Lydham Hall Historic House and Museum
Visit us: The museum is located at 18 Lydham Avenue, Rockdale NSW 2216. On-street parking is available or a short bus trip from Rockdale Station takes you within a 5-minute walk of the museum.
Opening Hours: first Sunday of the month, 10am – 4pm.
Next opening: Sunday, 2 February 2025.
Admission: Adults $8, Concession and Seniors $5, free entry for SGHS members , Companion Card holders, and children under 10.
Special event: At 11.30am, the enchanting Mezzo Soprano Yasmin Arkinstall will sing operatic arias, musical theatre standards, and popera hits.
High Tea: Enjoy the refined indulgence of a tantalising selection of sweet and savoury treats paired with fine teas and fresh coffee. Book now.
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About Lydham Hall
One of the oldest homes in the St George area, New South Wales State Heritage-listed, Lydham Hall Historic House and Museum is a sandstone villa built in the late 1870s for businessman Joseph Davis, his wife Ellen and their family. The house was originally part of a 67-acre estate that Davis called ‘Lydham Hill’, built on the highest ridge in the area and with commanding views of Botany Bay. Davis had a butchering business in Newtown and used the property to fatten up his cattle before slaughter. It was built for Joseph Davis and his family.
When Davis died in 1889, the property was subdivided and a smaller parcel of land was sold to local oyster farmer, Frederick Gibbins, who leased the property to a succession of wealthy tenants.
In 1890, the house stood on three and a half acres surrounded by outbuildings, paddocks, orchards and with rugged vegetation beyond. In 1907, Gibbins’ daughter, Ada, married renowned naturalist, David Stead. Stead was a widower with a young daughter, Christina, and the family occupied the house with their growing brood of children, Stead’s sister and her daughter.
Christina Stead would go on to become an internationally acclaimed author who included references to ‘Lydham Hill’ and the surrounding area in a number of her books and short stories. The Stead family lived in the house until the death of Frederick Gibbins in 1917.
Rockdale City Council purchased Lydham Hall in 1970 as a headquarters for the St George Historical Society and its collections and archives. To commemorate the centenary of Rockdale City Council, the building opened to the public on 20 February 1971.
The building closed in 2020 for repairs, remaining closed during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Lydham Hall reopened on Sunday, 4th February 2024 with a wonderful day of celebrations.
The President of St George Historical Society, Wesley Fairhall, invited the Mayor of Bayside, Councillor Bill Saravinovski, to the community.
“This State heritage-listed building is home to a wonderful collection of fine antiques and period objects,” Bayside Mayor Bill Saravinovski said.
Bob and Laurel Horton, Society members, were dressed in Victorian costume to invite visitors to inspect the house.
Today the house sits proudly on 1,300m2 surrounded by manicured, modern gardens and is regularly open to public and group tours. The interior of Lydham Hall is presented in the style of a late Victorian residence, with a fine collection of antique furniture and over 1,500 objects of local and historical interest contained within the rooms and in the museum upstairs. The museum also has a library and archives which contain a broad range of books, photographs and documents on local places, people, events, and institutions.
(photograph: Kristi Archer, Laurel and Bob Horton at the opening of Lydham Hall, 4 February 2024. Courtesy of John Veage, St George & Sutherland Shire Leader)