Source: RocksWindmill
In colonial Sydney, windmills were most often the tallest structures on the harbour foreshore. However, within a 100 years of settlement, this romantic vision had been swallowed by the smoke belching chimneys of the Industrial Revolution. Our modern preoccupation with pollution and climate change might see us judging this development as entirely reprehensible, but in the 19th Century, such chimneys symbolised progress and prosperity.
When bringing The Rocks Windmill concept to fruition, the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority took the approach that the historical remains of the built environment shouldn’t define our understanding of the past – rather, what is absent from the picture is just as, if not more, compelling.
One aspect of this is explored by the Authority’s resident archaeologist Wayne Johnson (pictured above), in his talk From Wind to Steam and Beyond, co-presented by Historic Houses Trust. Held on Thursday May 2nd, this presentation provides a fascinating explanation of how the rise of steam based technology sealed the windmill’s fate, erasing them from the colonial landscape.
The key, says Wayne, was the discovery of coal in Wollongong in 1797, and then later in Newcastle, allowing steam power to be seen as “a more reliable power source, and unlike windmills, worked regardless of climatic conditions.” Indeed, the climate also played a bigger role in the windmills’ demise. Most were ‘post mills’ and made from timber, which the early settlers found deteriorated quickly in their new homeland. They were also highly susceptible to termites and, worse still, often damaged by the very wind from which they derived their power.
However, as Wayne will share, the true driving force behind the windmill’s demise, was the engineer John Dickson. Holding one of the earliest patents for steam technology, he arrived in the colony with his steam mill in 1813. Between coal and Dickson’s entrepreneurial spirit, the colony’s windmills didn’t stand a chance.
Whilst From Wind to Steam and Beyond looks at John Dickson’s legacy, Wayne Johnson’s talk highlights the importance of not taking our understanding of the past for granted. “While we often celebrate mansions and public buildings,” he states, “our industrial heritage is often swept away.”
Jacqui Newling, from Historic Houses Trust of NSW, delves into another forgotten aspect of colonial life in Our Daily Bread. Long ago, bread was considered to be the ‘staff of life’, and once the windmills had regularised the settler’s supply of flour, bread became the mainstay of colonial diets. However, not all bread was created equal in Sydney Cove and, in Our Daily Bread, Jacqui will show how the quality of one’s flour ration was directly linked to their social standing.
Contrary to common belief, meal-times at Sydney Cove weren’t defined by the rations each settler received. Between foraging for wild food and the establishment of kitchen gardens, early settlers were eating fare far superior to their contemporaries in England. Our Daily Bread is one for foodies who’d like to travel back to the dinner tables of yesteryear – as gastronomer and head cook at the Historic Houses Trust of NSW – it’s a journey Jacqui Newling makes all the time!
EVENT DETAILS
Please note, both From Wind to Steam and Beyond and Our Daily Bread, are being hosted by the Historic Houses Trust of NSW. To secure your seat, register using the links below:
From Wind to Steam and Beyond – Register
Thursday 2 May
5.30pm – 6.30pm
Free
Windmills – Skyscrapers of the Colonial Era / SOLD OUT
Sunday 5 May
2 – 3.30pm
Free
Our Daily Bread – Register
Thursday 9 May
5.30pm – 6.30pm
Free
GREEK WORLD MEDIA 