The Story

Creating a museum without a collection? Preposterous? Perhaps. But certainly unusual. It’s probably why McCrossin’s Mill is described as an “unusual” museum.. “unlike any other”. It never had to contend with sheds full of bits and pieces that other people had decided were important. It didn’t have to interpret other people’s junk. It wasn’t compelled, out of a sense of duty or conformity, to display “same old” stories of pioneering families and hang their hangdog sepia photographs on a wall. It doesn’t have any Singer sewing machines or umpteen varieties of rusty flat irons or chipped chamber pots. No Egyptian mummies either, although one or two of those might have come in handy. No, none of that.

Not having a collection was a blessing. We could start afresh. We could be discerning. We could take a novel approach. We could redefine what a museum is supposed to be about. But we’d have to keep our eyes and our minds, open. And so we did. Wide open. A museum must not be merely a storehouse, nor just a research centre. A museum should be interesting, exciting even. It should be stimulating and entertaining. And why shouldn’t a museum be amusing? Many of the world’s most famous museums are, in essence, antique shops without price tags on the goods...well, not yet. What they own and exhibit has always been considered valuable, which is why the artefacts were collected in the first place. But a museum shouldn’t just be an antique shop. It should be something else as well. An ideas shop. McCrossin’s Mill has identified one other very special item to “sell”. Emotion.

Perhaps it’s best illustrated by this conversation that took place at the Mill one Sunday morning.

Visitor (museum buff): “We travel a lot and go to lots of museums.... but we’ve never seen anything like this before. I don’t know how to put it...”

His partner (museum buff) tried: “The exhibitions have character. It’s like the objects have a story to tell... you can connect with them.. it’s not like they’re just things with a label on them.. there’s a feeling about this place.. it’s hard to explain...”

Museum attendant: “Are you trying to say our museum has... personality?”

“Yeah, personality”, they nodded. “That’s close to whatever it is”.

 

Early Years

McCrossin's Mill was built in the early 1870s by John McCrossin. The mill was equipped with a sixteen horse-power engine capable of driving three sets of mill stones and hauling the wheat to the top floor. The flour was silk-dressed, and the mill's production capacity was about 1,000 bushels per week. While this is negligible by today's standards, it was nevertheless an enormous output relative to the population of Uralla in the 1870s, which had a population of less than 350. It is a matter of conjecture as to why John McCrossin built such a large mill.

The adjoining chaff-cutting shed was built in the early 1880s. The shed was constructed as cheaply as possible at a time when New England millers, including John McCrossin, were trying to attract local trade, by offering cheap prices and as many services as possible. After closing down as a flour mill in the mid-1890s, McCrossin's Mill was used for a variety of purposes. Early this century the building was bought by a skin buyer and used as the premises for this business. The Coopers, a local family, bought the mill and used it for their undertaking and hardware business. They also had a tank maker, Crossman, using part of the mill to ply his trade.

It was during this part of the mill's history, 1900 - 1930, that the engine was removed to Rocky River goldfield. It was probably during this period that the milling machinery was removed and the boiler room demolished. The boiler was buried on the site of the boiler room by Ken McRae in the early 1960s. About 1935 the building was bought by the McRae family and used as a storehouse for their grocery and produce building.

In 1979, the Uralla Historical Society was formed for the express purpose of buying and restoring the derelict mill for use as a museum of local history. The purchase of the mill was funded by the sale of six hundred debentures at $20.00 each.

 

Restoration

Restoration of the building commenced immediately, funded by grants from The Heritage Council of NSW and other state government departments. Project architect was Peter Myers of Sydney, and the builder was Bob Maze of Uralla. Because of this building's heritage significance and the archaeological remains buried adjacent to the mill, The Heritage Council placed a Permanent Conservation Order on the site. The back-breaking manual labour was undertaken by members of the Society on a voluntary basis, working 'religiously' every Sunday for years.

In the late 1980s, the Society also purchased the McCrossin's Stables building. this building has been restored and part of the space is let to a hairdressing salon, 'Clipperty Crop'.

McCrossin's Mill was officially opened as a museum on May 2, 1982, by Bill McCarthy, Member for Northern Tablelands.

 

The Chaff Shed

The restoration of the 1881 Chaff Shed was completed in 2004, under the direction of Architect Peter Myers. The project was a winner at the prestigious Energy Australia/National Trust Heritage Awards in Sydney.

For too many years the Chaff Shed had leaned drunkenly, forlornly against its older brother, the Mill. Stout poles rotted at the base. Doors askew. Shattered windows boarded up. On its last legs. Desperate. Hopeless. A loser. It rattled and creaked through the long summer days, and sulked in the gloom of winter nights. The cries of despair from the rusted roof were heard, but ignored. That was before the miracle… performed by men on a manic mission. The big skeleton jacked back to square, the old bowed timbers squealing their protest, and their relief. New doors. New windows. Rugged staircase. Smart balustrades. The snarl of saws, thudding of hammers. The curses of exhausted sweaty men, the way it used to be when the shed was young and straight and true. Now it’s old, but straight and true. So rustic, yet so proud, standing tall again. A winner.

“Look at me now”, it gloats, shrugging off the thunderstorms, resilient to the winter’s howling winds. “Welcome” it says to the curious, who marvel at its immensity, its strength, its rough charm, its big fresh spaces.

The wide eyes wonder about the idiosynchratic lumps of rock and quirky chips in the granite wall, and the great stern poles lined up like grenadiers. There is a stillness here. No heaving and straining anymore. No cursing. There is calm here. There is respect. 

Kent Mayo,
Honorary Director,
McCrossin's Mill Museum.