Halls Hut at Lake Malbena registered by Heritage Tasmania
The position of Halls Hut, set back from the shore of the island in bush, is not amenable to the sort of romantic image often used to sell Tasmania’s ‘wilderness’ to tourists. There are no ‘picture perfect’ postcard images of Halls Hut, perhaps partly because the hut is almost impossible to photograph in the wider context of Lake Malbena, until recently it was known only to the bushwalking and fishing communities. Some were keen to keep it that way. Photo and story supplied by Heritage Tasmania.
A bushwalking hut at Lake Malbena in the Walls of Jerusalem in the central highlands has been provisionally registered in the Tasmanian Heritage Register.
Halls Hut has become embroiled in the conservation battle over the Wild Drake ecotourism business proposed by Daniel Hackett, who has leased the island in Lake Malbena.
Heritage Tasmania is calling for the public to comment on the entry.
The chair of the Tasmanian Heritage Council Brett Torossi said Halls Hut is one of six huts in national parks entered in the Heritage Register, including Dixons Kingdom Hut, Junction Lake Hut, Du Cane Hut and the Hobart Walking Club Hut.
‘Like the other huts entered in the Tasmanian Heritage Register that are now within national parks, Halls Hut demonstrates the emerging recreational use of the Tasmanian highlands during the twentieth century, an era in which people built huts on Crown Land in the highlands for a variety of uses,’ Ms Torossi said.
‘It also demonstrates a new development in traditional bush hut building, representing the efforts of cobuilders Reg Hall and Dick Reed to build the perfect small highland recreational hut.’
Reg Hall was a Launceston lawyer with a passion for hiking, skiing and designing buildings and bush gear. He first entered the Walls of Jerusalem in December 1928 and, with no other official names to any of the natural features, applied many of the biblical names still in use today.
After his return from World War Two service, Hall met Dick Reed, a grazier and bushwalker who had also built recreational huts in the Tasmanian highlands. Together they talked at length about the design of the perfect small mountain hut.
Halls Hut was built in 1955–1956, a year before Hall was granted the lease on Halls Island from Crown Land.
‘As with many huts built at this time, it was a collaborative effort that drew on each person’s knowledge and experience, using traditional bush carpentry, local materials and materials that could be easily carried in. The special blend of utilitarian and vernacular architecture, almost hidden away in the wilderness on an island in a remote lake is highly valued by bushwalking and angling communities.’
The Heritage Register entry for Halls Hut provides an overview of the hut’s history, identifies the historic heritage values and defines a boundary to protect the main sightlines to and from the hut, which is largely hidden by the surrounding eucalypt woodland. The boundary extends from the lake edge to a cliff just north of the hut to protect the hut’s easterly view of the lake. The western boundary extends from the cliff south to Lake Malbena, taking in Reg Hall’s boat landing site and the track from the landing to the hut.
Ms Torossi said the Heritage Council appreciates the widespread public interest regarding proposed commercial activity on the island.
‘There is also community concern for the future of Halls Hut itself,’ she said.
‘The Heritage Council completed a detailed assessment of the heritage values and is satisfied that Halls Hut’s historic cultural heritage significance will be protected through the area being provisionally registered. I encourage those people with an interest in Halls Hut to review the provisional entry and provide their feedback to the Heritage Council.’
A copy of the provisional entry and details on how to provide feedback is available at: www.heritage.tas.gov.au.
