in summer is filled with the scent of old-fashioned roses - gallicas, bourbons, banksias, damasks, musks and rugosas and scented pelargoniums. Bushes of Rosa chinensis "Old Blush", a China rose are scattered through the garden. These were the first species of rose to be grown in the colony. The Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) on the eastern side of the garden was reputedly planted by Hassall and the Hassall girls once played croquet in this part of the garden. In the homestead's rear (kitchen) courtyard beside the old well and pump are bushes of Hibiscus mutabilis "Plena" (double, white-pink) and H.moschatus (single, white-pink). Sandstone gutters drain this paved courtyard towards the outbuildings to its south. A gate at the far northern end leads through the western wing of outbuildings to the shrubbery / wilderness to the west. Homestead Complex The homestead is sited in contrast with the surrounding open agricultural land and is complemented by the half circle of hills which define Denbigh's landscape character. In terms of elevation and character, the buildings and trees have been sited in a manner influenced by John Claudius Loudon, the Scottish writer on landscape taste. The house looks across the fields to the north to a line of hills where a small vineyard was established ('Plantation Hill'). It is here that, after a trip to Wollongong where he had been given seeds, Hassall planted some cabbage tree palms (Livistona australis) and others which he described as those of a "silver tree". The palms are gone today and were unusual in the district. NB: In 2001 Plantation Hill is bushy now - the cabbage palms are gone, although a "silver tree" does remain, suckering from its base). To the north-west and above an area of African olives was a clearing planted with a "native vineyard" of native vines, a botanical collection, which is of interest to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. The house consists of timber framing, filled with brick or rubble nogging and covered in weatherboard. The hipped roof extends over the house and the brick paved verandah is supported on square timber posts with chamfered edges. The chimneys have a simple brick cornice with a distinct colonial character. Renovations can be evidenced by joinery typical of the 1830s. The whole structure is now rendered. Outbuildings In the Hassall days, Denbigh existed as a small scattered village with its own school master, blacksmith, carpenter,