Step back in time at Old Errowanbang

The 138-year-old heritage-listed shearing shed at Old Eurowabang is one of the largest ever built in the region and arguably the most unique wool shed in all of Australia.

Built on the side of a hill, the shed consists of four long wings linked in the centre by the main shearing floor of 40 stands. It has the capacity to hold 4,000 sheep on the grating and in its busiest season, 90,000 sheep went through its doors.

“The shed is totally unique,” Old Errowanbang owner Jann Harries said. “It's built over four levels. Got 40 shearing stands. Has an indoor plunge dip, the only wool shed in Australia with an indoor plunge dip.

“They built this wool shed to use the fall of the land to get those four levels in. The intention was for the wool to start on the board where it was shorn and then it went down, was bailed up and then was rolled onto a dray at the woolroom door and taken through to Carcoar to the railhead to go to Sydney to the wool sales… but the idea was that the bulk wool all went down downhill.”

Errowanbang was among the earliest of the pastoral settlements beyond the Blue Mountains, with the original homestead built using convict labour by William Lawson the Younger, the son of the British soldier and explorer, William Lawson credited with the first successful crossing of the Blue Mountains in 1813.

In 1885, the then sprawling property of 100,000 acres was sold to Francis Hopkins and Alexander Wilson. Alexander was the brother of the prominent pastoralist and politician, Sir Samuel Wilson.

It was Wilson and Hopkins who oversaw the building of the Errowanbang Shed.

“It's the most unique shed,” Jann said. “I named it, the best-kept secret in the district.”

But making sure the old heritage-listed shed is around for future generations is no easy task, nor cheap.

Despite many approaches to heritage funding bodies, Jann has had no luck in getting financial assistance to keep up with the needed repairs and maintenance. It’s only been thanks to volunteer labour and, more recently, fundraising through public open days that the old shearing shed’s condition hasn’t deteriorated further.

“I think it's five times that we've had it totally open to the public,” Jann said. “My father-in-law never had it open to the public at all, ever… so a lot of Carcoreans have never been out to have a look at it let alone the rest of the country.

“But I just decided years ago that enough is enough; if it's going to be repaired, it's got to pay for itself… the farming income sometimes is not there and that's why I keep doing these days, trying to get the money back in to keep it maintained.”

It has been almost a decade since the last large-scale open day at Old Errowanbang, but next weekend Jann is once again opening the farm gates to the public.

Between 10am and 3pm on Saturday and Sunday, September 23-24, volunteers will run guided tours through the remarkable shearing shed.

All Jann is asking for is a $10 entry fee (kids are free) to go towards preserving and maintaining this remarkable piece of local history.

“At this point, it needs a lot of TLC again because the stumps all sink underneath and once they start sinking, they fall out and then that's not holding up the floor structure, which in turn holds up the roof,” she said.

“So any money raised goes straight back into keeping the maintenance going. There's never enough. It's like a bottomless pit when you start talking about finances and maintenance, but everything every dollar earned goes straight back into it and helps purchase the materials that we need.”

The Old Errowanbang Woolshed 2023 will be open to the public on Saturday, September 23 and Sunday, September 24. Gates open 10am–3pm. Cost is $10 (kids under 12 years free). There will be a barbecue and coffee van available along with raffles and a chocolate wheel. People are advised to bring cash as mobile reception is limited.