Debra Tranter always expected restoring the historic sexton’s office and gun powder storage magazine at Castlemaine Cemetery would be rewarding. But the chair of the local cemetery trust says she never expected it would be quite as enriching a process as it’s turning out to be.
As experts in brickwork and repointing carefully began restoring the vintage brickwork over recent days they were in for a surprise.
Their efforts revealed not only the beautiful old arched brickwork of the original fireplace – but, much to Debra’s relief – that the fireplace could also that be effectively stabilised and resurrected to its former glory.
“It had been bricked in but we knew it was there and I was just hoping that it would still be beautiful,” Debra says.
“It was great when we uncovered it.”
The revelation of the old arching brickwork detail around the old fireplace and the fireplace’s careful conservation is just part of the project that’s just weeks off finishing, backed by $77,000 in Victorian Living Heritage Grant funding that Sandra secured – on her second attempt.
The process has also included some very specialised exterior tuckpointing work that’s come up a treat.
“Inside it was all damp and the walls were cracking,” Debra says of the unique little slice of history that was built in the gold rush era days of 1867 after the first burial was registered on site in 1853.
“Seven years after they built the building that was known as The Lodge, they converted the back room into a gun powder magazine. The gun powder was for blasting out the gravesites because the cemetery is on a quartz reef,” Debra says.
Problematic non-breathable cement applied for “repairs” since the 1970s has had to be removed and replaced with breathable lime mortar.
“And I could actually touch the back wall and rock it back and forwards with my hands – and there were bricks missing,” Debra says.
Since then tradies have worked carefully over recent days and the results are impressive both inside and out with a bit more work still to go including painting and sourcing a secondhand period mantlepiece for the newly revealed original fireplace.
“Gary Hill our project manager has also worked on uncovering different layers of paint that was used over the years and a heritage consultant will be working on an appropriate colour palette over coming weeks,” Debra says.
“We’re still a few weeks away from finishing. Rendering on the inside needs to be done and we’re also on the hunt for a secondhand mantlepiece that fits the period and the dimensions of the fireplace.
“And we’ve still got the de-salinator coming back to work on the bricks on the inside.”
Another particularly rewarding aspect of the project is the restoration of the original 1875 map showing the layout of gravesites in the historic cemetery that counts some very famous early Australians among its permanent occupants.
“The map was filthy but it’s now at the conservators in Kyneton and will be going back in the original frame behind glass. I cannot wait,” Debra says.
When the work’s all done members of the public will be invited to get along to a special open day showcasing the results.
“We’re planning an open day in Spring,” Debra says.
“It’s such a beautiful little building and it’s such an important part of the history of the community.”
