SHEARING BOARD, ROSELEA SHED

The photo opposite shows the ‘shearing board’ in the Roselea Shed, one of the two historic wool sheds we moved to Masterton. It is one of New Zealand’s significant historical structures. Dating from the 1880s, it may be our last-surviving pioneer work building of any size constructed entirely from hand-adzed totara logs. The timber came from forest on the farm that was cleared to create pasture.

The shed is largely in original condition.

The two-stand Wolseley shearing machine came with the shed. It is belt-driven from a 1935 Lister engine -photo below. The machinery is still working and is used regularly for shearing demonstrations.

In most modern sheds the overhead driving mechanism has been replaced by individual electric motors powering each shearing stand.