Photos
| Built | 1909 by Tom Bolton |
| Condition | ★★★★☆ (restored and structurally sound) |
| Location | Snowy Plain, near Gungarlin River |
| Alternate Names | Davies, Boltons Hedgers, Williamsons |
| 1909 | Built by Tom Bolton for grazing |
| 1911 | Tom and Mary Bolton moved in |
| 1935 | Purchased by Davey Williamson |
| 1950s–1969 | Occupied by Roy Hedger until NPWS resumption |
| 2012 | Extensive repairs: brick foundations, fittings, relining |
Daveys Hut is a historic alpine homestead located on Snowy Plain in Kosciuszko National Park. Built in 1909 by grazier Tom Bolton, it served as a residence and grazing base for his family. Tom moved into the hut with his new wife, Mary Crowe, in 1911, and the couple raised their family there while managing stock in the surrounding high country. The hut is one of the few in the park with a full-length book dedicated to its history — "If I Should Wake in the Middle of the Night" by Pauline Downing — which documents both the social life of the Boltons and the restoration of the building.
Over the decades, Daveys Hut passed through several hands. It was purchased by Davey Williamson in 1935, and later occupied by Roy Hedger from the 1950s until 1969, when the lease was resumed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The hut is also known by other names, including Davies, Hedgers, Williamsons, and Napthalis, reflecting its layered history and changing occupants.
Today, Daveys Hut is maintained by the Kosciuszko Huts Association and remains in good condition. It is listed in the Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management, and extensive archival material exists, including conservation studies and over 30 cm of historical documentation. The hut continues to serve as a waypoint for hikers and heritage enthusiasts, offering a tangible link to the lives of early settlers and graziers in the Snowy Mountains.
Daveys Hut measures approximately 10m × 6.5m and is constructed of horizontal weatherboards over a timber frame. The roof is corrugated iron laid over original shingles, and the chimney is built of stone.
Restoration in 2012 included replacing wooden foundations with brick, repairing fittings and doors, and relining an interior plywood wall. The hut retains its original character while being structurally reinforced.
Ross Bolton and Henry Willis Interviewed by Dan Connell 16th February 1992 3
DC: You said it was built by Con Bolton.
RB: Tom Bolton.
DC: Tom Bolton, right, but its called Daveys Hut, why is that?
HW: Because Davey acquired the country, he bought it some stage along the way...
DC: Is Davey the first or second name?
HW: Davey Williamson was his name and when he got the country it just became known as Daveys Hut. I think that's right isn't it Ross?
RB: That's right!
DC: What sort of person was he?
RB: An old single chap, he was a good mountain man, he'd do anything for you, but fairly Scotch ...
DC: Scotch, in what way?
RB: Tight with money, but you didn't blame him for that, he had to work for it.
DC: Do you remember any stories about him being tight with his money?
RB: Well one thing, he hated horses because he reckoned horses eat grass all day and night and never laid down. He reckoned cattle would have their fill then lay down and chew it up and give the grass a chance. He always hated to see horses eating.
DC: Do you remember him at all?
HW: Oh yes I remember him quite well when I was a little kid, of about nine or ten years old. I can always remember him scratching around in the bedroom getting ready to go to bed one night and like the old mountain men they'd sit up and talk until eleven or twelve o'clock and everybody had to go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time because there were a fair few in the hut. Davey was scratching around getting ready to go to bed and he decided he'd better open the shutter window, you know the one with the tin on it, "I'd better open the . window, if I wake up in the middle of the night I like to see some daylight" and I was always highly amused about seeing daylight in the middle of the night. It was already the middle of the night! (laughing) This always highly amused me as a kid and I always remembered it.
1990 Interview with Harold Hedger, Ossie Bolton and Ross Bolton int G. Scully 4
OB: The surveyors used to call it Boltons Hut, Daveys Hut, early in the Snowy, '48, '49 and I didn't know what they were talking about. But I found out after that that was the one they were referring to, the one on the edge of the timberline. Snowy Plains.
RB: I think when Davey bought it they changed it.
OB: Well its on the map as Daveys Hut. You see wondering why they ever changed it from Boltons Daveys Hut, but you just said that, you just gave point, because there's too many other Boltons Huts!
RB: Well I think that's why they called it Daveys.
OB: So you know which is which!
INTERVIEW with FRED FLETCHER INTERVIEWER: Klaus Hueneke Interview on 15 June 1980 5
FF:Davey Williamson owned it for years and years.
KH: After Tommy Bolton would have been the Williamsons perhaps?
FF: Yes, I'd say s o. I suppose Boltons owned it when he built the hut there - he'd own the ground he'd be building it on - it was all freehold ground. Hedgers used to be just over from him. there is still descendants over here. They had a house not far on from Daveys but its only just ruins now.
KH: It was Davey Williamson - so the hut was called after his
FF: Yes.
KH: That's how it became known as Daveys.
FF: Then Roy Hedger bought it and had it for quite a number of years and fenced it up well and looked after the rabbits on it - then the Park took it and now its just going to ruin again.
KH: Yes, it needs a lot of work.
FF: Are they doing it up?
KH: It depends on whether we can get a work party in there. There have been some people who have done a little of work. There are newspapers on the walls back to 1909 - so it's one of the oldest huts in that area.
KH:said
...
Daveys Hut is listed in the KNP Plan of Management Schedule L.23 and supported by a formal Conservation Study. It is one of four huts in the park with a dedicated book-length history and over 30cm of archival documentation in the KHA collection.
Notes from 'Kosciuszko National Park Huts Conservation Strategy' October 20056