Built during the Great Depression in 1933 by 4 unemployed Ashburton men, one being a carpenter. Funds were provided by the Unemployment Board under Rod Urquhart (former Mt Algidus Station manager) direction. The corrugated iron was taken to the site by packhorse & the beech poles cut from the bush. The Ashburton County Council unemployment scheme sent local men to the Wilberforce to prospect for gold. Single men got 15 shillings ($1.50) per week & married men, 30 shillings. All gold was to be pooled & shared equally with income supplemented by the kea bounty of 2 shillings & six pence (25 cents) per head. The best quartz sample assayed a mere 7 pennyweight 13 grains per ton & the whole scheme was abandoned" (DOC website). Edit Hut