Daveys Hut
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| Daveys Hut | |
|---|---|
| State | NSW, Australia |
| Grid Reference | 377893 |
| GPS Reference | S36 13.53.7 E148 31.57.9 |
| Built in | 1909 |
| Built by | Tom Bolton |
| Built for | Cattle grazing |
| Maintained By | KHA |
| Access By | Foot |
Daveys Hut was built by Tom Bolton in 1909 for grazing. He moved into it with his new wife, Mary, in 1911. However the hut has since become a destination for readers of the book "If I should Wake in the Middle of the Night," by Pauline Downing.
There is extensive information available through the Kosciuszko Huts Association and National Parks and Wildlife service.
DAVEYS HUT 2507 Pers Comm Dr Peter Honeyman People Book KH Ossie Bolton
On a rise facing east, with forested hills rising behind, each hill higher in the ramparts towards the Main Range, stands Tom Bolton's simple two-roomed dwelling of milled weatherboard and alpine ash shingles. Tom built the chimney of clay bricks which was undermined by rabbits and later rebuilt by Victor Wallace circa 1930. Tom built the homestead in 1909 for his bride Mary (nee Crowe). Ossie Bolton, the eldest son of Tom and Mary states they lived there from 1912 for one year.
Daveys Hut faces toward the Gungarlin River, New South Wales which forms the boundary of Kosciuszko National Park. It is the only structure remaining of the seven (or more) huts and homesteads of a community on the southern end of Snowy Plain. This hut is a physical evocation of the past.
Tom, and his brother Harry, worked the Plain for gold in their spare time. Tom managed to save enough to buy the land, to harvest crops and build the small homestead.
He was the mailman for Grey Mare Mine, delivering mail from Sawyers Hill. In winter Tom used the skis he made from alpine ash. He met Mary Eliza Crowe, who was also working for the Post Office and married her in September 1908.
Mary spent only one winter on Snowy Plain before moving to Kiandra and Adaminaby. The property was purchased by Les Wallace, who was also a bookie. His gambling debts forced a sale to Davey Williamson in the 1920s, who used it during the summer grazing. The name Daveys Hut stuck. As the Boltons built many huts in the mountains, another hut named for the Boltons would be very confusing.
After Davey Williamson’s death in 1950, Roy Hedger, who was born on Snowy Plain and is a nearby landholder, purchased the property. It was resumed by the National Park in 1969.
To the south behind the hut is a magnificent set of stockyards, slowly sinking into the ground. Probably the only stockyards in Kosciuszko National Park, apart from the stockyards at Coolamine, of any note. A major restoration is needed.
Above Daveys Hut are the remains of collapsed sheep yards. On the hillock beside the hut is the grave of Ned Hull, a hermit gold miner, marked by an uninscribed natural granite headstone. He lived in a small hut near Back Creek, west of Daveys Hut where he fossicked for gold. Con Bolton found his body in the 1930s. Ned was buried on the rise overlooking Snowy Plain. Murray Napthali read a service at the graveside. Con and his son Jack, over time, moved a granite slab from Ned’s diggings to his grave as a headstone.
North of Daveys on the edge of the plain are the remains of Napthalis (Snowy Plains House). Nearby are the ruined remains of Hedgers, Harvey's, Con Bolton's Hut and the outline of John Bolton's homestead who came to Snowy Plain in 1877. Beside this site is a commemorative plaque erected by the descendants of the Boltons and NPWS. It gives a brief history of the Bolton family.
In 1970 Dr Peter Honeyman passed by Daveys Hut after fishing the Gungarlin River. Birds were roosting on the rafters and cattle were camped on the verandah. Ruination of the hut was imminent.
Following this visit a group of Peter’s fellow doctors regularly visited Daveys, doing repairs and enjoying fishing and walking in the area. Peter's group of caretakers held the hut to a stable condition until KHA and NPWS commenced major repairs. Pauline Downing (c)8 May 2006
