Back to Berrima

While mum and dad were here we took them to Berrima for the day. Berrima is a 'historic village', which means it is over 150 years old. Naturally, it has an older history than that, being the home of the Dharawal Aborigines, but according to Wikipedia, they "had been driven off or killed by the 1870s."

Now there is a fine Georgian court house in the town built from sandstone between 1836 and 1838. The first trial by jury in New South Wales was held here and among notable trials was the one of Lucretia Dunkley and her lover Martin Beech in 1843. They were both convicted of the murder of Dunkley's husband, and Lucretia Dunkley has the unenviable distinction of being the only woman hanged at the adjacent Berrima Gaol.

Their trial is represented in the court house with an audio display and wigged and befrocked mannequins. Visitors are encouraged to sit among the spectactor pews and witness the scene unold with recordings of the original transcripts. The whole atmosphere is spooky and disturbing and I was pleased to escape out into the fresh air.


Berrima Court House



This fabulous patchwork hangs in the courthouse and was created in 2006 to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Berrima. The seven square-metre quilt was stitched by local residents. The border features kangaroos, kookaburras, black swans, platypuses and the names of the children enrolled in the Berrima Primary School in 2006.

Applique patchwork images of the local buildings and attractions were made by local patchworkers and added to the quilt's depiction of the village.

On the way home we stopped off at Centennial Vineyards for some tastings. It's a beautiful location and their Blanc de Blancs is spectacular. We got a couple of bottles to take home and round off a lovely day.

Berrima and Beer

On the way back from somewhere to somewhere else, we stopped at Berrima, which purports to be a historic town in the Southern Highlands. It has a number of beautiful sandstone buildings including cafes, churches, and Australia's oldest continually licensed inn.

There is also a gaol and a court house, neither of which are currently in use for their original purpose, although there is an information centre in the court house where we learned that the gaol was only recently closed down - until November 2011 it was an all-female low-to-medium security prison. The prisoners used to landscape all the communal areas of the town and, without them, many residents fear their greens and verges will run to ruin.  

Berrima Court House

We then moved on to the Old Goulburn Brewery, housed in Bradley Grange.The buildings were designed as an integrated industrial complex and there are many panels and displays with intricate details about the architecture and design of the buildings. It is the beer we were interested in, however, and Him Outdoors loved the old barrels and brewing equipment.