WeaselSnout | Upper Jamieson Hut

Upper Jamieson Hut06/15/2007 01:07:06 PM

Upper Jamieson Hut

Details: Name: Upper Jamieson Hut Located: Eight Mile Creek, off Brocks Rd GPS: S37 15.45 - E146 26.90 Caretakers: AULRO – Australian Land Rover Owners List: Register of the National Estate Class: Historic Legal Status: Registered (21/10/1980) Place ID: 103664 Place File No: 2/07/236/0032 Significance: The Upper Jamieson Hut illustrates a distinct phase when bush workers needed refuge huts at day travel intervals from their base accommodation, before vehicles and better roads allowed easier quicker access. By its construction, it provides evidence of the bush crafts required in remote forest areas. Its drop-slab construction, demonstrates an early vernacular construction type which is rarely used today and marks a distinct period in the history of forest worker refuge huts. Its remote location and rustic construction provide evidence of the working lives of forest workers before World War Two and 4WD vehicles and better roads. This hut has been marked on recreation maps and used by many for recreation purposes. It also has a symbolic role in the local community’s view of bush life and its history. The hut’s reputed builder, Fred Fry, is still well known in the region for his bush craft and the huts he built in the Howqua and Jamieson valleys. His work was acknowledged publicly at his death: this hut is linked with Fry by its construction technique and the history of its use. Description: Located some 27km from Pickering’s Hut (Sheepyard Flat) and two hours drive from Mansfield, this hut is located across a ford down a steep branch track south off Brocks Road, on grassy flats next to the upper branch of the Jamieson River. The clearing is surrounded by eucalypt forest and the river. There are some fruit trees in the clearing. The hut is of drop slab construction, using timber from the area, and is set out on a plan of five bays by four. The roof form is gabled and clad with corrugated-iron (some Lysaght Guinea brand) over a pole frame. This corrugated-iron brand was used from c1938. A shallow skillion veranda on the north side appears to have been added. The chimney has a rubble stone base; pole framed upper cladding of corrugated-iron and a brick hearth. Inside there is a sleeping mezzanine (added? -there by the mid 1980s) and the floor is clad with sheeting. Windows are timber framed and a ledge & braced door is used at the entry. The basic character of the hut is similar to other Fry huts, such as Ritchie’s and Gardner’s. History The hut was erected by Fred Fry, a local bushman and ranger for the Forest Commission, in 1938-40. Fry subsequently built several other huts in the area, including his own hut at Howqua Hills and that of Helen Schuster. Fry probably camped there himself as part of his work for the Forest Commission and during the 1938-39 season when he grazed his own cattle (unsuccessfully) on the Lickhole/Jamieson River lease. The hut was also occupied for some time by Jim Ware; whose father John Ware had grazed cattle on the Upper Jamieson in the early 1900s. In the early 1960s, when the Forest Commission were preparing to log the Upper Jamieson area for Woollybutt and white gum, Jim Ware was employed to re-open bridle tracks in the area. He camped at the Upper Jamieson hut during this period, as did the parties of timber assessors. The Upper Jamieson hut is built in Fry’s characteristic style, using a drop-slab construction method and rubble-stone chimney. The hut was probably built as a forestry hut, but also as a general shelter for the area. The Upper Jamieson hut has also been used regularly by those on bushwalking trips or fishing in the area. A track leading south from the hut follows climbs to the summit of Mt McDonald. Fred Fry was born in Mansfield in the late 1890s, and died in 1971, receiving a glowing tribute in the "Mansfield Courier". Like Jim, Fred had used a wagon and team in the Allen Brothers` and later John Ross’s carrying business to serve the Woods Point and Gaffney’s Creek goldfields. Fred then acquired his own team and worked until superseded by motor vehicles. Fred then worked as a stockman at Wonnangatta Station until settling at Howqua Hills where he worked for the Forest Commission and later the Lands Department. He was regarded highly as a bushman. Condition and Integrity: The hut was partly burnt requiring reconstruction c1991 of the fire place gable end and rafters. Windows have been added on the south, west and east sides. The veranda has probably been added along with the mezzanine. However the distinctive drop slab character of the hut has remained. In May 2007 restoration work was carried out by the DSE which included a new roof, new posts, replacement of some of the wall slabs, a new floor, a new chimney and a new veranda. Courtesy Department of the Environment and Water Resources
		AULRO June 2007


		AULRO June 2007


		AULRO June 2007


		AULRO June 2007


		AULRO May 2007


		AULRO May 2007


		Bill Statton 2005


		Bill Statton 2005


		Bill Statton 2005


		Gary Duncan 2004


		Unknown 2001


		G Duncan 1990’s


		John Mitchell in 1971

All original content copyright Matt Arber all rights reserved, no reproduction allowed without written permission.

This website is currently over 90GB in size and contains approx 30,000 photos taken by us since 2003, it is hosted at home on an old HP Proliant server running Lotus Domino 8.5 which is connected to the Internet via a dodgy ADSL 2 connection that continuously drops out :(

If you are reading this then you have overcome all the odds and managed to connect to the site during the brief window that everything is actually working.