Tillellan

Child Places

• 08804 "The Arthur" Wool Shed Group

Statement of Significance

Tillellan is a simple and dignified representative example of Australian Colonial Vernacular architecture.
The place, for its building form and characteristics of its class, makes a positive contribution to the townscape of Wagin.
The place has historic value for its close association with the Piesse family, a prominent family who were influential in the early development of Wagin and surrounding districts.

Physical Description

Tillellan is a substantial homestead built in an elevation location il a bush setting.
The walls are coLtsed, pointed, random rubble stonework with brick quoins. The medium-pitched hipped roof features two tal; chimneys. The homestead has an encircling timber verandah built on a stone plinth. The verandah is cohered by a lean-to roof, separate to the main roof. The verandah roof is supported by stop-chamfered timbe'posts with capitals and delicately detailed and decorative iron brackets. The posts are regularly spaced and infilled with a balustrade of diagonal lattice. Much of the lattice is extant.
The facade is symmetrical about a central entrance. The entrance to Tillellan is by a stone staircase with a curved low stone balustrade. The verandah roof is broken by a gable covered porch that is lined and infilled with lattice. The gable finial is missing.
Windows are double-hung sashes.
Tillellan has a timber post and mesh boundary fence with an entrance gate. The gate is framed by two established palm trees, one either side. A timber picket fence was the original boundary fence which contained a landscaped garden with lawn and garden beds. The garden is no longer'extant.
The interior is believed to comprise a central passage, ten rooms with offices. Facilities have been modernised. The extent of any alterations to the interior is unknown.
Outbuildings include a random rubble stone barn with brick quoins and a hipped roof covered in cgi, and water tanks on timber framing.
Overall, the place is in fair condition, some of the verandah floorboards and the sub-floor structure is in poor condition.

History

The late Hon. Charles Austin Piesse MLC of Tillellan, was one of the first to take up land around Wagin. His brother the late Hon. Frederick Henry Piesse MLA with whom he was in partnership in the Williams area under the name F. and C. Piesse, general storekeepers, was an original selector of the land around Katanning.
The Tillellan property was carefully chosen and covered about 30 000 acres. It contained several thousand acres of poison weed. The terms governing the purchase provided for free hold title if all trace of poison were eradicated within 20 years. The homestead was built in the early 1890s, to house a family of nine children. By 1893, an apple orchard was established and a vineyard. Twenty-two miles of fencing was quickly erected and 70 head of cattle and 2 000 merino sheep were stocked. Trees were ring barked and burnt off.
Tillellan was one of the earliest residences erected on the Great Southern Railway Line, and had one of the first rural telephone lines in the district - this being the link between the homestead and the shop in Wagin.1
During the years 1906-07, C. A. Piesse became Wagin's first Mayor and has been described as the father of Wagin.2 He was made a J. P. in 1894, Member of Parliament for South East Province and a member of the Kojonup Road Board.
In 1910, the farm was increased to 3 000 acres with 2 600 cleared. 3
Piesse made over the property to his three sons in 1911, as he had remarried and built a new home, Cintramia. Tillellan was run as a partnership from 1911, under the name Piesse Bros, and they concentrated their energies on the high grade flock of over 10 000 Merino sheep.
By the time of C. A. Piesse's death in 1914, valuable improvements had occurred in the form of a shearing shed and general equipment.
Both Vernon Frederick and Charles Oxley Piesse, C. A. Piesse's sons, were killed at war. The remaining son Gerald Austin William continued to run Tillellan under the name Piesse Bros, and he confined himself to Merino breeding and mixed farming around the homestead on a 3 000 acre block. The balance of the property was disposed of in 1927.
The farm was leased during World War II and the homestead taken over by Station 6WA for a period.4 Tillellan remains in the Piesse family, although the family now resides in nearby Cintramia.

Integrity/Authenticity

INTEGRITY: High
AUTHENTICITY: High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

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.