Clydesdale - Restoration Australia Series 3 Episode 4

 When carpenter Kate and her mother Ann buy two old prospecting huts for $100,000 in Clydesdale in regional Victoria, they take on 180 years worth of dilapidation

Finally some real restoration on this episode of the show - catch up on iview. Two fragile miners cottages composed of various materials - stone, wattle and daub, corrugated iron, in the Australian Vernacular. It brings back memories of the Gervasoni House, that is just down the road a bit, and presented similar issues of a dilapidated rustic dwelling in need of careful conservation. In that case, some questionable changes and additions were made, but this time, the owners have an uncanny understanding of the intrinsic values of ancient fabric. 

Harrison's narration is on a theme around the hand built vernacular, lacking high-end architecture, but responding to the immediate make-do nature of the gold rush, adapting natural materials found on the site. He seems a bit disparaging of the rustic nature of the buildings or perhaps just that as an architect he doesn't see intrinsic value in their form or design. He does however show some resect for the hand craft involved in bringing these basic materials together to create a liveable dwelling, both in relation to the original builders, and the new owners who are fixing it up with such care for the original materials.,

We get a potted history of the gold rushes, but no detail of the immediate area. No reference to the Pickpocket Diggings and the nearby Rise and Shine mine, that sprung up here in the 1860s, and were part of a shifting population that worked their way up and down the gullies and creek flats. One account remarked:

A considerable Improvement is said to have taken place at Pickpocket, Yandoit. The diggings here are rapidly extending, and it is said that if the rush continues to spread in the manner it has recently done, it will soon reach Newstead, which is two miles distant. The reefs at Yandoit are still yielding some remarkably rich stone.

The introduction talks about the buildings using local material, but most of the illustrations are of tents, when there are numerous real miners cottages in the district to provide the context and comparison. 

We also get some insight from a local historian Joan, who visited her great aunt Med at the cottages. Med was an original owner married John Yawn and raised 14 children here. She also provides the original name of the cottages, Hill View. A slightly contrived scene has mum Ann popping a photo of Aunt Med on the mantlepiece, which was both uncomfortable to watch for me, as it appeared to be for the niece as well. It is nice to preserve memories of a place, but better not to appropriate other peoples'. 

The cottages sit on a silurian rise - surrounded by alluvial flats. As Harrison stresses, the timber, brick, stone and clay came from the immediate area and can still be recognised. As a result, such buildings appear to grow out of the landscape, reflecting in their textures and colours the land around them.

                                   

The fundamentals of historic building conservation are on full view at Hill View. We are told early on that it is on the heritage overlay (Shire of Hepburn HO748), but this is almost dismissed by both Harrison -"the lightest form of heritage protection", and Kate - "just the exterior stuff". But in any case the protection of original fabric is dealt with sensitively both inside and out. Kate is the first to intone the conservation mantra "Our philosophy is to do as much as necessary but as little as possible", she could be the visiting heritage advisor or the man from ICOMOS, explaining the Burra Charter. By the way, where is the heritage advisor, making life hard for the owners? I guess there was no conflict to build the drama when the owners are doing a better job than any regulator would mandate.

The first cottage to be fixed up has an unusual combination of walls of both stone and what they describe as wattle and daub, but might be more properly termed pug and pole. Wattle and daub involves weaving thin branches into panels that are between the studs and then covered in a mix of clay and straw. Pole and pug involves larger branches nailed on the outside of the studs and the space in between filled with the clay mix. Miles Lewis has written extensively on this and presented numerous lectures. I wonder if Harrison undertook history of architecture and building units in his course.

There is a lot going on in these little buildings that tell the details of their history: a bush pole frame but with some squared timbers inside - possibly adze shaped, three walls of stone and one of the pole and pug, some later concrete reinforcing.

Lining the ceiling with calico was a nice touch and demonstrates a refined understanding of the history of vernacular building in Australia. Calico was used extensively on the gold fields for tents, clothing, wind sails for ventilating mines, as well as lining buildings. Sometimes remnants can be found under later plaster or lining boards. It would have been good to hear how Kate came to know about it. 

Calico also has a strong association with British colonialism, having been manufactured first in India (the name comes from Calicut, now known as Kozhikode). The cloth was imported cheaply into Britain until prohibitive tariffs under the Calico Acts, were introduced in the 18th century to protect the local textile industry. The result was the destruction of the Indian textile industry and the rise and dominance of British woollen industry and Lancashire cotton mills. As a result, canvas and calico became cheap materials practically dumped on colonial markets, while Australian wool became a prized import to England.

The migrant and mining settlements grew as canvas (and calico) towns. sometimes simple pole and canvas tents gradually evolved into substantial dwellings as they were built over with more permanent materials. Miles has again documented this process in several transitional examples. 

Ann goes wild with her linseed oil preparation for finishing all the timber work. Again thus is a level of authenticity that suggests a deeper understanding of historical Australian vernacular building practice than the show gives credit for.

Incidentally on a petty note, the staged scenes of arrival and discovery are a bit jarring - for example the shot of him driving to Clydesdale at the start shows him passing the sign to the town, but in the opposite direction, so he was leaving. 

You can stay there now and there seems to have been some concessions to modern comforts like water and power, despite the mention that the original cottages would not be connected so that they don't have to be brought up to modern building standards.