

SIGNIFICANT FACADE

HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT

LEVEL OF SIGNIFICA~CE

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Archaeological Potential

Highly Significant

Significant

Lesser Significance

Insignificant

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SIR JO~EPH BANK'S HOTEL Anniversary Street, Botany

Ground Floor Plan

GENERAL LEVELS OF SIGNIFICANCE


LEVEL OF SIGNIFICANCE

Highly Significant

Significant

Lesser Significance

Insignificant

o 1 2 i. 6 e 10m ,.... d SIR JOSEPH BANK'S HOTEL

Anniversary Street, Botany First Floor Plan

GENERAL LEVELS OF SIGNIFICANCE



SECTION 8.0 ISSUES, CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

The preceding sections in this report contain the information that provides the essential facts of the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel's development, fabric, archaeological resource and setting as well as the reasons for its cultural significance. This detailed understanding supports the development of conservation policies for the site. The development of those policies, however, must also take into account constraints and opportunities that arise from several other issues. In this section all that information relevant to the development. of conservation policies for the former hotel s summarised and addressed in terms of the following:

• constraints arising from the Statement of Significance

• physical condition

• future development

• statutory considerations.



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8.1 Issues and Constraints Arising from the Statement of Significance

The significance of the former Sir Joseph Banks Hotel has been described in the preceding section. Principally it is the buildings within the curtilage that contribute to this significance although the archaeological resource may make a substantial contribution to defining and describing some elements of the past development of the place. The mature trees contribute to the amenity of the place but no elements of the landscape have been identified to be of significance with the exception of the gates and elements of the fence which are included in the PCO.

8.1.1 The Archaeological Resource

The potential for uncovering archaeological relics during the course of future work is high particularly under and in the area of the hotel buildings although no explicit sites here or for the rest of the curtilage have been identified with any certainty. The one exception is that of the former grandstand which was attached to the western side of the 1884 hotel. It is likely that any relics uncovered during the course of work will be of an age that requires management of them within the relics provision of the Heritage Act.

The most appropriate means of managing the potential archaeological resource is to prepare an archaeological management strategy based on the specific requirements of the development. The strategy should address the options of investigation and recording and monitoring and recording and identify a repository for any relics and which may be retrieved from the site.

8.1.2 The Setting

The land which surrounds the hotel is a fraction of what was once encompassed by it. It is a twentieth century subdivision containing a nineteenth century building constructed on a scale that reflects that much earlier generous property. It creates an incongruous statement in the inter-war residential streetscape and, while that incongruity has some historical interpretive value, the juxtaposition is detrimental to appreciating the qualities of the building. There needs to be a visual buffer to the hotel from Anniversary Street.

To the south the open parkland provides some concept of the nineteenth century vista and is an important element to be retained in any future development. Equally the view of the bar from Waratah Street should be maintained as it is one of the key components in establishing the sense of identity and place.

The boundaries of the site are now defined by portions of the fence and gates which once existed on Botany Road and a mixture of other elements, many unsympathetic to the buildings contained within them. It is important to provide a unified and appropriate boundary incorporating those elements of the fence and gates which are identified to be significant and are protected by the provisions of the Permanent Conservation Order.




None of the soft landscape elements have been identified to be of any significance although some of the palms are likely to date from the earlier years of the twentieth century and provide a link with the last years of the pleasure gardens. It is important to develop a planting scheme which will compliment the buildings and screen where necessary those views which are detrimental to the place. Where possible existing mature elements should be retained and used in the new scheme.

8.1.3 The Buildings

Ideally all of the buildings within the site should be maintained to retain the full scope of evidence with respect to the use of the place and the additions made to it over time. Where an adaptive re-use of the site may require removal of some elements to ensure a viable future for the majority those policies should be consulted which determine actions appropriate to the retention of significance. The assessment has established a clear hierarchy of significance with actions required which reflect those levels being:

• Highly Significant buildings, spaces or elements shall be retained and maintained; for example, the 1844 inn, most of the 1884 hotel and the bar bay;

• Significant buildings, spaces or elements to be maintained although consideration would be given to removal or alteration if there is no appropriate alternative or retention would or could adversely affect more significant fabric; for example, the toilet, kitchen, internal courtyard;

• Lesser Significant buildings, spaces or elements may be more radically adapted if, in doing so, no damage is done to fabric of significance; for example, the dance hall extension;

• Insignificant or intrusive fabric should be removed to recover the significance of the place, for example, the external toilets and laundries.

Decisions with respect to any works on the buildings must always take into account the impact of that work on the significance of the place, on the building and on the room or space. All change should be recorded prior to and during that work.

Reference should be made to the coloured plan accompanying the assessment of significance to determine the level of significance assessed for each element.


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CanseNatian Plan Sir Jaseph Banks Hatel, Batany

8.2 Issues Arising from the Condition of the Place

The existing buildings generally are in poor condition having been largely dis-used or under-used for over fifty years. Maintenance has been minimal and haphazard and the buildings are now suffering from, particularly, decaying joinery and cast iron, cracking, water penetration and subsidence amongst others. The location of these buildings close to a marine environment exacerbates the problems. The buildings will require a large programme of repair and restoration. On-going maintenance will be vital and provision w~1 need to made with the owners/managers to ensure that a regular schedule is undertaken by qualified trades-people. Reference will need to be made to the policies of this conservation plan to direct that work.

The fence is in poor physical condition and requires substantial conservation action. There is insuffici~nt material to create a full boundary fence to the property; it would be acceptable to cannibalise sections to create a symmetrical entrance. New fencing could be sought which would match the original elements or be sympathetic to them. The loss of significance arising from the relocation of these elements provides for a flexible approach to their future.

Wendy Tharp & Rabert Staas far Clarin Develapment PIL Page 60



8.3 . Issues Arising from Proposed Future Development

From the time of the original subdivision in the 1920s the size and nature of these buildings have been viewed as particularly difficult problems with respect to alternative uses. At least twice Council has made moves to demolish them and several investors have unsuccessfully tried to develop schemes which would allow for the development of the place within the context of maintaining the items of cultural significance.

The buildings are now in a perilous condition and require immediate, extensive and expensive works to ensure their longevity. The current proponent has identified a scheme whereby the majority of the buildings are retained and adapted for residential purposes, maintaining those spaces and elements of significance, and several new units are built to make to project financially viable. To enable those buildings to be constructed requires the demolition of the kitchen and toilet.

Both these buildings have been identified to be significant, the toilet more so because of its unique plan. Ideally items of lesser significance or no significance would have been identified for potential removal but no scheme has been identified which allows for this, for the construction of the necessary units and in a place that will have minimal visual and physical impact on those elements which have been identified to be of high significance. To ensure the survival of the majority of the site it appears that the removal of the two service buildings is the only option. If so, reference needs to be made to those policies which deal with the removal of fabric of significance.

Wendy Thorp & Roberl Staas for Clarin Development PIL Page 61

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8.4 Statutory Considerations

The item is the subject of a Permanent Con'servation Order which requires the Heritage Council of NSW to approve proposed additions and changes.

The site is also included as an item of environmental heritage in the Botany LEP.

Archaeological sites are subject to the provisions of the Heritage Act of NSW. t..~

Generally, the buildings will need to comply with the Building Codes of Australia and fire protection and egress requirements.



Conservation Plan:

SECTION 9.0 CONSERVATION POLICY

9.1 Philosophy


The purpose of the policies is to determine those actions which should be adopted and implemented in the development, care, maintenance and long-term use of the former Sir Joseph Banks Hotel buildings and site to ensure that its primary cultural significance is retained and enhanced. The principal objective is to ensure that the identified heritage values are maintained in the context of a viable future use for the buildings and grounds. The policies are intended to:

• ensure the retention of the significant fabric and character and the qualities and attributes of the principal buildings and various elements as well as the setting;

• encourage the use of appropriately qualified persons to carry out the management of the heritage items and to carry out the works which are required in the intervention and reconstruction of the building fabric;

• permit such adaptation, alterations and new works to take place which are consistent with the significance of the place and which may be necessary to allow economically viable new uses which are compatible with the architectural character and heritage significance;

• identify those elements which adversely effect the place and which should be modified or removed to enhance its significance;

• provide an approach to the long-term management, maintenance and repair or replacement of original and early significant building fabric which has deteriorated;

• allow co-ordination of the conservation needs of the building works with other constraints and requirements for the site;

• determine and define parameters for the new development within the curtilage of the heritage items and to assist with an appropriate landscape treatment of the setting.

Terms used in the policies are those defined in the Australia ICOMOS Charter for Conservation of Places of Cultural Significance (Burra Charter). The information informing these policies is set out in the preceding section. The policies are presented in italics. They may be preceded by information which helps to interpret them. Besides the policies are references to the relevant Articles of the Burra Charter.

The policies are addressed in the following order:

• Basis of Approach


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ConseNation Plan: Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany

• Conservation advice

• Future residential use and adaptation

• Curtilage issues

• Removal and/or alteration of significant fabric

• Services, safety measures and fire protection

• Maintenance and repair

• Intrusive elements

• Treatment of the external form and fabric

• Treatment of the internal planning and fabric

• Individual spaces, fabric and issues

• Roofing

• Ironwork ' ..

• Doors

• Windows

• Tiling

• Setting and Landscape



Conservation Plan: .sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany

9.2 Basis of Approach

The building complex is of considerable significance and should be managed with the highest level of expertise in order that its significance is retained, enhanced and interpreted. In order for this to occur all work to the place should be guided by appropriate levels of investigation and supported by evidence. The Burra Charter provides a sound and acceptable basis for such work and should be used and interpreted by qualified professionals throughout the development process.

Policy 1.1

The future conservation and development of the place should be carried out in accordance with the principles of the Australian ICOMOS Charter for the conservation of places of cultural significance (Burra Charter) as it was revised in 1988.

Policy 1.2

The Statement of Significance and schedule of significant spaces, fabric and elements contained in this plan together with any more detailed assessments of individual items undertaken in the future should be adopted as a basis for decision-making, planning and work on the place.

Policy 1.3

The policies and options presented in this conservation plan should be reviewed by the relevant authorities and the owner and, after any necessary adjustments, should be adopted as a guide to the future conservation and development of the place.

Policy 1.4

All reconstructive work should be made on the basis of demonstrable evidence. Conjecture, guesswork or prejudiced decision-making is not an acceptable option for significance fabric.

Policy 1.5

Retention, enhancement and retrieval of the cultural significance of the place should be adopted and implemented as opportunities arise, taking into consideration the needs of those using the place.

Policy 1.6

A procedure should be established for co-ordinated planning and decision-making between the owners, occupants and authorities with a responsibility for the well-being ofthe place. This procedure should ensure that decisions with respect to development are made in the context ofthe proposed total development of the site and its objective should be to make efficient and appropriate use ofthe buildings having regard to their


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significance and amenity The planning and decision-making procedure may need to be reviewed periodically to ensure its continued ability to meet the conservation objectives.

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ConselVation Plan: Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany

9.3 Conservation Advice

This conservation plan is a guide for the care and management of the place but it will be relatively ineffective unless it is interpreted and implemented by persons with relevant conservation expertise. Appropriate conservation advice is necessary to ensure that all development, including future changes of use, adaptation, alterations and additions, service installations/upgrading etc is compatible with the level of significance of the place and its individual components.

The special character and quality of the various buildings and the landscaped setting of the place has been affected in the past by the reduction of the land surrounding them, unsympathetic alterations and additions to the fabric, by inadequate maintenance, deterioration and structural failure arising from the poor care for the fabric as well as the natural processes of decay and weathering. Examples of these processes include:

• the unsympathetic retaining wall along the eastern boundary

• the partial demolition of the early dining room and the construction of the unsympathetically styled dance room area

• the unsympathetic additions in the central courtyard

• the failure of the bar and billiard room ceilings due to water ingress

• the loss of significance areas of cast iron detailing to the main verandahs

• the settlement of the tiled areas on the front verandah

• the collapse of the main pediment

• internal decay of plaster and timber detailing arising from water penetration.

Where technical advice is sought or construction/repair works are undertaken on significance features or fabric of the buildings it is important to use consultants and contractors with proven expertise in the relevant field of conservation-related work. Equally important is the continuity of conservation advice, avoiding ad hoc decision-making and inappropriate interpretation of these conservation policies.

Policy 2.1

Experienced professional advice should be sought for all conselVation, adaptation and repair works, proposals and programs throughout the complex. (Article 27).

Wendy Thorp & Roberl Staas for C/arin Development PIL Page 67



Policy 2.2 ,

Advice for and contractual work on significant components and fabric should be limited to those firms or consultants with proven expertise in the relevant conservation field (Article 27).

Policy 2.3

A collection of all archival material for this site should be copied and kept for reference by persons having responsibility for aspects of conservation of the place. Preferably this should be in a public archive and should include but not be restricted to the following:

• copies of all archival plans, specifications, reports and studies

• copies of all photographic and video recordings of the place

• a copy of this conservation plan and any subsequent specialist reports

• a maintenance plan for the place

• an itemised record of all future maintenance and changes to the place

• a record of all decisions taken in respect to the conservation of the place (Article 28).

Policy 2.4

There should be an ongoing commitment to make adequate financial resources available to prepare a professional interpretive strategy for the place which will explain the historic, social and architectural importance of the place. It should be prepared and implemented as part of the present redevelopment of the place.

Policy 2.5

There should be an ongoing commitment to make adequate financial resources available for the engagement of appropriate persons to provide experienced conservation advice where and when it is required (Article 27).

Policy 2.6

There should be an ongoing commitment to make adequate financial resources available for the development and implementation of a planned maintenance programme involving regular inspections, testing and servicing or repair of significance fabric.




9.4 Future Residential Use of the Buildings and Site Redevelopment

The buildings largely have been vacant for nearly three decades. This has led to SUbstantial deterioration of the fabric. They have been a severe drain on the financial resources of the owners. Several proposals have been made in the past to enable the complex to be adapted to a new use. All have failed due to poor or insufficient economic return. The present proposal has been made on the basis of research into the viability of a residential conversion of the buildings combined with the potential for additional residential units within the existing curtilage. Residential adaptation perhaps is the best option to ensure the conservation of the maximum amount of original fabric. Adaptation for most other uses may result in some further loss of heritage significance particularly for the important interiors of the buildings.

A flexible approach may be taken to the use of most spaces within the building but the planning process should ensure that the building retains as much as possible of its significant character and early fabric.

Opportunities for and constraints on the future development of the former Sir Joseph Banks Hotel highlight the need to make decisions for future change in the context of a co-ordinated and controlled plan for the whole complex.

Policy 3.1

The poliCies established by this document should be applied irrespective of whatever use is made of the site and its buildings in the future (Articles 2, 7).

Policy 3.2

It is a priority to retain the maximum amount of significant fabric. An adaptive re-use which enables this objective to be met should be favoured; residential adaptation is likely to be the most suitable adaptive re-use for this reason.

Policy 3.3

Changes in the structures of the significant original and early buildings should be restricted to those works which are essential to achieve the preferred adaptive re-use.

Policy 3.5

Should circumstances lead to a further change of use for the buildings new functions should be selected which are most compatible with the retention and recovery of the original character and identified cultural significance ofthe place (Articles 1. 10).

Policy 3.6

Proposed future uses which would require the introduction of services andlor structural alterations which would have a particularly adverse effect on the character




and/or heritage significance of the building and its interiors are unacceptable (Articles 1, 10).

Policy 3.7

Redevelopment of some of the site for new buildings is an acceptable form of action to ensure the conservation of the primary heritage item provided that any new development respects the scale, bulk and character of the original buildings and that an appropriate visual setting is maintained for the original and early buildings.

Policy 3.8

The name of the site should continue to define a strong connection with its former use. The IISir Joseph Banks Hoter, the name recorded on the principal facade, shall be retained despite the proposed change in the use of the site.

Wendy Thorp & Robert Staas for Clarin Development P/L Page 70

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9.5 Curtilage and Setting

The land surrounding the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel has been considerably reduced from its original acreage and the setting and environment have been greatly altered; this is largely due to the subdivisions of the twentieth century. The principal considerations for the future setting of the former hotel are the need for a visual buffer to the hotel building in Anniversary Street, the unobstructed view of the bar room from Waratah Street and the retention of an open aspect from the first Hotel over the form er Pleasure Gardens to the south of the site. It has been agreed by all heritage authorities that development to the west of the main building is an acceptable way of providing economic viability for the site, thus ensuring the conservation of the place.

Policy 4.1

An appropriate setting shall be established for the main buildings of the complex. It shall visually isolate them from both the existing residential buildings and the proposed new buildings along Anniversary Street. This separation shall involve an appropriate set-back from the western edge of the main hotel and the use of mature landscape elements as a visual buffer.

Policy 4.2

An boundary fence treatment incorporating the existing gates and appropriate to the style of the principal heritage building shall be constructed across the northern, southern and eastern boundaries of the site together with a sympathetic planting treatment to provide a setting for the building complex.


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9.6 Removal of Significant Fabric

Those studies carried out in conjunction with the preparation of this conservation plan have indicated that some structures within the former hotel complex will need to be demolished to allow for an adaptive re-use with a financial return adequate to the expenditure required for the conservation of the principal heritage elements. Additionally the proposed adaptation of the remaining significant buildings will require the removal of some significant fabric to allow for conversion to residential units. Those items specifically identified as necessary for removal are:

• the former dance hall building adjoining the first hotel to the west

• the former kitchen offices

• the derelict toilet block

• the lean-to toilet and laundry buildings in the central courtyard.

Internally those elements proposed for removal are:

• the secondary staircase in the main hotel

• the bathrooms in the main hotel

• the ceilings and bar fittings in the billiard and bar rooms

• infill walls to arched recesses on the first floor drawing rooms of the main hotel

• partition wall, a later addition, on the first floor of the original hotel.

When it is necessary to remove significant fabric it will be necessary to record that fabric in accordance with the guidelines established by the Heritage Office. Major elements of significant fabric, such as the stair, should be relocated within the site and minor elements, such as fittings and fixtures, should be stored on site. The issue of the removal of significant fabric from its original location needs to be carefully considered in the context of the reasons for the removal, the impact on the individual element and the place as a whole.

These policies are intended to ensure that no item is removed from the building without an assessment being made of its significance and its contribution to the place and to maintain intact exceptionally significant and significant elements.

Policy 5.1

Building fabric and original or early contents of the buildings identified to be of exceptional significance shall not be removed, altered or degraded in any other manner. (Atticle 10).

Wendy Thorp & Robett Staas for Clarin Development PIL Page 72



Policy 5.2

Building fabric and original or early contents of the buildings nominated to be of significance shall only be considered for removal or alteration where there is no appropriate alternative. Decisions with respect to this action should take into account the use and significance of the place as a whole and will always require advice from conservation professionals (Article 10).

Policy 5.3

The removal, alteration or demolition of significant fabric will require a thorough recording of the original form and detail including its location within the structure in accordance with the guidelines established by the Heritage Office of NSW Where possible those items removed should be labelled, catalogued and stored safely on the site; this will allow for any future reinstatement of those elements. The records and catalogue shall be lodged with the conservation plan for future reference and review.

Policy 5.4

Building fabric and contents which are identified to be of no significance or intrusive may be removed, altered or adapted provided that this action allows for the potential recovery of significance and does not. damage original fabric surrounding the elements of lesser or no importance.




9.7 Exterior of the Building

The external form and fabric of the building makes a major contribution to the significance of the place. The external envelope has been assessed to be of exceptional significance.

Policy 6.1

The building should retain its overall form, with work to areas and components of greatest significance generally restricted to preservation, restoration and reconstruction except where it is absolutely necessary to allow for a viable future use and, thus, ensure the long-term conservation of the building. Work which may have an adverse impact on the exterior form and qualities of the building is unacceptable .. Consideraytion should not be given to creating new opeinings in the principal facades (Article 8)

Policy 6.2

Limited adaptation of external fabric may be permitted in areas of lower significance where it does not adversely affect the character or significance ofthe place as a whole (Article 20).

Policy 6.3

Historically accurate colour schemes based on detailed site investigation should be applied to the building.

Policy 6.4

Reconstruction of the northern and southern verandahs is acceptable although it may entail the loss of original fabric. The latter is severely deteriorated and structurally unsound.




9.8 Maintenance and Repair

Appropriate and prompt maintenance and repair is an essential component of the conservation of any significance place. Failure to carry out this work contributes to the deterioration of the fabric of the building and requires repairlreplacement works which would have been either unnecessary or of considerably less impact had maintenance been undertaken at the appropriate time.

Qualified trades people and supervisors are necessary to the successful implementation of programmed maintenance and repair works with care needing to be exercised at all times to ensure that significance fabric is protected and conserved.

Policy 7.1

A maintenance and repair programme should be implemented by the Body Corporate based on a comprehensive understanding of the historic value, character and materials of the building. Regular inspections should be undertaken and, when it is required, prompt preventative maintenance and repair.

Policy 7.2

Consultants, trades people and supervisory staff used in the conservation of the buildings and tr'1eir subsequent maintenance should be qualified in their relevant fields and have knowledge and experience of sound conservation practice (Arlicle 27).

Policy 7.3

Care should be taken by both tradespeople and supervisory staff to ensure that significant fabric is not damaged by conservation works, maintenance and repair activities.

Policy 7.4

Services, including temporary services for building works, should not be permitted to discharge liquids, gases or other SUbstances in a way that could cause deterioration of the fabric of the place.

Policy 7.5

The level of significance of any part or element of the building shall be determined from this conservation plan prior to a determination of the acceptable level of intervention or action. Before any future major works are underlaken all documentary and physical evidence shall be reviewed in order to guide effective conservation and maintenance work.




Policy 7.6

A record shall be maintained ofthe approved external colour scheme for the buildings and used during any future maintenance. A covenant shall compel the owners of residential units in the complex to maintain the uniform external appearance of the buildings in relation to the heritage items.


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Conservation Plan: Sir Joseph Banks·Hotel, Botany

9.9 Intrusive Elements

The preferred treatment of intrusive elements is removal or modification. However, some intrusive elements may be necessary to the function of the place and action may be deferred until changing use or technical advances make them redundant. Priority should be given to the removal of exposed services, equipment and ductwork which detract from the original character of significant and exceptionally significant spaces.

In other situations the removal or modification of intrusive elements may be delayed for funding reasons when other works are judged more important. Decisions about the priorities for these works should take into account the significance of the area andlor element affected by them. Removal of intrusive elements and any associated repairs ("making good") of fabric should be carefully carried out so as not to cause unnecessary damage.

PolicyB.1

Intrusive elements generally should be removed or modified so as to delete or lessen their adverse effect on the significance of the buildings (Article 2).

Policy B.2

Removal or modification of intrusive elements may be deferred for technical or funding reasons but generally this should be restricted to areas of lower significance. In areas of high significance removal of intrusive elements should be given a high priority.

Policy B.3

High priority should be given to the modification or removal of intrusive fabric and unsympathetic additions where they effect exceptionally significant fabric.


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9.10 The Roof

Policy 9.1

The original forms should be retained of the early roof areas. Any repair, adaptation or replacement of material should retain the original qualities and profile.

Policy 9.2

Penetration of and/or alterations to the early roofs should be avoided.

Policy 9.3

Regular inspection should be undertaken of al/ guttering and storm water disposal systems to ensure effective weather protection of the building.

Policy 9.4

New guttering and down pipes shall conform to historically appropriate forms and details and shall be connected into effective storm water disposal systems away from the base of the buildings.

Policy 9.5

Roof level decoration and parapets should be reconstructed using elements cast to match the original details.

Policy 9.6

Care should be taken to preserve the evidence of earlier roof finishes and materials where these survive particularly on the first hotel building.

Policy 9.7

If changes are made to the roof of the 1884 hotel building they should not be visible from the street.


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9.11 Stonework

The stonework of the first Sir Joseph Banks Hotel is of exceptional significance to the overall design and quality of the place although some areas suffer from severe weathering and require replacement. A specification should be prepared by a conservation specialist for stone repair to this building. It should make clear statements with respect to the actions and procedures required to care for the external masonry fabric.

Policy 10.1

All original stone components of the buildings should be retained in situ for as long as possible and be subject to conservation measures for this purpose (Articles 11, 12).

Policy 10.2

A detailed specification for stone repair shall be prepared to guide the continued care and maintenance of the sandstone components of the place.

Policy 10.3

Stone components which have been removed, covered or defaced should be reinstated as originally designed.

Policy 10.4

Investigation should be made of the repairs made with sandstock bricks to the stonework on the northern face of the first hotel building to determine the structural implications of removing these bricks and replacing them with stone. If this brick patching reflects an early modification of the building which otherwise would be undocumented the change in material should be retained and appropriate repairs made to it.

Policy 10.5

Where stonework has been unsympathetically cement pointed or rendered every endeavour should be taken to recover the original character even if this requires partial redressing or refacing with stonework.



ConselVation Plan: Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany

9.12 Cast Iron

Like other buildings of this era the design relies upon the extensive use of cast iron. In this severe marine environment it is readily susceptible to damage and decay. The extent of decay in the building fabric warrants replacement of the original material with identical castings, possibly in aluminium. This will retain the design intent but provide an acceptable level of corrosion resistance.

Policy 11.1

A detailed photographic record should be made ofthe cast iron details of the building. This record should be kept with the building archive for future reference (Article 28).

Policy 11.2

A detailed design should be prepared for the replacement of the cast iron structures and decorative panels. It should be based on the careful examination of the original elements and identification of panel and column types for reproduction (Article 28).


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9.13 Doors

All original and early doors throughout the hotel are considered to be of exceptional significance. They should be treated with the highest level of care in their maintenance, repair and restoration. The significant fabric includes the door cases, architraves, overdoors, highlights, hardware and fittings.

Policy 12.1

Door repair and reconstruction should be carried out in the manner and to the details appropriate to the original design of the building. Original fabric should be retained wherever possible. Where original materials are unavailable indistinguishable and durable facsimiles are acceptable.

Policy 12.2

Glazed doors with inappropriate glass should be reglazed with traditional glass details.

Policy 12.3

Inappropriate and obtrusive details and features which have been added to early and originai doors should be removed and the elements restored or reconstructed to the original forms.

Policy 12.4

All external doors should be regularly inspected, maintained and painted to protect the timber and details from decay.




9.14 Windows

Much of the fenestration is of the original form, materials and finish. Additionally, much of the original glazing, hardware and fittings still exist. However, some windows are greatly decayed due to prolonged exposure to the elements. All of the window joinery requires regular maintenance in terms of the repair and replacement of sash cords, runners etc. Where work of this type is needed it should be carried out by experienced tradesmen with minimum interference to the original fabric. If windows need to be repl~ced the new elements should be identical to the original forms.

Policy 13.1

Window repair and reconstruction should be carried out in a manner and to the details appropriate to the age and style of the original. Original and early fabric should be retained wherever possible. However, where original materials are damaged or incomplete indistinguishable and durable alternatives are acceptable.

Policy 13.2

Inappropriate or obtrusive details and features which have been added to windows should be removed and the elements restored or reconstructed to the original forms.

Policy 13.3

All joinery subject to rot, rust or damage should be regularly inspected to ensure prompt preventative maintenance and repair.

, Policy 13.4

All black steel lintels should be inspected for corrosion and either treated in situ or replaced with new material.




9.15 Adaptation and Alteration of Interiors

The internal plan and fabric of the main buildings makes an important contribution to the significance of the place. Extant original fabric provides an important and often evocative link with past activities and occupants of this place. Unlike the exterior of the building the quality of some spaces in the interior is less significant than those of other areas and this allows for a range of responses in their conservation and adaptation.

There is a need to look at possible changes of use, fit-out and removal or alteration of original fabric within the context of a co-ordinated plan for the whole site. This assessment should take account of and, where possible, work within the framework of significant original plans and room configurations as well as, where appropriate, original functions. In addition, the layout for the buildings should be carefully planned and considered to best achieve the contemporary requirements of residential use while contributing to the appreciation of the historic qualities of the existing spaces.

The use of original internal colour schemes for all of the building is neither mandatory nor necessarily desirable. Contemporary requirements often call for lighter environments and this can be satisfactorily achieved by lightening the palette of a traditional decorative scheme.

The adaptation of the building for residential use will result in a substantial change in the character of the interiors from their present "museum-like" quality. The major spaces and details should be retained and conserved but it will be a matter of personal taste as to the decoration of unit interiors. Contemporary inclusions should be of a high standard and readily identifiable from the original fabric.

Policy 14.1

The original internal plan of the buildings should be retained as much as possible within the proposed adaptation for residential unit development.

Policy 14.2

The installation of new services should be carried out in a manner that minimises the impact on the significant character and fabric of he building.

Policy 14.3

Surface mounted ducts, service cabling etc should be removed and walls, ceilings and floors made good. All new service components should be installed so as to be as visually unobtrusive as possible.


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Policy 14.4

New finishes and fixtures, including new ceilings, generally should be kept as simple as possible but be compatible with the character of the original work.

Policy 14.5

In areas of exceptional significance consideration should be given to the introduction of sympathetic period lighting combined with unobtrusive modern lighting, In 'other areas sympathetic and unobtrusive contemporary lighting designs are preferred,

• Spaces of Exceptional Significance

Policy 14.6

Spaces within the buildings nominated to be of exceptional significance shall be preserved, restored or reconstructed as nearly as possible, allowing for contemporary use, to the state when that space was first occupied on completion. Intervention which would reduce the significance of the space shall not be permitted except that required for circulation. '

Policy 14.7

Sequences of paint and varnish which have been preserved on decorated elements and joinery shall be retained where that is possible. They shall not be removed by chemical stripping, power sanding, burning or other aggressively destructive methods except where this may be required to allow proper conservation to occur; this shall be at the direction of a conservation professional.

Policy 14.8

All intrusive material, elements, fabric and visible modern services shall be modified or removed when they are found to detract from the level of significance of the original design.

Policy 14.9

All of the fabric listed in this policy which is 'found in spaces of exceptional significance and is associated with the original building or a specifically identified later period or event shall be preserved or restored as appropriate:

Floors

Walls

Timber floors including the supporting structure Tiling to the verandahs and halls,

Structural and applied wall fabric, plaster, vents, arches, dados, skirtings Position and form of door and window openings


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Ceilings Plaster and timber boarded ceilings including supporting structures and applied decoration including cornices, roses, strapwork etc.

Joinery Architraves, doors, fanlights, highlights, overdoors, original glass and leadlight panels, original hardware, hinges, handles, push plates, case and mortice locks, window frames, reveal linings, sashes and fixed lights.

Fireplaces Breasts, flues, marble and/or timber chimney pieces, hearths, cast iron grates

Decoration

Stairs

Patina of timber joinery where polished or grained Applied decorative elements.

Structure, treads, turned balustrade, newell posts, hand rails, timber soffits.

• Spaces of Significance

Policy 14.10

Spaces nominated to be of significance shall be preserved, restored or reconstructed as nearly as possible, allowing for contemporary use, to the state when they were first occupied and completed. Adaptation of these spaces is an acceptable alternative where no viable alternative option can be identified and when this will allow for the introduction of new facilities and functions providing forthe continued use and security of the building.

Policy 14.11

Sequences of paint and varnish which have been preserved on decorated elements and joinery shall be retained where that is possible. They shall not be removed by chemical stripping, power sanding, burning orother aggressively destructive methods except where this may be required to allow proper conservation to occur; this shall be at the direction of a conservation professional.

Policy 14.12

All intrusive material, elements, fabric and visible modern services shall be modified or removed when they are found to detract from the level of significance of the original design.

Policy 14.13

Adaptation of significant spaces shall only occur where there is no other option which will allow for the introduction of essential changes to the place. No furlher openings shall be made in external walls for any reason. Adaptation shall take into account the extent and quality of the significant fabric within the spaces with the objective of avoiding damage or actions which will reduce the significance of the place. (Arlicle 20).


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Policy 14.14

All of the fabric listed in this policy which occurs in spaces of significance and which is associated with the original buildings or a specifically identified later period or event shall be preserved or restored in order to reinforce the cultural significance of these spaces. In most instances these are subsidiary to spaces of exceptional significance.

Floors

Walls

Ceilings

Joinery

Fireplaces

Timber floors including the supporting structure.

Structural and applied wall fabric, plaster, vents, arches, dados, skirtings Position and form of door and window openings

Plaster and timber ceilings including cornices etc.

Architraves, doors, fanlights, highlights, original glass, original hardware, hinges, handles, push plates, window frames, reveal linings, sashes and fixed lights.

Breasts, flues, marble and/or timber chimney pieces, hearths, cast iron grates

• Spaces of Lesser Significance

All of the spaces identified to be of lesser significance have undergone varying degrees of change, intrusion and adaptation. The character and quality of these spaces generally is of a lower standard than adjoining areas of higher significance. For this reason areas of lesser significance are more able to be adapted sym pathetically without loss of significance to the place as a whole. New work carried out in areas of lesser significance should be reversible where possible and should respect those areas of the original fabric which demonstrate the overall character of the buildings.

Policy 14.15

All of the fabric listed in this policy should be preserved, restored, reconstructed or adapted. Further detailed investigation, recording and analysis of the fabric of al spaces will identify fabric and finishes which are intrusive, distort the historic evidence or have an adverse effect on the quality of the spaces.

Floors structure and original finish

Walls structure and original finish

Ceilings structure and original finish

Joinery material and original finish

Fittings design and original finish



Conservation Plan: . Sir Joseph Banks Hotel; Botany

9.16 Archaeological Sites

Policy 15.1 ,

An archaeological management strategy should be developed in terms of the proposed work to enable significant sites to be identified and recorded at an appropriate time.

Policy 15.2

A repository should be identified willing to receive and maintain any significant relics which are retrieved from the site.


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9.17 Review

The plan, particularly the policies, may need adjustment to take into account unforseen circumstances, to clarify intentions or as a result of new evidence. Following the conversion of the building for residential units there may be a need to identify potential ongoing issues such as repair and maintenance.

Policy 16.1

This conservation plan should be reviewed as the need arises but not later than January 2005.

Wendy Thorp Bc Robert Staas for Clarin Development PIL Page 88



SECTION 10.0 DOCUMENTATION

10.1 Endnotes

Section 2.1

1. Crown Grant Serial 35 pp 9-10, 1834

2. Book H Folio 631, 1835

3. Notice re collection of letters, Sydney Morning Herald 5 April 1843.

4. E.J. Silva, A History of Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, 5.

5. SAONSW Publicans Licences.

6. IISir Joseph Banks Hotel for Botany Bayll, Sydney Morning Herald 11 December 1844

7. E. Silva, Op Cit.,6.

8. Ibid.

9. Sydney Morning Herald 12 May 1845.

10. Old Systems Book 11 No. 853, 1846

Section 2.2

1. Sydney Morning Herald 25 December 1848

2. E.J. Silva, A History of Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, 10.

3. Sydney Morning Herald 28 December 1850.

4. E. Silva, Loc. Cit.

5. Sydney Morning Herald 26 June 1852

6. Sydney Morning Herald 28 December 1850.

7. E. Silva, Op. Cit., 21.




8. Dicks Plan of Botany M3 811.186/1853/1

9. E. Silva, Op. Cit., 8.

10. Ibid., 11.

11. Ibid., 15.

12. Old Systems Book 23 No. 934, 1852

13. J. Jervis, Jubilee History of Botany, 92.

Section 2.3

1. Old Systems Book 78, No 368

2. E. Silva, A History of Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, 24.

3. Old Systems Book 110 No. 493

4. E. SlIva, Op. Cit, 25.

5. Ibid.

6. Old Systems Books 128 No. 114

Section 2.4

1. Old Systems Book 149 No. 41

2. Sydney Morning Herald 8 November 1878

3.IIIL1strated Sydney News 20 January 1883

4. SAONSW AO Plans 62660-61

5. Francis Meyers, Botany Bay Past and Present , 1885.

6. E. Silva, History of Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, 30.





8. E. Silva, Op Cit., 32.

9. J. Jervis, Jubilee History of Botany, 302

10. Plan Shewing Sir Joseph Banks Pleasure Gardens in Botany ML B24/106

Section 2.5


2. Ibid.

3. Sir Joseph Banks Estate Botany 20 October 1904 ML SPB24/10

Section 2.6

1.01d System Book 868 No. 774-775,1908.

2. Quoted in E. Silva, A History of Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, 34

3. Ibid, 35

4. SAONSW Plan 69968

5. L TO Book 1237 No. 498

6. The Sir Joseph Banks Estate ML SP B24/2

7. E. SlIva, Lac. Cit.

8. J. Jervis, Jubilee History of Botany, 122

Section 2.7


2. Ibid.

3. J. Jervis, A Jubilee History of Botany, 237.


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Conservation Plan: Sir Joseph Banks"Hotel, Botany

4. Ibid.

5. E. Silva, Op. Cit, 42.

Section 2.8


2. Ibid.

3. Quoted in Ibid.

Section 3.1

1. Doug Benson and Jocelyn Howell, Taken for Granted the Bushland of Sydney and Its Suburbs, 90-4.

2. Evidence of Thomas Woore. Report of the Commissioner Appointed to Enquire into the Supply of Water to Sydney and Suburbs. 1869. APpendix, 93.

3. Quoted in Doug Benson and Jocelyn Howell' Taken for Granted the Bushland of Sydney and Its Suburbs, 91.

4. A. Marjoribanks, Travels in New South Wales, 1851.

5. Market garden allotments ML M2 811. 1864/1854/1

6. A. Waugh, A Strangers Guide to Sydney 1861, 51.

Section 3.2

1. Sydney Morning Herald 3 december 1844

2. A. Marjoribanks, Travels in New South Wales, 1851.

3. Sydney Morning Herald 2 September 1864



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10.2 Bibliography

10.2.1 Books and Reports

Doug Benson and Jocelyn Howell Taken for Granted the Bushland of Sydney and Its Suburbs Kangaroo Press. 1990.

James Jervis A Jubilee History of the Municipality of Botany 1888 - 1938 Council of the Municipality of Botany

Frederick Larcombe The History of Botany 1788 - 1970 Council of the Municipality of Botany. 1970.

E.J. Silva A History of Sir Joseph Banks Hotel Unpublished MSS. 1978. (Botany Municipal Library Local History Collection)

10.2.2 News and Journal Articles

Sale of Land at Botany Sydney Morning Herald 14 April, 1834.

Notice re collection of letters Sydney Morning Herald 5 April 1843

"Sir Joseph Banks Hotel for Botany Bay" Sydney Morning Herald 11 Decmber 1844

Re. sale at auction Sydney Morning Herald 27 August 1861

"Amusements" Sydney Morning Herald 8 November 1878

Zoological Gardens Botany" Illustrated Sydney NE?wS 19 November 1853

View of the Zoological Gardens Botany Illustrated Sydney News 14 January 1854




The Zoological Gardens at Botany Illustrated Sydney News 30 June 1855

10.2.3 Records Relating to Land

Land Titles Office

Old Systems Crown Grant Serial 35 pp9-19, 1834

Old Systems Book H Folio 631, 1835

Old Systems Book 78, No 368

Old Systems Book 11 No. 853, 1846

Old Systems Books 128 No. 114

Old Systems Book 110 No. 493

Old Systems Book 23 No. 934, 1852

Old Systems Book 149 No. 41

Government Gazette No. 99, 22 January 1834

Government Gazette No. 103, 19 February 1834

10.2.4 Maps and Plans

Parish of Botany ND SAONSW AD Map 191

Plan of 39 Market Garden Allotments Situate in Botany near the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel 1854 . ML M2 811.1864/1854/1

Dicks Plan of Botany 1853 ML M3811.186/1853/1

Plan Shewing Sir Joseph Banks Pleasure Grounds Botany (Undated) ML Subdivision Plans Botany SP B24/106


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Sir Joseph Banks Estate Botany Main Road and Other Building Sites for Auction Sale 29 October 1904 ML Subdivision Plans SP B24/10

Sir Joseph Banks Estate Auction Sale 26 January 1921 ML Subdivision Plan SP B24/2

Chater and Barlow Architects New Buildings and Kitchen Offices to the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel at Botany Near Sydney for Mr Francis Smith 1884 SAONSW AO Plans 62660-61

Sir Joseph Banks Hotel Botany Measured Drawing 27 March 1920 SAONSW AO Plan 69968


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