There are a few famous shearing sheds and sheep properties
in out back NSW. Henry Lawson made many famous like Dunlop station and Toorale
Station when he lived and worked around Bourke and then latter wrote about his experiences
in his poetry. The remarkable thing about stone shearing sheds is that they are
very rare when most sheds are made of corrugated iron or split timber.
About 15 years ago I was working in Bourke and got to talking to an old shearer. He told me that there was an old abandoned sheep station that in the past would have rivalled any of the big name stations of 100 years ago and that he used to work there 60 odd years ago. He told me it was unique in the outback. I was keen to see it so I asked him if he would take me out and show me.
Curraweena station is about half way between Bourke and Cobar and you would never know it was there unless you knew it was there. As we drove in some way off the main road I was mesmerised as I saw this wonderful old stone house ahead of us. The house is made of local stone and handmade bricks and still has many of its original fittings. The kitchen has its original cast iron baking ovens built into the walls with full cast iron fronts and handmade brick interiors. You can see from the photo of the window the detail the builders built into the house. But it is the effort that the owner put into the property as a whole that is remarkable not just the house
In front of the house you can still make out the rows of stone marking out the garden beds. The rows are made up of broken white quartz and show that the gardens must have been very extensive. The amount of effort that it took to collect the stones is a testament to somebody’s devotion to the garden. It made me wonder where you would get the water to maintain it. My question was soon answered as we walked around to the back of the house. Out the back is one of the largest hand dug underground water tanks in NSW made from possibly thousands of handmade bricks fired on site. It is huge and when you consider the effort that was needed to dig it out and make all the bricks over 100 years ago it is remarkable, the ground is like rock. Every available down pipe from the house runs into it eventually. It must be 3 or 4 meters deep, it is like a swimming pool. Running into the tank from the back we found something just wonderful. Running into the tank from the small hill behind is an aqueduct system. What was so amazing about it was that it is made from beautiful terracotta sections making up the pipe. The old shear told me that the owner had them imported from Italy specifically to make the aqueduct so that he could collect every available drop of water from every roof on the property to fill the tank even rain from the stone shearing shed. It was at this point I said -"stone shearing shed”?
The sun was going down so we hurried along following the aqueduct through the scrub and as we came through some small trees I saw in front of me an incredible stone shearing shed in remarkable condition. The shed was made from local stone and as the sun set the walls were glowing a wonderful burnt red colour in the light. As we walked around the shed scattered on the ground lay bits and pieces of its shearing past like old combs and bottles. There was even a pair of old rusty hand shears left sitting on the fence as if the shearer had just finished using them and put them on the fence and then forgot to go back and get them.
Inside the shed it was like going back in time it was almost like walking into a Henry Lawson story. The timber inside was in amazing condition and the floor still smelt like lanolin from having thousands of sheep pass through the shed over the years. The gates on the pens had no mettle fittings and the hinges were a sort of handmade wooden peg system it was just amazing. The shed had never been mechanised so it was never fitted with a steam engine or power it was just so original and special. As it was now getting dark we started to head back to the car. As we walked through the scrub a flock of white-winged Chough birds flew through calling to each other, they have a very strange chime like call quite musical. It was as if they were making sure that we were leaving. It was very surreal. Even though it was about 10 years ago the memory is still very fresh in my mind I don't think I will ever forget the experience. I hope one day I will have the chance to go back.
About 15 years ago I was working in Bourke and got to talking to an old shearer. He told me that there was an old abandoned sheep station that in the past would have rivalled any of the big name stations of 100 years ago and that he used to work there 60 odd years ago. He told me it was unique in the outback. I was keen to see it so I asked him if he would take me out and show me.
Curraweena station is about half way between Bourke and Cobar and you would never know it was there unless you knew it was there. As we drove in some way off the main road I was mesmerised as I saw this wonderful old stone house ahead of us. The house is made of local stone and handmade bricks and still has many of its original fittings. The kitchen has its original cast iron baking ovens built into the walls with full cast iron fronts and handmade brick interiors. You can see from the photo of the window the detail the builders built into the house. But it is the effort that the owner put into the property as a whole that is remarkable not just the house
In front of the house you can still make out the rows of stone marking out the garden beds. The rows are made up of broken white quartz and show that the gardens must have been very extensive. The amount of effort that it took to collect the stones is a testament to somebody’s devotion to the garden. It made me wonder where you would get the water to maintain it. My question was soon answered as we walked around to the back of the house. Out the back is one of the largest hand dug underground water tanks in NSW made from possibly thousands of handmade bricks fired on site. It is huge and when you consider the effort that was needed to dig it out and make all the bricks over 100 years ago it is remarkable, the ground is like rock. Every available down pipe from the house runs into it eventually. It must be 3 or 4 meters deep, it is like a swimming pool. Running into the tank from the back we found something just wonderful. Running into the tank from the small hill behind is an aqueduct system. What was so amazing about it was that it is made from beautiful terracotta sections making up the pipe. The old shear told me that the owner had them imported from Italy specifically to make the aqueduct so that he could collect every available drop of water from every roof on the property to fill the tank even rain from the stone shearing shed. It was at this point I said -"stone shearing shed”?
The sun was going down so we hurried along following the aqueduct through the scrub and as we came through some small trees I saw in front of me an incredible stone shearing shed in remarkable condition. The shed was made from local stone and as the sun set the walls were glowing a wonderful burnt red colour in the light. As we walked around the shed scattered on the ground lay bits and pieces of its shearing past like old combs and bottles. There was even a pair of old rusty hand shears left sitting on the fence as if the shearer had just finished using them and put them on the fence and then forgot to go back and get them.
Inside the shed it was like going back in time it was almost like walking into a Henry Lawson story. The timber inside was in amazing condition and the floor still smelt like lanolin from having thousands of sheep pass through the shed over the years. The gates on the pens had no mettle fittings and the hinges were a sort of handmade wooden peg system it was just amazing. The shed had never been mechanised so it was never fitted with a steam engine or power it was just so original and special. As it was now getting dark we started to head back to the car. As we walked through the scrub a flock of white-winged Chough birds flew through calling to each other, they have a very strange chime like call quite musical. It was as if they were making sure that we were leaving. It was very surreal. Even though it was about 10 years ago the memory is still very fresh in my mind I don't think I will ever forget the experience. I hope one day I will have the chance to go back.
You might like to look at this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thejohnlittlestory.com
if antone has any relevant info on Curraweena station I would appreciate a note to:
info@thejohnlittlestory.com
regards,
Lin Little
g,day Fred, i'm not sure if you will get this, as i don't really know what i'm doing on this thing, but a friend of a mate of mine used to manage the property in the mid 1980's. It was a real eye opener to me, he lived in the new homestead roughly 10 k's up the road towards bourke. We went to the old homestead for a bbq one day and decided we brave it and stay the night, we walked to the top of the hill that night and down the ridge into the holding yards and into the shearing shed, i,m not sure if you know the history of the Judd brothers, who were murdered on the property. bruce rea
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