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CANUNDA (FORMER GLENISLA) SHEEPWASH, SHEEPDIP, LONE GRAVE AND WOOLSHED SITE

Other Name

GLENISLA

Location

Henty Highway, GLENISLA VIC 3408 - Property No 0460

File Number

611

Level

Stage 2 study complete

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Canunda (former Glenisla) sheepwash and yards complex is located on a property named Canunda, on part of the former Glenisla Run. The sheepwash is located some distance from the Woohlpooer Swamp, now drained, to its north which was the principal supply of water. A feeder channel led 80.0m south from the swamp to a circular dam created by an earth bank and a stone section on the southern side which fed the water into a sluice. The sheepwash was on the far of south side of the dam. It consisted of two areas, a shallow depression which was used as a holding area and to soap the sheep, and a deep washing area for spraying the sheep. The two halves were divided by an earth bank with the sluice above it. The shallow half sloped down towards the bank and the men soaking the sheep. The deep half sloped up and away from the men spaying the sheep. Other men yarded the sheep into and out of the sheepwash. Much of the masonry which lined the dam and the sheepwash survives. About 10.0m from the dam there was a boiler mounted in a stone and brick pit.

Glenisla was established in 1843 by Scottish pastoralist Hector Norman Simpson (c.1820-80) who named the run after an area near Balmoral in Scotland. At the time it was licenced, Glenisla consisted of 96,000 acres, with 500 head of cattle and 25,000 sheep. In 1847 the lease was transferred to Donald Campbell Simson, as trustee for Jane Charlotte Simson and John Coghill Simson when it was subdivided into Glenisla North and South. The next owners, Charles Carter and Sons played an important role in the improvement of sheep, and ran many thousands on the vast tracts of land which they owned or leased throughout the Grampians and Wimmera, including Glenisla. The Sheepwash is the second Glenisla sheepwash, the first being a simple arrangement, dating from the 1840s located on Cultivation Creek. This was superseded, possibly about 1874, by a very large and elaborate hot water sheepwash, of which much of the masonry which lined the dam and the sheepwash survive. It was fed by water from the lake channelled into a stone lined pit. Sheep were assembled on a paved area and then driven into the pit where men stood in special clothing and barrels ready to wash them. The washed sheep moved out of the water and onto another standing area where they drained. Once drained, they moved on a specially constructed board-walk towards holding yards near the shearing shed. The whole was perhaps the most largest and sophisticated arrangement developed for washing and shearing sheep in Victoria. It can be compared with the Bessiebelle sheepwash. There has been no architect , engineer or builder associated with the structures. The sheepwash is in ruinous condition, but retains an excellent degree of integrity.

How is it significant?
The Canunda (former Glenisla) sheepwash is of historical and archeological significance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?
The Canunda (Glenisla) sheepwash is perhaps one of the most sophisticated, intact surviving examples of a traditional sheepwash associated with a large pastoral property in Victoria. It clearly demonstrates the logistics, engineering skill and thought behind developing a system which was able to wash the grease from the wool of thousands of sheep over a short period of time. The location, adjacent to the woolshed is also important, as when all associated structures are viewed as a whole, it provides an understanding of a previous way of life. The sheepwash is of archaeological significance for its archaeological potential, as its complexity suggests the potential to reveal more about the sheepwashing processes and associated pastoral occupation and activity in the area.

Group

Farming and Grazing