"Lake Bathurst Cottage"

Historic Lake Bathurst Cottage is a charming split log colonial home dating to the late 1830s, almost certainly the oldest building in the pretty hamlet of Lake Bathurst, twenty minutes drive from the NSW Southern Tablelands city of Goulburn. The cottage stands on land first granted to Daniel Cooper in 1837 and bought by Thomas Kent in the 1840s, and has since belonged in various periods to the Badgery and Reynolds families.

The property has served for some years as a residence and antique shop with self contained accommodation in a restored vintage railway carriage. It will benefit from cosmetic attention and general upgrading but offers the opportunity to acquire a delightful historic cottage with lots of potential at a modest cost. There’s plenty of room for building an extension or to add sheds or more accommodation. The property is approx. 1200 sqm.

Lake Bathurst lies 27kms south-east of Goulburn. The prime rural farmland is primarily flat undulating country bordered on the east and west by a chain of hills and part of the Goulburn Plains. The village is about 2 ¼ hours drive from Sydney, or 20 minutes from Goulburn on the Braidwood Road, and about 50 minutes from Canberra.

History

The lake was discovered in April 1818 by chance on a journey of exploration commissioned by Governor Macquarie to find a route from the inland to the settlement on the south coast at Jervis Bay.

The party, headed by Charles Throsby, split up near Marulan - Throsby travelling north and east to discover a route to the coast, and the other party, headed by Surveyor General James Meehan south and east where they discovered the lake.

Young Hamilton Hume was related to Throsby by marriage and was a member of this latter party. He went on to become a famous explorer in his own right, but was on this occasion a junior member of the exploration.

Meehan's glowing report of the lake, which he named Lake Bathurst after the British Colonial Secretary of the time was made in a "good" year - the lake was full, birdlife was abundant, and the grasslands green.

Viewing such an attractive report, Macquarie came to see the area for himself in 1820 on the way back from a visit to the newly discovered Lake George, and within a few years the first land grants were made for pastoral settlement.

The first grant was made to Daniel Cooper, an ex-convict and successful businessman and landholder around Sydney. The initial grant was of 1000 acres on condition of improving the land to the east of the lake known as the Morass. Cooper's Sydney business partner, Solomon Levey, also took up land, and between the two of them they owned most of the land around Lake Bathurst. Like Braidwood to the south, whose settlement has a connection to the English Navy, Lake Bathurst has an interesting connection to the Napoleonic Wars.

A grant of 250 acres was given to the retired Admiral John Gore for services rendered under Lord Nelson. Gore's father had sailed with James Cook, and descendants of the family are buried in the St. John's Church cemetery.

Initially known as Tarago, the village was very tiny and in the 1840s had two registered inns, at Waterloo Station and south at Sherwin’s Flats. In the 1870s, Cobb & Co. coaches had depots north and south of the village. Lake Bathurst was officially named as such in 1884, when Sherwin's Flat was also renamed as Tarago.

The lake, like Lake George nearby, is something of an enigma. No rivers flow into it, but it is fed by drainage through the soils of the surrounding area, and therefore dependent on the level of rainfall for its inflow. Hence it fluctuates in size from a few kilometres up to 10 square kilometres in area. The water is brackish and at high levels is home to thousands of water fowl. At other times it recedes from its banks to little more than a large shallow pond, or even dries up completely.

Lake Bathurst has undergone resurgence in the last decade and is now a favourite stopping place on the Braidwood Road, and even a destination for day trippers who visit the well known Lavender Gardens, Museum and Tea Rooms on weekends when the village comes alive again.

Room to move

Lake Bathurst Cottage today stands in the centre of the charming hamlet, ideally placed for use as a country retreat, B&B, antiques shop or crafts business. The cottage comprises six rooms all with delightful period features like exposed split log walls, cosy proportions, timber floors and open fireplace. The house has potential for the addition of a loft room which would give lovely views over the rural countryside. Situated ten minutes away from the popular Wakefield Park historic racing circuit, the property would make a great base for vintage motor racing enthusiasts.

The garden has well established trees, hedges, a grapevine covered pergola, and mains electricity is connected. A well, a water tank and water bore are sited in the back garden. A main feature of the property is the authentic 1928 Red Rattler train carriage which has been converted to living accommodation and which provides an extra six squares of living space, with a proper kitchen, lounge-dining room, bathroom, bunk beds and main bedroom, opening onto a stunning panoramic view over the surrounding fields. In the garden there is also a large old shed, and vintage chicken coops. The property has been licensed to be operated commercially as a B&B and an antiques store.

Contact: Robert Aernout, Mobile: 0408 483 255

Email: robert@kero-lamps.com.au