]
|
This historical landmark represents a grand entitlement for the appreciative owner.
Situated in the picturesque heritage listed village of Rockley, a gentle twenty minutes rural drive from Bathurst, iconic “Abercrombie Hall” is for sale for the first time in some years.
Abercrombie Hall is the perfect entertainer, boasting a Tuscan style courtyard commanding rural and village views.
Generous formal and informal rooms with polished kauri floorboards, high ceilings and grand windows.
Phone Jacinta Purvis
Principal Bathurst First National
02 6332 9444
to arrange your private inspection.
Ben Chifley’s Rockley bailiwick on the market
Situated in the picturesque heritage listed village of Rockley, a
gentle twenty minute rural drive from Bathurst, iconic Abercrombie
Hall (the former Abercrombie Shire Council Chambers) is for sale
for the first time in many years.
Abercrombie Hall was opened to the public as part of the National
Trust’s 2003 autumn program, attracting over 750 heritage home lovers.
The former Abercrombie Shire Council Chambers was the bailiwick of
Ben Chifley (Australia’s 16th Prime Minister) who was President of the
Shire, and enjoyed continuous service on the council from 1933 to 1947, a
period concurrent with his Prime Ministership.
Chifley (who held the seat of Macquarie from 1929 to 1931, and again
from 1940 to 1951), was a steam engine driver who from humble and
difficult origins in his home town of Bathurst, became one of the most
highly regarded of Australia’s Prime Ministers.
At Abercrombie Hall
he carried out his council responsibilities, hosted balls and addressed
local concerns.
“A peaceful and dignified
country retreat”
The building features a leadlight door dedicated to this great local
man, referencing his ‘Light on the Hill’ speech, his initials JBC, and the
short span of his successful life. Featured in ‘The Chifleys of Busby Street’
Abercrombie Hall stands in Wiradjuri Country, in a region where
bushranger Ben Hall once roamed; the disenfranchised Ribbon Gang
terrorised; marble, copper and gold mines supported a large population
and assured prosperity; early convents, schools and churches were
established; and where families emigrated from Calais, Scotland, Ireland
and England, taking up large tracts of the arable land of which the 1851
village formed the centrepiece.
This unique heritage building is the perfect entertainer, boasting a
Tuscan style courtyard commanding rural and village views. Generous
formal and informal rooms with polished kauri floorboards, high ceilings
and grand windows (snap-shotting 19th century architect Edmond
Gell’s Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches) make for a peaceful and
dignified country retreat.
Artists, musicians and writers enjoy the peace and inspiration Rockley
offers, living alongside the descendants of the early settlers and other
village folk. |
