Peedamulla Homestead (ruin)

Statement of Significance

Peedamulla Homestead (ruin), a group of single-storey stone and iron buildings including a homestead, adjacent kitchen and outbuildings (c.1915), older stone buildings (c.1900) and a water tank (c.1885) set in a landscape of pastoral grass and trees, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: the place has close associations with Edmund and Archibald Burt, early pastoralists in the Pilbara who were important identities in the establishment of Onslow and the development of the Ashburton region. the place has associations with the development of the pastoral industry in the Ashburton district and demonstrates the evolution of a pastoral settlement since 1885. it contributes to the community's sense of place as a former pastoral station homestead that was once a regular stopping place for travellers on the original north-west highway; and, the place is a representative example of a c.1915 North-West pastoral homestead.

Physical Description

Peedamulla Homestead consists of single-storey stone and iron buildings, including the c.1915 homestead, adjacent kitchen and outbuildings, earlier stone buildings from c.1895, and a c.1885 stone water tank. The homestead is built of local stone with rendered quoins showing Victorian Georgian influences. It comprises two rectangular wings linked by a central breezeway, with all rooms opening onto a surrounding concrete verandah that was likely timber originally. Many cast-iron verandah posts around the homestead and kitchen remain. Several more recent station and training-related buildings sit less than 50 metres north of the homestead and obstruct the view when approaching from the main gravel road. A few hundred metres to the northwest stand the c.1885 water tank, a circular four-metre-high double-stone structure with a regularly bonded external face and mud-mortared rubble inner wall. Near the tank are two small single-room stone structures: a c.1885 dwelling with bush-timber lintels, a west verandah and evidence of a former southern verandah, and a c.1895 building with bush-timber rafters and flat tin sheeting. Inside the homestead, remnants of plaster cornices, air vents and hard-plastered walls survive, though ceilings are missing and significant weathering and graffiti are evident. A classically detailed arch with Corinthian columns connects the lounge room to the breezeway, and each room retains its fireplace and mantelpiece.

History

Peedamulla Homestead was originally known as Peedamullah until 1928. The name comes from a local Aboriginal word meaning “plenty water.” After Francis T. Gregory’s 1862 explorations opened the Ashburton district to pastoralism, more than 106 leases were taken up between 1879 and 1883, including those that became Peedamulla Station. Morrell and Cook were the first known leaseholders, followed by brothers Edmund and Archibald Burt in the early 1880s. Around 1885, a water tank and a small stone dwelling were built, with another similar building added about ten years later. The Burts employed Aboriginal workers, most of whom were born on or near the station, with men undertaking pastoral work and women assisting around the homestead. Archibald Burt was active in the development of Old Onslow after its gazettal in 1885, serving on the Ashburton Roads Board before leaving the property in 1895. Edmund remained in charge and likely commissioned the circa-1915 homestead, built as living standards improved and in anticipation of his marriage in 1916. Edmund served as Chairman of the Ashburton Roads Board between 1920 and 1927, during which the new town of Onslow at Beadon Point was developed. The station sat along the original coastal highway, and travellers often stopped at the homestead. Edmund died in 1927; Peedamulla Station Ltd was incorporated the following year and took over the lease in 1929. Ownership changed again in 1933 to Cornelius McManus and W. Montgomery, and a cyclone in 1934 destroyed 40 windmills. In 1937, Alexander Hardie purchased the 286,253-hectare property. After his death in 1954, other Hardie family members continued operations. The lease was reduced in 1961 due to land resumed for the Onslow Water Supply, and cyclones in 1961 and 1963 damaged the homestead and shearing sheds, with significant stock losses. Falling wool prices led to the sale of the station in the early 1970s to Neville and Moira McDonald. They sold it again within three years. In 1975, the Commonwealth Government purchased Peedamulla for the Aboriginal people of the Onslow region. The Noualla Group (Inc.) took over the lease, and since 1981 the Jundaru Aboriginal Corporation has managed the station. Cyclone Olivia unroofed the homestead in 1984, leading managers to relocate to a transportable building nearby. Since 2014, Ashburton Aboriginal Corporation has delivered pastoral training programs on the station.

Archaeology

The place may contain material or subsurface remains that have the potential to contribute to a better understanding of the evolution of human occupation and development in the remote North-West.

Integrity/Authenticity

Medium

Condition

Poor. Whilst the exterior walls are in good condition the place is in a poor condition due to exposure to the elements, subsequent vandalism, destruction of the windows, and the loss of the main roof form.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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