Australian bush history

West of Sydney in the Murray Riverina region stands Mungo Woolshed. Like so many of Australia’s greatest woolsheds, Mungo Woolshed which dates back to the late 1800s tells an interesting story of our pioneering past, and the people who lived and managed the landscape before the arrival of white settlers. 

The ancient terrain surrounding Mungo Woolshed is steeped in Aboriginal history and tradition, and originally served as the meeting place for many communities including the Muthi Muthi, Nyiampaar and Barkinji. It’s a stark and arid landscape but one rich in archaeological treasures, including some of the oldest human remains ever found, belonging to the ‘Mungo Man and Mungo Lady’, dating back over 40,000 years.

Mungo station was originally part of Gol Gol Station which was later divided and renamed Mungo Station. After the property was established many of the Aboriginal people in the area were displaced and moved from their land. They went to work on the station, as well as on the properties surrounding it as trackers, general hands and boundary riders, as well as domestic help. In return they received tobacco, sugar and blankets as well as western clothing.

These indigenous Australians soon faced more unasked-for change. Chinese workers who had relocated to Australia for the Gold Rush soon replaced these Aboriginal people. Many of the Aboriginal workers were gathered up and sent away to church missions, while the Chinese labourers went on to build the Mungo Woolshed and surrounding outbuildings in 1869.

The woolshed was built out of White Cypress trees. Local to the area, they repelled the dreaded termites that could chew through wood leaving ruined structures within months. This same timber was used throughout many properties in the area and across Australia. The woolshed walls were constructed from trimmed logs that were vertically stacked. Known as a drop-log construction it ensured that the building was cooler during warmer months, no doubt a trait appreciated by the 18 men that sheared about 50,000 sheep at its peak.

The name ‘Mungo’ has two possible origins, the Aboriginal word for Canoe in the area, ‘Mungoe’, or the patron saint of Glasgow, representing the Scottish ancestry of the original owner’s Ewan and Angus Cameron.

Today the area surrounding Mungo Woolshed is listed as a World Heritage Site and National Park. And while the woolshed still stands today as a demonstration of the quality of craftsmanship carried out by some of our early settlers, it is more importantly located within an extraordinary area. Part of the Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Area, a chain of ancient dried-up lakebeds and sand dunes remind of us of an age-less land and the people that once roamed it.