A glimpse of life at Dellwood

Joint Media Release - Senator Perrin Davey & Wendy Tuckerman MP  Friday, 18 June 2021

Members of the public will soon be able to catch a glimpse of what life was like at the “Dellwood” homestead, following the safe relocation of historic items from the Barton Highway Upgrade.

Senator for New South Wales Perin Davey said the Barton Highway Upgrade Alliance has safely relocated a century old tanning pit, timber slats and other items of heritage significance from the Wallaroo property as part of the highway duplication.

“A number of these important local heritage items were donated to the Hall School Museum, including the tanning pit built by the Morris family at the Dellwood property for their bootmaking business,” Senator Davey said.

“The concrete pit was carefully moved to the Hall School Museum, while the timber slats have been safely stored away and will be reused for an upcoming project that the Museum has in planning.”

State Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman said it’s great to see the tanning pit and the other items from “Dellwood” have been saved for future generations to appreciate.

“Dellwood’ was the home of William (Billy) Morris who operated the Hall Bootmakers shop in the village. Within the grounds of the homestead was the tanning pit that Billy used to tan the leather he used to make all his footwear,” Mrs Tuckerman said.

“The century-old tanning pit, believed to be one of only two intact ‘above ground’ tanning pits in Australia will now feature as part of the Museum’s new outdoor collection, giving the whole community an insight into the past life and times of ‘Dellwood’ and regional NSW.”

The Australian and NSW Governments have together committed $200 million towards the upgrade of the Barton Highway, with $150 million provided by the Australian Government and $50 million by the NSW Government. This funding is being utilised across two projects along the corridor, with Stage 1 already under construction (the Barton Highway Upgrade Package), and Stage 2 expected to commence construction later this year (the Barton Highway Corridor Upgrade).

The Autumn community update has been released and is available on the website. For more information about the project, visit www.rms.nsw.gov.au/projects/bartonhighway/index.html.

23 June 2021

Back to News