Rake head

Early to mid-nineteenth century

Convicts working in the garden just south of Hyde Park Barracks would have used tools like this hand-forged iron rake for clearing and preparing the soil for planting. The gardeners then would have unwound string on a winder, planted the spike in the ground, and used the string to mark out a straight line for planting rows of seeds. Although the convict vegetable garden didn’t last very long in that location, it probably produced vegetables such as potatoes and cabbages, that were cooked into the stew and served to convicts in the mess rooms. Sick and elderly convicts, who were too weak to do hard labour like the others, also used rakes like this, to level the surface of the Barracks yard.