This scoop was used to remove accumulated wet, sludgy matter from the bottom of a drain that had been previously dug but not yet tiled.
Drainage works were a significant component of the convict labour at Brickendon, with drains preventing waterlogged soils and in particular helping to remove excess water from the various ‘swamps’ on the property. In September 1829 William Archer noted in his diary that it had been “a stormy night with much rain, the day very stormy with frequent and heavy rain. The swamps in from are much increased and the new drain opposite has run out an increasing stream all day.”
