About this objectThe Carcoar Hospital Museum (CHM) occupies a rare niche in Australia’s hospital museum collections. Unlike other medical collections, which are held by hospitals or university medical schools or in buildings unconnected with the collection’s early use, this historical collection is housed in, and largely provenanced to, the hospital building - the former Carcoar District Hospital (CDH) - in which it was originally used. Adding to its significance is that this collection is from a semi-remote country hospital, rather than a major urban hospital.
The building, constructed in 1860 - 61, remains virtually intact on its original site on the southern side of Carcoar. The CHM collection consists of medical instruments and equipment, medical furniture, items of dress, documents, photographs and archaeological materials associated with the hospital site. The bulk of the collection dates to the twentieth century, with a smaller proportion dating to the nineteenth century.
Effectively illustrating the medical technologies and nursing attire of the past, the museum illuminates the history both of the Carcoar community and of medical practice throughout New South Wales. Having its origins in the campaign led by Dr Hugh Mortimer Rowland, Thomas Icely, Barnard Stimpson and Rev. H. Tincombe, the Hospital was from its early days one of the most important institutions in the Carcoar community. Barnard Stimpson, the first mayor of Carcoar and an early Member for Carcoar in the Legislative Assembly, is represented in the collection by a home medical chest used at his Carcoar family home, Blenheim Hall. The building’s construction history is effectively illuminated via the archaeological remains recovered during building conservation works.
The CHM collection is historically significant. The items held by the museum remain displayed in their original context, enhancing the interpretive value of both the collection and the building itself. The condition of the collection varies, from the removed timbers of the upper storey of the building to the large collection of still functional and largely pristine surgical equipment. Overall, the Carcoar Hospital Museum site complex and historical collection are together regarded as being significant to the history of the Carcoar area and the state of New South Wales.
Margaret Hahn, Jill Cole & Hayley Lavers, September 2019
