Warrington, Seacliff

16/10/2024. Warrington, Seacliff. Grade 2. Hikers.  Leaders: Maria MacNee, Julie MacKenzie..
23 hikers, travelling in 7 vehicles, converged in the car park at the picturesque St Barnabas church on the Coast Rd Warrington

One of the church members, Rowena Park, had kindly agreed to open the church so the hikers could enjoy the interior especially the beautiful stained-glass windows.

Rowena was able to give us some information about the church’s history and the efforts put in to keeping it open and well maintained. Meanwhile, one of our number, Bill, was able to supply the history of how such a large window was installed in the tiny church.

Apparently it was made originally for a church in Sydney. From the church the hikers drove to the domain, enjoyed a brief but chilly morning tea and headed around Warrington for a street walk led by Jenny Finnerty. For future hikes it should be noted that the walk to the church from the domain was easily attainable in the time we had available being approx 40 mins.
After returning to the cars we headed for the Seacliff township, parked up and walked north on the Coast Rd briefly to locate the site of the original Seacliff Railway station. The station of course is long gone but it was sobering to think of the many patients and visiting families who must have made that trek up the hill to the asylum. The group then walked up Russell Road past the auxiliary buildings still in existence including the old morgue and the handsome bluestone building that was originally the old stables which still houses a blacksmith’s forge as reported by one of the locals. The old kitchen and laundry are also visible from an access road further up the hill.

One of our hikers, Neville, recalled delivering milk to the hospital kitchens as a young lad. In its heyday the kitchen produced 2,000 meals per day for staff and patients.
By the time the group arrived back down at the Truby King Reserve the sun had come out from behind the clouds and the temperature warmed making for a pleasant lunch in the sun along the north bluestone wall, the site of the failing foundations and unstable land that spelled the doom of the impressive main block of the R.A. Lawson building.

The formidable old maximum-security buildings at the back of the main hospital have now been taken over by trees and bushes but are still there for anyone who has the will to find them.
After lunch we traversed the wide tracks around the lower reserve attempting to locate points of interest such as the magnolia tree mentioned in Janet Frame’s book and the foundations of the old admissions building but non-existent signage made this difficult.

Many of us agreed that the unfortunate folks who were hospitalised or lost their lives in the tragic fire of 1942 deserve a more fitting tribute to their memory.
A very pleasant afternoon tea outside, in the sun, at the Gallery Cafe completed an enjoyable day.

The distance walked was approx. 6-7 kms. Thank you to all for their participation and assistance. Maria

Link to background information and earlier tramps and hikes in the same area.