Murtoa Stick Shed, enduring ingenuity tells of the Marmalake Grain Store Wheat Storage Shed, colloquially known as the Stick Shed, the largest building in Murtoa, out on the Wimmera plains between Horsham and St Arnaud.
The Stick Shed is a type of grain storage facility built in Victoria during the early 1940s. The Marmalake / Murtoa Grain Store No.1 was built in 1941-42 during a wheat glut, to store wheat that could not be exported during World War II. It is the earliest & last remaining example of this particular grand Australian rural vernacular tradition.
The Stick Shed is 265 metres long, 60.5 metres wide and 19-20 metres high, supported by 560 unmilled mountain ash poles. Its vast gabled interior space and long rows of poles have been likened to the nave of a cathedral.
The Stick Shed demonstrates Australian ingenuity during a time of hardship, it was added to the Victorian Heritage Register in 1990.
Murtoa Stick Shed, enduring ingenuity was created by Malcolm McKinnon, and produced by the Wimmera Regional library Corporation with assistance from Heritage Victoria. The image is courtesy of Leigh Hammerton.