Corrals

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Stone corrals feature from the earliest days of settlement in the Falkland Islands. Many were built by people trying to make use of the wild cattle which roamed all over East Falkland.
 
These herds originated from sealers who would place a few beasts ashore to ensure that supplies of fresh meat were available when they next called. The cattle bred until there were many thousands on the East and later some were put ashore north of Port Howard, where they bred into large herds also.
 
Early settlers gained hides and fresh meat from the herds, while some were domesticated to provide dairy products.
 
Two brothers named Lafone, who ran a beef salting business in Uruguay, set up a saladero* at Hope Place (south of Darwin) and brought in a number of families and Gauchos, establishing a salting industry and settlement. [*A "saladero" is the Spanish name for a place where meat is preserved by salting]
 
The Gauchos were chiefly involved in organising the wild cattle herds – culling old animals, moving herds to Stanley for butchering and to various grazing grounds. Corrals were necessary for keeping the cattle together during overnight stops on a long drive. They were also used for the sorting of animals and some of the small corrals were used for resting horses.
 
While others settlers to the north of the Falklands also built corrals, there are fewer stone corrals on West Falkland – probably because the cattle herds that existed on the West were killed off more rapidly to make way for sheep farming.
 
Corrals were built with whatever materials were available – stone, if the structure was needed near a beach, stone run or rock outcrop, turf if stone was not available.
 
Stone corrals are all built in the dry stone walling fashion and most are circular. A stake would be driven into the ground, probably with a long lasso looped over it to mark out the circle.
 
 
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The Sapper Hill corral (pictured left) is mentioned in the Government records of 1850:
 
“This corral is situated in a valley on the South side of Sappers Hill, this wall of stones, laid dry in an oval form. The wall measured 742 feet in length. There is a ditch on the inside. A wide gateway to the left. The wall is 6 feet thick at the base, 3 feet at the top and 7 feet high. The corral is calculated to hold 1,000 head of cattle. There are no fixtures in it, nor any poles for the gateway… Although included in the Land known as the Peninsula Farm, it is not chargeable with the rent by the tenant…”
 
Records show that this large corral was built by Jacob Napoleon Goss on instructions from the Governor at the time.
 
Once a popular spot for picnics and barbecues, the area around the Sapper Hill corral was mined by Argentine troops in 1982 and cannot now be reached.
 
 
Written by Joan Spruce MBE (former Trustee and founding member of the M&NT;)
 
             
Category: Frontpage

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F.I. Museum & National Trust
Britannia House
HoldFast Road
Stanley
FIQQ 1ZZ

Tel: +500 27428
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To promote awareness and appreciation of the history and heritage of the Falkland Islands and to protect and preserve this history for future generations.