Waterloo Station at Glen Innes listed
Waterloo Station, one of the earliest settled properties in the Glen Innes district, has been listed for April 5 tender.
Covering 1,520 hectares in the New England region, the property is currently carrying 600 Angus cows & calves and also 1,400 First Cross ewes and lambs for prime lamb production. These numbers equate to approximately 12,000 dse (dry sheep equivalents) livestock only and not allowing for the cropping country.
About 400 hectares (1,000 acres) is regularly farmed and currently there are 400 acres sown to soya beans and 200 acres sown to corn.
Overall, more than 50% of the entire property is arable and suitable for direct drilling of pastures of cropping.
The property was first settled in 1836.
The town of Glen Innes was named after Archibald Clunes Innes (1799 – 1857), who was one of the first squatters in the region, holding Waterloo Station in 1836 along with Furracabad Station, Beardy Plains Station and Dundee Station.
Peter McIntyre took up Waterloo Station in the late 1830’s and the McIntyre family held the property until it was sold in 1896 to John Sinclair. His son, Sir Colin Sinclair, was a State parliamentarian and later the president of the Royal Agricultural Show society. He was knighted for his service to the RAS and the pastoral industry.
Waterloo Station was sold in 1972 to the Mactaggart family from Queensland ending the Sinclair family ownership of 86 years. The Mactaggarts offered the property for sale, after twenty five years, in 1997 when the property was running 1,000 adult cattle and just over 3,000 sheep.
The current owners have held the property for ten years and have continued to improve the pastures, fencing and structural improvements.
It was the Sinclair family who built the present double brick and granite nine bedroom homestead in 1908 in the Arts & Crafts style.
The homestead is built of local brick and is set on a base foundation of New England granite. There are large granite corners, solid brick walls, tallowwood timber flooring and rendered internal walls. Pressed metal ceilings are a feature throughout.
The interior includes a large formal domed vestibule, drawing and dining rooms, library, large master bedroom with ensuite bathroom, a further eight bedrooms and two bathrooms. The extensive verandahs on three sides are a feature, together with a central courtyard. The residence is set in large established grounds, complete with tennis court.
The original two room schoolhouse is set in the gardens along with an operational meat house.
There is a historic 12 stand shearing shed.
Waterloo Station boasts double frontage to Wellingrove Creek, plus numerous dams, and seven equipped bores and pumps, to be one of the best watered properties in the district.
The fact that the property has been held by just five owners in almost 180 years is a worthy attribute, says its Landmark Harcourts agent Jim Ritchie.
