Coordinates: 33°47′25″S 150°46′04″E

Mamre (homestead)
Mamre is a heritage-listed former farm homestead complex,
grain cropping, pastoral property and wool production and
Mamre
now residence, community facility, market gardening and
nursery production located at Mamre Road in the western
Sydney suburb of Orchard Hills[1] in the City of Penrith local
government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built
from 1822 to 1832. The property is owned by the New South
Wales Department of Planning and Infrastructure. It was added
to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April
1999.[2]

Contents Mamre, pictured in 2013

History
Description
Condition
Modifications and dates
Heritage listing
See also
References
Bibliography
Attribution
Etymology Genesis 13:18
General information
History Status Complete
Type Homestead
In 1798 colonial chaplain, magistrate and pastoralist, The Rev.
Architectural style Colonial Georgian
Samuel Marsden purchased 15 hectares (38 acres) from a
lapsed grantee at South Creek where he commenced Location Mamre Road,
experimental wool production activities. The name comes from Orchard Hills, City
Genesis 13:18 "Mamre which is in Hebron" (meaning land of Penrith, Sydney,
which is promised).[2] New South Wales

He established the Mamre farm in 1799 with the purchase of a Country Australia
further 81 hectares (200 acres), also at South Creek.[2] Coordinates 33°47′25″S
150°46′04″E
By 1802 Marsden's total land holdings at South Creek
amounted to 135 hectares (333 acres), primarily devoted to Construction started 1822
wool production. It was the working farmhouse of a busy rural Completed 1832
property, a model farm which comprised orchrads, exotic Renovated 1949; 1984
pasture and other crops.[3][2]
Owner Department of
Planning and
In 1804 Marsden received a 417-hectare (1,030-acre) grant, Infrastructure
again at South Creek and he proceeded to plant experimental Technical details
crops of hemp and flax. Flooding in 1805 destroyed the
experimental crops but experimental wool production Material Sandstone
continued and in 1807 Marsden left for England taking with Renovating team
him the first "weavable" wool from the Colony, produced at
Architect Lindsay,
Mamre.[2]
Thompson and
Between 1822 and 1832 the homestead at Mamre was built Spooner (1949)
and the farm itself became firmly established. The house was Howard Tanner
not intended as a permanent residence, but rather as a country and Associates
cottage to provide basic accommodation for the overseers of
(1984)
the farm.[2]
Website
Originally a storage barn for wool, Mamre Homestead was mamre.com.au (http://mamre.com.au)
built in the 1820s from brick and was noted for its cultivated
rose and cottage gardens. The Rev. James Hassell said of New South Wales Heritage Register
it:[4][2]
Official name Mamre
Type State heritage
"Mamre, where I spent so many happy days with
(landscape)
my uncle, was a farm on the South Creek... The
house was a two-storey brick building with a Designated 2 April 1999
good gravel drive in front. Beyond, several Reference no. 264
hundred yards, was a splendid orchard of twenty
acres. The fruits surpassed any that I have seen Type Farm
these forty years. The grapes, chiefly muscatel, Category Farming and
were very fine. Peaches, apples, pears, oranges, Grazing
apricots and nectarines, were in abundance.
Supplies were constantly sent to Sydney, in the
season, in waggon-loads and sold well. Large
crops of wheat, and oaten hay were produced on
the farm. The horses bred at Mamre were very
good and sold at high prices. I remember a
carriage horse brought a hundred guineas, and
few sold under 70 or 80 pounds. The farm and
orchard were worked by assigned servants,
numbering I should say, from twenty to thirty
hands".

— Rev. James Hassell.

In 1838 Samuel Marsden died and ownership of the property passed to his only surviving son, Charles, who
used the house as a permanent residence. There are believed to have been between 20 and 30 servants
employed to work the farm and orchards at this time.[2]

In 1840 the Mamre farm was sold to Richard Rouse, a prominent public servant and grazier and in 1841
Rouse gave the farm to one of his daughters, Elizabeth Henrietta Rouse, as a wedding present upon her
marriage to the Hon. Robert Fitzgerald, MLC of Windsor.[2]

It is said that to be fair to his children, Rouse put three pieces of paper in a straw hat, two of them blank and
one bearing the name Mamre. This was drawn by the youngest Daughter, Elizabeth Henrietta.[5][2]
The property remained in the ownership of the descendants of Robert and Elizabeth for over a century and
apart from rendering the external walls in 1890, no significant changes were made to the building until 1950-1
when Professor E. MacLaurin (a descendant of Elizabeth's) added a garage wing, new chimney, a boiler room
and laundry as well as replacing the staircase and many of the windows and shutters.[2]

In 1951 the remaining timber outbuildings (a kitchen and wash house) were demolished.[2]

In 1975, the farm was purchased by the (then) NSW Planning and Environment Commission who leased the
property to Professor McLaurin until his death in 1978.[2]

In 1984 the NSW Department of Planning made Mamre Homestead and surrounding acreage of 86 hectares
(210 acres) available in a 20-year lease to the Sisters of Mercy, Parramatta to be developed as a training centre
for the unemployed of the area. The project commenced in 1986.[6] Over the years under the direction of
Sister Mary-Louise Petro, Founder of the Mamre Project, several programs have been successfully
implemented to meet the perceived needs of time. The NSW Government Department of Families, Housing,
Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, together with the Australian Government Department of Family
and Community Services and Education, Employment and Workplace Relations now provide funding for the
continuing development and delivery of training programs. The present training includes skills in office
administration, information technology, hospitality and customer service. Programs are taught in a supportive
atmosphere where personal development is encouraged and nurtured. The homestead provides job
opportunities in the hospitality industry. Mamre Plains Ltd is a non-profit company set up by the Sisters of
Mercy in 1985.[6][2]

Major restoration works on homestead were completed by October 2016. This is part of the investment
provided by the Department's Office of Strategic Lands in preserving heritage-listed properties.[7][2]

Description
The Mamre homestead, c. 1830, is a two-storey sandstone brick (now rendered) building in the Colonial
Georgian style. The house has a hipped corrugated iron roof laid over the original timber shingles. The
sandstone flagged timber verandah wrapping around three sides of the building (west, north and east sides) has
a bellcast corrugated iron roof. The plan of the house is rectangular, with a central stair hall, eleven rooms and
a single storey kitchen wing to the southern side. The windows of the house are timber double hung, with each
sash having six panes. Two brick chimneys are located in each end hip.[2]

Some farm outbuildings remain. They are generally timber framed with corrugated iron cladding. There are
also a number of modern rendered brick buildings serving the Mamre project and tourism uses. Some remnant
early plantings remain around the house, trees being white cedars, Melia azederach var. australasica to the N
and NW, Mediterranean cypress, Cupressus sempervirens, to the W, large Canary Island oak, Quercus
canariensis to SW, large English oak, Q.robur to S of house, large kurrajong, Brachychiton populneus, to SE
of house. More recent eucalpyt and pine plantings S of the house have been made, along with a small retail
plant nursery area.[8][2]

Condition

As at 25 February 1999, the house was restored for the bicentenary in 1988, with the property in good
condition overall.[2]

Mamre sites of outbuildings[9] excavations revealed extensive evidence of outbuildings and features around
the house.[10][2]
The main house is relatively intact, with only a few original outbuildings remain.[2]

Modifications and dates

Restored to original form in 1988.
Modern outbuildings c. 1988.[2]

Heritage listing
As at 30 March 2000, Mamre is significant for its potential to yield information on the pre-contact Aboriginal
occupation of the South Creek catchment. Mamre is historically and socially significant as an important site in
post-contact Aboriginal history, demonstrating Aboriginal survival and adaptation to non-traditional social,
economic and political practices.[2]

Mamre is historically significant for its association with the early sheep breeding experiments of the Reverend
Samuel Marsden, which contributed to the early development of the wool industry in NSW (and Australia).
Mamre has historic and aesthetic significance as a rare, regional example of a fairly intact pre-1860 colonial
landscape and homestead on the Cumberland Plain. The farmstead is archaeologically significant for its
potential to yield information on early colonial farm landscapes, farmsteads and Georgian architecture. The
Mamre farmhouse is an iconic feature in the St. Mary's region and immediate landscape.[2]

Mamre has a strong association with the early owners of the property, the Reverend Samuel Marsden and
Richard Rouse, both influential early colonists. Samuel Marsden is an important figure in the early missionary
history of New Zealand, with strong ties to settlement and missionary activities in Kerikeri and the Northland
district in particular. The property has strong, continuing association with the Sisters of Mercy, Parramatta and
the MAMRE PROJECT which has great regional social importance.[2]

The South Creek corridor is significant for its preservation of endangered ecological communities. It has
potential to yield valuable information about the river-flat forests, wetlands and riparian habitats which are
among the most threatened natural landscapes in Western Sydney.[11][12][2]

Mamre is recognised as a property of State significance, as a substantial Georgian homestead, and the former
residence of the Rev. Samuel Marsden during the 1820s and 1830s. It was later the residence of Richard, then
Henrietta Rouse and the Hon. Robert Fitzgerald, MLC, from the 1840s. The building is an important example
of an early 19th century homestead in the Colonial Georgian style.[2]

Mamre was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the
following criteria.[2]

The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New
South Wales.

Mamre is of high historical significance for its association with both the Rev. Samuel Marsden and the Rouse
Family. It has further significance for the production and export of the first "weavable" wool in the colony and
for its association with the settlement and development of pastoral/farming activities in the St Marys district.[2]

The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or
technical achievement in New South Wales.

Mamre is of high aesthetic significance as a fine example of an early Colonial Georgian Residence retaining
some elements of its original rural setting.[2]
The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in New
South Wales for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.

Mamre is of high social significance for its association with prominent colonial figures and for its association
with early employment in the district through the pastoral activities which took place there.[2]

The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or
natural history of New South Wales.

Mamre is of high technical/research significance for its demonstration of early 19th century building
techniques and farming practices.[2]

The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New
South Wales.

Relatively rare.[2]

The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural
places/environments in New South Wales.

Mamre is representative of major colonial homesteads with substantial acreage.[2]

See also
Australian residential architectural styles
History of New South Wales
List of heritage houses in Sydney

References
1. "Mamre - Homestead" (http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetai
ls.aspx?ID=2260228). New South Wales Heritage Database. Office of Environment and
Heritage. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
2. "Mamre" (http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5
045752). New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage.
H00264. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
3. "Our past" (https://www.mamre.com.au/about-mamre/our-past). www.mamre.com. n.d. Archived
(https://web.archive.org/web/20181015153253/https://www.mamre.com.au/about-mamre/our-pa
st) from the original on 15 October 2018.
4. "History" (https://www.mamre.com.au/history). www.mamre.com. n.d. Archived (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20100824234213/http://www.mamre.com.au/history/) from the original on 24
August 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
5. Robinsons, brochure (1962)
6. "About Mamre" (https://www.mamre.com.au/about-mamre). www.mamre.com. n.d. Archived (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/20121013184700/http://mamre.com.au/about-mamre) from the
original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
7. Chief Planner of New South Wales (5 October 2016). Report to Heritage Council of New South
Wales.
8. Read, Stuart (1 August 2001). personal communications.
9. Unpublished report on excavations at Mamre. Sydney University Historical Archaeology.
10. Thorp, Wendy (August 1986). "s.6.5.6 St. Mary's, of appendix D, Historical Archaeological
Component". In Fox & Associates (ed.). Heritage Study of the City of Penrith. 2. p. appendices.
11. Graham Brooks & Associates; Taylor Barmmer Landscape; Mary Dallas Archaeologist (2003).
Conservation Management Plan Mamre St Marys.
12. Read, Stuart (2004). personal communications.

Bibliography
Heritage Study of the City of Penrith. 1986.
Attraction Homepage (2007). "Mamre" (http://www.mamre.com.au/).
Byrnes, J. (1986). An Historical Archaeological Report on Mamre.
Cox Tanner Pty Ltd, Architects, Architectural Research & Restoration (1981). A Restoration
Report on Mamre.
Cree, Laura (1995). Mamre: Place of Promise - the story - pioneers of land and spirit on
Marsden's South Creek Farm.
Graham Brooks & Associates (2003). Mamre St Marys Conservation Management Plan Final
draft.
Graham Brooks & Associates; Taylor Barmmer Landscape; Mary Dallas Archaeologist (2003).
Conservation Management Plan Mamre St Marys.
Howard Tanner & Associates Pty Ltd (1989). Mamre (Lot 1 Mamre Rd St Marys): A
Photographic Record.
Morris, C.; Britton, G.; NSW National Trust (for the Heritage Council of NSW) (2000). Colonial
Landscapes of the Cumberland Plain and Camden, NSW.
Paul Davies Pty Ltd (1999). s.170 Register DUAP.
Robinsons, in association with Tucker & Co. P/L - NSW agents for Chateau Tanunda - the
brandy of distinction (1962 brochure) (1962). Map no. 121 - Sydney & Environs - Historic
Buildings and Landmarks.
Tourism NSW (2007). "Mamre Historical Homestead" (http://www.visitnsw.com.au/Operator.asp
x?ProductId=9013866).

Attribution
This Wikipedia article was originally based on Mamre (http://www.environment.ns
w.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5045752), entry number 264 in the
New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales and
Office of Environment and Heritage 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licens
es/by/4.0/) licence (http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/help/copyright-disclaimer.htm),
accessed on 13 October 2018.
This Wikipedia article contains material from Mamre - Homestead (http://www.envir
onment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=2260228), entry number
2260228 in the New South Wales Heritage Database published by the State of New South
Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage 1991 under CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommon
s.org/licenses/by/4.0/) licence (http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/help/copyright-disclaimer.ht
m), accessed on 20 July 2020.

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