Photograph by Bronwyn McGlinchie © 2001
Photograph by Bronwyn McGlinchie © 2001
"Crescentville" on The Terrace, in Windsor, was built by William Walker as the matrimonial home for himself and his first wife, Mary Hassall, sometime after 1853.
He had purchased the land at auction from Laban White in September 1853. Walker's daybook of 16th March 1854 shows an entry of an agreement made with Mr Graham of Wilberforce to supply and deliver 10,000 shingles by the end of July 1854, indicating that the house was completed not long after this time.
William Walker, aged nine, emigrated from Scotland in 1837 with his parents and a younger brother and sister. His father was a school teacher and quickly established a large superior school, of Presbyterian denomination, for boys and girls in Windsor. On finishing his schooling William Walker was articled to Francis Beddek, an English solicitor who had begun his legal practice in Windsor in 1828. Walker was admitted to the Bar two weeks before Beddek passed away in 1852 and Walker continued his profession in Windsor for another 56 years.
"Crescentville" is Colonial Georgian in style and retains many original features. Originally the house had a view to the river. The hipped roof was originally shingled. The verandah roof which is separate from the main roof is lined with narrow timbers panelling painted white. The house of solid brick, laid in the English bond has sandstone footings to just above floor level. The brick faces were originally shown and were unpainted as they are today. Sandstone footings, a feature of Colonial Australia, were used to stop weathering of the soft bricks and mortar from the rain and the splashback from the ground. The house is symmetrical, in line with the Georgian style, with the entrance door being flanked by a pair of windows with 12 panes, sandstone sills and shutter flaps. The transom light or fanlight above the door is original.
Some rooms have the original lights from when electricity was first installed in Windsor in 1916. All the doors and joinery are cedar. The chimneys are original and have colonial style chimney pots. Four generations of the family have been born in the front room of "Crescentville" including the current owner. The house had a breezeway at the back with a detached kitchen and maids quarters. There are steps leading down to each level, which is significant as the maids and servants were considered to be on a lower level to the family in colonial days.
"Crescentville has a barn and coach-house on the property which are of Flemish bond. During the Depression of the 1930's an old man came looking for odd jobs in payment for a meal. He was fed by the family and he ended up staying another 20 years living in the loft above the barn and doing odd jobs about the house. There was once a tennis court on the corner nearest Catherine Street and The Terrace and cricket nets beyond the barn and coach-house.
Today "Crescentville" stands as a reminder of our Colonial past surrounded by beautiful gardens.
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Text by Carol Carruthers, Images by Bronwyn McGlinchie & Alan Aldrich
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