Long Homestead Site

Statement of Significance

• Long homestead was the first farm to be established in the district.
• The place is held in high regard by the local community who acknowledge the role played by the Longs in the development of their district.
• The place is considered to have high potential as an archaeological site.
• Long Homestead was once an important stopping point along the Northern Highway for both mail carters and people moving stock both north and south.
• The homestead and the associated features are considered to be representative examples of a farm established in a new district in the 1860s

Physical Description

The site was inspected on 12 June 1999. Long Homestead is located on the eastern side of the Old Perth - Geraldton Road, with the boundary fence of Location 385 running beside the road. The Homestead site lies on land which slopes gently downwards on the north east side towards a small creek and then rises again gently to the north east. At the time of the visit, the fields to the north and east of Long Homestead were planted with a crop of canola.
All of the buildings and features that were constructed during William Long's lifetime are now in a ruinous condition or all trace of them have disappeared. What remains of the homestead and the barn lie within a fenced area close to the road, while two wells and the gravestones lie outside this fenced area. A concrete and corrugated galvanised shed is located next to the site of the old homestead and is used by the Coorow Community Land group to store fertiliser.
HOMESTEAD
The ruins of the homestead lie approximately 97 metres from the western boundary of Location 385, with the south - west corner lying only 2 metres away from the fertiliser shed. The exact outline of the building was difficult to determine at the time of the visit due to the luxuriant growth of winter grasses and weeds and the damage done in the past to the southern section of the building. What evidence remains indicates that the building was once oriented east - west, with the longest walls lying on an east west axis. All that remains of the building is the rubble foundation which was constructed of undressed granite rocks held together with a mud mortar. The north east corner was marked with an undressed wooden post and two flagstones lie approximately 8.5 metres to the south of the north east corner. The southern section of the building has suffered extensive damage with the outline of the building largely destroyed at ground level.
Loose stones and mounds of red loam lie over much of what was the interior of the building, along with pieces of dressed timber and some roofing iron. There is no above ground evidence of verandah posts on either the western or eastern sides of the building. Archaeological work may reveal the presence of these posts below ground level. Photographic evidence showed that the building once had two chimneys, however, no large accumulation of stone rubble was noted at the northern end of the building. The mounded rubble which currently lies near the centre of the building may be evidence for the central chimney, or it may represent the walls of the building.
BARN
The ruins of what is considered to be the barn lie close to the south - west corner of Location 385. The current fence line passes next to the western wall of the building. Unlike the homestead, the ruins of the barn are much clearer and it is possible to determine the line of the walls and estimate its original size.
All that remains of the barn are the stone foundations which were constructed from undressed granite rocks, held together with a simple mud mortar. The walls were heavily overgrown with winter grasses and weeds, some of which was removed to make it easier to see the line of the walls. The building was approximately 15.5. metres long (north south) and 5.5 metres wide (east west). A stone floor was located at the southern end of the building. It was difficult to determine the full extent of this floor due to the luxuriant growth of weeds and soil which had partially covered some of the area. The fragmented nature of the walls made it difficult to pin-point where openings may have been, although a gap in the eastern wall, towards the southern end, may possibly represent an opening.
LONG’S WELL
This well lies approximately 200 metres to the north of the homestead next to the Old Perth - Geraldton Road. At the time of the visit, the well was so full of water it was not possible to determine whether the stones which would have been used to line the sides or top of the well were still in-situ or whether they had collapsed into the interior. The well is fed by a small creek which enters it on the southern side. It would appear that at present the well contains far more water than in Long's time.
LONG HOMESTEAD WELL
This well is located approximately 90 metres to the north east of the homestead and lies in a field planted with canola. As with Long's Well, this well was also filled to capacity however, the stones which defined the top of the well were still visible. The top of the well has been covered with sheets of corrugated galvanised iron and then weighted with stones and pieces of dressed timber. The corrugated galvanised iron has sagged under the weight of the water which has collected there in previous rainfalls and also from water seeping up from the well around the edges of the sheets. Due to the presence of the corrugated iron sheets it was not possible to determine the exact dimensions of this well. The diameter of the well is estimated to be 3.300 metres.
GRAVESITE
Two headstones containing the headstones of Elizabeth Brand and Sarah Long are located across fields to the north east of the homestead and lie close to an area of remnant bushland. The headstones lie in an enclosure formed from four steel gates, of the type used to make temporary sheep enclosures. The interior area of the enclosure has been paved with concrete slabs.
• Elizabeth Brand's simple, round-headed slate headstone lies in the centre of the enclosure. The inscription of the stone is in plain, engraved uppercase letters.
• Sarah Long's headstone lies on the north side of Elizabeth's and is a marble slab with a scalloped top and an inscription composed of inlaid letters.
• A fertiliser shed on the site, near the ruins of the Homestead is not considered to have any heritage significance.

History

Assessment 2001
Constructed 1862, now only ruins remain

William Long arrived in the Coorow district in 1862. He and his family drove their horse and bullock teams from Newcastle (Toodyay) looking for new grazing land. He was accompanied by his wife Sarah their four children, his mother (Elizabeth Brand[is]), his step-father (William Brand[is]), and his step-brother (David Brand[is]). They stopped at a place called “Coorow Springs” and squatted there until Long was able to purchase the property later in 1862. This property was Victoria Loc. 385. Long later acquired additional land and pastoral leases.
According to family history the first house constructed at Coorow Springs was made of mud bricks reinforced with chopped rushes with a thatched roof (also rushes cut from the sand plain). The family’s main source of income was from their flocks of sheep and the breeding of military mounts. The family also grew their own wheat which was threshed by hand on a stone threshing floor. This threshing is thought to have taken place in the barn.
An early photograph of Long Homestead shows a building with a hipped roof at the northern end and a gable roof at the southern end. The line of the roof extends beyond the walls of the building to from a verandah on the western, eastern sides and northern sides. The cladding appears to be CGI. The building has two chimney stacks, one at the northern end, the other appears to be in the centre of the house.
The property was often used by mail carters as a drop off point for mail moving between Perth and Geraldton. Travellers along the Perth – Geraldton Road would use Long’s Well for their livestock.
Long’s mother died in 1883 and was buried on the property. William Long died in 1899 and the running of the property passed to his two sons Harry and Clem. However, the farm had been mortgaged and in 1901 the mortgagor foreclosed on the brothers. The property changed hands several times over the years until it was finally purchased by Coorow Community Land in 1993. It is not known when the homestead ceased to be occupied, although local knowledge suggests sometime during the 1930s. A shortage of building materials in the 1940s saw the roofing material removed to be re-used elsewhere. The removal of the roof left the building unprotected and the mud walls gradually dissolved. A storage shed was built near the homestead in 1949. During modifications to this shed the southern end of the homestead was damaged. No information is known about the fate of either the shearing shed or the barn.
Sarah Long died in 1918 and was buried in Geraldton Pioneer Cemetery. In 1992, this cemetery was covered over during roadworks and many of the headstones were removed to a Pioneer Park in Geraldton. Sarah Long’s headstone was brought back to Coorow and placed next her mother-in-laws’.
Coorow Community Land purchased Victoria Loc. 385 in 1993, with a view to preserving the Homestead site and farming the land. Money generated from farming activities would be used for community projects. Long Homestead was placed on the Shire of Coorow’s Municipal Inventory in October 1996.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.