The original homestead “Denbigh”, at Cobbitty, was built in 1818 by Charles Hook and purchased by Thomas Hassall in 1827. It evolved into a small village with its own school master, blacksmith, carpenter, brickmaker, producing wheat, sheep, vineyards, and orchards, and continues to operate as a working farm under Ian and Susan McIntosh, whose family purchased the property after Thomas Hassall’s death in 1868.
The following article, written by Ian and Susie, was printed in our 225 Reunion Program, and was first published in The Sydney Morning Herald.
A more detailed history of Denbigh was written by Susie McIntosh and is available in PDF form – Denbigh History.
Denbigh – by Susie & Ian McIntosh
First published: Sydney Morning Herald, April 28-29, 2018
Denbigh is a five hundred acre grazing property situated in Cobbitty on the south-western edge of Greater Sydney. Granted to Charles Hook in 1812 it is one of the oldest working farms in the country and has been described as ‘one of the finest early colonial farmhouses in Australia, with important historical associations and an evocative atmosphere”. 1
For over two hundred years the property has remained in the ownership of three families – the Hook (1812-1826), Hassall (1827-1868) and McIntosh (1868-present day) families. For thousands of years prior to European occupation the land held strong spiritual significance for the Aboriginal people. It was at the intersection of three language groups: the Dharug, Tharawal and Gundungarra and was referred to as “the Valley of Peace”. Denbigh’s homestead, garden and outbuildings stand today much as they have for over two hundred years. In itself, this nucleus of a settlement is quite extraordinary, both for its historical richness and its state of conservation. However it is the fact that Denbigh remains connected to its landscape that gives it such importance. Its buildings were constructed over time, evolving as the farm’s practices and ownership changed.
In 1812 Charles Hook, as a reward for his loyalty to Governor Bligh during the Rum Rebellion, was granted land in the newly discovered Cowpastures. Wary of Aboriginal attack, he constructed fortified stables with barred and turreted windows, from stone quarried on the property. The buildings were sited around a forest red gum which is now over 230 years old.
In 1817 Hook began work on the main bungalow which had a shingled, hipped roof and spacious verandah. The walls were lath and plaster, clad on the exterior with beaded weather boards. Having worked for the shipping merchants Campbell Hook & Co, Hook drew inspiration from the bungalows in India, the wide verandas of which were more an outdoor room. Hook’s defensive ‘siege style’ mentality was also reflected in the seven-foot-high paling fence he constructed around the perimeter of the dwelling.
Reverend Thomas Hassall, who purchased Denbigh in 1826, wrote “We, as British subjects and as Colonists, are indebted to the Aborigines – we have taken their lands by force, driven away their common sustenance and injured their fishing grounds.” 2
He removed the fence around the bungalow and established friendly relations with the Aboriginal People. Thomas’s son, James Hassall, recalled Aboriginal people congregating at Denbigh to burn timber for his father, and described a corroboree in front of the house “in which over two hundred Aborigines took part”. 3
With his growing family of eight children, Hassall constructed a two-storey addition to the bungalow in 1838 using bricks baked from red clay on the property. This addition formed a horse-shoe shaped courtyard at the rear of the bungalow. The west wing contained a bake house, kitchen, storeroom and meat-room. Hassall set about transforming Denbigh from a relatively isolated farm into a bustling self-contained village.
Living at Denbigh with the Hassalls were a carpenter, blacksmith, shoemaker, dairyman, gardener, brickmaker and schoolmaster as well as housemaids, a nurserymaid, cook, waiter, cow boy, overseer, washerwoman, groom, shepherd, bullock driver and watchman. In addition to his employed workers Hassall had nine assigned convicts. He established a garden of five acres with an abundance of fruit trees, a vineyard and an orange- grove.
Hassall held divine services at Denbigh until Heber Chapel was built on a portion of his land in the village of Cobbitty. He was also held services at Narellan, Camden, Cabramatta, Mulgoa, South Creek, Fleurs, Wollongong, Sutton Forest, Goulburn, Picton and The Oaks. Due to the extraordinary distances he covered he was nicknamed ‘the galloping parson’.
In 1868 Charles McIntosh moved to Denbigh and continued mixed use farming. He introduced dairy cattle and bred draught horses for Carlton Breweries and for his brother’s horse-drawn bus service ‘Bow Bells’ which plied George Street from Broadway to Wynyard in Sydney.
For over 150 years five generations of the McIntosh family have continued farming Denbigh. The stables, hand milking bails, calf shed, storage silos, feed bins and hay sheds were established from 1868 to 1900, and Denbigh remained at the forefront of the dairy industry throughout the 20th century. These intact outbuildings with their tools and machinery provide a rare glimpse into the evolution of farming practices and technologies.
The original stables, coach house and dairy have been restored and adapted as artist and pottery studios in which clay from the farm is now used in the making of ceramics. Stone is still quarried on Denbigh and used in conservation work and for new projects around the buildings and garden.
The main house remains much as it was in the 1830s. Surrounding the house is an informal garden filled with plants representing the passing fashions in Australian gardening. Denbigh is still approached and located within a rural landscape – the enclosed valley retaining its serene pastoral character and evocative atmosphere.
This was all under threat in 2004 when the NSW State Government looked to rezone the entire property as part of the Western Sydney Growth corridor. The McIntosh family engaged Alan Croker from Design 5 Architects who prepared a comprehensive Curtilage Study and Conservation Management Plan. When Denbigh was listed on the State Heritage register in 2006 a curtilage of five hundred acres was established to protect the homestead, outbuildings and landscape, as well as sacred Aboriginal sites within the valley.
“Denbigh is sited in a very rare and intact early colonial landscape of great beauty and integrity and is of exceptional cultural significance to the state of NSW … The physical evidence of Aboriginal occupation of the estate, both prior to and after European arrival, backed up by documented evidence of this including ceremonial use (Corroborees and tribal rites) strengthens the integrity and rarity of the continuous physical record of the place … A major consideration of the aesthetic setting of Denbigh is that the properties to the north west and west play a crucial role in the open and undeveloped rural character of the place, and any development or change in these areas must consider their impact on Denbigh”. 4
The parts of the property that were in the rezoned growth corridor were eventually sold by McIntosh Brothers. With their portion of the proceeds Ian and Susie (the current custodians) bought Denbigh homestead and half the curtilage, and Angela Head (Ian’s cousin) purchased the other half to the east. With this unprecedented curtilage and protection in place it was hoped that Denbigh would remain an unchanged example of the eighteenth century Cowpastures for hundreds of years to come.
In 2019, however, the NSW State Government released a proposal to build an Outer Sydney Orbital M9 (a two hundred metre wide eight-lane motorway and two freight train lines) just metres from the boundary of Denbigh, roaring through the ‘Valley of Peace’.
The construction of the M9 just west of the homestead cutting through the hills to the north would not only destroy the setting and serenity of Denbigh but would contradict the principles of the government’s own Heritage Office which recognises and endorses Denbigh’s significance.
Over the past hundred years Denbigh has opened its doors to history and gardening groups, local schools, choirs, international agricultural organisations, Ayrshire and Friesian cattle groups, churches, the Red Cross, Probis, The National Trust, The Historic Houses Association, Mount Annan Botanic Gardens, Vintage Car Associations and the Garden History Society. Fundraisers and Opera concerts for local charities are performed in the old hayshed. Much of Denbigh’s serenity and charm is enhanced by the encircling hills protecting it from the influences of modern living.
Many people have come to work on the farm, perform in the hayshed, potter, paint, draw, make furniture and films, or learn about our state’s early agriculture and cultural history. Some people come simply to sit in the garden and enjoy the sound of bellbirds carried in the clear air across the valley. No one leaves Denbigh without gleaning a sense of what has come before.
As a state and a nation do we wish to keep such places as Denbigh and its landscape conserved? It is impossible to recreate, and once lost can never be replaced. If you have enjoyed your visit today and feel Denbigh is worth preserving, we would greatly appreciate you writing to Mr. Rob Sharp (Secretary, Transport for NSW, PO Box K659 Haymarket NSW 1240) urging Transport NSW to reconsider the route of the proposed M9.
Denbigh forms only a small part of the beautiful “Cowpastures’ of Camden which is under threat. If endorsed along its current alignment the M9 will destroy Cobbitty village, hundreds of homes and beautiful historic landscapes, along with the endangered Cumberland Woodland which previous Governments have spent tens of thousands of dollars restoring and preserving. Elizabeth Farrelly articulates beautifully the importance of saving places such as Denbigh –
“Heritage is distilled story, just as honey is distilled sunlight. And like honey, heritage feeds us, enriching our lives with vividness and purpose, giving meaning and identity. At a very real level, heritage is who we are …Our developers and especially our governments need to grasp this, immediately, while there’s still something left to save”.
Notes:
- Macarthur Development Board: Colonial buildings Macarthur Growth Centre Campbelltown, Camden, Appin, March 1977, pp.103-104.
- Hassall Papers Vol.2 p.1351, quoted in Roxburgh, R., Early Colonial Houses of New South Wales, Lansdowne Press, Sydney, 1974, p.95
- Hassall, J.S., In Old Australia: Records and Reminiscences from 1974, Library of Austral History, Sydney, 1902, p.4
- Design 5 Architects, Denbigh Curtilage Study, Report prepared for McIntosh Bros Pty Ltd, July, 2006.
Images
The following photos were taken during the 225 Reunion in 2023.