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DROP-LOG WALLING IN EASTERN AUSTRALIA: A PILOT STUDY FIONA BUSH PATRICIA CHISHOLM ROBERT IRVING Architectural History Research Unit Graduate School of the Built Environment Faculty of Architecture University of New South Wales 1983 ISBN 0 908502 29 x
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DROP-LOG WALLING IN EASTERN AUSTRALIA:

A PILOT STUDY

FIONA BUSH PATRICIA CHISHOLM ROBERT IRVING •

Architectural History Research Unit Graduate School of the Built Environment Faculty of Architecture University of New South Wales

1983

ISBN 0 908502 29 x

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2. 3.

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001.83' 8.

9. JUDY BIRMINGHAM

Department Of Archaeology University Of Sydney •

N.S.W; 2006 02-6922763 Off 02-323796 Res

DROP-LOG WALLING IN' EASTERN AUSTRALIA:

A PILOT STUDY

FIONA BUSH PATRICIA CHISHOLM ROBERT IRVING

CONTENTS

FOREWORD INTRODUCTION DROP-LOG DOCUMENTATION

The first phase Claims of superiority

NORTH AMERICAN CORRELATIONS Canada Possible Connections

with Australia Sydney's first builders The Canadian exiles Gold Rushes: California

and Australia TWO INDIVIDUAL EXAMPLES

McCrae Cottage, near Frankston, Victoria

Hut at Mo1ong, New South Wales Comments

A TYPOLOGY OF DROP-LOG CONNECTIONS A Glossary of terms Typical details of drop-log

construction Typical details of drop-slab

construction Typical wall section through

drop-plank house Connections typology charts

CONCLUSION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

5 6

12

14 14 15

16

19 21 23

27

29

30

31 32

2 3 4

12

19

25

41 43 44

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1

.... With the trunks so near, the house growing rapidly, the days of sewing waiting, I refused point-blank to leave the homestead just then ...

The walls were erected on what is known as the drop-slab panel system - upright panels formed of three-foot slabs cut from the outside slice of tree-trunks, and dropped horizontally, one above the other, between grooved posts - a simple arrangement, quickly run up and artistic in appearance - outside, a horizontally fluted surface, formed by the natural curves of the timber, and inside, flat smooth walls. As in every third panel there was a door or a wi ndow, and as the horizontal slabs stopped within two feet of the ceiling, the building was exceed­ingly airy, and open on all sides.

Cheon, convinced that the system was Johnny's, was delighted with his ingenuity .. 0 •••• he insisted on the walls being scrubbed as soon as they were up, and before the doors and the windows were in ...

Mrs Aeneas Gunn, We of the Never-Never.

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Cool ami ne Station, in the high country of Kosciusko National Park, in N.S.W., is an example of a complex of distinctive vernacular structures, now partly derelict. A conservation project has been initiated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of N.S.W. This photograph, by Robert Bennett, shows the older of the two dwellings, known as Southwel1's Hut, which was built of drop-planks about 1883

2.

DROP-LOG WALLING IN EASTERN AUSTRALIA: A PILOT STUDY

1. FOREWORD

This study was carried out under the terms of a grant from the Australian Research Grants Committee extending over the years 1980 to 19

The title of the ARGC project is "Nineteenth century building technology for twentieth century building conservation". It requires the investigation of traditional building construction over a wide field, from natural resources to user satisfaction, but essentially concentrates upon materials and their in­corporation into building fabrics. Its objective is to detail the relevance of traditional to present-day operations in facilitating authentic building conservation. The present exploratory drop-log exercise is a small part of this larger investigation.

The research was done by Fiona Bush and Patricia Chisholm, and the work was directed and edited by Robert Irving.

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*There are of course many examples of re-creations, such as those at Old Sydney Town, where more-or­less authentic early techniques are evident, or at Pioneers' Cottage, Broadford, Victoria. a folk museum structure. or at Hill End, where at least one Gold-Rush example has been facsimiled

* For example The Voyage of Governor Phillip ...• Stockda1e. London, 1789, p. 105, July. 1788

.- ---_ .. --~.~~~ ,

"They simply slipped the planks in from the top,.... Unstead & Henderson, Homes in Australia

3

2. INTRODUCTION

This paper discusses a traditional wall building method long associated with colonial Australia: the system now generally known as drop-log construction. It was an important component of vernacular timber architecture in this country but, because virtually no drop-log build­ings have been built for half a century, the number of surviving examples is steadily diminishing, and excellent ones are now few indeed.*

Vernacular forms of wooden construction in Australia have been ingenious and numerous. Most of them developed from origins in Britain or other countries; a few originated here. It was natural for all of these forms to be influenced either by the abundance and ease of handling of local timbers, or by their shortage and intract­ability. These three factors - time, origin and managabi1ity, will be examined briefly in the following pages.

The first wooden walling method to be recorded in this country was the wattle-and-daub system, which sprang directly from British experience, and is described in many of the earliest books and journa1s.* Drop-log construction appeared next, also before the end of the eighteenth century (though it was not known as 'drop-log' until much later). It was used until the early 1930's. Early in the nineteenth century a walling system using vertical slabs was introduced in areas where trees were large enough to yield such pieces. It became so widespread that when the term 'slab hut' was used, it almost always meant a building with walls made of full-height upright slabs. Horizontal or drop-log construction might have been less common than vertical slabbing; it certainly seems to have been less well documented. But it was one of the earliest, most efficient and therefore most attractive of building methods, and it became significantly Australian.

By giving some attention to a rapidly diminishing cultural resource, it is hoped that this paper will promote further selective and detailed con­servation studies, so that a neglected part of the nation's heritage can be protected.

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WALl-LOGS WIT!"1 ENDS cHNAFEPSiP. TI<EY AP./i; PROPPED FRoM -mE ToP INTo PoST GfZ<xJvE<S

PoST IS TENONa> 70 FIT MORTISE JNTOP PLATE

OAT-OlAr I<E~ I'EG<;EPM SPIKED IN Pi..ACf; AFTER lAST we 15 l'oSrnONE()

The main elements of drop-log walling construction

Bul-hus barn at Aarhus,

* C.F. Innocent, The Development of ~ish Building Construction, originally published 1916, p.109

4-

3. DROP-LOG DOCUMENTATION

The expression drop-log, which has many variants, is an old Australian bush term that has survived into more recent times through oral tradition. It does not occur in very early texts, appearing later in turn-of-the-century writings. Such a description by Mrs. Aeneas Gunn, appears at the beginning of this paper.

Drop-log describes the manner in which horizontal infill logs were used. First the spaced vertical members of the wall framework were either grooved vertically down their faces, or the grooves were formed by fixing cleats to the posts. Then the logs were shaped at each end, and dropped down in between the posts to fit into the grooves. Various names, including drop-log, drop-slab, drop-flitch and drop-plank, have been given to this technique, depending on how the wood was converted. These terms have been used very loosely and need to be regularized for the purpose of investigation. Section 6 of this study attempts such a standardization. Drop-log construction appears to have spread throughout eastern Australia. Documentary references and surviving examples alike suggest that its great­est area of concentration was in the southern area of New South Wales and in Victoria. Its presence in Australia raises such questions as where the form originated and how it arrived. The first interesting fact is that the technique has no immediate ancestry in England, as might be expected. It did, however, have an early tradition in Europe, where it was called the 'block-house' construction, or 'bul-hus'. In this, horizontal wall logs were laid one on top of the other between posts. This construction spread to North America, brought by French and other European settlers, and was carried, probably even earlier, into Asia by the Russians. In all instances it followed the belts of coniferous trees of the North Temperate Zone.*

Australian drop-log construction appears to be almost identical with some of the methods widely used in the New World of North America, especially in Canada. They were evident there not only in the nineteenth century but for scores of years before, having been adapted by the Canadians from a French tradition, which was then dying in timber­depleted Europe. Canadian precursors will be discussed later in this study.

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* The technique has also been referred to as "drop-slot" construction. See R.J. Unstead and W.F. Henderson, Homes in Australia, london, 1969 --

*David Co11ins, An Account of the English Co10n§ in New South Wales, London, 17 8, p.23

*Co11in5, Account, p.21

Detail from Collins Account, "An Eastern View of Sydney", depicting what appears to be a drop-log building under construction

The first phase

It would appear that in Australia the drop-log~ technique was used from the very beginning of white settlement. When the First Fleet arrived in 1788, the settlers were ill-prepared for the conditions which the new land offered.

The trees, so highly spoken of by Cook and Banks, were useless, and the elemental tools inadequate. Judge-Advocate Collins wrote of their frustration in trying to find suitable wood:

The timber that had been cut down proved in general very unfit for the purpose of building. The trees being for the most part decayed ... when cut down were immediately warped and split by the sun.*

These were the angophora speci es. Nevertheless, with the need to build imperative, ways were found of utilizing other available timbers.

The long boats of the ships in the cove were employed in bringing up cabbage-tree from the lower part of the harbour ... (it) was found when cut into proper lengths, very fit for the purpose of erecting temporary huts, the posts and plates of which being made of the pine of this country, [CasuarinaJ and the sides and ends filled with lengths of the cabbage-tree, plastered over with clay, formed a very good hovel.*

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*Collins, Account,"An Eastern View of Sydney", p.186. Other views in Co11ins also show huts under construction

* George B. Worgan, letter, 12 June, 1788 (M.L.MS). See also Journal of a First Fleet Surgeon, Library of Australian History, 1978, p.ll

*George Mackaness, Admiral Arthur Phi11ip, Sydney, 1937, p.150

*J.T. Bigge Report, Appendix, Bonwlck Transcripts, Box 27, p.2181, 9 December 1822 {M.L.}

vertical slab walling. The slabs fit into grooves in top & bottom plates. Mrs L. Rawson, Australian Enquiry Book ... , p.200

The account of the colony published by Collins included finely detailed engravings. In one engraving the frame of a small house or hut can be seen.* The posts are spaced at regular in­tervals and are connected by a top-plate supporting the roof. This type of framework was suitable for wall infill panels of logs placed horizontally, one on top of the other. The round cabbage tree trunks were also split for use in such infill panels. First Fleet surgeon G.B. Worgan gives the first description of drop-slab construction in 1788:

The wood of these Trees (which is very soft) is of great use to us; for cut into the proper Lengths & split in half, they serve for walling the huts. Un­fortunately, none of this Timber cuts into good Beams or good Planks .... *

The cabbage-tree palm (Livistona austral is) is a tall straight tree, though its timber is not very strong. This tree became so popular for building in theearly years that although once abundant, it was wiped out of the area within a few years.*

Claims of superiority

For the early builders there were several ad­vantages in drop-log construction. The first was its Simplicity and the fact that few, if any, nails were needed. In the first years nails were in short supply and consequently were costly. Even later, in the squatting period, large quantities were available only if the station could afford to buy them or had its own blacksmith to make them. Many early craftsmen were ingenious enough to take such restrictions as the scarcity of metal fixings in their stride. An overseer of carpenters in the Government service, S. Partridge, told the Bigge Commission of Enquiry in 1822, "It is very easy to bui 1 d a hut without nails 11 • * He may well have based his remark on the drop-log work which he supervised.

There was another system for utilizing grooved supporting members, evidently more common than the drop-log technique. It used vertical slabs, and also enabled wall panels to be built virtually without nails. Vertical slabbing was recommended as early as 1826 by James Atkinson, who advised new arrivals about setting up their first home in the bush:

Having completed and levelled the foundation all around, risings [ground

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*James Atkinson, An Account of the State of Agriculture and Grazin~ in New South Wales, 182 • (Facsiml1e edition, Sydney, 1975, pp. 96-97)

*"Rural Homes", in The Town and Country Journal, Sydney, 16 September 1871, p.364

*Mrs L. Rawson, Australian Enguirf Book of Household and Genera Hints, Melbourne, 1874, pp. 192-204

*"Rural Homes", p.364

7

plates] should next be placed upon it, properly tenoned into the corner posts; and wall plates fitted for the top all round, grooves about two inches deep and 1~ inches wide, should be cut upon the upper side of the risings and the under side of the plates, and into these the ends of split logs or slabs should be fitted above and below to form the walls ... *

These two walling methods, drop-log and vertica1-slab, dominate nineteenth-century vernacular timber building in eastern Australia. Although detailed descriptions of them are few, there are many general references in contemporary documents, and a number of writers advocate one or the other as being the better. Their arguments make interest­ing reading.

The Town and Country Journal gave instructions for building a house of vertical slabs in 1871,* but the most helpful description of vertica1-slabbing is givenbyMrs. Lance Rawc:;on, a wide1y­read writer on bush life, in 1874.* One of the virtues claimed by Mrs. Rawson for vertical slabs is that a house built this way was cheap and quick to erect, and it could be done by one man with a helper.

Only one reference has been found which supports drop-log construction as enthusiastically as these. It is in the same issue of the Town and Country Journal:

Some instead of placing long slabs vertically, lay short ones horizontally, having bevelled edges the reverse way and let them slide in grooves cut in the sides of vertical posts, so that if they shrink after being up, they always preserve a close joint. This is a very good plan, although a little more troublesome than the other, but it has the advantage that much shorter slabs may be used, which is a great consideration where the timber is inferior.*

The writer goes on to say that this method is preferable to vertical slab walling because it is very easy, should later improvement be desired, to cover the logs with weatherboards. It seems probable from this that underneath many a weather­board homestead there lies an original drop-log house. R.G. Ho110way, owner of the Tyntyndyer estate in the Riverina at Swan Hill, gave an

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*R.G. Holloway, Tyntyndyer Homestead. A Short History. Privately published, n.d., p.4

*Peter Freeman, The Homestead, A Riverina Anthology,Melbourne, 1982, pp. 190-192

* Balala, a homestead complex at Uralla, N.S.W., consists of four main buildings each of different construction

*H. Brown, Victoria as I Found It, London, 1862, p.155, cf. the description of the McCrae Cottage in Section 4 of this paper

*Mrs A. Campbell, Rough and Smooth, or Ho! for an Australian Gold Field, Quebec, 1865, p.?l

B

instance of even more substantial upgrading. He wrote that the original .. homestead, built in 1846, was of cypress pine drop-log construction. As the station prospered the house was improved, and in 1850 it was veneered with hand-made bricks.*

In the Riverina district there is also at least one cited example of the choice of drop-log construction for extensions to a vertical-slab building because drop-log was considered superior. At Boree Creek Station a vertical slab house was built c.1866. In the mid 1870's a drop-log build­ing replaced it.* Later still a weatherboard section was added, and'finally a brick section. There could have been many instances like this, where the progression was from slab to brick or stone, depending on the wealth of the selector.*

Even so there are more references favouring vertical­slab than drop-log, and the reasons for this should be examined. Henry Brown, a gold-digger at Bendigo in the 1850's, claimed that although drop-log blil.i 1 di ng was superi or, it was slower:

There is a superior method of making use of these slabs, but as it takes much longer it is very seldom adopted. The plan is to cut them into short lengths, square their sides and then drop them sideways into a previously prepared grooved framework; their sides then meet close together and when the sun shrinks them their own weight presses them together, and the loss of bulk has to be made up by adding another short slab at the top.*

Brown's comments about shrinkage are worth com­paring with t~ose by Mrs. A. Campbell, on the goldfield in 1865, concerning vertical wall-slabs:

Between each slab, wh i ch formed the sides, you could put your clenched hand ... *

Perhaps the most compelling reason for using drop­log type construction was simply the availability of a suitable timber species. Vertical slabs, being more massive because of the necessary wall height, were only possible in areas where large trees of comparatively straight grain were avail­able. In places where big trees were not so numerous, such as the Riverina, drop-log dominated. Here the typical homestead was built of cypress pine, a brittle timber which in dry areas tends to

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*Freeman, The Homestead, p.190

*J.M. Freeland, Philip Cox and Wesley Stacey, Rude Timber Buildings in Australia, London, 1969, p.48

10

be stunted in growth. The Town and Country Journal writer observed that drop-log construct­ion was "a great consideration where the timber was inferior". His remark is a reminder of the very same problem which the First Fleeters had to face.

It is interesting to note that later writers do not agree on the superiority of drop-log. Peter Freeman, for example, declares that

Vertical slab buildings are now some­what rare as that building technique was reserved for the more humble station buildi~gs, shepherds' huts, and so on. Homesteads were built with the more sophisticated drop-log technique. *

However, J.M. Freeland and Philip Cox disagree with this:

In New South Wales it became the standard practice for houses to be built using the vertical slab system and for out-buildings to be built with the easier less satisfactory horizontal slab system. In other areas, however, the hor­izontal slab huts were generally used for huts and sheds alike.*

The examples investigated in this survey make both of the above statements seem inadequate. First, it may be that in the Riverina the humbler build­ings were vertically slabbed, but this is certainly not the case elsewhere; a barn at Euston, N.S.W., and a stable at Sofala, N.S.W., are good examples of drop-log outbuildings. On the other hand "Hambledon", near Wagga Wagga, N.S.W., is one of the finest vertical-slab homesteads.

Secondly, though drop-log construction is regional, the region is definable by the type of timber available rather than by artificial boundaries such as state lines. So much survey work still needs to be done that it is inadvisable at this stage to be specific about regional preferences.

Finally, drop-log buildings cannot be denigrated when such excellent examples, such as Midkin, near Moree, N.S.W., and Yanga, near Balranald, N.S.W., survive in sound and original condition.

In Section 5 and 6 of this study some examples and details, which incidentally throw slightly

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*The Builder. London. Vol.II. 30 March 1844. p.169

*F. Kniffen and H. Glassie. "Building in Wood in the East­ern Uni ted States". in Geographical Review. Vol LVI. January 1966. p.50 et seq.

*M. Barbeau. "The House that Mac Built", in The Beaver, December 1945. p.10 et seq.

*T. Ritchie, "Pl ankwa 11 Frami ng. a Modern Wall Construction with an Ancient History". in Journal of the Society of Architectural Historlans. Vol. XXX, No.1, March 1971, p.66 et seq.

*A.J.H. Richard.son. "A Comparative Historical Study of Timber Build­ing in Canada", in APT Bulletin, Vol.5, No.2, 1973, p.77 et seq.

12

4. NORTH AMERICAN CORRELATIONS

Canada

The similarity of the Australian drop-log technique to the long-used Canadian technique, often known as the 'Hudson's Bay style', is marked and is perhaps more than co-incidental. In 1844, the same year in which Georgiana McCrae's cottage (see Section 5) was built, an arti~le dated 1839 appeared in The Builder, London, in which the writer described a visit to the chief trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company, Fort Vancouver. In the course of his description of the fort, the visitor wrote -

The wooden buildings are constructed in the following manner: posts are raised at convenient intervals, with grooves in the facing sides. In these grooves planks as inserted horizontally, and the walls are complete.*

The method used at Fort Vancouver is identical to that described by Georgiana McCrae in Victoria.

A search of the North American literature reveals that much more intensive attention is given in the U.S.A. and Canada to the history of timber technology. There have been several attempts to categorize the great variety of traditional timber methods, and a useful range of fairly precise terminology for drop-log construction is evident.

The general terms used for grooved-post and hor­izontal-infill methods include piece sur piece* (piece upon piece), poteaux sur sole,* (post upon sill), and poteaux et piece coulissante,*(grooved post and log). A.J.H. Richardson, in a careful study of timber buildings, found a number of terms for each method of buil di ng. The terms he uses most often for the drop -log type of structure are en coulisse,*(with a collar or groove) or bois en coultsse, (grooved \'1ood) for grooved-post struct­ures generally, and pieux en coulisse, (logs in a groove) for horizontal roundlogs, poteaux en coul isse, (,posts with a groove) for squared hor­izontal members, and madriers en coulisse, (planks in a groove) for planks set on edge horizontally. The last three terms are roughly equivalent to Australia's drop-log, drop-slab, and drop-plank, respectively,though in this country slabs \'1ere split off the outside of whole tree-logs, and do not have the

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*Ritchie. "Plankwall Framing". pp. 67-68

*Ritchie. "Plankwall Framing". p.67

*Richardson. "Timber Buil di ng in Canada". p.82

An example of the "Hudson Bay" style ("posts on the sill") in central Manitoba, Canada, photographed in 1890. The Beaver, 1945, p.10

13

degree of finish implied in descriptions of Can­adian squared logs.

In making comparisons on the basis of literature and illustrations, Australian drop-log and vari would seem to be less substantial, less well­finished. The Canadian structures of the nineteenth century, as they appear in available illustrations, are neater and better made, the surfaces of the timbers trimmed more smoothly, whereas Australian examples are rough-trimmed, rounder, knobbly, irregular. Joints of the Canadian buildings appear tighter and better fitting, without need of the daub or plaster pugging common in Australian buildings. On the other hand, it must be remembered that surviving en coulisse buildings are likely to be the better-built ones. In 1832 a Hudson's Bay Company trader spoke of the use of green timber in bois en coulisse buildings, and of its sub­sequent shrinkage so that

in a very short time the whole weight and pressure from above rests entirely on these Posts alone: as for the walls or filling up logs they very soon part company with the upper frame or wall plates and leave it to support the bu the best way it can.*

Bois en coulisse construction was used extensively by the Hudson's Bay Company in its trading posts, so that it became known as "Hudson' s Bay Styl e" * or "Hudson' s Bay Corners "; 11 Red Ri ver Frame", and "Manitoba Frame" were other names from its common use in those regions.*

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*Ritchi e, "P1 ankwa 11 Frami ng" , p.68

*Ri chards on , "Timber 8uil di ng in Canada", pp. 81-82

*Ritchie, "P1ankwa11 Framing", p.69

* Kniffen and Glassie,"Bui1ding in Wood", passim

*Kniffen and G1assie, "Building in Wood", p.51

1+

The Dois en coulisse method was brought to Quebec by the French settlers of the seventeenth century. Its European antecedent was the old Danish bul-hus construction, in extensive use in Denmark by the Middle Ages, and probably first used during the Viking age. The name comes from bul, boards split from the stem or bole of an oak tree. The method spread from Denmark to France and other places.* In Canada, framed bois en coulisse construction became common in the eighteenth century, spreading through the Great Lakes area, and north-west with the fur trade. In the nineteenth century it be­came almost universal for fur-trade posts, from the Arctic to the Pacific Ocean, and from the Yukon to the Mississippi Valley. In Quebec it remained current, being built in the cities, and often appearing as madriers en coulisse, (drop­plank) up to 1900.* It survives today in the modern form of plankwall framing, adapted to sawn wood and nails.* Kniffen and Glassie also report bois en coulisse (to which they apply the term piece sur piece) present in Quebec.*

Horizontal construction with corner posts has ex­tensively invaded the areas of the United States peripheral to Canada - New England, New York, the Upper Lakes region, and the northern Great Plains States. It occurs also in areas as remote from Canada as Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee, in these last states surely a direct importation from Europe by Germans.*

Possible Connections with Australia

Given the wide distribution of grooved post con­struction in North America in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries it s:eems logical to look for any avenues of influence on Australian building to account for the occurrence of drop­log and its variants. Three main avenues suggest themselves, apart from individual migrations from North America to Australia. First, many of the naval and marine personnel who established the settlement at Sydney Cove in 1788 had served earlier in North America. Next was the transport­ation to Australia, as convicts, in 1839, of a number of Canadian political prisoners. Lastly, there were the gold rushes, both in California and in Australia, in the mid-nineteenth century, which drew together gold-seekers of all nationalities.

Sydney's First Builders

If some of Sydney's early buildings were in fact drop-log, as nm". seems evident, there is every possibility that it was because many of the naval

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* Australian Dictionary of BiO~­ra~1' Vo1.1 , Melbourne, 196 p. 3

*ADB, Vol.l, p.567

*ADB, Vol.2, p.397

*ADB, Vol.2, p.20

*ADB, Vol.l, p.297

*ADB, Vol.2, p.506

*ADB, Vo1.2, p.309

1?"

and marine personnel, who supervised or performed the building, had seen service in North America, and would have been familiar with the grooved-post constructions used there. Lieutenant David Co11ins, the settlement's Judge-Advocate, and later the first Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land, had been at the battle of Bunker's Hill, and ~ad been station­ed at Halifax, Nova Scotia, from 1776 to 1777.* Captain John Hunter had been present at the reduction of Quebec in 1759, and had served on the North American Station in 1766 and again between 1775 and 1780, taking part in the defence of Sandy Hook on the De1aware.* Major Robert Ross, the Lieutenant Governor, had served,in North America from 1756 to 1760; he was present at the siege of Louisbourg and the capture of Quebec, and he also saw action at Bunker's Hi11.*

Lieutenant George Johnston had served at New York and Halifax, from 1777 to 1788,* and Lieutenant Wi11iam Dawes had served at Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, in 1781.* Captain Watkin Tench also had served in the American War of Independence, and had been a prisoner in Maryland in 1778.* The Commissary John Pa1mer had been captured at Chesapeake Bay in 1781.*

There is no doubt that the sailors and marine rank and file also included many who had seen service in North America.

If drop-log building in Australia was introduced duri ng the fi rst Briti sh sett1 ement, and many of the earliest settlers were familiar with the grooved­post constructions in America, then it seems feasible that the method would soon have been absorbed into the developing skills of the bush builders.

The Canadian Exiles

The next substantial connection between Australia and North America was the arrival in 1839 of 149 political prisoners from Canada, transported as convicts after rebellions there in 1837. They included several citizens of the United States, as well as Canadians. They are known today as the "Canadian Exiles". Ninety-one were sent toTasmania amd fifty-eight, all French Canadians, were sent to Sydney, where they were employed at Government task-work.

After two years the Canadians began to be given tickets of leave, which allowed them limited freedom to work on their own account. In 1844 pardons began to be issued to them, though few were able to return home immediately because of the cost of the passage. Most had to find work

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*The Australian Encyclopaedia, 1963. Vel. 1. pp. 451-452

*William Gates, Recollections of Life in Van D;emen's Land, ed. G. Mackaness, Sydney, 1961, part II. p.13

*E. Graeme Robertson, Errl Y Buildings of Southern asmania Melbourne, 1970, Vol.lI,pp.394-403

*Kniffen and Glassie, "Building in Wood", pp. 57-65

*Gates, Recollections, IT, p.17

*L.G. Churchward, "The American Contribution to the Victorian Gold Rush", in Victorian Historical Magazine,Vol. 19 June 1942, pp. 85-95

*Rolf Boldrewood, The Miner's . Right, London, lB90, p.36

1G

and earn the money to go home. Eventually, however, all returned to Canada except for fourteen who died, and two who married and settled, one at Dapto in New South Wales and one in Tasmania. The last to return home had been away twenty-two years.*

A number of the Canadian Exiles later published memoirs and accounts of their Australian ex~'riences. It is disappointing that of those in English which were consulted, none makes mention of any building activity, or comments on the styles and details of buildings. One of the exiles, William Gates, tells of working for a farmer called Tabart, at Andover, near Oatlands in Tasmania. He says nothing of Tabart's house, only that a new stone house was nearing completion.* This house, "Fonthill " , still stands, and in the late 1960's the remains of the earlier timber house were photographed. It was a North American style structure, of horizontal logs overlapped at the corners.* Gates was in fact a citizen of the United States where this style of log building was common,* and it seems strange that he does not comment upon something presumably reminiscent of his own country, especially since he refers to his longing for home at this time.* His omission to comment may perhaps indicate that to the North ~erican exiles, Australia was a timbered frontier land like their own, and if some bush structures should be similar, it was not remarkable and was taken for granted.

Again, in the case of the Canadian Exiles, no ex­plicit evidence has been found of any introduction of North American building methods into Australia, but it still seems feasible to suggest that with many of the Canadians at large in New South Wales and Tasmania for a number of years, some knowledge of grooved-post construction may have been added or introduced by them, particularly since many of the exiles were farmers or country men.

Gold Rushes: California and Australia

For the first half of the nineteenth century, con­tact with North America consisted mainly of visits by American ships: speculative traders, sealers and whalers, who came to Sydney and Hobart (though no American ship came to Melbourne until 1849).* It is perhaps worth noting that this early shipping to Australia came largely from the northern sea­board of the United States,* where, as mentioned earlier, horizontal grooved post construction had spread from Canada, and this might have been another small avenue of influence on Australia's early buildings.

Relations between North America and Australia in­creased with the beginning of the Californiqn gold

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*P. Matthews. Letter to his Family, 1855 (M.L.)

*J.M. LeMoine, articles in Maple Leaves, Quebec, 7th series, 1906, pp.262-63, 268-72

*C.S. Wolff, "Reminiscences of the Past", in Maple Leaves, Quebec, 7th series, 1906 p.273

*Wolff, "Reminiscences" ,275

*Churchward, "The American Contribution", p.85

*C.H. Currey, The Irish at Eureka, Sydney, 1954, p.5

*Churchward, "The Ameri can Contribution", passim

*W. Howitt, A Boy's Adventures in the Wilds of Australia, London, 1854, p.246

17

rush. There was a wave of emigration from Australia to America, and by the end of 1849, 800 Australians had reached California. Emigration increased in 1850, but had begun to slow by 1851, when many of them returned home due to the start of the Austral­ian gold rushes.*

Canadians also joined the rush to California. In 1902 Sir James LeMoine recounted the voyages of three vessels from Quebec to San Francisco, in 1849 and 1850, carrying parties of gold-seekers who included carpenters and men connected with lumber mills. The brig Panorama also carried "20 houses, all comp1ete".* One of the gold seekers from Quebec, Charles S. Wo1ff, who 'travelled in the Rory O'More, recalled:

Our supercargo was Cha1mers, who had operated the first planing mill in Quebec. For cargo we carried frame shanttes.*

Some of the Quebec gold-seekers went on to the Aus­tralian gold-rushes. Wo1ff himself did, and he recalled meeting two other men from Quebec there: one at the diggings at Bendigo, and another at Port Phi 11 i p. *

During the mid-century gold rushes, then, America became a source of men and materia1s.* There were an estimated 16,000 American arrivals at Sydney and Melbourne between 1852 and 1856, most of whom went to the diggings. More than half the Americans in Victoria in April, 1854, were on the goldfields. Bal1arat, Victoria, was the rallying point of the Americans, according to one digger.* Most of the American shipping came from the Atlantic states, * and it seems reasonable to suppose that Canadians were among the travellers and crews. We do not know how many of the North Americans were Canadians, or who had had experience of Canada. It seems feasible nonetheless to speculate that the gold­fields might represent another source which provided us with the drop-log tradition. Unfortunately the numerous descriptions studied do not make reference to drop-log buildings on the fields. Americans, Canadians and Australians alike often lived in tents. Because of the very nature of early gold digging, a miner did not stay in one place for very long. Only in winter would he build a slightly more permanent home, or if he had brought his family with him. A boy named Howitt described the temporary 'hut' of a digger:

Many of them are half hut, half tent put together of wood and canvas, often of blankets and quilts ... In the winter they build each a chimney to their tent.*

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*J. Sherer, Adventures of a Gold Digger, London, 1853, p.260

*H. Brown, Victoria as I Found .!!' p.155

*Boldrewood, Miner's Right, p.36

*P. Matthews, Letter, 1855

18

A Scottish digger described (in complete amazement) the dwelling of a digger with a family:

the canvas sloped down to about three or four feet from the ground, this space, at both sides, being built up with thin slabs of wood with the bark on. The upper end was closed in with bark and canvas, whilst the other end was partly occupied by the door.*

It is tempting to think that some Americans and Canadians did build th~ir houses in the drop-log styles, thus further reinforcing the influence of North America in the Australian scene. Brown does at least give us one example of a drop-log dwelling on the Bendigo Fields, but whether it was American-built is not known.* Rolfe Boldrewood describes the goldfields in his novel The Miner's Right:

As far as the eye can see, the area of settlement .... is denuded of lumber ... Tents, log huts, with the walls built American fashion of tree trunks, slab huts of split heavy boards, Australian fashion, placed vertically, and for the the most part not impervious to heat and cold;*

His 'log-huts' possibly refer to the 'log cabin style' of the American frontier, rather than the drop-log style. It is interesting to note that of the numerous sources consulted, only the above describes trunk buildings at the gold fields.

The final reference sums up the ephemeral nature of much of the material referred to here. The writers referred to were not concerned with re­cording for posterity, merely for their contempor­aries, and thus their descriptions often tended to be ext reme 1 y genera 1 . For example, the Cres\'Ii ck Diggings:

A great number of diggers who have· their families with them are getting more settled than formerly, building nice comfortable dwellings, places of wood chiefly.*

This particular description is representative of many of the available general accounts. These buildings could have been constructed with weather­boards, vertical slab walling or drop-log construct­ion. It demonstrates the problem of trying to unravel the origins of drop-log construction, and suggests that many primary sources give only a very narrow view of how the pioneers lived.

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*R.G. Holloway, Tyntyndyer Home­stead, p.2

*Dugald Ferguson, Bush Life in Australia and New Zealand, London, 1912. Forewo rd, and pp. 32, 38

*H. McCrae (ed.) Georgiana's Journal: Melbourne a Hundred Years Ago. Sydney, 1934 p.196

1~

5. TWO INDIVIDUAL EXAMPLES

As has been stated already, the orlglns of drop­log building in Australia are not as yet fully understood. Almost none of the available document­ary references give any indication of the sources of inspiration for the system. Nor are the actual builders often known. Was drop-log a specialized craft practised by itinerant bush carpenters, or was it a 'do-it-yourself' job, as so much early construction seems to have been? R.G. Holloway says that the 8everidge brothers built their own homestead of Tyntyndyer at Swan Hill.* Another instance of a selector building his own dwelling is given by the turn-of-the-century writer [)uqald Ferguson. In a fictional accountof the backblocks, Ferguson vouches for the photographic accuracy of his delineation of station life, "claiming personal experience of the life and acquaintance with all the localities mentioned in the narrative". The drop-log dwellings he describes occur in the Wimmera, on the Western Murray River, and on the Darling River. His own dwelling was "constructed of sawn slabs of short lengths, laid horizontally in grooves into strong square postS." Ferguson visits a neighbouring station which was constructed in the same manner as his own but displayed better craftsmanship. On enquiring who built it he was told that the owner had.*

The two examples briefly considered here character­ize the problems of investigating vernacular build­ings. The first, McCrae Cottage, survives in good condition and its ear1i€st occupants left some written information of it which are of help to the modern researcher. The second, a later and simpler hut, provides nothing but its now neglected fabric to guide the investigator.

McCrae Cottage, near Frankston, Victoria

Andrew McCrae was an Englishman who came toVictorie in 1839 and set up a law practice. He moved to Arthur's Seat, outside Melbourne, where he built himself the homestead known as McCrae Cottage. His wife Georgiana gives this description in a letter written in 1846 -

Our house is built of gum tree slabs supported hori zonta 11y by grooved corner­posts, and the same artifice for windows and doors. The biggest room has been furnished with a table and chairs, but no pictures - long lines of actual land­scape appearing between the planks instead!*

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The front verandah of HcCrae Cottage, after restoration. Historic Home­steads of Australia, Vol.2, p.92

*Lyne Strahan, "McCrae Cottage, Victoria", in Historic Homesteads of Australia, VoT.2, Stanmore. 1976

Plan drawn by Georgiana HcCrae of her house. Historic Homesteads of Australia, Vol.2, p.93

This 'vernacular hallmark of Australian houses' ,* which has been restored in recent years, included two fair-sized rooms in front, two middle-sized and two smaller rooms behind, and a centre passage. Andrew McCrae, his sons, and their tutor, started work on the building in 1844. Georgiana herself possibly helped in the construction; for one of her letters tells how she learned to handle a cross-cut saw.

APPRoXIMATE SCAL£' 2 4- r;- m !

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21

To the main house a verandah,. built with log posts, was added in 1847, and shortly afterwards the length of the building was increased by the addit­ion of a skill ion room at each end of this verandah. A covered way linked the house to a detached kitchen at the rear. A small extra room, 'stolen from the main bedroom', was named by Georgiana 'my sanctum'. There were two double fireplaces, with 'chimnies on the Rumford plan'; like the kitchen, these were of brick. The hipped roof of the house was covered in shingles· which, in the early days, leaked in heavy rain. During one storm, Georgiana wrote, 'hail entered through gaps in the "saddl eboard", b~ati ng a tattoo on our cups and plates'.

The main section of the house had walls made with grooved squared posts, into which the squared planks were dropped. Since the restoration, this exterior construction is now clearly evident. The rooms were papered at first and cei1ed with calico or canvas; some later lining was done by means of lath and plaster, making the posts and planks in­visible from the inside. With the addition of simple but fine joinery the house became a quite superior vernacular structure. Georgiana McCrae said that it was 'as comfortable establishment as one could reasonably wish'.

McCrae Cottage is a solid and relatively sophis­ticated dwelling whose construction utilized mat­erials that were readily at hand. Why Andrew McCrae chose the drop-log system, and where he obtained the knowledge and skill for its use, remains a mystery.

Hut at Mo1ong, New South Wales

Drop-log construction has persisted into the twentieth century as a vernacular tradition. A good example can be found on a property near Mo10ng, in the Orange district of New South Wales. The small structure, built as a hut, stands close to a later house built probably in the 1930's or 1940's. The drop-log building is now used as a shed. It is difficult to date the hut, but in view of its relatively good condition it could be as late as the 1920's. Inspection reveals that it was built by a skilled carpenter, and it incorpor­ates some careful detailing.

The Mo1ong hut is a simple rectangle twenty feet by ten (about 6m x 3m), constructed of split eucalypt members, with squared posts re~ated to take bottom and top plates and spiked to them. The round-back wall slabs are graded in size, from

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Rear view of the hut at Molong

Plan of the hut at Molong

22

about eight inches (200mm) at the bottom to six inches (15Omm) at the top of each panel. are four equal wall panels of width about five (l.5m) each to the back of the hut, and five un equal panels, including the doorway, to the nt.

The roof is hipped, with ceiling joists extended over the wall plates, forming eaves and supporting plates to which the coupled rafters are birds­mouthed. The rafters show lath-and-plaster ma s, which suggest that they have been re-used froml'Jalls or ceilings elsewhere.

At one end of the rectangle there is a subs brick fireplace and chimney. There are two shuttered windows, one at the front and the ot at the back. The remains of a calico ceiling,

MOLONG o I

1 3

1 ,

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Corner view of Molong hut, with boxed eaves. Note the projecting end of the top plate and broad-axe marks

Z3

fixed under the ceiling joists and over the inside faces of the top plates, are evident. Second-hand or turned-over galvanized corrugated sheets have been used for the roofing; the 'Gospel Oak' brand shows inside. The hut is floored with pine boards, and the interior shows signs of having been white­washed.

The nicest feature of the Molong hut, evidencing the skill of its bush builder, is the boxed eaves all round the roof edge. Because of the roof hips this has necessitated the use of jack joists, which have been tusk-tenoned into a trimmer-joist at each end of the ceiling framing. This feature, along with the all-round fascia and ogee gutter, gives the little building a touch of quality, above the vernacular average.

Comments

The examples just cited represent two quite differ­ent versions of the drop-log type. McCrae Cottage is associated with a notable family, classified by the National Trust, a focus of much local esteem, and carefully maintained. The Molong hut, virtually unknown, is the kind of building which a first glance would suggest is unworthy of attention,yet closer scrutiny reveals great interest.

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* Personal reminiscence from Mr. L.J Constable, Wallamba & District Historical Society, 1982

24-

McCrae Cottage, like all the known early examples, uses posts which have been actually grooved, by the laborious and exacting use of the mortising axe, adze and chisel. The Molong hut utilizes the later, easier method of nailing battens to the posts to form the grooves. This and the more elaborate roof framing of the little hut exemplify the greater freedom which nailed joints permitted.

The horizontal infill members of both buildings were formed of slabs split from eucalypt trunks and roughly squared with axe and adze so that their edges of contact were straight and the gaps between the slabs were'minimal.

Because drop-log panels are essentially rectangular, it is impossible to build gable walls of drop-logs to accommodate the slope of a roof. For this reason most drop-log bui 1 di ngs have hi pped roofs and can thus be built with all walls of the same height. Both McCrae Cottage and the Molong hut were designed this way. McCrae Cottage, with its several exten­sions, illustrates how a small building could grow to accommodate enlarged family activities. The Molong hut is a simple yet refined example of the 'tin and timber' style.

These two buildings also display some of the interior finishes which were applied to vernacular buildings, both to help keep out the weather and provide decorative relief for the occupants. First the walls were often "pugged" or "chinked" to fill the gaps between the horizontal members. This filling was typically composed of clay with admixtures such as straw or shreds of bark. Over this pugged surface several kinds of finish were used. One of these was newspaper, which in many instances was left exposed, new layers of the same being applied when necessary to hide the faded print and provide new reading material.* Other popular finishes were calico or hessian, these materials being common for ceilings too. Often, though by no means always, the paper or fabric was painted with distemper, and occasion­ally the final surface would be wallpaper. The usual adhesive for all of these finishes was water-soluble paste, made with flour or starch. At the McCrae Cottage the walls were originally papered and the ceilings were of calico or canvas. The slabs of the Molong hut were bare.

Exteriors of vernacular buildings, though sometimes whitewashed or painted, were more usually left unpainted. They therefore weathered to a brown or grey colour according to the species of timber used and the conditions of exposure. Both McCrae Cottage and the Molong hut were built without external painting.

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6. A TYPOLOGY OF DROP-LOG CONNECTIONS

This typology results from a survey of about 100 surviving 'drop-log' buildings in eastern Australia. The survey was carried out by several means. First, the available literature was searched for pictures and descriptions. Secondly, information was sought from regional historical societies affiliated with the Royal Australian Historical Society, by means of a questionaire. Thirdly, many structures were inspected and recorded.

For some of the buildings insufficient detailed information was available for adequate classificat­ion. This typology is an analysis of the 75 buildings in respect of which enough detail was obtained. For the purpose of this study the typology was limited to the connections evident in wall-panel construction.

The first observation that must be made concerns the wide variety of 'drop-log' connections, reveal­ing great ingenuity on the part of vernacular builders. Some 26 different types of connections were discovered. These were classified according to the extent to which the timbers were worked upon, i.e., from simple to complex. For example a round wall-post with grooves into which chamfered round logs were fitted was considered to be less complex than a squared post with cleats retaining rebate slabs.

It became clear that for this type of construction there are two basic post-types - round and squared - and three wall-member types - logs, slabs, and planks. The typology chart and the diagrams which follow it show these, and further illustrate the degrees of complexity employed by their builders in making constructional connections.

Another observation is that this survey did not reveal any consistent trends in the choices of particular walling connections. It was expected that in a given area or a selected period one type

'of connection would predominate, and that the reasons for this might be sought. This did not eventuate. It could of course be claimed that a sparsely distributed sample of 75 examples is not enough to reveal significant trends. It should, however, be also noted that the number of drop-log structures which remain intact is rapidly diminish­ing. Thus if further survey work is to prove worthwhile it should be considered as a matter of urgency.

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The summary chart of this investigation appears on page 32. It distinguishes three types of walling members, viz., log, slab, and plank, respectively identified by numerals, 1,2 and 3. The two basic wall-post types are identified by capital letters, A and B. Thus each of the six categories may be identified as lA and lB (log panels), 2A and 2B (slab panels) and 3A and 3B (plank panels). The way the wall members and posts are wrought is identified by another numeral, and in this case a low number signifies a simple connection (e.g., '1' refers to chamfered slabs in grooved posts), while a higher number signifies a more highly worked connection (e.g. '9' refers to beaded planks double­cleated between squared posts). Consequently each connection type is designated with three digits; e.g. 2A3 designates wall-slabs chamfered to fit between plain round posts and held in place by round cleats nailed to the posts.

The number 14 was somewhat arbitrarily assigned to the most unusual connection which was found, viz. a method which required stitching planks and posts together with long metal dowels driven into augered holes.

The blank spates represent connection types which have not yet been discovered, e.g., wall-logs rebated to fit between cleats nailed to round posts (lA4), or planks fitted to beaded posts (say, 3B10). Some of these spaces may never be filled because the connections allowed for do not exist at all, e.g. walling made of beaded logs (say 1A9).

The numbers of examples of each connection type found are given in the last column. The greatest number was 10 examples of type 3B5, wall-planks cleated between plain squared posts. As mentioned earlier, these were scattered in time and location and revealed no discernible trend.

The more detailed charts which follow on pages 33 to 40 explain most of the investigated connection types, and identify an example of each. The diag­rams are drawn to a uniform scale of approximately 1:20, and are all simplified for ease of comparison. It must be remembered that timber members of vernacular buildings are not as regular as these drawings suggest, but vary considerably in size, profile, straightness and texture.

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* Oxford English Dictionary

* Enc~clopaedia Britannica, 188, p.345

XXI,

* S.J. Baker, The Australian Language Melbourne, 1972, p.80

27

A glossary of terms

One of the many things learned during this survey is that the basic terminology of vernacular construction differs according to time and place. This variety of colloquial terminology is under­standable when the different origins, traditions and skills of early builders are taken into consideration. Additional differences and nuances also grew out of regional or local characteristics and available resources.

The term "drop-log", though inadequate as a precise general term,is now widely enough used to embrace both slab and plank construction as well. On the other hand some modern writers (for exampleUnstead and Henderson in Homes in Australia) have used the term "drop-slot" as a more useful collective name.

The traditional use of the word "slab", as the rough outside part of a log, split o~ cut preparat­ory to squaring the main portion or sawing it into p1anks,* is a clear connotation that slabs were waste material, the by-product of timber conversion. The Encyclopaedia Britannica in fact defined slabs as lithe waste of the 10g ... "~ The utilization of off-cut material in construction accords nicely with the vernacular tradition. The confusing use of I s lab" to denote an undressed log is an Australian idiom dating back to 1829.*

The following terms are more or less specific to drop-log construction. In some cases their adaptation from other forms, which is itself of interest, will be evident.

Chamfer In carpentry and joinery, the term used when~sharp edge (arris) is cut off. In vernacular work, it is applied to the trimming of a horizontal wall-log, slab or plank, by tapering or splaying its ends to fit snugly into the post groove. Chamfering of wall members was usually done with an adze or axe.

Cleat A strip of wood fixed to a post to locate and retain the wall panel members, as an easier method than grooving the post. Usually used in pairs on each side of the post. The three main cleat types were round (saplings), squared (usually sawn) or triangular (diagonally sawn from a square member). Fixing was typically by nails or wooden pegs.

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Drop-log A natural round log, selected for uniformity and straightness and cut to length so as to fit between wall posts. To ensure a tight fit with adjacent logs above and below, the log was sometimes adzed or axed to from two flat faces.

Drop-hlank A wall panel member having four faces wroug t, by axe, adze or saw, to a rectangular cross-section. Edges in contact were often sloped so as to provide a weathered joint.

Drop-slab Also known ~s a round-back or a flitch, this member was typically split from the outside of a large log. Thus it presented on one face the curved surface of the log, and on the other a riven plane which was usually axed or adzed smooth. In wall panels the curved side (the round-back) was typically placed to face outwards. Edges of slabs in contact were usually wrought to make a tight fit.

Groove The vertical cavity or slot in a wa11-post into which walling members are fitted. Usually made by boring holes of the required depth, with an auger,. at close intervals along the post, and chiselling or axing away the wood between the holes. Alternatively a groove was formed by fixing a pair of parallel cleats or by rebating the post using a single cleat.

Plate (a) A length of timber on, in or near the ground to support posts or uprights. Called a ~round-p1ate, bottom-plate, sill or sleeper. (b) A length of timber placed at the top of a wall to support roof members such as rafters. Called a wall-plate or top-plate.

In vernacular construction plates may be round logs, or faced logs, or squared members. They may be checked out or mortised to receive and retain posts or uprights.

Pugging A mixture of clay and water, to which cow-hair, cow-dung or straw is added, used to fill the gaps between drop-logs or drop-slabs in a wall so as to keep out wind and rain. It is also known as chinking.

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SfL-IT T/M(3ER SH/NGL-ES ----..-.,

SAWN BATTENS --------.,

ROIAND RAI=T£RS ----.......

PoST SHOIAL-D~D FoR PLAn::;. SPit<EP CONNECTION

ROIAND TOP PLAn=: AXED TO FIT PoST SHOIAL-DER

NOTE: Top plates are offen called. 'wall plafes f

/

anol boftom plates are oF+en referred fc, "5 '3rOCAn.ti pJ~fe6'j in /fie I iten~·hA re.

ToP PLATE A><ED To FIT PoST 3< MoP:TISt=D FoR poSTTE:.NON

KE?f SPIKED To PoST AFTER LOGS ARE DRoPPED IN PLAcE

i r-, I I I I

PoST WITH TENoN

POST GRooVE ----.\\\~L_"l FoRMED BY CHISELLING oR AxiNG BETWE-E:N A(AGERED f.-40LES

~

PF<0 P-L-OGS ADZED FOR ----~,IJ NEAT FIT

WALL­SECTioN

EL.EVATION OF AN AL.TERNATIVE: lOP PLATE CONNEiCfION

MoRTISE FORMED 8y MofITlSING AXE OR CHISEL- 10 FIT "TENON IV 2..1' X ZJI

MORTISED BOTTOM P/..A TE

TYPICAL. D6TAILS OF DROP-L.OG CONSTRUCTION NOTE: TH IS COMpOSITE DRAWING IS BASED ON THE srABLES AT AL--/...ERA

STATiON; N{;;AR ARM/DALE/ NoS.W·

o 100 200 300 400 500 mm I !

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:30

TOP PLATE. GAL-VAN/ZED CORJ<.IAGATEP IRON ROOF

SAWN RAFTERS

--"- POLE' PLATE

SAWN FASCIA

SAWN EAVES (30ARDING

ADZED QRAXED WP PLATE

SPLI T $c AXED SLABS ---+-H Nell WIDE, III 3 /1 THICt<

SAWN t=XTEf<NAL CLEAT-

WAL..f... SECTION ~ AT TOP PI-ATE:

PLAN OF POST ~

~--SAWN INTERNAl­CLEAT

t

PoST~

~ SPIKES

SAwN CLEATS--------~~~~~~

AD'Z-EO OR ------"-7 AxED Pos;T

"

INSIDE ~E OF BOTToM PLAn:::

B07TOM-PLATS CONNECTION

WAL-L SLA BS _____ -+--;"I!

o l

100 200 goo 400

I 500 mm

I

TYPICAL DerAILS OF PROP-SLAB coNSTRLACTION N01E: THIS COMPOSI-rJ;;PRAWING IS BASED ON A HIATAT MOL..O!-JG/ N,S.W.

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SAWN BATTTi5NS IV '3 llx tit

SAWN VERANC'AH /<AFT£i<S /\J '3" x'Z /I

WINDOW SToP NA/LGDTo POST----...

Rr.ABErLE FILl­r.ANC't=R PlATE --~.l

31

GALVANIZEP COf<.R!AGA7ED IRoN p-ooANG

'---- f<£>/ANO F<.AFTt:=RS IV f;/f rl SAWN CEILI NG JC:>/STS

,.,L---~,c.........----i '\J C; 11 X f /I

l CALICO CEIt-ING NAIl-fED TO tANDERSIDE

'-_____ :::::: AXGO Top PLA 1E IV ;-tfx41' I MOr<Tf SEC> FO~ POST

~ ___ - ____ WINDOW SToP NAIl-ED

TO POST

I~+---------TOP SASH; FIXED

1++---------Bo'T'T'l:>M SASH FREE TO SLfPE fAP

NOTE: THIS CoMPOSITE DAAWING 15' BASt=O oN THE SoUTH WElL HO{ASE AT'coOLAMIIVE' HOMESTEAP/ t<OSCIVf5CO NATIONAL PARI<-", N,S.W,

J<EY FoR INSERTION OF WAL-/- PLANKS

SIL.l-1 SL-OPE:D

,4)(1:P OR ADZGP ~~-------- SIt-£- SX '" GII)( '2-"

~-------ADZt=D OR AXSO pOST

. ..... 'L" SPIKED TO POST

PLANk GRooVE ;V '5'11 X ~~ TEN ON ED FoR PLATt:S

\\I6---------ADZEO OR f!.XEO PLANKS "'(D/lTO 9' X Zll THICK; WEATHER -F(TTt:D

,----- SAWN FLOORING BoAR{)S IV ID" X tit; BuTTED

1\\'Fi~~~iZJ:::=;s:~

. ",/:....-. __ SAWN FLOOR :foISTS "'" "'Gllx111

:::::::I~--------APZED OR A><C:.P BOTTOM OR GRolAND PLATE N ;;llx4- 11

SKETCH PETAIL­of SILJ... F'XINC!J

7YPICAI.- WAJ..I.- SECTION THROtA9H P((OP-P/..ANI< HOIASS 1 METRE ,

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-LOG WALL..ING CONNECTIONS TYPOL.OGY CHART

WALL.ING 7YPE 1 : L.oe .:::. WAL.L.INGIYP£:Z: .sLAB c::. WAL.L-ING 7YPE 3: PLANK. Cl.

aI!.~ cx:U1 u;

?OSTlYPE' POST J...o& Cl.EAl7YPE" F8.t.AJl.J<S ~- POST SlAg CI.E:AT TYPE RSMAPJ<S ~~ POST PJ..ANI< lC~l7rP~ REMA~I<S ln~ COPE DETAIl- DETAIL- -e N_ I- (bOG DETAIl- DETAIl- 'ft.N!!. ~~ CbDE DETAIL- DeTAIL- I le f'J- ~~ PSR Posr z~ f'!:R posT Zw /'Et(. PoST

1 GROO/a;, QoIAMFEA5P - " 1 6/tOOVED OfM\FEREO - G 1 Gfl.OOva> PLAIN - CO --'--- - -- ""- ---- "-1------- ---.~- ~--1---

2- <;p.oov£r) fl:EBA7ED - Z 2 ~ "-

CLE::AT> -- --:--"" "-- --

3 PLAIN CHAMFERED FJ:)VNP. 4- 4- 3 pLAIN OfM1fE1l£t) RauNC>A CLEATS 1 9 PLAIN PLAIN /?Ol/ND.4- CLeATS 1 NAII.Er> NAIl-ED NA/l-liD -- c---- r----7lt1~6VtAA 4- 4 .... PLAIN CHAMFE1{EO Cl.EAT.> 1 NA/I..EP

5 FAC!:P CHMtFEPEV Sfq'lAPEV. 4- C~TS 5 ; FACED CHAMF~ Sti1!1AAED. 4 CI.EATS 2 5" FACEO PLAIN StVAAED.4- CLEATS b IYPE: A : N (LEr> RDu,. O\IT NAILED NAILED

I , CAAilCFERfl) S41f1AAED. 4- CLEATS 1 !ZOIAND 6 FACEl> RWND IN N"'/..ED " 7 7 7

8 8 8

9 !J 9

10 10 RSAlEO OfAMFEIII£D win 1 Cl.EAT 1 10 c: :T. NAIt..EP

11 11 ~TEO RE8A.'T'EO ~.2 1 11

12 12. tt.ESATE{) OWt~D - SlABS 1 12 Sf'IKEP

13 13 13

14 1.04- 14- I I

1 1 1 (?W)()\/6D PLAIN - 2.

:z. 2 2

3 PLAIN I ffiAN. FEflED FoOl/NO. 4- CU<ATS 1 9 3 NAILEP

4- I 4- 4-5 P/..AIN ~Ff1CEP 9Jv~EJ>.+ ClEm '1. ;- PI.AJN CWJAFEf(Ep S(lIIAAEP. ~ CLE"rs S- f; PI.AIN PLAIN SdllmD.+

Cl.EATs 10 "lYPE: B : N/ltl NAll.Ep NAIL-El>

SQtAARED ~ " ,

7 PLAIN I REBATCO ~!lA~.+ ~~ 2. 7 PLAIN ~8A'T'Ii:P ~IIAAS.4- CLEATS 2.. 7 fIIAIUFP

8 PLAIN ~RooVED .5\II.Wl£D. Z 2 9 8 I 9 9 9 PLAIN BfADfC? StWAREP.4

CUiATS 1 NAII.EP

10 10 10

11 11 11

12.. 12- 1'1. ---

PLANKS 13 13 13 PLAIN PLAIN Sf$.I/AAEP.2. sPll<EO 1 ---

14- 1 .... 14- PLAIN PLAIN - METAL- 1 MWELS

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33

DROP-LOG WALL.ING CONNECTIONS IYPOL.OGY 1.A

'TYPE 1.A.1

Horizontal logs chamfered at ends. Vertical posts round, grooved for logs. Example: Wool shed at Puckawidgee, near Conargo, N.S.W., n.d. (Freeman, Woolsheds, p.18l)

lYPE 1.A.2

Horizontal logs with rebated ends. Vertical posts round, grooved for logs. Example: Homestead at Roto, near Hillston, N.S.W. n.d. (Cantlon, Homesteads, p.29)

1Yf'E 1. A. 3.

Horizontal logs chamfered at ends. Vertical posts round, with sapling cleats nailed for retaining logs. Example: Ski hut in Snowy River Valley, c.1920

1YP~ 1. A. 5"

Horizontal logs chamfered at ends. Vertical posts round, with two flat faces to which are nailed squared cleats to retain logs. Example: Stables, Mossgiel Station, near Ivanhoe, N.S.W. late 1880s (Freeman, Homesteads, p.164)

SECTioN

SEcnoN

SECTION

~/OF< ELGYATION

_11

~ t I I

i r p I I pr

J L I I I L 1 L

EXTER/oFZ ELEVATIoN

EXTER(O~ !=LEVATIoN

EXTERIOR E=LEVATION

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34-

DROP-L.OG WALLING CONNSCflONS TYPOJ..06Y 1.8

iYPE 1.8.5 Horizontal logs chamfered at ends. Vertical posts squared, with squared cleats nailed for retaining logs. Example: Rebuilt kitchen wall, Homestead at Yanga, near Balranald, N.S.W., c.1870 (Freeman, Homesteads, p.225)

TYPE 1.8.7

Horizontal logs with rebated ends. Vertical posts squared, with squared cleats nailed for retaining logs. Example: Homestead at Yanga, near Balranald, N.S.W., c .. 1870 (Freeman, Homestead, p.225)

lYPE 1.8,8

Horizontal logs grooved at ends. Vertical posts squared, with single squared cleat nailed each side to receive grooved logs. Example: Homestead at Til Til, near Balranald, N.S.W. c.1872 (Freeman, Homes teads, p .170)

SECT10N

SECnON

Se:::TION

EXTERIOR 8.EVATION

i * f PLAN

8>cr'ERIOR f:=L2V'ATION

+ ~ t PLAN

I ---L

f f I I

P I I ? I I

: I

-.L I

I 11 !

EXTE::RIO{< ELEVAT1 ON

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35

DROP-LOG WALLING CONNECTIONS 1YPOL-OGY TYPE 2.A

TYPE 2. A. 1

Horizontal slabs chamfered at ends. Vertical posts round, grooved for slabs, round sides out. Example: Homestead at Boondarra, near Hillston, N.S.W.,c.1880s (Freeman, Homesteads, p.155)

"TYPE 2.A.3

Horizontal slabs chamfered at ends. Vertical posts round, with sapling cleats nailed for retaining slabs. Example: Shed, Tumbarumba, N.S.W.~ n.d. (Information from Mr.D:m Gxlden)

TYPE 2. A. 5'

Horizontal slabs chamfered at ends. Vertical posts round, with two flat faces to which are nailed squared cleats to retain slabs, round sides out. Example: Wool shed at Coan Downs, near Mt. Hope, N.S.W., c.1874 (Freeman, Wool sheds, p.2l5)

TYPE 2.A.C;

As for 2A5, but with wall slabs round side in. Example: Stables near Mullengandra, N.S.W., n.d. (Freeman, Homesteads,p.70)

SECTIoN

SEcnON t=XTERfCJR ELEVATION

PLAN

SECTIoN EXTERIOR ELEVATION

-

'"

J)_ u

SECf/ON EXTERIOR ELEV'ATION

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3'

DROP-LOG WALLING CONNECTIONS "TYPOLOGY 2.A

TYPE 2.A. 10

Horizontal slabs chamfered at ends. Vertical posts round, with rebates and squared outs i de face. Single wide cleat nailed over outside face to retain slabs, round sides out. Example: Hut near Wauchope, N.S.W., n.d. (Described by Mr. Bill Cook)

TYPE 2.A.11

Horizontal slabs with rebated ends. Vertical posts round, with rebates and squared inside face. Squared cleats nailed to rebates to retain slabs, round sides out. Example: Too1shed at Be1ltrees7 near Scone, N.S.W., c.1912

TYPE 2. A.12

Horizontal slabs chamfered at ends. Vertical posts round and rebated to receive slabs which are spiked without cleats. Example: Shed at Currango Homestead, KosciuSko National Park, N.S.W. c. 1900

SECTION

SECnoN

SEer/oN

CONTINVlED

A

--l J.-

1 I

I I

-""1 f-c::.'> I I '::>

1 I -1 ,-

I I I I

-, /lr-

S<TGRIOR ELE2v'A Tl oN

f * PLAN

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37

DROP-LOG WALLING CONNECTIONS TYPOLOGY

lYPE 2.8.5'

Horizontal slabs chamfered at ends. Vertical posts squared, with squared cleats nailed for retaining slabs, round sides out. Example: Woolshed near Cumnock, N.S.W., n.d. (Roxburgh, Colonial Farms,p.17)

1YPE 2.8,7

Horizontal slabs with rebated ends. Vertical posts squared, with squared cleats nailed for retaining slabs, round sides out. Example: Old house at Urangeline, near Lockhart, N.S.W., n.d. (Payne and Gribble, Urangeline, p.92)

sEcnON ~R(OR ELEVATIoN

+ ~ PLAN

.A 1_ U r

-

7 i-

1-

SEcTION EXTERIoR ELEVATION

I

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38

DROP-L06 WALLING CONNEcrrONS TYPOLOGY 3.A

TYPE 3.A.1

Horizontal planks. Vertical posts round, grooved for planks. Example: Stables near Gunni~g, N.S.W~ 1840 (Information from F. Hillier)

TYPE 3.A.4-

Horizontal planks, chamfered at ends. Vertical posts round, with triangular sawn cleats nailed for retaining planks. Example: Stables at Waverley, near Winton, Victoria, n.d.

lYPE 3.A. 5

Horizontal planks. Vertical posts round, with two flat faces to which are nailed squared cleats to retain planks. Example: Barn at Porcupine, near Maldon, Victoria (now demolished)" n.d. (Lewis, Victorian Primitive, p.31)

SECTION

SECTION

SECTION

A

-I ~ I I I I

"1 t-I I .{

,:; J I

I T I

I 1. 1.1/, I

v

EXTERIOR ELEVATION

J1

'J .:::

I EXTERIoR ELEVATfON

~

n

{~.-* PLAN

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39

DROP-LOG WALL..ING CONNECTIONS TYPOLOGY 3.B

T(PE 3.8.1

Horizontal planks. Vertical posts squared, grooved for planks. Example: McCrae Cottage, near Franks ton, Vi ctori a, 1846 (Historic Homesteads, Vol.2,p.92)

TYPE 3.8.S

Horizontal planks. Vertical posts squared, with squared cleats nailed for retaining planks. Example: Shearers' quarters, c.1900 Milgarra, near Scone, N.S.W.

TYPE 3.8.9

Horizontal planks, beaded. Vertical posts squared, with squared cleats nailed for retaining planks. Example: Homestead at Bygoo, near Ard1ethan, N.S.W. c.1870 (Freeman, Homesteads, p.12l)

TYPE 3.B.13

Horizontal planks. Vertical posts squared, with one squared cleat nailed each side to which planks are single-spiked. Example: S. wall kitchen block, Homestead, Yanga, near Ba1rana1d, N.S.W. c.1866. (Freeman, Homesteads, p.225)

SEcnON

SEen ON

SECTION

DETAIL

SECTION

A

.j. V l. I I I I

j L I I I I cc

1 !-I I I I

i r EXTERioR ELEVATION

: -

~ c::

1-

£:;X:Tf=f<IOR ELSVAT/ON

/l

.:::: p

S(TERIOR ELEVATION

PLAN

I

I I I I

I I I I

I I I -1 ,.

I

EXTERiOr<: ELEVATION

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40

DROP-J..OG WAL.I-ING CONNECTIONS TYPOLOGY

fYPE 3.8.14-

Horizontal planks butted to squared posts. Every fourth plank on alternate sides metal-dowelled to post, and planks meta l-dowe 1.1 ed together vertically beside posts.

?

'..1 11 1' 1'

J.!

rt .'1

I::":.:!;..-1\

'1

3.8 CONTINI.AED

fI 'I

=::.::. -: ,

l-t"--:..'l , u

1"1

11 --.:::::: 11

\1

I'

Example: SECT(ON t=XTERIOR ELt;VATION

Old School, Merrigal? Snowy Mountains, N.S.W. c.1830s (Information from F. Hillier)

cc

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41

7. CONCLUSION

This pilot study has shown that drop-log walling is a distinctively Australian system intrinsically worthy of investigation. Its diversity, ingenuity and quality express the challenge of the environ­ment and the ways this challenge was met by vernacular builders. .

Though its first examples were located in towns, drop-log construction became essentially a bush craft. With the rising influence of fashion and style town building turned towards brick and stucco, while in remoter places, where larger trees continued to be available, timber architecture flourished.

This abundance of good material was the main con­stituent in the perfection of vernacular forms such as those studied here. Almost equally important, however, was the severe limitation forced upon builders by the scarcity of metal fixings, such as nails and bolts, and by the difficulties of handling large elements. In the search for this perfection drop-log construction was a paradigm: it was well-suited to large posts, plates and infill members; the assembly of its components was simple and direct, allowing good tolerances for shrinkage and movement; and it required virtually no metal in its connections.

The available evidence suggests that drop-log methods were always less common than other timber methods such as vertical slab and weatherboarded construction. It is also clear from the study of both documentary material and building sites, that drop-log work is a diminishing resource. Many examples still standing a few years ago are no longer extant, while others have been mutilated or extensively altered. This project has been like a case study of ignorance and carelessness characterizing much of Australia's material past.

For all of these reasons---distinctiveness, approp­riateness and rarity--drop-log buildings are a considerable cultural resource; an important, if minor, part of the national heritage, meriting recognition and evaluation.

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42

This study must conclude, then, by advocating the investigation of drop-log construction in greater depth and over a wider area of Australia. Clearly what is required is a proper inventory of drop-log structures so as to facilitate the acknowledgement, understanding and conservation of a diminishing asset.

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43

8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors acknowledge with thanks material supplied by the following Historical Societies affiliated with the Royal Australian Historical Society.

Berrima District, Berry & District, Bingara, Bland District, Boggabri, Bourke & District, Braidwood & District, Brisbane Water, Broken Hill, Casino & District, Cobar, Coonabarabran (Warrumbungle), Forbes, Gilgandra, Glen Innes & District, Gosford District Historical Research & Heritage Association, Gosford District Local History Study Group, Gulgong, Gunning & District, Tha Hastings District, The Hills District, Hillston, Illawarra, Kyogle & District, ~1ackay River, Maitland & District, Manning Valley, Milton-Ulladulla & District, Molong, Murringo Historical Centre, Murrurundi, Narrabri & District, New England Historical Resources Centre, Nyngan & District, Parkes & District, 4ueanbeyan & District, Richmond River, Scone & Upper Hunter, Singleton, Stroud & District, Tamworth, Taralga, Wagga Wagga & District, The Walcha & District, Wallamba & District, The Wyong District Museum & Historical Society.

For individual advice, particular thanks are extended to Mr. Peter Freeman whose published works have been especially helpful; Mr. Fred Hillier; and Mr. M.B.S. Southwell.

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9. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

(a) Manuscript sources

Bigge, J.T. Report appendix, 2166-2237. Bonwick Transcript, Box 27, 1822. Mitche11 Library, Sydney.

Gilbert, Lionel Botanical Investigation of N.S.W. 1811-88 PhD. Thesis, University of New England, Armida1e, 1971.

Hitchcock, Mark l11awarra Homesteads. B.Arch. Thesis, University of N.S.W. 1980.

Matthews, P. Letter to his Family, November 1855. Mitche11 Library, Sydney.

Worgan, G.B. Letter and Journal, 1788.

Atki nson, James

Bo 1 d rewood, Ro 1f

Brown, H.

Mitche11 Library, Sydney.

(b) Printed sources, contemporary

An Account of the State of Agriculture and Grazing in New South Wales, 1826 (Facsimile edition, Sydney Uni. Press Sydney, 1975).

The Builder, London. Various issues especially Vol. ii, 30 March, 1844.

The Miner's Right (London, 1890). MacMi11an, London, 1922.

Victoria as I Found It. P.C. Newby, London, 1862.

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Campbell, Mrs A.

Coll ins, Davi d

Ferguson, Duga 1 d

Gates, Wi 11 i am

Gunn, Mrs Aeneas

Howitt, W.

Le,Moine, J.H.

McCrae, H. (Ed.)

Raws on, Mrs L.

Sherer, J.

Wolff, C.S.

Anon.

Rough and Smooth, or Ho! for an Australian Gold Field. Hunter, Rose, Quebec, 1865.

An Account of the English Colony in New South Wal es. ~& A.W. Reed, Sydney, 1975 (Originally published in London, 1798 and 1802).

Bush Life in Australia and New Zealand. 2nd Edition, Swan Fonnenschein, London, 1893.

Recollections of Life in Van Diemen's Land. Edited by Mackaness. Australian Historical Monographs, Vol. XIV (New Series), Pts 1 & 2, Sydney, 1961.

We of the Never Never. Hutchinson, London. n.d.

A Boy's Adventures in the Wilds of Australia. Arthur Hall, London, 1854.

Articles in Maple Leaves, 7th Series, Quebec, 1906, pp. 262-3, 268-72.

Georgiana's Journal: Melbourne a Hundred Years Ago. Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1934.

Australian Enquiry Book of Household and General Hints. Pater & Knapton, Melbourne, 1894.

Adventures of a Gold Digger, Clarke, Beeton & Co., London, 1853.

"Reminiscences of the Pastil, in Maple Leaves, 7th Series, Quebec, 1906. p.273.

"Rural Homes ", in Austral ian Town and Country Journal, Sydney, 16 September, 1871, pp. 364-5.

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Australian Council of National Trusts

Barbeau, M.

Birmingham, Judy Jack, Ian and Jeans, Dennis.

Brunski11, R.W.

Cant1on, Maurice

Churchward, L.G.

Cox, Phi1ip and Lucas, C1ive

Cu rrey, C. H .

Free1and, J.M. Cox, Phi1ip and Stacey, Wes1ey.

Freeman, Peter

Freeman, Peter

Herman, Morton

(c) Printed sources, modern

Historic Homesteads of Australia, Vo1.2. Casse11, Sydney, 1976.

liThe House that Mac Bui1t ll, in The Beaver,

Winnipeg, Canada, December, 1945, pp. 10-13.

Industrial Archaeology in Australia (Rural Industry). Heinemann, Richmond, 1983.

Illustrated Handbook of Vernacular Architecture Faber & Faber, London, 1970.

Homesteads of Southern New South Wales 1830-1890. Queensberry Hill Press, Car1ton, 1981.

liThe American Contribution to the Victorian Gold Rush ll

, in Victorian Historical Magazine, Vo~. 19, June 1942, pp. 83-95.

Australian Colonial Architecture. Lansdowne, East Melbourne, 1978.

The Irish at Eureka, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1954.

Rude Timber Buildings in Australia. Thames & Hudson, London, 1969.

The Wool shed, A Riverina Anthology. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1980.

The Homestead, A Riverina Anthology. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1982.

The Early Australian Architects and their Work. Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1980.

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Holl oway, R. G.

Hueneke, K1aus

Innocent, C.F.

Kniffen, F. and G1assie, H.

Lewis, Miles

Mackaness, George

The National Trust of Australia (N.S.W.)

The National Trust of Australia (Victoria)

The National Trust of Australia (A.C.T.)

National Trust of Queensland

National Trust of Australia (Tasmania) J.N.D. Harrison (Ed.)

Ibid.

Pike, D. (Ed.)

47

Tyntyndyer Homestead. A Short History. Privately published. n.d.

Huts of the High Country. A.N.U. Press, Canberra, 1982.

The Development of English Building Construction. Originally published 1916. David & Charles Reprints, Devon, 1971.

"Building in Wood'in th~ Eastern United States", in Geographical Review, American Geographical Society, Kansas, U.S.A., Vol. LV1, January 1966, pp. 41-66.

Victorian Primitive, Greenhouse Publications, Carlton, 1977.

Admiral Arthur Phillip, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1937.

National Trust Register. Sydney, 1982.

National Trust Register. Melbourne, 1976, plus addenda.

Register of Classified Places. Manuka, 1982.

Listings Register. Brisbane, 1977.

Register of Listed Buildings - The Three Cities, Hobart, 1975.

Register of Listed Buildings - Country Towns and Villages of Tasmania. Hobart, 1976.

Australian Dictionary of Biograph~ Vols. 1 and 2. Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 1966, 1967.

Page 50: DROP-LOG WALLING IN EASTERN AUSTRALIA: A …nswaol.library.usyd.edu.au/data/pdfs/13017_ID_Bush...Gold Rushes: California and Australia TWO INDIVIDUAL EXAMPLES McCrae Cottage, near

Pratt, Bruce (Ed.)

Richardson, A.J.H.

Ritchie, T.

Roxburgh, H.R. and Bag1in, Doug1ass

Australian Encyclopaedia, The Gro1ier Society of Australia, Sydney, 1963.

"P1ankwall Framing, a Modern Wall Construct­ion with an Ancient H-tstoryll. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Philadelphia, U.S.A., Vol. XXX, No.1, March 1-71, pp. 66-70.

Colonial Farm Buildings in New South Wales, Rigby, Sydney, 1978.

The Heritage of Australia, the Illustrated Register of the National Estate. Macmi11an/Austra1ian Heritage Commission, South Melbourne, 1981.


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