Wingello Park near Marulan proposed for State Heritage Register

Wingello Park, some 10km north of Marulan, was also intrinsically linked with NSW convict history and hosted a working village.

Now, the homestead and part of its curtilage have been dubbed so significant that they've been proposed for listing on the State's Heritage Register.

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Wingello Park application sparks council bid for heritage order

Proposal aims to protect Marulan' s Wingello Park homestead

The Heritage Council of NSW is doing so on eight grounds, including its convict and early pastoral links, association with Major General Paul Cullen, who lived there from about 1984 to 2014, and architectural and archaeological qualities. The property was also linked to the government's "failed attempts" to introduce alpacas into the colony.

Public submissions on the proposal are being invited up until June 8.

The move has delighted the great-great granddaughter of Robert Mackay Campbell, the Liverpool magistrate who built the original homestead between 1825 and 1830. Sydney woman, Roslyn Vaughan OAM, is descended from the fifth of Robert and Ann (nee Hassall) Campbell's 10 children, Mary Hassall Campbell, who married Edward Spencer Antill.

"Our family would love for this significant property, nearly 200 years old and linked to so many early pioneering families, retained for future generations," she said.

Mrs Vaughan has extensively researched the family history.

Thomas Hassall, popularly known as 'the galloping parson' for his extensive horse travels over a large area, was Ann's younger brother. Mrs Vaughan said he would have visited Wingello Park regularly.

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The property is also connected to Marulan's Seiler family. Stanley and Grace Sieler owned it from the 1910s to the 1960s. According to newspaper accounts, the community-minded couple regularly hosted events, fetes and fundraisers there.

The Heritage Council stated that Wingello Park was a fine example of a 'cottage ornee' style bungalow farm homestead.

"(It) is likely to be a rare and representative as a very early and highly intact example of this style of colonial farm homestead which retains its sympathetic garden, pastoral setting and land use," the submission stated.

The home was built in stages from 1827 to the 1840s and was part of a 600-acre land grant to Campbell in 1824. He grew the sheep grazing estate to 7000 acres and and the property was believed to have hosted the original Wingello stockade for convicts working on the Great South Road.

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A stone barn was built in 1847 and in 1850, when it was offered for sale, Wingello Park was described as having 11 rooms, a detached kitchen, pantry and storeroom, servants cottages, an extensive garden and orchard. a shearing shed, granary, storeroom, a patent wool press, a "mail paddock" used by daily mail coaches and a mounted police station at the entry.

Campbell was declared insolvent in 1848, sparking the subsequent sale.

The proposed listing follows Goulburn Mulwaree Council's successful move in early 2020 to secure an interim heritage order over the property. It came after owner Twynam Investments Pty Ltd, lodged a development application in September, 2019 to demolish the homestead's main living area and make alterations and additions for modern accommodation.

The company subsequently appealed the council's refusal of the DA and the extent of the interim heritage order in the NSW Land and Environment Court. These were successful, but the parties agreed on an amended development application that conserved the property's heritage. A reduced curtilage was also applied to the interim heritage order, which the owners said was essential for the property to continue as a 'working farm.'

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Legal representatives for owner, John Kahlbetzer, also argued that some parts of the ashlar and timber homestead were in 'poor structural condition' or had been highly altered.

The Heritage Council acknowledged that some elements were not original and that the stone barn was "moderately intact with a range of poor quality modifications."

Mr Kahlbetzer's company bought the property in about 2014.

The council's environment and planning director Scott Martin has welcomed the proposed listing.

Although the court ordered that the council pay Twynam's costs in regard to the interim heritage order appeal, Mr Martin said that overall, the council had achieved its goal.

"We saw it as an interim step with the hope that the Heritage Council would come through and go down this path," he said.

"It's not done and dusted yet but it's a good sign...Whatever the costs end up being I think the community will appreciate what we've been able to achieve with the retention of a heritage asset. If the state listing gets up, it will have an additional protection in place and the Heritage Council will be able to require that minimum standards of maintenance are upheld. It's a win."

The proposal can be viewed at this link: https://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/protecting-our-heritage/nominate-listing-on-the-state-heritage-register/nominations-being-considered/

Submissions can me made to Heritage Council of NSW, Locked Bag 5020, Parramatta NSW 2124 or by emailing heritagemailbox@environment.nsw.gov.au

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