NSW Heritage List Submission: Harris Creek Rail Bridge

The Military History Society of New South Wales Incorporated

Email: president@militaryhistorynsw.com.au

Telephone: 0419 698 783

Postal address: PO Box 929, Rozelle NSW 2039

SUBMISSION ON NOMINATION FOR HERITAGE REGISTER LISTING 

Item details
Name of item: Harris Creek Rail Bridge (Under Consideration for Listing)
Other name/s: Holsworthy Rail Bridge, Holsworthy Pedestrian Bridge, Harris Creek Bridge
Type of item: Built
Group/Collection: Transport - Rail
Category: Railway Bridge/ Viaduct

 

The Society notes that the Heritage Council of NSW assesses items for listing on the State Heritage Register against seven criteria. The item must meet at least two of the seven criteria.

 

The Society agrees with the Statement of Significance and submits that in this case the proposed item meets four of the seven criteria: (a) historical values, (b) associations with people or groups of people, (f) rarity, (g) representative values. The Society strongly supports inclusion of the Harris Creek Rail Bridge on the State Heritage Register.

 

(a) historical values (an item is important in the course, or pattern, of NSW's cultural or natural history) 

The Society is particularly interested in the item’s place in the military history of New South Wales. As part of an overhaul of the Australian defence system after federation, Prime Minister Alfred Deakin invited Lord Kitchener to advise on the development of Australia’s land defences. In 1910 Kitchener undertook a nationwide tour to review the status of the Australian Army leading ultimately on the outbreak of war to formation of the Australian Imperial Force. Kitchener spent a couple of January days in Liverpool as part of this tour, where he watched manoeuvres of troops and visited military operations in the district. Kitchener recommended that a permanent army establishment be set up in the area. In 1912, the Commonwealth Government acquired 883 acres at Holsworthy for the establishment of a Remount Depot and veterinary hospital, and in 1913 a further 16,868 acres were acquired for the army.

During the First World War the Commonwealth Government decided a branch railway off the Macarthur Line before Liverpool station – the Liverpool to Holsworthy Military Railway − was needed to service the army facilities at Holsworthy via sidings, including the Liverpool Army Camp (which became the main camp for the reception and basic training of recruits for the AIF in New South Wales), Artillery Range, Ordnance Depots (mounted guns and cannon), Ammunition Stores, Remount Depot (home to the Australian Light Horse), Veterinary Depot, Holsworthy Internment Camp, Army Service Corps, Anzac Rifle Range and Moorebank Stores. Construction commenced in February 1917 and progressed steadily using second-hand materials, opening in January 1918. As part of the military railway, the Harris Creek Rail Bridge had a strong connection to the movement of troops and equipment in support of military activities in the Liverpool area, such as transport of ordinance, ammunition, stores, cavalry and artillery horses, military equipment and personnel, back and forth between Liverpool Station and Holsworthy. 

Outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 revived the line’s military use. The war effort saw increased facilities built at Moorebank, the ammunition siding was extended and new ordinance sidings were commissioned in 1945. However, in the years after the war’s end, traffic on the branch declined. A special train ran from Moorebank on 11 March 1970 to Bathurst Racecourse Siding carrying military equipment (possibly associated with the Vietnam War). The Liverpool to Holsworthy Military Railway line was ended in June 1977 when the junction points at Liverpool were spiked, pending removal. 

(b) associations with people or groups of people (an item has strong or special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in NSW's cultural or natural history)

The Harris Creek Rail Bridge is associated with the Holsworthy Internment Camp, also known as the German Concentration Camp, in Holsworthy. The Liverpool to Holsworthy Military Railway terminated at the Holsworthy Internment Camp, which was the largest internment camp in Australia during in the First World War, housing up to 6,000 men who were classed as 'enemy aliens', mostly Germans, Austro-Hungarians and Turks. The Holsworthy Camp was also the longest running internment camp in Australia, remaining open until the last internees and prisoners-of-war were released in 1920. Sections of the former Liverpool to Holsworthy Military Railway including the Harris Creek Rail Bridge were constructed by internees from the Holsworthy Camp. It is the only surviving rail bridge built by internee labour in NSW and evidences this important aspect of Australian military history and the history of the First World War on the NSW home front. The initials “GCC” – for German Concentration Camp – can still be seen embedded in the structure of the bridge. Based on previous discoveries, Harris Creek Rail Bridge may also contain secreted bottles containing handwritten messages from the internees.

(f) rarity (an item possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of NSW's cultural or natural history)

The Harris Creek Rail Bridge was constructed between April and September 1917. It is a three-span bridge and the steel work and rails were retrieved from duplications elsewhere on the NSW railway network (some of the materials used were from the old crossing of the Wollondilly River near Carrick and Solitary Creek near Tarana, and the old single-line bridge over Argyle Street, Moss Vale). The original steel girders are still present, although the track – rails and timber transoms – have been removed and replaced by a Bailey Bridge deck supported directly on these original steel girders. The bridge remains mainly intact as constructed, except for later additions of service pipework. It is the only section of the Liverpool to Holsworthy Military Railway (the only purpose-built military railway constructed and operated in Australia during the First World War) still intact, except for the later pipework. In 1988 it was converted to a pedestrian bridge with the installation of the Bailey Bridge deck on the original piers, abutments and steel superstructure. The timber sleepers and track are thought to have been removed in the 1930s. A plaque on one of the piers, installed by the internees who worked on the bridge, contains figures of a kangaroo and emu, the letters “GCC” under a crown and identifies the construction date as 1917. It is the only remaining military rail bridge in Australia built by internees. The six remnant piers of the Georges River Rail Bridge, and the Harris Creek Rail Bridge are the only remaining built elements of the railway able to be viewed by the general public. Other remnants of the line are cuttings and embankments which are located within Department of Defence land at Holsworthy. And it was one of the few railway lines owned by the Commonwealth but run by NSW Railways.   

(g) representative values (an item is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of NSW's cultural or natural places, or cultural or natural environments)

 

The Harris Creek Rail Bridge is a three-span bridge and the steel work and rails were retrieved from duplications elsewhere on the NSW railway network, and it is understood that some of the materials used were from the old crossing of the Wollondilly River near Carrick and Solitary Creek near Tarana, and the old single-line bridge over Argyle Street, Moss Vale. The name of the steel supplier is on the girders Dorman Long & Co. Ltd, Middlesbrough England. The company was formed in 1875 and amalgamated as British Steel and Tube Ltd in 1967. Dorman Long & Co. Ltd also designed and built the Sydney Harbour Bridge and were a major supplier of steel bridge girders for railways in NSW. Overall, the elements of the original rail bridge are in fair to good condition. 

SUBMISSION: The Military History Society of NSW submits that the item easily meets at least four of the seven criteria for listing on the State Heritage Register and is therefore eligible to be so listed. The Society asks the State Heritage Register Committee to recommend it for listing.

 

Council of the Military History Society of New South Wales, 25 May 2021

Sources

Heritage NSW, Under Consideration for Listing page for Harris Creek Rail Bridge:

https://apps.environment.nsw.gov.au/dpcheritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5060336

“The Liverpool to Holsworthy Military Railway”, Paper of the Royal Australian Historical Society, undated:

https://www.rahs.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/History-of-LHMR.pdf

Jeff McGill, “Landmark Harris Creek Bridge turns 100 on Friday”, Liverpool City Champion, 13 October 2017:

https://www.liverpoolchampion.com.au/story/4985603/historic-bridge-is-100/

Cindy Ngo, “Community commemorates 100 years since Harris Creek Rail Bridge was built”, The Daily Telegraph, 24 October 2017:

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/liverpool-leader/community-commemorates-100-years-since-harris-creek-rail-bridge-was-built/news-story/cd75eae6cf3c830f44349c3e37201e7a

“Lost Railways: Holsworthy Line”, Pocket Oz Travel & Information Guide:

https://www.visitsydneyaustralia.com.au/lost-rail-holsworthy.html

“Holsworthy railway line, New South Wales”, Wikipedia

The Society's main website is here: www.militaryhistorynsw.com.au