The Hassall family had a close association with Samuel Marsden and were involved in early itinerant ministries in the Sydney area.

This venture was so successful that Hassall senior, John Eyre, and other leading Dissenters and Methodist formed the NSW Sunday School Institution in December 1815.

Hassall was appointed the first Chaplain of the Bathurst District in early 1826 which was incidentally the area where his father Rowland had conducted the first sermon.

While Chaplain, Hassall lived at Lampeter Farm where he built Salem Chapel, and he preached regularly at a barn at Kelso which had opened as a church in 1825.

[1] The Lindlegreen Barn was built in 1827 based on the available account book details in the Hassall family correspondence at the Mitchell Library.

[1] Oberon Council allocated a $110,000 grant from the NSW Office of Environment & Heritage towards three workshops teaching O'Connell residents how to maintain and repair earth buildings.

Workshop coordinator Angus McKibbin has fond memories of playing in the state-heritage listed Lindlegreen Barn (1827) as a child, which encouraged him to kick-start the project.

The Bathurst and District branch of the National Trust of Australia (NSW) presented their monthly heritage award for July to this joint Oberon/O'Connell project aiming to restore the region's buildings.

[1] The earth barn is constructed of cob; a mixture of shale, clay, straw and water and is used to build substantial structures.

The building externally is in a weathered and poor condition with erosion to the faces of the earthwork, particularly on the western side, where there is extensive vertical structural cracking.

[1] It appears there was an early tradition in building in cob in this area as the residence of the property is built of the same material (1850s), as well as the nearby O'Connell Hotel (1865).

There appearst to have been long-standing water related issues with the western gable and evidence of past repairs and underpinning using concrete.

The upper level of the western gable has seriously eroded due to rainwater and wind driven rain damage over many years.

[1] Stabilisation is urgently required to the western gable to halt ongoing movement and potential partial collapse which may precipitate additional damage to adjacent walls or roof.

[1] This assessment was initially made based on the photographic evidence provided in the nomination and verified during a site visit in March 2018.

The technique relied on the clay acting as an agglutinant and the straw as a reinforcing agent, and was mixed by hand and turned over with a specialised cob pick.

[1] Built in 1827, only four years after the official government survey of the area, the barn represents the period of very early European settlement of inland NSW.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

The barn is a significant example that could be used as a showcase of the innovative construction methods adopted in the establishment of early inland settlements through NSW.

The original structure can still be observed without interference or alteration, allowing a unique insight into the construction techniques and material used in NSW during the early 1800s.