January 2015
Final Lapstone
report....
On the 3rd
of December 2014, Chris Hewitt, Rachel Wong and Richard Ward from Nepean District Historical Archaeology
Group (NDHAG) along with Neville Pollard from the Australian Railway Historical
Society, met Stuart Sharpe, retired Heritage Officer from State Rail Authority,
at the archaeological site at Lapstone.
After
inspecting the site, Stuart came to the conclusion that the building was used
as an onsite office by a Senior Civil Engineering Officer, called the resident
Engineer.
His findings
that the foundations were continuous walls made of concrete that extended down
into the soil for about two feet, (600m) down to bedrock, as consistent with
the practice of the railways of that era (1909 to 1913). There were bolts built
into the concrete footing allowing for timber plates to be bolted down onto which the
walls would have been attached. There were also signs that the footings had
been rendered on top to allow for these plates to be levelled.
The concrete
pit in the corner would have been used as the base for a cast iron stove or an
open fireplace. The office would have
been furnished with a desk, one or two chairs and possibly a cupboard.
He also said
that the foundations at Lapstone have a very high conservation value and
recommended the following,
(a) That the
archaeological relics be added to and specially mentioned in the existing
listings of the site on the various heritage registers.
(b) That the
site be protected and conserved as an item of high cultural significance.
(c) That the
relics be used as an educational aid to interpret the site.
All in all
it was a good result for N.D.H.A.G. We would especially like to thank Stuart
for coming all the way to Penrith, then the long walk, and for writing such a
thorough report.
The full
report is available to see at the Nepean Archaeology workshop.
