MANILLA HERITAGE MUSEUM
Existing Major Acquisitions
ROYCE COTTAGE (Royce’s House) 1884
The Manilla Heritage Museum complex centres around the former home of G. H. Royce,
contractor for the building of the Namoi River Bridge (1884-1886). “ROYCE COTTAGE” is the
last remaining brick building of its era in Manilla Town. There is so far, no record of its
construction, although it is probable the house may have been built by T.J.Bowen, who
came to Manilla to assist Royce in the Namoi Bridge project, and stayed to construct many
of Manilla’s major buildings. The house frontage was extended in 1908 by builder Mr Elliot
for Mr S. Bates, Baker, to accommodate a refreshment room and shopfront for the setting
up of a bakery enterprise, before selling to the Stewarts later that year. Under various
ownerships from that year on, the premises housed bakery operations until the 1960s. In
1975 the property was acquired by Manilla Shire Council through non-payment of rates,
restored under Government grant and handed over to Manilla Historical Society, founded
three years earlier, to set up and maintain as a museum. Royce Cottage and its associated
collection were first opened to public viewing in April, 1976. In 1982, the building received
Heritage Classification by the Australian National Trust.
Renamed Manilla Heritage Museum in the year 2000, the building now houses the Royce
Cottage Collection and the Manilla Community Archives. There is an extensive local history
resource collection, developed and maintained since the early 1970s and a public research
area with daily access to community and family history files. It also has accommodated the
Manilla Visitor Information Centre at its entrance, through cooperative arrangement with
TOURISM TAMWORTH since 2006, which enables full-time public access to environmental
and feature displays of cultural items. A library of relevant publications is maintained and
items not currently on display are stored under suitable conditions in a stable atmosphere.
To facilitate the Museum’s acquisition and collection management procedure, a grant of
$2,500.00 has been secured from the NSW State Government to upgrade recording and
administration equipment. Additions to current archiving facilities and storage space is
planned with an education section to be developed within the old bakery room in Royce
Cottage.
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MACKENZIES WORKSHOP (early 20thC - 1970s) Alexander Lane.
A single open space brick building at the rear of the former Mackenzie & Co’s Department
store on the eastern side of Alexander Lane, approximately 50mtr from the main building.
Now the Manilla Museum Machinery Shed, it houses the district’s farming and industrial
collection, consisting of vintage tractors and farm machinery, stationery engines and the
tools of many occupations. During 2008, major work was undertaken by members, for the
presentation and restoration of objects in this major collection. Many significant items have
been acquired during recent times, necessitating plans for improving available outdoor
areas to better accommodate and preserve the Society’s holdings.
YARRAMANBULLY SCHOOLHOUSE, Pioneer Park, adjacent to the Museum.
In 1977, the 2nd Yarramanbully Schoolhouse (1935-1953) was brought to Manilla from the
hamlet of Yarramanbully, east of the town, for dedication as a Museum of Education to
celebrate Manilla's Centenary of Public Education. The building was originally constructed
by farming parents on a selected property, for children of families eligible for State
Government subsidy which provided a teacher for an average of 12 pupils between the ages
of 5 and 12. The School provides an insight to the operation of the one teacher schools
which were scattered throughout rural Australia, for much of the 20th century. Furniture
includes a ‘form’ from the first Manilla Public School which operated on the northern side of
the Namoi River for 21 years from 1877.
CHINESE MEMORIAL GARDEN
A Memorial Garden honouring the Chinese contribution to Manilla’s progress is located at
the rear of the Museum. It contains 10 headstones formerly relocated to Manilla Cemetery
from private property along the Namoi River. The headstones (1909-1923), were transcribed
by Mr Bing Chen of Tamworth and the garden was opened in 1996.
BURRELL PLATYPUSARY
A replica "Platypusary" is located in the former bakery. Its display acknowledges Harry
Burrell’s contribution to animal science through his research into the biology and life habits
of the platypus along the Manilla, Namoi and MacDonald Rivers during the first 3 decades of
the 20th century. One of Burrell’s educational films is kept for viewing. Research documents
collected during preparation for the dedication of the Burrell Memorial in the grounds of
Royce Cottage in 1991 are kept in the reference section. The collection includes copies of
Burrell’s correspondence kept in the American Museum of Natural History and donated by
that institution to the Manilla collection.
HISTORICAL RESOURCES
The Collection contains items of particular relevance to the history of local business,
industry, education and cultural pursuits.
Most documents are available for research unless considered too fragile for handling.
Available files include the collected Manilla community histories; several contributed
military histories; shared family history publications and an alphabetical file listing; a major
family history resource, “Manilla’s Lost Folks” (Shirley Coote, 2002, reprinted 2004/2006) is
kept, along with accompanying obituary files (1885-today), available for public access. A
digital collection of photographs relevant to Manilla and district from the 1870s to present
times is also being established, as is a comprehensive database as required for
standardisation of museum collections.
The MANILLA EXPRESS
Selected editions of the Manilla Express (est. 1899) are held in the Manilla Archives and
elsewhere, both in hard copy, and on microfilm. The process of recording remaining
available copies of the Express is being gradually undertaken at the University of New
England and will be available for public access at Manilla when complete.
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