This area contains perhaps the greatest concentration of early earth buildings in Australia - rare remnants of colonial days in a farming community. The workshops were held over three weekends in April and May and were co-ordinated out of the O'Connell RFS shed where discussion and audio-visual presentations took place.

Oberon Council and heritage adviser Christo Aitken were instrumental in securing the grant and the professionals presenting at the workshops as part of a heritage project looking to inform the community and eventually restore the historically significant cob barn at Lindlegreen.

Mayor Kathy Sajowitz and Oberon Council director of planning Shane Wilson officially opened the first workshop.

READ ALSO:

Grant for protection of Oberon's earth building history

Unique O'Connell barn on State Heritage Register

Next step for proposed subdivision near O'Connell

The program included professionally guided community workshops in earth building repairs and conservation management together with repairs, drainage works and conservation guidance implemented at several historic earth buildings.

Peter Hickson, owner-manager of Earth Building Solutions and a master builder with 38 years of experience with earth building, conducted the workshops and carried out restoration work on the buildings between workshops.

The final workshop, led by Tasmanian-based Chloe Wolsey, principal of OzEarth and specialist in traditional lime and clay rendering, gave participants experience with hands-on rendering of an 1850s cob cottage.

The workshops were attended by 20 to 25 enthusiastic 'muddies' from O'Connell and other areas of the Oberon region run by Friends of Lindlegreen and Oberon Council.

The workshops were an excellent education in authentic restoration methods and the hands-on days held at local earth cottages were great fun: kneading earth, clay, straw and water into a pliable muddy cob 'wombat' and learning that repairing and saving old earth buildings is really not too daunting a task.