Government Depot Site, Rooty Hill

There is much speculation about the source of the name Rooty Hill. Mr William Freame wandered much in these parts collecting information from old residents. In 1931 in an article in a country newspaper on place names he wrote regarding the name: "Old hands assure me that the hill received its name from the roots and other debris left around its bare fields when the Eastern Creek was in flood, and this appears to be a very reasonable deduction." Mrs Hawkins description quoted later in the derivation does not appear reasonable. Captain J H Watson's version, he as a young man having been in India, and he derives the name from "ruti", the Hindustani word for bread. Governor Macquarie as a young man had been in India, and if the settlement at the hill had been devoted to agriculture there would have been a connection, but it was a stockyard. A third and anonymous writer puts forward a Captain Thomas Rooty as a resident in the locality. No information can be found on him.^[1]

The district was used as a Government stockyard, and in a lengthy list which Governor Macquarie prepared of the buildings and works erected during his regime between January 1810 and November 1821, we find the following:

"At Rooty Hill:

1. a brick built house of two stories high for the residence and accommodation of the superintendent and principal overseer of the Government stock at the station, reserving one room for the use of the Governor, when occasionally there, with kitchen, stables and other necessary out-offices and kitchen garden enclosed;

2. four paddocks of 50 acres, each enclosed for the grazing of young cattle and raising of wheat and maize for the use of the stockmen;

3. temporary log huts or barracks for the accommodation of 20 stockkeepers, with small kitchen garden attached thereto.

NB: The station at Rooty Hill is the next principal one to Camden for the grazing of the Government horned cattle and horses, and consists of about 6000 acres of land of a very superior description, and, as this grazing ground is centrically situated, being on the Great Western Road and only 10 miles distant from Parramatta, it ought not to be on any account alienated from the Crown.^[1][2]

Macquarie seems to have forgotten that he had already carved a large slice off the reservation by giving Major Druitt in October 1821 a grant of 1000 acres 'out of the Rooty Hill Government allotment on Ross's Creek'. Mount Druitt is a permanent reminder of this grant. In 1824 Captain P. P. King, son of Governor King, was given a grant of 1500 acres, also part of the Rooty Hill establishment.^[1][2]

On January 11, 1822 T. H. Hawkins arrived in Sydney with wife and 8 children and mother in law. A few months later he received an appointment as commissariat storekeeper at Bathurst, and on April 5 set out from Sydney, at the head of a cavalcade of bullock wagons, carts, drays and belongings over the Blue Mountains to their new home. Late that night the party reached Rooty Hill, a distance of 25 miles from Sydney, the Government House was ready to receive them. ...Hawkins described the place "I could have been contented to remain there for ever - the house was good, and the land around like a fine wooded park in England".^[1][2]

The "brick built house of two stories" still stands (1935), with galvanised iron roof (seen in a photo) where once it was shingle-rooved. The oak tree (also shown in a photo) would have been small in Macquarie's time, but is now a veteran, ... a sturdy sample of the genus' (sic).^[1][2]

Very little is known about the history of the site other than that it was a Stock Farm, whose original boundary was the present City of Blacktown perimeter. The original building on the site was the Superintendent's residence and was also used by Governor Macquarie and other passing travellers. The site was later known as "Thornleigh" and then "Stratton" although the origin of these names is not known.^[1]

Two rooms were added for Governor Macquarie's convenience. It was in a ruinous state in the 1960s, and was demolished.^[3][1]

1935 photographs showed the two story "old homestead on old Government Stock Farm, Rooty Hill", with two chimneys at each end gable, a half-hipped/hipped gable roof form, what appears to be a gum tree to one side, close to the house, and a low picket fence in front. Another photograph showed a fairly large oak tree (Quercus sp., probably common English oak, Q.robur) at the same location, with a picket fenced paddock around it.^[4][1]

The site once comprised the former c.6000 acre Government Stock Farm and associated Superintendent's residence built in 1815.^[1]

Between January 1810 and November 1821, there was (in terms of buildings on site):^[1]

"At Rooty Hill:

1. a brick built house of two stories high for the residence and accommodation of the superintendent and principal overseer of the Government stock at the station, reserving one room for the use of the Governor, when occasionally there, with kitchen, stables and other necessary out-offices and kitchen garden enclosed;

2. four paddocks of 50 acres, each enclosed for the grazing of young cattle and raising of wheat and maize for the use of the stockmen;

3. temporary log huts or barracks for the accommodation of 20 stockkeepers, with small kitchen garden attached thereto.^[1]

From a walk around the overgrown area where the original building is thought to have been, there is little visible evidence remaining of any structures above ground. The area is almost completely overgrown with thorn bushes. The only evidence found included several timber posts, from a post and rail fence and a large cement rendered brick pit (possibly a well). It has been filled with various items and debris. Remnants of the garden which would have served the main building are discernable, as is the overall form of the garden.^[1]

A 1992 DUAP listing described the remains of the depot to include: mounds of bricks, stone flagging, timber slabs, and a five-metre-diameter (16 ft) well, however, with the exception of the well, none of these structures are visible and appear unlikely to have survived.^[1]

The residence was a ruin as at 23 November 2000, although its exact condition could not be ascertained owing to the overgrown condition of the site. The site has high potential archaeological value associated with its former use as a Government Stock Farm.^[1]

It is considered that there is very little, if any built fabric remaining and the overseer's house site cannot therefore be considered to be intact. However it does retain the overall form and elements of the house's garden, and open space, remnant of the former Government Stock Farm.^[5][1]

Very little is known about the site and a detailed physical survey does not appear to have been carried out to date. Owing to the site's former use and its association with Governor Macquarie, further investigation is warranted. Due to the uncertainty whether there is anything left of the building at all, there is some urgency attached to this. What remains of the site should be carefully documented. If there is very little remaining, there may be potential for the site's removal from the register.^[1]