The Allison family arrived in Van Diemen’s Land from Yorkshire and were early pioneers and pastoralists in the Campbell Town area.  Family members went on to purchase a property near Bothwell named ‘Hunterston’, as well as holding a lease in an area beyond Lake Augusta, known as ‘The Branches’.

Dudley Allison was a grandson of the owners of ‘Hunterston’ and he was well known in the lake country. A big, strong man, he would spend four to five months each year working at ‘The Branches’, on the 1,700 hectares bounded by the James and Ouse Rivers. Allisons Hut is situated on this land and was used by shepherds from the turn of the century until 1955, when the Allisons gave up their lease on ‘The Branches’, following construction of a HEC dam and the subsequent flooding of the rivers which often made access to the property difficult.           

Dudley Allison died in 1983 at the age of 85.

Following on from the Allisons, Reg Dixon grazed mobs of sheep using the Hut as his mountain home for 20 years from the mid 1950’s to the mid 1970’s.  Today Allisons Hut is under the control of Tasmania PWS and the MHPS remains interested in ensuring the huts’ longevity well into the future.

Restoration & Rebuild of Chimney at Allisons Hut – 2016

The stone chimney had started to fall into disrepair by the early 2000’s. In 2015 PWS commenced proceedings for repairs to be carried out. The original fireplace and interior were brick, with a stone outer skin and chimney.

In 2016, stone mason John Bolan from Westbury along with assistants Andrew Garner from Red Hills and James Boxhall from Meander completed the restoration and rebuild of the large stone chimney.

John is one of the best in his field, and while Andrew specialises in drystone walls, his masonry skills are also top class.   James can do a little of both, but he claims he was just there to keep the mud (mortar) and stones up to John and Andrew.

The work was completed in mid-April, over 2 blocks of 2 days, (4 days in total) with it re-built as close as possible to the original specifications.