Ms Barnes says these new works will interpret past activities, including re-establishing a vegetable patch to reflect Alice Oldfield’s kitchen garden as well as creating an interpretive walk following the original fence line.

“We will remain respectful of the Cottage’s past by incorporating traditional materials for the landscaping using local timber, gravel and stone,” she says.

“These material will be used to create a stone retaining wall with custom handcrafted timber seating on the Cottage’s forecourt as well as a mobility friendly viewing platform.”

Ms Barnes says conservation works have also begun on the two-room slab building adjacent to Cottage. Works will include removing and restoring the building’s walls, replacing decayed footings and bases, installing a new retaining wall using original stones, recrafting the windows and doors and patching the internal lime crust flooring.

“Once reopened, the slab shed and restored landscape will provide an historic insight into the lives of the many families who lived in the Cottage from 1859 to the 1960s,” she says.

“The slab building will be used to tell the story of the Blundell family, marking the first time that every era of Cottage occupation will be represented in the overall display.”

For more details visit nca.gov.au