Wooleen Station is a

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Australia Pastoral lease ...

that was previously operated as a

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

station and currently runs

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

. The station was established in 1886 in the Murchison region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

that is bisected by the Murchison River. The station is situated approximately north of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in the

Shire of Murchison The Shire of Murchison covers a large area of the Murchison sub-region of the central part of Western Australia, northeast of Geraldton. The shire and the older 'Murchison' region and goldfield are now part of the designated Mid West region. I ...

. The property lies just west of

Boolardy Station Boolardy Station is a remote former sheep and cattle station in the Mid West (Murchison) region of Western Australia, about north-north-east of Pindar and west-south-west of Meekatharra. It is within the Shire of Murchison and situated on ...

, now the home of the

Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory The Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) was established by CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) in 2009. It lies in a designated radio quiet zone located near Boolardy Station in the Murchison Shire of We ...

, which incorporates the

Square Kilometre Array The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental international radio telescope project being built in Australia (low-frequency) and South Africa (mid-frequency). The combining infrastructure, the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKA ...

(SKA).

History

Wooleen was first selected in 1887, by James Sharpe and David McWhinney. In February 1890, a shepherd named Templeton and about 1,100 sheep died from

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water, with an accompanying disruption of metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds free water intake, usually due to exercise, disease, or high environmental temperature. Mil ...

in extremely hot weather. Templeton's body was found west of the homestead, along with a note describing his predicament. The district received good rains a few days later. Heavy rains fell in the area in 1921 with the local mail being stranded at Wooleen for some time as a result of

washaways A washaway is a particular kind of landslide that can affect man-made structures such as cuttings, embankments and bridges. They are thus a hazard to railways and road traffic. Overview The biggest danger with washaways is that they may be ...

, nearby properties recorded falls of up to . A 12-stand

shearing shed Shearing sheds (or wool sheds) are large sheds located on sheep stations to accommodate large scale sheep shearing activities. In countries where large numbers of sheep are kept for wool, sometimes many thousands in a flock, shearing sheds ar ...

was built in 1922. Ben Sharpe who owned Wooleen Station also took up the lease at

Mardie Station Mardie Station is a pastoral lease and sheep then cattle station that was established in 1866 in the Pilbara region of Western Australia near the mouth of the Fortescue River. The leasee in 2012 was Fourseasons Corporation; Mardie is operating ...

in 1923. Sharpe took delivery of a 15-hp

Crossley Crossley, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, was a pioneering company in the production of internal combustion engines. Since 1988 it has been part of the Rolls-Royce Power Engineering group. More than 100,000 Crossley oil and gas engines ...

, fitted with tray body to use as a station runabout, at Wooleen in 1924. Over 28,000 sheep were shorn at the station in 1924. By 1954 the property occupied an area of and was carrying a flock of 30,000 sheep. The Sharpe family later bought the lease back again and ran the station until 1984, when Christopher Sharpe, the last male member of the family died. Christopher's uncle, David Sharpe, and aunt, Sheila Sharpe (née Hancock, known as Peg), sister of Western Australian mining magnate

Lang Hancock Langley Frederick George "Lang" Hancock (10 June 1909 27 March 1992) was an Australian iron ore magnate from Western Australia who maintained a high profile in the spheres of business and politics. Famous initially for discovering the world's ...

, ran the station from 1944 to 1956. The property was taken over by the Pollock family, Helen and Brett, in 1990, who changed the focus of the property from raising

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

to a farm-stay business to strengthen its financial position. The couple welcomed their first customers in 1993. The station was taken over by son David and his partner Frances Jones in 2007. The couple have worked with the Mulloon Institute to make the property more ecologically

sustainable Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

. Their story was featured in the episode "Saving Wolleen" on ''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs Department. The program first aired on 29 ...

'' on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 2012. The

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

-listed

homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses *Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...

is with wide colonial style

verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

s with a large

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions of ...

room and extensive library, it also has its own swimming pool.

Description

The property covers a total area of . The bulk of the land is mulga scrub land and contains a -length of the Murchison and Roderick Rivers as well as Lake Wooleen. It is bordered to the north by

Meeberrie Meeberrie is a homestead and station name in the Murchison district of Western Australia. The station is situated approximately north of Mullewa. The Butcher family were the first leaseholders of the station and arrived from Victoria in 187 ...

, to the east by Boolardy and to the south by Murgoo Station. Wooleen is operated under the Crown Lease number CL187-1970 and has the Land Act number LA3114/959. the owners are looking at options for expanding the tourism potential of the station, as it is situated on land adjoining the

, now the home of the

, which incorporates the

References

{{Stations of the Mid West Western Australia Shire of Murchison Homesteads in Western Australia Pastoral leases in Western Australia Heritage places of Western Australia 1887 establishments in Australia

History

Description

See also

References