Lyons River Station

Statement of Significance

Lyons River Station has considerable historic significance as evidence of the establishment of the pastoral industry in the Gascoyne district. Although the homestead has been modified over the years, its large scale, use local materials, intact kitchen building combined with impressive location and panoramic views afford the place a high degree of aesthetic significance.

Physical Description

Located north of Gascoyne Junction, the Lyons River Homestead is situated in an elevated position and commands panoramic views to the Kennedy Ranges in the west and the Lyons River in the east. The place consists of the main homestead, a separate kitchen/dining building, machinery shed and other outbuildings. The homestead is an 'L' shaped building of stone construction. The building has a hipped corrugated iron roof which extends to cover surrounding verandahs which are supported on metal poles. The homestead appears to have originally comprised of two buildings which have now been joined by enclosing the breezeway between them and replacing the original roofs with one large structure. French doors open out onto the verandah which has been concreted. Other alterations include the installation of a number of aluminium framed windows and some verandah enclosures. A cement render has been applied to the external stone walls to window sill height. Nearby to the north is the kitchen/dining building which is of local stone construction with a corrugated iron hipped roof. The surrounding verandah is an extension of the main roof and has been partly enclosed with shade cloth. The building has small timber framed casement windows and chimney to the south facade. The room to the western end is believed to have been used as a school room. Further to the west are several outbuildings including a machinery shed and a small stone building with corrugated iron roof which was the store. The shearing shed is located some distance to the south.

History

The Lyons River Station takes its name from the river which runs through the property, which was named in honour of Admiral Lyons by F. Gregory 'when he explored the area in 1858. The station was originally part of large tracts of land first taken up by well-known pastoralists George Hamersley and Thomas Simms. Following a period of drought the leases were transferred in 1887 to S.J. Phillips and P. Ryan, who also held Jimba Jimba Station to the south and west. No development work was carried out on the property until after 1906 when William Hatch purchased the lease. The Hatch family were responsible for most of the pioneering work on the property. William Hatch purchased an additional 60,649 acres from Mr Bush which gave him a total of 301,251 acres. Lyons River Station experienced some good seasons in the early 1900s and a new shearing shed was built in 1911. William Hatch, who was a foundation member of the Gascoyne Road Board, passed away in 1932, after which Lyons River was managed by his nephew of the same name. Bill Hatch Junior managed the station from the end of the depression through the drought years and also the war years, Ike Trelcar took over the management of the station after Bill and Di Hatch left Lyons River in 1949. In 1962 the property passed into the hands of the McTaggart family and was managed by Alan McTaggart and his wife Jenny until they bought Mundabullagana Station. Since then the station has been under management. 'McDonald.R; 'Winning the Gascoyne'. Hesperian Press. Penh. 1991. pp. 127-132 & Battye JS ed), The History cf the North West Of Australia'. V.K. Jones & Co Perth. 1913. pp. 259-70

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: Medium

Condition

Fair

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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