Hermit's Cave

Valerio Ricetti was born in north Italy around 1897-98 in Sondalo, a small town in a valley in the Italian Alps, close to the border with Switzerland. In his home region he was apprenticed as a cement and stonemason and gained experience working on road and rail tunnel constructions. With the declining economic situation and impending war in Europe, his uncle encouraged him to migrate to Australia to seek better opportunities. Aged 16 or 17, Ricetti arrived at Port Pirie, South Australia, in October 1914. He worked at Port Pirie for a few months before heading off to Broken Hill where he stayed at the Ceccato boarding house (signed on as being 18 years old) and obtained work in the mines with Valentino Ceccato and Francesco Bicego. During his time at Broken Hill Ricetti learned to speak English which he spoke well although he retained an accent. Later, Ceccato and Bicego left Broken Hill and came to Griffith. Ricetti continued to work in the mines until 1918 when he left Broken Hill, heartbroken from being spurned by a barmaid he intended to marry. This love affair devastated him and scarred him for the rest of his life.[2][1]

Ricetti travelled to South Australia where he worked at various jobs for several years. His life experiences fed his disillusionment with humanity. With a year's timber-cutting wages in his pocket he departed for Adelaide where he visited a brothel. On leaving he found that he had left his wallet behind, but the bouncer would not allow him back in. He hurled a rock through a window, was chased and ended up in Adelaide Gaol. On release he left for Victoria. In Melbourne he intended to pawn his one remaining possession, a coat, but a passer-by who offered to pawn it for him never returned. He moved on to Burrinjuck, NSW, in 1928. In the decade since he left Broken Hill Ricetti had befriended many people but few of these friendships had lasted long. Leaving Burrinjuck, he set out on his own. For the next twelve months or so Ricetti followed the Murrumbidgee River downstream to the Lachlan River then upstream to Hillston, NSW.[1]

Griffith's newspaper, "The Area News", reported in 1977 that "He finally found work on a riverboat of the period. He later explained that he had been a sailor on the Murray and that his "ship" had been the Mary Anne. The Mary Anne was one of the many boats that steamed the Murray, Murrumbidgee and Lachlan, and it would appear that Ricetti was to learn more about life during the period he spent on board her; perhaps something about love, unrequited. On the walls of his cave he etched a brief, pathetic epitaph to those days - two hearts and an anchor".[3][1]

Ricetti walked along the railway line to Griffith, with no idea of where he was heading. He was searching for a location where he could be on his own. That did not eventuate and he reached in Griffith in 1929.[1]

Arriving on the outskirts of Griffith, a sudden rainstorm drove him to seek shelter on Scenic Hill. Next day he explored the area. About a quarter of the way down from the hilltop, he found a huge overhanging rock which was dry underneath. Close by he saw two reservoirs full of water and fruit and vegetable farms at the foot of the hill. To the west was the town rubbish dump which teemed with rabbits.[1]

Tired of travelling, and with no money left, he later recalled saying to himself "I have found the Garden of Eden". Ricetti decided to construct a private utopia, by making the cave his permanent home. He scavenged the rubbish dump where he found a half-worn out shovel, a pick head and an axe head. He felled tree branches to make handles for them. He believed himself to be the only Italian in the area and kept entirely to himself. In reality, his old compatriots Ceccato and Bicego from Broken Hill had settled nearby and increasing numbers of Italian migrants were settling the area.[1]

Ricetti cleared and decorated the caves, creating massive stone galleries and pathways, cliff-side gardens and floral painted rock walls. He worked at night and early in the morning, to remain unseen, eventually moving hundreds of tonnes of rock. Digging under the huge rock, the earth that he threw out rolled down the steep hillside. So he set about building a stone retaining wall. As it was gradually back-filled, he increased the retaining wall height and length. Finally it reached 9 metres long and 2.4 metres high. This gave him a level surface of 2.7 to 3.7 metres outside the cave. Portions on either side of the rock were closed off with stones and clay mortar leaving an opening just over 1 metre wide and 2 metres high to enter the cave.[1]

Outside he planted flowers on both sides of a path that led to the top of the retaining wall. Turning right, he then followed along the top of the wall for about 6 metres where he had made a pathway a little over half a metre wide that led to and from the cave.[1]

Under the lookout, some 36 metres to the right, is a formation of three high rocks in a half circle. The centre one is fashioned by nature as a dome. In front of these rocks he built a stone retaining wall about 1.5 metres high and 4.5 metres long. This he filled with earth to level it, and then he planted more flowers. He called it his "shrine".[1]

Further west he found an area that was partly surrounded by a sheer wall of rocks jutting out from the sloping hill. He made flower beds with pathways leading from one bed to another. On the sloping side he built small stone retaining walls. Near a corner of this complex were four large rocks, joined together front and back, with one either side forming a central open space about 3 metres in diameter. The top was open. On the garden side was a hole about a metre deep that he had to crawl through to get inside. Ricetti dug down in front of the hole to make it large enough to walk through, but just over half a metre down he found rock. At this level he dug inwards, carrying the soil up and forming more flowerbeds. At the centre of this "room" was a rock a little over half a metre high and too large to move. So with stone and clay mortar he shaped it into a table. At the entrance he made a stairway so he could walk down to the cave. For the top he laid thin poles across like a lattice, planting grapevines and wisteria to form a canopy.[1]

Close to these gardens he had a couple of places to hide when people came. These places were not developed in any prominent way. But over the other side of the hill, some 180 metres from the main cave, he built a stone walled circular cave amongst shrubs, around a large tree with a peephole which afforded him another place to hide when people appeared.[1]

In 1935 Ricetti fell off some rocks, breaking his leg and badly bruising his ribs. A passing swagman found him and notified an ambulance that took Ricetti to hospital where the Government Medical Officer, Dr E.W. Burrell, attended to him. He became a celebrity when the enormity of his work on Scenic Hill was discovered. During Ricetti's hospitalisation Wade Shire Council came to his assistance, resolving 'to attend to and maintain the gardens during the hermit's indisposition. Councillor Lenehan stated that the recluse, by vast labour, had added considerably to the interest of Griffith outlook and it was up to the Council to do something for him.'[1]

After leaving hospital Ricetti returned to his reclusive existence. Anxious to pay Dr Burrell for his treatment, however, Ricetti slipped into town at night and worked in the doctor's garden. After a few visits the doctor caught him and explained to Ricetti that payment was made to him by the Government. A friendship grew between the two, which Ricetti valued greatly. Dr Burrell would visit Ricetti regularly at the cave and leave boxes with useful items such as clothes and shoes.[1]

In 1937 a Mr Agostini wandered up the hill one night and came face to face with Ricetti. In conversation the names Ceccato and Bicego came up and Ricetti commented that he had worked at Broken Hill with people of those names. Agostini informed Ceccato of his contact with Ricetti and the acquaintance between Ceccato, Bicego and Ricetti was renewed.[1]

On weekends they would pick up Ricetti, and take him to places where he met many people. They would try to coax him to come and live among them, but the hill remained his home. By now Ricetti had become more socialised and did not shy away from people.[1]

During World War II Ricetti was interned as an enemy alien. He had allegedly lined one of his caves with newspapers that included reports of Hitler with the swastika prominently displayed (Fenwick 1977: 9 ). He was put to work building roads and instructed his captors on how to improve their road-building methods. After four months he was assessed, declared a deranged person and moved to a mental institution at Orange, NSW. Six months later he was released and sent back to Griffith where the police met him and told him to get a job, find accommodation and not go back to the hill. Asked if he could name someone he gave Valentino Ceccato's name, who agreed to take him in.[1]

From 1942 to 1952 Ricetti worked and lived at the Ceccato's, first on Valentino Ceccato's farm until 1948 and then on the farm of Valentino'a son and daughter-in-law, Bruno and Nora Ceccato. From 1943-47 Ricetti worked in the orchards and vineyards alongside Valentino's son, Peter Ceccato, to whom he told stories of his life.[4] But Ricetti was always a loner, working away from others on the farm and sleeping in the pruning shed. He was troubled by visions and obsessed with his cave: "Disturbing him also was an illusion - a "man and woman in the sky". Very real to him, they towered above him, demanding that he do more and more work." By all accounts these visions stemmed from his disastrous love affair in Broken Hill.[5] Ricetti spent as much time as possible at his cave where he stuffed his earnings from Ceccato into clefts in the rocks before Ceccato opened a bank account into which he paid Ricetti's wages direct (Fenwick 1977: 9 ).[1]

In May 1952 Ricetti was in bad health and used the 1400 pounds he had amassed in wages to return to Italy and his brother, with whom he had lost contact. He clearly intended to return as he bought a return ticket and left his savings in the bank. But in November 1952 Bruno Ceccato received notice from the Municipality of Sondrio Vatellina that Ricetti had died[6][7][8][1][9][10][11]

There is very little documentation on Valerio Ricetti's life in Australia and it is almost exclusively confined to records of his internment, dated 1942-45, held by National Archives Australia. Much of the information contained in these records is in the form of Ricetti's answers to a Military Police Questionnaire prior to his internment in 1942. But very little of this information provided by Ricetti can be substantiated by other documents.[1]

Additionally, a photocopy of an employee record for BHP mines was obtained by both J Bicego and J Bugno.[1]

Photocopies of most documents are reproduced in Bobby Caillard, "Recovering the Lost Landscape of Valeri Ricetti: the archaeology of an individual", BA (Hons) thesis, University of Sydney, 2005: Vol 2, 1-30.[1]

Additional enquiries were undertaken by the Heritage Office with National Archives Australia (NAA); State Record Offices in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales; Glenside Campus (formerly Parkside Lunatic Asylum), Adelaide and Griffith Base Hospital, NSW.[1]

There is no record of Ricetti's date of birth. In 1942 it is recorded as 12 March 1897[12] and also as 12 March 1903.[13] The latter date is likely incorrect as Ricetti would have been only 11 or 12 years old on arrival in Australia.[1]

Ricetti's arrival date and port of entry into Australia cannot be verified. In 1942 he reports that he arrived in 1914 at Adelaide, date and ship's name unknown, that he paid his own fare and that he had no family or friends in Australia on arrival.[14] But there is no record of his entry into a South Australian port as either a passenger, crew member or ship's deserter over a wide date range around 1914. Neither is he recorded as a passenger entering through a port in Western Australia or Victoria over an equally wide date range. Passenger shipping arrivals into Sydney for this period are not indexed, therefore were not searched (Heritage Office pers. comm. 2006: NAA Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne; State Records SA, NSW; Public Record Office Victoria).[1]

On arrival in Australia, Ricetti claims to have spent "about one year in a mental hospital in South Australia, after which he went to Alice Springs and on to the Northern Territory".[15] One month later Ricetti claims that he worked in the Broken Hill mines from 1914–17 and on the railways at Grafton, NSW, from 1917-21 after which he came to Griffith where he was employed by various Italian farmers for a few days at a time. The records from 1942 also note Ricetti's two court appearances in the period before his arrival in Griffith: at Adelaide on 7 October 1919 for a breach of the War Precautions Act (Aliens) (offence unspecified), fined five pounds or one month's hard labour and at Barham, NSW, on 14 October 1927 for stealing, fined ten pounds or two months hard labour. The same records note that Ricetti claimed to have left his passport at the Adelaide Police Station but that enquiries failed to confirm this and that examination of his finger prints revealed that Ricetti was also known in Adelaide as Frank Pullen and Frank Muler.[16][1]

Of these claims, only Ricetti's employment at the Broken Hill mines in 1917, his 1927 fine for stealing and a possible gaol sentence in Adelaide in 1919 can be substantiated in the documentary record.[1]

Records of the former Parkside Lunatic Asylum, Adelaide (the only such institution in South Australia at that time) for the period 1914-20 reveal no entries under various possible spellings of Valerio Ricetti or his two aliases.[17][1]

Ricetti's employment at Broken Hill mines can be verified for only 9 days, 17 to 26 May 1917, after which date he left. The record shows that he resided at Eyre St, South Broken Hill which was the Ceccato boarding house at 305 Eyre Street. He is recorded as Vito Ricetti and his age given as 22 years (instead of 20 years), his age probably falsified to gain employment.[18][1]

The Adelaide Register of Prisoners has no record for Valerio Ricetti but has two entries for Franz Recitti in 1919 and 1920. The related documents have not been sighted by the Heritage Office but these entries may tally with one of Ricetti's aliases and relate to either his 1919 breach of War Precautions or the Adelaide brothel offence related by Peter Ceccato[19](Heritage Office pers. comm. 2006: State Records SA).[1]

There is no record of Ricetti working on the railways at Grafton between 1917 and 1921 (Heritage Office pers. comm. 2006: NSW State Records).[1]

The Police Charges and Summons Book, 1924-28 for Barham, NSW, (on the Murray River) records that Ricetti pleaded guilty on 14 October 1927 to stealing 40 dozen oranges for which he was fined 10 pounds in default of two months hard labour in Deniliquin Gaol (Charles Sturt University, NSW, Regional Archives).[1]

During World War II, "enemy aliens" resident in Australia were required to register under National Security (Aliens Control) Regulations, to report to the police station each week and to carry an identify card at all time to avoid arrest (Dalton & Polkinghorne 1990: 845). Ricetti's internment record[13] and associated documents held by the NAA[20] confirm his internment as an enemy alien between May 1942 and December 1943. The documents also reveal the difference in assessment of Ricetti the individual by the local and state police services.[1]

Ricetti was arrested by Griffith Police on 4 March 1942 for failing to register as an alien and to report to police. Ricetti's statement that he was unaware of the requirement to register was accepted by the local police. He was charged with "being deemed insane and found wandering at large" but was discharged five days later following examination by Dr Burrell (who had attended him in Griffith Hospital in 1935) who pronounced him "completely harmless and therefor (sic) not a subject for medical attention in an institution".[15][1]

In his reports to the Commissioner of Police, Sydney, the Officer-in-Charge of Griffith Police noted that Ricetti spoke German, French and Italian quite fluently. He commented on Ricetti's residence on Scenic Hill, his "considerable skill in stonework", and his work "to beautify the hill" which Ricetti had asserted to him to be "his mission in life" The officer noted that Ricetti had "long been regarded as an eccentric" and the "difficulty is experienced in getting anything like a coherent story from him". He concluded that Ricetti was a "harmless mental deficient who lives the life of a hermit" and that it was not proposed to begin proceedings against him.[21][1]

Military Police Intelligence, Sydney, however, thought otherwise. They required Ricetti's completion of a four-page questionnaire and a search of his premises for "literature of subversive or disloyal nature" or "prohibited possessions". The search carried out on 10 April 1942 by Griffith Police found nothing.[22][1]

The questionnaire appears to have been completed in two stages with handwritten entries by Griffith Police and later, typed entries (that include Ricetti's court appearances) probably entered by Military Police Intelligence in Sydney. These typed entries give a more critical assessment of Ricetti. They comment that Ricetti resides "in the highest and most secluded locality in the District ... about a mile from the various petrol depots, electricity substations and water channels in the Irrigation Area" and that he "is known to wander about at night". The entry continues that Ricetti "is regarded with a good deal of suspicion"—a statement that does not square with Griffith Police's assessment of Ricetti as "harmless" and "eccentric"—and concludes "We are of the opinion that this alien should be interned.".[23][1]

Ricetti was arrested on 3 May 1942 on Scenic Hall and removed to the Liverpool internment camp (south-west of Sydney), from where he was transferred to Cowra in July 1942. Records show he was released from Camp 12, Cowra, on 16 December 1942 but also transferred from Cowra to Loveday internment camp, SA, on 21 April 1943.[24] One account suggests Ricetti was moved during his internment to a mental institution in Orange, NSW, for treatment.[25] However, there is no record for that period of Ricetti being admitted to Bloomfield Hospital, Orange (at that time the only mental institution in Orange).[26][1]

Ricetti was released from Loveday on 5 December 1943 and taken to Sydney, where he gave his new place of abode as Farm 219 Yoogali, Griffith (Valentino and Elizabeth Ceccato's farm). A year later (30 November 1944) Ricetti notified his change of abode from Farm 219 Yoogali to Scenic Hill, Griffith. This would indicate the earliest official acceptance of his occupation of this Crown Reserve as his place of abode, even though he is remembered as living on the Ceccato farm at that time.[1]

Ricetti's departure from Sydney cannot be confirmed as NSW passenger shipping lists for 1952 are not indexed and therefore were not searched.[1]

The absence of documentary verification for much of Ricetti's story can be at least partly explained by the loss or destruction of many records over time.[1]

Ricetti's experience aligns with European traditions of hermitism that are not essentially religious in origin whereby an individual makes a conscious (rather than an enforced) choice to remove himself or herself from society, often after a long period of solitary wandering (Ricetti trekked on foot for a decade from Adelaide through north Victoria and southern NSW to Griffith). Ricetti's choice of landscape conforms to many European hermit dwellings. Caves are frequently chosen, particularly those located on steep hillsides or in mountains. In this respect Ricetti would have drawn on his Italian upbringing in a mountain valley of north Italy in making his choice of dwelling on the 200-metre-high (660 ft) escarpment of the southern edge of the McPherson Range—a prominent ridge top location in the predominantly flat Riverina Plain. Spiritual iconography is common even among hermits living outside a recognised religious tradition.[1]

North Italian cultural influences can be seen in Ricetti's use of:

(a) skilled stonemasonry with dry stone walling combined with backfilling to create terraces for cultivation on steep and rocky slopes. The use of stone for farmhouses and the skill of dry stone (with no mortar) constructions are prominent in this region as is the use of terracing for cultivation.

(b) planting of grape vines and fruit trees

(c) the "Chapel" with its painted Christian iconography.[1][27][28]

The gardens were reported to be in a fair condition as at 19 June 2006, although erosion of clay mortar supporting the stone masonry work on the retaining walls is a concern. Erosion is equally a concern on the retaining walls to the "Chapel". Graffiti is a concern, with graffiti damage to some of Ricetti's original rock art.[1]

Some of the staircases are still in a pristine condition. Taking into account the nature of the rudimentary construction, the site is remarkably intact.[1]

The site has considerable archaeological potential. There are possibly remnants of constructions to the west and north-west of Scenic Drive (outside the nominated curtilage) but their locations are unknown.[1]

The site retains most of its original design and material. Much of the original stonewalling is intact. It has suffered some damage due to graffiti, vandalism and erosion of original material.[1]

The landscape has been modified on several occasions between the 1970s and 1990s. The most prominent modifications ( by Council) are the Sir Dudley de Chair look-out area above the "Chapel" and a steel hand-rail along the stairs from the lookout to the "Chapel" together with work undertaken by the Apex Club in the 1970s, being the construction of a 60-step stone stair from the lookout to the "Chapel". Apex have also attempted to reconstruct part of the "Main Cave". Apex, however, used cement mortar, which deviated from Ricetti's utilisation of clay-mortar and dry-stone techniques.[1]

• Historical photos.
• Kelly, B (1988). Wilderness to Eden: A History of the City of Griffith, its Region and its People.
• Australian Military Forces (1942). "Digital copy of item 8622881: Internee Service and Casualty Form, Valeri Ricetti".
• Caillard, Bobby (2008). Conservation Management Strategy: The Hermit's Cave Complex, Scenic Hill, Griffith, NSW.
• Caillard, Bobby (2005). Recovering the Lost Landscape of Valeri Ricetti: the archaeology of an individual.
• Destination NSW (2007). "Hermit's Cave and Lookout".
• H Dalton and W Polkinghorne (eds) (1990). Griffith and District Pioneers: a biographical register.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
• Ceccato, Peter (2005). Personal discussions and site visit with Peter Kabaila.
• Peter Kabaila (Black Mountain Projects Pty Ltd) (2006). Hermit's Cave: Conservation Management Strategy.
• Peter Kabaila (Black Mountain Projects Pty Ltd) (2005). Griffith Heritage.
• Peter Kabaila and the people of Griffith (2004). Griffith Heritage Study: prepared for Griffith City Council and NSW Heritage Office.
• Petronio (Peter) Ceccato (2005). The True Story: The Scenic Hill Hermit and part of Griffith's history - from Broken Hill to Scenic Hill.
• Lloyd, Simon (2000). Report and Sketch Plan for Hermit's Cave.
• Fenwick, W H (1977). His Eden Blossomed on an Alien Hill.
• Kabaila, Peter (2005). Griffith Heritage Study.

This Wikipedia article contains material from Hermit's Cave Complex, entry number 01766 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 2 June 2018.