East Warrah Woolshed


East Warrah Woolshed is a heritage-listed shearing shed at Merriwa-Murrurundi Road, Warrah Creek, Liverpool Plains Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Samuel Craik and built from 1863 to 1864. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 10 August 2018.

History

Pre and Contact Aboriginal Custodianship

The land on which the huge former Australian Agricultural Company pastoral station, Warrah Station was established was part of the traditional lands of the Kamilaroi people who cared for the land and sustained themselves hunting the birds, insects and animals of the plains and gathering and processing vegetables. There were strong trade and ceremonial ties with the Wonnarua Aboriginal people whose main country lay in the inland regions of the Hunter and Upper Hunter Valley.
The Kamilaroi were a large nation of Aboriginal people extending from the Upper Hunter through to the Warrumbungle Mountains in the west and to the lower reaches of south west Queensland. This nation was made up of many smaller family groups who shared the gamilaraay language.
The Kamilaroi had a reputation as fierce warriors who defended their familial hunting grounds from other intruding bands and who also actively resisted European settlement for many years. One source noted that more than 500 Aboriginal and 15 Europeans were killed between 1832 and 1838 as European fortune hunters flooded into the Upper Hunter and Liverpool Plains area to settle.

Exploration and settlement

The opening up of the Upper Hunter and Liverpool Plains area was facilitated in the first instance by explorers Benjamin Singleton and John Howe in 1818 and again in 1821. In this later journey Howe reached as far as the current location of Maitland which he appraised as being good sheep country. In 1824 it was Henry Dangar who reached land to the west of Murrurundi in search of new grazing land. The next ten years saw an influx of hundreds of settlers to take up Crown lands grants in the Valley and Plains beyond.
Despite the Aboriginal resistance to this invasion, sometimes characterised as "a state of warfare", pressure from Europeans settling on and restricting access to land and its resources and the appalling effects of western disease on the indigenous peoples, resulted in their complete dispossession from their traditional land. By the mid to late 19th Century many Aboriginal people in the area had either accepted European life and settled in villages and towns or, perhaps more commonly, found residence on government reserves in the area such as Caroona near Quirindi or at St Clair reserve between Singleton and Carrowbrook. The reserves allowed Aboriginal people to survive by farming and also using traditional hunting and gathering skills.

The Australian Agricultural Company

The Australian Agricultural Company was formed under an act of British Parliament in 1824 as a result of the recommendations of Commissioner Bigge. Bigge recommended that private investment and enterprise, possibly in the growing of fine wool, was a crucial measure in the viable future of the Colony of NSW. Working capital of A£1 million was recommended to be granted as was the promise of a Crown Grant of.
A group of potential investors headed by John Macarthur soon formed and in June 1824 the AACo was enacted in Parliament. By November 1824, a Royal Charter was issued and agents appointed in the colony to act on behalf of the Company. These were James Macarthur, H. H. Macarthur and James Bowman, later husband to Miss Macarthur. Survey General John Oxley was consulted on the possible location of land suitable for growing fine wool. After rejecting his suggestions of land in the Liverpool Plains, Upper Hunter, Bathurst and Upper Hastings River on the grounds these areas were either too far from the coast and transportation, or too densely settled, land at Port Stephens was chosen and the company began to establish itself there by 1826.
In the first years of its operation the AACo struggled to establish its ambitious enterprise and this was not helped by the fact that the land at Port Stephens was not particularly suitable for raising sheep. It was not until after 1829 when Sir Edward Parry was appointed commissioner of the company that the search for suitable fine wool growing land began in earnest and Parry proposed a swap of land at Port Stephens for another more appropriate tract of land. In 1831 on the advice of surveyor Henry Dangar, Parry made the decision to select two large runs at Warrah Creek and Goonoo Goonoo which were considered favourable for raising fine-wool sheep. Finally in 1833, after the initial rejection of the scheme by Governor Bourke and then the insistence of the Colonial Office in London, two grants of and were made to the AACo.

East Warrah Station

Development of the pastoral lands at Warrah was slow due to the shortage of available water on the run and the downturn in the demand for wool during the 1840s. In fact the company's aim to establish a leading fine wool growing enterprise in the colony was sidelined by the fact that the AACo put most of its energy and resources into its profitable coal mining enterprises. It was not until the company came under the management of a new commissioner, Mr Hodgson, that it refocused on developing its fine wool growing enterprise and in 1862 received an allocation of A£30,000 to develop sheep breeding and shearing facilities at Warrah which had been chosen for development as the AACo's head station for its wool production enterprise in the colony.
The Stock Superintendent, Samual Craik designed the new woolshed to be constructed at East Warrah in 1863. It was completed in time for shearing the property's new flock of 13,799 sheep in 1864.|256-259rp|294–295

Description

East Warrah Woolshed is a large 1864 woolshed constructed of timber cut from the property. The original building consists of a number of large catching pens at the north of the building. South of this runs two shearing boards and the southern-most part of the building is the large wool room. The sweating sheds and wool room are set on huge bed logs.
The roof of the shearing boards and wool room originally featured by a double gable roof covered with locally split shingles. The shingles were replaced with corrugated iron prior to the 1890s. The wool room roof was converted to a very large single gable structure sometime after 1900.
In 1896 an additional two wings of sweating pens were added to the north eastern side of the original woolshed. The sweating pens were constructed using sawn timber. The 1890s sweating pens are connected to the original woolshed by a long sheep bridge.

Condition

As at 8 October 2014, The building is in generally good condition. The site has moderate archaeological potential. Despite modifications to the original sweating pens, western shearing board and wool room the Warrah Woolshed maintains a relatively high degree of integrity as do the other historic buildings in the precinct.

Modifications and dates

East Warrah Woolshed is of state heritage significance as the working heart of the first head station established by the AACo, the first private enterprise in the colony charged with the establishment of the fine wool industry in NSW. The management of the enterprise, its core business of sheep growing and fine wool production is clearly demonstrated through the layout of the woolshed. The considerable achievements of the AACo in the development of the industry are also demonstrated in the size and fabric of the woolshed. It is also one of the largest woolsheds in NSW established before the 1870s.
The state significance of the item is enhanced through its association with the AACo and its achievements, the first private enterprise to engage in fine wool growing in NSW. There are numerous personal associations with noted figures who managed and developed the company.
In addition the state heritage significance of the woolshed is demonstrated in its great potential to provide information on the operation of a large pastoral head station and technical developments in the fine wool industry.
It has state significant rarity values as a rare example of a woolshed associated with the AACo. The woolshed is a rare example of a large woolshed built in the 1860s and is likely the oldest woolshed of that decade. In addition the woolshed is representative of the work of large pastoral stations in the mid to late 19th century.Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the OEH copyright and disclaimer.
East Warrah Woolshed was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 10 August 2018 having satisfied the following criteria.
The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales.
East Warrah Woolshed is likely to be of state heritage significance as the working heart of the first head pastoral station established by the AACo, the first private enterprise in the colony charged with the establishment of the fine wool industry in NSW. The woolshed contains the evidence of the scale of the pastoral enterprise in the and clearly demonstrates the size and intensity of the primary production activity of the station - the growing of sheep for the production of fine wool.
East Warrah Woolshed is one of the few very large woolsheds, still intact today, to be constructed prior to the 1870s after which time surviving sheds are more numerous. In addition the East Warrah Woolshed was one of the first woolsheds in NSW to take up mechanised shearing. Although the Suckling system was not entirely successful it's trial at East Warrah contributed to the development of that technology.
The place has a strong or special association with a person, or group of persons, of importance of cultural or natural history of New South Wales's history.
The East Warrah Station Woolshed's state heritage significance may be enhanced through its direct associations with the AACo and its objective of developing a fine wool industry in NSW. It also has associations numerous pioneering AACo officials such as Company Superintendent E. C. Merewether and the company's first Stock Superintendent, Samual Craik.
The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.
East Warrah Woolshed has local heritage significance for its aesthetic values. The woolshed is a fine example of a vernacular style woolshed constructed in the 1860s.
The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.
The East Warrah Woolshed may be of state heritage significance for it has the potential to demonstrate the development and operation of a large pastoral head station during the mid to late 19th and 20th centuries.
East Warrah Woolshed is likely to be of state heritage significance for its important role in the development of the Australian wool industry and the heritage fabric provides important information on the developments in this industry. The shed was constructed from timber logged on the property and the form of the shed demonstrates the type of rectangular lineal workflow sheds being constructed prior to the advent of the T shaped woolshed of the 1870s. Additionally in 1886, the shed hosted a trial the Suckling Patent compressed air shearing system. The failure of this system at East Warrah helped secure the Wolseley Patent shearing system as the preferred option for woolshed across NSW and beyond.
The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.
East Warrah Woolshed may be a rare example of a large woolshed on runs beyond the limits of location in the 1860s and is likely to be the oldest surviving woolshed from this decade.
The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales.
The item may be of state heritage significance as a fine example of a woolshed dating from the mid to late 19th century in NSW. It is also representative of the substantial investment into fine wool growing undertaken by the Australian Agricultural Company from 1862.

Attribution