With razor blade in hand, working on a small section, the heritage painter carefully removed the outer layers of paint on a column in the chapel at Maitland Gaol. It was 2005, and Gordon Sauber, the Gaol Museum’s Coordinator was curious to identify the room’s original colour scheme. Built in 1867-8, the chapel remained in […]
When the Morpeth Courthouse was built in 1862 it didn’t quite meet expectations. Notably, its striking edifice was without a clock. Since only the wealthiest residents could afford their own clocks, there was a pressing need for a communal clock, complete with an hourly chime, loud enough to be heard throughout the town and beyond. […]
Mothers regularly pushed their prams up the ramp of the local courthouse in 1950s Morpeth. But it was not a judge and jury that they were to there to see—it was a baby health nurse. In this unlikely place from 1954, about ten years after the the building had been closed as a court house, […]
On sunny days, this leadlight windowpane once created shafts of ruby, gold and turquoise light that pierced the darkness inside St James’ Anglican Church, Morpeth. Since the building’s construction in 1837-40, it had been part of a lancet (pointed arch) window installed in the tower, on either the northern or southern side. A lack of […]
This little green book of religious instruction has been cared for by generations of women. Wilson on the Lord’s Supper was first published in 1733 by a bishop from the Isle of Man. His words reached the small settlement of Morpeth in New South Wales, via the early St James’s Church of England parishioners. Among […]
When 20-year-old Lincolnshire born woman Sarah Ingall (1829-1902) married at Morpeth in 1849, she probably accepted, as did most brides of her era, that motherhood would be her natural occupation. During her life Sarah gave birth to nine children, spending over twenty-five years pregnant, breast-feeding babies and raising children. This fancy day cap, with its […]
Step inside Morpeth’s Commercial Hotel today and you’ll find distinctive Federation-era features throughout, with an upstairs balcony overlooking the Hunter River (Coquun) and the town’s celebrated white wooden bridge crossing. It’s a pub that’s stood the test of time, evolving to cater to contemporary tastes with a cocktail bar and a nano brewery onsite offering […]
Cloth is universally significant in every ritual that is part of the human experience, from the first swaddling of a newborn to the last garments worn in death, it is an expression and exploration of self, made physical and tactile. The Shroud is an evocative textile piece created by artist Lucas Grogan. Born the fifth of […]
Onboard the ship Eliza when she docked in Sydney on 25 June, 1828, were 158 convicts sent from Britain. Among them was James Redding, a man seemingly condemned for life, as he faced an uncertain future in an unknown land. In the years that immediately followed his arrival, James’ days were dictated by the tick […]
I stirred the sea to see if it was alive is a video artwork by Lottie Consalvo (1985-) shot in the early morning with the help of close friends. Jamieson Moore did the filming and Timothy McPhee made the composition and sound. The black and white production shows Consalvo enveloped in nature-struggling against a blustery […]
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