Appleton Cottage

Appleton Cottage is named for the large family who settled there. The Appleton family made their living by farming the 500 acres they owned in Harrogate as well as working some land the family had an interest in on the River Murray Flats.

It is understood that the cottage was built by a local man named Wallace Jenkison. The main building was built from solid stone and consisted of six rooms with a cellar beneath it at one end where the family stored their earthenware jars of potted butter, salted meats and pickled vegetables. The laundry was slab walled. The room's benches were fashioned from tree trunks. The kitchen was freestanding from the main house, its walls constructed from slabs of wood and the floor was paved with flag stones. There were two brick ovens and an open fireplace at one end of the room. The room was furnished with long narrow sofas, cushioned with cocky chaff pillows for seating. Family life centered around the kitchen, with most meals eaten here. Only on special occasions did the family eat in the large dining room in the main house.

The cottage garden was apparently quite spectacular. There were vegetable and flower gardens as well as a large orchard growing dates, pomegranates, cherries, quinces and citrus as well as the more common fruits. Berries and grapes were also grown.

The Appleton family sold the property following the death of their mother and grandmother Marie Augusta Appleton in 1936.

Pictures from top: Marie Appleton with children and grandchldren posing in front of Appleton Cottage (date unknown), Appleton Cottage floorplan, Appleton Cottage with the Bible Christian Chapel and Harrow Farm in background c1900.

Information and pictures from Appleton Family History 1839-1979, J Herrmann 1979.