Saturday 8 March 2008

Concealed treasure

Day 10

Mum is progressing slowly and looked better again today. She is in Ryde Hospital which you can see from my photograph is neither new nor glamorous. It's pretty run down but the attention Mum is receiving there is very good which is the main thing.

To see this facade you would not guess that the grounds contain a little treasure in the form of Denistone House. In fact, the presence of this grand older building is not even obvious from inside the hospital which completely surrounds it. I only noticed the building myself on Day three of Mum's stay.

It is a rebuilt version of an older homestead but itself evidently dates from the 1870s. The local city council has a site with a reference to the House's history and that of the general area of Ryde.

Denistone House seems to have been built from Sydney Sandstone. Sadly so many buildings of that type and from that time no longer exist. The next photo has a closer view of the lovely ironwork featured on the building. Maybe funds will be available some time to upgrade the hospital and return Denistone House and the ironwork to their former glory.

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