Remembering Newcastle’s Heritage as a Vibrant Trading City

A City with Centuries of Heritage: Earp Gillam & Co.

Newcastle is a vibrant and historic city, established in the earliest years of the 19th century as an abundant trading post for coal and other exports. Offering a glittering harbour, perfectly positioned for trade, Newcastle is continually used as a prime outpost for international trade, being the largest coal exporter in the world. Various Heritage-Listed structures remain as an emblem of Newcastle’s unique past.

Eikos was recently engaged to provide a Statement of Heritage Impact for alterations to the State Heritage-Listed ‘Earp Gillam & Co.’ Bond Store. Eikos provided a comprehensive report detailing how proposed alterations for an internal office fit out met all the requirements for a Standard Exemption under the State Heritage Act 1977. Eikos has also been engaged to provide a Briefing to contractors regarding best practice to protect the site’s original materials.

The Victorian-era building was erected in 1888, designed by Architect Frederick Menkens (1854 – 1910) and endures as a symbol of the city’s history of sea trading. The building provided a warehouse for Earp Gillam & Co. who sold coal and building materials to the Australian colony and abroad.

Exterior of Earp Gillam & Co. Building C. 1906
The Earp Gillam Bond Store circa 1906. Credit SurfaceAus.

Shifting Times and Shifting Enterprise

The Earp Gillam & Co. building evolved throughout Newcastle’s history as a major trading warehouse for coal and building materials, enduring throughout the World Wars, the Great Depression, and many changes to Newcastle’s landscape. The company itself shifted form many times over the years, selling coal in the 19th century, branching out to Ford cars in the 1920s, then even manufacturing and selling Arnott’s biscuits in the late 1930s, all endeavours making use of the site. Throughout all these changes, the Bond Store building remained an important centre for production and trade throughout Newcastle, the rest of Australia, and the world.

After the Second World War, Earp Gillam & Co. began dealing in tiles and ceramics, and it continues to do so today. The Bond Store now provides office space for multiple businesses. Each occupant utilises the Adaptive Reuse approach to heritage, which preserves the building’s historic charm, but allows for ongoing commercial use of the site through making measured changes as necessary.

Earp Bros’ first tile import c. 1960. Credit SurfaceAus.
Earp Gillam & Co. selling Ford cars, c. 1922. Credit SurfaceAus.

Heritage Expertise with Eikos

With a history of over 135 years, Eikos is proud to have been engaged in the protection of this unique and historic building. Boasting a beautifully preserved façade and interior, the Bond store is emblematic of Newcastle’s history as a significant harbourside economy in the 19th and 20th centuries. Located near the iconic Customs House, the Earp Gillam & Co. Bond Store provides historic Victorian charm to the main streets of Newcastle.

Earp Gillam & Co. Bond Store as it exists today, in 2023. Credit Eikos.
The exposed brick interior of the building in 2023. Credit Eikos.

Get in Touch

Eikos has an outstanding track record in providing high-quality assessment and reporting for State Heritage Register buildings. The Earp Gillam & Co. building is just one example within an extensive portfolio. We are experts in local heritage, providing comprehensive reports for all your heritage needs.

Get in touch today to discuss any of your heritage projects.

Email Trevor@Eikos.com.au

Call Trevor on 0409 461 781

Birds of our shoreline – Sooty Oystercatcher a coastal favourite

One of my favourite local birds that can often be sighted on the rock platforms of our coastline in the Hunter region is the Sooty Oystercatcher (Haematopus fuliginosus). It is a wading bird endemic to Australia and occupies the coastal zone including rocky shores and estuaries usually within 50m of the shoreline. Keep an eye out this summer around the rocks at your favourite beach!

A striking and sturdy medium sized bird (42 – 52cm) it is jet black with red eyes, red eye rings, a long red bill and reddish to pink legs – it is hard to miss. I snapped the following photo of a small family group of Sooty’s fossicking for food on a recent walk to south Dudley Beach and decided to pass on some facts about their biology.

Sooty Oystercatchers forage in the intertidal zone for the two hours either side of low tide. A study completed in 2012 by Lucy Alpin and Andrew Cockburn found that there was an interesting difference in preferred prey items between male and female Sooty’s. According to this study, female Sooty Oystercatchers prefer soft bodied prey such as fish, crabs, bluebottles (YES!), cunjevoi and worms while males prefer hard shelled prey such as sea urchins, turban shells and black periwinkles.

Sooty’s usually breed during the spring/summer months (August – January) on off-shore islands or more isolated coastal headlands. Pairs exhibit high site and mate fidelity. They lay a clutch of between two to four eggs in either rock crevices or on a high ledge where parent birds can keep watch. Eggs can also be deposited in a small hollow on the beach or rocky shore where they are vulnerable to being trampled by people or eaten by raptors, feral animals and unrestrained domestic pets.

Sooty Oystercatchers are listed as Vulnerable in NSW which is not surprising given the mass food gathering of gastropods and molluscs that has taken place on the rocky shores in our local region and particularly the greater Sydney metropolitan region, over the past 20 years. This mass harvesting of our shorelines continues relatively unchecked today.

Even in areas like Dudley Beach which is located within Glenrock State Conservation Area managed by National Parks and Wildlife Service, it is almost impossible to find living oysters, sea urchins and some other bivalve species on the rock platforms due to human exploitation.

Sooty Oystercatchers at south Dudley Beach January 2017 - T. Cameron

Sooty Oystercatchers at south Dudley Beach January 2017 – T. Cameron

It is up to all of us to keep an eye out for illegal harvesting of molluscs, gastropods, bivalves and cephalopods (octopus, cuttlefish, squid etc.) on our rocky shores and report this activity to the authorities, otherwise populations of prey species such as the Sooty Oystercatcher will continue to decline.

 

Trevor Cameron

Director

Eikos Environment and Heritage

Newcastle Australia

trevor@eikos.com.au

www.eikos.com.au

 

References:

 

Birdlife Australia – www.birdlife.org.au

 

NPWS – www.engage.environment.nsew.gov.au

 

NPWS – www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au

 

Alpin, L and Cockburn A (2012) “Ecological Selection and Sexual Dimorphism in the Sooty Oystercatcher, Haematopus fuliginosus” Austral Ecology 37 (2) 248 – 57

A Four Step Plan to clean up Scrubby Creek for good – Opinion Piece published Newcastle Herald 26 May 2016

I read with some amusement the letter by Mr Robert Kerr (Newcastle Herald 17 May 2016) informing us of a new exotic species invading our urban waterways, Shoppingtrollius gigantus.

I can assure Mr Kerr and your readers, that populations of this species can be found in almost every urban waterway at any given time across our nation from Hobart to Cairns, from Sydney to Perth. This species has become such a problem that national ‘departments’ have been created by our major supermarkets to deal with it – ‘Trolley Trakkers’ is just one.

The problem is that these organisations only deal with one aspect of the issue – that of retrieving abandoned trolleys when reported. Some of the supermarket chains don’t even provide this service!

As a former government employee in the environmental industry for over 25 years I have personal experience with the problem of Shoppingtrollius gigantus in our urban creeks. There is a solution to the problems in Scrubby Creek – what is required is a healthy dose of willingness, coordination and funding.

Lake Macquarie Council has the power to remove the trolleys from the creek and charge the owners a fee to collect them. The problem is that the owners simply ‘forget’ to collect them as it is cheaper to purchase new trolleys than pay the Council fees to collect the often old, broken or dirty trolleys.

The solution is simple however, it requires significant coordination, a medium to long term commitment including a five year plan and funding.

In the case of Scrubby Creek four things need to happen:

  1. Lake Macquarie Council as the primary landholder/manager of the creek must take a leadership role and bring all of the key players together to work co-operatively to fix the problem. This includes communicating with the owners of the trolleys, the store managers at Mount Hutton Shopping Plaza, Trolley Trakkers, NSW Housing responsible for tenancy in the Windale area, Councils own Regional Illegal Dumping (RID) squad, Rangers, Council’s Social Planner, CiviLake and assistance from the federally funded ‘Green Army’;
  2. Council needs to procure a targeted management plan for Scrubby Creek that is focussed on action and on-ground works to rehabilitate the creek for the long term. This plan needs to outline the actions that will be taken to clear the creek of shopping trolleys and strategies for keeping them out. The plan also needs to outline a staged works program to remove weeds and willow trees that are choking the creek, trapping sediment and causing flooding on neighbouring properties and roads;
  3. Creek rehabilitation in the form of structural works to restore the creek to a more natural flow need to follow the creek clean up. This work must be followed up by mass plantings of native trees and shrubs that once flourished along the banks of Scrubby Creek; and
  4. The work needs to be staged and progressive working from the top of the catchment downstream to ensure that removal of trolleys, sediment, debris and willows does not cause more problems. Issues of potential vandalism, ongoing rubbish dumping and abandoned shopping trolleys should be monitored closely using the resources available through the Council’s RID squad and Rangers in cooperation with NSW Housing and Council’s Social Planner.

Council has tried to initiate a Landcare group to help restore Scrubby Creek for several years and it hasn’t worked – the job here is way too large for a community group to handle and must seem overwhelming for local residents. This is likely to change however, once the creek is cleaned up and residents see that a real commitment is being made by Council and the other parties to restore the creek.

A greater sense of ownership of the creek is an outcome that will result from the restoration work and is certainly an aspiration that we should all aim for.

Lake Macquarie Council can do this!  The evidence is there in the ongoing improvements to Lake Macquarie over the past 20 years. It is a great achievement.

The same willingness and energy that sparked the restoration effort in Lake Macquarie two decades ago is required again NOW to restore Scrubby Creek. This project, although challenging, could define how urban creeks are restored and managed for future generations.

An edited version of this blog appeared in the Newcastle Herald on Thursday 26 May 2016.

The image below shows rehabilitation works in Blue Wren Creek and demonstrates what Scrubby Creek could lo0k like after restoration and without shopping trolleys.

Pool Riffle Blue Wren Creek

 

Foreshore erosion – Solutions for land owners

Lake Macquarie foreshoreHome owners who live on the foreshore of a lake, the bank of a stream or close to the ocean face an on-going dilemma – how do I protect my assets from the impacts of storm events and predicted sea level rise while maintaining good access to the waterway and meeting my environmental obligations?

This is further compounded by the fact that the approval process can be a frustrating and time consuming process for many homeowners.

Irrespective of whether you are building a marina with a significant environmental impact, or doing environmental restoration work, the requirements of the approval authorities are much the same.

Yes this is a complex process – it is complex, time consuming and can be frustrating.  Yet environmental restoration work in and around our waterways is important and it needs to be carried out in the spirit of the legislation and best practice methodologies to protect these sensitive environments.

The April 2015 storm in the Hunter region caused millions of dollars damage to people’s homes, boats, public reserves, parks and foreshores and four people died in the township of Dungog.  The post storm clean-up took many months and some jobs remain outstanding.  Unprotected foreshore areas around Lake Macquarie were hit badly with many home owners losing metres of their land and in some instances their assets.

Predicted changes to our climate and sea level rise will exacerbate foreshore erosion processes resulting in the loss of more land, assets and negative impacts on water quality.  These impacts will affect seagrass, fish habitat and ecological processes within the waterway.

How can I permanently protect my foreshore land and my assets?

Finding an appropriately qualified professional to design and build resilience into your shoreline is the best way to secure a long term solution.

The most robust, eco-friendly and visually pleasing designs incorporate natural, locally sourced materials and plants –  such as sandstone blocks and native plants.  These ‘living shorelines’ have design features that incorporate habitat for marine animals, and very importantly – are resilient to storms and predicted sea level rise.  A common feature of these designs is to provide easy access to the waterway. This also increases the value of your property.

Environmentally friendly ‘sea walls’ should be designed with all of the features outlined above and should be designed to cope with the predicted sea level rise on the NSW coast of 0.4m by 2050 and 0.9m by 2100.

Look at this shoreline in Lake Macquarie after its restoration.Foreshore restoration

If you would like to find out more please contact Trevor Cameron at Eikos Environment and Heritage on www.eikos.com.au or email trevor@eikos.com.au

How the Hunter region ‘fits’ into the economic and social story of NSW

Have you ever wondered why people in the Hunter region are so passionate about their rural estates and the agricultural heritage of the Region?
Why is it that there are so many historic homestead complexes in the Hunter? – Aberglasslyn House, Tocal Homestead, Wambo, Ravensworth, Munni, naming only a few of the many that survive to speak to us about the Hunter’s stories.
 Aberglasslyn

The NSW Heritage Council wondered this as well – commissioning Clive Lucas, Stapleton & Partners to compile the Hunter Estates Comparative Heritage Study, (OEH 2013/0235 ISBN 978 1 74359 057 7 April 2013).  The study states:

The Hunter Estate is the tangible expression of this significant phase of NSW history and forms the foundational layer of settlement of the Hunter Region. What you experience of the land today and of the history of the people, directly descend from the estates. To understand the Hunter Region is to understand this first phase of European settlement and its subsequent impacts on the land and its people. To understand the Hunter Region homestead complex is to understand the Hunter Estate.
This seminal and extremely well conceived work is a comparative study of the Hunter region’s most significant and enduring element of post contact heritage – the homestead complex.
This study is a comprehensive and independent assessment of homestead complexes constructed as part of the establishment of the large estates associated with the first major wave of settlement in the Hunter Region, occurring between 1820 and 1850.

The study is important to heritage decision makers in the Hunter because it defines both the Hunter Estate and its homestead complex, mapping locations and identifying their  importance in the history of the Hunter Region and – the broader history of NSW.  The council areas included in the scope were:

  • Greater Taree
  • Gloucester
  • Upper Hunter
  • Great Lakes
  • Port Stephens
  • Newcastle
  • Lake Macquarie
  • Dungog
  • Maitland
  • Cessnock
  • Singleton and
  • Muswellbrook

 

This study is an independent and comprehensive comparative heritage study of pre 1850s homestead complexes located throughout the Hunter Region. In order to achieve this outcome, this study first aims to contextualise the homestead complexes found in the area and provides an overview of the historic and cultural phenomenon of the Hunter Estate.
The Hunter Region, settled as part of the second main wave of settlement to occur in Australia, between 1820 and 1850, was driven wholly by new, decisive government policies structured towards the agricultural development of the colony and the management, employment and care of convicts by private settlers. The successful implementation of these policies supported the arrival of a large number of new, free settlers with substantial means, social connections and ambitions to establish themselves on the land. These people established the estates, stations and pastoral runs throughout the Hunter Region; built homestead complexes; and introduced a range of highly successful agricultural industries, relying on large numbers of convicts as their workforce.
They went on to form the societies and associations that supported their agricultural pursuits and political interests, played a large role in the political development of the region and were part of the judicial systems of the time, fulfilling government roles at their own expense and on their own land.
The means by which these settlers were accommodated on the land, via the uniform grid pattern laid down by survey in the early 1820s over the whole of the region, determined their locations, their land sizes and their modes of expansion.”
Eikos commends the authors of this work and the NSW Heritage Council for the insight and commitment to undertake such an important investigation that all communities in the Hunter region will benefit from, for many years to come.

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Wollongong Council’s proactive heritage program

Wollongong City Council is a proactive manager of cultural heritage in the Illawarra region. Eikos Environment and Heritage have observed that heritage best practice is being followed by WCC, in meaningful and relevant ways. WCC is undertaking an array of complex heritage projects including an ongoing review of heritage items, developing internal asset management plans, and framework for policy and decision making. We believe these initiatives display courage and leadership as too often local councils shirk their responsibilities or under-resource heritage projects. The council projects undertaken by WCC are outstanding and will serve the community well into the future and enable WCC to attract funding from government and non-government for its heritage projects.

Hunter Bona Fide History and Heritage Awards 2016

The Hunter Heritage Network Inc has announced that nominations are currently open for the 2016 Hunter Bona Fide History and Heritage Awards. The “Bonas” celebrate and acknowledge outstanding contributions by organisations and individuals to heritage and history in the Hunter region.

The Awards draw inspiration from the Latin ‘bona fide’ meaning ‘In Good Faith’ – genuine & trustworthy. The aim of the Awards is to celebrate outstanding scholarship and service to Australian history and heritage in the Hunter Region, and at the same time, inspire young people to get involved in historical research, identification, advocacy and documentation of local heritage.

The award ceremony will be held at Henderson Park Hall, Lockyer Street Merewether, on Sunday 17 April 2016. Tickets are available for purchase from the Hunter Heritage Network Inc.

We at Eikos believe in the importance of acknowledging contributions made to heritage conservation and historical research and we are great supporters of these most exciting awards. The categories are diverse and reflect the range of activities and the power of people in the heritage space in the Hunter. We are so excited to see the nominations and to see who the winners are!

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