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Remarkable Retford Park

BY COLLEEN MORRIS, DEPUTY CHAIR OF THE NATIONAL TRUST’S LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION COMMITTEE

Retford Park has come a long way since its humble beginnings as a cattle and sheep station in the early nineteenth century. This brief history sketches the origin and development of one of NSW’s most impressive country heritage estates.

Previous page Retford Park (photo by John Swainston).

Above ‘Euphoric Angels’ by the late Inge King (AM) (photo by John Swainston).

Opposite from top Head gardener, Rick Shepherd, shows ABC's Gardening Australia's Costa Georgiadis around Retford Park during a recent episode (photo by John Swainston); 'Customised mulch' under the cork oak (photo by SGR Photo). The roots of Retford Park trace back to the early days of the NSW colony. In 1821 Governor Lachlan Macquarie granted two parcels of land in the NSW Southern Highlands to Edward Riley, a Sydney merchant and pastoralist. Riley called the holding, which stood on Gundungurra country, ‘Bloomfield’. From 1830 Edward’s son, George ran ‘Bloomfield’ as a sheep and cattle station. Fifty-four years later, Samuel Hordern, a prominent merchant and stockbreeder, bought the property and renamed it after Retford Hall at Darling Point, a home built by his father, Anthony Hordern.

From 1884 to 1960, three generations of Horderns developed Retford Park into a significant country estate. Retford Park House was built in 1887, situated on a gentle rise with a rural outlook across the paddocks where Hordern bred Ayrshire and Jersey cattle and horses. The house was designed by architect Albert Bond in a Victorian Italianate style and later extended to the east by Morrow and de Putron in 1907. Bond is thought to have also designed the former manager’s residence, cottages, stables, a coach house and ancillary buildings.

The driveway leading from the entry gate on Old South Road was planted with Monterey cypress. A teardrop shaped carriage loop with a central fountain and brick-edged gravel drive were laid out to the front of the house and surrounded by gardens and shrubberies. The Hordern business had adopted a trademark of a spreading oak with the motto ‘While I live I’ll grow’ and so the extensive plantations of exotic trees and conifers include a collection of oaks. By 1910 the estate comprised gardens, parklands and twenty-six paddocks.

New owners, new visions After the death of Samuel Hordern (III) in 1960, Retford Park and the Hordern property Milton Park were purchased by the Texasbased King Ranch, but the house itself was surplus to their needs as cattle breeders.

In 1964, company director and philanthropist James Fairfax AC, purchased the house and surrounding four hectares as a country retreat. He commissioned the interior designer Leslie Walford to ‘do’ the house. Walford thought the garden, which had become overgrown and neglected, looked like it was overwhelming the house. Yet, James Fairfax loved the many mature trees at Retford Park, which included a Bunya Bunya pine, a giant redwood and a Caucasian fir. In his later years, his daily ritual was to sit on the front verandah with a view of the trees, a glass of champagne in hand, until he was called in to lunch.

In 1967, James’s mother Betty Fairfax commissioned the English garden designer John Codrington to redesign the grounds as a birthday present to her son. Codrington opened up vistas, directing that the huge camellias near the house be replaced with Italian cypress

(Cupressus sempervirens) and that the garden be dominated by cool colours – blue, white and grey rather than the exisiting reds and pinks.

The single most significant modern contribution to the garden is the pavilion with a swimming pool to its west and a water garden to the east. Designed by renowned Australian modernist architect Guildford Bell and constructed in 1969 on what was a horse paddock, the pool and pavilion and water garden are considered by many to be the finest modernist garden ‘set piece’ in NSW. Sculptures by David Wilson and Clement Meadmore were introduced to the lawns within the enclosure.

From 1995 Retford Park became James Fairfax’s primary residence and the garden became increasingly compartmentalised. Melbourne architect David Wilkinson designed many features, including the Green Room. Old poultry yards were cleared away and replaced by sweeping hedged lawns. The Millenium Canal, with a surface area of 2,000 square metres, was constructed in 1999. Wilkinson planted a row of maples parallel to the canal, and on a still day in late Autumn the reflected colour is Instagram fodder. James Fairfax gifted his beloved gentleman’s estate to the National Trust in 2016.

A sustainable future Today, the estate comprises thirty-four hectares, ten of which are garden. And thanks to horticulturist Rick Shepherd, head gardener since 2011, Retford Park has a long and sustainable future. Rick has transformed the care of the garden, swapping out the use of chemicals for organic gardening principles. Compost made on site and supplemented with blood and bone has replaced chemical fertilisers. Mulch is used to insulate and feed the soil, suppress weeds and provide habitat for invertebrates. Pests and diseases are managed using a variety of organic tools. For example, predatory mites are used to biologically control the damaging two spotted mites on the extensive Rhododendron collection.

Rick made other changes to the garden to put it on a more sustainable footing, such as diversifying the clipped grey foliaged plants in the central fountain walk with species better suited to the hot, dry conditions. Rick, who was once advised “if you find a job you love, you never have to go to work”, has ambitions for Retford Park to be a sustainable showpiece and the best garden in Australia. Clearly, the remarkable heritage estate is in safe hands. PLAN YOUR NEXT VISIT

Retford Park’s opening times are changing! We’re excited to announce that once stay-at-home orders have been lifted, Retford Park will be open every weekend. Explore the dog-friendly grounds, take a picnic and relax under the canopy of huge oak trees. On Saturdays and Sundays, join a house tour to see how James Fairfax lived and his collection of fine antique furniture, artworks, textiles and ceramics. Mondays & Fridays, 10AM – 4PM: Garden visit only. Saturdays & Sundays, 10AM – 4PM: Garden visit and house tours (bookings advised). To book and for more information visit nationaltrust.org.au/places/retford-park