Mount Wilson

and Mount Irvine

Details

Last Updated: 01 April 2019

Welcome to the Turkish Bath Museum, located in the grounds of the Wynstay Estate. Wynstay, then known as Yarrawa, was the first property to be established in Mt Wilson in 1875, by Richard Wynne, the first Mayor of Burwood NSW and the benefactor of the Wynne Art Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW. The evidence now available suggests that Richard Wynne built the Turkish Bath in the 1880s for his wife Mary Ann, who had been in poor health. His library shows us that Richard Wynne had a keen interest in natural therapies and in the therapeutic benefits of Turkish Baths.

The Turkish Bath is an unusually fine example of the late Victorian style of architecture, with polychrome brickwork and Italianate details. It also bears some Turkish allusions in the red-brick cross pattern along the upper exterior walls. The brickwork throughout is skillfully laid and finished with fine tuck-pointing. For insulation against rapid loss of heat the 450mm double cavity walls were a most unusual feature for those times.

Richard Wynne had come to Australia as an assisted migrant from Dublin in 1842. He was described on the ship's manifest as a bricklayer, and according to family tradition he made the darker red bricks in the building from local clay.

The stained and hand-painted glass windows, identified as having been made in England in the 1880s, are a rare and beautiful feature of the building. The elaborate turret has oval timber louvres for ventilation, an ornate cast-iron filial and other ornamentation. Cast-iron cresting extends along the ridge of the roof. The original corrugated roof sheeting was only replaced in 2010 with galvanised steel barrel-rolled in Adelaide to match the original.

The three main rooms have tiled floors which slope downward from a centre ridge to floor-level wall vents. The original ceilings, covered by a 1920s adaptation of the building, were concrete and coke barrel-vaulted structures, similar to one that may still be seen in the basement area.

In 1995 the owners of Wynstay began planning, with other interested local people, to make this fascinating building available to the community to set up a museum of local history. In 1996 this dream became a reality when the building and its precinct was leased to the local historical society for a period of 50 years at a nominal rental of $2 per year. With the help of local fundraising and generous financial support from all levels of government, the building was conserved and refurbished and in the Spring of 1997 was officially opened by Ms. Hazel Hawke, who at the time was Chairperson of the NSW Heritage Council. At the same time a spectacular exhibition was opened to celebrate the Centenary of the Wynne Art Prize, displaying paintings by past winners of this award.

The Museum is now open to the public regularly, with volunteer guides on hand to tell about the exhibitions of local history, the building and many other heritage-listed sites in this garden village.

The wrought iron gate to the Museum area was recently made by Scott Leonard, a local resident and metalworker.

A very interesting historical paper pdf Historical Paper No 6 The Turkish Bath in 19th Century Australia (1.45 MB) is linked here; this published paper, along with others, are found on the Mt Wilson and Mt Irvine Historical Society section of this website.

Tours

Booked tours can be arranged at any time via the Society’s email address - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Details

Last Updated: 08 March 2023

Development of the Society

In November 1993 an exhibition featuring the history of Mt Wilson was held in the Village Hall. The development of the Society emerged from this exhibition in conjunction with the 125th Anniversary luncheon of the surveying of Mt Wilson.

Following the success of that exhibition the Mt Wilson Community History Group was formed within the Mt Wilson Progress Association. This became the nucleus of the Mt Wilson Historical Society Inc. which was incorporated in 1996.  The Society's scope was extended in 2001 to include the Mt Irvine community.

Turkish Bath Museum

The first major project undertaken by the Society was the restoration and conservation of the 1880s Turkish Bath building situated within the Wynstay Estate. The Turkish Bath and its precinct were leased to the Society by the owners of Wynstay on January 18th 1997 at a nominal rental of $2.00 per year. The Society maintains and operates the Turkish Bath as a museum of local history, with changing exhibitions and displays showing earlier life and times in the two villages.

Group tours are also welcome by arrangement. Please contact the Society at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Membership

Membership is open to anyone who has an interest in community life and its history. Some of our most active participants, both on the management committee and the working groups do not live in Mt Wilson or Mt Irvine but maintain their interest from many other locations.

Membership fees are due on 1 July each year and are as follows:

Individual: $20.00; Concessional: $15; Household (at the one address): $30.00.

Activities

A management committee of members is elected at each Annual General Meeting This committee meets usually four times per year.   All members are welcome and encouraged to participate; become actively involved, learn about the community and have some fun, too!

Annual fund raising events in the past have included outdoor live jazz concerts in the grounds of the Turkish Bath, a community market weekend held in the Village Hall attracting hundreds of visitors, street stalls, art shows and group walking tours along the Avenue. The success of these and other community events has always been thanks to the participation of members as volunteers, and we invite everyone to help out where they can.

Newsletter

The Society’s Newsletters can be found in the Newsletters section on the web page.

Archival collection

The Society has an extensive archive of documents, images and artefacts which tell the story of pre-settlement, exploration and the European settlement of Mt Wilson and Mt Irvine from 1875 to the present. We also welcome donations of material to add to the collection:

• Originals or copies of relevant historical records for the permanent collection, including documents, photographs, maps, books etc.

• Records and objects on temporary loan, suitable for exhibition

• Information from individuals from materials held in private collections, to be appropriately noted in the Society's records

Such materials might include any which may potentially illuminate the stories of settlers in the 19th and 20th centuries and the growth of the district, the services it has received from outside to enable it to function in spite of its isolation, and the local industries which enabled it to thrive economically.

Anyone wishing to add to the community's historical records is welcome to contact the Society at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Details

Last Updated: 22 November 2016

pdf Historical Paper No 1 Village Hall & Du Faur (287 KB)

pdf Historical Paper No 2 Political & Legal Luminares (263 KB)

pdf Historical Paper No 3 Mudgee & Mt Wilson (405 KB)

pdf Historical Paper No 4 Elsey Station & the Wallace Connection (192 KB)

pdf Historical Paper No 5 Prehistory of the Blue Mountains (223 KB)

pdf Historical Paper No 6 The Turkish Bath in 19th Century Australia (1.45 MB)

pdf Historical Paper No 7 Distinguishing Features of Mt Wilson and Mt Irvine (137 KB)

pdf Historical Paper No 8 Mervyn Owen Wynne (382 KB)

pdf Historical Paper No 9 Remembrance Day 2009 (585 KB)

pdf Historical Paper No 10 Remembrance Day 2010 (655 KB)

pdf Historical Paper No 11 A History of the Postal and Telephone Services to Mount Wilson (9.22 MB)

Mary Reynolds' paper 'A History of the Postal and Telephone Services to Mount Wilson' was first published in the Blue Mountains History Journal, Issue 2, September 2011, pp.36-50 

pdf Historical Paper No 12 Remembrance Day 2011 (197 KB)

pdf Historical Paper No 13 The Four Sumpter Horses of Blaxland, Lawson & Wentworth (527 KB)

pdf Historical Paper No 14 Axemen and Sawmills (1.30 MB)

pdf Remembrance Day 2012 (363 KB)

(Originally published in Newsletter No 27 - Feb 2013, but not converted to a Historical Paper)

pdf Remembrance Day 2013 (989 KB)

(Originally published in Newsletter No 29 - Feb 2014, but not converted to a Historical Paper)

pdf Historical Paper No 15 Wollangambe The river that is really a mountain (2.23 MB)

pdf Historical Paper No 16 Bess Knight Brown of Mount Irvine and Blackheath (135 KB)

pdf Historical Paper 17 Some Perspectives About Mt Wilson in 20th Century (876 KB)

pdf Remembrance Day 2014 (835 KB)

(Originally published in Newsletter No 30 - Feb 2015, but not converted to a Historical Paper)

pdf Remembrance Day 2015 (830 KB)

(Originally published in Newsletter No 31 - Feb 2016, but not converted to a Historical Paper)

Details

Last Updated: 24 October 2021

Objectives of the Mt Wilson & Mt Irvine Historical Society Inc.

1. To make a contribution to Australian history by promoting the study of aspects of the Mt  Wilson & Mt Irvine districts and their communities, especially with regard to the history of their
   1. culture and way of life;
   2. exploration; 
   3. settlement; 
   4. Aboriginal history;
   5. industries including agriculture, horticulture, timber, mining, tourism and the like. 
2. To conserve, preserve and protect the heritage and heritage values of Mt Wilson and Mt Irvine. 
3. To set up and maintain a museum in the Turkish Bath House at Mt Wilson and to maintain an archive on the history of Mt Wilson and Mt Irvine. 
4. To maintain close links with other Societies and Associations in the local communities and beyond, by meetings, functions, newsletters and occasional historical papers. 
5. To lend support to like minded Societies or Associations, where possible..