Walk on the Wild Side

Time: 30 minutes
Grade: easy

Parking along Arndell and Court Streets is unlimited and generally available.
Please keep in mind that the buildings we will point out are for the most part, residences - homes of Windsor citizens. We ask that you respect their privacy and do not enter their yards. Look at the architectural beauty and simplicity and take note of roof lines, verandahs and supporting posts.

1. Begin your walk at the Windsor Courthouse, at Court and Pitt Streets.
   Built in 1822, this building is a working courthouse today. Entry is allowed only when court is not in session. Designed by Francis Greenway (emancipist architect), the building was built on a knoll overlooking the lowlands most likely to flood. Upon the grounds are several benches for resting.
2. Sit under the old gnarled tree with exposed roots and gaping holes, perhaps a resting place for a long lost soul. You'll find the tree offers shade on a hot day, and there's room for both of you.
3. A short walk down to the corner of Court and Arndell Streets is the former Courthouse Inn, now a sizeable residence. The sweeping verandah with its protected eaves provides a nesting place for fairy martins in spring and summer. Hence, the locals called this 'The Swallows Inn'.
4. Numbers 35 North Street through 23. These cottages were built between 1840 and 1860 and are lovely examples of restoration and preservation of Windsor's architectural history. Notice the jerkin-head roofs: in times of flood, families climbed into this space hoping to safely escape the rising river.
5. Walking west on Arndell Street toward George Street, on your right is an interesting barn and separate building. While these are not historical - they most likely replaced the originals - aged and weather-worn materials have been used to maintain the nature of neighbourhood.
6. At George Street, turn right and walk to No.25. Noticeable features are the decorative corbel on the double-brick chimneys. Built in 1865, this home has four chimneys - a narrow timber verandah and a corrugated iron roof.
7. If you look along this street back toward the centre of Windsor, you'll notice the obvious symmetry among the surrounding cottages. Verandahs are narrow, verandah posts are plain and functional, roofs of corrugated iron. Most of these cottages are situated at the front of the block, and the gardens, while not formally designed, have diverse landscaping, flowering trees and charming picket fences. Most share the colour scheme of the early Federation period - burnished reds and dark greens and muted yellows.
8. 31 George Street. Only this house seems to have been built in a later period. With a peaked roof and unusual decorative double corbel on the chimney, the turned posts and filigree gable fretwork are indicative of a later architectural style - a lighter more decorative style. Federation colours gradually gave way to fresher lilacs, leaf green, muted yellows and pastel blues - the colour of this home.
9. Walk back toward Bridge Street (past motels). At Bridge and George Streets, these four corners are perhaps the most well known of the Macquarie Period. 10 Bridge Street on the right (River Music) was in 1860 home to St Katherine's, a school for young women. Delicate wrought-iron railing and substantial columns have been unaltered since its construction in 1856.
10. To the left is the School of Arts, the Italianate-style building first used as a community centre.
11. Across Bridge Street are Thompson Square and the Macquarie Arms. The proximity of the Macquarie Arms to Thompson Square is perhaps no mistaken circumstance. Punishment for a crime was more likely meted out in Thompson Square. A serious crime drew an unbearable flogging at the whipping post - for drunkenness, a public punishment of four hours in the stocks (Bowd, 1969). It is rumoured that the good citizens of Windsor would rush into the Macquarie for a shot of rum after witnessing one of the frequent hangings in the square!
12. Macquarie Arms, the oldest building in Thompson Square (1815), is also the oldest building in Australia that was built for an inn (though for many years it was a residence to the Fitzgerald family - descendents of its original owner, emancipist, Richard Fitzgerald). Beneath the building is a very large cellar of sandstone and as local folklore has it, when barrels of rum arrived by ship or barge at the Windsor wharf (foot of Bridge Street), convicts carried the "spirits" through an underground tunnel into the cellar, "losing" a barrel along the way.
It is a beautiful old structure and politicians, officials and citizenry of every status have enjoyed the "Macquarie's" charms since 1815.
If on a quiet spring afternoon you hear the whispers of long-dead voices emanate from the thick cool walls - a swish of taffeta or satin coming down the beautiful curved staircase or raucous laughter from the cellar below - don't take affront. The memories of the "Macquarie" are yours to share.

NOTE: Don't forget to carry a bottle of water and wear a hat!