The ACT Heritage Council has announced that two new listings have been added to the ACT Heritage Register.
The new entries are the Red Hill Campsite in Griffith and the Signadou and Blackfriars Precinct in Watson.
Chair of the Heritage Council, David Flannery said Aboriginal people had camped at the Red Hill Campsite, colloquially known as the ‘last campsite of the Ngunnawal’, in the late 1920s to 1940s.
“The campsite (pictured as it is today) has a strong and special association with the Ngambri–Ngunnawal group of the ACT region and, in particular, the life of Elder Matilda House and previous generations of her family,” Mr Flannery said.
“Red Hill Campsite is an important example of how Aboriginal people were able to continue to live and work in the region during a time of transient employment opportunities.”
He said it survived as a rare example of what would have once been a common type of gathering place for Aboriginal people.
“The opening of the Blackfriars Priory and Signadou Teaching College in the 1960s occurred during a distinct phase of educational development in Canberra and a time of unprecedented growth of the Catholic school system in the ACT and region,” Mr Flannery said.
“The Signadou Teaching College made an important contribution to the educational development of the ACT, providing the rapidly growing city and Catholic school system with teaching staff.”
He said that since it was nominated to the Heritage Register in 2016, works and development at the Signadou and Blackfriars Precinct had occurred, with the Heritage Council working closely with stakeholders to ensure development was accordance with heritage values.
