The old Slab Hut, a jewel in the crown
WARRANDYTE Historical Society (WHS) recently had a visit from Caroline Fry, a retired conservator from Melbourne University, and Tomasz Tomaszek from Kraków University, who is a timber conservator.
Caroline submitted the following report.
“On a warm sunny day in mid-February 2025, Caroline Fry, former painting conservator from Grimwade Conservation Centre at The University of Melbourne and Tomasz Tomaszek from Krakow, Poland, met with Dianne Phillips from WHS to visit the small heritage-listed miner’s hut located on the hillside just above the Yarra River in Warrandyte.
The hut is listed in the Heritage Victoria database at vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/66280.
Tomasz was visiting from Rzeszów University of Technology, in Kraków, Poland, where he is employed as Assistant Professor of Urban Architecture.
Tomasz is also a conservator but conducts research in the conservation of heritage timber buildings, with a focus on developing appropriate methods of conservation of the 15th-Century wooden Orthodox churches in the southeastern region of Poland.
Caroline met Tomasz on a timber conservation workshop in 2019 held at Kizhi Pogost in Russia, the location of a suite of early 18th-Century timber churches which are listed by UNESCO: whc.unesco.org/en/list/544.
Tomasz was keen to visit Australia to learn more about 19th-Century timber vernacular architecture.
Tomasz was awarded the prestigious MacGeorge Fellowship by the Faculty of Architecture at the University, which provided accommodation and support for a month-long period of research to examine early vernacular timber buildings in Victoria.
During that time, Tomasz and Caroline visited multiple sites around Victoria to assess their conservation status, including National Trust-listed timber buildings such as Gulf Station at Yarra Glen and McCrae Cottage at McCrae.
They also visited various heritage-listed buildings such as the Stick Shed at Murtoa and many early 19th-Century timber lock-ups, including those at Carisbrooke and Warracknabeal.
A visit to the National Trust-listed miner’s cottage at Warrandyte was a highlight for both Tomasz and Caroline.
Dianne Phillips was instrumental in facilitating and organising access.
The building is a rare surviving example of a small single-roomed miner’s cottage, with split slab walls, bark external roof, timber chimney, and wattle and daub interior walls.
Dianne Phillips recounted how the hut was ‘discovered’ in 1984, during demolition of a weatherboard house which had been built around it, thus protecting it from the elements.
The intriguing story of discovery adds greatly to the ‘lore’ of the house, and obviously contributed to the long-term preservation of the structure [see story below].
The house is a simple tent-style structure with a bark roof supported by timber saplings.
The interior walls are made of wattle and daub, with a brick hearth and simple timber surrounds.
Some basic conservation/restoration has been carried out in the past, including the recent construction of a protective weatherproof corrugated iron structure above the cottage.
However, otherwise the hut is a rare surviving example of early timber architecture.
Tomasz was impressed with the simple and effective protection afforded by the covering structure, which has and will contribute to the long-term preservation of the building.
Both Tomasz and Caroline express their thanks to Dianne Phillips and WHS for being so helpful and responsive to a request for access to this fascinating building.
It was a privilege and a pleasure to visit this important heritage building, which holds great historical significance and can truly be considered a ‘jewel in the crown’ for the Warrandyte Historical Society and the district.”
This article first appeared in the Warrandyte Historical Society newsletter.
Warrandyte Diary archives
May 1984 Pages 1 and 6
HISTORIC COTTAGE BOUGHT
Doncaster and Templestowe and Eltham Councils have bought a tiny, historically significant slab cottage in Castle Road on behalf of Warrandyte.
The cottage was found several weeks ago during demolition of a small house on the site.
The two councils each gave $17,500 to buy the cottage, which was recently classified by the National Trust and is regarded locally and by archaeological experts as a rare example of a pioneer home.
Because a later house had been built around it, the cottage, of slab with clay infill, rubble chimney and bark roof, is in almost perfect condition.
The purchase means that the cottage will be restored and preserved on its original site.
A group of local people, the Warrandyte Slab Cottage Project committee, arranged the purchase from the Green family, who had only recently bought the property at auction for $28,000.
The committee regards the deal as most generous on the part of the Greens, as they are unlikely to make any profit.
The story of the purchase and preservation of the cottage is an amazing one.
It shows how a small community dedicated to preserving its own identity can get together and, in a matter of weeks, overcome all sorts of obstacles to set up a project that will be of benefit to the whole of Victoria.
Luck also played an important role.
A couple of weeks after buying the property, the Greens were about to demolish what they thought was merely a small, unsightly house.
Only a matter of days before a bulldozer was to do its work, the Greens were pottering around the site when they noticed that one wall was out of character with the rest of the building.
It was of slab and clay, much older materials than had been used elsewhere.
This was the only external clue that there was anything special about the building.
Further investigation revealed to the Greens that they had stumbled across what might be an archaeological treasure, for, inside, in a perfect state of preservation, was a magnificent example of the type of bush hut common to the district between the 1850s and 1900.
The Greens immediately called the Warrandyte Historical Society to tell members what they had found.
They couldn’t believe their ears and rushed up to have a look.
The reality exceeded their wildest dreams.
The Greens, who were about to go on holiday, offered the hut to the Society, which planned to dismantle it and re-erect it on another site somewhere in the town.
The Society immediately called a meeting of townspeople who might be interested in helping with the project.
Offers flooded in and within a matter of hours, dismantling was to start.
In the meantime, local archaeologist Lee Scott-Virtue had taken a quick look, got very excited, and called in some of her colleagues.
She felt it would be wrong to remove the cottage, and her colleagues confirmed this.
Ms Scott-Virtue passed this information on to the meeting.
The plans for removal were abandoned.
Instead, it was decided that no matter what, the site had to be bought and the cottage preserved where it stood.
The consensus of opinion was that removal would be an act of vandalism that would destroy most of the historical value of the building.
The meeting was told that most historic buildings of this type, particularly those in historic villages, are not especially significant historically because they are not on their original site.
Like the cottage, the rest is history.
It has been bought and work is to start very soon on restoration.
A committee of management will be set up comprising Warrandyte people and State Government representatives.
The National Parks Service has already offered to manage the site with help from the community.
A shelter will have to be built around the cottage to protect it from the weather, and this could be provided by the service or the community.
The same applies to a fence around the site and a booth for volunteers to use when the cottage is open to tourists.
The National Trust is also keen to provide whatever help it can, including archaeological research and advice.
Its classification states that the cottage is “a rare example of an intact slab cottage on its original site with a roof of bark in pieces of up to 110 centimetres wide and an unusual slab and pug lining”.
Mr S. D. Martin, the Victorian administrator of the Trust, has commended the people involved in the project for their prompt action to preserve the cottage.
The president of the Warrandyte Historical Society, Mr Cliff Green says Warrandyte owes a great debt of gratitude to the Green family.
“They have behaved in a most remarkably co-operative manner and they were facing great potential problems,” he said.
“They have acted in an absolutely splendid manner.”
He says, however, that buying the property was just one of many problems to be faced.
“This is just the start of a long hard road,” he says.
The main problems include day-to-day management and long-term preservation.
“It will require careful planning and constant security, maintenance, servicing and management,” Mr Green says.
“There has been a wonderful response from the community, local government and the State Government,” he says, “but this is just the start.
“Despite the many problems we remain confident, because of the support we have already received, that we can succeed with this.
“It has caused an immense amount of high-level interest.
“We have uncovered a treasure a far as they are concerned.
“Peter Coutts, director of the Victorian Archaeological Survey, is confident that the committee can pull this off.
“He says he has never seen such enthusiasm for a project.”
Support has come from representatives of both councils, the Victorian Archaeological Survey, National Parks, the National Trust, the Historic Buildings Preservation Council, the Warrandyte, Eltham and Doncaster Historical Societies, Warrandyte service clubs, the State Emergency Service, the Warrandyte Environment League, the Warrandyte Advisory Committee, The Post Office Preservation Group, the Scouts, the Yarra Street Task force, the Warrandyte Co-Op, Peter McDougalls, and many individuals including, Ms Scott-Virtue; Tony Lee, an architect; Peter Murphy, a real estate agent; and Dr Miles Lewis of Melbourne University School of Architecture, who is an authority on primitive Australian building.
Ms Scott-Virtue says the cottage is of great significance, especially because it is to be preserved on the original site.
“To have removed the building would have removed its significance,” she says.
“To my knowledge this is the only building of this type and age, and of such completeness, recorded on its original site.’’
Investigations carried out by Ms Scott-Virtue, Jane Wesson, a private archaeological consultant and Dr Coutts indicate that the cottage was built about 1900, with two later stages that included the house that was built around it.
The outside walls are of vertical slabs, there is a small fireplace and chimney made of rubble, including brick, timber and iron, the interior walls are of wattles nailed to the slabs and a clay plaster, and a hessian bag ceiling.
The interior walls were originally whitewashed but were painted later.
The bark roof is in good condition but work will have to be done on the walls and chimney.
Ms Scott-Virtue says:
“The building has been well preserved because of the enveloping structure, but urgent steps will need to be taken to preserve it now that it has been uncovered.
“Drainage, a complete shelter and treatment for insect infestation are the most urgent requirements.”
The experts agree that the cottage is an example of late pioneer adaptation to a forest environment that is reminiscent of a much earlier phase of colonisation.
This adaptation is reflected in the use of junk building materials and loose materials such as tea-tree, bark, poles and split hardwood logs.
The interior is equally adaptive, and consists of a cross between wattle and daub and lath and plaster.
“The hut is the nucleus of a family home that grew like Topsy as demanded over the next 80 years,” Ms Scott-Virtue says.
“Whilst the building itself is later in date in the propensive colonisation of the Warrandyte area, it must be viewed as an unusual example belonging to a later pioneer phase.”
Of course the biggest mystery of all remains — who built the cottage and who lived in it.
The committee has people scouring various sources of document relating to the area in an effort to find the answers to these questions.
Meanwhile, the cottage is back under cover — this time a plastic tarp — waiting to be restored to its former glory and waiting for the admiration it so rightly deserves from many generations to come.
