Discover Rydal Village
Discover Rydal on Foot
Take the Rydal Heritage Walk
Many of the buildings have heritage listings. See asterisks
*This property has a local heritage listing.
** This property has a state heritage listing.
Remember: homes listed are private properties and while you are welcome to view the outside, do not enter the grounds.
Places of Interest
1. **RYDAL RAILWAY STATION
Rydal Railway Station (1869) was the end of the western railway until 1872. Goods and passengers were offloaded here and then went by by wagon or Cobb & Co Coach to their destination.
2. THE SIGNAL BOX
The Signal Box (1915) was once an important part of the railway station when points and signals were operated by a mechanical lever frame. It remained in use until the late 1980’s.
3. THE GUARDS VAN
The Rydal Railway Station has always been of great importance to Rydal. This restored rail Guards Van, in the former horse dock, represents a significant part of the history of the village. In the early days many travellers took their own horses with them and the railway had a large fleet of horse vans. The horse dock is where they were unloaded.
4. WAR MEMORIALS
There is a World War 1 Memorial on the Railway Station and a World War 2 Memorial at the entrance to the Rydal Showground.
5. RYDAL COTTAGE
This small former worker’s cottage, typical of the era in which it was built, has now been restored and has an extensive garden. Self contained accommodation is available and the cottage is pet friendly.
6: *FORMER POLICE STATION
An escort station was first erected in Rydal in 1850 with cell accommodation. The construction of a brick residence in 1869 gave security for the gold consignments coming under escort from the Turon goldfields. The last policeman, William Harmer, left in 1942. The seperate building at the back was the office.
7: RYDAL MOUNT – FORMER RYDAL PUBLIC SCHOOL (1869)
The school residence 1876-7 and by 1892 the grounds were enclosed to reduce access for kangaroos and cattle.
8: *THE UNION CHURCH (1899)
Was built in the late 19th Century Carpenter’s Gothic Style for the Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodists hence the title Union Church
9 *ALEXANDER HOTEL (21-1-1914)
On the site of a former hotel known as the Commercial Hotel, which was licensed from 1868 and burnt down in 1903. There was a brief use of the hotel in the short film “A Steam Train Passes” produced by Anthony Buckley and made in 1974
10: GREG FEATHERSTONE PARK, BATHURST STREET (2000)
This park was built on railway land as a community project complete with picnic facilities and named after Greg Featherstone who was a long serving Officer-in-Charge at the Rydal Railway Station.
11: PIONEERS PARK, MARKET STREET
This is a Rydal Village Association initiative where Crown Land has been turned into a landscaped park and picnic area. It includes a path which has the names of those who have been a Rydal Showgirl
12: *ROSE COTTAGE (c1860)
In Cartwright Street. The oldest remaining cottage in Rydal. Restoration began in 1999. The front part was the scullery and wash house and was seperate from the main house. The cottage can be seen in the historic photograph of Rydal in front of Rydal Mount.
13: *ST MATTHEWS CHURCH (1869)
In Cartwright Street. Was designed by the well-known Bathurst architect Edward Gell. It is built from local stone in a modified Gothic style with narrow lancet windows. New windows were installed in 2007.
14: *RYDAL SHOWGROUND
Buildings were constructed at various stages since 1921 on community recreation land, which once included tennis courts and a cricket pitch.
The Rydal Horticultural and Agricultural Society conduct shows on the first Saturday of February.
The entry gates include a WWII memorial which is also heritage listed. The Bicentennial National Trail passes through Rydal.
The 5,330 kilometre trail from Cooktown Queensland to Healesville Victoria is the longest marked non-motorized trekking route in the world. The Rydal showground is a designated camping site for the trail.
15: *RYDAL CEMETARY
Is in a bushland setting about 500m from the main centre of Rydal. It is enclosed with a post and wire fence with wooden picket gates.
16: **CHAPEL HOUSE
This property, located about a kilometre from the centre of the village, has had several lives.
Chapel House cont’d.
Being one of the most famous buildings in the district, the property known as Chapel House had its origins with the Queen Victoria Inn, built in the 1830s. The complex of buildings is a mix of colonial, Georgian, Federation and Bungalow Styles.
Its second Innkeeper was Henry Rotton whom became a licensee in 1839. He was known as a keen business man, acquired great wealth and became a member of Parliament for Hartley 1859-1864. His respectable position did not mean he had a completely respectable reputation as he was charged with supplying spirits to convicts through the Queen Victoria Inn. The Inn lost its importance when the road to Mt. Lambie was diverted and the railway pushed through Rydal
Another phase of life for the Inn came when the Franciscan Order purchased the property in 1917 as a seminary known as Mt Alverna and the residential school as Bonaventure College. It closed in 1925. Ignatious John Doggett, born in Quarry Street Rydal, who was the first Australian born Franciscan Bishop, was educated here.
David and Ethel Anderson owned the property for a time after they sold the license of the Alexander Hotel in the 1960s. During their time they called the property Glen Rock after the coalmine Ethel’s father had leased in the Newcastle area.
Mary Hamilton was another well known owner of the property.
Yet another life for Chapel House was when the famous artist John Olsen and his wife lived there for a few years.
Jo & Michael Maxwell owned the property from 1998 to 2018. Jo Maxwell, through her family has the longest connection of all with the Chapel House as Jo, through her mother, Ailsa Fulton, is a direct descendant, of Lydia Fulton who was given the land in 1842, on which the Victoria Inn was built.
Lydia was the daughter of Reverend Henry Fulton, an Englishman who had been ordained a Minister of the Church of England of Ireland. However, he was implicated in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and was sentenced as a political prisoner for transportation to Australia. He arrived on the Minerva on 11 January 1800. By November 1800 he had been given a conditional pardon and by 1808 he had a full pardon. He was made the assistant chaplain to the Hawkesbury area. Fulton supported Captain Bligh in the Rum Rebellion of 1808.
During Governor Macquarie’s time in the colony, Fulton was made minister in charge of the parish of Richmond and Castlereagh and was a Justice of the Peace. He was a very good scholar and interested in education and a very respected man of the colony. Such is the respect of Henry Fulton in the Hawkesbury area there is even a school named after him, the Henry Fulton Public School Cranbrook.
For services to the ministry in the Hawkesbury area his daughter Lydia was given a grant of land at Rydal.
Discover Rydal's Charm Through Photos
