Yanrey facts for kids
Yanrey Station, often called Yanrey, is a huge piece of land used for farming. It operates as a sheep station, which means it's mainly for raising sheep.
This station is located about 93 kilometres (58 mi) south-east of Exmouth. It's also about 110 kilometres (68 mi) south of Onslow. You can find it in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
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About Yanrey Station
Yanrey Station covers a massive area of 2,508 square kilometres (968 sq mi). It shares its borders with several other stations. These include Minderoo, Koordarrie, Giralia, Nanutarra, Uaroo, and Nyang Stations.
The land at Yanrey has wide, sandy plains. It also has areas of flat land made of clay. The Yannanie River flows through the property from north to south. This river creates flood plains around it. The station can hold up to 47,000 sheep at one time.
A Look Back in Time
Yanrey Station was first started by two people, John and David Stewart. After John Stewart passed away, the station was sold. It was bought by Thomas Frederick de Pledge.
De Pledge knew the area well. He had worked for the Stewarts as a jackaroo. A jackaroo is like a trainee on a farm. He also worked on the nearby Minderoo Station for seven years.
How Yanrey Grew
In 1897, Thomas de Pledge became the manager at Yanrey. He bought the property in 1898. At that time, it was about 270,000 acres (109,265 ha) in size.
Over the next three years, de Pledge bought more land. He added the nearby Yannangal, Yannaney, and Globe Hill properties. This made Yanrey much larger, covering about 761,000 acres (3,080 km2). He also worked hard to improve the sheep. This made sure that Yanrey wool always sold for good prices.
At one point, Yanrey was the third largest property in the Ashburton District. It was an amazing 876,892 acres (354,866 ha) big!
Challenges and Changes
In 1906, Yanrey had around 30,000 sheep. But in 1909, a big cyclone hit the station. It caused a lot of damage. All the windmills were destroyed. Miles of fences were lost, and the land was covered in water.
By the 1920s, people used horses, camels, and cars to move the wool clip. The wool clip is all the wool shorn from the sheep. Cars could not drive on roads used by animals when it was wet. So, between 1927 and 1930, new roads were made just for cars. One of these roads led to Yanrey.
In 1952, Alex Maitland stopped being the station manager. Ashley Paterson took over his role. By 1979, Yanrey had 12,730 sheep and 1,210 cattle.
The Yanrey Homestead
The main house at Yanrey, called the homestead, was built in 1901. An extra part was added to the eastern side in 1915.
The main building has a wooden frame. It is covered with corrugated iron, which is a strong metal material. The homestead is shaped like a rectangle. It has two sloped roofs and a verandah all around it. This shows that it was built in two stages. This homestead is considered a heritage site. This means it is an important historical building.
