The Lost Town of Phillipsburgh
Dr Robert V J P Varman
It really was a case of trying to locate a lost township when in 1984 I was undertaking a comprehensive survey of historical remains on Norfolk Island for the Australian Heritage Commission.
The documentation indicated the Cascade area. Land grants/transactions placed the township westwards of the Cascade landing area. The one First Settlement view of Phillipsburgh (John Eyre view based on a circa 1796 W N Chapman sketch) turned out to be topographically quite reliable. Although W N Chapman's 1794 map of Norfolk Island does not record the name of the township, it does indicate a couple of squarish enclosures in the area. Chapman could be relied upon because he had a grant with a house adjacent to the township (which incidently Philip Gidley King thought of as his country retreat).
The documentation seemed to suggest the area to either side of Harpers Road from Cascade Road to the Red Road bridge and the Cockpit area in general as the location of Phillipsburgh. One might make an academic guess but physical proof was required. I was not surprised at the absence of obvious aboveground remains of buildings because the records indicated that the buildings were constructed of timber. What was needed was evidence of settlement through cultural remains.
With approximate area established, I set out to systematically comb the area with the help of my field assistant of the time, B N 'Barley' Christian. Having determined the type of cultural material diagnostic for the late 1700s, based on previous excavations, we began along the north side of Harpers Road. Barley found a small slither of porcelain which I immediately recognized as Chinese Export Porcelain, an early site indicator. Soon after I found an early square-shafted flooring brad (building activity) and a shard of English Queensware and more Chinese porcelain. Subsequent surface finds were to confirm that there was early (1790s), fairly intensive, settlement in the area.
The odd early ceramic may turn up in later sites but the Phillipsburgh site revealed the full spectrum of 1790s ceramics, as had been excavated at Kingston a year earlier (English wares including porcelain decorated in the English style or imitating Chinese wares; Chinese porcelain; a number of coarse wares decorated with abstract shapes in greens, orange, yellows, browns etc., of unknown origin (but found on all early sites). There were even fragments of German or Dutch stoneware. Transfer printed wares (blue) were extremely rare.
Wine or spirit bottle glass was the most common category of glass. The bottle lips were all of the narrow string-rim variety; the bases fairly wide. Gin bottle fragments were fairly common, having solid square bases with hollow pontil scars and crude flared lips. The wine bottles probably originate from Britain but the gins probably from the Netherlands. Very thin window glass was also found (being one to two millimetres thick). A couple of very large blue glass beads emerged, suggesting that women were present.
Over the following years to 1990 I regularly examined the area for surface finds, especially after heavy rains or after a long dry spell. In monitoring, I was joined by several keen-eyed locals who knew about my work. The bulk of the cultural material was located along the surface of the (dirt) road, most of the glass and ceramics had been fragmented by the traffic. The deposits did vary in nature at various points along the road, though the bulk of the material was domestic refuse and often associated with ash and charcoal. The triangular patch of road adjacent to Cascade Road yielded fragments of large terracotta jars, stone, metals, material often associated with workshop conditions, though there was a high percentage of fairly modern intrusions there. The interesting feature of the site was that artefacts were either extremely early or extremely modern.
Not far from Cascade road, lenses of bird bones and carbonized corn cobs were found. These lenses may have represented some of the earliest deposits yet found in the Cascade area and related to the near-famine period deposits of around 1790/1791 found at the Kingston pier area (deposits of thousands of bird bones, including those of the Bird of Providence). In the latter place medicine bottle fragments were found. Slag and charcoal deposits were observed in an other location (smithy?).
Of particular interest were the brass buttons with anchor motifs. These were of several sizes and composed of flat round discs with metal loops annealed onto the reverse sides. Several showed evidence
of a former silver coating. Other buttons found were of sawn bone, characteristically with a single hole drilled in the middle. Copper alloy sheet offcuts and nails were not uncommon (as at Kingston's pier area) and one wonders if some of this material was not retrieved from the wreck of the Sirius . Lead shot was also a common find. Two 1799 farthings, of the same type as recently found at Music Valley, were discovered eroding out of a bank above the road. The coins were no doubt part of a major shipment of copper coins to Sydney in November 1800 to relieve the colony of its critical shortage.
The archaeology of the area is important because the documentation is spartan and chronologically uneven. However, there is just enough documentary information to make sense of the cultural material found.
Phillipsburgh was named after Governor Phillip on April 30, 1791. The area was previously referred to as Cascade Farm , Village at Cascade and Cascadyd . The initial importance of the area was in connection with flax manufacturing, one of the principal reasons for settling Norfolk in the first place. Experimentation and manufacturing of the raw material seems to have taken place in the Cockpit area where there are natural rock or earth pools and flat rocky patches with running water. The pools may have been modified to allow flax soaking and fermenting; and the flat rocky areas used for pounding, scraping and washing. Only one object was found which may have related to flax manufacturing; a crude sort of a knife blade, perhaps for cutting or scraping flax. The Phillipsburgh area was also the focus of early government farming, hence early references to Cascade Farm. There were also several early farming grants in the area.
There was something of the character of a village at Phillipsburgh, even before the official naming, therefore the references to Village at Cascadyd. The growth of the village evidently required regulation because Major Ross and Lieutenant Clark marked out the site on May 17, 1791. By June 17, 1791 huts began to be built for the NSW Corps (who were to replace Ross' marines). The number of gilt buttons with incised fouled anchor motifs found would suggest marines rather than the NSW Corps but a number of gilt buttons were found without any motif. (It should be noted that NSW Corps button designs were not historically recorded).
Whatever the marking out of the township in May 1791 entailed, the incipient town took on the character of what is known as ribbon development. Archaeological evidence and the circa 1796 Chapman view confirm that the buildings were concentrated along the narrow road (Harpers Road) but that there was a less structured development beyond Harpers Road bridge into the Cockpit area.
Norfolk Islands' earliest heritage survives largely underground (Polynesian and early European). Such remains are easy to obliterate despite their potential toward exciting research and hence value for interpretation, historic problem solving , education, tourism etc. In 1990 the core of the archaeological remains along Harpers Road were graded into soil and fill from several diverse localities, as part of a road upgrading program. It is up to the public and government to protect the unseen heritage of Norfolk Island. Other early sites exist in a line from Cascade jetty to Lower Garden right across to Cockpit and the surrounding hills.
PROPOSED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY
OF PHILLIPSBURGH
NORFOLK ISLAND
A PROPOSAL
NOTE: This short introduction was prepared in March 1996.
INTRODUCTION
Despite the discovery of the remains of the First Settlement (1788-1814) township of Phillipsburgh in 1984, confirming the value of the area as a cultural resource, routine maintenance and Local Government works have gone ahead without regard to the national significance of the site. In 1990 road improvements ploughed through the heart of the 18th century township and destroyed road formations which had been fairly stable since the Pitcairn Islanders arrived. In 1995 the dam was dug out and the contents dumped.
Although the site was described for the Australian Heritage Commission as part of an Island-wide survey (RVJ VARMAN 1984/1985) and copies placed with the Local Government, there was no change of official attitude toward the site.
SITE DESCRIPTION
The Cockpit/Phillipsburgh area (Cascade Reserve) is located close to the sea on the north side of the Island and west of the Cascade Landing. The area is dedicated as a reserve. The site is primarily used for recreation, a favourite spot for locals and tourists alike.
BRIEF SITE HISTORY
The creek running through the site was the focus of flax production by 1789 and the surrounding land used for farming. Parts of the land to the south and west were given as grants. William N Chapman's grant overlooked the site. A township, called Phillipsburgh, was formed: material found on site, before it was destroyed in 1990, suggested that it had a military or naval bias. The township probably declined after 1800. There was very little development during the Second Settlement (1825-1856). During the Third Settlement (1856-present) several industries were established there, a wood mill, fish processing factory etc.
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