FORMER BERRIBEE SHEARER’S QUARTERS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
BERRIBEE HOMESTEAD TRACK, LINDSAY POINT
![Victorian Heritage Inventory](http://api.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/img/owner_icons/1087.gif)
-
Add to tour
You must log in to do that.
-
Share
-
Shortlist place
You must log in to do that.
- Download report
Statement of Significance
-
-
FORMER BERRIBEE SHEARER’S QUARTERS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE - History
Berribee Pastoral Company was formed by Harold and Colin Bowden, and Charles R Hunt on 29 July 1920 for £15,000. They gained their Grazing Licence for 58,000 acres of the northern portion of Berribee Front Paddock on 1 June 1920. Hunt left the company in 1921, leaving the Bowden brothers with his shares. While Lindsay Island was originally part of the plan of the licenced land, it was excised from the new Grazing Licence given in 1935 when Harold became the sole manager of the property. Mapping dating to 1912 shows the original property as including much of the west half of Lindsay Island, although no buildings are extant in the vicinity of the homestead in 1916. A 1926 plan confirms that the island had been excised, with Berribee Pastoral Company operating to the southeast of Lindsay Island. During the 1930s and 1940s, the property was overgrazed, causing sand drifts to accumulate there during the drought. Additionally, there were timber getters operating for wood for the distilleries in Renmark, under the supervision of the State Forests Department (1908-1918) and the Victorian Forestry Commission (1918-1983). Harold’s son, Geoff, administered the company after his father’s death in 1952, and seems to have utilised land both on and off Lindsay Island during his tenure. By 1966, when Geoff made an application to purchase 41,300 acres of land for Berribee Station, an assessment report by the Forests Commission stated that all merchantable timber has been removed under licence over the past ten years. Aerial imagery shows the homestation, including the shearers' quarters near the woolshed, in 1972. In 1976, the property was taken up the Amarina Pastoral Company until 1991, when it became part of the Murray-Sunset National Park (Ballinger 2005; Bell 2013). The first small homestead, which is still extant, was built by the Bowden brothers in 1920, comprising a two-home house with a slab and corrugated iron kitchen and tank. However, a larger kit home, the second homestead, was built adjacent to the original structure by the brothers in 1922. This is also extant, but has undergone remodelling and renovations between 1927 and 1956. A third homestead was built in 1925 for Colin after his marriage, but it was destroyed in a fire in 1962 (Ballinger 2005). Photography of several of the buildings was taken in c.1926, showing the approximate relationship between the then extant structures. Additional buildings were built across Berribee Station, including a six-stand Murray Pine, Oregon timber and corrugated iron wool shed in 1925, and an overseer's cottage and shearers' quarters shortly thereafter. A garage and an engine shed were added in the 1930s, with a septic tank added in 1946-1947 (Ballinger 2005). Aerial imagery dated to c.1965 shows the portion of the station adjacent the Murray River. Today, the homestead complex comprises two homesteads, a pumphouse, water tank and sheds, along with diesel tank, tank stands, a garage, and a washouse and fire pit. To the west, former stacles and tack shed and a slaughter slab are extant.FORMER BERRIBEE SHEARER’S QUARTERS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE - Interpretation of Site
The Former Shearers’ Quarters area at Berribee Homestead Complex contains features that relate to grazing and raising livestock as part of the wool industry in the Millewa from 1925 onwards, particuarly to how the shearers lived on Berribee Station. The extant corrugated iron wool shed was built in 1925, with the related overseer’s cottage and shearers’ quarters built shortly afterwards. The quarters themselves are no longer extant, and the date of its demolition remains unknown. The footings and kitchen fireplace are visible, along with a raised area that may comprise a building slab. Broken bottles, which have not been dated, were also identified on the site, along with ceramic fragments, and metal fragments that may represent door hinges and window closures representative of the sorts of artefacts that may be present in a subsurface context. The Berribee Homestead Complex evidences the life of the Millewa shearer from the 1920s, particularly those employed by the Berribee Pastoral Company. This history is significant at a local level, within the framework as part of transforming and managing land and natural resources, in particular, grazing and raising livestock as part of the wool industry. The Former Shearer’s Quarters area at Berribee Homestead Complex meets the definition of archaeological site under the Heritage Act. It contains features that relate to the shearers’ quarters that are 75 or more years old, provides information of past activity in the State, relating to grazing and raising livestock as part of the wool industry in the Millewa from 1925 onwards, which require archaeological methods to reveal information about the use of these historical items at the site. The site contains features relating to how shearers lived on Berribee Station. While the quarters themselves are no longer extant, and the date of its demolition remains unknown, the footings and kitchen fireplace are visible, along with a raised area that may comprise a building slab. Broken bottles, which have not been dated, were also identified on the site, along with ceramic fragments, and metal fragments that may represent door hinges and window closures representative of the sorts of artefacts that may be present in a subsurface context. Therefore, the Former Shearer’s Quarters area at Berribee Homestead Complex site meets Threshold A (archaeology). The Former Shearer’s Quarters area at Berribee Homestead Complex evidences the life of the Millewa shearer from the 1920s, particularly those employed by the Berribee Pastoral Company. This history is significant at a local level, within the framework as part of transforming and managing land and natural resources, in particular, grazing and raising livestock as part of the wool industry. The Former Shearer’s Quarters area at Berribee Homestead Complex thus meets the Threshold B (place history).
Heritage Inventory Description
FORMER BERRIBEE SHEARER’S QUARTERS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE - Heritage Inventory Description
The remains of what is likely the former shearers’ quarters are approximately 70 m to the northeast of the shearing shed, and approximately 510 m to the southeast of the larger extant Berribee homestead. This comprises a number of features scattered within an area of approximately 25 m x 30 m. This site comprises what is left of the footings of the original shearers’ quarters building, along with a kitchen fireplace, along with corrugated iron on a raised area that may be a building slab. The metal portion of a bed base and a boiler are still present. The site is littered with rubbish piles, iron and wire posts, concrete slabs, ceramic fragments, metal fragments that may represent door hinges and window closures, and some broken bottles. The remains of a water tank are situated adjacent this area in the east, and an old rusted-out cast iron oven was found nearby along the track.
-
-
-
-
-
NORTH MELBOURNE POTTERYVictorian Heritage Inventory
-
STONY CREEK SLIPWAYVictorian Heritage Inventory
-
SEASONING WORKS SITE AND TERRACOTTA LUMBERWALLVictorian Heritage Inventory
-
-