Bigge arrived from England in 1820 in order to investigate the state of the colony on behalf of the Crown. Bigge's comments on the farming industry in the Hawkesbury River region reflect both the challenges faced by the settlers and the incomparable fertility of the soil. In his 1823 Report, Bigge referred to the flood plain soil as "distinguished by its depth and inexhaustible fertility. It lies on both sides of the rivers Nepean and Hawkesbury, and the largest tract is that which is formed by a bend of the latter river between the town of Windsor and the township of Wilberforce." Bigge reported that in 1820, the towns of Windsor, Wilberforce and Richmond had 10,000 acres of wheat or maize sown in a total 16,856 acres of cleared land, the most in the colony. In contrast to the fertility of the soil, Bigge commented on the poor state of the farms in the region, stating that "the farms, or rather allotments, in these districts [of the Hawkesbury] are small; the houses generally ill-built and exhibiting traces of former inundations...[the] more opulent settlers have begun to fence their estates with strong railing made of stringy and iron bark trees." He attributed the poor state of farm buildings in the colony to the cost and lack of "mechanical labour," as well as the carelessness of many of the settlers. Wilberforce tended to have a higher proportion of free settlers to former convicts than the other Macquarie towns. The Reverend Cartwright reported in 1819 to the Bigge Commission that church attendance was good at Wilberforce, and the congregation was composed mainly of the "regular families." The combined school house/church was constructed in 1819 and is now the last building of the original school house. A steam mill was established by Buttsworth in 1835 near the river facing Buttsworth Lane. From the end of Buttsworth Lane, a punt crossed the Hawkesbury to Pitt Town Bottoms from as early as 1812. Land grants Upon Thomas Rose's arrival in NSW in 1793, he and the other settlers from the ship Bellona were given land grants in an area near present day Strathfield, which they named "Liberty Plains" after the fact that they were all free settlers. Thomas Rose selected 120 acres on the right bank of Powell's Creek. Despite being an experienced farmer, Rose struggled with the poor soil at Liberty Plains, and by 1802