Logie and The Lapstone Hill Hotel

"Logie"

In the 1870s Captain Charles Smith, a shipping magnate, bought part of country residence built in the 1870s by the Hon John Lucas, M.L.A. (1818 - 1902), a controversial Sydney politician, financier and Secretary for Mines in the Robertson Ministry. In the 1880s Smith built a house, called ‘Logie’, higher up the hill, above the railway and beyond Lucas’s cottage. When Charles Smith died in 1897, Logie was inherited by his son, Colin (1879 - 1939). Colin Smith was an eccentric and kenspeckle figure in Glenbrook who established a bacteriological laboratory at ‘Logie’.

'Logie'

In 1921 Logie and its estate were bought by Herwald Kirkpatrick and his brother-in-law, G.H.D. Morris (known as Jack). After a period of bad relations between the joint owners, Morris moved out of ‘Logie’ and in 1923 built his own house, ‘Briarcliffe’ on another part of the estate.

Kirkpatrick, who was a well-known architect, then proceeded to convert ‘Logie’ and the surrounding 12 hectares (29 acres) into a high-class hotel, retaining the stone foundations of Charles Smith’s house.

On 23rd July, 1928 a company called, "Lapstone Inn Ltd" issued a prospectus offering shares in a venture to buy old ‘Logie’ for £20 000 and convert it into an up-to-date residential hotel. "No site more picturesque could be imagined, the view across the Plains in all directions is unequalled, the climate for many months of the year is very like that of the South of France", the prospectus enthused.  

There were 15 acres, mostly in beautiful gardens; and there were plans to pipe water from the Nepean River as everyone in this district still depended on tanks for water.

'Decoration and Glass', Feb. 1936

The directors were Herwald Kirkpatrick, Sydney architect, who had designed the Glenbrook School of Arts; Samuel Farey, wool expert; and John Gordon Huston, hotel proprietor of Dubbo. The company was not free of financial problems, apparently, for according to some early Council correspondence, it was in liquidation in 1930, however it appears to have survived.

Using the interior designers, Ricketts and Thorp of Rockdale and Industrial Arts Ltd, Kirkpatrick created a major Art Deco luxury hotel, which attracted admiring articles in the professional journal Building in 1930, 1936 and 1937.

The Lapstone Hotel became a very fashionable place to stay and a road house bar was built at the entrance to cater for passing traffic. However there is no indication that it ever operated as a drive through bottle shop.

 

The Road Bar

The extract below is from the trade periodical 'Building' March 12, 1936, and mentions the new Golden Ray mirrors:

The Lapstone Hill Hotel stands alone in the front rank of country hotels, price for price and class for class, particularly with regard to the brightness and colourfulness which seem to enfold the hotel within and without and to emanate from the views and the well-kept garden. The bedrooms, of which there are now 50, are quite small compared to what one would get, say in America, but they conform to our regulation size. They are not lavishly furnished, but they are comfortable and neat, and above all, in very good taste. The ceilings and frieze are white, the wallpapers faintly toned in pastel shades of charming design, and the carpets maintain those tonings, but in deeper hues.

 The bed spreads, of washable Cesarine, are one-toned to match, maintaining a balance between the figured carpets and wallpapers. There are two sets of window blinds, a dark brown for summer and a cream for winter - to keep out the light and heat. Besides a central light, there is a bedside lamp and one on the dressing table, and also a tiny electric fan for summer use. There are four styles of room, one furnished in honey coloured Australian satinwood, finely grained, one in Italian walnut, one in restful tones of green lacquered, and one in mahogany colour. Each room has a wash basin with hot and cold water, but the common bathroom and toilet, unfortunately, is general, even in this otherwise good class hotel.

' Decoration and Glass' Feb. 1936 

 The price for this convenience with excellent cuisine is from £4/4/- per week per person for single room and common bathroom and toilet to £7/7/- per week per person for a private suite of a double bedroom, sitting room, bathroom and verandah. The carpeting, with the exception of that to the entrance, was carried out by Mr. Carney of Artistry Wholesale Furnishers, as well as the upholstering material, furnishing fabrics and the outside blinds.

It would be safe to say that nowhere in the world could accommodation of such a standard be obtained at from 12/- to £l/l/- per day. The dainty little pale pink open-voile frilled and crossed-over curtains in the bathrooms are but one of the little things that surprise and delight the patrons. Unsightly pipes do not protrude themselves - just chromium plated shower and tans only are noticeable. The exterior is in textured brick in which the colours blend harmoniously. As so many modern buildings use unblending colours, and some use "howling" colours, it seems almost necessary to mention this fact. The approach is through a port-cochere behind a flaming bed of bonfire salvia. It is rectangular with classic corner piers and columns.

' Decoration and Glass' Feb 1936 

The tiled flooring is in 6in. squares with |in. tile striping running between each-pair of tiles. In the octagonal entrance hall, four alternate sides arc devoted to openings - the entrance door, the passage to the suites, the hall that leads to the verandahs and ball- room and the wide office counter. Alternately between these are a Wunderlich Ruftex brick fireplace, telephone booths, an office door and the stair approach. The entrance door is in two leaves, each having a deep Luxfer panel with chromium plated kicking plates and handrail. The former dining room has been extended by taking in a portion of the front verandah, and this is reserved for the use of residents. The drawing room has been extended to double the former size. It is richly carpeted and furnished with upholstered three-piece suites in modern design. The curtains maintain the colouring of the carpet in copper green and buff. The former ballroom is now a billiard room with one full-sized table from Heiron & Smith Ltd., and there is room for another. 

Panoramic view, 1936

 It is the new ballroom, used by day as a dining room for non-residents, which constitutes the principal feature of the new section. It is a spacious room with four pillars near the angles. It is covered with a nut-brown Feltex heavily mottled in long stripe to roll up readily for evening dances. It would be better if left undisturbed. The walls are panelled and are in two tones of buff, one tone being obtained by a textured or patterned paper and the other being the matt finish of the plastering. The cornice treatment is a classic; it consists of a chevron moulding near the ceiling, beneath which is a frieze in the Grecian pelmet manner, maintaining a striped surface with a plastered finish on its alternating faces which are in two tones of buff, whilst on the zig-zagging soffit, corresponding with the two faces of the pelmet, gold and silver paper cover the alternating faces

 The ceiling is in receding stages after the manner of the Soldiers' Memorial (a Halicarnassus Tomb) in Melbourne, until it reaches the lighting panels in the centre, and here something special has been provided, in that the whole of the ceiling is covered with parchment through which a soft light filters. In a passage from the main building the wall is lined with Golden Ray mirrors to the full ceiling height, which colour tones in with the furnishing. Since Frank O'Brien Ltd. put Golden Ray mirrors on the market they have become very popular in positions such as this. 

There are five sets of windows 6ft. wide, curtained with overlapping extremely dainty frilled centre curtains and tweed curtains striped horizontally at the side, and the side curtaining is also applied to the three 12ft. folding doors to this room, running on McCabe's runners. The orchestra has been given a small stage, a baby grand Beale piano, and ornate lighting stands; surrounding this it a balustrading in honey-coloured Australian satin wood. Above is a pierced duct through which the Panotrope music filters. The chairs are upholstered in tapestry of buffs and browns, and the wall settees are also carried out in this upholstery, with high backs to ensure keeping a clean wall. The upholstery work generally is along simple lines, luxuriously comfortable; it was designed and manufactured by Ricketts and Thorp Ltd and it is a compliment to this firm that, having supplied furniture to the older building, it was asked to carry out the work in the new section. 

The whole has been very well carried out as regards selection of materials, design, craftsmanship, and last, but very important - price. It is just frankly expressive of our modern times, is full of tone and quality without being in the least bit aggressive, or bizarre, as so many things in the modern manner can become unless discretion is exercised. The ballroom opens onto a verandah 40 feet long and quite 13 feet deep. It is furnished in green and yellow modern wicker furniture with closely woven wicker seats and backs. In addition to usual and unusual attractions such as tennis court, a deck tennis court, a reflecting pool lit up with lights on the water's edge and a nine-hole golf course.
 

Panoramic view, 1936

This extract from a Blue Mountains promotional publication of 1939 gives a good, if rose tinted, description of the facilities it offered.

LAPSTONE HILL HOTEL

Only 40 miles from the G.P.O. - offers Visitors unique features - the convenience of a city hotel set amidst mountain scenery. Within an easy 80 minutes’ drive along the perfect surface of The Great Western Highway. Around this Hotel is a wealth of romantic and historical interest from its spacious, cool verandahs looking out over the terraced gardens, so reminiscent of Italy and the Riviera, can be seen the places which figured so prominently in Australia's early history.

Set like a brilliant ribbon of silver, threading amidst orchard groves, the glorious Nepean River flows in the foreground. The very name Lapstone itself is romantic - a river bed flung to mountain height millions of years ago, but still the earth holds evidence of that former era in the river stones which abound - the Cobbler's Lapstone was just such as these.

When heat reigns in the city, up here the cool North East breezes refresh and stimulate. After a strenuous set of tennis or a long round of golf, the crystal river water of the bathing pool incites you to swim.

When night descends you gaze away over the plains and in the distance twinkle there lights of old world Penrith, Richmond and Windsor, and beyond those of Parramatta, and like a Nimbus, the glowing radiance of the Metropolis on the sky line.

GOLF

Mr. Fred Poppelwell, the well-known professional, a golfer of the Australia Golf Club, has laid out a fine 9 hole course. Lockers and showers are provided at the Hotel.

CUISINE

Of a standard unexcelled in Australia. The finest kitchen in the Commonwealth, specially designed for a la carte meals. The most modern refrigerator equipment combined with Electric and Oil Burner Cooking, assures patrons of excellent meals at any hour of the day or night.

HOTEL

An ultra-modern combination of Fashionable Hotel and Country Club, exquisitely decorated and luxuriously appointed. Carpeted floors in all rooms and hallways, and furnished after the manner of an English gentleman's home. Replete with every modern home convenience. Running water in bedrooms, telephones and central heating.

APPROACH

Lapstone is approached by the Great Western Highway a pleasant 40 mile journey along a concrete bitumen surface road, which brings the hotel within 80 minutes of the city. Situated 40 miles from Sydney – three-quarters of a mile from Glenbrook Station - a car meets train.

ECAFE conference 1948

The hotel hosted a number of official and international events and conferences, including accommodation for the rowing crews in the 1938 British Empire Games, the British Commonwealth Relations Conference (Sept 1938), United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) (Feb 1945), the second UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) (Dec 1948).   

ECAFE Conference 1948

After World War II, the R.A.A.F. Operational Command was looking for a permanent site to house its Eastern Area Headquarters, and in 1949 they acquired the Lapstone Hotel for £63,000. Both buildings are now part of the RAAF establishment and have State Heritage Listing.

All images from the Local Studies collection.
Thanks to Barbara Higginson for access to research notes and photos. 

References and Links

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?id=1170270

"GOLDEN RAY" MIRRORS (1933, March 15).Construction and Real Estate Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1930 - 1938), , p. 9. Retrieved August 3, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222910923

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Games

https://archives.un.org/sites/archives.un.org/files/files/Finding%20Aids/2015_Finding_Aids/AG-018.pdf

http://www.crommelin.org/history/Biographies/1914Edward/UnrraScrapbook/

"POLITICS DISRUPTS E.C.A.F.E." The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995) 10 December 1948: 4. Web. 2 Aug 2016 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2780061 .

ECAFE CONFERENCE OPENS AT LAPSTONE (1948, November 30). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), , p. 1. Retrieved August 2, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18099418

Nepalese In Black Pillbox Hats (1948, November 30).The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), , p. 1. Retrieved August 2, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18099390

Housing Trouble For ECAFE At Lapstone (1948, December 2). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), , p. 2. Retrieved August 2, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18101365

http://consumer.fairfaxsyndication.com/Collection/Australian-Golfer--Fred-Popplewell-(1887-1966)-FXT172749

UNRRA Delegates in Informal Pre-Conference Scenes (1945, February 16). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), , p. 9. Retrieved August 2, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1111130

POLICIES FOR U.N.R.R.A. (1945, January 24). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), , p. 3. Retrieved August 2, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17941064

Knapsack Viaduct, Lapstone

Knapsack Viaduct c.1880

For the early train travellers, rattling across the Emu Plains in the late 1860s and 1870s, the seven classical, white sandstone arches of the Knapsack Viaduct must have presented an inspiring sight with which to begin their ascent of the Blue Mountains. The construction of the viaduct, the like of which no native-born colonial had ever seen, reaffirmed their nineteenth century faith in Man's mastery of Nature, a faith which, in the colony's short history, had often seemed threatened by this range of mountains.

In order to avoid costly tunnels, the Engineer-in-Chief of the NSW Railways, John Whitton, proposed the construction of zigzags on both the eastern and western flanks of the Blue Mountains, known as the Lithgow or Great Zig Zag and the Lapstone or Little Zig Zag respectively. In Whitton's words, the bridge 'consisted of five spans of fifty feet and two of twenty feet each, built in masonry . . . for a single line of railway on an incline of 1 in 30'.

The contract for construction was let to W. Watkins in March 1863, and the work was completed in 1865. The bridge was constructed of sandstone quarried in the neighbourhood, and carried a single rail line. The construction work brought hundreds of people to Lapstone, and later, employees of the railways to service it. The construction workers camped near their work sites, often with their families. The seven arched viaduct at Lapstone was hailed as a landmark of Australian engineering and the finest piece of masonry in New South Wales when it opened in 1867.

When the line was opened to traffic from Penrith to Bowenfels in October 1869, ease of travel by the new railway almost immediately began to broaden the public perceptions of the value and worth of the Blue Mountains. When the western line was extended to Bathurst in 1876, a new period of settlement and tourism was already underway. The track included a now abandoned station called Lucasville which was built for the Minister for Mines, John Lucas who had a holiday home nearby.

Lapstone Zig Zag plan showing both viaducts and roads

The Railway Guide of New South Wales, 1879 described the journey toward the viaduct from Penrith, and then the structure itself, rather more romantically, 'the Railway may be seen winding upwards - past huge rocks and steep declivities, alternating with dense woods; the noble viaduct across Knapsack Gully being hence already distinguishable . . . You have by this time arrived at the Knapsack Gully Viaduct - boldly erected across a steep and stony gorge by the genius of the Engineer in Chief, John Whitton. This admirable and imposing structure (which Imperial Rome . . . might have been proud to claim) consists of seven successive arches'. Nell Aston in 1988 imagined the view from the train as it crossed the Knapsack Viaduct before ascending the Zig Zag writing, 'it must have seemed like flying'.

Nevertheless, in the years that followed, the railway landscape on the eastern escarpment underwent significant modification and the place of the viaduct in the scheme of things was destined to change. By the turn of the nineteenth century the increase in the volume of freight on the western line and the restrictions on the length of trains imposed by the Zigzag meant it had become uneconomical and Whitton’s masterpiece was gradually replaced by tunnels and deviations and the Lapstone viaduct was abandoned. The Zig-Zag itself was replaced in the early 1890s by a tunnel through the ridge over which it had allowed access. While this first deviation did not affect the role of the viaduct, such was not the case twenty years later when a second deviation, of considerably greater magnitude, was constructed through Glenbrook Gorge.

Fire's On, Arthur Streeton, 1891

In 1891 the artist Arthur Streeton visited the Lapstone Hill tunnel site and painted his famous picture ‘Fires On’. The painting captures a critical moment during the construction of the railway line: the death of a railway worker in an explosion. 'Fire's on' was the warning call before the blast, as the gang dynamited the tunnel through the hillside.

Opened in 1913, the new route represented a dramatic change and included a new viaduct over Knapsack Gully, lower down than the original it replaced. Only seventy-five feet above the creek bed, this second viaduct was on a curve and built of brick. With its phasing out as a part of the rail route over the Blue Mountains the old nineteenth century Knapsack Viaduct was, however, soon to find a new role as part of a very twentieth century system of transportation.

The advent of the motor car focused attention upon the condition of many of the State's roads including the Main Western Road up Mitchell's Pass. A more suitable route was sought and, in October 1926, the viaduct was taken over by the Department of Main Roads and incorporated into the route of the Great Western Highway, and in response to increasing traffic the road deck was widened to 30 feet (9.1m) in 1939. With the opening of the M4 motorway extension in 1993 the viaduct was closed to traffic completely and developed of a tourism and heritage precinct commenced. In 1995 the bridge was reopened for pedestrian access, along with the John Whitton Memorial Reserve, by Member for Macquarie, Maggie Deahm.

Lapstone Zig Zag Walking Track

For those willing to pause from their travels for a time, a walking track winds down from the old Lucasville Station, through the arches of the viaduct to the floor of the gully, across Knapsack Creek and up the opposite slope to Elizabeth Lookout. From this track visitors can observe closely the graceful, arched contours of the viaduct and discern the solid nature of its construction which so impressed our colonial forebears. Despite being overshadowed later by its grander cousins on the western flank of the mountains, the Knapsack Viaduct was one of the early achievements that helped to encourage the fledgling Australian self-confidence.

Dimensions

Length of each of the 5 main spans: 15.2m

Smaller spans at each end: 6.1m

Maximum pier height from deck to rock: 40m

Links:

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=4301012

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapstone_Zig_Zag

References:

Knapsack Viaduct, Lapstone. In: Historic Blue Mountains, John Low (1987).

Rails, Roads and Ridges, History of Lapstone Hill- Glenbrook. Nell Aston, for the Glenbrook Public School Centenary Committee (1988)

Links: http://www.slideshare.net/srnsw/ble-mountains-railway-the-train-that-thought-it-could

Local Studies Librarian, 2016

The Bridge at Emu Pass Lennox Bridge, Blue Mountains NSW

The Western Road Proves Difficult

On Monday 31st May, 1813, Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Wentworth looked out from the summit of a high hill, later named Mount Blaxland, over a vast expanse of forest land that spread away to the west. Almost immediately upon their return to Sydney, their success was confirmed by the expedition of George Evans, the surveyor, who assured the authorities that a practicable route over the Blue Mountains had indeed been found. By mid-January the following year (1815), William Cox and his party had completed their rough but serviceable road to the site of Bathurst, and the west lay open to the expansion of European settlement from the confines of the coastal plain.

While government restrictions on travel over and settlement beyond the Blue Mountains were early enforced, a thriving wool industry was soon established on the newly discovered grazing lands in the west. In the 1820s this was to provide the foundation upon which emerged a small but powerful pastoral gentry, who were to influence significantly events in New South Wales for the next two decades.

The Western Road over the Mountains was the life line that sustained the growth of pastoral capitalism during this period. Supplies and stock went west while the wagons, loaded with wool and drawn by teams of oxen, became an increasingly common sight (and sometimes a major hazard to other traffic) negotiating the narrow mountain road and winding their way precariously down the Lapstone Hill to the coast.

As use of the road increased, the difficulties of ascending and descending at both the Lapstone and Mount York ends began to stimulate thinking toward improvements. At Mount York, the precipitous nature of the descent saw the search begin in the early 1820s for an alternative route, culminating eventually in the opening of Victoria Pass in 1832.

At Lapstone, Cox's Road remained the main access route until 1824, but was particularly hazardous in wet weather suffering badly from washaways and creek flooding. It was replaced in that year by the Lapstone Zig Zag Road, believed to be the work of William Lawson, which was opened a couple of kilometres to the north. Avoiding the flood-prone crossing at Jamison Creek, it rejoined Cox's Road at Blaxland and remained until the mid-1830s, the principal route up the eastern escarpment. It is still in use today as the Old Bathurst Road.

Milestone on Mitchell's Pass

Major Mitchell

In 1827 Major (later Sir) Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, veteran of the Peninsular War, restless, irascible, ambitious and talented, arrived in New South Wales to become John Oxley's Deputy. Following Oxley's death in 1828, he succeeded to the office of Surveyor-General, an office to which, at the end of 1828, Governor Darling transferred the responsibilities for roads and bridges.

As Surveyor-General, Mitchell was, in the late 1820s and early 1830s, greatly occupied with the surveying and marking out of permanent lines for the colony's main roads. He believed strongly that the definition and establishment of the lines of direction of roads "should precede, as much as possible, the progress of colonization" (Mitchell 1839, 156). With the most advantageous direction ascertained, "the public means may be applied with certainty to their (the roads) substantial improvement, by removing obstructions and building bridges" (Mitchell 1839, 156). The establishment of towns could then also be planned with confidence in their future.

Towards the middle of 1830, Mitchell, having completed the marking of the lines of the main roads north to the Hunter River and south to Goulburn, turned his concentration back to completing the re-definition of the line west to Bathurst, a task he had recommended in a Report made in November, 1827 (In Mitchell 1855a, 3-10).

By 1830, Lapstone Hill was again causing concern to the authorities. In January 1830, the Colonial Secretary wrote to Mitchell informing him of the Governor's suggestion "that there are several places, 'Lapstone Hill¹, for example, (which from the steepness of the ascent, suffer extremely in heavy rains) where it would be advantageous to station a few men with an overseer permanently for the purpose of immediately repairing any damage which may be occasioned" (In Mitchell 1855a, 13). Two years later, in May 1832, following representations from the carrier of the Royal Mail to Bathurst, James Watsford, the Surveyor-General was once more informed of the Governor's desire for a permanent road-gang to be stationed on Lapstone Hill (Mitchell 1855a, 31).

As well as this direction, Mitchell had, the previous year (1831) , been ordered by the Governor to lay out plans for a township on Emu Plains. In line with his views on establishing the direction of roads in advance of settlement, he declared that the planning of Emu could not proceed until the line of the Western Road was finally established in relation to its ascent of Lapstone Hill.

From his own examination of the area, he settled on "the gully which descends most directly from the Pilgrim (Inn) towards the proposed site, and I found that it would admit of the most direct and least inclined road that can possibly be made between that point and Emu Plains" (Mitchell 1855a, 33). Having satisfied himself as to what should be the permanent line up the Lapstone escarpment he recommended, in his Report of June 1832, that its construction be undertaken as soon as possible in preference to the Governor's earlier suggestion of placing a permanent repair gang on the old road.

A Bridge is Needed

Work on the new Pass commenced in August, 1832, when the Assistant Surveyor, John Abbott began the preliminary clearing work along the line Mitchell had marked. While construction proceeded satisfactorily, there was a major problem which had to be solved. About half way up the proposed route, Mitchell had decided to take the road across the creek, a plan that would require the bridging of a 30 foot deep gully with a span of 20 feet.

To Mitchell, this problem was both a practical and an aesthetic one. An admiration for classical times reinforced his belief that the possession of well-designed bridges was one sign of a civilized society. Bridges were "the most indispensable of public works. Such works constitute the capital of a nation - no country is thought anything of that does not possess them", (Mitchell 1855b, 602).

Here in the Emu Pass at Lapstone, the opportunity presented itself to experiment with a bridge designed to stand the test of time, a bridge that would be the forerunner of others built to improve the system of Great Roads he had recently surveyed.

However, to transform his vision into reality would require the services of someone who possessed both the necessary technical knowledge and the experience. Such a person would not be easy to find in a country where the art of bridge construction was virtually unknown and where flimsy wooden structures, easy victims of flood and fire, predominated. The only bridge of a substantial and permanent nature was the Richmond Bridge built in 1828 in Tasmania.

A sketch by Robert Marsh Westmacott, 1840s.

David Lennox

The right man did however, appear in the person of David Lennox, a recently arrived "mechanic" with considerable bridge-building experience. The combination of the talents of these two men, Lennox and Mitchell, at just this particular time was, in many ways, a remarkable coincidence. Lennox was a master mason of twenty years' experience who had worked on a number of bridges in Britain, including two of Thomas Telford's major designs - the Menai Suspension Bridge (opened 1826) and the stone arch Gloucester Bridge (completed 1827). Following his wife's death in 1828, he decided to come to Australia. Arriving in Sydney in . August 1832, he found work as a day labourer constructing the stone wall outside the Legislative Council Chambers in Macquarie Street.

At this time the work on the Emu Pass was just beginning and, on . making Lennox's acquaintance, Mitchell lost no time in arranging for him to re-direct his talents to the construction of the required bridge. On Mitchell's recommendation, Governor Bourke, in October 1832, granted Lennox a provisional appointment which was sub­sequently confirmed from London, with the official title of "Superintendent of Bridges" being awarded him in June of the following year.

The element of chance in his discovery of Lennox and the speed of the latter's appointment were alluded to later by Mitchell when, in a lecture to the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts in 1855, he described how David Lennox "left his stone wall and with his shirt sleeves still tucked up - and trowel in hand - undertook to plan stone bridges for this colony" (Mitchell 1855b, 601).

Lennox's job required him to "furnish the designs, construct the centering, and direct the application of convict labor to stone cutting and setting, and to all the branches of carpentry and masonry necessary for the construction of a bridge". (Mitchell 1855a, 277).

Lennox Bridge c.1890

The Bridge Takes Shape

By November 1832, Abbott had cleared the road almost to the Pilgrim Inn. Much of the stone for the bridge had been quarried and cut, and obtaining lime from Windsor, Lennox began the laying process. The bridge work party was selected from the larger road gang by Lennox himself. Made up of about twenty convicts, an overseer, a constable and an armed sentry, it worked at the site from about 7 o'clock in the morning, returning to the stockade at Emu Plains in the evening after 4.00 p.m.

Lennox's relationship with his convict workers was, it seems, a good one and, despite the absconding of one convict which for a time held up the sawing of timber for the arch centering, he was very successful in conducting on-the-job training of the men he had picked to carry out the often difficult tasks required in bridge construction. Abbott described him to Mitchell, in a letter dated 10th November, 1832, as "indefatigable in instructing than how to work". Indeed, so effective was he that Governor Bourke let it be known that he would try to prevent the services of these newly skilled workers from being lost to the Department of Roads and Bridges after the Lapstone job was finished.

Lennox's confidence in his men was emphasized later, in May 1833, when he was beginning to transfer operations to his next job. At this time he petitioned the Governor to remit the remainder of the iron gang sentences of eight convicts he wished to take with him. Although some of the sentences were, he said, "for heavy crimes, it appears to me to have been more the effect of a bad system at that time in regard to prisoners than any particular depravity of the prisoners themselves". (Lennox to Bourke, 8th May, 1833.)

The convicts in question were:

William Brady

John Carsons

Robert Hyams

John Johnson

Patrick Malowney (or Maloney)

Thomas Nelson

James Randall

Daniel Williams (an "American black")

The sentences of Brady, Carsons, Malowney and Nelson were remitted while Randall and Williams were promised remittal of their sentences after a further six months good behaviour.

During March 1833 the approaches to the bridge were dry-packed with square-rubble to raise them to the level of the road while the road approaches themselves were quarried to a satisfactory width. The keystones were also inscribed at this time, with the date on the downstream side and the builder's name on the upstream side, and set in place.

By May 1833 the work on the bridge had progressed to the point where Lennox could direct his attention to his next assignment - the construction of a substantial bridge over Prospect Creek, on the Great Southern Road near Liverpool. By the end of the month he had moved his headquarters to the new site, leaving the completion of the Qnu Pass bridge under the supervision of his young overseer, George Neilson, to whom he paid periodic inspection visits until the work was finally completed toward the end of June. Lennox reported the bridge finished in early July 1833. The Pass itself, while traversable, was not completely finished until March the following year.

On Sunday 28th July 1833, Governor Bourke and his party rode up the Pass to the Pilgrim Inn and were, according to the Sydney Monitor's report, suitably impressed with the "rural splendour" of the new bridge, the simple design of which merged harmoniously with the surrounding landscape. Following the U-turn which the road took at the point where it crossed the gully, the single arch bridge traced a gentle curve to form the connection at the bottom of the "U". Its curving sweep demonstrated Lennox's command of geometry and earned the bridge the later nickname of "The Horseshoe Bridge".

Lennox Bridge c.1920

Bridge Use & Restoration

"A somewhat experimental work", as Mitchell (1855a, 277) described it, Lennox Bridge formed part of the main route to the west for almost one hundred years until the Great Western Highway was channelled across the Knapsack Viaduct and along the old Railway route to Blaxland in 1926.

The Bridge has borne traffic of which Lennox and Mitchell could have had no conception and, during the 1950s particularly, it suffered severely from the increasing load of fast modern cars and heavy vehicles. Damage to the stonework eventually rendered it structurally unsound and it was closed first to heavy lorries and then to all vehicular traffic, while negotiations took place with both State and Federal Governments to obtain funds for its restoration.

Finally, in the latter part of the 1970s, serious work began with the assistance of grants from the National Estate and the Heritage Council of New South Wales. The restoration work was designed to recreate the shape and appearance of the original bridge while, at the same time, providing the structural strength necessary to prevent damage by modern traffic. A reinforced concrete road deck, concealed behind the bridge's existing facade, was laid over the old stone arch. Abutments and approach walls were strengthened, damaged balustrading repaired and paving blocks re-laid along the bridge footpath. The work to aesthetically restore the bridge included the removal, cleaning, grouting, redressing and replacing of the original sandstone blocks as well as the quarrying of new sandstone to replace those blocks damaged beyond repair. The tender for the restoration of the old bridge's stonework was let to the Sydney firm of Melocoo, whose subsidiary, Loveridge and Hudson, carried out the work. Much of the new sandstone was quarried at Gosford.

The Bridge was officially re-opened to traffic by the Mayor of the Blue Mountains City, Alderman Peter Quirk, at a public ceremony on 14th December, 1982 - almost one hundred and fifty years since Lennox's convict work gang toiled in the gully on the Emu Pass.

Blue Mountains City Library

John Low

Bibliography

Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol. I, 1788-1850. (1966). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. Contains entries on Lennox and Mitchell.

HAVARD, Ward L. 1933. Mitchell's Pass, near Emu Plains. Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, XIX (Part VI): 352-363.

HERMAN, Morton. 1954. The Early Australian Architects and Their Work. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. Chapter XIV is about David Lennox.

Historical Records of Australia, Series I (Vol. XVII): Governors' Despatches to and from England. (1923). Sydney: The Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament. Contains correspondence relating to Lennox's appointment.

KULLAS, Henry. 1977. Lennox Bridge - 'Horseshoe Bridge'. Springwood: The Author. Describes in some detail the method of constructing the stone arch.

LENNOX, David.  1832-53.  Various Papers Relating To.  Held in the Mitchell•Library, Sydney.

LOW, Jim. 1983. Lennox Bridge - Spanning The Past Into Tomorrow. Mount Riverview: The Author. Contains suggested creative activities for children.

MITCHELL, Thomas Livingstone. 1839. Journal of An Expedition Sent to Explore the Course of the River Darling in 1835. In Three Expeditions Into the Interior of Australia Vol. I. London: T. § W. Boone.

MITCHELL, Thomas Livingstone. 1855a. Report Upon the Progress Made in Roads and in the Construction of Public Works in New South Wales from the Year 1827 to June 1855. Held in the Mitchell Library, Sydney.

MITCHELL, Thomas Livingstone. 1855b. Lecture to the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. In 'Papers of Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell Vol. VIII, Miscellaneous'. Held in the Mitchell Library, Sydney.

SELKIRK, Henry, 1920. David Lennox, the bridge builder, and his work. Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, VI (Part V): 200-243.

SMITH, A.I. 1955. David Lennox. Springwood : Macquarie Historical Society. A paper read before the society on 21st October, 1955.

SPEIRS, Hugh. 1981. Landscape Art and The Blue Mountains. Chippendale (N.S.W.): Alternative Publishing Co-operative.