Wooleen Station Homestead

Statement of Significance

The Wooleen Station has high historic significance as one of the early stations established inthe Murchison district and for it;s long association with the Sharpe family, a well known family in the district. The Homestead is evidence of the changing fortunes of the pastoral industry and is an example of the homes built by prosperous station owners at the time, while the out buildings reveal the stages if development of the property. The distinctive curved roofs are a characteristic of a number of Murchison stations

Physical Description

The Wooleen Station consists of the Homestead, garage/workshop, machinery shed (fmr stable and cart shed), store (fmr detached kitchen), old stone cottage and shearing shed and associated buildings. Built in 1919, the main house is of hand-made concrete block construction with a Dutch gable corrugated iron roof. The main roof, which features vented gablets and corbelled brick chimneys, extends to cover the surrounding verandahs which are supported on timber posts. The house includes a breezeway which is covered by a distinctive barrel vault corrugated iron roof constructed by Alf Couch, and features slab stone floors. Internally the house consists of sitting room, dining room and six bedrooms. It is linked by a covered breezeway to another wing containing a bathroom, cool-room and kitchen. Immediately north of the kitchen are the staff dining room and quarters, while nearby stands the meat house, a timber framed structure with a steeply pitched corrugated iron roof. Although the original homestead has been demolished, the detached kitchen remains and is used as a museum. It is of stone and pug construction and has bush timber supports to the iron roof. The garage/workshop has weatherboard cladding to the walls and a dutch gable corrugated iron roof. Nearby stands the former stables and cart shed which consist of three linked buildings, all with curved corrugated iron roofs. The southern most section is of stone construction while the remaining sections are timber framed and clad with corrugated iron. A lean-to verandah roof supported on timber posts extends from the west facade. Further to the north are the stone ruins of a cottage, built in the 1870s, and used at one time as a shearers' mess and cook-house. The original stone shearing shed, built in 1889/90, was replaced in 1922 by a timber framed corrugated iron clad shed which features the characteristic curved roofs. It was built by Alf Couch who also built the homestead. Located approximately 8kms from the main house, the shearing shed stands adjacent to the corrugated iron clad shearers' quarters and kitchen building which includes one stone wall to the south and the curved iron roof. Also about 5kms from the house is a low lying flat area which , after very heavy rains, forms a large lake which is actually part of the Roderick River. Called Wooleen Lake, this is an Australian heritage listed wetland and unique rangeland.

History

Passed over by the Wittenooms, the land which became Wooleen Station was first taken up by John Perks, an employee of the Wittenooms. He selected an area of 100,000 acres for John Williams who built himself a hut at Ulands Pool. In 1886, James Sharpe, and his partner Bill Mawhinny, bought 90,000 acres of thisland. The men added a further 210,000 acres tothe property which formed the basis of Wooleen Station, which was to be owned by the Sharpe family for 99 years. Over the years James Sharpe continued to add to the proeprty and while he had a shearing shed built and wells sunk, his family lived in austere consitions in a simple iron shack with a brush shed prior to a two roomed stone cottage and separate kitchen being built c1890. James Sharpe's son, Ben worked on Wooleen for a number of years before purchasing it from his fatehr in 1916. In 1917 the stone house was badly damaged by a windstorm and the following year the current homestead was erected. Ben, his wife Minilya and their five children all worked on Wooleen over the years. The Sharpe's ownership of Wooleen ended tragically following several family deaths in the late 1970's and early 1980's after which the pastoral station was purchased by Peter Burton of Meerberrie in 1986.Brett and Helen Pollock purchased Wooleen in 1989 and now operate a very successful station stay. NOTE: the corrugated iron curver is located in the Wooleen Museum.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: Medium

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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