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Conservation of a
Newstead North woolshed remains much as it was when Tom Roberts painted it. Photograph by Peter Marquis-Kyle. One of the most famous rural work buildings in NSW is the Newstead North woolshed in southern New England. This is where Tom Roberts set his famous painting, Shearing at Newstead, also known as The Golden Fleece. He painted it while visiting the Anderson family property in 1894. When Roberts set up his easel and brushes, the shed had been a working woolshed for over 40 years. A letter sent to the owner, Mary Anderson, shows that the original shed was constructed in 1857 by builder, H. E. Sadler. The Newstead pastoral run was established in the 1830s. It is now part of McNeall Pastoral (Newstead) Pty Ltd. For Sylvia Wilson, representing the company, the Newstead North woolshed is a place of great importance. "The shearing shed is significant in the context of the Newstead property where it is one of the historic structures that are still standing including the old Newstead North homestead, the Newstead South woolshed, shearing quarters, slaughterhouse and kitchen... But the Newstead North woolshed has gained significance because Tom Roberts chose to paint it and the painting, Shearing at Newstead, has itself become an icon of Australian art." When the shearing shed was built in 1857, the manager of Newstead described it as "a rough, substantial building, well put together, shingled and floored with split stuff". With skillions on either side, it was large enough to pen 700 or 800 sheep. Originally sheep were shorn in the centre of the shed. In 1868 builder H. E. Sadler enlarged his original shed, identifying and dating his work with a wall plate on a beam in the corner. By the time of Roberts' 1894 painting, shearing had been moved to one of the skillions and he depicted men sorting and classing wool in the central area. The shearers are shown using blade shears. Mechanical shearing would not be introduced to the Newstead shed for another six years. In a piece of historical good luck, Newstead North shearing shed survived without major intervention. In the late 19th century the property was split into two and a new and larger shed was built on what became Newstead South. In the 1980s when Malcolm McNeall re-amalgamated the two properties, Newstead South became the working shed and was extensively repaired. The older Newstead North shed was kept as a relic with its layers of history undisturbed by modern requirements.
 Tom Roberts, Shearing at Newstead (The Golden Fleece) 1894. In the 1990s the owners began discussing the future of the historic Newstead North shed with local heritage adviser, Camilla McRae. Architect, Peter Marquis-Kyle, who has a background in conservation architecture, was brought in to provide some focussed advice on how to look after the shearing shed. For Marquis-Kyle there were two outstanding things that made the Newstead North woolshed important and worth special effort. The first was its connection with Tom Roberts. The second was its early construction date. Although the Newstead North shed has been modified over the years, the earliest phase of construction of the 1850s is still visible. "You can see what the shed was like in its early form - a building that was completely a work of hand labour using local material. Then you can see the later adaptations to turn it into a shed for shearing machinery. And then the most recent stages are visible, where imported materials such as iron roofing and machine-sawn timber were brought in." Marquis-Kyle developed practical solutions for maintaining the shed that preserved the historical material while controlling the costs to a viable level. The scheme took as its starting point the conservation adage "do as little as possible but as much as necessary". The priority was to reduce risk and further hazards so controlling fire risk and protecting against damage from termites were first steps. The aim was to preserve the evidence of the old construction so gentle repairs were undertaken and new material added only where necessary. The tradesman for the project was carpenter and builder, Mr John Jenkins. Ms Wilson says that having such a versatile tradesman was an important element in making the project a success. "We were very lucky to find such a skilled craftsman. He still has all those bush craft skills, which unfortunately are disappearing very quickly. He is one of those bush carpenters who probably would have built the shed in the first place." |
