Wednesday – Kingston? Yes – let’s go to Kingston

Here’s another view of our house.  This time it’s the side facing the valley and that is IT3’s bedroom window.  Don’t look now but I think that is the culprit from the night before that is lurking in the background.

Yep – we were serenaded again during the night – this time it was the chooks!  I just love going to sleep after a good laugh, It seems to make you sleep even better.  Today we decide to do Kingston in depth.  So after our dekkie brekkie we walk down our own private headland to have a look around – and take a photo natch.

There is a picnic table and chairs down there so a plan is made to take down wine and nibblies one afternoon for a sunset adventure.  The only trouble is you have to be careful where you walk because of the cow pats that have been strewn around.

This is us with Ball Bay in the background.  Wouldn’t it be great to wake up to this every day!  I wouldn’t knock it back let me tell you.

We have been to or near Kingston every day so far so why change the habit?  We drive up the driveway – remembering to breathe in to make the car lighter (don’t say it – just don’t say it) so that we do not scrape our bottom. Heading into town we stop to admire the view of Phillip Island – just a quick stop and then were off to Cascade Wharf for a quick explore.  This is one of the areas that the boats come in to unload their cargo when Kingston Wharf is too rough.  We actually will get to see this happen at Kingston but that’s later so you will have to keep on reading.

Now it’s time to head for Kingston to do an in-depth look around.  Kingston is at the south end of the island between Cemetery Bay and Slaughter Bay.  Now aren’t they happy names!

Today is a day of history – so let’s begin!

HISTORY LESSON: Originally used as a penal colony there were two convict settlements on the island noted mainly for their inhumane and deplorably harsh treatment of prisoners.  The first settlement was established in March 1788 just five weeks after the arrival of the First Fleet at Botany Bay (Sydney). The ruins at Kingston and some of the fine buildings in Quality Row date from the second settlement of 1825. 

Arriving in Kingston we park our car and commence to look around these historic buildings.  There is so much history here plus a sense of dread when we realise the conditions under which these poor wretches had to live.

Our first visit is to the New Gaol. Below is the impressive entrance to the compound that bears the date 1847.

This is Gallows Gate.  A stark reminder of the men who welcomed death in preference to the life of a convict on the island. The prisoners must have been taunted by the sounds of the ocean and thoughts of freedom whilst realising that there was no escape from their servitude.

HISTORY LESSON: The New Gaol’s radical plan was one of the first constructed in Australia.  It contained 84 cells, two lockup rooms, 10 turnkey’s room and 10 yards. 

The prisoners worked in chains on the roads or at the quarry.  Two service buildings and a forty-man cell block were completed in 1848. In 1850 a row of 12 solitary confinement ‘apartments’ each comprising a cell and a yard were constructed. 

Two ‘dumb’ cells designed to prevent the transmission of light or sound were also constructed.  Evidence indicates such cells drove the occupant insane. 

After wandering around this area we are all feeling a little bit creepy so we move out for a look around the other buildings. Further down near the Kingston Wharf are some of the best preserved of the buildings from this era.  The others being at Quality Row on the way to the Cemetery.

The Surgeon’s Quarters  (below left) contains remnants of one of the oldest surviving prefabricated houses in Australia.

It was manufactured in Sydney and erected in 1827.

It comprised two apartments each having two bedrooms and a living room which were occupied by the surgeon and the commissariat officer.

The Civil Hospital above provides a rare example of a nineteenth century courtyard hospital.  Constructed in 1829 on the ruins of a first settlement building, it was a stone building thatched for the wardsmen and the sick.  It served as a residence but was returned to use as a hospital by 1833.   No works, other than the addition of a verandah were carried out during the second settlement period despite severe overcrowding, dysentery, exposure and a lack of facilities for the insane patients.  The building deteriorated after 1856.

Now that we are all feeling cheerful (NOT) we walk on over to the Crankmill. It is the only known pre 1859 human powered crankmill in Australia.  How gruesome can this building be?  Read on – –

HISTORY LESSON: It was built as a two storey granary in 1827.  It was converted to use as a barracks for married soldiers and their families in 1835 and a fireplace and chimney constructed.   

In 1837 these were removed and a cranking mechanism, hopper and grindstones were installed.  It was noted that ‘the labour appears to be dreadfully severe, the yells and screams of the unfortunate criminals as they heave at the cumbersome engine almost induces the belief that the spectator is listening to the cries of lost souls.

It just gets happier by the minute! We are all feeling as if we could do with a drink but there is not one place to procure an alcoholic beverage to be found!  Never mind – we press on.  Getting back in the car we drive around past Slaughter Bay to Emily Bay.

There are some more convict ruins but this time not as gruesome.

The tall chimney is a striking landmark of the new Salt House built during the second settlement.  This building once contained two boilers in addition to a pan and a pump.

It is situated on the land between Slaughter Bay and Emily Bay known as Chimney Hill.

We are well and truly ‘historyed’ out for the time being so we decide to venture home to our comfortable house for something to eat and of course the medicinal alcohol and the customary Nanna Nap.

Highlight of the day:  the feeling of utter desolation and then being able to walk away from it.