Shear Majesty (G)
GOSTWYCK, NSW – Debate surrounds the actual architect of the woolshed, yet nobody argues the building’s uniqueness. The likely culprit is John Horbury Hunt, a Canadian maverick who happened to be working up the road in 1872, designing St Peter’s Cathedral in Armidale.
Hunt lived in Watson’s Bay with his elder bride and a house full of dogs and birds. If not for the American Civil War, he’d never have ended up in Sydney, though he’d originally been sailing to India to dodge the draft.
The woolshed is a three-tiered pagoda, with glass strips, or clerestories, dividing each level. Imagine a giant beach umbrella standing in a sheep paddock, and there you have Deeargee, the local name for the octagonal wonder. [On the northern bank of Munsie Bridge, 11 kays from Uralla.]