Gowrie Hut

Gowrie Hue Plaque

Photo: Shirley Tunnicliff collection

Gowrie Hut was probably built for a local settler, Percy William Morrison, some time between 1900 and 1906 as a residence for himself and his family.

Parts of "Gowrie" were first formally settled in 1893 as pioneer pastoralists James Edward Morrison and William Cox ranged up from the Goulburn River Valley seeking good granting land.

At first, use was seasonal, but this hut testifies to attempts at permant settlement.

The land was first taken up on an annual lease basis. In 1900 this portion (53) was then excised as a conditional purchase in the hands of Percy William Morrison. It then passed to Wallace Eames before the Issue of Grant and thereafter to Percy Tindale. In 1935 it was transferred to Albert Edward Kerney who added two crown leases to "Gowrie".

Until 1959 the property was part of the alpine leases scheme, in which cattle were grazed in the high country during spring and summer and then moved to the valleys for autumn and winter. In 1959 the property was transferred to Bryan Kerney.

 The hut was probably constructed by "Mountain Billy" Black, a local bush carpenter. He used hand=sawn stringybark and black pine fashioner with simple tools - axe, adse,wedges, threw and pitsaw - to throw up a durable buildingof commendable accuracy using the old-fashioned "vertical slab" technique.

The interior walls were papered with sheets of newspaper (hte earliest dated 1900). The presence of locally made beds, kitchen furniture, a well-made table and built in crockery shelves finished with decorative paper imply a feminine touch.
 
There was once a kitchen garden and a substantial orchard with a rnge of nut anf fruit trees. The presence of a single-mouldboard plough suggests some subsistence cropping.

This photo of Gowrie Hut may have been taken as eary as the 1940's. It shows an unidentified man holding a rifle. Another rifle leans against the motorbike, which appears to be a side-valve AJS, possibly of mid 30's vintage. (Courtesy Bryan Kerney)

In 1908-1909 the hut was used by two notorious cattle duffers, Harry Windle and Elizabeth (Jessie) Hickman and legend has it is that during WWII a military deserter was hidden here.

Bryan Kernet generously donated the hut and about one hectare of surrounding land to the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1995 and it was addred to Wollemi National Park in 1998. The Service emoloyed local bush carpenters Chris Ware and Rod Burton to restore the buiding in stages. This work was completed on 2001.

Gowrie Hut under reconstruction

   Ref: Shirley Tunnicliff