Last updated 25Jun20
Demandering Hut
Demandering (Curtis Refuge) Hut is situated a few hundred metres off the Naas Valley Fire Trail in the Namadgi National Park.
Location: GR 55H FA 85378-32023 (MGA94), Colinton 8726-3N 1:25000
Demandering Hut, October 2013
Visits: 13 Oct 18, 15 Aug 15, 5 Oct 13, 14 Feb 13, 5 Feb 13, 13 Mar 07
Documentation:
• Destroyed by bushfire January 2020.
• KHA web site: Demandering or Curtis hut is located a few kilometres down the fire trail from the Mt Clear homestead site, in the Naas Valley. Grid Reference 853 318 on the Colinton Map. Also known as Curtis Hut or Mt Clear Hut. Curtis was built about 1945 by Bill Cotter and Jack Simpson, and named after the Cotter family property, Demandering. After the sale of land in 1956, it became and outstation hut to the Mt Clear Station, owned by the Curtis family. Since becoming part of the National Park, it has become better known as Curtis Hut, but the Curtis’s called it the Mt Clear Hut. Curtis Hut is small and built from sawn timber, clad in corrugated iron. The attached water tank is often a welcome site on a summers day. The hut is well off the ground, and the base is clad with stone, making it more than durable.
• KHA Namadgi database (private source). Site 254. This corrugated metal hut was built in 1945. Also known as Curtis’ Refuge Hut or Mt Clear Hut. It has a water tank. Gazetted to ACT Heritage Places Register September 1999.
• Sites of Significance in the ACT. A 9 volume set, pre-cursor to the ACT Heritage Register. Published in 1988 (Vols 1-7), 1989 (Vol 8) and 1990 (Vol 9); pp38-43. Site G27. See extracts of the relevant pages in the photos above.
• ACT Government brochure (locally stored because TAMS keeps on changing their website structure) – Naas Valley to Horse Gully Hut. Demandering Hut, 200 metres off the main track, was part of Demandring Run that was leased by James Booth and later Garret Cotter. The hut was built by Bill Cotter in the mid 1940s and is now recognised for its cultural value.
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