Well Station

contributed by Babette Scougall, 24 July 2006

The Well Station in the Gungahlin district of the ACT is one of the very early, but little known, rural properties to the north of the city. With all the developments taking place in the new suburb of Harrison, however, the history of this long-settled locality has become important to Canberra residents.

Until recently, it was known as the Well Station, because it had only one well on it. In the early days, a spring had been opened up, stoned all round and at one stage fitted with pumps. It provided good permanent water and was the pioneers’ main source of water until dams and water tanks were introduced later. More recently, an ‘s’ [Wells] has been added to the name. However, no family by the name of Wells has ever owned or lived at Well Station.

While John Flinn, E Ryan, A Cameron and James Burton were early purchasers of land in the area, the name most strongly associated with Well Station is that of Archibald McKeahnie who purchased block 72, on which as early homestead stood, some time in the 1870s or 1880s. This block had previously been owned by John Scott and it is believed that the house on it had been erected there by George Rolfe, perhaps as early as the 1850s. The whole area had probably been grazed by other people before that.

Archibald McKeahnie kept extending his property until, by 1915, he had acquired 2723 acres of freehold land in the area. This property, along with others in the same district, was resumed by the Commonwealth in March 1915.  McKeahnie’s son-in-law, Charles Peden, then leased the land from the Commonwealth from 1915 to 1926, followed by John Joseland, the Gungaderra Pastoral Co, E A G Mawson and the Rose family. Part of the old homestead is still leased.

The homestead complex comprised three separate components grouped around a courtyard. The buildings were erected at various times and altered or added to, demonstrating how it evolved to meet the needs of different occupants over a long period. While all of the original structures have been changed in some way, parts of the original slab and adobe work are still present. The setting consists mainly of a pastoral landscape, with scattered trees and dams.

The homestead precinct and its landscape are on the ACT Government’s Heritage Places Register and also on the Register of National Estate.