One of the oldest pastoral properties in Victoria, Moranghurk is thriving through a philosophy of building partnerships with people and the land.
Story + Photos Andrew Hull
With its origins reaching back to squatter selections and expansion in the early 1840s, Moranghurk is among the oldest recorded holdings in Victoria. Long, straight, handmade paddock walls of volcanic stone harvested from within their enclosures tell the story of the energetic optimism of an earlier time. A flip through the history books adds layers of realism, change, necessity and practicality to that early optimism.
Current custodians Ross and Liz Wilkie take their place in the timeline with an evolving understanding of the place, resulting in an approach to its custodianship underpinned by partnerships and their own sensitive relationship with the country.
Within the main homestead vicinity are a manager’s cottage and maid’s quarters, while further out are another 16 satellite structures, including the impressive, two-storey bluestone motor garage, turkey shed, greyhound kennels, meat house, gate lodge, dairy, store and the bluestone stable ruins. At the centre of it all are the relatively modest homestead and expansive formal and informal gardens.
“It took us a long time to really understand the buildings. This house itself was built of hand-sawn timber and handmade nails in the 1840s, and then it got refined,” Ross says. “It’s basically a log cabin, only the logs lay horizontally side by side, and they’re the whole floor. Log, log, log, and the outside one’s got a channel in it for the walls. So you’ve got a log lying on the ground with a divot taken out of it, and the slabs sit in there. You go into the ceiling space and the same thing. There’s a divot in the log running across it and the vertical slabs are slotted into there – and that’s the wall.”
This story excerpt is from issue #163
Outback Magazine: Oct/Nov 2025
