Kunderang East Pastoral Station facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kunderang East Pastoral Station |
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Homestead at East Kunderang pastoral station, circa 2001
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| Location | 80km north-west Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, Jeogla, Armidale Regional Council, New South Wales, Australia |
| Built | 1892–1893 |
| Owner | Office of Environment and Heritage |
| Official name: Kunderang East Pastoral Station; Cunderang / Kunderang station (fmr.); Apsley Gorges | |
| Type | state heritage (landscape) |
| Designated | 2 April 1999 |
| Reference no. | 996 |
| Type | Farm |
| Category | Farming and Grazing |
| Builders | Joe Small |
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Kunderang East Pastoral Station is a special historic place in New South Wales, Australia. It's like an old farm or ranch that has been protected because of its important history. It was built a long time ago, between 1892 and 1893, by a builder named Joe Small. This station is also known by other names like Cunderang Station or Apsley Gorges. Today, the New South Wales government's Office of Environment and Heritage looks after it. It was officially added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on April 2, 1999, which means it's a very important part of the state's history.
Contents
History of Kunderang East
Kunderang East Pastoral Station is located on the eastern edge of the Great Dividing Range. This area is close to where the Manning, Hastings, and Macleay Rivers begin.
Early Aboriginal History
The land was first home to Aboriginal tribes. These included the Birpai, Ngaku, and the large Thungutti tribes. It is thought that the station got its name from a group of the Thungutti people who lived here.
European Settlement and Conflicts
European settlers arrived in the area in the 1820s. Cunderang Station was started by Captain George Jobling by 1843. During these early times, there were difficult conflicts between Aboriginal people and European settlers as land was taken. Aboriginal people resisted the settlers moving onto their land.
Jobling sold his share of the cattle farm in 1854. Between then and 1889, several owners who did not live on the property made it much bigger. It grew to about 90,000 acres.
Establishing Kunderang East Station
In 1889, Joe Fitzgerald and Alec McDonell bought parts of the Kunderang land. The rest of the land stayed with the Crawford family and became Kunderang West. This is when Kunderang East Station was officially created.
Building the Homestead
The main house at Kunderang East was started in 1890. First, a three-room building was made from timber planks cut and sawn right there. This building was later used as a kitchen. In 1892, a bigger four-room house was built. It was made from solid cedar timber planks. The Fitzgerald family moved into this new house. Soon after, the space between the old hut and the new house was filled in to create a dining room. The Fitzgeralds lived there until 1928.
Life in Isolation
Living at Kunderang East was very isolated. A telephone was installed in 1919, but a proper road to the property wasn't built until 1967. Electricity didn't arrive until 1973. This isolation made it hard for the station to make a lot of money from cattle. However, it also helped create a unique cultural history for the place.
Between about 1920 and 1969, Kunderang East station changed in size. It usually stayed around 100,000 acres as different leases were added or removed. Besides the main house, there were three small huts for mustering cattle far away. There was also a repaired forge (a place for metalwork) and a hayshed, plus rebuilt stockyards. These are all part of the station's remaining buildings.
Later Owners and Changes
From 1928 to 1967, Alec McDonell managed Kunderang East. In 1967, the station was sold to Kellion Estates Pty. Ltd., but McDonell continued as manager until 1973. The road access was built in 1967, and electricity came in 1973. Around this time, the old kitchen section was taken down, and a new one was built in the same spot. Kellion Estates made many changes to the property from 1967 to 1989. This included replacing the kitchen and changing the roof between the dining room and kitchen.
The New South Wales National Parks & Wildlife Service bought the property in 1989. In the 1990s, they did major work to protect and restore the buildings. They brought the roof back to how it looked around 1900. The kitchen built by Kellion Estates was removed, and the outside of the kitchen wing was rebuilt based on old information, but with a modern inside. Since the National Parks & Wildlife Service took over, the homestead has been maintained and its historic features checked regularly.
Even though different parts of the land were leased, the overall size of Kunderang Station stayed mostly the same for its hundred years of operation.
In 2008, the old kitchen wing was changed. It became a large eat-in kitchen after being used as a caretaker's cottage. Today, the homestead can be rented out for holidays. Visitors can only get there by a four-wheel-drive road. This way of using the property helps pay for its upkeep.
What Kunderang East Looks Like
The Station's Location
Kunderang East Pastoral Station is now part of the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park. This park is also part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, which is a World Heritage Area. Oxley Wild Rivers National Park is one of the biggest parks in this group. It is very important for its large areas of dry rainforest.
Between 1920 and 1969, Kunderang East station was about 100,000 acres. This size changed a bit as different land leases were added or removed.
Kunderang Station is in the middle part of the Macleay River Valley. It is located between Armidale and Kempsey. Even though it's downstream from the amazing Macleay Gorges, the scenery here is still very impressive. The most common plants are open woodland and dry rainforest. The plants change from those found on high plateaus to those found along the coast. There is a lot of wildlife in the area. Kunderang Station Nature Reserve became part of Oxley Wild Rivers National Park in 1989.
Kunderang shows a wide variety of plants and beautiful gorges. The rugged landscape means the area has stayed very natural. It marks the border between the plants of the New England area and the plants of the coast.
The station area has a cleared space west of the Macleay River. The rest is surrounded by forest. Fences mark the cleared areas and create paddocks around the main homestead buildings.
Edward Fitzgerald's grave is on the station, south of the homestead. The possible site of Jack Crawford's hut is also near this grave.
Homestead Buildings
Besides the main house, there are other buildings. These include three mustering huts located far away, a restored forge (for metalwork) southwest of the homestead, and a hay or corn shed. There are also rebuilt stockyards. These are all in the same area, southwest of the main house.
Orchard stables are northwest of the homestead.
Duval's hut and yards are south of the homestead. An Aboriginal stockman's hut is southwest of the homestead.
The Main Homestead (1893)
The main house has four rooms. It is made from vertical planks of red cedar timber, cut and sawn locally. It originally had verandas on all sides. There were also two small rooms built into the southeast and southwest corners of the verandas. This house replaced an earlier (1890) three-room timber hut. That hut was then used as the kitchen block.
Before 1900, a dining room was made by filling in the space between the house and its original kitchen block. That kitchen block was later taken down in 1973. The veranda of the first kitchen section was made into a breezeway.
Electricity was installed in 1973. At this time, the old kitchen section was removed, and a new one was built in the same place.
Condition of the Station
As of August 15, 1997, the buildings were in good condition.
The homestead is mostly still in its original form. The natural landscape around the buildings still shows how the land was used over time. It has kept many of its original features.
Why Kunderang East is Important
Kunderang East is important because its isolated location shows how early European settlement happened. It also highlights the challenges of farming and grazing in the past. This area was a frontier where Aboriginal people were forced from their homes. Sadly, conflicts happened here. The rugged, isolated land also created stories about skilled stockmen. Because it was so isolated, old ways of doing things continued far into the 20th century. This isolation also protected the area from being cleared on a large scale. This means the landscape has stayed largely the same for 150 years.
The difficult early conflicts, the bush stories that came from challenges, and the preserved landscape that shows a sense of history and isolation are all part of Kunderang East's legacy. This makes Kunderang East a symbol of the unique Australian bush experience.
Kunderang East Pastoral Station was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on April 2, 1999, because it met the following important rules:
- It shows the history of New South Wales.
Kunderang East Station is historically important because it was one of the earliest stations on the Macleay River, started around 1841. Its history shows how early European settlement happened. The old cedar homestead is proof of how natural resources were used. By the 1840s, cedar trees were almost gone from northern rivers. The fact that the main house at Kunderang could be built entirely of cedar in 1892 shows how remote and hard to reach it was. The conflicts that happened in the Kunderang East area were a sad result of Aboriginal people losing their land. Kunderang East also has a historical connection to important people involved in early settlement, like Major A.C. Innes.
- It has beautiful features or shows great skill in New South Wales.
The historic landscape of cleared grassy paddocks around the homestead, surrounded by huge mountains, is important. It has changed little since the first huts were built around 1841. It shows the isolation that existed historically. The warm colors of the large areas of red cedar and other unpainted timbers create a rare and beautiful feeling inside the house. The homestead is important for its architecture. It is the only known house made of pit-sawn Australian red cedar planks built as late as 1892. It is also the only one like it still standing on the coast of New South Wales.
- It has a strong connection with a community or group in New South Wales for social, cultural, or spiritual reasons.
Kunderang East is especially important for Aboriginal people. It was a place where difficult conflicts occurred between Aboriginal people and early settlers. It also shows how much Aboriginal men and women helped the pastoral industry. It shows the agreements made between the property manager and certain Aboriginal families for their work. The homestead also shows how social customs changed and how buildings were used for many different things. Some parts of Kunderang's history make it culturally important at a state level. The known conflicts that happened at Kunderang give this place special meaning to Aboriginal people.
- It has rare or unique aspects of New South Wales' history or nature.
Kunderang East is rare because of its beautiful and historical values.
