Last updated 1Jul19
Horse Gully Hut
Horse Gully Hut is located very near the intersection of the Naas Valley and Left Hand Creek Fire Trails in the Namadgi National Park.
Location: GR 55H FA 86620-33645 (MGA94), Colinton 8726-3N 1:25000
Horse Gully Hut, October 2013
Visits: 19-20 Apr 19, 13 Oct 18, 15 Aug 15, 5 Oct 13, 14 Feb 13, 29 Jan 09, 13 Mar 07
Documentation:
• KHA web site: Horse Gully is located at the southern end of the Naas Creek valley on a small cleared flat. The grid reference is 865 335 on the Colinton 1:25000 map. Also known as Horse Gully 2. The hut was built about 1940 by Tom Roseby with assistance from Stan Bowerman to support grazing. Tom was the owner. The site was originally used for growing oats and vegetables. The block and hut were sold to the Curtis family in the 1950’s. The hut is built from corrugated iron, over a timber frame. The fireplace is of concrete with an iron flue.
• KHA Namadgi database (private source). Site 253. The original Horse Gully Hut was built on the same site as the earlier John Lenane’s Hut (known to have existed in survey of 1879). The current hut was built in the 1940s and stands about 20 metres from the site of the earlier huts. Gazetted to ACT Her …
• Gudgenby: A register of archaeological sites in the proposed Gudgenby National Park, J H Winston-Gregson MA thesis, ANU, 1978. The new Horse Gully Hut was built by Tom Roseby and Stan Bowerman in the 1940s. Great difficulty was experienced in obtaining sufficient sand for the concrete required for the footings and chimney. Site BU1 1-3. In a small flat surrounded by thick timber, no identifiable landmarks; 50m west of creek, immediately adjacent east side of Naas/Mt Clear track. Corrugated metal on sawn timber with external concrete chimney. See extracts of the relevant pages in the photos above.
• 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 PT11. This is a small timber framed hut clad in corrugated iron with an external concrete chimney topped with a corrugated iron flue. The present hut was built around 1940 adjacent to a now demolished rougher building indicated by soil marks and rock rubble. The huts were originally on part of a selection based at ‘Bumbalong’ on the Murrumbidgee in NSW and were accessed via Russells Gap in the Clear Range. The hut is situated in a small cleared river flat which is reported to have been utilised for growing oats, one of the few records of cereal production in the mountain valleys. See extracts of the relevant pages in the photos above.
• ACT Government brochure: This hut was built by Tom Roseby in the 1940s and was part of the Bumbalong run. Tom’s father, Sydney, purchased Bumbalong in 1918. The original hut, 20 metres to the east of the existing hut had a stone chimney and was valued at six pounds in 1897. Quince trees nearby were probably planted by the early settlers. Subsequent owners, Colin and Norman Curtis stayed at the hut when mustering cattle, fencing and rabbiting.
• ACT Heritage Listing: Stockmen’s Huts in Namadgi National Park H58c
• Signage in Hut: The original Horse Gully Hut was built for Archibald Peden, probably around 1900, and was used as a shelter for stockmen working at Horse Gully. By the 1940s, the land on which the hut stood had moved into the Roseby family and the present hut was built about twenty metres from the site of the original (which was later burnt down). Horse Gully was sold to brothers Norman and Colin Curtis in 1954. THe land was resumed in the 1970s and became part of the Namadgi National Park with its gazettal in 1984.
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