The front corner of the Big Hill Post Office, where a run of repairs has weathered into the building. Roof iron gone deep orange, timber cladding weathered and gapped, a window half-sealed with diagonal tin. A broken white pipe lies in the grass below, and 2 large galvanised tanks stand on either flank.
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Open edition
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Signed, numbered, with COA. Made to order in 5 to 10 business days (unframed). Shipped in protective packaging with edition certificate, paper-stock reference and a printed care guide.
The front corner of the Big Hill Post Office carries a run of repairs that have weathered into the building. The roof iron has gone deep orange, the timber cladding is weathered and gapped, and a window is half-sealed with diagonal tin. A broken white pipe lies in the grass below, and 2 large galvanised tanks stand on either flank. Big Hill Post Office opened on 1 November 1869. The NSW Government Gazette of 8 October that year carried the establishment notice signed by Postmaster-General Daniel Egan: "BIG HILL, near Marulan, on the 1st proximo." By 29 November, the mail contract had been awarded to John Wade, who ran the three-stop loop between Mooroowoolen, Long Reach, and Big Hill three times a week by horseback, at £45 per annum, starting 1 January 1870. The building was a combined post office and postmaster's residence, the standard rural arrangement of the period. The actual post-office function occupied a small kiosk window and mail slot at the front of the building. The rest was a family home, with multiple bedrooms each fitted with its own fireplace, a kitchen, a dining area, a side verandah, and a corrugated-iron water tank. Walls were plastered with newspaper to keep out draughts at an elevation of 658 metres, where winters dropped well below freezing. The building's chimneys show sheet-metal work added by a later occupant. By the start of the twentieth century, Big Hill had a Methodist chapel, a school, and this post office. The post office closed in 1945, after 76 years of operation. The chapel still stands as a community building. The post office does not. Brett Patman photographed the building in 2020. The repairs remain where they were made. The cladding continues to weather off the frame.
04·FROM THE FIELD NOTES
The front corner of the Big Hill Post Office, where a run of repairs has weathered into the building.
Brett Patman
05·SIZE GUIDE
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