EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Newcastle’s first Anglican parsonage was constructed on the study site in 1819-21 for use by Newcastle’s first chaplain, Reverend George Augustus Middleton. The building which predated the laying out of the street grid, cut into both the later Church and Newcomen Streets. Plans and drawings from the 19th century detail the layout of the building with bay windows and outbuildings consisting of three wings.

The site was continuously used by the Anglican Church throughout the 19th century. In this time various changes were made to the building, however the most significant appears to have taken place in the 1880s when a two storey extension was constructed in the location of the original coach house.

In 1902 the parsonage site was resumed by the government to extend the facilities of the neighbouring Hospital for the Insane. For this means, the main part of 1819 building was truncated and incorporated into a new building (although the 1880s extension was retained) and a Reception House was constructed for the treatment of short term mental illnesses. The original 1902 building was added to in 1903, the 1930s, 1970 and 1990 with the interior of the building being repeatedly remodified.

Physical Evidence

Archaeological work has revealed a fully intact core of the original parsonage, including some walls standing to ceiling height, fireplaces and a cellar.

The interior underfloor areas of the former parsonage, later Vernon building, were largely covered with building and re-building debris, and although there was some evidence of earlier deposition, these had become largely mixed in with the building debris due to the sandy profile of the site. These fills were completely removed in the West room and partially removed in the East room with the lower levels tested and retained in situ.

The yard and outbuilding areas were substantially impacted by later constructions and only the east wing was reasonably intact. There was some evidence of artefact accumulation in part of the yard, possibly associated with the early kitchen wing. The privy area could not be tested, and potentially retains archaeological relics.

The native Aeolian sand deposition was identified on the site with a thin film of grey sand potentially indicating that the site had once been covered in a thin layer of vegetation.

Significance

The retained relics of the Parsonage, are considered to be some of the oldest European relics in Newcastle and one of the earliest examples of a building from the convict period, and in this way are considered of State significance.

The significance of the archaeological remains of the Parsonage complex have not been reduced through excavation, in fact they have been enhanced by the discovery of hitherto unsuspected features (a cellar, fire places, room arrangements and re-arrangements) and development phases of the site. Earlier renovation (c1902) works have left impacted upon underfloor depositions making it difficult to determine if deposition from the earliest periods existed, yet this is balanced by an as yet unexcavated, and only partly understood yard area and outbuilding complex, that are likely (based on testing) to have retained the delicate artefacts that provide the data of day to day living in a convict settlement emerging into a township.

The works in 2008 and 2009 have augmented the understanding of the nature, condition and extent of the parsonage footprint, extended wings, yards and outbuilding complex, and they as a group are of potential state significance; they are tangibly in both a built and archaeological sense of demonstrable State significance and are considered to be exceptionally rare.

Recommendations for Future Management

The parsonage and curtilage including extrapolated outbuildings and wings should be listed on the State Heritage Register. The standing wall is the oldest visible, built relic of the convict period in Newcastle. No excavation for services or development should take place within the above zone without prior archaeological evaluation in liaison with the Heritage Branch of the Office of Environment and Heritage. The remains exposed are presently in a stable condition; they have been re-buried and were covered with bidum and sand fill, prior to reburial under the existing structure.

The standing wall from a visual perspective is robust and solid. The Department of Commerce have made an initial assessment of its integrity from an engineering/ architectural point of view. A Conservation Management Plan should be prepared for the standing wall and other remains, and regular inspections should be made of the wall, as, while currently robust, the wall is a now isolated feature lacking other supporting walls, cover and internally is exposed to the elements for the first since c1819 (excepting a brief time in c1902).

Artefact and Records Storage

Artefacts from both Full and Test Excavation will be stored at the James Fletcher Hospital, 72 Watt Street Newcastle, within the Thwaites Building (No. 4) in Room 1193. Excavation records are presently stored at AMAC offices.

A copy of this report as well as the accompanying photographic report will be provided to the Heritage Branch, Hunter and New England Health and the Newcastle Region Library.

Public Information

The archaeological excavation of the Parsonage at Newcastle has been able to inform the local community about the construction and use of one of the oldest structures in Newcastle and clarify some of the local folklore surrounding the building. Public information came through two open days, a radio interview, newspaper reports and a Hunter New England Health article (see Volume 3 Appendix 12.6). The standing wall and proposed signage will provide ongoing reminders of the convict past of that corner of Newcastle. Public awareness also brought forward, local knowledge, reminiscences, firsthand accounts, documents and photographs that aided in the preparation of this report.