Abercrombie House

Abercrombie House is an Australian heritage listed home located 7km west of Bathurst, NSW. In 2019 Abercrombie House celebrated 50 years of tourism to this beautiful historic home.

Abercrombie House is located on the Eglinton side of Bathurst on Ophir road. As you are driving down the road this huge mansion sitting high on the hill appears and the closer you get to it the bigger it gets. Like any grand home as you drive through the front gates it has a long drive way that leads you to the house. It is one of those old homes where you get the feeling that the front of the house you are looking at is actually the side of the house.

The home is currently lived in by the Morgan family on the the website The Morgan family have a statement which says

“ The house presents us with the challenge of its preservation for future generations. Your visit helps us fund essential programs to attend to regular maintenance and some of the highly-skilled restoration of the building's fabric and the conservation of internal decorative elements that have survived for over 140 years.

We do appreciate your support through your visit and any donations you might care to give. Thank you, The Morgan Family”

The side of Abercrombie House that feels like it should be the front of the house.

History About Abercrombie House

So a bit of History about Abercrombie House, The house was built in the 1870’s by the Stewart family who were Bathurst pioneers. William Stewart came to Australia from England in 1825 as part of the colonisation of the penal colony (Australia). William was the Lieutenant Governor General of New South Wales; which meant he was hypothetically 2nd in command to running Australia. William was given land in Bathurst as a reward for doing his job well. William Stewart's eldest son James built Abercrombie House.

Abercrombie House is an excellent example of Victorian Tudor style architecture. It is built of granite with sandstone dressing to the quoins and window surrounds, and there are two storeys together with an attic floor. The building's most striking feature is its array of curvilinear parapeted gables topped by iron finials.

The Stewart Family

James Horne Stewart, the son of William Stewart built Abercrombie House in about 1870. It was then called “The Mount” and took eight years to construct. A photo taken 15 years after its construction was included in an 1893 Brochure on Bathurst and is shown on the right. James lived there until his death in 1920 when he was 95 years of age.

James was born in 1825 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He came with his family to Australia at the age of ten in 1835. In 1855 he married at Toxteth Park in Sydney, Harriet Eliza Boyce who was the daughter of the Rev. William Boyce, a very prominent clergyman. The couple had five children, three sons and two daughters.Over the years James had many tenant farmers and several newspaper articles mentioned his kindness as a landlord.

In times of drought he cut the rents by half so that the families did not endure undue hardship. When James died in 1920 his son Athol took over the management of the property. Athol was born at Abercrombie House in 1867. He married Frances Helen McDougall in 1905. On the death of his wife in 1927, Athol shut the house down and moved to Sydney. The house remained empty and gradually fell into decline until it was bought by the Morgan family.

Abercrombie House in 1909. From left to right are Ethel Allen (Arthur Allen's wife), Harriet Stewart, Albyn Stewart (Harriet's son), Helen Austin (a friend of the Allens) and Miss Lindsay.

Frances Helen Stewart (called Helen), wife of Athol Stewart, 1909.

The gates at Abercrombie House

The secondary gates at Abercrombie House are much older than the house which was built in 1870. They were brought from Toxteth Park in Sydney which is now St Scholastica's College. Toxteth Park was built in 1829 so this is the probable date of these gates. Toxteth Park was the home of Sir George Wigram Allen who was the brother in law of Harriet Stewart, the wife of James Horne Stewart.

The house was sold in 1901 to the Good Samaritan Sisters and they wished to bring the gates from their old convent in Pitt St which was being demolished. The gates from Toxteth Park were no longer needed so they were transported to Abercrombie House. In the early 1900s Arthur Wigram Allen who was Harriet's nephew visited his relatives at Abercrombie house. Arthur's mother Lady Marian Allen was Harriet's sister. Arthur photographed the gates mentioning that they were from Toxteth Park.

Abercrombie gates in 1909 with note about Toxteth Park.

My Ute at the original gates (Toxteth Park gates) to Abercrombie House. Photos taken November 2021

Bathurst Myth

James Stewart was so fond of the orchard on his property, he was buried there before his body was moved to the local cemetery. His memorial is still on the land of Abercrombie House. The Bathurst Myth was and is that Stewart was buried in his grave on top of the hill standing up, looking over the valley, his property.

Abercrombie House Facts

50 rooms (Every one of the 50 rooms had to have a name)
30 fireplaces
7 Stairwells
Built of sandstone and granite.
The drawing room has a 1920s Steinway grand piano.
The ballroom has a 108-year-old upright piano.
The minstrels gallery in the ballroom has the oldest pipe organ on mainland Australia.
The land includes an orchard that was originally tended by the Stewart family.

Plan your visit

Reopen for (double vaccinated) visitors from Saturday 17th October 2021.

From that day we are open from 9am to 5pm every weekend and from 10am to 4pm every Wednesday to Friday.

Explore historic Abercrombie House and its gardens & grounds – and experience one of the greatest heritage and architectural treasures in the region, a living historic house museum and home of the Morgan family.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 10.00 am — 4.00 pm
Saturday, Sunday: 9.00 am — 5.00 pm
Public holidays: 9.00 am — 4.00 pm
Closed on Mondays and Tuesday — group tours any day by appointment.

NOTE social distancing, NSW Health App registration and hygiene measures are in place — we are COVID-safe

Cost:

House Entry, Gardens, Grounds and Parklands Walk: