Yanrey Station, often referred to as Yanrey, is a pastoral lease that operates as a

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

. It is located about south east of

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of town ...

and south of Onslow in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

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 ...

. Yanrey occupies an area of and shares boundaries with Minderoo, Koordarrie, Giralia,

Nanutarra Nanutarra is a locality in Western Australia adjacent to where the Ashburton River (Western Australia), Ashburton river is crossed by the North West Coastal Highway. It is also close to the turn-off for State Route 136 to Paraburdoo, Western Aust ...

Uaroo Uaroo Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station and has previously operated as a sheep station. It is located about south of Onslow and west of Paraburdoo in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The property share ...

and

Nyang Station Nyang Station, often referred to as Nyang and previously known as Wogoola Station, is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station. It is located about east of Coral Bay and south of Onslow in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. ...

s. The station is made up of broad sandy plains with areas of alluvial clay plains. The Yannanie River flows north-south through the property with flood plains extending outward. The property is able to hold a maximum number of 47,000 sheep. The station was originally established by John and David Stewart. It was sold to

Thomas Frederick de Pledge Thomas Frederick de Pledge (1867–1954) was an Australian pioneer and pastoralist. The son of Reverend Joseph De Pledge, he was born in Durham in 1867. Educated at Aldenham in Hertfordshire, he left for Australia at age 18 aboard the ''Austra ...

following the death of John Stewart. De Pledge was already familiar with the area having worked for the Stewarts as a jackaroo and for

Alexander Forrest Alexander Forrest Order of St Michael and St George, CMG (22 September 1849 – 20 June 1901) was an explorer and surveying, surveyor of Western Australia, and later also a member of parliament. As a government surveyor, Forrest explored many ...

and

Septimus Burt The Hon Septimus Burt KC (25 October 1847 – 15 May 1919) was a Western Australian lawyer, politician and grazier, the son of Sir Archibald Burt. He was born on 25 October 1847 at St Kitts in the West Indies, and educated at a private school ...

on neighbouring Minderoo Station for seven years. De Pledge was appointed manager at Yanrey in 1897 and purchased the property in 1898, when it occupied an area of . Over the next three years de Pledge acquired the neighbouring properties of Yannangal, Yannaney and Globe Hill and incorporated them all into Yanrey, giving it a total area of approximately . He also worked to improve the flock so that Yanrey wool would always fetch high prices at market. At one stage Yanrey was the third largest property in the Ashburton District, with a size of . In 1906 Yanrey was carrying a flock of approximately 30,000 sheep. A cyclone in 1909 wreaked havoc at Yanrey with all of the windmills destroyed, miles of fencing lost and the country left under water. By the 1920s both horses and camels as well as motor vehicles were used to transport the wool clip from stations in the area. Motor vehicles were unable to traverse roads used by stock in the wet, so between 1927 and 1930 a number of roads were gazette for motor vehicle use only. One of the roads was built to Yanrey. Alex Maitland stepped down as station manager in 1952 and was replaced with Ashley Paterson. Yanrey was stocked with 12,730 sheep and 1,210 cattle in 1979.

Homestead

The

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 ...

was initially constructed in 1901, with a further expansion of the eastern wing in 1915. The main building has a timber frame covered with

corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a bu ...

. The rectangular shaped homestead has twin hipped roofs and a surrounding verandah reflecting the two stage construction. The homestead is

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.

References

{{Stations of the Pilbara Western Australia Pilbara Pastoral leases in Western Australia Stations (Australian agriculture) Homesteads in Western Australia Heritage places of Western Australia

Homestead

See also

References