Bark Hut Reserve

Bark Hut Reserve is a small grassy reserve in Aireys Inlet, centered on a bark hut commemorating the Pearce family and the Angahook run. Come for the hut’s displays and a quiet pause; the lawn, picnic tables and playground make it an easy family stop on a drive through the area. It suits a short break for local history, with the hut itself as the reason to stop.

Thomas and Martha Pearce lived in this district with their eight children. Thomas, a butcher from Geelong, partnered with Robert McConachy to buy the Angahook run; local histories date two bark huts there to 1852. Thomas died during a winter creek flood, and the family could not get him across the swollen water to a cemetery, so he was buried on a cliff top. Martha was later buried beside him. Their grave is elsewhere, on the Surf Coast Walk west of Split Point Lighthouse, not at this reserve.

Ash Wednesday bushfires destroyed the hut in February 1983. Local accounts disagree on whether the present hut is a replica or a rebuilt original, and give 1985 or 1986 as the rebuild date, so its exact material history remains unsettled.

Allen Noble Sanctuary sits beside the reserve. The reserve has picnic tables and a playground; the sanctuary adds a jetty, boardwalk and gravel paths, with birdwatching as another reason to linger. No food service or current hours for the hut were confirmed, and parking, toilet and water details were not found. Bring food if you want to picnic, and check locally if going inside the hut matters to your visit.

From the sanctuary side, frame the hut across the lawn with the low timber fence in front. The fence, grassy setting and brick chimney help show the scale and construction of this small bark-covered building.