The “Warrock” station was established in 1841 and was taken over, in 1843 by Scottish cabinetmaker George Robertson. By 1860 when he obtained free-hold title to the land, he had erected about 40 buildings which constituted something of a private village. He initially lived in a cottage which he constructed of Tasmanian timber, handmade nails and Blackwood shingles.33 of Robertson’s well-preserved buildings remain.

Principally designed after mid-19th century pattern book sources, they typically feature Gothic effects such as steeply-pitched roofs with pronounced gables, fretted bargeboards and finials and are spread out over two acres. They include the original cottage, the homestead (built from 1848 to 1853 and retaining the handmade original timber furniture), the fine woolshed, a smokehouse, a slaughtering shed, the shearer’s quarters, a belfry (the bell was used to summon hands to meals), a dairy, a grain store, a baking house, the stables, a blacksmith’s and brick dog compound which house the canines used to hunt the local dingoes to extinction.

 

This is where Robertson bred the first kelpie in 1871, her parents being a pair of black and tan Collies imported from Scotland.
The architectural and historical value of these buildings is recognised by the National Trust which considers it the ‘most important pastoral station complex in Victoria’. Robertson’s descendants lived on the property until 1991 and there is much in the way of antique equipment and tools (steam engines, treadle lathes, chaff cutters etc).
 

 Open daily 10.00am – 5pm
(Telephone Gavin & Carol 55 824 222)