Visit Braidwood - Braidwood Heritage Trail

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Braidwood Township Heritage Trail	Out & About
There are many other significant and historic buildings in the village. The Historical Society will be pleased to assist should you require any more information.	Map of Town Centre Enlarge
Carriages By Cupid Carriages By Cupid will be delighted to take you on a tour of Braidwood’s Historic Highlights in a Horse-Drawn Victoria Carriage. A Guide from the Braidwood Museum will tell you the history behind the Beautiful Churches, Old-time Pubs, Workman’s Cottages and Grand Public Buildings as you travel past them. Each Tour takes approximately 50 minutes and costs $100, seating up to four adult passengers comfortably. To book your tour, call m: 0417 456 093. *Price valid as at February 2006
1. The Braidwood Museum Built of local granite as the Royal Hotel for the town’s Surveyor, James Larmer, in 1845, this grand building was purchased by the Oddfellows Friendly Society in 1882. The Braidwood Historical Society acquired the building in 1970 and established the Braidwood Museum, custodian to a fine collection of historical artifacts and memorabilia.

2. No.s 5 & 7 Park Lane Typical wooden cottages of the 1850s and 1860s. Number 5 was the home of Mary, wife of Jack Musgrave. Three generations of the Musgrave family owned and edited the local newspaper, and Jack was the last of these.
3. The Doncaster Inn The first grand hotel built in Braidwood in about 1840, was the centre of the town’s social life for many decades. In the 1880s it was converted to a convent school for the Good Samaritan nuns, and then in 1907 demolished and rebuilt using the same materials, as a new convent. It was reestablished as a fine hotel in 1980.
4. The Snow Lion Built at the end of the 19th century on the site of Wallis’s Auction Rooms, and now operates as a guest house.
5. The former Anglican Rectory An early Victorian house with later additions, stands adj. to the site of the first Anglican Church. Until it was sold, it was one of the oldest Anglican rectories still in use.
6. Maria Badgery’s House 48 Elrington Street dates to the 1840s, with an 1860s addition on the north side. The home is closely connected to the Doncaster Inn, having served as the owner’s quarters for the Badgery family for most of the mid 19th century.
7. Braidwood’s Masonic Temple One of the earliest Lodges in NSW. The residence was built for cabinetmaker Roderick McDonald, who also kept a showroom at this address. The facade has been altered several times to reflect different uses - the present facade was completed in 1907.
8. St Andrew’s Anglican Church One of Braidwood’s finest buildings, is built of local granite and features some of the first gargoyles used in ecclesiastical buildings in NSW. The tower, completed in the 1890s, affords a fine view of the town and several early photographic records of Braidwood were taken from it. Inside, magnificent stained glass windows and elaborate plaques commemorate pioneer families, and the fine pipe organ has been restored.
9. The Doctor’s House 38 Elrington Street is contemporary to the Anglican Church opposite, and was built by the talented stonemason, Terence McGrath. McGrath left many fine buildings to his credit, and even more descendants.
10. No.s 35, 33 & 31 Elrington St These all date to the 1850s and have been restored with help from the NSW Heritage Office. Of particular note is the flat iron roof on No. 35 and the decorative brick pattern on No. 33. From No. 31 the Backhouse family ran horse teams, and later a trucking business, bringing supplies up the Clyde from Nelligen. The large sheds at the rear date from the horse team days. No. 35 was a gunsmith’s shop.
11. The Old Maternity Hospital This hospital at 25 Elrington Street was operated in the 1860s by Anne Gardiner, sister of the Clarke Brothers bushrangers.
12. No. 24 Elrington Street Undertaker Edward Gristlestone Morris lived and worked at 24 Elrington Street, which housed a significant coffin factory in its outbuildings. Morris managed burials in Braidwood for most of the mid and late 19th century.
13. Bedervale A magnificent country house designed by John Verge and built from 1836 for Captain John Coghill, one of Braidwood’s first affluent settlers. Coghill’s daughter Elizabeth married Robert Maddrell, and the house remained in that family until the 1970s when it was purchased by the Royds family. Many of the original contents are still intact, and the private home is open for inspection regularly.
14. The Digger’s Rest Hotel Circa 1859; one of many Gold Rush hotels in Braidwood, is adjacent to an early home of the Nomchong family. Their general store operated from the corner building for eighty years into the mid 20th century.
15. St Bede’s Catholic Church Built of local granite by Richard Hannaford between 1856 and 1862. Originally shingled with wood, the roof was replaced with fine slate in the late 19th century.
16. The Criterion Hotel Built in 1870, and familiarly known as Torpy’s Hotel. One feature was the long stool on the Wallace Street footpath on which patrons sat to watch the passing scene.
17. The National Theatre Built as a roller skating rink and Electric Picture Palace. Now the Community Centre and Visitors’ Information Centre, the building hosts the annual Quilt Event, and provides a venue for dances, movies and art shows.
18. The Commercial Banking Company The company built this building in 1888 as a bank and bank manager’s residence. The imposing Italianate facade reflects the prosperity of the gold mining era.
19. The Royal Café Maintaining its flamboyant early 20th century style facade, this store featured in the Australian movie “The Year my Voice Broke”, filmed in Braidwood in the 1980s.
20. The Albion Hotel Built by the MacDonald family in 1872 as the “Modern Hotel”. A most luxurious hotel during the late 19th and early 20th century, with a renowned hostess and a reputation for excellent food. Restored in the early 1980s. The Malone family, who operated a coaching service for many years, had their offices here.
21. The granite store This beautiful granite store on the corner of Duncan & Wallace Streets was built in 1870. Over the years it was a produce store, butchers and saddlers. The top floor verandah was added in the 1890s. The workmanship of stonemason Terence McGrath is evident in the architectural detail.
22. The Royal Hotel Built in 1890 on the site of the earlier “Royal Hotel” dating from the 1850s. The original name was changed in 1969 for the filming of the movie “Ned Kelly” with Mick Jagger.
23. The Literary Institute Completed in 1869, with additions in 1891, as one of Braidwood’s most significant public buildings. The Institute provided a Library, and encouragement to the community, to educate and improve themselves culturally, and the fine upstairs Hall was the venue for many balls and dances. During final construction the facade was rendered and the parapet constructed.
24. Ryrie Park Reserved at the suggestion of Dr Thomas Braidwood Wilson as a public recreation ground and market square. Dr Wilson and other prominent settlers provided exotic plants and flowers for the grounds, and Dr Wilson also presented a fine brass sundial. His Superintendent Joseph Taylor laid out the grounds and paths.
25. The Post & Telegraph Office Built in 1865 as the Telegraph Office, the Post Office was moved here in the 1890s from MacKellar Street. Beside the main building is the Postmaster’s residence.
26. The Courthouse Built in 1900 on the site of the original Courthouse of 1837. This site saw the earliest development in Braidwood, the Courthouse being considered essential for the implementation of law and order in the remote Braidwood district, the southernmost mainland settlement in Australia at the time.
27. The Police Residences Built in 1864 to replace the early wooden building in the Police Paddock, and the temporary Barracks at “Tidmarsh”. Heightened Police activity in the district during the Gold Rush of the 1850s and 1860s followed a spate of bushranger attacks and violent protests on the nearby Goldfields, and the repeal of the Police Act of 1859 brought many new, and senior Officers to Braidwood.
28. The Braidwood Hotel (formerly the Commercial Hotel) Built in 1859, the hotel is the oldest in Braidwood still licensed. One of the grandest hotels in the Southern Districts of its era, the building features a magnificent ballroom with accommodation rooms above. The ground floor and cellars house public rooms and bars. A restoration in 2004 has seen the shingle roof re-instated and the upstairs rooms restored to a very high standard.
29. The Old Post Office Dating to the 1840s, the building housed Braidwood’s first Postmaster and Dispensary. The corner section was built by Hendricks and Jacobs as the Victoria Store, then extended by Tweedie & Weston in the 1860s. By about 1910 it was used by the Nomchong family as a general store. It has since accommodated several galleries and private apartments. The Grapevine Café on the southern side was for many years Wright’s Motor Garage, from which Austin cars were sold until the 1950s.
30. The fine granite Albert Buildings Built by Hendricks & Jacobs in the 1840s this building had two shop fronts, business rooms and upstairs accommodation. The walls originally had tall end gables and upstairs rooms, and cellars below. In the 1860s the building was remodeled to house a steam mill, and later variations altered the roof line and facade. The positions of the two early shops are still visible in the main granite wall. The rear features a fine stonewalled courtyard.
31. The Pig & Whistle Hotel The Railway Hotel, familiarly known as the Pig & Whistle, stood on this site from the 1850s in anticipation of a railway service to Braidwood which never arrived.
32. The Police Paddock This was the site of the first Police Barracks, a wooden two storied structure with stables below and a bunkhouse above. The lines of the foundations are still visible on the rise towards Wilson’s Hill. The Braidwood Gaol, from which local bushranger Thomas Clarke made a daring escape, stood slightly to the north of the existing Colonial Motel.
33. The Braidwood Despatch Newspaper Originally a two storied brick building with an elaborate glass street front. It has suffered major alterations but escaped complete demolition. The newspaper was published for over 100 years.
34. “Tidmarsh” Completed as an Inn after 1856 by Braidwood’s first Clerk of Court and licensee of the Doncaster Inn, Patrick Goulding. Rented as a Police Barracks by Police Superintendent John Orridge in 1862, Orridge remained here with his wife Emeline Gordon of Manar after the new Police Barracks were completed in 1865. Subsequent owners were Rowland Hassall, James Malone and a series of doctors and dentists. A major restoration was completed in 2004, and the facade, including the shingle roof, now appears exactly as it did in 1862.
35. The Old Bakery Now a popular restaurant, supplied bread to Braidwood residents for nearly 80 years from the 1850s. There are two floors of private accommodation upstairs, and the early bread ovens survive inside.
36. The Corner Hotel This fine 1860s store was originally built as a hotel, and then saw use as a bank and as a store. A major restoration undertaken in 2004 has returned the facade to its late 19th century appearance.
37. “Elisville” Built in the 1860s for James Rodd MLA, Member for Goldfields South. Rodd was prominent in resolving the Braidwood disputes of the 1860s. He gave evidence at the Royal Commission on the state of crime in Braidwood, and was active in the Athletic Sports Association, his home being nearby the Hibernian Cycle Racing Track. The timber and brick cottage will shortly be restored to its 1860s appearance.
38. James Larmer building This fine stone building belonged to James Larmer and was probably built as an Inn, although by the late 1850s it was divided into two residences.
39. No. 60 Wilson Street A prosperous gentleman’s house of the early1880s, this home at 60 Wilson Street reflects the quality of the late Gold Rush dwellings of Braidwood. It is built on part of the 1850s site of Patrick Goulding’s “Wallis’s Auction Rooms”.
40. The Schoolteacher’s House A wooden two storied home dating to the 1870s and featuring the romantic styling of that decade, with elaborate fretted barge boards and steeply pitched gables.
41. No. 1 Coronation Street This brick home at 1 Coronation Street was built on land originally reserved for use by the Church and School Corporation, in about 1880. Subdivisions of the mid 20th century reduced the farmland around it and Coronation Street was laid out in the 1950s.
42. “The Nest” Situated in Duncan Street this wooden cottage of the 1870s is typical of many built following the Gold Rush. This and others like it often had an adjoining paddock or market garden in which the resident would produce much of his own food. It has been carefully restored by descendants of the original owner.
43. The Old Power Station Situated in Duncan Street, the station was built as a brick stable for the adjoining Hotel on Wallace Street. In the early 20th century it was extended and converted to house Braidwood’s first electricity station which ran intermittently during the 1920s and 1930s.
44. The Poundkeeper’s Cottage One of few surviving brick cottages on Ryrie Street, the cottage dates to the 1850s, with later additions. The Poundkeeper took care of stray horses and livestock, which were kept in the Pound Paddock at the south end of Ryrie Street until claimed by their owners, or sold.
45. The Lascelles St Worker’s Cottages These cottages, moved from their original sites in the early 20th century, date from the 1860s, following a subdivision of about 1900. Initially of two rooms, the skillion rear sections were sometimes enclosed or joined to a separate kitchen.
46. No. 59 Cowper Street An 1850s freestone building, with late 19th century additions and fine Edwardian interiors.
47. The Britannia Brewery site Once boasting a fine two storied stone brewery and stone residence. 19th century floods damaged the brewery building, apparently leaving the brewer stranded on his roof.
48. Braidwood Cemetery Dating from the earliest days of the settlement and was fenced into denominational sections until the 1970s. Many important residents and pioneers were buried here and their gravestones provide much detail about the period. The memorial for the Special Constables murdered by the infamous Bushrangers, the Clarke Brothers, is in the former Catholic section above the creek.
49. The Joint Stock Bank On the register of the National Estate, the Joint Stock Bank, built about 1855, was Braidwood’s first bank. It also has a place in the town’s civic history as the offices of the Braidwood Municipal Council, and later the Tallaganda Shire Council after the two Councils were amalgamated.
50. Worker’s Cottages Situated in Monkittee Street, a charming and intact pair of 1860s cottages which have survived in nearly original condition.
51. The Villa, Duncan Street A fashionable two storied brick home of the 1850s, originally owned by S. Walker. The striped curved tin awning is visible in an 1859 drawing of the home. The central hinged upstairs window is an unusual detail.
52. Hibernian Bicycle Racing Track At the eastern end of Duncan Street the track is still visible as a depression in the field. The circular track featured steeply banked sides and was used for high speed cycle racing well into the early 20th century.
53. The Wesleyan Church Built in 1855 with subscriptions from many prominent residents. Retaining many of it’s original architectural features and a fine garden, it is now a private residence.
54. St Andrews Uniting Church Built in 1861, the Presbyterian Parish having been established in the area in 1843. The simple white painted brick building is open daily and welcomes visitors.