Historic Old Willows Hut

Management

Clarence Reserve, South Marlborough Area Office, Nelson/Marlborough Conservancy, Department of Conservation.

Fabric

This substantially built willow slab hut with a corrugated iron roof measures 7.5 metres long by 3 metres wide. It has 12 bunks, also of pole and hewn willow, around three walls and an earth floor. Its chimney was originally in the south wall but has been removed and the hole covered with corrugated iron. There is a small three pane window in the north gable. The door which is on the eastern side is of unpainted sawn boards secured by two wooden cleats across its back. The hut contains much written and carved graffiti which provides some insight to the range and dates of use. Some of the graffiti dates back to at least 1925 and there is a 1934 letter from The Otago Farmers Coop Association giving rabbit skin prices glued to a bunk end.

It sits on the toe of a low spur at the junction of the Willows and Gore Streams in the northern end of the Clarence Reserve. There is an old grove of Willows immediately below the hut which has provided the building material and were originally planted to provide fuel and shelter for an old mustering camp The more recent (1980s) forest service hut is immediately behind the old hut.

History

According to a reliable source the hut was built by Wattie Hedgeman in the early 1920s. Wattie Hedgeman was a rabbiter and general farm hand who worked the large South Marlborough runs in the early years of last century. This spot had traditionally been an old mustering camp and the building of the hut provided a more permanent base for the musterers and rabbiters working this western end of the Clarence Reserve.

Historical themes are high country farming and animal pests.

Old Willows Hut (built 1920s)

Fabric significance

Willows hut has regional significance as it is one of the few slab huts remaining in South Marlborough. Because Willows Hut is so isolated it is primarily built from locally available materials

Historical significance

One of a significant group of 1920s mustering huts remaining on the Clarence Reserve, it retains the atmosphere of the era.

Sources: Clarence Reserve file - SCO Historic Resources; Ted Brown’s personal comments; Bowman 1995, Remedial Work Plans, Clarence Reserve.

Future management

Old Willows Hut can still be used as a trampers hut - alternative accommodation to modern new ‘Willows’ hut built behind it.

It will be maintained to protect its historic fabric and minimise deterioration. A conservation plan has been prepared to guide its management (Ian Bowman, 1995), this contains more information about the hut.

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