Gleniffer Brae

About

Gleniffer Brae is a heritage-listed former residence, school and now conservatorium of music and function centre on Murphys Avenue in the Wollongong suburb of Keiraville, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Geoffrey D. Loveridge and built from 1937 to 1939 by L. Benbow in conjunction with W. W. Todd & Son (joinery), W. Wilson & Co. (bricks/tiles) and Hawkesbury Sandstone Co. (stone). It is also known as Glenifer Brae and Wollongong Conservatorium of Music. The property is owned by Wollongong City Council. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

The land that would become Gleniffer Brae and the Wollongong Botanic Garden was originally inhabited by the Dharawal Aboriginal people. 2000 acres of land including this site were purchased by James Spearing in 1825. In the 1830s the estate was sold and subdivided.

The site of Gleniffer Brae was originally part of a Crown grant of 1000 acres to Robert and Charles Campbell in 1841. The land went through a number of different owners until 1928. James Fitzgerald bought 75 acres in 1919, building Cratloe, the cottage on the Wollongong Botanic Gardens site now used as the Gardens' Discovery Centre.

In 1928, Arthur Sidney (known as Sidney) Hoskins a founder of the Australian Iron and Steel works at Port Kembla, came from Lithgow with his brother Cecil. Sidney Hoskins purchased 75 acres of Fitzgerald's dairy farm around Murphy Lane, Wollongong and began plans for a family home, the same year the steel works commenced operation. Hoskins was born in 1892 and joined the family's steel firm in 1907. He became joint managing director with his elder brother in 1924 and was directly involved with the move of the company to Port Kembla and the erection of the new works.

Sidney Hoskins married Helen Madoline (known as Madge) Loveridge in 1934 and a son was born to them at Edgecliff in 1936.

Hoskins commissioned his brother-in-law, Geoffrey Loveridge (1893–1989), to design Gleniffer Brae Manor House and had the gardens designed by Paul Sorensen. The name Gleniffer Brae comes from a small village in Paisley, Scotland, the birthplace of Mrs Hoskins' grandfather. Gleniffer Brae was designed by architect Geoffrey Loveridge, brother of Mrs Hoskins. The building of the residence began in 1937 through a tender by L. Benbow. The surveying work was undertaken by George Dunwoodie. The house was completed in 1939.

Unlike most architects of his time, Geoffrey Loveridge had a long and thorough training in the building business. This involved both a strong family tradition and extensive personal experience. His building expertise was evident in his careful selection of the tradesmen for Gleniffer Brae: Benbow as builder, Todd and Son for joinery, Wilson's bricks and the Hawkesbury Sandstone Company. There is good anecdotal evidence of Loveridge's careful supervision of the high quality detailing of Gleniffer Brae. Loveridge was not simply a new architect working for rich relatives who knew what they wanted. Certainly, he designed the houses that Cecil and Sidney Hoskins intended: "Stockbroker Tudor" for Cecil and a bungalow complex for Sidney. In the latter case, at least, there are abundant signs of highly competent architectural design, giving unity to an array of single storey buildings. The Tudor features are carefully adapted to the basic design. Gleniffer Brae bears a mature Loveridge stamp.

The extensive landscaped gardens surrounding the manor were largely attributed to the landscape designer Paul Sorensen, a Danish-Australian garden designer who had worked for Hoskins' brother Cecil at his estate "Invergowrie", Exeter and who had become known to Cecil Hoskins through his work for Henri Van der Velde at "Everglades", Leura.

Sidney Hoskins had a reliable and loyal gardener for Gleniffer Brae, named Eric Winter. In 1921 Hoskins gave Winter 2.5 acres of land on the eastern boundary of his property that included a house named Cratloe, which stands today as the Botanic Gardens Discovery Centre. Council purchased this land in 1966 from the owner, who had bought it off Winter.

The impressive location and style of Gleniffer Brae was in keeping with the position of the Hoskins family with the social and financial circles of the day. In the immediate post-war years distinguished guests such as the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Archbishop of York and Lady Baden-Powell were hosted at Gleniffer Brae.

With the death of Sidney, part of the property was donated for use as a Botanic Garden while the house and remaining grounds were sold to the Anglican Diocese of Sydney for its girls grammar school ( SCEGGS ) in 1954. This was a significant addition to the educational facilities of the region. The church operated SCEGGS at the site until 1975, when the school merged with The Illawarra Grammar School. The house was later listed for sale, before the school grounds were acquired by Wollongong City Council in 1978. Along with land previously bought from the school in 1976, the purchase allowed for the extension of the Wollongong Botanic Garden.

A memorandum of understanding was finalised in 1954 with Wollongong City Council for approximately 32 acres of land extending from Murphys Avenue to Northfields Avenue for the purposes of a Botanic Garden. It would take many years to see Hoskins' dream become a reality: the Botanic Gardens did not open to the public on a regular basis until 1971.

On 10 December 1959 R. H. Anderson, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney visited the Keiraville site and declared it good and recommended that expert advice be sought to prepare a design for a Botanic Garden. Ultimately the expert chosen was Professor Peter Spooner of the University of New South Wales. Spooner came up with an idea of a geographically based garden layout; which was unusual. Plants were grouped according to their country of origin rather than the more usual botanic family groups (Australasia; Indonesia and Malaysia; Pacific Islands; Europe; India; Africa; China & Korea; The Americas).

The first planting was an azalea ( Rhododendron indicum cv. and R.kurume cv's), established in 1964 by original gardener, Jack Woodgate. In 1966, Council purchased Cratloe and in 1968 built the Sir Joseph Banks glasshouse. The Wollongong Botanic Garden was officially opened in September 1970, with 6000 people visiting in the first year.

Later when the Gardens were expanded and Council had hired Deane Miller as Parks & Gardens Controller and Director of Wollongong Botanic Gardens, it was determined that the geographical based garden concept was not working well and that a habitat planting system would better suit the expanded site. It was possible to develop microclimates in the garden - from the exposed dryland of the highest hill, to stone filled gullies and open grassland.

In 1976 a financial crisis forced SCEGGS to sell nearly 15.5 acres to Wollongong City Council and in 1978, the remaining grounds, including Gleniffer Brae passed into Council's possession via a notice of resumption. As a result, Council owned all the land that now comprises Gleniffer Brae, the University Soccer Fields (Kooloonbong Oval) and the Botanic Garden by 1978.

Since 1980, part of the manor house, school buildings and auditorium have been used as the Wollongong Conservatorium of Music and function centre under lease from Wollongong City Council. The remainder of the manor house and surrounding gardens have operated as a function venue by Wollongong City Council.

Hoskins was civic-minded and desired that Gleniffer Brae be used for educational purposes and that the surrounding land would become a botanic garden once his family no longer used the residence. Under Hoskins' will, part of the property became the nucleus of Wollongong Botanical Gardens.

The grounds have been subdivided with over half of the area, now known as Hoskins Park, being used as the Wollongong Botanic Gardens (open to the public on a regular basis from 1971. Apart from the Spinney, which is readily recognisable as part of the original garden, the changes necessary to adapt a domestic garden, no matter how big, to use as a public park have disguised Sorensen's work so that his hand is no longer visible over large areas. The simplification of maintenance around the conservatorium has also reduced his impact.

The land that would become Gleniffer Brae and the Wollongong Botanic Garden was originally inhabited by the Dharawal Aboriginal people. 2000 acres of land including this site were purchased by James Spearing in 1825. In the 1830s the estate was sold and subdivided.