Wyloo Homestead

Statement of Significance

A site visit was not undertaken as part of the 2016 Local Government Heritage Inventory Review. Accordingly, the following Statement of Significance has been obtained from the original 1999 Municipal Heritage Inventory.
“The Wyloo Homestead has significant aesthetic, historic and representative cultural heritage value. Wyloo is a fine representative of one of the early stations that reflects the evolution of grazing and pastoralism in the Ashburton district from the 1880s. The station is also an example of the numerous amalgamations that occurred between families and properties in the early twentieth century when cyclones, drought, low wool prices, and the tyranny of distance brought many problems to the station owners. The survival of the station and the homestead is a testimony to the strength and resilience of the pioneers and their home building knowledge.”

Physical Description

The original Wyloo Homestead, built by the station’s founder, still stands at the foot of Mount McGrath about twenty metres northwest of the current main dwelling. It is a simple, symmetrical two-bedroom building with verandahs on all sides, paved with local flagstone. The walls are rendered, and the hipped corrugated iron roof and verandah posts have been recently replaced (as at 1999). The building was recorded as being in good condition.
The main homestead is much larger, also rectangular with a symmetrical façade and surrounding verandahs. Its walls are constructed from coarsely rendered mud and stone, with a hipped corrugated iron roof that had also been recently renewed. Timber-framed casement windows have substantial concrete-rendered sills and surrounds. Additions have been made at both ends of the building. The original layout included two bedrooms and a large dining room, with the kitchen remaining separate from the main structure. Internal floors were rammed earth until the 1930s, when timber floorboards were installed. Page

History

Wyloo, originally Peake Station, was established in 1885 by J. and M. McGrath after taking over one of Alexander Forrest’s shepherding runs. The McGrath family continued operating the property into the early 1900s. Wool was transported by horses, donkeys, or camels until the 1914 drought.
In 1927 Elder Smith & Co sold Peake Station to the newly formed Wyloo Pastoral Company. In 1928 Peake and Hardey Junction Stations were amalgamated and renamed Wyloo, after nearby Wyloo Pool (“lots of snakes”). Pastoralists R.M. Forrest, John Forrest, and Ray Cruikshank oversaw the amalgamation, and George Monger of Hardey Junction became manager.
During the 1930s Wyloo briefly hosted rotating Ashburton Road Board meetings, though the system soon reverted to holding meetings in Onslow. In 1946 the station was auctioned, advertised as comprising a stone bungalow, men’s quarters, two shearing sheds, drafting yards, and extensive sheep and cattle country (550,000 and 234,000 acres respectively).
Wyloo converted fully to cattle by the early 1960s. Its distance from town (180 km from Onslow) was partly alleviated by the establishment of an airstrip. The Pensini family owned and ran Wyloo from 1976 until 2001, after which part of the property was excised to form Cheela Plains.

Archaeology

Unable to Assess

Integrity/Authenticity

Unable to Assess

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.