Red Hill Homestead

Statement of Significance

Red Hill Station has aesthetic, historic and representative cultural heritage signficance. The station has a long history in the development of pastoral properties in the Ashburton region. It has strong associations with people who were influential in grazing and in local government dcisions such as the siting of the new Onslow township in the early 1920's. As one of the largest properties in the early 20th century, Red Hill is a good representative of other pastoral station in the North West.

Physical Description

Stone section of the homestead was built in the 1880's, weatherboard section built in 1909.
Red Hill is a substantial hoemstead built from timber and stone. The half gabled hipped roof is corrugated iron. The house is encompassed by wide shady verandah under a broken backed roof (part of the verandah has been enclosed). The verandah floors are concrete and the substantial verandah posts are timber. The walls of the old kitchen ar coarse stone blocks with rough cement tuck pointing however , the majority of ht econstruction has been completed in timber. The numerous large windows are also timber. Lawns and a number of shady trees surround the house.

History

According to information from the notes by the Shire of Ashburton, Red Hill Station was first leased by the Dalgetys in the 1870's. In the 1880's the lease passed to Messrs Monger and Forrest. Red Hill Station was part of the De Grey-Mullewa stock route, which was gazetted in 1893. This enable the stockmen a better route with good water supplies, to drive the stock safely overland. The firm of Messrs Barret-Lennard Brothers purchased Red Hill in 1902.

The stone section of the Red Hill Hoemstead was built in the 1880's, while the weatherboard section was built in c1909 when the station was under the management of the Barret-Lennards. The station was sold to Tom McGuire and Stephen Tonkin just afert World War I. In the 1918-19 Ashburton Roads Board ratebook, Red Hill Station noted as one of the ten largest properties in the district, with an area of 429,131 acres. McGuire was very involved in local affairs in Onslow. He was also involved in an official party of people looking for a new town site in 1920. In 1934 while in Perth, he was part of a deputation of North West pastoralists who sought help from the government after the devastaitn cyclone of the same year. This cyclone destroyed much of Onslow including a large part of hte jetty and telephone lines that were an important part of communication for the isolated stations like Red Hill.

In 1949 Red Hill Station was taken over by Ted Crawford. In the 1980's Ted Crawford was living in Onslow. He contributed to part of Chapter 17 "Rememberance of Times past' in "Edge of Empire" by M & A Webb.

In 1981 the Corker family who still manage the property in 1999 purchased Red Hill Station. in 1999 the station ran only cattle, the last sheep being handled in c1983. The station is 188,000 hectares and is situated 140 kilometres from Onslow and 60 kilometres from Pannawonica.

Integrity/Authenticity

Though changes have been made over time the house appears to be fairly high integrity.

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.