Old shepherd huts Australia

18/02/2026

Great example of the role of a shepherd's hut - the shepherd, lambs, and his dog. He would have spent a lot of time in here during lambing season.

19/11/2025

Most traditional shepherd’s huts were built by small local agricultural engineering businesses. An iron plate with a company’s name was fixed above the door.
This very original shepherd’s hut has the name plate of Farris of the Coombe Bissett Steam Plough Works and John Farris of Shaftesbury, Dorset.

H&C Farris were arguably the most prolific builders of shepherd huts in the U.K. Their designs featured a robust wooden chassis, large wheels, and a corrugated iron exterior, well-suited to withstand the challenging terrains of the Wiltshire and Dorset downs, and just as fitting for the open meadows of East Anglia.

This wide distribution was facilitated by a Victorian railway network that transported goods to every railway station and market town across its extensive network. The shepherd huts for the company were crafted by John Judd, who was the head carpenter for the Farris family.

Born in Coombe Bissett, Mr. Judd lived there for 96 years. During the war, making agricultural implements was considered a protected occupation, and Mr. Judd served in the Home Guard. He celebrated his 100th birthday in 2008.

11/08/2025

This traditional shepherd’s hut stands on the Elveden Estate, near the villages of Eriswell and Icklingham in Suffolk.

Once a familiar sight across the rural landscapes of England, shepherds’ huts were mobile dwellings used during lambing and grazing seasons, allowing shepherds to live close to their flocks in remote pastureland.

Typically constructed with a curved corrugated iron roof, timber frame, and cast-iron wheels, these huts were both functional and modestly furnished, often containing a small stove, a fold-down bed, and storage for tools and provisions.

25/07/2021

Haven't posted here in ages, but found this...

The sustainable farming practice of herding sheep hundreds of kilometers dates back millennia. We meet the people keeping the tradition alive despite pressure from industrialized agriculture, tourism and climate change.

05/11/2020

Kate Humble lives with shepherds in some of the most extreme environments on earth.

12/12/2019

10/04/2019

Image: 'Bushman's Hut' by S T Gill 1864