Grantham (Granthamville; Dangar’s Castle; “The Pepper Pot”) – St Neot Avenue – Potts Point – NSW
Built c.1836–1838 · Rebuilt 1870 · Demolished 1937
At the tip of the Point — on Judge Wylde’s old grant, where St Neot Avenue and Grantham Street now run — stood the house Sydneysiders loved to mock and remember. Felix Caleb Wilson’s Gothic Caleb Castle (1836–38) was nicknamed the Pepper Pot for its turrets and Frying Pan Castle for the ironmonger’s trade. Frederick Parbury called it Granthamville; Henry Dangar’s family made it Dangar’s Castle; Henry Cary Dangar rebuilt it in battlemented Norman dress in 1870 and restored the name Grantham. In January 1937 it sold for demolition for £530. Flat blocks rose on the footprint. The apartment building and the street still say Grantham.
At a glance
- Address / site: St Neot Avenue / Grantham Street, Potts Point (flat blocks on former footprint)
- Names: Caleb Castle / Caleb’s Castle; Granthamville; Dangar’s Castle; The Pepper Pot; Frying Pan Castle; Grantham (from 1870 rebuild)
- Built: c.1836–1838 for Felix Caleb Wilson (unknown architect; Gothic Revival); major rebuild 1870 for Henry Cary Dangar (Norman / battlemented)
- Land: remaining ~5 acres of Judge-Advocate John Wylde’s 1822 11-acre grant; Wilson purchase 1836 (not a Darling villa-condition grant — he bought undeveloped land after Darling had left)
- Key owners: Wilson; Frederick Parbury; Donald Larnach; Henry Dangar (from 1853); Grace Dangar; Henry Cary Dangar (to 1917); later private owners
- Fate: Sold for demolition 15/16 January 1937 (£530); two blocks of three-storey flats built over the site (Villas / SMH)
Site & setting
Derrawunn; early colonial names for the point include Point Campbell and Aboriginal foreshore names recorded in later popular histories. Wylde’s 1822 grant ran from the projecting rock into Port Jackson’s edge. Joseph Hyde Potts bought six-plus acres in 1830 and left his name on the Point; Wilson took the remaining roughly five acres in 1836 and built the first substantial house right on the tip — where St Neot Avenue is today (Villas).
Wilson was not bound by Darling’s villa conditions. He chose Gothic Revival in the spirit of the new Government House across the water — turrets against the refined white Regency parade up the hill. Stone for later building phases was said to have been quarried on the waterfront (SMH 1937). After demolition, Grantham Street and St Neot Avenue (Henry Dangar’s Cornish birthplace) fossilise the estate in the street grid; Embarkation Park and harbour views replace the battlemented silhouette.
Timeline
- 1822 – Judge-Advocate John Wylde granted 11 acres.
- 1830 – Wylde sells 6+ acres to Joseph Hyde Potts.
- 1836 – Felix Caleb Wilson buys remaining ~5 acres (press tradition £405); September tenders for residence (Villas).
- c.1836–1838 – Caleb Castle built (DoS construction span); local nicknames Pepper Pot / Frying Pan Castle.
- Early 1840s – Frederick Parbury (merchant, wharf proprietor) owns; renames Granthamville.
- Later – Donald Larnach pays £5000 for house and 4½ acres (SMH/Sun tradition); subdivides.
- 1853 – Henry Dangar purchases house section (SMH 1937: £6000; Newcastle Sun 1918: £4000 — figures conflict; do not silently pick one). Becomes known as Dangar’s Castle.
- 1861 – Henry Dangar dies; widow Grace remains (ADB; will path).
- 1869 – Grace dies; Henry Cary Dangar inherits Grantham (ADB: mother’s compensation when Cornish St Neot lands proved sold).
- 1870 – H.C. Dangar rebuilds to his own Norman / battlemented design; renames Grantham; mahogany stair and gallery described in 1918/1937 press.
- 1917 – H.C. Dangar dies at Potts Point (ADB); succession of later owners.
- 25 April 1918 – Auction passed in at £15,100 (Newcastle Sun / Sun reports).
- 16 January 1937 – SMH: mansion sold for demolition and removal for £530; grounds to be subdivided.
- 1937 – Demolished; two three-storey flat blocks on St Neot Avenue footprint (Villas).
- Today – Flats / later apartment buildings including namesake Grantham; streets remain.
Architecture & interiors
First house (Wilson, c.1836–38): Gothic Revival, unknown architect, turreted silhouette deliberately unlike the Regency villas uphill (Villas). 1918 press said Wilson’s initials were carved inside the old tower, and that by then only tower and kitchen quarters survived of the first build inside the later mansion.
Dangar rebuild (1870): Norman-inspired, solid dimension stone, battlemented walls and old-fashioned stone fence; tiled entrance porch; vestibule with fine mahogany staircase and overhead balustraded gallery; drawing and dining rooms opening to verandahs; billiard room and library; by 1937 press count about 22 bedrooms and five bathrooms with cedar fittings throughout (SMH 16 Jan 1937). Flat roof views over harbour and city; lawn tennis court; kitchen garden toward the old quarry (Sun 1918).
People & anecdotes
Felix Caleb Wilson — Hawkesbury settler turned wealthy ironmonger — wanted a statement, not another white Verge box. Sydneysiders obliged with “Pepper Pot” and “Frying Pan Castle.” Frederick Parbury of the wool wharves gave it Granthamville and later turns up at Orwell House after selling. Donald Larnach flipped the acreage. Henry Dangar, surveyor-pastoralist of Neotsfield fame, retired here; his brother William joked the place wanted “½ Dozen Brass Twelve Pounders to make the Castle complete” (ADB). Henry Cary Dangar — Cambridge, Middle Temple, MLA/MLC, AJC, St Paul’s College cloisters donor — gave the house its final Norman dress and its lasting name, and died there in 1917.
The £530 demolition sale of 1937 is the cruel punchline: a Dangar castle knocked down for flat sites for less than a middle cottage. The nickname street-grid — Grantham, St Neot — is the revenge.
What stands today
Grantham the mansion does not stand. Three-storey flat blocks of the late 1930s (and later apartment buildings) occupy St Neot Avenue over the old footprint; Grantham Street and St Neot Avenue keep the names. Walk the tip of the Point, look back to the harbour the battlements once commanded, and pair with still-standing marine villas Bomera and Jenner and the lost-house posts for Orwell and Springfield.
Sources & further reading
- Dictionary of Sydney — Grantham: https://dictionaryofsydney.org/building/grantham
- Dictionary of Sydney — Potts Point: https://dictionaryofsydney.org/place/potts_point
- State Library of NSW, Villas of Darlinghurst exhibition catalogue, 2002 — Grantham entry; PDF excerpt: https://pottspointpreservation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Villas-of-Potts-Point.pdf
- ADB — Henry Dangar: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dangar-henry-1954
- ADB — Henry Cary Dangar: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dangar-henry-cary-289
- Sydney Morning Herald, 16 January 1937, p.18 — “Historic Home Sold for Demolition” (text on live post; search Trove)
- The Sun (Sydney), 25 April 1918; Newcastle Sun, 25 April 1918 — auction / history features (text on live post)
- Existing scrapbook post: https://historicsydneymansionsmanorshouses.blogspot.com/2016/06/grantham-potts-point-new-south-wales.html
Related on this blog
- Orwell House – Potts Point (Parbury link)
- Rockwall – Potts Point (1844 view pairing)
- Boomera – Potts Point
- Rosebank – Darlinghurst (Larnach research flag on related posts)
Historic live gallery
Images retained from the canonical live Blogger post:
Transcription:
[Sign on the fence:]
THE Magnificent PROPERTY
"GRANTHAM"
Subdivided into 3 [?Choice] FLAT or RESIDENTIAL SITES [illegible]
• FOR •
PRIVATE SALE
RICHARDSON & WRENCH LTD.
AUCTIONEERS.
[Posters below:] LYRIC · LYRIC — BORIS KARLOFF — NIGHT KEY — FOR VALOUR [smaller print illegible]
Transcription:
HISTORIC HOUSE
Pott's Point Auction
SYDNEY, Thursday.
Grantham, an historic house at Pott's Point, which belonged to the Dangar family for 65 years, was offered at auction to-day, and was passed in at £15,100.
The place originally formed part of a grant of 11 acres in 1822 to John Wylde, judge advocate, who was afterwards knighted. The area started from where Woolloomooloo wharves now stand. Caleb Wilson, ironmonger, built the first house in 1835, but all that remains of it at the present time are tower and kitchen. It was jokingly called "frying pan castle of Woolloomooloo." Wilson paid only £405 for 4½ acres. After his death, Donald Larnach paid £5000 for the house and 4½ acres of land. He subdivided and resold part of it in 1853, to the late Henry Dangar for [?£6000].
Transcription:
HISTORIC HOME
Sold for Demolition.
One of the old homes of Sydney, Grantham, in St. Neot-avenue, Potts Point, is to be demolished. Yesterday, the mansion was offered at auction by Richardson and Wrench, Ltd., for demolition and removal, and was sold for £530.
[Remainder of the article too small to read at this image's resolution — illegible. Full text: Sydney Morning Herald, 16 January 1937, p. 18 (Trove article 17296015).]
Transcription:
HISTORIC HOME IN MARKET
"GRANTHAM" FOR SALE
Grant of Nearly 100 Years Ago
The historic old house at Potts Point, "Grantham," which has belonged to the Dangar family for 65 years, was offered for sale at auction this morning by Messrs. Raine and Horne.
The place has a romantic history, having originally formed part of a grant of 11 acres to Mr. John Wylde (Judge Advocate, who was afterwards knighted) in 1822. As the quaint old title deed describes it, the grant extended "from the projecting rock and to the other side of Port Jackson." This rock has now disappeared, and on the site the Woolloomooloo Bay wharves now stand.
Caleb Wilson, an ironmonger, built the first house on this property in 1835 or thereabouts, the present tower and kitchen quarters being all that remain of the original building. It was jokingly called "Frying Pan Castle of Woolloomooloo," and Wilson's initials are to be found carved on the inside of the old tower. He paid only £405 for 4½ acres. After his death Mr. Donald Larnach paid £5000 for the house and 4½ acres, and he subdivided and resold part of it in 1853 to the late Mr. Henry Dangar for [?£6000].
"After my grandfather's death in 1861," says Mr. Neville Dangar, "his widow occupied it, and she left it by her will to my father, Mr. H. C. Dangar, in 1869. He lived there until his death last year." As soon as Mr. H. C. Dangar got it he rebuilt it to his own design, and he chose the Norman style of architecture.
At present the house is called "Grantham"—although formerly it was named "Granthamville"—and it is to be seen in pictures of old Sydney as the only house on the point. Situated in charming grounds, and surrounded by an old-fashioned high stone wall, the house with its battlemented walls presents a fine picture, reminiscent of an English home. The octagonal tower, with its flagstaff, is a picturesque note, and the view from the flat roof is all-embracing, including the harbor on one side and the city on the other.
A drive enclosing a salvia-bedded lawn leads up to the tiled entrance porch, and inside the vestibule there is a fine wide mahogany staircase with an overhead balustraded gallery. The drawing and dining rooms are on opposite sides of the hall, and lead on to verandahs with verdant lawns beyond. The billiard room and library are in the rear, and upstairs many bedrooms disclose charming views from the windows. Altogether, counting in the servants' hall, there are about 25 rooms.
Out of doors there is a lawn tennis court, and the garden lover can find much to interest him. In the distance is the kitchen garden, where originally most of the stone with which "Grantham" is built was quarried.
[Photo caption:] "Grantham," Potts Point, the historic home of the Dangar family.
Transcription:
CHALLIS ESTATE
POTTS POINT
MACLEAY ST. • CHALLIS AVENUE • VICTORIA ST. • McDONALD ST.
VENDORS — 45 City Residence Sites.
THE AUSTRALIAN MUTUAL INVESTMENT & BUILDING CO. LIMITED
Auction Sale Wednesday October 2nd 1889
AUCTIONEERS — IN THE ROOMS 133 PITT ST.
HARDIE AND GORMAN
in conjunction with
RICHARDSON AND WRENCH LTD.
[On plan corner:] WYLDE ST · [?C. J. Roberts C.M.G.]
Transcription:
TERMS
10 Per Cent Deposit; 15 per cent in 3 months WITHOUT INTEREST.
BALANCE in 3 equal yearly payments
Interest 6 Per Cent.
TITLE
TORRENS ACT.
[Streets:] VICTORIA STREET · CHALLIS AVENUE · McDONALD STREET · MACLEAY STREET · LANE 20 FEET WIDE · Pathway · Omnibus Stand
[Adjoining owners:] Hon. H. C. Dangar M.L.C. (Grantham) · St Vincents Convent · Rockwall – terrace · J. McElhone Esq. · Macleay Heights · [names along Macleay Street, partly legible:] J. T. Neale Esq. · [?W. Clarke] Esq. · [?] Harris Esq. · [?] Ackman Esq. · R. Ely Esq. · E. Meyer Esq. · Hon. [?J. B. Watt] M.L.C. · B. R. Wise Esq.
[Lots numbered 1–45.]
⊙ Represents approximate height above sea level [illegible]
L. A. CURTIS
Licensed Surveyor
12 Victoria Chambers
[Printer's line at foot illegible]
