The Convict Road Station Site at Wisemans Ferry: an Historical and Archaeological Investigation

In examining the contribution of the convicts to Australia's early material history, archaeologists and architectural historians usually focus on impressive, durable structures such as public buildings and bridges. The convict road station site at Wisemans Ferry presents an alternative record. It comprises the remains of the temporary, rough dwellings of the convict gangs which constructed the Great North Road between 1826 and 1836, and it is particularly valuable because of the absence of detailed written records dealing with such accommodation. The site was recently acquired by the New South Wales State Government, and arrangements are being made for its protection and eventual public presentation. In this paper Grace Karskens, Historic Buildings Research Officer for the National Trust of Australia (NSW), examines the development of road-gang accommodation in the 1820s and 1830s and seeks to interpret the above-ground remains in the essential historical context.