Nanutarra Station, commonly referred to as Nanutarra, is a

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to Pastoral farming, graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Austral ...

that operates as a

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

, and previously operated as a

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

, in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Description

It is situated about south of Onslow and south east of

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of settl ...

in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...

region. The

North West Coastal Highway North West Coastal Highway is a generally north–south Western Australian highway which links the coastal city of Geraldton with the town of Port Hedland. The road, constructed as a sealed two-lane single carriageway, travels through remote a ...

runs through the property and the

Nanutarra Roadhouse Nanutarra is a locality in Western Australia adjacent to the point at which the North West Coastal Highway passes over the Ashburton river. It is also near the turn-off for State Route 136 to Paraburdoo and Tom Price. It is south of the O ...

is within the station boundary. The Ashburton River and Henry River both traverse the lease. Neighbouring properties include Globe Hill to the west, Uaroo and Glenflorrie to the south, and Boolaloo to the north and east.

History

The lease was originally used by Harry Higham as grazing land in the 1877, after he had overlanded stock to the property. He developed the homestead in 1884. In 1906 Nanutarra was carrying a flock of approximately 45,000 sheep. By 1919 the holding had grown to become one of the largest in the area. Harry Higham died in 1917, after managing Nanutarra until 1902 then retiring to live in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. The station was placed on the market for

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

in 1925 when it occupied an area of ; improvements included 18 wells, of boundary fencing and divisional fencing that divided the property into 17 paddocks. It was stocked with 8,617 sheep at the time. The Higham family retained possession of the station and the Highman brothers sold it in 1937, along with Mount Stuart Station, to the Boololoo Pastoral Company for an undisclosed price. In 2005 Nanutarra was given permanent status on the Western Australian Register of Heritage Places. The station was one of the original leases in the north west and played an important role in the development of the pastoral industry in the area. The Nanutarra lease occupies an area of , and an agreement was reached between Buurabalayji Thalanyji Aboriginal Corporation and Nanutarra Grazing Pty Ltd regarding land use in 2011 in accordance with the

Native Title Act The ''Native Title Act 1993'' (Cth) is an act of the Australian Parliament, the purpose of which is "to provide a national system for the recognition and protection of native title and for its co-existence with the national land management sy ...

. The station sold in 2012 along with neighbouring Uaroo Station which were being operated as one holding. Together the leases occupied an area of and had a herd of approximately 2,750 cattle with an estimate maximum carrying capacity is 7,600 head. The property contains 70 equipped watering points along with many permanent and semi-permanent waterholes along the creek and river systems. Both properties had been acquired by

Andrew Forrest John Andrew Henry Forrest (born 18 November 1961), nicknamed Twiggy, is an Australian businessman. He is best known as the former CEO (and current non-executive chairman) of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), and has other interests in the mining ...

, the Chairman of

Fortescue Metals Group Fortescue is a global metal mining company headquartered in Australia. Fortescue focused on iron ore mining under the name of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) until July 2023. As of 2017, Fortescue is the fourth-largest iron ore producer in the ...

, who also owns

Minderoo Station Minderoo Station, commonly referred to as Minderoo, is a pastoral lease that once operated as a sheep station but now operates as a cattle station in Western Australia. Description It is situated about south of Onslow, Western Australia, Onsl ...

to the north of Uaroo.

Homestead

The homestead complex is a simple example of

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

-Georgian architecture. The main building is composed of two detached wings connected by a covered area. Some of the buildings date back to the 1880s. Most of the complex is in fair to poor condition with most areas having deteriorated as a result of moisture ingress. The buildings were said to have moderate authenticity and are similar to the homesteads at Cooya Pooya and Tambrey stations.

References

{{Stations of the Pilbara Western Australia Stations in the Pilbara Homesteads in Western Australia 1877 establishments in Australia State Register of Heritage Places in the Shire of Ashburton

Description

History

Homestead

See also

References