| Lansdowne | |
| Coordinates: | -34.7685°N 149.7268°W |
| Map Relief: | yes |
| Location: | Bungonia Road, Goulburn, Goulburn Mulwaree Council, New South Wales, Australia |
| Beginning Label: | Design period |
| Built: | 1822 - 1825 |
| Owner: | Neville and Irene Lee |
| Designation1: | New South Wales State Heritage Register |
| Designation1 Offname: | Lansdowne; Lansdowne Park; Synagogue and 3 Cottages |
| Designation1 Type: | state heritage (landscape) |
| Designation1 Date: | 2 April 1999 |
| Designation1 Number: | 132 |
| Designation1 Free1name: | Type |
| Designation1 Free1value: | Homestead Complex |
| Designation1 Free2name: | Category |
| Designation1 Free2value: | Farming and Grazing |
| Designation1 Free3name: | Builders |
Lansdowne Park is a heritage-listed homestead at Bungonia Road, Goulburn, Goulburn Mulwaree Council, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1822 to 1825. It is also known as Lansdowne. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.[1]
Jonas Bradley had settled previously at Windsor Road (Sydney) on a grant of 25 acres. For this property, he had been granted stock from the Government Herds in 1811. In return he was a regular supplier of meat to the Government Stores at Windsor. In this location he initiated the growing of tobacco in commercial quantities.[1]
The first award ever made by the fledgling Agricultural Society was a silver quart tankard given to Jonas Bradley in 1823 "in recognition of his cultivation of tobacco and his offer to lay before the Society a statement of his mode of culture, cure and manufacture". A hundredweight of tobacco was presented to the Society to be sent to England in the brig "Bathurst". This statement to the Society was published in the Sydney Gazette on 2- February 1823 and again on 22 May.[1]
The land which Jonas occupied at this time was considered by him to be "too poor and limited in size" to enable him to cultivate tobacco to the extent he wished. As a consequence he petitioned Governor Brisbane in 1822 for a grant of land in the Burragorang district where he proposed to "cultivate tobacco to a considerable extent, as the soil is extremely suitable for that purpose". Jonas Bradley then went on to become the first to plant and harvest tobacco as a crop in the Goulburn district. In 1836, 1.5 tons of tobacco was harvested from Lansdowne.[1]
In 1836 William Bradley opened a brewery complex at the base of the hill below Lansdowne homestead and between 1836 and 1840 a steam-powered mill had been added. This was one of the first steam powered industries in the colony. The mill, when completed in 1838, processed about 100,000 bushels of wheat per annum. In 1852 the price of flour in Goulburn rose from 21 to 29 pounds whilst wheat was selling at 10/- a bushel. Flour milled at Bradley's mill in 1854 realised "first 35 pounds per ton, second 34 pounds, third 33 pounds, Bran 3/- per bushel". Due to collusion the price from the other major mill in the town, Byrnes and Oaker's was the same. Both the brewery and mill were managed by William Shelley who was in partnership with Bradley. Shelley died in 1844, aged 39, at Lansdowne Park. After Bradley's death in 1868 the complex was sold to Messrs Walford, Sparks & Emanuel who continued the milling but ceased the brewery operation. Emanuel was also the purchaser of Lansdowne at this time. The new owners sold on to Messrs Bartlett and Oddy who operated only the brewery.[1]
Jonas' scientific approach to agriculture was shared by William - inspired by his father's interest in and knowledge of tobacco, he is reputed to have developed a nicotine based treatment for scab in sheep that led to the eradication of scab from NSW flocks. Bradley's work on scab and catarrh for the sheep industry is ranked equal in importance to that of Farrar's for rust in the wheat industry.[1]
Bradley also introduced the first Southdown (coarse haired) sheep to NSW in the Monaro.[2] [1]
Lansdowne Park is Goulburn's oldest homestead and property, and includes ballroom, convict built coach house and stables, convict jail and guests' quarters.[1]
Lansdowne homestead and surrounding precinct is of outstanding heritage significance. It has been associated with the development of Goulburn since the earliest days of exploration in the area and was one of the first properties settled in the area south of the Cumberland basin. It provides physical evidence of its establishment and occupation by one of the most powerful men in the colony who played an important role in shaping the development of NSW.[1]
The homestead is a scarce example of an early timber colonial homestead with its "U" plan, high-pitched roof and encircling verandah. The fabric provides rare physical evidence of early timber building techniques used in the colony.[1]
Lansdowne has retained extensive evidence of its early period of development along with evidence of most of the outbuildings which once supported the house. It provides evidence of early colonial life, including all facets of human activity. The homestead forms part of an intact group of buildings which have the potential to provide a complete vignette of 19th century rural life and activity.[1]
The property exhibits strong associations with the Aboriginal population as it was used as both a meeting place and burial ground. It was also a place of primary contact between Aboriginal and European peoples.[1]
The property provides physical evidence of the close association with one of the earliest industrial enterprises in Goulburn.[1]
Lansdowne's location on a spur overlooking the flood plain has enabled a strong relationship to develop between the city and the rural hinterland. The property has largely retained its rural curtilage and yet continues to define the boundary between the town and rural land as Bradley's properties have done for over 160 years (to 1997).[1]
It is a rare example of a pastoral, industrial and political empire, providing information of the development and concomitant development of the colony. It demonstrates the characteristics associated with important pioneering family homesteads.[1]
The site has the potential to provide valuable archaeological information about both Aboriginal and European periods of occupation.[3] [1]
Lansdowne was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.[1]