FORMER BERRIBEE SHEARER’S QUARTERS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

The Former Shearer’s Quarters area at Berribee Homestead Complex comprises a shearers’ area associated with Berribee Station. This site represents the archaeological remains of a 1925 shearers’ living quarters (including the remains of the overseer’s cottage), situated near the extant shearing shed and sheep dip. This place represents the potential for archaeological features and deposits associated with the working and domestic lives of the people who formerly occupied the shearers’ quarters. While the quarters themselves are no longer extant, and the date of its demolition remains unknown, the footings and kitchen fireplace are visible, along with a raised area that may comprise a building slab. Surface materials identified comprise broken bottles, ceramic fragments, and metal fragments that may represent door hinges and window closures, which are representative of the sorts of artefacts that may be present in a subsurface context.

The Former Shearer’s Quarters is of local historical and scientific significance.

The Former Shearer’s Quarters are historically and scientifically important as this site can provide archaeological information on the lives of the shearers who were quartered there. The site is part of the Berribee Homestead Complex, which was continually operated between 1920 and 1976 by members of the Bowden family under the Berribee Pastoral Company, and from 1976 to 1991 by the Amarina Pastoral Company. It contains features that relate to the shearers’ quarters, which in turn, are connected to the overall wool industry in the Millewa from 1925 onwards. This would also provide a clearer understanding of the timeperiod in which the shearers lived on Berribee Station, over that 71-year period, and may also provide additional information as to how the quarters were constructed and maintained, and the approximate date of the demolition of these quarters. Therefore, this archaeological site can shed light on the domestic and working lives of the shearers who worked there, providing an understanding as to the part the shearers played in the early-mid C20th pastoral industry in the Millewa region.