High Among the Trees

Considering it was built by young boys, this treehouse at Leumeah was considered an inspired work of construction. It was built 60 feet (18 metres) in the air and must have been a challenge to climb, if not a terrifying one for those boys not thrilled about heights. The treehouse was built on a public reserve near the Scout Hall at Leumeah by a group of local boys and it was even furnished. Unfortunately, in April 1969, Leumeah Progress Association received complaints about misbehaviour at the treehouse. These complaints weren't caused by the builders but by other people. The association complained to Campbelltown Council who inspected it and then gave an order for its demolition.

There are claims that this treehouse was built by either the Nash or Fetterplace family and that it stood on Narellan Road between Campbelltown and Narellan. The discovery of this newspaper article and accompanying photograph would prove this incorrect however.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Campbelltown-Ingleburn News, April 8 1969

Campbelltown Council Minutes April 1 1969

Mystery at Carrington Circuit

It is August 1977, Star Wars is playing in cinemas, Elvis has just died and a strange figure is discovered in Carrington Circuit, Leumeah.

While clearing a council reserve to make way for a children’s playground, local residents discover lying in the long grass, a gigantic head carved from solid stone. Standing, it would rise to one and half metres tall.  How did it get there? What did it mean? Who had made it and when? An inscription at the highest point, half covered by lichen offers a tantalising clue. It reads 18 B 8.

Conjecture is rife – an ancient monument, a convict carving from the early days of the colony? Who could tell?

A Melanesian archaeologist from the Australian Museum is invited to visit the statue to offer an opinion.

The stone head as it is today.

Some time later an answer finally comes. The statue was hewn in 1969 when a Water Board worker laying sewerage pipes at nearby Smiths Creek chiselled the giant face. Unfortunately, still no solution as to what 18 B 8 should mean.

If you know of or are the sculptor behind this amazing statue please get in touch. We’d love to have a more complete story of this Campbelltown artefact.

Sources:
Liverpool Leader 24 Aug 1977

Campbelltown a modern history P47 by Jeff McGill Pub CAHS 1999

Written by Michael S

 

Keighran's Mill

Just south of the original Woodbine homestead, and adjacent to the old Sydney Road (since renamed Hollylea Road) there once stood an imposing landmark named Keighran's Mill. John Keighran purchased the site in 1844 and in 1855 built the mill on the banks of Bow Bowing Creek. The mill was a relic of colonial days when wheat was harvested on surrounding farms. It was built of sandstone and had a shingled roof.

During the 1870s the mill fell into disuse when rust ruined local wheat crops. An 1875 entry in James Payten's diary, now held by Campbelltown Library, reads "Harris and I nailed up doors and windows in old mill". This suggests the mill was by then deserted. In 1879, Kidd and Fieldhouse acquired the mill but probably did not use it for gristing wheat.

Most Campbelltown residents who remember the picturesque landmark knew it as Payten's Mill. Percy Payten was the last member of the Payten family to own the mill. In 1954 he offered the mill to the Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society.

In later years, the mill became a favourite haunt of children's games. Young Rose Payten and her brothers loved to climb its secluded heights. In a recent interview I did with Leumeah local Noeline Jury (nee Hawkes) she describes how the mill entertained them as children and later as teenagers. On one occasion she was exploring the mill with a friend when they noticed a noose hanging from the rafters! This, combined with the constant croaking of frogs in the nearby creek, added to the creepiness of the place.

A large sign advertising 'Wolfe's Schnapps' was painted on the side of the mill. This can be seen in the photograph below taken by Steve Roach in 1959.

By the 1960s, Council considered the mill to be in a 'ruinous and dangerous state' and the Department of Main Roads indicated the Campbelltown Road was about to be widened. The historical society also didn't have enough funds at the time for its restoration and the Heritage Council of NSW had not yet come into being. So, in 1962 the mill was dismantled and the stone was used in the building of the RAE Memorial Chapel at the School of Military Engineering at Moorebank, which opened in 1968.

The old mill was one of the all-time favourite landmarks of our district. It even features as the logo for Campbelltown North Primary School.

Where is the site of the mill today? The re-alignment of Campbelltown Road makes it difficult to pinpoint its exact location using old photographs. After talking to a number of local residents who remember the mill, the general consensus is that it was located somewhere in the area bounded by the overhead railway bridge on Campbelltown Road, Bow Bowing Creek and Campbelltown City Ten Pin Bowl.

                   This undated photograph shows the mill adjacent to Campbelltown Road.

Written by Andrew Allen