Fire at Avoca homestead May 2024
1871 half of the historic homestead destroyed
Discussing my recent post on Roland Cudmore, who was born at Avoca homestead in 1879, a cousin remarked that she would like to visit the property. When I looked up on the Web to see whether it could still be visited I was shocked to see that there had been a disastrous house fire.
The property is on the west bank of the Darling River near Wentworth, in the Far West region of New South Wales, Australia. It was owned by my second great grand uncle Daniel Henry Cashel Cudmore (1844 – 1913) who built the homestead in 1871 from wood. A stone wing was added in 1879.
My husband and I were fortunate to visit the homestead in 2021.
According to the Sunraysia Daily of 29 May 2024, “A statement from the NSW Rural Fire Service said seven fire trucks and 25 firefighters from the RFS and Fire and Rescue NSW took hours to control the incident.”
The fire damaged the 1871 buildings but the stone wing was largely undamaged. I was relieved to read that the owners escaped the fire unhurt.
The property has been sold and new owners are restoring it.
From the advertisement of 1122A Low Darling Road, Wentworth, NSW 2648 sold by Wentworth & District Real Estate The 1871 building to the right was badly damaged in the fire.
You can read more about the fire and see more pictures of the property at https://anneyoungau.wordpress.com/2025/06/16/fire-at-avoca-homestead-may-2024/ The post also contains links to other posts about people connected to the property.