If the Walls Could Talk
Our first candidate is the Spring Hill Watch House, built ca 1842 to a James Blackburn design. The watch house was built to accommodate convicts passing through, en route from one convict station to another (for example, moving from Oatlands Hiring Depot to the Picton Road Station). The building is now a private home, but extensive graffiti survives in what was originally the Mens’ Ward – that is, the main accommodation room for male convicts.
This part of the project will record the graffiti so as to ensure its long term survival, and wherever possible identify the authors of some of these inscriptions. Below you will find histories of each of the individuals so far identified.