New Zealand, at least by measurement of human habitation, is a young country and any building more than a century old is considered to be venerable. Meet New Zealand’s woolsheds…
The history of wool in Aotearoa dates back to the very first introduction of sheep in 1773 by Captain James Cook. This first event was inauspicious – the two animals, a ram and ewe, died, probably after eating a poisonous plant – but in 1777 another attempt was made by Cook. A missionary, Samuel Marsden, brought a flock into the Bay of Islands in 1814, and twenty years later sheep were put on Mana Island as a supply for whalers operating in the seas around the area.
The wool from sheep has to be stored correctly. If pie wool remains wet it can apparently heat up enough to smoulder, so all the wool must be dried before it is baled up. The original woolsheds were built to store these bales with shearing sheds being a different type of building. Nowadays the words are interchangeable and many sheds are a combination of shearing space and storage.
Across the country there are historic wool and shearing sheds. One of the oldest is still in use: Te Waitmate on the East Coast of Te Waipounamu/ the South Island. Others have fallen into disuse and gradual decay, gracing the landscape with picturesque ruins; New Zealand’s unique version of a folly. They are reminders of how this young country have earned its reputation and wealth.
A new book has been added to the library. “Woolsheds – the historic shearing sheds of Aotearoa New Zealand” is by Annette O’Sullivan and Jane Ussher, and is an exploration of some of these iconic buildings. It is filled with beautiful images of the buildings that mark the early years of sheep farming in the country and promises to be a fascinating read.
PS Apologies for the misspelling in the original article. Every instance of “woolshed” became “woodshed”, an entirely different thing! The errors have been corrected.
Read more:
https://teara.govt.nz/en/sheep-farming
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