6113 Movable Heritage
AN INTRODUCTION TO MOV
A
BLE HERIT
AGE
O b j e c t s i n t h e i r P l a c e
What is movable heritage and why is
it important?
Our heritage consists of the places and things we want to keep and pass on to future
generations. “Movable heritage” is a term used to define any natural or manufactured
object of heritage significance. It does not include archaeological relics found underwater
or underground.
Movable heritage may be an integral part of the significance of heritage places. It can also
belong to cultural groups, communities or regions of New South Wales.
Like other types of heritage, it provides historical information about people’s experiences,
ways of life and relationships with the environment. It also helps us to learn about people
Movable heritage is any
who may have been left out of written historical accounts, including women and
natural or manufactured
migrant communities.
Movable heritage can prompt memories and reflect family and community histories.
object of heritage
Movable heritage can be as important for indigenous people as land and cultural sites.
significance.
It assists them to keep their culture alive and maintain traditions and practices.
Because movable heritage is portable, it is easily sold, relocated or thrown away during
changes of ownership, fashion and use. For this reason, movable heritage is vulnerable to
COVER:
loss, damage, theft and dispersal, often before its heritage significance is appreciated.
Built in 1913, Tulkiyan in the northern
Sydney suburb of Gordon was home to the
Donaldson family for eighty years. Its
original furniture and contents illustrate
their tastes and domestic routines.
Photograph by Jason Busch, courtesy of
News Ltd.
Movable heritage is more than trains
and vintage cars!
ABOVE:
1950s Leyland double-decker bus, Sydney.
Movable heritage ranges from significant everyday objects to antiques and may be a single
Photograph by David Wilson.
item, a group of items or a whole collection. It includes:
• machinery from industry, such as tractors, ploughs and the contents of sheds;
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• furniture, domestic collections, letters and accounts books and other items in
Top left: This carved tree at Eugowra was
used in the death ritual for people of the
heritage places;
Wiradjuri tribe and has been returned to
its traditional owners. Photograph courtesy
• transport items, such as trams and ferries;
of NSW National Parks and Wildlife
• collections and archives relating to sporting and community organisations;
Service.
• religious or ceremonial objects which are important to indigenous people or other
Top right: Bush quilts and rugs at the
Pioneer Women’s Hut, Tumbarumba, tell
cultural groups;
stories about the women who made them
• natural items such as fossils and botanical specimens; and
and family and domestic life. Photograph
by Kylie Winkworth.
• museum objects and collections.
Middle right: The Cook’s Galley and
utensils, Wagga Wagga, was part of a
chaff cutting plant operating from 1932 to
the harvest of 1952/53. It was pulled by a
Foden traction engine. Up to 16 men were
fed by the cook. Photograph courtesy of
Museum of the Riverina.
Bottom right: The Yiu Ming Temple,
Alexandria, has been central to
maintaining religious practices and
Chinese social life for some 90 years.
Photograph by Karl Zhao.
Bottom left: The scissors were used in the
Sydney Harbour Bridge opening on
19 March 1932. The Honourable J. T. Lang,
Premier and former Colonial Treasurer, cut
the ribbon. They are still used in official
ceremonies. Photograph courtesy of NSW
Parliament House.
Documenting movable heritage
Documenting movable heritage helps us to understand an item’s importance, including its
relationship to people and places. Documentation creates a record of the item’s location, its
arrangement and details of manufacture, ownership and use. When items are moved from
their context, documentation helps us to recover their history, trace their use and reinstate
them when circumstances change. Keep copies of documentation with the site and building
records and with the items themselves. These are some of the things you can do:
• photograph the place in detail, inside and out, showing the arrangement of movable
items in their context;
• make an inventory of the items and record their relationships to places and people;
• talk to people who used the items or who remember their history. Record how the items
Movable heritage
were used, who owned them and where they came from;
• research the local history of the region, place and community. This provides a context to
can usually survive for
understand the items and the reasons they are important in local history;
long periods where it
• research historical changes and uses that have influenced the design or current condition
of the items;
belongs, as long as there is
• carefully examine the items to see how they were used, looking for evidence of wear and
tear, repairs and adaptation;
basic security, protection
• assess the significance of the items;
from pests and shelter from
• prepare a conservation management plan and follow its recommendations before making
decisions on moving, disposing, or restoring items and places.
the elements.
Caring for movable heritage
ABOVE:
A movable heritage item can usually survive for long periods in the place where it belongs,
The Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops
as long as there is basic security, protection from pests and shelter from the elements.
demonstrate aspects of railway technology
Items can be easily damaged through hasty and poorly informed actions. Any maintenance
and trades from the 1880s to the 1980s.
The remaining machinery, including the
and restoration work or proposal for removal should be based on an understanding of the
Davy Press, is being conserved on site.
Photograph courtesy of Australian
item’s significance. Follow the recommendations in the conservation management plan.
Technology Park.
If a heritage place is being reused, there may be opportunities to keep the items in use or to
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carefully store them in a room, roof space or shed on the site, or somewhere adjacent.
Top left: Hillview, Sutton Forest, was the
The following measures can help conserve movable heritage:
former Vice Regal country residence. Many
items are being reused. Others are
• minimise direct physical access which can put items at risk of wear, damage, disturbance
secured on site. 1991 photograph by Matt
Whitehurst, courtesy of NSW Department
and theft;
of Urban Affairs and Planning.
• consider storing important archival records elsewhere for future research;
Top right: The stockbooks at Bickmore’s
• secure and store items during conservation works to a building or site;
Store, Kurri Kurri, show how the store
operated from 1907 to 1944. Stockbooks
• remove small and valuable items to protect them during conservation works;
document both prosperous and lean times
in a region’s history. Photograph by
• record any conservation work in notes and take before and after photographs.
Joy McCann.
Add these records to the documentation file;
Bottom right: This drawer of butterflies
• seek advice from a museum conservator before applying treatments to items.
from the Macleay Museum is part of a
vast insect collection brought to Sydney in
Painting can damage or destroy original materials, as can repairs, reconstruction and
1826. The collection is strongly associated
adding new parts to make an item operational.
with the Macleay family and has a history
of research and display at both Elizabeth
Bay House and the Macleay Museum.
Photograph by Penelope Clay.
Bottom left: Rouse Hill estate is a record
of the endeavours, tastes and fortunes of
a pastoral family over 180 years. The
Humber Super Snipes will deteriorate
slowly and do not need to be restored or
moved. Photograph by Scott Cameron,
courtesy of Historic Houses Trust of NSW.
What if an item has to be moved?
Moving an item may diminish its significance and create new storage and conservation
problems in another place. It is important to explore all possible options for retaining
movable heritage in its heritage place, cultural group, community or region.
It may be necessary to relocate movable heritage when it is under direct and immediate
threat. The conservation management plan and the wishes of cultural groups and
communities should guide decisions about moving items. Even if it is necessary to relocate
movable heritage from a heritage place, there may be options to retain some of the item’s
significance by keeping it in its cultural group, community or region. Remember to keep
copies of documentation with the item.
Moving an item may
Finding a good home
diminish its significance
When there is no alternative to moving items, it may be best for a local group, museum
and create new storage and
or historical society to acquire them. A good home allows community access and interprets
conservation problems in
the items’ links to places, people and regional history. A well organised museum will have a
policy identifying what it is collecting and interpreting, in co-operation with other people
another place.
in the region.
Museums have to be very selective about what they acquire because caring for movable
heritage is a major on-going commitment. Sometimes museums will decline to acquire
items. This decision will be based on the museum’s collection policy and its capacity to
safely store and care for the items. The NSW Museums and Galleries Foundation can give
advice on display, storage, care and interpretation.
ABOVE:
Made by convicts for Major-General
Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South
Wales, and his wife Elizabeth in 1821, the
Government legislation
armchair is built from rose mahogany, red
cedar, casuarina and modern replacement
The Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 enables local government to list
wallaby fur. Photograph courtesy
collection, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.
significant heritage places and their fixtures, but it does not cover movable heritage items.
Many councils are identifying movable heritage, particularly items in significant town halls,
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community buildings and parks. Heritage advisors are encouraging private owners to care
Top left: This icon of St Athanasios was
for heritage places with significant items.
painted by Greek Orthodox priest, Serafim
Fokas, in 1901 for the Holy Trinity Church,
The NSW Heritage Amendment Act 1998 lists movable items of State significance in the
Surry Hills. The icon has been removed but
is still held by a community organisation.
State Heritage Register. In many cases, the items are important elements of places listed in
Photograph courtesy of Hellenic Historical
and Cultural Centre, Lakemba.
the Register. The NSW Heritage Office is emphasising advice and funding as positive ways
Top right: D.S. Murray Bookbinders was
to assist private owners.
located at the Gowings Building from
1941 to 1999, when the lease expired.
Movable heritage items and collections owned by State Government organisations
The workroom was documented and the
business and equipment relocated to
illustrate stories of social policy and working practices and show how people experienced
The Block, George Street. Photograph by
facilities and services. Under Section 170 of the Heritage Amendment Act, State
M. Kojdanovski, courtesy of the
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.
Government organisations must maintain a register of heritage items and care for them with
Middle right: Recycled from a 44-gallon
due diligence. The organisations are recording the most significant and vulnerable movable
drum, this food pantry was probably
items on their registers.
inspired by a ‘Rotary Kitchen Canister’
advertised in a 1925 Anthony Horden mail
order catalogue. Photograph courtesy
The NSW Ministry for the Arts supports the programs of museums and galleries in
collection, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.
NSW and the NSW Museums and Galleries Foundation, the principal service provider
Bottom: The Quarantine Station Hospital,
for this sector.
Sydney Harbour National Park, was used to
treat migrants from the 1880s until the
1960s. The beds have been rearranged to
The Commonwealth Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts
match historic photographs. Photograph
administers the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986. Permits are required for the
courtesy of NSW National Parks and
Wildlife Service.
permanent or temporary export of movable items important to Australia. The Act does not
affect the right to own or sell items in Australia.
Apply for a grant
Phone (02) 9873 8500 for details of the NSW Heritage Office’s funding programs or refer
to the home page at www.heritage.nsw.gov.au. The Ministry for the Arts can also assist
museums and historical societies with funding for collections and conservation activities.
Phone (02) 9228 5533 or refer to www.arts.nsw.gov.au. The National Library of Australia
has a community heritage grants program for museums and other organisations.
Phone (02) 6262 1111 or refer to www.nla.gov.au.
Further information
Movable Heritage Principles, NSW Heritage Office and Ministry for the Arts Movable
Heritage Project, Sydney 1999
Marquis-Kyle, P. and Walker, M., The Illustrated Burra Charter, Australia ICOMOS,
Canberra 1994
Townley, P. and Parris, R. Caring For Heritage Objects: Guidelines on Establishing Significance,
Object Care and Management, Powerhouse Museum Research Series: No 3, Sydney 1994
Contacts
NSW Heritage Office
3 Marist Place, Parramatta, NSW
Locked Bag 5020, Parramatta, NSW 2124
ISBN 1 876415 28 2
Tel: (02) 9873 8500
HO 99/26
Fax: (02) 9873 8599
© Crown copyright 1999
www.heritage.nsw.gov.au
Reprinted 2004
Email: heritageoffice@heritage.nsw.gov.au
Disclaimer
NSW Ministry for the Arts
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opinion or advice, expressed or
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made in good faith but on the
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basis that the State of New South
Wales, its agents and employees
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are not liable (whether by reason
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of negligence, lack of care or
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otherwise) to any person for any
damage or loss whatsoever which
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has occurred or may occur in
relation to that person taking or
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not taking (as the case may be)
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action in respect of any
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Woolloomooloo 2011
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and Ministry for the Arts Movable
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