Sandford¹s House
Sanford¹s House (it can be seen across Hutt Lagoon and can be inspected by taking the signposted road to the east of the lagoon) was built by the convicts in 1853 out of limestone. A verandah was subsequently added with masts salvaged from the wreck of the Mary Queen of Scots which ran aground at Archdeacon Ledge in March 1855.
Sanford, the grandson of the Duke of Bedford, was appointed Superintendant of Convicts in late 1852 but resigned in 1854 (the house and outbuildings including a stone mill and large stone barn were all conveniently built during his period as Superintendant) to concentrate on whaling and agriculture.
Other Historic Buildings
But the convicts were not in the area to build a magnificent two storey villa for the Superintendant. On the main Port Gregory road can be seen the ruins of the Lynton Hiring Depot where the convicts were held until local businessmen came to hire them for labouring tasks on the nearby farms. There are stories that the local farmers treated the convicts like slaves frequently flogging them for the slightest misdemeanours and summarily executing them for minor offences. It is hard to substantiate these claims and they may well be little more than local folklore.
By 1856 a store, bakery, depot, lockup, hospital, lime kiln and administration block had all been built but a lack of fresh vegetables had seen the convict population ravaged by scurvy. It was decided to close the settlement and by January 1857 (less than 4 years after they had arrived) the convicts were either being shipped back to Fremantle or settled in nearby Greenough. A map identifying the various ruins at the Lynton Hiring Depot (and including the rest of the historic sites) is available at the farm house below Sanford¹s House.
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